693.116/94: Telegram
The Minister in China (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 25—6:05 a.m.]
768. Legation’s 744, September 13, noon. Following from American Consul General at Canton:
“September 20, 11 p.m. My September 7, 6 p.m. On the 18th British Consul General and I discussed proposed modification of registration form with the Inspector General. He considered our objections reasonable, but he held the view that instead of revising the existing form of the application, there should be an exchange of notes making it clear (1st) that the foreign firms would not be expected to conform to regulations which were incompatible with treaty rights; (2d) that they would not be required to submit to a limitation of output; and (3d) heretofore so-called business tax would be defined as referring exclusively to a nondiscriminatory tax per unit of kerosene on the locally refined product. He said that he thought the Reconstruction Bureau might agree to this, as he understood that the Bureau had no intention of limiting output, and he asked that we submit our proposals in writing. We said that we had no objection to the matter being settled by an exchange of notes.
On the same evening we sent the Inspector General a note embodying our plan for a revision of the registration form. We saw him again this afternoon, but he had no information to give us beyond the fact that he had referred the matter to the Chairman with whom we are again endeavoring to get into touch.
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Repeated to the Legation and Nanking.”