§ 7. Sir WALTER de FRECEasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether China has at any time made default on any Government railway loans; whether he can state the guarantee for the payment of interest and principal on the Hukuang railway loan; whether the other railway lines in China, built and completed with foreign capital, are now paying; and how many miles are incomplete of the Hukuang railway already referred to?
Mr. McNEILLThe Chinese Government have not up to the present time defaulted on any British railway loans to China; I cannot speak for loans made by other countries. The Hukuang -Railway Loan is secured on certain provincial revenues of the Provinces of Hupei and Hunan. The present financial position of the Chinese railways is very obscure; in many eases the receipts are being seized by the local military chiefs; so far as my information goes none of the railways are now paying their way, and it has been necessary to raise funds from other sources to meet the loan obligations. About 250 miles of the Hukuang Railway still remain to be built.