893.51/5119
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Johnson) of a Conversation With Mr. George Bronson Rea of Shanghai
Mr. Rea came to see me this morning. He showed me a power of attorney given to him by Sun Fo, Minister of Railways in the National Government at Nanking, signed in the presence of Mr. Cunningham, our Consul General at Shanghai, empowering Mr. Rea to take up with the Government of the United States and with other interested parties the question of assisting the National Government of China in obtaining funds for the construction of 10,000 miles of railways, said construction to be carried out as a definite program over a period of ten years. Mr. Rea said that he intended to come to talk to me about this matter at a later date. He said he realized all of the difficulties involved; that he was under no illusions in the matter and that he realized that the success of this plan depended upon the ability of the National Government of China to stabilize itself and to obtain control over the area where the railways were running. He said he realized that the question of China’s unpaid debts must be taken into consideration, but that he thought that this fact should not prevent the consideration of the greater problem involved, namely, the problem of finding some way of supporting efforts to build up and stabilize governmental institutions in China in the interest of peace and in the interest of the welfare of business. He stated that the problem of [Page 820] China’s present railways would not be such a complicated problem provided the National Government could obtain actual control of its lines, that he estimated that it would take approximately $20,000,000 Mex. to repair the lines and the rolling stock so that the wheels could be set turning and the lines once more be put into operation with present facilities. He said that in working out his plans with the Chinese for the construction of new lines he had stipulated that he would have nothing to do with any plan which would have to do with the construction of lines which might involve controversies with rights already granted to other nationalities and that he felt certain that the plans which had been worked out complied with these requirements of his. He said that the plan called for the construction of railroads in southern China with the exception of certain extensions of the Lunghai and a short line to connect the Tientsin-Pukow Railway with the Peking-Hankow Railway from Techow, a station on the Tientsin-Pukow line, Mr. Rea stated that it was his desire to have the matter adopted as an administration policy and that he hoped to take it directly to Mr. Hoover. He said that he had a letter of introduction from Tong Chow Li [Tang Shao-yi?]. He said that if the Administration could make some statement in favor of the idea that then it might be possible to do something with the bankers. Mr. Rea stated that he was very anxious to avoid any controversies with the consortium.77 I told him that I did not know what attitude the consortium might take in the premises. The consortium still existed and naturally would be interested in the point of view of previous commitments. I understood from Mr. Rea that he intended to come back to see me on this matter some time later.
- For agreement regarding the consortium, on October 15, 1920, by American, British, French, and Japanese groups, see Foreign Relations, 1920, vol. i, p. 576.↩