23d
GOT3
REC?
8262
84
APR 80
No. 44.
The Marquis Tseng to the Earl of Rosebery.--(Received March 27.)
My Lord,
Chinese Legation, March 25, 1886. WITH reference to the communication of Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking, referred to in the letter your Lordship did me the honour to address to me on the 23rd instant, I have to express to you my regret that the action of the Tsung-li Yamên, with regard to the appointment of the Hong Kong Commission, should have been viewed as a "change of plan," and as evincing a desire on the part of the Imperial Government to "postpone," and much more to postpone for an "indefinite time," the execution of the Opium Agreement of the 18th July last.
I assure your Lordship that, as the party which has the most to gain from the complete fulfilment of the Agreement, the Imperial Government is most desirous that not the slightest delay should take place in its being put in force.
The Chefoo Agreement, and the Additional Article of the 18th July last annexed to it, provide for the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the question of smuggling into China from Hong Kong; so the meeting of that Commission, instead of being a postponement of the execution of the Agreement, is in itself the fulfilment of one of its most important provisions.
That the Agreement in its entirety cannot be put in force at once can scarcely, I think, be considered as calculated to excite surprise. It is by no means an unfrequent occurrence to find it either impossible or impracticable to give effect to all the provisions of an international engagement from the first day, when, according to its stipulations, it is permissible to enforce it.
The Agreement in question is an instance of this; clause 3 of the Additional Article provides for an Agreement as to the size of the packages to be sanctioned for each port being come to between the Customs authorities and the British Consul before the merchant can repack his opium and exercise his right of selection of the kind of chests into which it is permissible for him to transfer it.
The Hong Kong Commission, provided for in clause 9, is another of those preliminary arrangements which must necessarily be complied with before full effect can be given to the Additional Article, for otherwise it is much to be feared that smuggling from Hong Kong would, under the new arrangement for levying the li-kin, be increased instead of being diminished.
It was this consideration which induced the Yamên to request Her Majesty's Government to put them in a position to execute these preliminary measures, by allowing the Agreement to be put in operation without waiting for the formal exchange of the ratifications, an act which, in view of my successor having left Shanghae with the papers on the 18th instant, may be expected to take place about the beginning of May.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
TSENG.
23 d
GOT3
REC?
8262
84
APR 80
No. 44.
The Marquis Tseng to the Earl of Rosebery.--(Received March 27.)
My Lord,
Chinese Legation, March 25, 1886. WITH reference to the communication of Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking, referred to in the letter your Lordship did me the honour to address to me on the 23rd instant, I have to express to you my regret thar the action of the Tsung-li Yamên, with regard to the appointment of the Hong Kong Commission, should have been viewed change of plan," and as evincing a desire on the part of the Imperial Government to "postpone," and much more to postpone for an "indefinite time," the execution of the Opium Agreement of the 18th July last.
as a
I assure your Lordship that, as the party which has the most to gain from the com- plete fulfilment of the Agreement, the Imperial Government is most desirous that not the slightest delay should take place in its being put in force.
The Chefoo Agreement, and the Additional Article of the 18th July last annexed to it, provide for the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the question of smuggling into China from Hong Kong; so the meeting of that Commission, instead of being a postponement of the execution of the Agreement, is in itself the fulfilment of one of its most important provisions.
That the Agreement in its entirety cannot be put in force at once can scarcely, I think, be considered as calculated to excite surprise. It is by no means an unfrequent occurrence to find it either impossible or impracticable to give effect to all the provisions of an international engagement from the first day, when, according to its stipulations, it is permissible to enforce it.
The Agreement in question is an instance of this; clause 3 of the Additional Article provides for an Agreement as to the size of the packages to be sanctioned for each port being come to between the Customs authorities and the British Consul before the merchant can repack his opium and exercise his right of selection of the kind of chests into which it is permissible for him to transfer it.
The Hong Kong Commission, provided for in clause 9, is another of those preliminary arrangements which must necessarily be complied with before full effect can be given to the Additional Article, for otherwise it is much to be feared that smuggling from Hong Kong would, under the new arrangement for levying the li-kin, be increased instead of being diminished.
It was this consideration which induced the Yamên to request Her Majesty's Government to put them in a position to execute these preliminary measures, by allow- ing the Agreement to be put in operation without waiting for the formal exchange of the ratifications, an act which, in view of my successor having left Shanghae with the papers on the 18th instant, may be expected to take place about the beginning of May.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
TSENG.
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