893.52/356
The American Consul General at Canton (Spiker) to the Mayor of Canton (Liu)46
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that this office recently addressed a despatch to the American Minister at Peiping informing him of the conversations which took place between ourselves and the British [Page 812] Consul General in January regarding the difficulties which foreigners, holding land on perpetual lease in the Canton Municipal Area, had experienced for some time. At the same time, I reported the tentative agreement reached in these conversations and the subsequent opening of the Office of the Commissioner for the Investigation of Land Leased in Perpetuity in the Canton Municipal Area.
The American Minister has addressed a reply to this office and has stated that leases in perpetuity issued to American citizens should contain no statements nor have attached to them any annexes which would serve to restrict the treaty rights of American citizens in relation to the leasing in perpetuity of land and other property. In view of this despatch from the American Minister, I have the honor to request that you will give me an official assurance that no rubber stamps setting forth the provisions of Article 55 and/or Article 56 of the Kwangtung Land Deed Regulations or similar restrictive provisions will be placed on the deeds issued by, or applied for through, the Office of the Commissioner for the Investigation of Land Leased in Perpetuity in the Canton Municipal Area. As Your Honor is aware, the American Government takes strong exception to such provisions, owing to the restrictions which they impose on the free transfer of land held by American citizens. Furthermore, such an endorsement would not be in accord with the agreement arrived at in personal conversation between ourselves and the British Consul General, which agreement was of course reported by me to the American Minister. In view of the advanced stage of the matter at present, I am sure Your Honor will appreciate the desirability of having that agreement placed on a formal basis. In the interest of the good relations subsisting between our two Governments and in order that I may be able to inform the American Minister that satisfactory official assurances have been received in relation to this point, I have the honor to request that you inform me officially that no reference to Article 55 and/or Article 56 will be attached to these deeds.
There is one further point to which I have the honor to call your attention: In the local title deed it is laid down that on the sealing of the deeds a tax of $6 for every $100 of the value of the property shall be collected. This does not coincide with the schedule of fees approved by the Provincial authorities for the land bureau in Shameen. In that schedule the tax is fixed at $4 for every $100 of value. In order to avoid possible future misunderstandings because of this discrepancy as to the rate of tax, I shall appreciate your official assurances that the payment of the 4% tax, as fixed by the regulations governing the Shameen Office of the Commissioner for the Investigation of Land Leased in Perpetuity, shall be of the same effect as the payment of the 6% tax mentioned in the deed form.
[Page 813]In conclusion, while on this subject, I take the opportunity to invite your attention to the fact that the deed form, which has been supplied to the Office of the Commissioner for the Investigation of Land Leased in Perpetuity in the Canton Municipality, contains the following words:
“But outside of treaty ports the treaties make no provision for permission to purchase private property inland and the sealing of such deeds will not be permitted.”
In view of the fact that the treaties provide that missionary societies shall be permitted to rent and to lease in perpetuity as the property of such societies buildings or land in all parts of China for missionary purposes, it is of course understood that the above quoted stipulation in the present deed form concerning the purchase of private property in the interior refers only to the acquisition of land in the interior by parties other than missionary societies and for other than missionary purposes.
I have the honor to request that Your Honor will be good enough to reply so soon as you conveniently can, since the matter is somewhat urgent.
I have [etc.]
- Copy, an enclosure to despatch No. 31, May 28, from the Consul General at Canton to the Minister in China, transmitted to the Department without covering despatch; received June 29.↩