Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 6, 1880
No. 167
Mr. Seward
to Mr. Evarts.
Peking, May 6, 1880. (Received June 30.)
Sir: I have the honor to hand to you herewith a letter which I am addressing to the doyen of the diplomatic body, transmitting a memorandum of my remarks in presenting to the ministers of the foreign office the questions regarding the currency raised by my colleagues and myself, and showing the responses made by them. I have also to hand to you a copy of my letter to the prince.
I have, &c.
Mr. Seward to Sir T. Wade.
Dear Sir and Colleague: I beg leave to hand to you herewith a memorandum showing my procedure in placing before the ministers of the Tsung-li Yamên, at your request and that of my colleagues, the facts and considerations in regard to the condition of the Chinese currency affecting the payment of customs dues and duties to which we have felt ourselves warranted in calling their attention.
This memorandum will be translated into Chinese and forwarded to the Yamên, with Mr. von Brandt’s printed paper and my own, in case you and our colleagues generally find it to be in accordance with our views and agreement.
I am, &c.,
Mr. Seward to Prince Kung.
Your Imperial Highness:
I had the honor to wait on the ministers of the Yamên, on the 29th instant, as a delegate of the diplomatic body, to lay before them certain facts and considerations in regard to the Chinese currency, which my colleagues and myself agree in believing have a prejudicial effect on trade, in order to secure such a reform as will secure to our country people reasonable certainty and accuracy in their payments of customs dues and duties, and I have now to hand to your Imperial Highness a memorandum which I have prepared, setting forth in brief my remarks and the responses of the ministers.
This memorandum has been submitted to my colleagues, and meets their approval.
I beg leave to hand to your Imperial Highness also two memoranda in English, regarding the Chinese currency, prepared respectively by His Excellency Mr. von [Page 264] Brandt, the minister of Germany, and myself. My colleagues and I believe that they may assist the ministers to reach an understanding of our views upon this important subject. I should remark, however, that they were not prepared for the Yamên, but for our own use and the elucidation of the questions involved.
I seize this opportunity, &c.,
Memorandum of an interview on Thursday, the 29th of April, 1880, between Mr. Seward, United States Minister, and the Tsung-li Yamên, in regard to the currency matter.
Present, the Ministers Tung, Hwang, and Chung-lin.
Mr. Seward said that he had come to the Yamên in pursuance of an arrangement made by Sir Thomas Wade, doyen of the diplomatic body, and the ministers to place before them, on behalf of the diplomatic body, certain facts and considerations regarding the payment of customs duties and dues consequent upon the peculiar nature of the Chinese currency, and that he esteemed himself fortunate in meeting for the purpose the ministers who were present, because undoubtedly they are specially acquainted with the subject, one of them being the president of the board of revenue, and the others having been officially connected with the customs at the ports of Hankow and Canton.
Mr. Seward then said in substance:
1st. That their excellencies are aware that the governments of all western nations have established mints and put out coins which are used as money and form the standard of values.
2d. That China has not seen fit to coin the precious metals and that they are passed by weight.
3d. That a great deal of difficulty is met by foreigners in consequence of a state of things so unfamiliar to them and by reason of the fact that each locality appears to have a special scale, and that the fineness of the silver in circulation varies with the locality and even at the given locality.
4th. That the subject has been found one of so much importance that it has been made a matter of negotiation between China and foreign powers. The leading stipulations are as follows: American treaty of 1844, Article XII; American treaty of 1858, Article XXII; French treaty of 1844, Article XIX; French treaty of 1858, Article XXXI; British treaty of 1858, Article XXXIX; German treaty of 1861, Article XXII; Danish treaty of 1863, Suppl. Rule 9.
5th. That it appears from these stipulations.
- (a)
- That the standard scale provided for is that issued by the board of revenue to the Canton customs. (British treaty.)
- (b)
- That the values of foreign coins may be arranged with the customs at the several ports. (German treaty.)
- (c)
- That the rate of the day may be claimed. (American treaty.)
- (d)
- That one system may be claimed for all the ports. (Danish treaty.)
6th. That the foreign representatives are of opinion that it is desirable to make one system for all the ports.
7th. That to this end they propose that the Yamên shall name the standard tael of China and take steps to have its exact equivalent by foreign scales, and the purity of the silver used in passing it, determined by persons competent to do such work.
8th. That the values of the taels used at the several ports and of foreign coins relatively to the standards be ascertained in the same way.
9th. That all customs dues and duties be received according to the results so arrived at.
10th. That it appears not only from the thirty-ninth article of the British treaty of 1858, that the board of treasury scale (Kuping) is the one which should be considered the standard for the payment of customs dues and duties, but also from the Yamên’s letters of April 9, 1877, and January 19, 1880. It is stated in the former, “All-payments to and from the provinces are made in Kuping taels of pure silver,” and in the latter, “The superintendent of customs should be instructed in the receipt of duties to take the treasury tael of pure silver as the standard.”
11th. That the foreign representatives while accepting these declarations as satisfactory so far as they go, desire to say that their object is not to raise questions as to the value of this or that tael or the merit of this or that tael with a view to lessen the burden of duty payments. They are entirely desirous that the customs shall receive all that is justly due. And their object is to so regularize payments, that certainty and accuracy may be reached.
12th. That what precedes may be illustrated and the importance of the subject demonstrated by an examination of the following facts:
(a) That while the Yamên has declared that customs dues should be paid in Kuping [Page 265] taels, collections are in fact made or assumed to be made after what is called the Haikwan scale.
(b) That this scale is assumed to be about l½ per cent, higher than the Kuping scale.
(c) That it is not consistent with the Kuping scale, as will be seen from the following table:
| Kuping taels. | ||||
| Tientsin, | 100 | Haikwan taels | are equal to | 103.40 |
| Hankow, | 100 | do. | do. | 101.01 |
| Shanghai, | 100 | do. | do. | 101.65 |
| Foo-Chow, | 100 | do. | do. | 101.14 |
(d) That, in comparing local taels and foreign coins with Haikwan taels, it is assumed that the Haikwan standard calls for pure silver, just as the Kuping standard does, while as a matter of fact there is no perfectly pure silver in circulation. It is; believed that the best is alloyed from 1 to 2 per cent.
(e) That the assays of foreign coin do not give the actual purity. The native assay-ists at Canton have declared that the American trade dollar is 881.1 fine, the Hang Ping dollar 894.1, the Japanese dollar 895.7, while as a matter of fact each is 900 fine.
(f) That the best information available indicates that the Haikwan tael is worth 103.40 taels of the Tientsin Hang Ping (local) tael, and that duties were paid at that rate until lately by the Russians. Foreigners now pay at the rate of 105. Chinese importing at the foreign customs pay at the rate of 108, and when at the native customs, 118.
(g) That at Newchwang foreigners pay at the rate of 108½, and natives at the native customs 112.
(h) That at Chefoo foreigners pay at the rate of 104.40, and natives at the foreign customs 106.40. The Taotai of Chefoo stated on the 10th of July, 1877, that the Chefoo tael is 2 per cent, less only than the Kuping tael. According to this, it should be about 3½ per cent, less than the Haikwan.
(i) That without going further the facts stated indicate the need of a reform in the passing of bullion and coins in the payment of customs dues and duties.
13th. It is not the business of the foreign representatives to meddle with the internal administraton of China. They have reason to believe, however, that the excess paid by them over and above the Kuping standard does not accrue to the benefit of the government, but to the customs banker, and that an unreasonable charge for the examination of bullion, including remelting, would amount to a moiety only of the excess now paid.
14th. That this statement is submitted in the earnest hope that it will receive due attention. An immediate answer is not required. Mr. Seward will wait on the ministers again after a few weeks in order to discuss the subject further.
The ministers having heard the foregoing statement, amplified as appeared necessary in the course of his remarks, responded that they would take the business into consideration, and would be pleased to see Mr. Seward again, at a later date.
15th. Mr. Seward then asked the origin of the Haikwan tael, and was answered that it had been in use a long time, but why it was introduced was not made clear.
16th. Mr. Seward then asked whether the Kuping scale has been constant for a long period, and whether the weights of this scale are sent out by the board of revenue to the provinces, and are known in the provinces. He understood the ministers to answer that the scale has been constant for a long period—several hundred years—and that weights prepared by the board of works are sent by the board of revenue to each provincial treasurer’s office.
17th. Mr. Seward then asked whether the ministers consider the so-called pure silver of the Kuping standard absolutely without alloy, and understood them to say that it is not absolutely pure, but of a degree of fineness which justifies them in calling it pure.
18th. Mr. Seward then asked what the expense of remelting silver amounted to, and understood the ministers to say about 20 tael cents on 100 taels.
19th. Mr. Seward then remarked that the multiplication of standards is of itself confusing, and that he hoped that the ruling standard, which is properly the scale of the Imperial Government, would be adhered to in place of the Haikwan scale.
Mr. Seward then thanked the ministers for their courtesy and attention, and withdrew.