331 view toward the upkeep and protection of the railway line, and all utensils and materials provided by the said Russian Military Authorities. 66 ARTICLE III.-Russian troops shall enjoy the same privileges on the ShanhaikuanYingk'ou line as the troops of other nations enjoy, or may hereafter enjoy, on the PekingShanhaikuan line, for such time as Legation guards are stationed in Peking and troops in Chihli for the protection of communication between Peking and the sea, as provided in the Protocol of August 25 (Sept. 7), 1901; and to facilitate the transfer of time expired men from such detachments, and their replacement by others, vessels transporting Russian troops and military supplies shall enjoy the special privilege of priority over other shipping at the railway wharves at Yingk'ou. "ARTICLE IV.-Russian troops and military supplies transported between Shanhaikuan and Yingk'ou shall be charged for at the same schedule of prices as that in force at the time on the Peking-Shanhaikuan line. 66 ARTICLE V. The offices used by the Russian Post and Telegraph Administrations at Shanhaikuan shall be turned over to the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration at the same time as the offices of the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration used by the British Military Administration at Tientsin and Shanhaikuan are turned over. "ARTICLE VI.-During the time stated in Article III of this Convention, Russia shall enjoy the same privileges in regard to the Yingk'ou-Shanhaikuan-Peking telegraph line strung on the poles erected by the Railway as the other powers enjoy between Peking and Shanhaikuan under Article VIII of the British-Chinese Convention of April 16 (29) of the present year in regard to the rendition to China of the Railway. 66 ARTICLE VII.-The Russian Government shall enjoy the same privileges in regard to the despatch of mails from Peking to Yingk'ou as other powers enjoy on the railway Hereafter as the Russian mails increase in bulk, if between Peking and Shanhaikuan. special cars should be necessary for their despatch, the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration shall provide a car on one day's notice; as a matter of convenience the cars supplied from Peking to the Chinese Eastern Railway for the transport (of mais) to Russia shall be paid for each Sunday, and the charges for such cars shall not exceed the rate charged for the transport of military supplies. 633. (Signed) 66 66 66 "PAUL LESSAR. A French translation from the Russian text of this agreement is printed in Recueil, p. In regard to restoration by the British military authorities of the section of the Imperial railways of North China within the Wall, see the agreements of April 29, 1902 (No. 1902/4, post.) NUMBER 1902/4. GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA. Agreement for the restoration of the Peking-Shanhaikuan Railway to the Chinese civil authorities by the British military authorities, and Additional Agreement respecting the management of the northern railways and the building of new branch lines.*—April 29, 1902. Agreement for Transfer of Peking-Shanhaikuan Railway to Chinese Civil Administration. The British Military Authorities are prepared to hand over to the Administrators-General of the Northern Railways the railway from Peking to Shanhaikuan, including the extensions to Tungchow, Chien Men and Temple of Heaven, on the following conditions: *Texts as printed in Wang, pp. 117, 123. Printed also in Recueil, pp. 546, 551. See Note 1 to this document, post, p. 335. 1. Whereas by Article 9 of the Protocol of September 7 † the Chinese Government accorded to the Powers the right of occupying certain points to be determined by agreement among themselves, for the purpose of maintaining free communication between Peking and the sea, and the railway is essentially the principal line of communications, the Chinese Government undertakes to give precedence to the transport of troops occupying these points and Legation guards, horses, artillery, stores and all military impedimenta, in accordance with the annexed regulations for military traffic on the line from Shanhaikuan to Peking.‡ 2. The Administrators-General agree, as long as the military posts referred to in Article 1 are maintained, that a Military Co-director and two Military deputy Co-directors shall be retained, to attend to the requirements of military traffic. All such requirements, whether in transport or works, shall be arranged by the Military Co-director with the Chinese Administration, who will give orders for their fulfilment. The position of Co-director will be held by a British officer while the German and Japanese Military Authorities will each have the power to appoint one of the deputy Co-directors. 3. To facilitate communication between the various contingents and the railway administration the commanding officers may as long as the military posts are maintained appoint station officers at all the stations which appear to them to be of special importance, and every facility will be afforded to them to guard the interests of their contingents. For this purpose they will correspond direct with the British Military Co-director. 4. The Administrators-General of the Northern Railways agree to appoint an officer to take over, after verification, and fulfil all engagements and agreements whatsoever entered into by the British Railway Administration previous to the date of handing over. The same course shall be adopted with regard to the buildings occupied at Tientsin by the British Railway Authorities, whether as offices or quarters, should the Chinese Administration be called upon to take them over. 5.-Subject to the conditions of Article 2, the fixing of rates for the conveyance of civil passengers and goods, the repairs and construction, time tables, contracts, indents for material and rolling-stock, the keeping of accounts, in short every matter, except the requisitioning of trains for the conveyance of foreign troops, horses, artillery, stores and other military impedimenta, will be entirely in the hands of the Chinese Administration, as it was previous to the line being taken possession of by the Allied Military Authorities in 1900. 6. The accounts of the British Railway Administration from the date on which it took over charge from the German Military Head-quarters up to the date of the handing back to the Chinese Administration shall be examined and audited by two auditors, one appointed by the Officer Commanding the British Contingent in North China and the other by the Chinese Administration. 7. No part of the lines or stations existing at the date of the signature of this agreement shall be removed without communications or accommodation being first provided in lieu thereof. All such changes shall, before being carried out, be referred by the Chinese Administration to the Military Commanders through the Military Co-director and their concurrence obtained. 8.-The railway telegraph lines shall be handed over concurrently with the railways, but the military authorities shall have the right to establish a line for military purposes on the railway telegraph poles. Until this line is in working order military telegrams shall be treated in accordance with rule 12 in the annexed regulations for military traffic, precedence being given over all other messages to telegrams marked "urgent" or "clear the line" despatched by the various military commanders and the officers commanding posts and officers commanding Legation Guards. 9.-The transfer to the Chinese Administration shall take place on the same day as the Russian Military Authorities surrender the portion of the Shanhaikuan Railway Station and buildings including the bridge works and the portion of line from Shanhaikuan up to and including the bridge at the Great Wall near Shanhaikuan now held by them, and not before, or on the 1st of June, whichever is the later date. 10.—The full consent in writing of the military commanders having troops posted on the line of communications in accordance with the 9th Article of the Protocol of September 7, 1901, as well as that of the Representatives of Foreign Powers maintaining guards for their Legations at Peking shall be obtained by the Chinese Government to the transfer from the British Military Authorities to the Chinese Administration before this agreement comes into force. Signed at Peking, this twenty-ninth day of April one thousand nine hundred and two. For the better management of the railways after the British Military Authorities have handed them over to the Chinese Administration, in the interests of the Chinese public revenue and of the British bondholders, the following Regulations have been agreed to by the Administrators-General Yuan and Hu in consultation with Sir Ernest Satow, His Britannic Majesty's Minister: 1.—Under the authority of Their Excellencies Yuan and Hu, the Administrators-General of the Northern Railways, the Board of Administration of the Peking-Shanhaikuan Railway shall be constituted as follows: Managing Director; Foreign Director; General Manager (British) specially to control the works, foreign and native workmen, the inspection of materials, etc.; Representative of the British and Chinese Corporation (unsalaried) specially to deliberate in important railway matters. To assist in the transaction of international business, there shall be an English Secretary and a Chinese Translator. There shall also be a competent European storekeeper. All appointments whatsoever of officials or employes on the railway or in the departments thereof shall be subject to the approval of the Board and of the Administrators-General. 2. All rolling-stock, materials, etc., obtained from foreign countries for the use of the railways shall as far as possible be purchased by means of public tenders. 3. The books shall be audited annually by a qualified accountant not connected with the railways, selected by the Representative of the British and Chinese Corporation. The results of the annual working of the railways shall be published in the same manner as the Imperial Maritime Customs Reports. 4. It is agreed that the lines from the Chien Men at Peking to Fengtai and from Peking to Tungchow, constructed by the British Military Administration, shall be added to and form part of the railways of North China pledged as security for the loan of £2,300,000 by paragraph 3 of the Agreement between His Excellency Hu and the British and Chinese Corporation dated October 10th 1898.§ 5.-Under Clause 3 of the Agreement dated October 10th 1898 it is stipulated that the construction of branch lines or extensions shall be undertaken by the Northern Railways Administration, and the intent of this stipulation is hereby confirmed in order to secure the existing interests of the railways. It is therefore agreed that the construction of any new railway within a distance of eighty miles of any portion of the existing lines, for which concessions have not been signed previous to the date of this Agreement, shall be undertaken by the Administrators-General of the Imperial Northern Railways. Such lines as the following: A northern line from Peking or Fengtai to the Great Wall; a chord line from Tungchow to Kuyeh or Tongshan; a line from Tientsin to Paotingfu; shall not, in view of the interests of the Imperial Northern Railways, be allowed to fall into other hands. Signed at Peking this twenty-ninth day of April one thousand nine hundred and two. (Signed) § No. 1898/20, ante. ERNEST SATOW. YUAN SHIH-KAI. HU YÜ-FEN. Note 1. In connection with these agreements, see the Russo-Chinese Convention with regard to Manchuria, April 8, 1902 (No. 1902/3, ante), and Agreement for the restoration of the Shanhaikuan-Hsinmintun-Yink'ou Railway, September 22, 1902, printed at p. 330. In special reference to Articles 2 and 3 of the principal agreement and Article 5 of the additional agreement, consult the following exchange of despatches between the Wai-wu Pu and the Russian Legation at Peking, as translated from the Russian versions printed in Soglashenia, p. 1: Exchange of Notes between China and Russia regarding Pledging of Peking-Kalgan and other Railways north of Peking.-June 23, 1902. "Despatch of Prince Ch'ing to Mr. Lessar, June 10/23, 1902. "Some time ago we had the honor to receive a communication from Your Excellency in which you stated that Articles 2 and 3 of the original agreement concluded by the dignitaries Yuan and Hu with the English Minister regarding the turning over of the Peking-Tientsin-Shanhaikuan railroad lines, which Articles relate to the establishment of the office of railroad co-director, as well as Article 5, which relates to branch lines, presented various and numerous obstacles. "Our ministry immediately solicited a supreme order directing the aforementioned dignitaries to revise (the articles in question), and we had the honor to preliminarily advise Your Excellency to that effect. "Yesterday we received the report of the aforesaid dignitaries, as follows: "Articles 2 and 3 of the agreement regarding the turning over of the Peking-TientsinShanhaikuan railroad lines relate to the necessity of having foreign military co-directors in questions concerning the transportation of military baggage. We dignitaries desire that, in all questions relating to the transportation of foreign baggage and articles necessary to the detachments, the heads of the Guard detachments of the Foreign Missions at Peking, as well as the higher military authorities looking after the unobstructed communication between the capital and the sea, should confer in due time and directly with the main railroad administration. As regards Article 5 of the agreement concluded on the same date in regard to the privileges of the railroad lines, which article provides that all branch lines must be constructed by the dignitaries having chief supervision over the northern railroads, we dignitaries desire to stipulate that the branches to the north of Peking, as well as the line from Peking to Chang-chia-k'ou (Kalgan), must be constructed by the Chinese Government without interference by foreigners and with Chinese capital, without the application of foreign capital for this purpose; and these lines, or the revenues derived therefrom, must never serve as security for loans placed in foreign nations. In accordance with what is set forth in the report, we request you to refer the matter to the English Minister for examination and reply.' "Our ministry did not delay in officially communicating the circumstances of the case to the English Government. "On June 6 last the ministry received the reply of the English Government, as follows: "After analysing all the points set forth in the communication of the Honorable Ministry on the basis of the deliberations of the dignitaries Yuan and Hu, I deem it my duty to remark that they are in accordance with my views and that, as a matter of course, I can give my consent to their being carried into execution.' 66 Upon the receipt of the reply, our Ministry assured itself that the aforesaid dignitaries and the English Minister had revised the articles in the way desired by Your Excellency, and, upon re-examination, we amended points 2 and 3 of the Chinese-English agreement so as to provide that foreign military co-directors shall not be admitted into the railroad administration; at the same time point 5 of the supplementary agreement was amended as stated before. "We hope that Your Excellency, having long worked for the strengthening of friendly (international) relations, will sincerely welcome the turning over by England of the PekingTientsin-Shanhaikuan railroad lines and that you will gladly lend your cooperation in order to confirm the sincerity of the friendly relations between China and Russia. As regards the communication of the Tsung-li-yamen to former Minister de Giers of May 20/June 1, 1899 [No. 1899/5, ante ], reading as follows: The Chinese Government agrees that, if any additional railroads are built in future to the north of Peking or to the northeast in the direction of the Russian frontier, and unless they are built with Chinese capital by Chinese officials, if the intention is manifested of holding conferences in view of turning over the construction to a foreign nation, such intention shall be primarily discussed with the Russian Government or a Russian syndicate for the purpose of granting the concession (for the work); and the concesssion shall by no means be granted to any other |