China's Default to Vickers and Marconi Bondholders: Project to Lend China £10 Millions From Our Own Correspondent, London, May 30.
Under the auspices of the British Bank for Foreign Trade, Limited, and with Mr. Charles Crisp in the chair, a meeting of the holders of the Chinese Government 8 Per cent. ten-year Sterling Treasury Bills was held at Winchester House on May 28, to consider the steps to be taken to protect the interests of bond-holders and to consider a scheme to be submitted. It cannot be said that the proceedings threw much light on the Position of the bond-holders affected, but it enabled the chair-Man to give a review of the financial position which led up to the present state of affairs, under which there had been default on the Marconi coupons since August, 1921, and on the Vickers coupons since October, 1922. Mr. Crisp pointed out that his connexion with the matter was that his bank had guaranteed and paid the interest on the coupons in 1921. He laid stress upon the fact that the Chinese were very desirous of keeping faith with the investors and he Pointed out that the opposition all came from the Consortium which had refused to allow the issues to be secured on the Salt Tax on the ground that it was an infringement of their rights. He himself was not able to understand they claimed to exercise the right of apostolic succession to the old Consortium of 1913 and he also complained of the constitution of that body which failed to bring in any representative of the Chinese Government which regarded the Consortium as an affront. He himself had visited America recently and found that American bankers were getting impatient, though they realized that the Chinese Government was being prevented by the Consortium from dealing in the markets of the world. Many of them thought that the Chinese Government should be allowed to pledge good securities and as a result of the intention of the American bankers to take action, they contemplated a joint transaction which would have the effect of securing the Vickers and Marconi notes on the surplus of the Customs revenue.
THE CONSORTIUM ATTACKED, Mr. Crisp then read correspondence with the Foreign Office from which it appeared that in November, 1921, the Foreign Office regretted its inability to agree te the security for the note issues being placed on the Salt Tax, as this was not in accordance with the Reorganization Loan of 1913, or with the spirit of the Con-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.