This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
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CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[June 22.]
SECTION 2.
No. 1.
(No. 180.) My Lord,
Mr. Townley to the Marquess of Lunsdowne.-(Received June 22.)
Peking, May 6, 1903.
ON receipt of your Lordship's telegram, No. 49 of the 5th April, I telegraphed to His Majesty's Commercial Attaché to instruct him to ascertain confidentially from the China Association what assurances on the part of the Chinese Government, with regard to the new consumption tax and excise, they would be prepared to consider satisfactory, and I received on the 30th April from him a despatch inclosing a letter on the subject from the Association, of which he has forwarded a copy direct to your Lordship.
I have the honour to inclose copy of the note I have addressed to the Wai-wu Pu, explaining the nature of the explanations desired from the Chinese Government, based on the above letter and on your Lordship's telegram No. 58 of the 17th April.
There are two points in the Association's letter which I thought it better to omit. One is their reference to the provision of the Treaty that the consumption tax shall be levied at a uniform rate on goods of the same description, which they interpret as necessitating the promulgation of an inland tariff. The wording of the Treaty is, "it (the consumption tax) shall be levied at a uniform rate on goods of the same description, no matter whether carried by junk, sailing vessel, or steamer."
It seems to me to doubt whether this involves the promulgation of an inland tariff as the China Association suppose; it might be argued that the stipulations of the Treaty would be observed, provided there was no discrimination against goods carried by steamers.
Another point raised by the Association is the restriction of the excise-free Government undertakings. It seems to me that this is less a question of the interpretation than of the amendment of the Treaty, and I thought it would be unwise to introduce it into the present inquiry.
I have, &c. (Signed)
WALTER TOWNLEY.
Your Highness,
Inclosure in No. 1.
Mr. Townley to Prince Ching.
Peking, May 6, 1903.
ON the 14th February I had the honour, under instructions from His Majesty's Government, of addressing your Highness with regard to certain points in the Commercial Treaty concluded at Shanghae last year, on which explanations were desired from the Chinese Government. Your Highness replied that it would be proper to wait until the negotiations now proceeding with other Powers were concluded, but a subsequent interview you were good enough to promise that if I would supply fuller details of the desired explanations your Highness would endeavour to supply them.
I have since then been in communication on the subject both with His Majesty's Government and with the British commercial community at Shanghae, and I have now the honour to again address your Highness with regard to it.
The first question is, what are the arrangements contemplated by the Chinese Government for the collection of the consumption tax? China has given assurances that the arrangements she will make shall be such as will in no way interfere with foreign goods or with Chinese goods intended for export. Evidently such an engagement involves the consideration of administrative arrangements in advance, before the time arrives at which the Treaty comes into force; it would clearly not be possible to issue instructions to the provincial authorities that they were to cease levying li-kin, and were to collect a consumption tax on certain classes of goods, without at the same time giving them instructions as to the nature of the arrangements they were to make. Otherwise, while the Central Government was anxious to
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