File No. 4277/4–6.
Minister Rockhill
to the Secretary of State.
[Extracts.]
American Legation,
Peking, February 15,
1907.
No. 537.]
Sir: With further reference to the opening to
international trade of Antung and Mukden, and in continuation of my
dispatch No. 501 of January 9 last, I have the honor to inclose herewith
a translation of a note from the Wai-wu Pu, dated January 30, which is
the reply to my note of April 28, 1906, a copy of which has already been
sent to the department in my dispatch No. 332 of June 26 last.a
I also beg to inclose a copy of my reply to His Imperial Highness, Prince
Ch’ing, of February 5.
As the department will note from the correspondence under consideration,
the chief point in dispute relates to the duty-free area of the opened
cities. This has always been a vexed question between China and the
treaty powers, the Chinese Government maintaining that this area extends
merely to a settlement proper, the powers that it is not confined to
this, but that it includes the whole area of the port. Great Britain has
always insisted on this point, but it has never been conceded by China
but once—in the case of Ch’ang-sha, in Hunan, opened under the Japanese
treaty of October 8, 1903, where, after formally acknowledging to the
British Government that the whole city was included in the meaning of
the words “treaty port” and was therefore opened to foreign trade and
residence, the Chinese Government has ever since been endeavoring to
restrict and to limit the rights to within the settlement boundary. As a
consequence, the duty-free limits of the treaty ports have never been
formally defined.
For the above reasons, and in view of your approval of my note to the
foreign office of April 28,b as expressed in your instruction No. 176 of August
29 last,c I did not
hesitate, in my note of the 5th instant, to submit the proposition
therein contained, to the Chinese Government, and I trust that my action
may be approved by the department.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure
1.—Translation.]
The Prince of Ch’ing
to Minister Rockhill.
Foreign Office,
Peking, January 30,
1907.
Your Excellency: Some time since I had the
honor to receive a dispatch from your excellency stating that in
accordance with the commercial treaty between the United States and
China Mukden and Antung were to be opened as places of international
trade, and that it was desirable that at as early a date as might be
convenient the United States and China should appoint delegates to
consult together and make necessary arrangements, but with the clear
understanding that, while special localities might be set aside for
the convenience of foreigners as places of residence at the cities
named, the city of Mukden itself, with its suburbs, was open to
trade with foreign merchants, and that the
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same was true of Antung Hsien; that the
establishment of settlements at the two places mentioned would not
deprive the American consular authorities of the right to fix their
residences within the cities of Mukden and Antung near the yamens of
the Chinese authorities as being more convenient, and that the
residence of American merchants within the fixed boundaries of the
foreign settlements would not deprive them of the right secured by
treaty of conducting their business within the cities named; that
you hoped arrangements might be made at an early date for the
consultation required to determine the location of the foreign
settlements at the two places to be opened and the regulations
required by treaty for the control of the same.
My board immediately communicated the contents of your dispatch to
the tartar-general of Shengking for his consideration and that he
might consult with the American consul-general at Mukden regarding
the same.
I have now received a reply from the tartar-general at Shengking
stating that the American consul-general at Mukden holds that the
whole commercial area of Mukden is open to international trade and
residence, and refuses to recognize such a duty as that of marking
out settlements. Since the revised treaty between China and the
United States provides that Mukden and An-tung shall be opened by
China herself as places of international trade and that the
selection of suitable localities to be set apart for international
trade and residence, etc., the marking out of a settlement as a
place of residence and trade for foreigners is certainly a measure
in accordance with the treaty. If the whole commercial area of
Mukden is open to international trade, it will certainly not be in
accordance with the text of the treaty which provides for the
selection of suitable localities for settlements.
Moreover, your excellency’s dispatch makes mention of the
establishment of settlements at the two places referred to for the
residence of foreigners. Since they are settlements, how can they
include the whole commercial area?
Besides, the residence of consular officials within the city is in
order that they may be near the yamens of the Chinese authorities,
and does not at all mean that merchants, too, are to be allowed to
reside here and there throughout the city, which is, moreover,
directly contrary to the provisions of the treaty.
The claim made in your excellency’s dispatch of a treaty right to
trade in the city refers to the entrance of foreign goods into the
city in the ordinary course of business, and does not mean that
foreign merchants may reside there at their pleasure.
The American consul-general has certainly misunderstood your
excellency’s meaning, and it becomes my duty to send this dispatch
to your excellency for your consideration, and that you may instruct
the consul-general at Mukden that he must comply with the provisions
of the treaty and consult with the tartar-general of Shengking.
A necessary dispatch.
[Seal of the Wai-wu Pu.]
[Inclosure 2.]
Minister Rockhill to the Prince of
Ch’ing.
American Legation,
Peking, February 5,
1907.
Your Imperial Highness: I have had the
honor to receive your imperial highness’s note of January 30,
acknowledging the receipt of my note of April 28, 1906, in which I
stated that my Government was ready, for the purpose of carrying out
the stipulations of Article XII, paragraph 3, of the treaty of
October 8, 1903, to send a delegate to confer with the duly
appointed officer of the Chinese Government on the “selection of
suitable localities at Mukden and An-tung Hsien to be set apart for
international use and occupation, and for the framing of regulations
for the places set apart for foreign residence and trade at these
cities.” I stated furthermore to your imperial highness in this note
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that it was the
understanding of the American Government that, while special
localities were to be set aside at these cities as places of
residence for foreigners, the treaty clearly provided that the
cities of Mukden and An-tung themselves were to be open to foreign
trade, and that the consular representatives of the United States
had the right to fix their residences within these cities near the
yamens of the Chinese authorities. The fact that Americans resided
within the settlements set apart for them did not, I added, deprive
them of the right secured them by the treaty of conducting their
business anywhere within the limits of the cities named.
Your imperial highness, in the note which you have now done me the
honor to address me, says that your board duly communicated to the
tartar-general at Shengking my note of April 28, 1906, for his
consideration, and that he has now informed you that the American
consul-general, Straight, with whom he has been discussing the
matter, holds that the whole commercial area of Mukden is open to
international trade and residence and refuses to recognize such a
duty as that of marking out settlements.
In reply I have the honor to state that I am in receipt of a dispatch
from the American consul-general at Mukden, in which he incloses a
copy of a note which he addressed to his excellency the
tartar-general on January 16 on this subject. In it he substantially
repeats the remarks which I had the honor to submit to your imperial
highness in my note of April 28 last, to wit: That Article XII,
paragraph 3, of the treaty of 1903, provided, firstly, for the
opening of Mukden and An-tung as places of international residence
and trade, and secondly, that while within such places suitable
localities were to be set aside for foreign residence and trade,
nothing in this last provision was to be understood as in any way
restricting the rights insured under the first phrase of the
paragraph, particularly as regards the levying of inland dues on
American merchandise within the cities of Mukden or An-tung. He does
not decline to cooperate in choosing settlements, but only states
the understanding his Government has of the question.
His excellency the tartar-general in his reply to the above note of
the American consul-general, dated January 16 last, a copy of which
I have before me, has, I think, failed to put a correct
interpretation on the provisions of Article XII, paragraph 3, of the
treaty of 1903, and consequently understand Mr. Straight’s remarks,
for he says that “in opening Mukden and other places to
international residence and trade, trade will be restricted to a
fixed area and residence limited to a settlement.” Such an
interpretation is absolutely incompatible with the provisions of the
treaty and the object which the high contracting parties had in
view—the extension and facilitating of international trade, not its
restraining and embarrassing, as would be the inevitable result of
the acceptance of such an interpretation.
There does not appear to my Government that any ambiguity exists in
the provisions of the treaty; residential and trading rights are
insured to Americans within the whole of the cities and suburbs of
Mukden and An-tung, and special settlements to facilitate the same,
but nowise intended to curtail such rights, are set aside thereat.
Nevertheless, however clear the said provisions undoubtedly are, my
Government desires to meet the wishes of the Imperial Government,
which sees serious inconvenience in Americans residing here and
there throughout these cities, and it would be willing to waive the
former right and see the residential privileges of its citizens
restricted to suitable settlements, provided that the treaty right
to free trade in the cities and suburbs of Mukden and An-tung was
clearly recognized, and that Americans could therein establish
godowns and conduct business through their Chinese agents free from
all inland taxation whatsoever.
I trust that your imperial highness, in the interests of the commerce
and industry of China and the United States, which can only be
served by removing all irksome impediments to their development and
by affording ample room and opportunity for them to flourish, will
therefore instruct his excellency the tartar-general to agree with
the American consul-general to the above interpretation of the
treaty provisions, after which the delimitation of settlements and
the establishment of regulations for their government can be
promptly and satisfactorily made, so that commerce may develop under
conditions favorable alike to all.
I avail myself, etc.,
