6
Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles :~*
ARTICLE I†
China having agreed that British subjects shall participate in all advantages accorded by Treaty to the subjects of other Powers, it is further agreed that British subjects desiring to participate in the advantages accorded by Treaty to the subjects of other Powers shall participate in such advantages on the same conditions on which they have been accorded to, and are participated in by, the subjects of such other Powers.
ARTICLE II.‡
China having agreed that England may appoint Consuls to reside at every port open to trade, it is further agreed that China may appoint Consuls to reside at all ports in the British dominions.
The Consuls so appointed shall respectively be entitled to the treatment accorded to the most favoured nation.
ARTICLE III
It is agreed that commodities of the following classes and denominations, viz., cottons, linens, woollens, woollen and cotton mixtures, &c., &c., imported by British merchants shall pay both import duty and transit due simultaneously at the time of importation.
On the other part, China agrees that the above-mentioned commodities, imported by British merchants and having paid import duty and transit due simultaneously at the time of importation, shall be exempt from all other taxes and charges whatsoever, in Treaty port provinces.§
ARTICLE IV.
It is agreed that native produce purchased in the interior by British merchants, furnished with the documents prescribed by the Supplementary Regulations, shall pay all inland dues and charges on its way to the Treaty port.
On the other part, China agrees that any such native produce having paid all inland dues and charges on the way to the port from the place of purchase, shall be entitled to the return of any amount that may have been thus paid over and above the Treaty transit due (half export duty), provided exportation by British merchants to a foreign port takes place within twelve months.
It is further agreed that native produce shipped to another Treaty port shall not be entitled to such refund.[[
* In this preamble only a part of the XXVIIth Article is quoted; what is omitted would have a bearing in the time for the next revision, and it is emitted in order that that question way receive its own solution in time, and not, by becoming a vexed question now, interfere indefinitely with the work of the present revision...
This Article is placed first because it contains the principle on which all voluntary revision, so far as China is concerned, hinges. England, to have the benefit of advantages accorded to any other State, agrees to be bound by the conditions consented to by the State concerned to obtain the advantages in question. With this form of the "most-favoured-nation" clause, it is hoped that other Treaty powers will be induced to accept what China gives, on the Chinese terms assented to by England.
↑ The only explanation this Article needs is, that while foreign Consuls are called "Ling-shih-kuan" in China. Chinese Consuls in England, although styled Consuls by the English, will be known to Chinese officials by another Chinese title (not yet fixed on), than of "Ling-shib-kuan." That they are simply to be Consuls is evident from the concluding words of the Article,
This is a most important concessiou, for it permits manufactures (the goods in whose sale England is chietly interested) 10 circulate freely without certificate, and without further charge or tax on payment of 73 per cent.. through the Treaty port Provinces. It is a concession far in advance of the Tien-tsin transit clause as regards one- half of China, and as regards the other half, the former transit privilege is continued in force. tary regulations" will show the action to be taken.
The "supplemen→
The advantages of this new arrangement are obvious. On the one hand, the British merchant will have refinded to him in cash whatever taxes he roay have paid over and above half tariff rate (24 per cent.) in bringing from the interior Chinese produce for shipment to a foreign market; and, on the other hand, the Chinese Government will be able to atop the malpractices of those Chinese who employ foreigners to bring produce from the interior (not intended for the foreign market), and who by thus cheating the Government out of its just dues on native trade, have indisposed it to give, in the past, a warm support to the foreign transit clauses. unquestionably an improvement on the Tien-tsin transit rule.
This is
ARTICLE V.
It is agreed that Chinese produce shipped from Hong Kong to a Treaty port shall not be carried inland under the transit rule, but shall pay dues, duties and inland charges like all other native produce at all barriers passed.
On the other part, China agrees to issue to native produce shipped by British merchants from Treaty ports to Hong Kong the ordinary export duty proofs, and to collect on such produce, on arrival at a second Treaty port, the ordinary coast-trade (half import) duty.*
ARTICLE VI.
It is agreed that the port of Wên-chow in Chê-kiang shall be opened to British trade, and that Kiung-chow named in the Treaty of Tien-tsin shall be removed from the list of Treaty ports.†
ARTICLE VIL
It is agreed that British merchant-vessels shall not be called on to pay tonnage dues oftener than once in the four months.
On the other part, England agrees that British merchant-vessels of every description, whether used for the transport or storage of merchandise, conveyance of passengers, or residence (merchant-ships, hulks, chops, &c.), as well as all craft of the Chinese type, owned by British subjects, shall pay tonnage dues according to their tonnage, if trading from port to port, on the expiration of their special certificates, and if used as hulks in port on the expiration of the term of four months, as the case may be.‡
ARTICLE VIII,
It is agreed that all British merchant-vessels shall report to the Customs their port of destination, and shall hand in export manifests when about to clear.
On the other part, China agrees that the amount of any fine for false manifests where British subjects are concerned shall be determined in accordance with the special circumstances, and shall not in any case exceed the sum of 500 taels.
ARTICLE IX.
It is agreed that in all cases of fines arising out of breaches of Customs Regu- lations, the Superintendent, or the Commissioner of Customs, may have a seat on the bench, and take part with the British Consul in inquiring into the case.
And that in all cases of confiscation arising out of breaches of Customs Regu- lations, the British Consul may have a scat on the bench with the Superintendent or the Commissioner of Customs, and take part in inquiring into the case.
* Firstly, this gives the Hong Kong merchants what they ask for, and s condly it arranges what Chinese officials have ong felt to be a grievance. Till now Chinese produce (say sugar) shipped from Canton to Shanghae, has, via Chin kiang, gone into the interior as native produce while at the same time, and possibly conveyed by the same person the very same kind of native produce, shipped via Hong Kong, and therefore held to have changed its origin has entered the interior as a foreign commodity and under the transit system: the former paying all inland taxes en route, and the latter freed from them by one transit payment; offices lost revenue, and constant quarrelling has taken place as to the nature of such goods at the barriers under the new rules, Chinese produce will be treated as Chinese produce-for the sake of native officials when entering the interior having come from Hong Kong, and for the sake of foreign merchants when going to a Treaty port, but transhipped at Hong Kong (ie., paying a full duty on shipment, and a half duty on discharge, instead of two full duties as going to and then coming from a foreign country).
This is a wise exchange. Kiung-chow has been nominally a Treaty port for ten years, and still shows no signs of inviting trade; it will therefore be no loss to remove it from the list On the other hand Wên-chow will afford a ready exit for a sort of tea that reaches Fou-chow after a long, difficult, and expensive transit, and as it is the port of a comparatively populous and wealthy country, it will take many foreign commodities. Further, to open it will be almost as good as to subsidize a steam line between Foo-chow and Shanghae, both of which places desire rapid and regular communication. Wên-chow will be a decided gain, and will become another important centre whence trade will radiate.
This, too, is a decided gain. Vessels now go to the Amoor, Japan, Hong Kong, Manila, and Saigon, only paying tonnage dues once in the four months. The new rule which, without specifying places, simply meations time-once in four months "-will enable vessels trading to Batavia, Bangkok, Singapore, Malacca, and Penang, to take advantage of the same privilege as regards payment of tonnage dues. The rule as it affects hulks, will only very properly enact that they are to pay every four months for the space they occupy in the harbour, and bear their share in supporting harbour police, &c.
The Treaties have not provided for export manifests or report of destination. In return for the assent to provide for these wants, China consents-instead of fiuing 500 taels for every false manifest-to fine offenders in sums not exceeding 500 taels, and which are to be determined in each case by the circumstances accompanying the offence,
286
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.