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would be gained by making the Transit Duty of 24 per cent,, as leviable by Treaty, payable at the market in which export pro-luce is bought or imports sold, in place of paying it, as at present, into the Foreign Customs. It is naturally a source of rexation to the local authorities that dues which, according to cus- .tom. formerly came into their own coffers, should be now paid to the Provincial Exchequer, subject to Imperial control; and it is also to be renjembered that, to a certain extent, this is an injustice to those officials who look to taxes upou the produce bought or goods sold in their districts as the means of raising their revenue. Under such circumstances, a strong prejudice is naturally felt by them against foreign trude, and they are under temptation to impose taxes upon produce bought by foreignera; while, in consequence of no other duty being levied on it in the district, they are able to do so without fear of popular discontent. If, however, the Transit dues were paid, as they should be, to the local officials at the place where the transactions occur, the man- darius would welcome the foreigner and be inclined to foster his trade, secing that it would contribute handsomely to their local revenue. All that would be necessary for carrying out this arrangement in the case of Exports, would be that foreign merchants should be required to lodge at the Custom House of the Port of Ex- port a receipt from the Chinese official in the district where the goods had been bought, for the amount of Transit Dues payable by Treaty. In the case of Imports a receipt could be handed to the Agent in charge of the goods, by the Revenue Authorities at the place where the cargo may be sold, and should be returned to the Customs office within a reasonable period.
RESUME.
To summarise the few remarks which your memorialists have had the honour to submit to your Excellency, it would appear that the Treaty of Tientsin is in the main fitted to the object for which it was designed, if carried to its legitimate conclusions, that is, to conclu. eious in accordance with the spirit in which it was framed, and the principles upon which it is based; and any revision sought for should be directed, not so much to the acquisition of new privileges as to a confirmation and extension of those already granted. As the Treaty has been interpreted. the slightest infraction of its pro- visions on the part of foreigners is immediately punished by the power and anthority of the Government to which the offender belongs, but demands against the Chinese Government for the redress of injuries sustained by foreigners appear to be regarded rather with reference to political than judicial considerations, the main- tenance of the dignity and prestige of the ChineseG Government seeming to weigh more with the foreign authorities than the spirit of the Treaty or the claims of justice. Thus, up to the pre- sent time, the Treaty has failed, not from its nature, but from its interpretation; not from defects inherent in its provisions, but from the mode in which those provisions have been carried out. To open China to foreign commerce is clearly not the work of a day. A Treaty, however ably drawn up, is obviously insufficient to clear a way through time-honoured obstructions, and to substitute for an antiquated régime of protection and monopoly a system embodying the true princi- ples of free trade and progress. The labour of doing this was wisely left in the hands of the Plenipotentiaries and Superintendents of Trade at Pekin. To them was delegated the duty of seeing that the principles enunciated in the Treaty should become embodied in action; that any attempta on the part of the Chinese Go- vernment to evade its stipulations should be speedily checked; that subtle arguments for curtailing its privileges should be rebutted; that illegal levies should be suppressed; that the securities for the administration of justice should be held with a tight hand.
So far as this duty has been performed the Treaty his succeeded; so far as it has been omitted the Treaty has failed; and fail it will, whatever its terms, if the privileges granted by it be not scrupulously and vigilantly protectedl against the constant opposition of a Govern- ment as subtle in design as unscrupulons iu action. But if the principles and objects of the Treaty be watched and guarded, your memori- alists can see no reason to doubt that it will prove all that is wanted for the advancement of commerce, bringing into closer contact with one another European and native producers and consumers, no less to the benefit of the Chinese people than to the development of foreign
trade.
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