TEMPORARY MINING REGULATIONS IN CHINA
405
fail to discharge these duties, and any accusation be made against them, this Board, if upon investigation the accusations are sustained, will impeach the officials concerned and request the high authorities to punish them severely.
XXVIII.—When any dispute arises, and both the parties to it are Chinese, the nearest local official should be requested to impartially decide the matter, an appeal being allowed to this Board if the decision of the local official is not accepted. When the dispute is between Chinese on the one hand and foreigners on the other, each side should appoint an arbitrator to hear the dispute together and arrange a settlement. Should the two arbitrators disagree, they should appoint a third, no matter whether connected with the undertaking or not, and together they should impartially decide the dispute. The Governments of the two nationalities concerned must not interfere. XXIX.-When a permit to work a wine has been issued, the contract for working the mine may be prepared covering all details, care being taken to avoid any infraction of the regulations. A copy of the draft contract must be submitted to the Board for its approval before being signed.
XXX. A permit to work a mine will be valid only for thirty years. If it be desired to renew the permit, the Board must be notified not later then six months prior to the expiration of the aforesaid thirty years, and the Board will then consider and determine the application. In cases of mining lands for which the State may have some other important purpose, no renewal of the permit will be granted. estimate will be made of the amount to be paid for the recovery of the said lands. When a permit is renewed the same fees will be payable as in the case of an original permit.
An
XXXI.-Notwithstanding that a permit has been issued to carry on mining opera- tions (on Government land) within certain limits indicated on such permit, yet if within the boundaries described there should be any private property or private interests such property must be marked off as not included in the concession.
When a permit
to work a mine is applied for any such circumstances should be reported to the Board, so that they may be recorded on the permit aud thus avoid dispute. In the event of a permit being obtained by misrepresentation in regard to such circumstances the holder thereof will be held liable to a penalty on discovery of the facts.
XXXII.-When the mining concession includes forests which may be needed by the State, trees can only be felled after permission from the Board has been obtained. When application is made for the permit to conduct mining operaticns, the applicant must state if any felling of trees is contemplated, and, if after examination the Board gives its sanction, the extent of the forest which may be cleared will be recorded in the permit, and it will be unlawful to cut timber beyond the boundaries specified. All wood cut must be paid for at the current market price.
XXXIII.—If no ore shall have been taken out of a mine within twelve months after the rent of the concession has been paid, then the rent for the second year must be paid; but if ore has been extracted in quantities within the first year, then the land tax must be paid as specified in the regulations, and no rent in addition will be demanded. This rule is adopted as an expression of the Government's consideration for trade. If, however, the rent shall not have been paid within three ronths of the due date, the mine and all the property connected therewith shall be sequestrated until the full amount due has been paid; and if the said debt shall not have been liquidated within a period of six months, the concession may be cancelled and the property confiscated.
-
XXXIV. The tax on the output of the mine will be generally in accordance with the classified list and scale given below, aud ores not specified will rank for the purposes of taxation with those which most nearly approximate to them. The following rate of duty is payable in respect of ores extracted from mines for the working of which contracts have already been made even though it be not specified in the conditions of the contract :-
(a.) Coal, Antimony, Iron, Alum, and Borax 5% ad valorem.
(b.) Petroleum, Copper, Tin, Lead, Sulphur, and Cinnabar 71% ad valorem.
Original from
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN