COPY.
Dear Sir Miles,
SHANGHAI OFFICE OF THE
INSPECTORATE GENERAL OF CUSTOMS.
81, Hart Road,
SHANGHAI, 14th March 1933.
55
I have received your letter of the 2nd instant
regarding recent correspondence about the imposition
on British shipping in respect of unmanifested cargo.
of fines
I note your contention that the Customs have no legal treaty rights to fine a British vessel or merchant without
the intervention of the British authorities, and that this
view was accepted by Sir Robert Hart and embodied in the Joint
Investigation Rules suggested by him. Much water, however,
has flowed under the bridge since Hart's day. No one who
knows the facts can possibly maintain that drastic changes
have not taken place, especially in the last few years, in the
recognition by the Powers of China's increased authority in
matters relating to the Tariff and the Customs and in the con-
sequent curtailment - and in some cases abandonment of privi-
leges formerly enjoyed by foreign merchants trading in China.
This recognition has taken the form (1) of actual formal
agreements, as in the case of the various treaties restoring to China her Tariff autonomy rights, and (2) of tacit accept-
regulations, atc., promulgated by the Chinese Government, affecting Customs practice and procedure. In the latter cate-
gory stand the Manifest Regulations promulgated by the Chinese
Government /
To: His Excellency
Sir Miles V. Lampson, K.C.M.G.,C.B.,M.V.0.,
etc., etc.,
etc..
PEIPING.