104 



CHINA. 



envoy, who was irritated by the refusal of the 

 Chinese on the same grounds as were set up 

 in the case of the proposed Cuban emigration 

 to allow a large number of coolies to sail for 

 Peru. The position of China was supported 

 on all material points by the English Governor 

 of Hong-Kong. 



Two treaties have been negotiated with com- 

 missioners appointed by the Government of 

 the United (States, and were signed at Peking 

 on the 17th of November. One of the treaties 

 relates to the introduction of Chinese into the 

 United States, and is understood to secure to 

 that nation the control and regulation of the 

 immigration ; the other relates to commerce. 



The instructions of the Tsungli Yauien to 

 the Chinese Ministers abroad, with respect to 

 the revisions of the treaties, furnish the most 

 trustworthy indications of the views which the 

 Chinese Government entertains of its position 

 among the nations, and of what its relations 

 with them should be. The instructions begin 

 by claiming for China a rigid adherence to the 

 treaties which it has signed, and by stating 

 that comphiints have arisen in the main from 

 accidents to individuals and from the incidence 

 of taxation. The former can not be guarded 

 against by any amount of foresight ; the latter 

 ground arises from differences in the reading 

 of the treaties. But the treaties may be re- 

 vised every ten years, when the misunderstand- 

 ings that have appeared may be remedied. 

 The opinion of the Chinese Government is then 

 set forth on the four points of transit, the leTcin 

 taxes, extra-territoriality, and the "most fa- 

 vored-nation clause." The remarks on transit 

 are technical, but make a distinction between 

 certificated and uncertificated merchandise. It 

 is plainly stated that the lelcin dues, concern- 

 ing which disputes have arisen with the British 

 Government, are as objectionable to Chinese 

 merchants as they are to foreigners, and that 

 the Government regards them as only a tem- 

 porary expedient. " Independent powers," it is 

 said, " must be guided by national necessities in 

 fixing their taxation. In these troublous times 

 the demands of the Government are very heavy, 

 and it is impossible to avoid having recourse to 

 special measures. We maintain that all such 

 matters should be left to be determined by 

 China herself, and that the foreigner has no 

 more right to interfere with, or object to, them 

 than China would have to interfere with, or 

 criticise, the action of a foreign government 

 in raising loans or increasing taxes." The true 

 meaning of the clauses in the treaties guaran- 

 teeing extra-territoriality is, according to the 

 instructions, not that a foreigner is at liberty 

 to break Chinese laws, but that if he offends 

 he shall be punished by his own national offi- 

 cers. Therefore, foreign governments should 

 take care that, their consuls being vested with 

 this great authority, only good and trustworthy 

 men should be appointed to those posts. More- 

 over, it is added, " where cases requiring joint 

 investigation occur, it is neither convenient nor 



dignified for a Chinese officer to sit on the 

 bench with a merchant-consul, who may have 

 been fined for smuggling the day before, or 

 who in his mercantile capacity may, perhaps, 

 be personally interested in the case at issue." 

 Of the "most favored-nation clause," the Tsun- 

 gli Yamen say that as u it is difficult to distin- 

 guish between the foreigners, or to say which 

 belongs to which nationality," it is only right 

 that it should extend to all; but no nation 

 must accept it without giving the correspond- 

 ing consideration as expressed in the original 

 treaty; for to claim the benefit of the clause 

 otherwise is unfair. The last of the instruc- 

 tions declares that, recognizing that the object 

 of all religious systems is to do men good, China 

 has granted protection to missionaries. But 

 some of these missionaries, ''exalting the im- 

 portance of their office, arrogate to themselves 

 an official status," and interfere with Chinese 

 official business. " This state of things China 

 can not tolerate or submit to." By the extra- 

 territoriality clause foreigners are to be dealt 

 with by their own national authorities ; but 

 Chinese subjects on Chinese soil, whether Chris- 

 tians or not Christians, are to be dealt with by 

 Chinese officers under Chinese law. and mis- 

 sionaries must not put themselves in the way. 

 In conclusion, the instructions say that recip- 

 rocal consideration and mutual forbearance are 

 needed in the modification of treaties. 



A conference, lasting five hours, was held on 

 the 15th of December, between the Marquis 

 Tseng and M. Giers, of the Russian Foreign 

 Office, M. de Btitzow, the Russian Minister at 

 Peking, and M. Melnikoff, Director of the Asiatic 

 Department, the Chinese mission secretaries 

 being also present. It was the first interview 

 that had been had respecting the negotiations 

 after a long interval of inaction. According 

 to the reports that were published of what 

 took place at the conference, considerable con- 

 cessions were made on both sides. The Rus- 

 sians, instead of insisting on retaining the 

 Terek Valley, as it had been stated that they 

 had done, agreed to surrender all that part of Hi, 

 but claimed to retain a section of territory as 

 a country of refuge for the Dungenes who had 

 renounced their allegiance to China. This stip- 

 ulation was regarded as of much importance 

 on both sides. A proposition was also said to 

 have been offered to settle by a plebiscite the 

 question whether the inhabitants of the dis- 

 puted territory should retain Chinese or adopt 

 Russian allegiance. 



Serious disturbances took place in Canton 

 in September. The Roman Catholic mission 

 was attacked, and the European community, 

 which was threatened, was so alarmed that it 

 was necessary to call out the militia. In the 

 encounter which ensued, several of the rioters 

 were killed or wounded, and some of the mis- 

 sionaries were wounded. Shortly after this, 

 on the 20th of September, the Rev. Messrs. 

 Selby and Morris, of the Wesleyan mission at 

 Canton, visited a place called Shek-kok, sixty- 



