This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
2
a reply, we have the honour to point out that the period of six months originally du mined upon expires on the 19th April (15th of 3rd month Chinese), and that this date will soon be upon us, It is therefore desirable that the amendments be deliberated upon and settled at an early date, and we accordingly have the honour to request a reply from your Excellency as soon as possible to our note above mentioned.
Your Highness,
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Sir E. Satow to Prince Ching.
We await, &c.
Peking, March 3, 1905. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Highness' note of the 21st February, referring to the previous note of the 10th January, received from your Highness, inclosing copies of correspondence with the American and Japanese Repre- sentatives on the question of amending the Trade-mark Regulations.
Your Highness now observes that the period of six months originally determined upon expires on the 19th April, and that, as this date will be soon upon us, it is You desirable that the amendments be deliberated upon and settled at an early date. therefore request a reply from me as soon as possible.
I have the honour to state in reply that I am unable to understand the meaning of Your Highness will the words "the period of six months originally determined upon." remember that on the 20th October, 1904, I addressed to you a note requesting, by the instructions of my Government, that the coming into operation of the Trade-mark Regulations should be postponed for a period of six months, with a view to the introduction of amendments considered necessary by us, and that the Chinese Govern- ment refused their consent to this request. Subsequently, in consequence of further observations which I was instructed to address to the Chinese Government, your Highness wrote to me on the 22nd December undertaking that, since the Regulations framed did not completely satisfy foreign Governments, the Chinese Government, in their sincere consideration for friendly relations, would not hesitate to alter them, and that there could be no objection to elucidating any contradictory passages or supple menting any omissions that you considered, that this was in agreement with the request contained in my note of the 2nd December, that the operation of the Regulations should be provisionally suspended, and you declared that whatever applications might be presented there would be no registrations until a mutual agree ment has been come to. There was no mention made of a period of six months,
At the same time, in order to hasten as much as possible the settlement of this question, I have been in communication with His Majesty's Government as to the amendments which they desire to see introduced into the Regulations, and I hope to be able shortly to present definite proposals to your Highness in conjunction with those of my colleagues who are interested in this establishment of a well-considered system of Trade-mark Regulations.
(Signed)
I avail, &c.
ERNEST SATOW.
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
(No. 84.) My Lord,
No. 1.
516
[April 22.]
SECTION 2.
Sir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne,~(Received April 22.)
Peking, March 9, 1905. IN my despatch No. 27 of the 18th January, I had the honour to forward copy of an Intelligence Report from Hankow for the December quarter, at p. 11 of which, under the heading of "Compradore Troubles," an account was given of the boycotting of two leading German firms in consequence of their refusal to admit their liability for business debts contracted by their "compradores."
The exact position of this class of Chinese business associates of foreign firms is often difficult to ascertain. Formerly they were regarded, and no doubt were, confidential employés of the foreign merchant, and authorized to enter into binding contracts on his behalf. In other cases, especially at Tien-tsin and Hankow, they are, in the present day, more often Chinese merchants trading under the protection of their connection with the foreigner, sometimes in partnership and sometimes as principals for the purchase of goods from the interior, which they dispose of to the foreign exporter at a price fixed upon after the merchandize is delivered at the godown of the foreign merchant. Occupying as they do a somewhat equivocal and undefined position, it is not surprising that the native dealers should often regard them as authorized agents of the firms in whose name they carry on their transactions.
Mr. Fraser has reported in a recent despatch that the disputes referred to in his Intelligence Report have been settled through the intervention of the German Consul, and he forwards a long printed Agreement in the German language embodying the terms of settlement negotiated between the German Consul, the Customs Taotai, and various Chinese trading guilds. This document states, among other things, that its object is "to establish a healthier basis for the future of commerce between foreign firms and Chinese merchauts." It provides for the appointment of Arbitrators to decide disputes, one of whom is to be the senior or another Consul, and the Consul is It is further provided that to have the power of choosing another of the Arbitrators. either party may appeal against the decision of the Arbitrators to the Consular Body in Hankow.
Mr. Fraser states that this document was forwarded officially to all his colleagues
by Dr. Scholz, the German Consul, who expressed the hope that any Consul selected for the office of Arbitrator would consent to act, and apologized for the anomalous provision of an appeal from the decision of the Arbitrators to the Consular Body, which was, he explained, insisted on at the last moment by the Chinese authorities.
In his reply, Mr. Fraser explained that he could not, as Arbitrator, decide points which might later come before him as suits against British firms, and he pointed out that appeal from an arbitration, duly constituted and conducted, was, so far as he knew, unknown to English law.
Mr. Fraser touches also upon the use in this document of expressions which might be taken to imply that the Agreement between the German Consul and the Customs Taotai would govern the trade relations of Chinese dealers with foreigners of all nationalities.
I entirely concur with Mr. Fraser's view that the German Consul travelled beyond his proper province in assuming to enter into an agreement with the Chinese Taotai and leading native merchants, which purports to deal with disputes arising between Chinese dealers and merchants of foreign nationalities in general.
In my reply to His Majesty's Consul-General, I said :--
"I approve of your reply to the German Consul refusing to act as Arbitrator in the matter.
"I am surprised that the German Consul should have taken upon himself, ithout having previously consulted all his colleagues, to stipulate with the Chinese authorities for the creation of a Court of Appeal, consisting of the Consuls, to hear
[1948 y-2]