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On receipt of your Excellency's despatch, the Japanese Consul telegraphed the gist thereof to the Japanese Minister, Mr. Hayashi. He has now received a tele- graphic reply from the Minister to the following effect :---
"I am in receipt of your telegram. By the second section of the Xth Article of the Supplementary Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between China and Japan it is provided that Changsha-fu, in the Province of Hunan, is to be opened to foreign trade on the same footing as the ports already opened to foreign trade.
If this was not agreed to by China, it should have been distinctly stated in the Treaty; whereas, according to the Treaty, Changsha is on the same footing as the ports already opened to foreign trade, and it is nowhere stated that Japanese merchants may not open business establishments inside the city. Furthermore, the Wai-wu Pu having already admitted this right, I cannot agree to its repudiation by the Governor of Hunan."
The right of Japanese and British merchants to open business establishments inside the city, which is distinctly provided for by Treaty, has also been admitted by the Wai-wn Pa. At our recent interview your Excellency was good enough to state that had received a communication from the Wai-wu Pu on the subject; and,
you later on, when Chu Taotai called on us, he informed us that your Excellency had received distinct instructions from the Wai-wu Pu on this point.
Subsequently, the Acting British Consul having received instructions by telegraph from the British Minister, we addressed a note to your Excellency, asking how matters stood and pressing for a reply.
It is with the greatest surprise that we find in your Excellency's despatch under acknowledgment no reference whatever to the instructions which have been from time to time received from the Wai-wu Pu. When the British Minister addressed Prince Ch'ing on the subject, he took his stand on the fact that the right of Japanese and British merchants to open business establishments inside the city of Changsha was secured to them by Treaty; and the position of the Wai-wu Pu (in acquiescing) is unassailable, and not to be altered. It is not that the British Minister asks your Excellency to recognize such a right; on the contrary, the British Consul has been distinctly instructed that the right has already been recognized by the Wai-wu Pu.
The statement in your recent despatch that you cannot comply clearly contravenes the instructions of the Wai-wu Pu; but if the local officials are thus to go counter to the views of the Central Government, this will constitute a very serious obstacle to the transaction of public business, and is hardly in accordance with the spirit informing the harmonious co-operation of friendly Powers. We are consequently at a loss to understand your Excellency's meaning, and therefore have the honour to again address you jointly on the subject.
We avail, &c.
(Seals of Japanese and of British Consuls.)
merely stated, for my information, that the British Minister was pressing for the recognition of the right of British merchants to open business establishments inside the city of Changsha, and directed me to reply to you on the subject; but it did not explicitly admit their right to open business establishments inside Changsha city.
I have the honour to request that you will take note of the above.
I avail, &c. (Seal of Governor of Hunan.)
Inclosure 4 in No. 1.
Acting Consul Giles to Sir J. Jordan.
(No. 3.) Šir,
Changsha, January 25, 1907. AS directed in your telegram No. 2, the Japanese Consul and I, in a joint despatch, returned to the Governor his despatch of the 21st December, with reference to Treaty port limits, on the ground that it was contrary both to Treaty provisions and to the instructions of the Wai-wu Pu. As stated in my telegram No. 2, the Governor has now again sent back the despatch returned by us; and, in a further despatch, he contends that the Treaties nowhere recognize the right of residence inside the city. He quotes the last communication received by him from the Wai-wu Pu, according to which Prince Ch'ing, in a note to the Japanese Minister, has ignored the admission made in his communication of the 5th March, 1906, to Sir Ernest Satow, and has explicitly denied the right to trade inside the city, as well as that of exemption of foreign goods from li-kin.
I inclose copies and translations of the despatch addressed by the Japanese Consul and myself to the Governor, and of the latter's reply thereto.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
BERTRAM GILES.
Note.-The Governor's objection to the return of his despatch does not seem to rest on his proximity to the Consuls so much as on his being their colleague in Changsha, and so entitled to special courtesy. His argument and the Wai-wa Pu's statement as to Treaty texts imply that Chungking is not the nearest precedent to Changsha, but an exception to some general rule, which would read “Čities, towns, and ports" as "Ports of cities and towns.'
E. H. FRASER, Consul-General. Hankow, February 4, 1907.
(Signed)
Gentlemen,
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Governor of Hunan to Japanese and British Consuls at Changsha,
Changsha, January 9, 1907.
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your despatch with reference to the question of foreign merchants opening business establishments and trading inside the city of Changsha.
You state that the Japanese Consul telegraphed the gist of my previous despatch to the Japanese Minister, Mr. Hayashi, and received a reply to the following effect:
[Quoted in full.]
At all places which have already been opened as Treaty ports, the foreign merchants all reside and trade in the Settlements. Treaty port, a site outside the North Gate was selected for the International When Changsha was opened as a Settlement, and one outside the West Gate to provide wharfage accommodation for steamers. This is strictly in accordance with the practice at the Treaty ports hitherto opened.
As regards the communication previously received by me from the Wai-wu Pu, it
Sir,
Inclosure in No. 1.
Japanese and British Consuls at Changsha to Governor of Hunan.
Changsha, January 18, 1907. WE have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Excellency's despatch of the 21st December, with reference to the right of foreign merchants to open business establishments and to trade inside the city of Changsha. Your Excellency states that when Changsha was opened as a Treaty port a site was selected outside the North Gate for an international Settlement, and one outside the West Gate to provide wharfage accommodation for steamers, and that these arrangements were reported to the Wai-wu Pu by your predecessor. Your Excellency goes on to say that all foreign merchants at the various Treaty ports in China reside and trade within the limits of the Settlements, and that you are consequently unable to comply with the request of British merchants to be allowed to start business establishments inside the city of Changsha,
The statements made in your Excellency's despatch under acknowledgment are utterly at variance with the provisions of the Treaties, both with Japan and with the United Kingdom. The matter is one which has long been definitely recognized, and admits of no question.
[2450 ƒ-7]
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