Note 1.

The Russo-Chinese Bank was subsequently merged with the Banque du Nord under the name of the Russo-Asiatic Bank (Banque Russo-Asiatique) by a charter approved by the Russian Minister of Finance on July 30/August 12, 1910 (Sobranie Uzakonenii i Rasporyazhenii Pravitelstva, § 719, October 2/15, 1910, No. 96, Section 1). For extracts embodying the substance of the original charter of the Russo-Chinese Bank, under date of December 10/22 see Rockhill, p. 207. At page 185 of Shina Kankei Tokushu Joyaku Isan is given the Japanese translation of an agreement stated to have been concluded on the 20th day of the 7th moon of the 22nd year of Kuang Hsü (August 28, 1896) in regard to the Russo-Chinese Bank Association. The text, apparently translated from a Chinese original, is obscure; but the following is an approximate rendering:

Alleged Agreement between China and Russia regarding Russo-Chinese Bank Association.-August 28, 1896.

"Hsü, Chinese Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, in pursuance of Imperial Orders of the 20th day of the 7th month of the 22nd year of Kuang Hsü, signed the following agreement in regard to the Russo-Chinese Bank Association:

"1.—The Chinese Government shall contribute a capital of 5,000,000 Kuping taels, and undertake the business in the form of an association under the name of the Russo-Chinese Bank. That is to say that, from the date that this amount is handed over to the Bank, all profit and loss will be borne in proportion to shares.

"2.-When a general account is made up on the first day of the first month of the Russian calendar, the account of profit and loss of the Chinese Government up to the end of the year shall be calculated in Kuping taels, in proportion to the shares held by the Chinese Government.

"3. With regard to the profits which are obtained in accordance with the Statutes of the Bank, after first deducting a certain portion which is to be offered to the Bank Manager(s) as a bonus in reward for diligence, the remainder of the profits shall be divided between the Chinese Government and the Bank in proportion to the shares held by each. Provided, however, that 10% shall be deducted from the profits of the dividends as a reserve fund, and that when the profit exceeds 6% of the capital, 20% shall be deducted from the amount that exceeds 6%, and shall be given as a bonus to the Manager(s). If there is a loss in the business, the loss for which the Chinese Government is liable shall be paid out of the reserve fund.

4-The monthly and annual reports of the said Bank shall, after obtaining the consent of the general meeting of shareholders, be transmitted by the Manager of the Bank residing in China to the Manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway appointed by the Chinese Government. After he has inspected them, the reports shall be returned.

"5.-If the Bank in question is closed as a result of circumstances or on account of losses, what remains of the capital is to be returned to the Chinese Government if, after balancing the accounts, the loss is found to be small."

Note 2.

In connection with this contract see also the following documents:

1. Convention between Russia and China for the lease of the Liaotung Peninsula, March 27, 1898 (No. 1898/5, post);

2. Additional Agreeement between Russia and China, defining the boundaries of the leased and neutralized territory in the Liaotung Peninsula, May 7, 1898 (No. 1898/9, post); 3. Agreement between the Chinese Eastern Railway Company and the Chinese Government for the Southern Manchurian Branch of the Railway, July 6, 1898 (No. 1898/15, post);

4. Exchange of Notes between Great Britain and Russia with regard to their respective railway interests in China, April 28, 1899 (No. 1899/3, post.);

5. Declaration of the Chinese Government in regard to railways north and north-east of Peking, June 1, 1899 (1899/5, post);

6. Agreement between Russia and China with regard to Manchuria, April 8, 1902 (No. 1902/3, post);

7. Treaty of peace between Japan and Russia, September 5, 1905 (No. 1905/8, post); 8. Treaty and Additional Agreement between Japan and China relating to Manchuria, December 22, 1905 (No. 1905/18, post);

9. Convention and Protocol relating to Japanese and Russian railway connections in Manchuria, June 13, 1907 (No. 1907/9, post);

10. Political Convention between Japan and Russia, July 30, 1907 (No. 1907/11, post); 11. Political Convention between Japan and Russia, July 4, 1910 (No. 1910/1, post); 12. Agreement between Great Britain and Russia respecting the inclusion of British

subjects within the scheme of municipal administration and taxation established in the area of the Chinese Eastern Railway, December 3, 1914 (No. 1914/14, post); and

13. Treaty between Japan and Russia in regard to cooperation in the Far East, July 3, 1916 (No. 1916/9, post).

It was long persistently rumored that the concession for the Chinese Eastern Railway was a first-fruit of a secret political agreement between China and Russia, which attained notoriety under the name of "The Cassini Convention." In its issue of October 30, 1896, the North China Herald published what purported to be a translation of that Convention, in an article which is of sufficient historical interest to warrant its reproduction in full, as follows:

The Cassini Convention.

"28th Oct. "As our Peking correspondent told us in his last letter, Count Cassini, the Russian Minister, left Peking for Russia on the 30th of September. His baggage had been packed for three or more weeks, and the carts and mule litters were actually standing in the courts of the Russian Legation, but the Minister would not go until he could take with him duly signed and sealed an important agreement supposed to be the right of way for the Siberian railway across northern Manchuria.' With great difficulty we have succeeded in obtaining a copy of this agreement, and we now proceed to give an English translation of it. The numbers to the various clauses in this Convention have been added by us for convenience' sake:

"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China having received the various benefits arising from the loyal support of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia at the close of the late war between China and Japan, and being desirous that the communications between the frontier territories of their respective empires and the international commerce of the two countries be managed to their mutual advantage, has commanded the mutual settlement of certain matters in order the better to consolidate the basis of friendship between the two empires. In this connection, therefore, H.I.M. the Emperor of China has specially appointed the Imperial High Commissioners the Princes and Great Officers of the Crown composing the Imperial Chinese Ministry of War, with plenipotentiary powers, to confer and agree upon certain matters, at Peking, with His Excellency Count Cassini, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of H.I.M. the Emperor of Russia to the Court of China, concerning the connecting of the railway system of the Three Eastern Provinces [Fêngtien, Kirin, and Heilungchiang] with that of the Imperial Russian railway in the province of Siberia, with the object of facilitating the transport of goods between the two empires and of strengthening the frontier defences and seacoasts. And, furthermore, to agree upon certain special privileges to be conceded by China to Russia as a response to the loyal aid given by Russia in the retrocession of Liaotung and its dependencies.

"1.-Owing to the fact that the Russian Great Siberian Railway is on the point of completion. China consents to allow Russia to prolong her railway into Chinese territories (a) from the Russian port of Vladivostock into the Chinese city of Hunch'un in the province of Kirin, from thence northwestwards to the provincial capital of Kirin, and (b) from a railway station of some city in Siberia to the Chinese town of Aiyun in Heilungchiang province, from thence southwestwards to the provincial capital of Tsitsihar and from thence to the town of Petunê, in Kirin province, and from thence southeastwards to the provincial capital of Kirin.

"2.-All railways built by Russia into the Chinese provinces of Heilungchiang and Kirin shall be built at the sole expense of Russia and the regulations and building thereof shall be solely on the Russian system, with which China has nothing to do, and the entire control shall be in the hands of Russia for the space of thirty years. At the end of the said period China shall be allowed to prepare the necessary funds wherewith, after proper estimation of the value of the said railways, she shall redeem them, the rolling stock, machine shops, and buildings connected therewith. But as to how China will at that date redeem these railways shall be left for future consideration.

"3.-China is now in the possession of a railway which she intends to extend from Shanhaikuan into the provincial capital of Fêngtien, namely, Moukden (Shengking), and from Moukden to the provincial capital of Kirin. If China should hereafter find it inconvenient to build this road she shall allow Russia to provide the funds to build the railway from the city of Kirin, on behalf of China, the redemption of which road shall be permissible to China at the end of ten years. With reference to the route to be taken by this railway, Russia shall follow the surveys already made by China in connection therewith, from Kirin to Moukden, Newchwang, etc.

"4.-The railway to be built by China beginning from Shanhaikuan, in Fêngtien, to Newchwang, to Kaiping, to Chinchou, to Lushunk'ou [Port Arthur], and to Talienwan, and their dependencies, shall follow the Russian Railway regulations in order to facilitate the commercial intercourse between the respective Empires.

"5. With reference to the railways to be built by Russia into Chinese territory, the routes along which the said roads shall pass must be protected, as usual, by the local civil and military officials of the country. They shall, moreover, afford all facilities and aid to the civil and military officials of Russia at the various railway stations, together with all the Russian artisans and labourers connected therewith. But owing to the fact that the said railways will pass for the greater part through barren and sparsely inhabited territory in which it will be difficult for the Chinese authorities to be always able to grant the necessary protection and aid, Russia shall be allowed to place special battalions of horse and foot soldiers at the various important stations for the better protection of the railway property.

"6.-With reference to the Customs duties to be collected on goods exported from and imported into the respective countries by the said railways, they shall follow the regulations provided by the Treaty of Commerce between China and Russia, ratified in the 1st year of the reign of T'sung Chih, 4th day, 2nd moon [20th February 1862 O.S.], fegulating overland transit of goods between the two empires.

"7.-There has always been in existence a rule prohibiting the exploitation of the mines in Heilungchiang and Kirin provinces and in the Ch'angpai mountains [Long White Mountain range]. After the ratification of this treaty, Russians and subjects of the Chinese empire shall be permitted hereafter to exploit and open any of the mines therein mentioned; but before doing so they shall be required first to petition the Chinese local authorities on the subject who, on the other hand, shall grant the necessary commissions (huchao) in accordance with the mining regulations in force in China Proper.

"8.-Although there exist certain battalions of foreign-drilled troops (Lienchun) in the Three Eastern Provinces, yet the greater portion of the local territorial army corps thereof still follow the ancient regulations of the empire. Should, therefore, China in the future require to reform in accordance with the Western system the whole army organization of the said provinces, she shall be permitted to engage from Russia qualified military officers for that purpose and the rules for the guidance of this arrangement shall be in accordance with those obtaining in the Liangkiang provinces in regard to the German military officers now engaged there.

"9.-Russia has never possessed a seaport in Asia which is free from ice and open all the year round. If, therefore, there should suddenly arise military operations in this continent it will naturally be difficult for the Russian Eastern Seas and Pacific fleets to move about freely and at pleasure. As China is well aware of this she is willing to lease temporarily to Russia the port of Kiaochou [Chiaochou] in the province of Shantung, the period of such lease being limited to fifteen years. At the end of this period China shall buy all the barracks, godowns, machine shops and docks built there by Russia [during her occupation of the said port]. But, should there be no danger of military operations, Russia shall not enter immediately into possession of the said port or hold the important points dominating the port, in order to obviate the chance of exciting the jealousy and suspicions of other Powers. With reference to the amount of rent and the way it is to be paid, this shall form the subject of consideration in a protocol at some future date.

"10.-As the Liaotung ports of Lushunk'ou [Port Arthur] and Talienwan and their dependencies are important strategical points. it shall be incumbent upon China to properly fortify them with all haste, and to repair all their fortifications, etc., in order to provide against future dangers; Russia shall therefore lend all necessary assistance in helping to protect these two ports and shall not permit any Foreign Power to encroach upon them. China, on her part, also binds herself never to cede them to another country; but, if in future the exigencies of the case require it and Russia should find herself suddenly involved in a war, China consents to allow Russia temporarily to concentrate her land and naval forces within the said ports in order the better to enable Russia to attack the enemy or to guard her own position.

"11.-If, however, there be no dangers of military operations in which Russia is engaged China shall have entire control over the administration of the said ports of Lushunk'ou and Talienwan, nor shall Russia interfere in any way therein. But as regards the building of the railways in the Three Eastern Provinces and the exploitation and opening of the mines therein, they shall be permitted to be proceeded with immediately after the ratification of this Convention and at the pleasure of the people concerned therein. With reference to the civil and military officers of Russia and Russian merchants and traders traveling [in any part of the territories herein mentioned], wherever they shall go, they shall be given all the privileges of protection and facilities within the power of the local authorities, nor shall these officials be allowed to put obstructions in the way or delay the journeys of the Russian officers and subjects herein mentioned.

"12. After this Convention shall have received the respective signatures of their Imperial Majesties [the Emperors of China and Russia], the articles included therein shall go into immediate force, and, with the exception of the clauses regarding Port Arthur, Talienwan, and Kiaochou, shall be notified to the various local authorities of the two Empires. As to the place for the exchange of ratifications, it shall be left to be decided at some future time, but the exchange shall take place within the space of six months.

"It has, furthermore, been agreed upon between the respective Plenipotentiaries of the High Contracting Powers to make this Convention out in three languages, namely, Chinese, Russian and French; one copy of each language to be held by the respective High Contracting Parties, after the signing and sealing thereof. And it has, furthermore, been shown, upon comparison, that the contents of the documents as given in the three languages aforesaid tally with each other in all respects; but in case of dispute in the future the wording of the French copy shall be deemed the correct version.

"This document speaks for itself, and gives Russia all she can want at present. It / gives her the right to carry her Trans-Siberian Railway to Kirin in two directions, from some station in Siberia to the west of Kirin, and from Vladivostock. It provides that China may apply to Russia to build a continuation from Kirin to Shanhaikuan and Port Arthur, and it gives Russia the right to protect these lines when built_with_her own troops. All these lines are to be built to the Russian gauge. China gives Russians the right to work mines in Manchuria, and provides for the employment of Russian officers to drill the Manchurian levies. It gives Russia (on lease) the port of Kiaochou, and on emergency the use of Port Arthur and Talienwan, which are not to be ceded to any other Power; and it promises every facility to Russian merchants and travellers and Russian trade. All the most important points in the secret treaty which we gave to the world in March last are embodied in this, and time will show whether this is the full extent of China's gratitude to Russia."

For a criticism of this document, see Cordier's Histoire des Relations de la Chine avec les Puissances Occidentales, 1860-1902, vol. p. 343. Vol.3

In an article entitled "Manchuria-A Chinese View of the Situation," by "An Admirer of Li Hung Chang," which was published in the London Daily Telegraph of February 15, 1910, it was stated that while attending the Coronation ceremonies of Emperor Nicholas at Moscow, in May, 1896, Li Hung Chang concluded with the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs (Prince Lobanoff-Rostovsky) a secret treaty of alliance, the French text of which was given together with the following English translation:

Treaty of Alliance between China and Russia.-May, 1896.

ARTICLE I.-Every aggression directed by Japan, whether against Russian territory in Eastern Asia, or against the territory of China or that of Korea, shall be regarded as necessarily bringing about the immediate application of the present treaty.

"In this case the two High Contracting Parties engage to support each other reciprocally by all the land and sea forces of which they can dispose at that moment, and to assist each other as much as possible for the victualling of their respective forces.

ARTICLE II. As soon as the two High Contracting Parties shall be engaged in common action no treaty of peace with the adverse party can be concluded by one of them without the assent of the other.

'ARTICLE III.-During the military operations all the ports of China shall, in case of necessity, be open to Russian warships, which shall find there on the part of the Chinese authorities all the assistance of which they may stand in need.

"ARTICLE IV.-In order to facilitate the access of the Russian land troops to the menaced points, and to ensure their means of subsistence, the Chinese Government consents to the construction of a railway line across the Chinese provinces of the Amour [i.e., Heilungkiang] and of Guirin (Kirin) in the direction of Vladivostok. The junction of this railway with the Russian railway shall not serve as a pretext for any encroachment on Chinese territory nor for any infringement of the rights of sovereignty of his Majesty the Emperor of China. The construction and exploitation of this railway shall be accorded to the RussoChinese Bank, and the clauses of the Contract which shall be concluded for this purpose shall be duly discussed between the Chinese Minister in St. Petersburg and the RussoChinese Bank.

"ARTICLE V.-It is understood that in time of war, as indicated in Article I, Russia shall have the free use of the railway mentioned in Article IV, for the transport and provisioning of her troops. In time of peace Russia shall have the same right for the transit of her troops and stores, with stoppages, which shall not be justified by any other motive than the needs of the transport service.

"ARTICLE VI.-The present treaty shall come into force on the day when the contract stipulated in Article IV, shall have been confirmed by his Majesty the Emperor of China. It shall have from then force and value for a period of fifteen years. Six months before the expiration of this term the two High Contracting Parties shall deliberate concerning the prolongation of this treaty."

The substantial accuracy of the disclosure thus made would appear to be adequately confirmed by the following extract translated from Ma Mission en Chine: 1893-1897 (Paris, Plon-Nourrit, 1918), by M. A. Gérard, who during the period indicated was French Minister to China:

Although the treaty was intended to remain secret, I one day had in my hands for

3

fi.

a few minutes, during a visit which I made in the spring of 1897 to Li Hung Chang at his residence in Peking, the copy of the document which he had signed the previous year with Prince Lobanoff The English translation of this text was published fifteen years later, when the treaty itself had expired, in the London Daily Telegraph, by the son of Li Hung Chang, Li Ching Mai, who was then Chinese Minister at the Court of St James, and who sought to defend his father's memory against unjust attacks. The treaty was in fact a treaty of alliance, concluded for a period of fifteen years, by which the Chinese Government obligated itself, in the event of an aggression by Japan, to place at the disposal of the Russian Government its ports and all means of defence. The principal clause of the treaty was the assent given by the Chinese Government to the construction and operation, in the Manchurian provinces of Amur (Heilungkiang) and Kirin, of a line of railway connecting with the Russian Siberian lines, the concession for which was made to the Russo-Chinese Bank by a contract to be signed between the Chinese Minister at St. Petersburg and the delegate of the Bank (Article IV). It was stipulated in Article VI that the treaty should come into force on the day on which the contract for the construction and operation of the railway should have been approved and ratified by the Emperor of China. .

"The English newspapers at Shanghai had published, long before it was signed, the alleged text of the treaty and of the contract. They published another so-called version in the month of October, 1896, some days after the ratification at Peking of the contract in regard to the railway. These various texts, to which the English press gave the name of the Cassini Convention,' were apocryphal. They confused the treaty of alliance, properly so called, with the railway contract. The true facts as here outlined establish that there never was, properly speaking, any Cassini Convention'; that the treaty of alliance was concluded at St. Petersburg in the month of May, 1896, between Li Hung Chang and Prince Lobanoff; that the railway contract was signed on September 8th following, also at St. Petersburg, by the Chinese Minister, Shu Ching Cheng, and the delegates of the Russo-Asiatic Bank; and that it was this contract for whose definite ratification at Peking on September 30th Count Cassini waited before proceeding on his way to Russia."

In the summer of 1918, the military situation which had developed in Siberia led to a suggestion by the American Government for the unified control of the Siberian railway system (including the Chinese Eastern Railway), under the direction of Mr. John F. Stevens and the Russian Railway Corps associated with him, which the Government of the United States had placed at the disposal of the Russian Government during the Kerensky régime, and which had been entrusted by that administration with the reorganization of traffic between European Russia and Vladivostok. The overthrow of the Kerensky Government had interrupted the work of Mr. Stevens and his associates; the Bolsheviks, in cooperation with liberated German and Austrian prisoners of war, had taken possession of the Trans-Baikal, Amur and Ussuri sections of the Siberian system, and inhibited all traffic thereon save in their own interests; the liberated Czecho-Slovak prisoners had been prevented from passing eastwards over the line in order to join the forces of the Allies in Europe; to assist them and to protect the military stores accumulated at Vladivostok, the American, British, Chinese, French, Italian and Japanese Governments had despatched expeditionary forces to occupy Vladivostok and take possession of the several branches of the Ussuri Railway; the Japanese and Chinese Governments, in pursuance of the military agreement of March 25, 1918 (No. 1918/4, post), had taken possession of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and, after the opening of the main Trans-Siberian line by the CzechoSlovak forces, of the Trans-Baikal Railway as far west as Chita. The railway service had become so disorganized as to be incapable of satisfying the economic needs of Siberia, or even the military requirements of the Allied forces. Under these circumstances, the American Government offered the suggestion that, for the purpose of more efficient technical management, and without prejudice to any claims of financial or political interest, the Siberian railway system (including therein the Chinese Eastern Railway) should during the existing emergency be entrusted to a Commission directed by Mr. Stevens. The other interested Governments having indicated their willingness to accept any arrangement to that end which might be agreed upon between the American and Japanese Governments, negotiations ensued between the American Ambassador at Tokyo and the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, which on January 9, 1919, resulted in an informal agreement as subsequently (March 17, 1919) announced by the Japanese Foreign Office, to the following effect:

Agreement regarding Inter-Allied Supervision of Siberian Railway System.-
January 9, 1919.

"Plan for the supervision of the Chinese Eastern and the Trans-Siberian Railways in the zone in which the Allied military Forces are now operating.

"1. The general supervision of the railways in the zone in which the Allied Forces are now operating shall be exercised by a special Inter-Allied Committee, which shall consist of representatives from each Allied Power having military forces in Siberia, including Russia, and the Chairman of which shall be a Russian.