893.51/6215
The Ambassador in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 10.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s strictly confidential instruction No. 177 of May 16, 1936, in regard to the Hukuang Railway loan of 1911, and to enclose copy of a memorandum of conversation which I had on July 1, 1936,3 in Shanghai with Dr. Arthur N. Young, Adviser to the Chinese Ministry of Finance, in regard to the Chinese Government’s offer for settlement of arrears of this loan.
When I pointed out to Dr. Young that there was a feeling in the Department and among interested Americans that the Chinese Government was apparently not as considerate of its obligations toward Americans as it appeared to be toward its obligations to other nationals, Dr. Young expressed his regret at this and invited my attention to the fact that Article IX of the Tientsin–Pukow Railway agreement of 1908 contained the same provision for a contingent lien upon the Customs revenues in favor of the Tientsin–Pukow bonds, should likin be decreased or abolished, as was provided under Article IX of the Hukuang agreement, and expressed the hope that any misunderstanding in regard to these matters would have been cleared up by his letter of May 12 to Mr. Francis White, Executive Vice President and Secretary of the Foreign Bondholders Protective Council, a copy of which he had communicated to the Chief of the Far Eastern Division of the Department of State under date of May 18, 1936.4
Respectfully yours,