PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882
5 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
23608.
SIR,
70
No. 43.
COLONIAL OFFICE to MR. STEWART LOCKHART.
Downing Street, November 21, 1898. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Chamberlain to inform you that he has had before him the report of your visit to the newly-leased territory adjacent to Hong Kong, enclosed in your letter of the 8th ultimo.*
2. I am to convey to you the expression of Mr. Chamberlain's cordial appreciation of the ability and intelligence displayed by you in carrying out his instructions, and of the interest with which he has read your report, which, am to add, has been of the greatest assistance to Her Majesty's Government in dealing with this important question.
3. It appears to Mr. Chamberlain that it would be desirable that you should be on the spot at the time when the new territory is formally taken over; and I am to request, therefore, to be informed when it would be convenient to you to return to Hong Kong. On receipt of your reply you will receive further instructions on the subject.
4. It is desirable that you should come to London to be consulted on certain points, and if you will do so at your convenience, your actual out-of-pocket expenses will be refunded.
26116
SIR,
No. 44.
I am, &c.,
EDWARD WINGFIELD.
FOREIGN OFFICE to COLONIAL OFFICE.
(Received November 22, 1898.) [Acknowledged by No. 48,]
Foreign Office, November 21, 1898. WITH reference to my letter of September 26,† I am directed by the Marquess of Salisbury to transmit to you, to be laid before the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a copy of a letter from the China Association relative to the arrangements proposed by the Chinese Customs Authorities in connection with the extension of the boundaries of Hong Kong
The China Association will be informed that the question is now under the con- sideration of Her Majesty's Government, by whom the views and suggestions put for- ward in the enclosed letter will be borne in mind.
MY LORD,
Enclosure in No. 44.
I am, &c.,
FRANCIS BERTIE.
China Association, 159, Cannon Street, November 14, 1898. THE announcement that Her Majesty's Minister had obtained the consent of the Chinese Government to an extension of British Kowloong was received with general and cordial satisfaction. Certain important strategical points which had been felt to consti- tute a menace to the safety of Hong Kong have been brought under control, the sense of confinement has been relieved, and a prospect of relief from the constriction and espionage of the Chinese Customs has been opened up.
The agreement is couched, however, in general terms which leave much to be sub- sequently defined; and communications (1) received from the Hong Kong Branch of this Association express anxiety in regard to the conclusions that may be reached.
1
Disappointment is felt, for instance, at the retention of Chinese jurisdiction in the city of Kowloong. That town and its suburbs have been a source of inconvenience to the Colony for many years, and hopes were entertained of bringing the whole area under police and sanitary control. The annoyance will undoubtedly be reduced, however, by
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obtaining control over the suburbs, and the Committee trust that it will be found possible to exert beneficent pressure within the walls.
The demands which have been put forward by the Customs Authorities under cover of our promise to co-operate in safe-guarding the Chinese revenue inspire more serious apprehension. That apprehension is probably exaggerated, because the pretensions of the Customs Authorities appear inadmissible; but there can be no doubt that it would be shared by every member of the Association if it were thought possible that they could be entertained.
The question is one of long standing. Complaints of interference by the Chinese revenue cruisers with the junk trade had been so persistent that cognisance was taken of the fact in the Chefoo Convention (1876) in the following terms:-
"The Governor of Hong Kong, having long complained of the interference of the Canton customs revenue cruisers with the junk trade of that Colony, the Chinese Govern- ment agrees to the appointment of a Commission, to consist of a British Consul, an officer of the Hong Kong Government, and a Chinese official of equal rank, in order to the establishment of some system that shall enable the Chinese Government to protect its revenue without prejudice to the interests of the Colony."
A Commission appointed in pursuance of that understanding agreed upon the fol- lowing among other conditions which are expressed in an Agreement signed at Tientsin on the 11th September, 1886:-
"That an officer under the Foreign Inspectorate shall be established on Chinese territory at a convenient spot on the Kowloong side, for sale of Chinese opium-duty certificates, which shall be freely sold to all comers, and for such quantities of opium sa they require."
That junks trading between Chinese ports and Hong Kong and their cargoes shall not be subject to any dues or duties in excess of those leviable on junks and their cargoes trading between Chinese ports and Macao, and that no dues whatsoever shall be demanded from junks coming to Hong Kong from ports in China, or proceeding from Hong Kong to ports in China, over and above the dues paid or payable at the porta of clearance or destination."
"That the officer of the Foreign Inspectorate who will be responsible for the management of the Kowloong office shall investigate and settle any complaints made by junks trading with Hong Kong against the native customs revenue stations or cruisers, and that the Governor of Hong Kong, if he deems it advisable, shall be entitled to send & Hong Kong officer to be present at and assist in the investigation and decision. If, however, they do not agree, a reference may be made to the authorities at Peking for a joint decision."
The Commissioners concluded with an expression of opinion that "if the arrange- ments indicated were fully carried out, a fairly satisfactory solution of the questions connected with the so-called 'Hong Kong Blockade' would have been attained." The assumption was somewhat optimistic, as the arrangement has unquestionably proved more efficient for the purpose of protecting the Chinese revenue than for the alternative purpose of obviating the customs blockade.
The Kowloong Commissioner is, as a matter of fact, located in Hong Kong, where he has an office and a staff. His presence is not, however, recognised officially; nor thanks in a great measure, no doubt, to the discretion of the officers who have held the post--has their presence been seriously resented. No very definite objection could, in fact, be offered so long as no official status was assumed, nor official action unduly obtruded.
It is quite another thing, however, when the Government is asked to formally recognise the presence in Hong Kong of an Imperial Chinese customs official and a customs office and staff. It is still more serious when the Government is requested to authorise the collection in Hong Kong of duties (likin included) on all goods and mer- chandise carried from or to any Chinese ports in Chinese vessels. To concede so much would be to place Hong Kong on the level of a Chinese Treaty Port, and to accept for it the position of a fiscal dependency of Canton. The first admission would injure its status as a free port; the second would injure its prestige as a British Colony,
Subsidiary demands that wharves and jetties shall be placed at the disposal of the Customs Authorities to facilitate their operations; that the customs cruisers and launches shall retain, in the waters of the newly ceded territory, the rights of seizure and search which they now enjoy; and that the customs shall be allowed to retain their existing stations (two of which are in the very harbour, and others on islands in the immediate vicinity on the east and west) might almost suggest the presence of an under-
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