This aide-mémoire was received by the embassy yesterday afternoon. This
morning’s newspapers contained the official communique giving the
substance of the aide-mémoire. The comments of the press are distinctly
divided along purely political lines, the Government and conservative
organs being opposed to the general proposal, the liberal press in favor
of it; while both are disposed to favor a fuller consideration of the
question of Russian participation in the Chinchow-Aigun Railway.
[Inclosure.]
aide-mémoire.
The Imperial Government did not fail to submit to the most serious
examination the alternative proposed by the Government of the United
States of America, tending on the one hand to establish an
international administration and control of the railroads in
Manchuria and on the other hand to engage Russian capital in the
enterprise of the Chinchow-Tsitsihar-Aigun Railroad. The Federal
Government sees in this proposition the best means of maintaining in
their entirety the political rights of China in Manchuria and of
contributing to the development of this Province by applying to it
the principle of the open door.
It is with a feeling of deep satisfaction that the Imperial
Government notes the just estimony borne by the United States
Government to the sincere desire with which Russia is animated to
support in Manchuria the policy of the open door and of equal
opportunity, as well as to guarantee to China her full sovereignty
there.
However, nothing appears at the present time to threaten either this
sovereignty or the open-door policy in Manchuria. Consequently, the
Imperial Government can not discover iii the present condition of
Manchuria any reason necessitating the placing on the order of the
day of the questions raised by the United States Government.
At the same time the Imperial Government believes that it must
declare with absolute frankness that the establishment of an
international administration and control of the Manchurian railroads
as proposed by the Federal Government would seriously injure Russian
interests, both public and private, to which the Imperial Government
attaches a capital importance. This proposition can not, therefore,
meet with a favorable reception on its part.
In making this statement the Imperial Government is pleased to hope
that, appreciating at their just value the immense material
sacrifices and moral efforts at the expense of which these interests
were created, the Federal Government will look at this question from
the same standpoint as the Imperial Government, which standpoint is
equitable in every respect. The Imperial Government, believing that
the interests involved in the Chinese Eastern Railway are notorious,
believes that it may confine itself to stating their substance
succinctly.
It is important above all to remark that at the time this immense
enterprise was put into execution under extraordinary condition, the
Chinese Eastern Railway Co. insured itself, for the whole duration
of the concession—that is, for 80 years—both on the part of the
Chinese and of the Russian Government, well-defined rights and
privileges which it did not consent to relinquish unless China
redeemed the whole enterprise, but in no event before the expiration
of a period of 36 years. The company therefore adopted its plan of
operation with the conviction of being able to realize this long
period of time guaranteed to it by the very act of concession. Now
30 years still separate it from the expiration of the shortest of
these periods.
It is evident that, under these conditions, to urge it to relinquish
its rights and privileges would be to inflict on these interests an
injury which nothing could warrant. For this the Imperial Government
sees no sufficient reason.
On the other hand, the fact must not be lost sight of that, being
obliged to operate in a country where European civilization does not
exist, the company was compelled to make great expenditures not only
for the construction of the railroad proper, but also in connection
with numerous auxiliary works. It was also necessary to create and
organize various kinds of administrations and services connected in
one way or another with the railroad. Finally, thanks to the public
confidence which was enjoyed by the company, numerous private
enterprises, more or less connected with the railroad, arose along
the Chinese Eastern line, very considerable capital being invested
in them. It is hardly possible to enumerate the numerous interests
grouped
[Page 250]
about this line
to-day. And this is a sufficient reason why the Imperial Government
deems itself obliged to use the greatest circumspection in making
any modification whatever of the state of affairs which is the
source of so many interests.
There is still another final consideration which still more greatly
obliges the Imperial Government to observe great prudence. The
development of Manchuria and the exploitation of its natural
resources are not the only purposes pursued by the Chinese Eastern
Railroad. The latter is of a public interest of the first order to
Russia. It constitutes the principal line of communication between
the Russian possessions in the Far East and the rest of the Empire;
it is also the great artery by which these possessions are supplied
with Russian merchandise. In this way the line is but an integral
part of the great Trans-Siberian Railway, which is used by almost
all of western Europe in its relations with the Far East. It is this
consideration that decided the Russian Government to guarantee, at
very considerable expense, the capital invested in the construction
of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and to cover the deficit resulting
from its operation. It can not, therefore, be a matter of
indifference to the Imperial Government whether it is an
international organ that administers a line of such importance, or,
on the contrary, a Russian stock company which is obliged not to fix
the rates and conditions of transportation of merchandise by the
Chinese Eastern Railroad without the consent of the Russian
Government, and which, by the very nature of the concession
obtained, is closely connected with the interests of the nation.
These are the considerations which, from the Russian standpoint,
determine in a conclusive manner the attitude of the Imperial
Government toward the proposition of the United States Government
regarding the international administration and control of the
Manchurian railroads. There are others, however, of a general
character which likewise do not plead in favor of this
proposition.
The Imperial Government is of the opinion that the proposition of the
United States does not sufficiently guarantee that the new order of
things will have a satisfactory result from a financial standpoint.
At all events, the organization proposed for Manchuria is of a
tentative character, which has not only never been tried in China
but is unusual in itself. To decide in favor of it on so vast a
scale as proposed by the Federal Government, relinquishing for this
purpose a system that has been tested, would only be possible with a
certainty of obtaining favorable results. The Imperial Government
regrets that it does not have this certainty.
Taking up, now, the second alternative of the American proposition,
the Imperial Government considers itself obliged to declare that it
regards the project of construction of the Chinchow-Tsitsihar-Aigun
Railroad as being of capital importance to Russia. Its
accomplishment will open up a new route giving access from the south
not only to the Chinese Eastern Railroad, but directly to Russian
possessions at Aigun. This shows adequately the strategic and
political importance of the enterprise. Moreover, the construction
of this line will essentially modify the conditions under which
eastern Mongolia and the north of Manchuria are served by the
Chinese Eastern Railroad. Now, the Imperial Government can not
realize the consequences of this proposition and decide on the
attitude which it ought to assume in regard thereto unless it is
informed of the basis on which it reposes. For these reasons the
Imperial Government, while being willing in principle to take this
question under consideration, hopes that it will be enabled to know
the basis of the proposition in due time in order that it may, after
a thorough examination, reach a final attitude with regard to the
proposition itself as well as to its participation therein.
It is the same with any future project concerning a financial
participation in the construction of railroads in Manchuria. The
Imperial Government considers that it must reserve the privilege of
examining every project of this kind from a double standpoint of its
political and strategical interests and of the interests of the
Chinese Eastern Railroad. Then only could it take a position in
regard to each of the lines which might be projected.
