[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
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34281
[September 19.]
SECTION 4.
8 NOV 10
No. 1.
(No. 292.) Sir,
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received September 19.)
Peking, August 29, 1910, ON receipt of your despatch No. 257 of the 26th ultimo, I requested His Majesty's consul at Newchwang to furnish me with a full report with regard to the special facilities reported to be accorded by the Dairen Customs and railway to importers shipping goods into Manchuria via Dalny.
I have the honour to transmit herewith the copy of a despatch which I have received from Mr. Wilkinson, from which it appears that the Dairen Custonis can hardly be charged with intentionally granting special facilities to merchants which cannot be obtained at other treaty ports.
The difficulties which the Chinese Customs at Dairen have to contend with in the case of the import of foreign goods through the leased territory were referred to at some length in my despatch No. 35 of the 27th January, and although the promised co-operation of the railway company, should the instructions of the Japanese Govern- ment mentioned by Mr. Wilkinson be loyally carried out, may go some way towards enabling the Customs to follow up and deal with goods destined for Chinese territory, it is difficult to see how the fiscal relations of the two countries in South Manchuria can be placed on a really satisfactory footing until the Japanese authorities consent to the Kiaochow procedure being applied to Dairen.
On the other hand, there is no doubt that the facilities offered by the railway, with a view to attracting trade to Dairen, are of a special nature, and that the consequent gain to Dairen must result in a corresponding loss to Newchwang and act detrimentally on the trade of all other nations except Japan. The fact that Dairen has not yet benefited to the extent desired by the Japanese is due to the refusal of the Chinese merchants hitherto to abandon Newchwang in favour of the rival port.
The reported intention of the railway company to build a new goods station at Newchwang in a more central and convenient situation (referred to in Mr. Wilkinson's intelligence report for June quarter, extracts from which were enclosed in my despatch No. 280 of the 19th August) would seem to indicate that the company are beginning to realise the wisdom of conciliating the Chinese mercantile community at that port.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER,
Enclosure in No. 1.
(No. 20.) Sir.
Consul Wilkinsou to Mr. Max Müller.
Newchwang, August 25, 1910. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your despatch No. 9 of the 17th instant, calling for further particulars with regard to the special facilities accorded by the Dairen Customs and the railway to importers shipping goods into Manchuria viâ Dairen,
In my intelligence report for March quarter I gave instances of the laxity shown by the Dairen Customs in the matter of the examination of goods. The evidence adduced appears to me, however, hardly strong enough to justify the charge that, with a view to attracting trade to the port, the Customs are according special facilities to merchants which are unobtainable at other treaty ports. It may be urged, too, in defence of the Customs officials concerned, that for the necessary facilities to enable them to carry out their duties in a proper manner they depend almost entirely on the good-will of the railway company, and that, as these facilities are often withheld, many goods necessarily escape examination through no fault on the part of the Customs. Further, I understand that, owing to representations made by the Japanese
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