File No. 893.51/1070.
The American Minister to the Secretary of State.
Peking, September 25, 1912.
The agents for the new London syndicate yesterday paid the Chinese Government £500,000 on the proposed loan of £10,000,000, according to information given me by the British Minister, who says that his Government instructed him to protest, but that he had no ground on which to base a protest. The British Foreign Office is much embarrassed by attacks upon it for its support of the Hongkong Bank to the exclusion of all other British financial interests, and the Minister feared its effect. The proposed loan, if floated, will more than absorb all possible revenue securities, it is believed here, and the sextuple group would then have no excuse for its continuance. The bankers suggest that the six ministers jointly warn the Chinese that if they go on with the London loan the bankers will demand repayment of advances already made out of its proceeds.