63
collected, the Japanese Consul General protested
against such a levy as not being within the stipu-
lations of the existing Sino-Japanese Treaty of
Commerce and stated that Japanese merchants could
not pay them. The Japanese daily newspaper Jihjih
further reports that the Japanese Consul General
demanded the abolition of the Special Surtax Bureau
as being a violation of the authority and functions
of the Commissioner of Customs at Tientsin. Since,
however, Japanese firms cannot draw their goods
from the godowns until they have paid these new
surtaxes, it is understood that they are after all
paying under protest as do the Japanese merchants
in Kuang-tung.
68. At Shanghai the local Chinese authorities
began levying the new surtaxes on the 20th January
by means of a special collectorate and this practice
also continues in Shan-tung. Thus in northern as
well as in southern and central China the Customs
organization has been duplicated by the provincial authorities: but neither the northera militarists
nor the southern Soviet are likely to make any further
attack upon the Maritime Customs until the fate of
Shanghai, where 43% of the whole Customs revenue
As I write,
of China is collected, has been decided.
it seems that the battle for Shanghai is imminent:
and the last word, so far as I know it at present,
in this humiliating affair is a statement made on the 18th February by Dr. wang to Sir H. Lampson that instructions would shortly be issued by the
Peking
173