File No. 893.77/1515
Minister Reinsch to the Secretary of State
Peking, February 21, 1916, midnight.
While awarding order for ten locomotives to an American company Hukuang managing director accepted tender according to British not American standards although cost of former fifty thousand dollars higher. This defeats the policy of the May resolution.
I have the honor to suggest either demand for removal of British chief engineer for not adhering in his specifications to principle of equal opportunity or, preferably, action by the American Group, prevailing on bankers to issue orders placing standards of the other nations on an equal footing. In either case it may be necessary intimate that American quota of loan funds would be withheld until matter equitably settled.