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4
10. All parties to proceedings before the Mixed Court shall observe such rules of procedure as the Magistrate may from time to time prescribe, subject to the consent of the Consular Body.
11. All parts of the present rules and Regulations for the Mixed Court at Shanghae not in conflict with these supplementary amendments are hereby continued in full force, and the Chinese and foreign officials shall faithfully carry out the same.
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
(1234)
No. 1.
[January.
SECTION 8.6412
Rect
REC 20 FEB 07
Sir J. Jordan to Consul-General Sir P. Warren.
(No. 103. Confidential.) Sir,
Peking, November 22, 1906. WITH reference to Mr. Carnegie's despatch No. 61 of the 15th July, which briefly described the protracted negotiations for the amendment of the Shanghae Mixed Court Regulations, I now inclose, for your information, the text of these supplementary amendments in the form which the Chinese Government has now declared its readiness to accept.
You will observe that the basis of the text is the draft submitted by the Consular Body in 1902. When I passed through Shanghae I gathered the impression that the Municipal Council would possibly prefer to simply adhere to the Rules of 1869 and the Court practice which has grown up, as there appeared to be some fear that the acceptance of the amendments might possibly give the Chinese a claim to the custody of the male prisoners.
I recently communicated this impression to the Foreign Office, and have learnt that such a course would not be acceptable to His Majesty's Government in view of the stage which these long negotiations have now reached, and the position which we occupy vis-à-vis the Chinese Government in the matter. Moreover, it does not appear
to the Foreign Office that the 1869 Rules, coupled with Mixed Court practice, have proved satisfactory in the past.
I should be obliged if you will consult confidentially with the Judge of His Majesty's Supreme Court and such British members of the Council as you may deem fit on the subject, and report the result to me as soon as possible. In doing so it should be borne in mind that the amendments embody the utmost which the Chinese Government is prepared to agree to at the present time.
As regards the question of the custody of the male prisoners, which is not touched on in the draft, I am directed by His Majesty's Secretary of State, should Sir H. de Sausmarez share the apprehension which I attributed to the Council. to leave no ambiguity on this point when a reply is returned to the Wai-wu Pu to their last note on the subject of these amendments. Beyond this it is very improbable that any radical modification of the text could now be effected, but any doubtful points not affecting principle might possibly be similarly safeguarded.
I should add that the proposal of the Chinese Government is that these amendments should be tried for two years, with the option of modification at any time during that period should objections or difficulties arise.
I am, &c.
(Signde)
J. N. JORDAN.
Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey-(Received January 12, 1907.)
(No. 497.) Sir,
Peking, November 29, 1906. IN continuation of my despatch No. 474 of the 14th instant, I have the honour to report the efforts which I have since made to accelerate the establishment of custom-houses at Dalny and on the Russo-Manchurian frontier, with the view of removing the disabilities under which the Treaty port of Newchwang now suffers.
At an interview at the Wai-wu Pa on the 23rd instant, their Excellencies the Grand Secretary, Na-Tung, and Tong Shoa-yi, in reply to inquiries which I addressed to them, assured me that negotiations were proceeding with the Russian Minister, M. Pokotilow, and that they hoped for a speedy solution of the difficulty. I reminded them that I had received similar assurances before, and that they had so far produced no result.
Mr. Tong explained that the chief point of difference between the Chinese and Russian negotiators related to the "free zone" of 50 versts, which the latter claimed under the 1st Article of the Land Trade Regulations of 1881. The Chinese contended that the altered conditions which had resulted from the introduction of railways rendered this provision no longer applicable, and they felt bound to press this contention, as otherwise the Japanese would make a similar claim at Dalny.
I said that in the meantime the grievances of Newchwang continued, and insisted that the only remedy was to declare it a free port, to which their Excellencies replied that the discrimination would have no effect during the winter, and that the whole question would certainly be settled before the opening of the port in the spring.
The matter is to come up for consideration at a meeting of the Diplomatic Body on the 30th instant in connection with a letter which the Chairman of the Shanghae General Chamber of Commerce has addressed to the Doyen, representing the urgent necessity of constituting Newchwang a free port pending the establishment of a custom-house on the Manchurian boundary of the free port of Dalny.
My Russian colleague, with whom I have discussed the question, does not quite corroborate the Chinese version of the negotiations. He has formally notified the Chinese Government that his Government has no objection to the establishment of customs on the Manchurian frontier, and he considers it the duty of the Chinese to make the next move and formulate proposals for giving practical effect to the 10th Article of the Agreement of the 8th September, 1896, which stipulated that "China must establish customs stations at the two points where the line crosses the frontier."
I have, &c.
(Signed)
J. N. JORDAN,
[2310 m-8]