CO129-205 - Public Offices - 1882 — Page 381

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and that native produce exported shall pay a duty not to exceed 5 per cent, ad valorem ; and it is further agreed that the duty upon foreign imports shall be paid once for all at the port of entry, and that no other dues, duties, fecs, taxes, or charges of any sort shall be levied upon such imports either in the interior of Chosen or at the ports.

British merchant-vessels entering the ports of Chosen shall pay tonnage dues at the rate of 5 mace per ton, payable once in three months on each vessel, according to the Chinese Calendar,

ARTICLE VI.

Subjects of Chosen who may visit Great Britain, its colonies and possessions, shall be permitted to reside, and to rent premises, purchase land, or to construct residences or warehouses in all parts of the country. They shall be freely permitted to pursue their various callings and avocations, and to traffic in all merchandize, raw and manufactured, that is not declared contraband by law.

British subjects who may resort to the ports of Chosen which are open to foreign commerce shall be permitted to reside at such open ports within the limits of the con- cessions, and to lease buildings or land, or to construct residences or warehouses therein. They shall be fully permitted to pursue their various callings and avocations within the limits of the port, and to traffic in all merchandize, raw and manufactured, that is not declared contraband by law. No coercion or intimidation in the acquisition of land or building shall be permitted, aud the land rent as fixed by the authorities of Chosen shall be paid.

And it is expressly agreed that land so acquired in the open ports of Chosen still remains an integral part of the kingdom, and that all rights of jurisdiction over persons- and property within such areas remain vested in the authorities of Chosen, except in so far as such rights have been expressly relinquished by this Treaty.

British subjects are not permitted either to transport foreign imports to the interior, or to proceed thither to purchase native produce; nor are they permitted to transport native produce from one open port to another open port. Violations of this rule will subject such merchandize to confiscation, and the merchant offending will be handed over to the Consular authorities to be dealt with.

ARTICLE VII.

The British Government and the Government of Chosen mutually agree and under- British take that subjects of Chosen shall not be permitted to import opium into any port, and British subjects shall not be permitted to import opium into any of the open ports of Chosen, to transport it from one open port to another open port, or to traffic in it in Chosen.

This absolute prohibition, which extends to vessels owned by subjects of either Power, to foreign vessels employed by them, and to vessels owned by the subjects of either Power and employed by other persons for transportation of opium, shall be enforced by appropriate legislation on the part of the British Government and of Chosen, and offenders against it shall be severely punished.

ARTICLE VIII.

Whenever the Government of Chosen shall bave reason to apprehend a scarcity of food within the limits of the kingdom, His Majesty may, by Decree, temporarily prohibit the export of all breadstuffs, and such Decree shall be binding on all British subjects in Chosen, upon due notice having been given them by the authorities of Chosen, through the proper officers of the British Government; but it is to be understood that the exportation of rice and breadstuffs of every description is prohibited from the open port of Jin Chuen,

Chosen having of old probibited the exportation of red ginseng, if British subjects clandestinely purchase it for export, it shall be confiscated and the offenders punished.

ARTICLE IX.

The purchase of cannon, small-arms, swords, gunpowder, shot, and all munitions of war, is permitted only to officials of the Government of Chosen, and they may be imported by British subjects only under a written permit from the authorities of

Chosen.

If these articles are clandestinely imported they shall be confiscated, and the offending parties shall he punished.