Peking, Jan. 16.
The British, American, French and Japanese Ministers sent the following Note to the Waichiaopu on December 23:
"The undersigned draw the serious attention of the Foreign Minister to the position created by the inability of the Ministries of Finance and Communications to meet certain obligations to their foreign creditors. Much patience has been exercised by the latter, whose expectations of payment were encouraged ' by reports of schemes for debt consolidation.
"The lack of provision for meeting payments of long established railway loans due in October, November and December, 1922, and the great difficulties encountered in obtaining these payments are also a matter of common knowledge. Surprise has been felt that, while unsecured foreign debts and obligations have been left unprotected, China's internal loans have been temporarily consolidated on the security of the Customs surpluses.
"This state of affairs is prejudice ally affecting China's credit, which was formerly of good standing in foreign markets, but is now seriously impaired by the default in loans issued by Great Britain, the United States of America, France and Japan.
"The continuance of this preferential treatment of Chinese internal Joans is a matter to which the undersigned feel bound to take exception in the interests of their nationals who are creditors of the Chinese Government and are holders of foreign loans guaranteed by the Chinese Government. They therefore request that future Customs surpluses should be applied no longer exclusively to the service of internal loans, but also to! the liquidation of foreign debts and obligations guaranteed by the Chinese Government.
(Signed) Y. Obata; R. H. Clive (British Charge d'Affaires); J. G. Schurman; de Fleurian.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.