THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TSUNGLI YAMEN
47
reach far enough' but also that he may not be able to be well acquainted with barbarian affairs. The acting imperial commissioner and governor Hsueh Huan, ought to continue to be responsible for managing affairs properly. As regards Tientsin and Shanghai, whoever manages all the business ought to copy the practice of the provinces in sending separate reports, and through these great officials keep the Tsungli Yamen regularly informed in order to avoid discrepancies. As regards Kirin and Heilungkiang, Russians have in the past crossed our boundaries and occupied our territory. Successive military governors have concealed this information and not reported it with the result that after a lapse of time we can no longer prevent it. We wish to request that instructions be sent to these military governors truthfully to report on the situation along the frontiers and not allow them to gloss over the facts in the slightest.
For matters involving China and foreign countries everything must be reported monthly to the Tsungli office for examination. Furthermore, in the particular port of Tientsin, in future trade will only be in the import of goods and there will be no large-scale export of goods. If, after a certain length of time, trade does not prosper the foreigners will decide to leave in disappointment. We propose that when the right time comes the situation should be reviewed in case we can abolish the trade superintendency and so discharge redundant officials.
3. As regards the customs revenue of the newly added ports, we request that separate instructions be sent to the provinces that they choose upright and honest local officials and put them in charge in order to increase the revenue. We observe that hitherto in levying duties on foreign commodities the practice was that the full amount should be remitted to the capital. The customs officials looked on this as a source of self-enrichment. Embezzlement and smuggling and a hundred malpractices flourished, and were a great hindrance in the collection of customs revenue. Now, since twenty per cent of the duty on foreign commodities is to be withheld it is all the more necessary to clear off the account as soon as possible so as to avoid complications arising.
[Note: The rest of point 3 is concerned with detailed regulations about the administration of the new ports opened to foreign trade. Anyone doing research into the origins of the offices of Superin-