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to its enemies in Northern China. If, therefore, the levy of Washington surtares should result in creating another Customs' surplus such as that which came into being between 1918 and 1920, I believe it to be quite certain that a Canton Government of the kind which now exists would lay claim to that portion of it which is obtained from collections in the Kuang-tung province. They would do so, I think, both on the ground that the present Customs tariff furnishes ample security for the service of foreign loans and that the Washington surtares levied in Kuang-tung ought, therefore, to be spent for the benefit of Kuang-tung, and also on the ground that their enemies in Northern China ought not to be provided with the sinews of war by means of these surtaxes.
7.
If such a claim,when made, were disregarded, would the Canton Government be likely to seize the Canton Customs, having in view the fact that Great Britain, America, Japan, France, Italy and Portugal are not now likely to unite (as they did in 1923) to repel such seizure by show of force? I think probably not, for two reasons. First, because (as suggested by Sir R.Macleay) the Canton Government is likely to hold its hand until, its knows whether higher interin surtaxes will be enforced, in order not to prejudice China's prospect of securing the consent of the Powers to such higher surteres and to the conclusion of a general treaty providing for tariff autonomy. Secondly, because ( as pointed out by Sir James Jamieson) the Canton Government has not, and could not easily create, an efficient organization capable of collecting Customs reveme for itself. I further agree with Sir James Jamieson that by the phrase: "Customs autonomy" the Cantonese mean complete liberty to levy any customs duties
they please without foreign intervention. The phrase, as now used by them, does not indicate a desire for provincial Customs autonomy independent of a central Chinese Government
for they profess to regard themselves as being the real
National Government of all China and they still hope for the
: