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6. Exemption from inland transit duty for Russian goods sent into the
interior from places along the Chinese Eastern Railway.
The object of this proposal is manifest. It is an extension of the principle underlying the request for free importation or reduced import duty and seeks to abolish the levy of inland transit dues so that Russian goods may be sent to the interior markets on payment of as little taxation as possible.
7. The establishment at Harbin of a Customs godown to which imported goods consigned to commercial houses in Harbin shall be conveyed under the guarantee of the Chinese Eastern Railway without being subjected to examination at the frontier stations-the examination of goods and payment of duty to be effected at the godown.
An arrangement of this kind would, it is understood, be welcomed by the Imperial Maritime Customs, since it would facilitate trade and customs procedure alike. In the past, though an office of the Imperial Maritime Customs at Harbin for the control of the river trade has been established in a barge moored alongside the railway area and duties have there been collected on goods carried by water, the Russian authorities have refused to allow the Imperial Maritime Customs to exercise any control at Harbin on goods carried by rail. Various reasons, apparently, have been advanced in justification of this attitude, the fundamental cause, however, being that the Russian authorities were unwilling to yield on this point owing to the disinclination of the Chinese officials to meet their wishes on other matters.
8. Restriction of the powers of the Imperial Maritime Customs in respect
to the valuation of goods on which ad valorem duties are charged. The proposal that certificates of the Russian chambers of commerce at the places of shipment should, as stated in article 11 of the second exemplum of the draft treaty, be accepted in proof of the actual value of goods on which ad valorem duties are charged does not appear to be at all satisfactory or necessary. A more equitable arrangement is that contained in rule 1 of the rules annexed to the Chinese Import Tariff of 1902, and, should there be a question of a deliberate false declaration of value, the practice introduced by the Joint Investigation Rules of 1868 might, it would seem, be suitably applied-provided always that a just settlement is desired, and not a forcible one based upon an ex parte view of the matter in dispute.
9. The settlement and public notification each month in advance of the tael-
rouble rate of exchange for customs transactions.
This, again, is an arrangement which, it is understood, would be favoured by the Imperial Maritime Customs, and which it should be possible to secure without difficulty. Having now discussed the proposed reduced Imperial Maritime Customs duties and the increased trading facilities which it is also desired to obtain from these authorities, it remains to consider the more important of the general suggestions intended to furnish additional privileges for Russian trade with Manchuria and Mongolia. It is proposed to adhere to the practice above adopted of considering these suggestions separately.
Free Trade with Mongolia and the Provinces of Ili, Tarbagatai, Kashgar, and Urumtsi, &c.
It is claimed that the privileges granted under article 12 of the treaty of 1881 should be further extended. Russian merchants, it is said, should be allowed to trade in all places in Mongolia, whether under Chinese or Mongolian administration, including those localities purchased from the Mongolians for colonisation by Chinese. It is unnecessary to repeat the arguments advanced on pp. 7 and 8 of Annex (A) on which this claim is based; but it may be observed that the suggestion that permission should be obtained to dispatch Russian goods to Mongolia free of duty from any point whatever would, it seems, necessitate, so far as Russian goods sent to Mongolia from Manchuria are concerned, the establishment of Imperial maritime customs stations on the Mongolian frontier and definite routes would have to be followed as a matter of course, provided always that importation of Russian goods into Manchuria does not become free.
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Additional Russian Consulates in Mongolia.
This is a matter which furnished one of the subjects of complaint mentioned in the Russian note to China of the 16th February last. It will be noted that, in the opinion of the committee of the Harbin Chamber of Commerce, it is only necessary, so far as Eastern Mongolia is concerned, to establish new consulates in those places where the Chinese colouisation movement is in progress and they instance the district of Taonanfu. The purpose of these consulates is, it is admitted, the extension of Russian trade and influence.
Property Rights of Russian Subjects resident on the Territory of the Chinese Eastern Railway.
It is proposed that the stipulation contained in the first paragraph of article 13 of the treaty of 1881 should be made operative in the territory of the Chinese Eastern Bailway since it is considered that the position of Russian merchants in Manchuria can best be strengthened by tightening their hold upon the land. The right to lease land in perpetuity, the practice prevailing in the treaty ports, is desired. This is a matter which is not new and one which has helped to prevent a settlement of the Harbin municipal question. The scope of article 9 of the first exemplum of the draft treaty (article 18 of the second exemplum), which has reference to this matter, is not as wide as that of the arguments advanced on pp. 7 and 8 of Annex (B). The arrangement with the Chinese Government by which much of the land in the possession of the railway company was acquired was communicated in Mukden despatches Nos. 23 and 26, Confidential, of the 7th and 9th March, 1908. The land in the railway settlement at Harbin was, according to the Russian consul-general here, purchased from private parties.
Transit Goods carried by the Chinese Eastern Railway.
In article 7 of the second exemplum of the draft treaty it is proposed to embody a stipulation similar to that contained in the railway agreement of 1896 and to include a like provision respecting Chinese goods carried between Manchuria and China proper and conveyed in transit through the Primorsk. The suggestion is that Russian and Chinese goods should be exempt from examination by, and payment of duties to, the customs of the country through which they pass in transit; but no mention is made of the condition necessary to any such arrangement which is contained in the railway agreement, namely, that goods thus transported must be carried iu plumbed or sealed The objections raised by the committee on p. 5 of Annex (B) to a double duty charge levied by the Imperial Maritime Customs on Russian goods passing between Manchuria and China proper via the Primorsk appear to be unwarranted.
The goods
cars.
in point are not "through transit" goods, but goods imported into one port, e.g., Harbin, and re-exported to another, e.g., Shanghai. Provided the necessary formalities of the Imperial Maritime Customs are observed, this matter lends itself to equitable adjustment under the "drawback" system.
Different Assessment, according to route, of Duties levied on Native Goods sent from Manchuria to China Proper.
The allegation is that native goods shipped from Manchuria to China proper when sent via Newchwang pay a smaller customs duty than when despatched via Vladivostock to which port they are carried by the Chinese Eastern Railway. The allegation is correct and the difference in the duty charges is not inconsiderable. Native goods shipped from Manchuria to China proper via Newchwang pay to the Imperial Maritime Customs a full export duty and a-half, i.e., export and coast trade duties. These goods, if sent via Vladivostock, pay two-thirds export duty at Pogranitchnaya and 5 per cent. ad valorem import duty on arrival at the port of destination where they are treated as foreign goods. Reversing the journey, native goods shipped from China proper to Manchuria via Newchwang pay, as before, export and coast trade duties; if sent via Vladivostock, they pay full export duty at the port of shipment and two-thirds import duty on arrival at Pogranitehnaga. The objections of the committee are, therefore, not without reason, since the goods, whether shipped via Newchwang or Vladivostock, are in both cases going from one
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