[This Document is the Property of Her Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Sir,
No. 1.
682
[Angus 2755
RECO SECTION 25 NOV 19
Board of Trade to Foreign Office-(Received August 18.)
Board of Trade, August 17, 1899.
IN reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, asking that Lord Salisbury may be furnished with any observations which the Board of Trade may have to offer on Mr. Bax-Ironside's despatch No. 135 of the 25th May relative to the working of the Regulations and Rules for inland steam navigation on the West River in China, I am directed by the Board of Trade to state that, on the whole, they are disposed to concur in the opinion expressed by Mr. Bax-Ironside that sufficient time has hardly elapsed to afford a true test of the working of the Regulations in question.
It appears to the Board that, so long as the dual system of Imperial maritime and provincial Customs taxation exists in China, there is great force in the observations contained in the letter of Sir Robert Hart which forms part of the printed correspondence inclosed in your letter. At the same time, however, I am directed to add that, in the opinion of the Board of Trade, no suitable opportunity should be lost for urging on the Chinese Government the desirability of putting an end to the present double system, which acts as a serious hindrance to the development of British trade.
With reference to this matter, I am directed to acknowledge receipt of a Memorandum by Mr. Jamieson inclosed in your letter of the 12th instant.
While Mr. Jamieson's suggestions deserve careful consideration, the Board are not quite clear that they afford a solution which would at once protect the Chinese Customs revenue and give satisfaction to British traders.
The Board are fully aware of the difficulties attending any effort to procure an alteration in the existing state of things, but they fear that no really satisfactory arrangement for inland navigation in China will be found practicable until there is a uniform system of Customs and li-kin collection.
I am, &c. (Signed) A. E. BATEMAN.
[2095]
[This Document is the Property of Her Britannic Majesty's Government.]
CHINA TRADE.
CONFIDENTIAL.
Sir,
No. 1.
682
[Angus 2755
RECO SECTION 25 NOV 19
Board of Trade to Foreign Office-(Received August 18.)
ربانی
Board of Trade, August 17, 1899.
IN reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, asking that Lord Salisbury may be furnished with any observations which the Board of Trade may have to offer on Mr. Bax-Ironside's despatch No. 135 of the 25th May relative to the working of the Regulations and Rules for inland steam navigation on the West River in China, I am directed by the Board of Trade to state that, on the whole, they are disposed to concur in the opinion expressed by Mr. Bax-Ironside that sufficient time has hardly elapsed to afford a true test of the working of the Regulations in question.
It appears to the Board that, so long as the dual system of Imperial maritime and provincial Customs taxation exists in China, there is great force in the observa- tions contained in the letter of Sir Robert Hart which forms part of the printed correspondence inclosed in your letter. At the same time, however, I am directed to add that, in the opinion of the Board of Trade, no suitable opportunity should be lost for urging on the Chinese Government the desirability of putting an end to the present double system, which acts as a serious hindrance to the development of British trade.
With reference to this matter, I am directed to acknowledge receipt of a Memo- randum by Mr. Jamieson inclosed in your letter of the 12th instant.
While Mr. Jamieson's suggestions deserve careful consideration, the Board are not quite clear that they afford a solution which would at once protect the Chinese Customs revenue and give satisfaction to British traders.
The Board are fully aware of the difficulties attending any effort to procure an alteration in the existing state of things, but they fear that no really satisfactory arrangement for inland navigation in China will be found practicable until there is a uniform system of Customs and li-kin collection.
I am, &c. (Signed) A. E. BATEMAN.
[2095 n-)
-1]
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