Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 3, 1877

No. 184.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish.

Legation of the United States,
Tokei, Japan , October 24, 1876. (Received November 29.)

No. 457.]

Sir: On the 21st instant I received from his excellency the Japanese minister for foreign affairs a dispatch in relation to certain regulations for the government of the Ogasawara Islands, situated to the south of Niphon, and part of the Japanese Empire, copies of which dispatch, and a translation of the regulations transmitted with the dispatch, I have the honor to inclose. (Inclosures Nos. 1 and 2.)

It seems to me important to note that by the first article, chapter 2, of the harbor regulations, foreign vessels may be permitted to enter the ports of the islands, upon application to the government office, subject, however, to the observance of the harbor regulations, and to trial for violations thereof in the government office, and to fine in such case of not more than one hundred yen, to be exacted from the captain of the vessel. (See article 7, chapter II.) I beg leave, also, to call attention to chapter III of the customs regulations, article 12, in which it is provided that offenses against the rules shall be tried in the government office, and a fine of not more than five hundred yen may be exacted from the offender.

In my opinion these provisions, in so far as they subject citizens of the United States to trial and judgment in Japanese tribunals for offenses against or violations of these regulations, are in contravention of the sixth article of the treaty of 1858, and as such should not be permitted to be enforced.

Awaiting your instructions in the premises, I shall in the mean time call the attention of the foreign office to these provisions, and suggest the propriety of sending any offending American citizens for trial to our consuls in Japan.

I have, &c.,

JNO. A. BINGHAM,

[Inclosure 1 in No. 457.]

Japanese minister (foreign affairs) to Mr. Bingham.

Foreign Office, Tokei ,
The 17th day, 10th month, the 9th year of Meiji .

Sir: I have the honor of informing your excellency that in view of the increasing; immigration into the Ogasawara Shima, a group of islands part of our dependencies lying to the southward of the empire, and of which a practical examination was made by officers commissioned to that effect by my government last year, the eighth year Meiji, there will be established there a government office and officers sent thereto surpervise the affairs of the islands, conforming themselves to the regulations of which I have the honor to herewith forward to your excellency a copy of each set.

With respect and consideration,

TERASHIMA MUNENORI,
His Imperial Japanese Majesty’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 457.]

Ogasawara Islands.

Chapter I.—Island regulations.

• Article 1. All the residents in the island, both permanent and transient, shall report to the government office on the island, and observe the island regulations.
• Art. 2. Births, deaths, marriages, migrations, and returns to the island shall all be reported to the government office.
• Art. 3. Land shall not be appropriated without permission obtained from the government office; and when appropriated with such permission a title shall be given. When any one wishes to buy or sell such land he must report the transaction to the government office and request renewal of title.
• Art. 4. Land newly cleared with the consent of the government office shall be given to the clearer, and a certificate of ownership shall be granted.
• Art. 5. Land already cleared shall not be taxed for ten years from the present time, and land newly cleared, or to be cleared, shall not be taxed for ten years from the time when brought under cultivation. After the expiration of the given time the matter of taxation will he decided according to the condition of the land. The title to land shall be forfeited if it is neglected (abandoned) for three years after being once cleared.
• Art. 6. Proclamation will be made hereafter whenever additions are made to these island regulations.

Chapter II.—Harbor regulations.

• Article 1. The captain of every native or foreign vessel; except men-of-war, shall, within twenty-four hours after casting anchor, report his country, name of his ship, his own name, tonnage of vessel, number of crew, name of port last sailed from, kind and amount of cargo, and the object of his voyage, to the government office and obtain permission to remain in harbor.
• Art. 2. While a native or foreign vessel remains in harbor it must obey the regulations of the island and of the port, the customs regulations, and other regulations.
• Art. 3. Harbor dues and ship dues will not, for the time, be exacted from foreign or native vessels.
• Art. 4. Dead bodies of men or beasts, stones, or light cargo must not be cast over-board in the harbor.
• Art. 5. If, when a foreign or native vessel arrives in port, there are persons on board who have the small-pox or other epidemic disease the usual quarantine flag must be hoisted, and, till permission is obtained from the government office, no one will be allowed to go to another ship or go out in a small boat or go ashore; and notice must given beforehand to the officer who goes on board on business, and measures taken to prevent the spread of the disease.
• Art. 6. A ship which wishes to leave the port must give notice twelve hours beforehand to the government office and obtain permission to set sail.
• Art. 7. When any article of these regulations is violated the offense shall be tried and estimated in the government office, and a fine of not more than one hundred yen nor less than five yen be exacted from the captain of the ship.

Chapter III.—Customs regulations.

• Article. 1. Whenever any one desires to export goods from this island, or import goods to it, or transfer goods to another vessel, he shall make request at the government office, and be inspected and treated according to the regulations at present observed in the custom-houses of the open ports of Japan (main-land).
• Art. 2. Exports from and imports to this island shall be, for the present, duty free.
• Art. 3. When the productions of this island are carried to Japan main-land in native or foreign vessels, they shall be duty free, but a permit to carry such goods must be obtained.
• Art. 4. When the productions of this island are carried back to the island from Japan main-land, in native or foreign vessels, a permit to carry back such goods must be obtained in like manner.
• Art. 5. When the productions of the main land are carried to the island in native or foreign vessels, the regular export duty must be deposited in the custom-house of the open port of the main-land, and a receipt for the goods carried to and landed on the island obtained from the government office there located, and this receipt forwarded within six months to the custom-house of the open port from whence the goods were exported, whereupon the export duty deposited at first in the custom-house will be returned.
• Art. 6. When the productions of the mainland are carried back from the island to the mainland in native or foreign vessels, the regular export duty must be deposited in the government office there located, and a receipt for the goods carried back to and landed at an open port of the mainland must be obtained from the custom-house there located and this receipt forwarded within six months to the government office on the island, whereupon the export duty deposited at first will be returned.
• Art. 7. The productions of the mainland carried to the island shall be duty free; but when re-exported from the island to foreign countries the regular export duty shall be collected in the island.
• Art. 8. The productions of foreign countries when imported to the island shall, for the present, be duty free; but when reshipped from the island to the mainland, the regular import duty shall be collected in the island.
• Art. 9. When foreign articles, imported to an open port of the mainland, are carried to this island, the import duty already paid on the mainland shall not therefore be returned.
• Art. 10. It is not allowed to import opium into the island. When it is secretly imported, or an attempt made to do so, the articles on hand shall be confiscated and a line shall be exacted, according to the regulations in force in the open ports of the mainland.
• Art. 11. The duties to be paid or deposited in the island shall be according to the tariff of imports and exports, for the time being, in force in the open ports of the mainland. When the invoiced value of goods is thought to be below the true value, the official shall fix the true price and increase the amount of duty to be paid. If the captain or owner dispute the price fixed, the goods shall be bought immediately by the government office.
• Art. 12. Offenses against these rules shall be tried in the government office, and the gravity of the offense estimated, and a fine of not more than five hundred yen nor less than five yen be exacted from the offender.
• Art. 13. Three months’ notice will be given in case these rules are amended or duties exacted.