542
4
7. In all cases, civil or criminal, which come before the Court where a foreign Assessor is sitting, and either party is represented by counsel, before an attorney or counsel is admitted to practice in the Mixed Court he must satisfy the Court that he is admitted to practice in the Consular Court of his own nationality at Shanghae.
8. Should an attorney in any case be adjudged by the Chinese Magistrate and foreign Assessor sitting in that case guilty of any refusal to obey their lawful summons or order, he shall be suspended from practice in that Court for a period not exceeding one month, or, with the consent of the Consul of the nationality of the attorney concerned, for a time not to exceed six months.
9. In cases involving principles where no precedents exist in Chinese law, the Court shall be governed by commercial and equity.
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.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
C. O.
11983
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[8519]
Sir,
No. 1.
Treasury to Foreign Office.--(Received March 16.)
[March
REGE 5 APR 07, SECTION 1.
Treasury Chambers, March 15, 1907. I HAVE laid before the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury Sir E. Barrington's letter of the 1st instant, with the inclosed explanation from the British Delegate on the Bankers' Commission at Shanghae as to the commission of per cent. charged by the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation on the payments of the British share of the China indemnity.
In reply, their Lordships direct me to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that the explanation supplied by Mr. Adains Orain does not appear to them to account sufficiently for the rate of commission charged by the bank, which amounts to nearly 8007, a-year.
Under the arrangements for payment of the indemnity, China reserves to herself the right to procure telegraphic transfers on London through any bank on the most favourable terms she can obtain. As my Lords understand the procedure, the Chinese authorities on each occasion would apply to the remitting bank to quote its terins for a telegraphic remittance to Loudon, namely, the amount of silver that must be paid down in Shanghae to provide for payment of a definite sum in gold in London. The rate quoted by the bank would include the cost of remittance, and if in this way the silver payment made by China includes the cost of remittance, it is not clear why any charge for the same service should be made by the bank against the British Government.
My Lords are not aware that any difficulty has been experienced in getting punctual payment of the sums due from China, and so they presume that it is not necessary for the bank to charge any substantial sum for the work of seeing that the instalments are correctly paid on the due dates.
The charge for making payments out of the indemnity account in London was a proper charge while the bank was engaged in meeting the individual claims for shares in the indemnity instalments. But now the work of the bank in that respect is confined to paying over the instalments as they are received to the Government account at the Bank of England, a work which is the ordinary incident of a remittance by telegraphic transfer.
My Lords are unable, therefore, on the information before them, to admit the necessity for payment of a commission at the rate of per cent. I am, &c.
(Signed)
E. W. HAMILTON,
[2418 9-1]