This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)
CHINA TRADE.
[April 27.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
SECTION 2.
163
No. 1.
Mr. Townley to the Marquess of Lansdowne.--(Received April 27.)
(No. 79. Confidential.) My Lord,
Peking, March 4, 1903.
AS I have had the honour to inform your Lordship in my telegram No. 50 of to-day's date, Prince Ching told me yesterday that he had heard from the Chinese Minister in London that your Lordship, in speaking to him about the Chinese proposal that the customs duties should be paid in gold, had not given a definite answer one way or the other as to the views of His Majesty's Government.
I explained at once to the Prince that the Minister must have entirely misunderstood your meaning, since I had received a telegram from your Lordship stating that he had been told that His Majesty's Government could not entertain the proposal. I added that my instructions had from the first moment that the question had been raised been absolutely clear, and I had on more than one occasion stated to members of the Wai-wu Pu that His Majesty's Government would never consent to a gold Customs Tariff under existing circumstances.
Yesterday was the first time since the Prince's illness that I had had an opportunity of speaking to him about the indemnity, and, the subject once having been broached, it seemed a good moment to ask His Highness why the Chinese Government, after recognizing that the debt constituted a gold obligation, had hesitated to concur in the joint proposal of the Powers that the signature of the fractional bonds should now be proceeded with.
His Highness could apparently find no good reason for this attitude of the Chinese Government, and could merely say that they preferred to find out what scheme of alleviation the Powers were prepared to propose before signing the bonds. The Prince himself volunteered the statement that the indemnity must, of course, be paid in gold, and that the answer to the first joint note acknowledged this. Such being the case, I said, it seemed a pity that the Chinese Government now hesitated to sign the bonds, as their attitude had aroused suspicions as to the genuineness of their initial recognition of the debt as a gold obligation.
I told His Highness that no one would admit any proposals intended to help China in her difficulty until the bonds had been signed, and I warned him solemnly and as the Representative of a country that had given proof of its goodwill towards China in the matter of the indemnity, that a really dangerous situation might be created if the Chinese Government persisted in their refusal to sign.
Some of my colleagues, I said, assumed an alarmingly menacing tone in speaking of the measures that might have to be taken to induce China to give what was considered a necessary guarantee.
The Prince, who seemed considerably impressed by what I said, replied that he would give my remarks serious consideration.
I thought the moment not inopportune, in order to show the Prince that we really did mean to endeavour to assist China if she yielded to the demands of the Powers, to tell His Highness that I myself had received instructions from your Lordship to raise the question of how best China's burden could be alleviated with my colleagues, but that I could do nothing at all until the fractional bonds had been signed.
Since writing the above, I have received your Lordship's telegram No. 50 of to-day's date, and I have the honour to transmit copy of a note which I am addressing to Prince Ching in order to put it on record in writing that His Majesty's Government will not entertain the proposal that customs duties should be payable in gold.
My colleagues here are fully aware of the attitude adopted by His Majesty's Government on this question.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
WALTER TOWNLEY,
[1934 dd-2]