In view of our chairman’s letter of the 24th January last, bringing our syndicate to 
your notice, and your reply of the 3rd February, in which you wrote :— 
“I am directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to inform you that a copy of your letter 
will be forwarded to His Majesty's Minister at Peking, who will be directed to furnish 
your local representative with such assistance as he properly can. In issuing these 
structions to Sir J. Jordan, Sir E. Grey would be glad to be in a position to give the 
names of the foreign firms with whom your bank is associated, and I am to request that 
this information may be supplied ” : 
we think we were not unreasonable in considering that we had the concurrence 
and support of His Majesty's Government, and we had no hesitation in concluding the 
loan, of which we advised you in our letter of the 15th instant. 
The contract has been ratified by the National Assembly, and we venture to hope 
that, after consideration of the facts set forth in our syndicate’s letter of the 18th 
instant, our request may meet with a more favourable response from His Majesty’s 
Government, and that the necessary instructions may be sent to His Majesty's Minister 
at Peking. 
I have, &ec. 
F. H. SUTTON, Manager. 
No. 12. 
Foreign Office to Eastern Bank, Messrs. J. H. Schroder and Co., Messrs. KE. D. Sassoon 
and Co., and Messrs. Brown, Shipley, and Co. 
Sir, Foreign Office, March 22, 1912. 
I AM directed by Secretary Sir E. Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
of the 18th instant, replying to the views of Sir E. Grey as to the attitude of His 
Majesty's Government towards financial groups making loans to China, as set forth in 
the letter to you from this Office of the i4th. 
You state that the attitude now adopted does not seem wholly consistent with the 
position taken up in the earlier letters of the Foreign Office. 
In reply to this statement, I am to refer you to the Foreign Office letter of the 
3rd ultimo, in which, as you observe in your letter now under consideration, you were 
warned that the Chinese Government would probably, in the first instance, apply for 
financial assistance to the groups of the four-nation combine. This is the course which 
in the event the Chinese Government actually adopted, and when you applied to 
Sir E. Grey in regard to the Anglo-Belgian loan he was already pledged to support 
another loan, with the conditions of which, in the opinion of His Majesty's Government 
and the other Governments interested, the Anglo-Belgian loan was in conflict. 
It appears to Sir E. Grey that you are under a misapprehension in attributing to 
him a statement that the policy suggested by you was in conflict with that of the 
internationalisation of loans in China. You were informed that your request appeared 
to conflict with your protest against the internationalisation of loans in China, which 
is obviously a quite different statement to that now attributed by you to Sir E. Grey. 
I am further to point out to you that His Majesty's Government are acting in 
accord with both the German and French Governments in this matter. The German 
market has been closed to this loan, and the French Government refuse to support it. 
Moreover, the conditions of the loan are unknown to His Majesty's Government, and it 
is very doubtful whether the four Governments interested would find that it offered 
what they would consider * adequate guarantees for the proper and useful expenditure 
of the proceeds and satisfactory security for the payment of principal and interest.” 
Sir E. Grey notes with pleasure that you have no desire to embarrass His Majesty's 
Government, and are prepared to discuss matters with the Hong Kong and Shanghai 
Bank; but I am to point out that it is for you to approach that bank, as suggested in 
the previous letter from this Office. 
I am, &c. 
W. LANGLEY.