File No. 1571/26.
The Secretary of State to Chargé Fletcher.
Washington, December 21, 1909.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 1288, of November 10 last, inclosing copies of recent correspondence between the Chinese foreign office and the dean of the diplomatic corps upon the subject of the conservancy of the Whangpoo River, and transmitting at the same time two clippings from the North China Daily News referring to the same subject.
The department is relieved to learn that the work of dredging the channel of the Whangpoo is to be resumed at once, and trusts that satisfactory arrangements may be made without delay to provide the funds needed to complete the unfinished work of conservancy according to the plans of the engineer in chief.
Referring to your recent dispatches dealing with the straitened financial condition of China and the plans for replacing the revenue that is being lost through the suppression of the opium traffic, the department awaits with interest further information as to the method by which it is proposed to meet the unexpected increase in the cost of the work and the guaranties that will be furnished in lieu of the opium revenues of Hsu-chou and Szechuen, which are evidently no longer sufficient. There is no desire to embarrass the Chinese Government in its efforts to fulfill its obligations under the new agreement [Page 92] of September 27, 1905, but the rapid growth of China’s debts, with no corresponding increase in her revenues, and the apparent want of any definite fiscal system render the situation one which must be viewed with grave concern.
I am, etc.,