MR. HERBERT ROBERTSI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government have received official information as to the issue of the Imperial Decree sanctioning the construction of the Shanghai-Nanking Railway, and as to when the final contract will be signed; and whether he is in a position to state the main provisions of the contract.
§ LORD CRANBORNEOn the 11th instant His Majesty's Chargéd' Affaires at Peking telegraphed that an Imperial Decree had been issued and officially communicated to him sanctioning the Agreement for the construction of this railway. He had previously reported that as soon as the Imperial assent had been given the agreement would be signed at Shanghai. The railway, which is to be built and financed by the British and Chinese Corporation, must be begun within twelve months and finished within five years of the conclusion of the agreement. It is to be the property of the Chinese Government and to be administered by a Board of Control consisting of two Chinese nominees and three 946 members appointed by the British and Chinese Corporation. The railway is to be mortgaged as security for the loan to be made by the Corporation to the Chinese Government.