File No. 893.522/40.
The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Reinsch.
Washington, October 23, 1914.
Sir: Receipt is acknowledged of the Legation’s No. 366 of September 12, 1914, with enclosures, relating to the proposed imposition of a tax on tobacco and wines in the Province of Anhui.
The Department approves the note No. 370 of the American Consul at Nanking to the Wuhu Commissioner for Foreign Affairs on this subject and also the Legation’s note No. 216 of September 4, 1914, to his excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
In this connection your attention is invited to the Department’s instruction No. 161 of September 30, 1914, to the Legation, in which you were directed to endeavor to reach an understanding by which, in return for China’s yielding on the question of whether or not Nanking City is open, the American Government will agree to an excise tax on liquor and tobacco, reserving all its rights as to other goods.
I am [etc.]