§ MR. WEIRTo ask the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs, seeing that the preliminary contract for the Canton-Kowloon Railway was signed in the spring of 1899, will he state the cause of the delay in proceeding with the construction of the line.
(Answered by Earl Percy.) As stated in my Answer to the hon. Member on 1209 February 10th, †1904, negotiations for the conclusion of the final agreement for the construction of the Canton-Kowloon line were to be postponed until arrangements had been made for financing the Shanghai-Nanking Railway. Since the conclusion of these arrangements, negotiations for the final contract of the Canton line have boon resumed., and His Majesty's Government have urged upon the Chinese Government the importance of an early settlement.