Evening star., 1922-02-03
CHINESE RAIL WAYAGAN '
ARMS COMMITTEE ISSUE
More Efficient and Economical Operation of
Road Desired-Would Protect Employees
And Select Personnel More Carefully:

yesterday following the thirtieth
meeting of the committee on Pacific
and far eastern questions in the Pan
American building at I O'Clock:
The chairman (Mr. Hughes) said
that before proceeding with the reg
ular order he would state that q
meeting had been held of the sub
committee appointed to consider the
proposed treaties relating to China.
and form Of treaty had been ten
tatively approved. with the purpose
Of having 1t put into print and dis.
tributed.
He then asked for a report from
the committee on the Chinese Eastern
railway.
Mr.. Root said that the full commit
tee had referred to the special COM
mittee on the Chinese Eastern rail-
way a report Of the technical subcom-
mittee. which had been wrestling with
the subject OF that railway for some
time. This special committee now re-
ported back that report OF the tech
observations and reservations made
In behalf Of the Chinese delegation
by DR.. Hawking Yen.
Substance of Report.
The technical subcommittee report,
after giving the recent history OF the
road. had stated the conclusion that
funds would be obtainable only II
suitable conditions were established
for the economical operation Of the
railway, and the funds were to be ex-
pended under adequate supervision.
present so-called interallied commit
tee hy a finance committee which
shall exercise general financial con-
troll over the operation OF the rail-
road" 1t had recommended also
that there should be a new force OF
police or gendarmerie. to be under
the control Of the finance committee.
DR.. Yen had stated in substance that
ne could not give his assent to the
infringement upon the sovereignty Of
China which would be involved in
putting the finance and the protec-
tion Of the road under the control OF
an interallied finance committee.
The subcommittee of delegates. for
which Mr.. Root was reporting. had
had before II both the report of the
technical committee and many drafts
Of resolutions aimed at avoiding the
impasse caused by the objection in
serposed by DR.. Yen to the concIu-
sions of the technical committee.
None of those drafts had seemed to
the generality Of the committee OF
delegates to make any Improvement
the form Of amendments Of the inter-
allied agreement of 1919, which had
been regarded by common consent and
general statement as being still IN
force and effect.
Resolution Reported.
The committee OF delegates now
wished to report unanimously the lol-
lowing resolution:
Resolved, That the preservation OF
the Chinese Eastern railway for those
in interest requires that better pro-
lection be given to the railway and
the persons engaged in its operation
and uSc; a more careful selection OF
personnel to secure efficiency of scrV-
ice, and a more economical use Of
funds to prevent waste of the prop
erty.
That the subject should Immediately
be dealt with through the proper
diplomatic channels.
At the same time all, powers other
than China, that is to say, the United
States. Belgium. Great Britain.
France. Italy. Japan, The Netherlands
and Portugal. had united in the fol-
lowing reservation:
The powers other than China in
agreeing to the resolution regarding
the Chinese Eastern railway reserve
the right to insist hareafIarSupon! the
responsibility of China for sperform-
ance or performance of the OBJ
igations toward the foreign stock
holders. bondholders and creditors OF
the Chinese Eastern Railway Com
pany. which the powers deem to re-
suit from the contracts under which
the railroad was built and the action
Of China Hereunder and the obliga-
tions which they deem to be In the
he
exercise of power by the Chinese gov
ernment over the possession and ad-
miristration of the railroad.
The chairman then said the QueS-
tion was on the first resolution. in
which he understood China partici-
pated. He said he would put that to
vote separately. as the other resolu-
tion related 20 powers other than
China.
Mr. Hoo Explains.
Mr.. Koo addressed the committee.
words for the purpose of calculating
the views of the Chinese delegation
on this important question. AS the
Chinese delegation viewed 1t, this
Chinese Eastern railway question. 50
far as the other powers were con-
cerned, had arisen out of the inter-
allied agreement of 1919, to which
China was a party and to which five
other powers around the table were
also parties.
There were several eonsiderations
guiding the Chinese delegation in
dealing with this question. In the
first place, as the interallied agree
>ment provided for supervision over
the operation of the whole Trans
Siberian system, including the chinese
Eastern railway, the delegation felt
that perhaps it might give rise to
misgivings in China if this one par
ticular railway should be singled out
for separate treatment. In the sec
ond place, the chief value of the
Chinese Eastern railway lay in the
fact that 1t constituted a link in the
communication between Europe on
the one side, and the Pacific ocean
on the other, and therefore any ar
rangement concerning the Chinese
Eastern railway would be of limited
value if that arrangement dld not
include the Trans-Slberlan railway,
which connects with Europe and the
Usuri railway, which assures its ac-
cess to the sea. In the third place.
he said, this railroad ran throush n
Chinese territory in its entirety and
the sovereign rights Of China must
be safeguarded.
and nature of the railway company,
he said. or into the relations between
the railway company on the one SIDE
and the Chinese government on the
other. Those points were clearly set
forth in the various agreements which
China made with Russia and also
with the Russo-Asiatic Bank. which
controlled and owned all the stock
in the railway company.
Working Arrangement Sought.
On the basis of those three consid-
.rations-namely, that the Chinese
Eastern railway could not be singled
out for separate treatment under
the interallied agreement Of 1919: