Directory_and_Chronicle_1877 — Page 622

NEW CONVENTION BETWEEN THE TREATY POWERS AND JAPAN.

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Art. III.-The permit fee hitherto levied under the VIth Regulation attached to the above-named Treaties, is hereby abolished. Permits for the landing or ship- ment of cargo will be required as formerly, but will hereafter be issued free of charge.

Art. IV.-On and from the first day of July next, at the Port of Kanagawa (Yokohama), and on and from the first day of October next, at the Ports of Nagasaki and Hakodadi, the Japanese Government will be prepared to warehouse imported goods on the application of the importer or owner, without payment of duty. The Japanese Government will be responsible for the safe custody of the goods so long as they remain in their charge, and will adopt all the precautions necessary to render them insurable against fire. When the importer or the owner wishes to remove the goods, from the warehouses, he must pay the duties fixed by the Tariff, but if he should wish to re-export them, he may do so without payment of duty. Storage charges will in either case be paid on delivery of the goods. The amount of these charges, together with the regulations necessary for the management of the said warehouses, will be established by the common consent of the Contracting Parties.

Art. V. All articles of Japanese production may be conveyed from any place in Japan to any of the Ports open to foreign trade, free of any tax or transit duty, other than the usual tolls levied equally on all traffic for the maintenance of roads or navigation.

Art. VI.-In conformity with those articles of the Treaties concluded between Japan and Foreign Powers which stipulate for the circulation of foreign coin at its corresponding weight in native coin of the same description, dellars have hitherto been received at the Japanese Custom-house in payment of duties at their weight in Boos (commonly called Ichiboos), that is to say, at a rate of three hundred and eleven Boos per hundred dollars. The Japanese Government being, however, desirous to alter this practice, and to abstain from all interference in the exchange of native for foreign coin, and being also anxious to meet the wants both of native and foreign commerce by securing an adequate issue of native coin, have already determined to enlarge the Japanese Mint, so as to admit of the Japanese Government exchanging into native coin of the same intrinsic value, less only the cost of coinage, at the places named for this purpose, all foreign coin, or bullion, in gold or silver, that may at any time be tendered to them by foreigners or Japanese. It being essential, however, to the execution of this measure, that the various Powers with whom Japan has con- cluded Treaties should first consent to modify the stipulations in those Treaties which relate to the currency, the Japanese Government will at once propose to those Powers the adoption of the necessary modification in the said stipulations, and on receiving their concurrence will be prepared from the first of January, 1868, to carry the above measure into effect.

The rate to be charged as the cost of coinage shall be determined hereafter by the common consent of the Contracting Parties.

Art. VII.-In order to put a stop to certain abuses and inconveniences complained of at the open Ports, relative to the transaction of business at the Custom-house, the landing and shipping of cargoes and the hiring of boats, coolies, servants, &e, the Contracting Parties have agreed that the Governor at each open port shall at once enter into negotiations with the foreign Consuls with a view to the establishment, by mutual consent, of such regulations as shall effectually put an end to those abuses and inconveniences, and afford all possible facility and security both to the operations of trade and to the transactions of individuals.

It is hereby stipulated that in order to protect merchandize from exposure to weather, these regulations shall include the covering in at each port of one or more of the landing places used by foreigners for landing or shipping cargo.

Art. VIII.-Any Japanese subject shall be free to purchase, either in the open Ports of Japan or abroad, every description of sailing or steam vessel intended to carry either

passengers or cargo; but ships-of-war may only be obtained under the authorization of the Japanese Government.

All foreign vessels purchased by Japanese subjects shall be registered as Japanese vessels on payment of a fixed duty of three Boos per ton for steamers, and one Boo