October 13, 1897.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
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advisers that there is danger in their present "not merely to the point up to which the state of isolation and unpreparedness? It customs of Europe allow members of a may, perhaps, if the position be only put crew to be subjected to British jurisdiction, clearly before them. LI HUNG-CHANG is "but to the full range, whether with respect almost the only high official who can pro-" to acts done on the vessel or on shore, perly estimate the danger to China of Rus- "that merely protective jurisdiction stret- sia's unchecked advance. Even he is so in- "ches in an Eastern State. Punitive juris- fected with the national egotism that he will "diction does not, however, go with protec- not improbably hug the idea that China's "tive jurisdiction in this instance. British power is equal to a contest with Russia, and "Courts can only exercise criminal jurisdic. believe that a few thousand foreign drilled "tion over British subjects and persons to and armed troops with the navy she has whom the privileges of British subjects ordered from Europe will serve to keep "have been regularly extended; they conse- the Northern barbarians back. Moreover, quently have no power to try a foreign LI was the rotten reed on which the Peking seaman belonging to a British ship for any Government leaned in the war with Japan, "offence committed within or without the and allowed to topple with a disastrous crash "territorial jurisdiction. He must be hand- into the dust of disgrace. If CHANG CHIH-"ed over to the Consular authority of the TUNG were younger and more practical he might serve his country well, for he is honest and patriotic. So far as we are aware, no one has arisen to replace that sturdy old soldier TSO TSUNG-TANG, who, whatever he lacked in knowledge of military tactics, made up largely for it by dogged courage and patriotic persistence. Like France after Sedan, China now sadly lacks a Man. Given a capable soldier on the Throne or in the Cabinet, and an honest desire to act faithfully with an ally, China would find such a friend in Great Britain as would enable her to successfully stem the tide of Russian aggression and maintain the home of the Dynasty inviolate. But how can any agreement be come to with such a flabby nation as China? In her present state, too, it would be well nigh impossible, Matters must therefore drift, and Russia meanwhile is making the most of the time to hurry forward her preparations for securing the mastry not alone of China but of all Asia. Persia is already her most obedient to com- mand; the whole of Central Asia is reduced to subjection; Mangolia would be only too willing to transfer its allegiance to the Great WHITE CZAR; China is a ripening pear, to be absorbed by degrees as may be
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"nation of which he is a subject." With all respect for the eminent authority respon- sible for the above, it strikes us as being bad law and contrary to the universal practice. No distinction can be drawn in such a case between protective and punitive jurisdiction, the essence of the protection accorded by a power possessing exterritorial juris- diction being that persons accused of an offence shall be tried by the laws of the power to which they owe allegiance. The protective and punitive jurisdiction must ne- cessarily go hand in hand. FERGUSON puts the matter more correctly in the following passage:- A treaty of exterritoriality or capitalation includes not alone the subjects "or citizens of the Treaty Power, but also "those individuals of different nationality "who are temporarily or permanently under the jurisdiction of the Treaty Power, whether on board the vessels of such
• Power or registered at its Con- sulates, and this independently of "the condition in which the state or "pation to which the protected individuals respectively belong may be with regard to "such exterritoriality or capitulation." That is to say, a foreigner employed on board a British ship is subject to British jurisdic tion, even when on shore, in countries where exterritoriality prevails. This is the prin- ciple applied in daily practice. If a seaman belonging to a foreign ship commits an offence ashore in a Chinese or Japanese port, say he is drunk and disorderly, he is dealt with by the authorities of his ship's nationality, the question of his own nationality not being gone into. We fail to see anything in the Hakodate case that should take it out of the general rule. Some time ago a Chinese member of the crew of H.M.S." Esk had the misfortune to accidentally kill a native at one of the An interesting discussion has been going Yangtsze ports while ship's sports were on in the Yokohama press with reference to being, held ashore. According to Chinese the case of certain Chinese forming part of law he would, notwithstanding the ac the crew of a British man-of-war who were cidental character of the homicide, have arrested by the Japanese authorities at been liable to punishment by death. The Hakodate on a charge of gambling and British authorities, however, notwithstand dealt with by the native Courts notwith-ing that the accused was a Chinaman and standing a claim put forward by the British that the occurrence took place in Chinese authorities that they were subject to British jurisdiction under the law of exterritoriality. The Japan Mail maintains that the action of the Japanese authorities was correct; the Japan Gazette maintains the opposite, hold- ing that the men should have been sur- rendered to British jurisdiction. In sup- port of its argument the Mail quotes the following passage from HALL :—" It
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safe ог convenient; and be fought for when all else is secured. The Vienna correspondent of The Times may be misinformed, but while so many sinister reports are current concerning the designs of Russia, it will be well to ob- serve the greatest caution, and though do ing our best to preserve friendly relations with the reputed enemy, to keep our powder dry.
EXTERRITORIALITY AND THE CREWS OF BRITISHI SHIPS IN JAPAN.
may be worth while to note the limita- "tions upon an outlying instance of protec- "tion temporarily accorded to persons, not on their own account, but because of their association with British property. Per- sons forming part of the crew of a British vessel, whatever may be their nationality "are protected while in an Oriental port
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"tion; the sole and only ground for depart "ing from the general tenet of international "law which declares that every member of "the crew of a foreign public ship is subject to local jurisdiction in respect of offences "committed on shore." In this passage our contemporary unconsciously but none the less effectually surrenders his whole case. The whole raison d'etre of exterri- toriality as applied to Oriental states is that the jurisdiction against which it is set up is, or is supposed to be, of a semi- civilized or barbarous character. It was on that ground that exterritoriality was imposed upon Japan, and though it is about to be terminated, on the ground that it is no longer necessary, while it remains the jurisdiction it confers upon foreign states in Japan is precisely the same as that which it confers upon the same states in China. The claim of the Japanese to exercise jurisdiction over British subjects (ns the Hakodate Chi- nese for the time being were), in anticipation of the legitimate recovery of their judicial autonomy, therefore cannot be admitted as a matter of international law.
CONSULAR REPORTS AND THE ALLEGED APATHY OF CHAM- BERS OF COMMERCE.
MR. FRASER, who writes the Consular re- port on the trade of Canton for last year, is to be congratulated on his advocacy of a common sense interpretation of the transit pass clause of the Tientsin Treaty, namely, that payment of the transit duty should clear imports of all further charges. Mr. BRENAN, it will be remembered, adopted a similar line in his recently published report on the state of trade at the Treaty ports. We can only hope that the representations of the Consuls may lead Her Majesty's Go- vernment to review the decision arrived at nearly thirty years ago, a decision which has been most prejudicial to the development of foreign trade with China. Mr. FRASER complains of the apathy of the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce as regards the ex- istence of revenue farms in Kwangtung, but in justice to the Chamber we must say that there appears to be little ground for the complaint. The farming system is part and parcel of the lekin system and as Her Majesty's Government has formally re- cognised the legality of lekiu there ap- peared to be little use in reiterating com- plaints on that score. Now that the mer- cantile community has got some of the Consuls on its side, however, the Chamber mightafford support to the latter by sending in complaints in a steady stream. There is a bare possibility that such complaints may effect some good and at the worst they can do no harm. But it is well to bear in mind exactly how the question stands and that the first object to be aimed at is the con- version of Her Majesty's Government.
ès long ago as 1867, when the revision of territory, claimed jurisdiction on the ground the Tientsiu Treaty was under consideration, the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce memo- of the man's being a member of the crew of a British vessel. How is this case dis- rialised the Secretary of State, representing inter alia the injury done to foreign trade by posed of by the Japan Mail? As follows:- "Our contention is that such a claim has no the illegal exactions levied on goods in ex- "raison d'étre unless the jurisdiction against cess of the tariff, especially lekin. Similar "which it is set up is of a semi-civilized or representations were made by other Chanı- "barbarous character. If, for example, a bers. The question was referred to the foreigner serving in a British public Board of Trade, and the reply_of_that "vessel commits a crime on shore in China department was as follows:-"My Lords it is a point of humanity that Great Britain "entertain no doubt that the view expressed should assert her right of jurisdiction over "in some of the memorials, and even at one him as a protectel subject, rather than suf- "time by Sir R. ALCOCK himself, viz., that- fer him to be judged by Chinese tribunals.
"the payment of the transit dues ought to "That principle, indeed, is the sole and only "be held to exempt the goods upon which it intelligible explanation of protection' "has been paid from all subsequent internal "exercised in the manner under considera- I « taxation, and to insure the sale of the
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