File No. 893.811/104.
The Secretary of State to Minister Reinsch.
Washington, January 27, 1914.
Your January 23. The American Red Cross has authorized its officers to accept from the Chinese Government exclusive authority for one year to bring about, by the use of the good offices of the American Red Cross, a suitable contract or agreement for the accomplishment of the necessary conservancy work upon the Huai River indicated by the report of the preliminary survey heretofore made by Mr. C. D. Jameson under the directions of the American Red Cross, and with the approval of the Chinese Government.
In the exercise of its good offices the American Red Cross has already secured the consent of the J. G. White and Co. Engineering Corporation of New York, which has done much work for the United States Government in America and in the Philippines, to undertake the work and to negotiate with bankers for the necessary loan in accordance with the proposals of the Chinese Government, as set forth in your January 23.
In case the Chinese Government makes the necessary contract with the contractor above named, the American Red Cross agrees further to use its good offices to secure a competent and experienced engineer, preferably an army engineer, who shall meet with the approval of the Chinese Government and the contractor, for appointment by the Chinese Government as engineer-in-chief, to the end that the conservancy work may be carried on under the supervision of such chief engineer with C. D. Jameson as general adviser, and under general plans to be determined by an engineering board to be composed of the chief engineer, the general adviser, and three other engineers: one to be nominated by the contractor and two to be recommended by the American Red Cross and appointed by the Chinese Government.
The American Red Cross recommends that, as the terms of the loan and the terms of the contract must necessarily bear an intimate relation to each other, the delegates or agents appointed by the Chinese Government to negotiate the terms of a contract with the J. G. White Engineering Corporation of New York carry on the negotiations in the United States for convenience of consultation, both with the proposed contractor and with the bankers from whom the contractor may expect to secure the necessary funds; and it is further recommended that such delegates or agents shall be invested with full powers to conclude a final agreement.