CO129-314 - Public Offices - 1902 — Page 440

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The present wording, if taken according to the letter, appears to give ship-owners only the right to lease from Chinese subjects, whereas merchants are not only inferentially given that right, but also that of demanding accommodation from Chinese officials! No provision, on the other hand, is made for ship-owners, paying similar taxes, &c to their Chinese neighbours. The wording of some of the other Rules is similarly confused, and in each case this is the result of mutual compromises; on the other hand, others are simply unnecessary; as, however, the Chinese appeared to attach importance to their The insertion, I agreed to accept them in return for substantial concessions to us. confusion, however, is much more apparent than real; a close examination will show that the Chinese concessions to us are clearly laid down, and when the new arrangement comes into operation, they will be embodied in a clear form in the various circulars issued by the Imperial Maritime Customs.

In the case of Rule 7, I reported to your Lordship in my despatch No. 105 of the 16th ultimo, the original Chinese proposal; if the Article be compared therewith it will be seen that by means of saving clauses the attempt to restrict the original British rights has been rendered nugatory.

Viceroy Liu wished to have inserted a provision obliging inland navigation steamers to carry Chinese post-office mails free of charge and no other mails; of course, it was impossible for me to assent to this, but I endeavoured to meet him half way by proposing the insertion of the following words:

"British steamers trading on the inland waters of China will, as far as possible, give facilities to the Imperial Chinese post-office for the transmission of mail matter on such conditions as may be mutually agreed upon between the owners or masters of the steamers and the Imperial Chinese post-office; and, with the exception of such mails as may be placed on board by a British Consul or in steamers' box provided for ships', shippers, and consignees' letters, they will neither receive mail matter from nor carry it for any individual or establishment except the Chinese Imperial Post-office, where such offices exist and function," which would not have been restrictive except as regards private mails where Chinese postal arrangements existed. Consular mails would have preserved their former privileges.

This proposal was accepted provisionally by the Commissioners and Viceroys and referred to Peking, but as the Peking authorities would not reply, the Chinese Commis- sioners informed me that they could not make up their minds whether they would finally accept it or reject it until the 31st ultimo. As it had originally been decided that the Treaty should be signed on the 30th ultimo, this indecision rendered it necessary to have two different editions of the Treaty: one with the provision inserted, and the other without it; the Commissioners promising that, if I was ready to sign on that date, they would, if still left without instructions, make up their minds at the last moment.

It will be seen that the matter has ended by the provision being left out, and I have the honour to transmit the translation of a note from the Commissioners informing nie of the final decision of the Chinese Government.

Your Lordship will perceive that all the fresh concessions to us in the Rules are contained in Articles I, VIII, and IX, to which, perhaps, X may be added, as it gives a Treaty position to the original Rules, which canuot now be altered without our consent. Hitherto China has claimed the right to alter the Inland Steam Navigation Rules at will,

As regards the decennial revision of the Yariff, I succeeded, but only after much discussion, in inducing the Commissioners to abandon their demand for the inclusion of the text of the Treaty in this provision.

A small change has been made in Article XIV, at the desire of the Viceroy. Only twenty-one days' notice* need be given by the Chinese authorities before stopping the movement of grain, but I have been careful to insert a provision by which a specially chartered vessel arriving at her loading port prior to or on the day of the issue of the prohibition shall have the right to continue loading for the period of a week after arrival. This change, therefore, gives back to us with one hand what it takes away with the other.

Some difficulty has been caused by the question of the importation of morphia. When the new Specific Tariff was being drawn up, the Chinese appealed to be allowed to put a heavy duty, amounting to considerably more than 5 per cent., on morphia, so as to restrict, as far as possible, the importation of this drug, which is having, through its wrong use, a most baneful effect on the Chinese. As the other foreign Commissioners appeared disposed to agree, I thought it advisable to give my adhesion also.

* It was originally one month.

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Later, however, I was approached with a view to my assent being given in the Treaty to total prohibition, except for medicinal purposes. Eventually, with your Lordship's sanction, I consented to do so. That being so, it is obvious that all the reasons for a

h duty will eventually disappear, as morphia can only be imported for medicinal purposes if the other Powers agree to our morphia Article,

I have therefore endeavoured to obtain from the Chinese the reduction of the excessive duty, but unfortunately without result, as it was impossible to delay any further the signing of the Tariff. The matter is a small one, however, and it cau no doubt be arranged if the prohibition Article comes into operation.

The Commissioners expressed to me their anxiety lest the words "permanently abolished," in section 1 of Article VIII, should be construed as signifying that even if the present Treaty were abrogated, China would still not have the right to levy l-kin. ; they said they feared that their enemics might take the opportunity of impeaching them to the Throne ou the ground that they had not taken proper care of Chinese interests, and they begged me to furnish them with a statement in writing to the effect that the above-mentioned view was not the one taken on the British side.

I saw no objection to consenting to this, and have the honour to inclose herein copies of the despatches which have been exchanged on the subject.

I also bave the honour to inclose copies of correspondence with the Chinese Com- missioners relative to the wording of Article IX in regard to Mining Regulations.

Your Lordship will not be surprised to hear that a large portion of my time since our return from Wuchang has been occupied, not only in dealing with the above- mentioned points, but also in defending concessions already agreed to by China, or in rejecting fresh proposals (sometimes of an almost ludicrous character) designed with a view to restricting existing British privileges. I have not reported all the negotiations on these points at length, as the suggestions appeared often not to be made seriously, but merely with a view to the Commissioners feeling their way in regard to my attitude towards the various points, or in order to balance some demand made by me, and thus induce me to abandon that demand.

The fact that practically there have been, besides the Grand Council and Throne, five Chinese negotiators to deal with, the two Viceroys, and two Commissioners and the Wai-wu Pu, each with different views, of whom only two have been on the spot, bas naturally made the process of coming to a decision on the Chinese side very slow.

I now come to the negotiations as to the apportionment of the surtaxes. (See my despatch No. 102 of the 8th instant.)

The Commissioners duly drafted a Memorial, and obtained my concurrence before sending it to the Viceroys for their signature. I forwarded to your Lordship in my telegram No. 92 A of the 1st September the translation of the Memorial as it had been shown then to me.

Your Lordship will no doubt bave noticed that the wording is not as clear as might be wished, but I felt convinced that if I had insisted on an explicit statement that the whole of the proceeds of the surtaxes were to go to the provinces first, without also definitely specifying that they were to continue as before to furnish their quotas to Peking to make up for the Peking supplies contributed now out of li-kin, and without holding out auy hope to the Central Government that the latter would receive compensation for the loss of trausit dues, the Throne would (especially in view of the dearth of lands to meet the indemnity payments) have refused to sanction the Memorial,

On the other hand, if these points had been exhaustively dealt with, a handle would have been given to the Central Government for squeezing the provinces unduly under cover of actual Treaty provisions.

Moreover, circumstances had altered considerably as regards the stringent necessity for protecting the provincial revenues. Originally, when the Agreement was tentatively made with Sheng, it was proposed that the Imperial Maritime Customs should collect the whole of the surtaxes, but at Wnchang, at the instance of the Viceroy, arrange- ments were made whereby the provincial authorities will be able to collect directly the whole of the export surtax and, in the case of silk, part of the export duty. The financial resources obtainable in this way, coupled with the proceeds of the consumption tax, will, therefore, be of considerable help to the provincial authorities.

As regards the disposal of the salt li-kin, I have already reported at length to your Lordship in my despatch No. 102, of the 8th ultimo, the reason that induced me to consent to the omission of any reference to it in the Memorial and Edict, namely, that I found during my visit up the Yang-tsze that salt fi-kin formed au integral part of the general salt revenue, and was, therefore, pledged to the service of the indemnity.