Mr. Rockhill to Mr. Hay.
Peking, China, June 19, 1901.
Sir: At the meeting of the diplomatic corps held to-day the Russian minister stated that he had received instructions authorizing him to accept the 1st of July as limitation of the indemnity to be demanded of China. He also accepted, in principle, the sum of 450,000,000 taels, although his Government had invariably, in its instructions to him, referred to the sum of seventeen hundred millions of francs.
The French minister made a similar declaration as to the limitation of the indemnity.
The Japanese minister said that his Government accepted the date stated, and also the sum of 450,000,000 taels and 4 per cent interest, subject to the reservation made by him at the last meeting, which I reported to you in my No. 118, of the 15th instant.
In my No. 114, of the 11th instant, I stated that the Russian minister submitted a proposal concerning the eventual increase of the tariff on imports to 10 per cent, and that in view of the terms of the second paragraph, which reserved all rights and insured the consideration of all objections of whatever nature, it had been accepted by all the [Page 247] representatives—the British included. I did not deem it necessary to telegraph you on the subject, and most of my colleagues, I think, looked on it as a matter of small importance; the German and Japanese ministers certainly did.
We considered it a compensation due Russia and France, who saw in the acceptance of their proposal a moral obligation giving additional security for the arrangement being made, for their willingness to accept bonds in lieu of the guaranteed loan they had so strongly urged until now, and the gabelle in place of an increase of the tariff to 10 per cent.
To-day, however, the British minister informed the diplomatic corps that his Government declared it could not accept an eventual increase of the tariff above 5 per cent, to be solely applied to the payment of interest on the indemnities, for it held that this increase should be granted China as compensation for the suppression of likin, and for the correction of other commercial grievances; that this increase should be made revocable, as in the ease of opium under the Hongkong agreement, etc.
The necessity or expediency of making this declaration at the present time is not apparent. The British minister had stated in the meeting on the 11th instant that his Government would ask the abolition of likin and other compensations for an increase of the tariff to 10 per cent, and my reservations had covered much the same ground.
The Russian minister stated that his Government had only accepted applying the revenues from salt to the payment of the loans, agreed to accept bonds in lieu of a guaranteed loan, and to the commercial compensations which I had insisted upon, as an evidence of its earnest desire to close this phase of the negotiations; that the British Government’s refusal to agree to the slight moral guaranty which Russia found in the proposal to apply the eventual increased revenue from the customs to the purposes of the loan might reopen the whole question.
The British statement did not secure the support of any of the representatives. I trust it will not occasion any considerable delay, but in view of the possibility of its doing so I thought best to cable you.
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I am, etc.,