Directory_and_Chronicle_1868 — Page 467

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CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND HOLLAND,

WITH JAPAN.

The Representatives of Great Britain, France, the United States of America, and Holland, having received from their respective Governments identical instructions for the modification of the Tariff of Import and Export duties contained in the Trade Regulations annexed to the Treaties concluded by the aforesaid Powers with the Japanese Government in 1858, which modification is provided for by the VI1th of those Regulations :—

And the Japanese Government having given the said Representatives, during their visit to Osaka, in November, 1865, a written engagement to proceed immediately to the Revision of the Tariff in question, on the general basis of a duty of five per cent. on the value of all articles Imported or Exported ;-

And the Government of Japan being desirous of affording a fresh proof of their wish to promote trade and to cement the friendly relations which exist between their country and foreign nations;-

His Excellency Midzuno Idzumi no Kami, a member of the Gorojiu and a Minister of Foreign Affairs, has been furnished by the Government of Japan, with the necessary powers to conclude with the Representatives of the above-named four Powers, that is to

say;

Of Great Britain,

Sir Harry S. Parkes, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Her Britannic Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan;

Of France,

Monsieur Leon Roches, Commander of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of the French in Japan;

Of the United States of America,

A. L. C. Portman, Esquire, Chargé d'Affairs ad interim;

And of Holland,

Monsieur Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek, Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, Political Agent and Consul General of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands;

The following Convention comprising Twelve Articles.

Art. I.-The contracting Parties declare in the names of their respective Governments that they accept, and they hereby do formally accept as binding upon the subjects of their respective Sovereigns, and the citizens of their respective countries, the Tariff hereby established and annexed to the present convention.

This tariff is substituted not only for the original tariff attached to the Treaties concluded with the above-named four Powers, but also for the special Conventions, and arrangements relative to the same Tariff, which have been entered into at different dates up to this time between the Governments of Great Britain, France, and the United States on one side, and the Japanese Government on the other.

The New Tariff shall come into effect in the Port of Kanagawa (Yokohama), on the first day of July next, and in the ports of Nagasaki and Hakodadi on the first day of the following month.

Art. II.-The Tariff attached to this convention being incorporated from the date of its signature in the Treaties concluded between Japan and the above-named four Powers, is subject to revision on the first day of July, 1872.

Two years, however, after the signing of the present convention, any of the contracting parties, on giving six months' notice to the others, may claim a re-adjustment of the duties on Tea and Silk on the basis of five per cent. on the average value of these articles, during the three years last preceding. On the demand also of any of the contracting parties, the duty on timber may be changed from an ad valorem to a specific rate of six months after the signature of this convention.

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