893.51 Con. Ob. American Locomotive Corp./11: Telegram
The First Secretary of Embassy in China (Salisbury) to the Secretary of State
[Received August 30—7:45 a.m.]
530. 1. Raider, attorney in fact of the American Locomotive Sales Corporation and president of the Chinese Engineering and Development [Page 459] Company, is in Peiping attempting without success to interview railway officials regarding claims of those two companies against the Pingsui76 Line. Embassy’s attempts to further the matter have been consistently unsuccessful and letters to the Japanese Embassy have been acknowledged only orally.
2. According to an official of the South Manchuria Railway Company, that company is now temporarily operating the Pingsui and other North China rail lines but is not receiving revenue therefrom and will relinquish its control when a North China transportation company is established as a subsidiary of the projected North China Development Company. The latter will reputedly come into being October 31 and shares in the subsidiary will subsequently be subscribed by the North China Development Company, the South Manchuria Railway Company and the Provisional Government. It seems to us that there is only a remote possibility, if any, of negotiating a settlement of the claim with that organization when “and if” it came into being. We accordingly recommend that the matter be taken up in Tokyo. Please instruct.
3. American claims against the Pingsui Line include also claims of Andersen, Meyer [& Co.], Standard Vacuum Oil, United States Steel.
Sent to Chungking, by mail to Tokyo.
- Peiping–Suiyuan.↩