Treaty of Tien-Tsin. — Omission of Opium Clause. 387 



Chow (in Hainan), to settle in any of these, to buy and sell 

 house property, as also to erect churches and hospitals, and 

 lay out cemeteries. Chinese subjects guilty of crimes or 

 offences against the English, to be punished by the native 

 authorities in conformity with the law of the land. English 

 subjects, on the other hand, to be subject to the jurisdiction of 

 the British authorities, in similar circumstances, and treated 

 according to British law. All official communications on the 

 part of the English authorities to be drawn up in English for 

 presentation to the Chinese Grovernment, and although, for 

 the present, accompanied by a translation, shall in the event of 

 uncertainty be construed according to the text of the English 

 original. Article L provides that the symbol ^hb ^J!' 

 (Barbarian) shall be discontinued in all official documents, 

 whether in the capital or the provinces, and the term '' Eng- 

 lish " or "English Government" be substituted. On the 

 other hand, the Treaty of Tien-Tsin is silent on the subject of 

 the opium trade, the main point in dispute, the prime cause 

 of the various wars hitherto broken out ! There was men- 

 tion made of a revision of the tariff only. Obviously the Brit- 

 ish plenipotentiaries thought they would more readily attain 

 tlieii' object if they endeavoured to get this difficult question 

 solved in some less conspicuous manner. The opium mer- 

 chants, as well as their antagonists the London philanthropists, 

 seemed equally dissatisfied that the opium matter was still 

 left a '' pending question." On the whole, however, this was 

 one of the most marked diplomatic peculiarities of the Treaty 



2 c 2 



