Memorandum from the Russian Embassy.
Washington, February 24, 1910.
A careful study of the Chinchow-Aigun Railroad project has convinced the Imperial Russian Government that such a railroad would be exceedingly injurious both to the strategic and to the economic interests of Russia. China in 18991 engaged not to build railroads to the north of Peking with foreign capital other than Russian, and Russia could be willing not to insist on the execution by China of this obligation only under the conditions that railroads built with capital provided by international syndicates should not be an evident menace to the security of the Russian frontier and should not injure the interests of Russia’s railroad enterprise in Manchuria. On the other [Page 262] hand, the Imperial Russian Government consider that foreign capitalists merely seek an advantageous investment of their capital and have no tendency to assist Chinese plans inimical to Russia and for this reason would see no objection to replace the Chinchow-Aigun project by another of equal value as to its economic importance and less disadvantageous to Russia.
For these reasons the Imperial Government has conceived the plan of proposing to China and to the English syndicate to build not the Chinchow-Aigun line, but to build a railroad from Kalgan, which is already connected with the northern Chinese railroads, to Urga, and further, to the Russian frontier at Kiakhta. The project of such a line has been under consideration for some time, and according to information in the possession of the Imperial Government is favorably considered by China and by foreigners interested in railroad building in China. The difficulties to its realization were considered primarily to be that for deriving from it every possible advantage it would be necessary that this line be connected with the Siberian Railroad. The Imperial Government would not object to such a connection and might for this purpose build a branch road from one of the stations of the Trans-Baikal Railroad to Kiakhta, but would desire as compensation therefor that Russia’s participation in the building of the Kalgan-Urga-Kiakhta Railroad should take the form of letting Russian capitalists undertake the building of the section Urga-Kiakhta.
The Russian ambassador is instructed to confidentially acquaint the honorable the Secretary of State with the above and to express the hope that this counterproposal will be favorably received by the Government of the United States and enlist their support.