If such persons have recourse to violence and defend themselves when pursued, by force of arms, they shall be held guilty of an overt act of rebellion, and punished accordingly. No. 185. Mr. Yung Wing to Mr. Evarts. CHINESE LEGATION, Washington, March 2, 1880. (Received March 2.) SIR: Your communication of the 17th ultimo, containing an inclosure of a translation of section cCLV of the penal code of China, as translated by Sir George Thomas Staunton, and inquiring "whether the same correctly represents the law, and whether it is now understood to be in force in all or any part of the dominions of His Imperial Majesty," was duly received, and I have the honor to say in reply that section CCLV of the Chinese penal code referred to has no reference whatever to Chinese emigration as contemplated in and sanctioned by the Burlingame treaty. Under the general head of "Renunciation of allegiance," the specific acts so carefully defined, with their corresponding punishments, point to the presumptive existence of a lesser or greater degree of treasonable intent against the government, and it contemplates conspiracies and overt acts of rebellion against the government as being the logical sequence of "renunciation of allegiance," which antecedes them both in time and existence; hence their classification under that head or section. Emigration, as sanctioned by foreign treaties, is taken out of the cate gory of treasonable acts, and is therefore beyond the scope of the section. In Article V of the Burlingame treaty we find this language, which is conclusive on this point: "The United States of America and the Emperor of China cordially recognize the inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and allegiance." SIR: I am alike honored and gratified in being enabled to inform you that the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, has appointed two of our distinguished citizens, Messrs. John F. Swift, of California, and William Henry Trescot, of South Carolina, as com missioners, to act conjointly with the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to China, to negotiate and conclude a settlement by treaty of such matters of interest to the two govern ments, now pending, as may be confided to them. It is expected that these commissioners, in company with the newly appointed minister to China, Mr. James B. Angell, will sail from San Francisco, en route to Peking, in the steamer of the 17th of June proximo. I have instructed the present minister near the Government of His Imperial Majesty to take as early an opportunity as may be practicable and proper to acquaint the Chinese Government with the high mission of these gentlemen, and to make fitting arrangements in advance of their arrival for their appropriate reception in their elevated diplomatic character as the specially commissioned plenipotentiaries of the Presi dent and Government of the United States. I take a singular satisfaction in expressing to you, and through you to the government you so worthily represent, the assurance of the President's deep conviction that the sending of this high commission to China cannot fail to draw closer even than before the bonds of amity between the two governments, by opening a favorable channel for the speedy and harmonious adjustment of the questions of moment now pending between them, and that the result of its wise and conciliatory counsels, met in a like spirit of wisdom and conciliation by the enlightened statesmen who rule the destinies of the great empire of the east, will build up a lasting monument of the good will and kindred interests which animate the two nations. Accept, &c., No. 187. WM. M. EVARTS. Chen Lan Pin and Mr. Yung Wing to Mr. Evarts. CHINESE LEGATION, Washington, July 31, 1880. SIR: We have the honor to inclose herewith copies of a note dispatched some time since by the Tsung-li Yamên at Peking (the foreign office) to the ministers of China in foreign countries.* We were instructed by our government to communicate its contents to your excellency, and we have caused an English translation of the note to be printed, to facilitate its examination. Accept, &c., CHEN LAN PIN. No. 188. Chen Lan Pin and Mr. Yung Wing to Mr. Evarts. CHINESE LEGATION, Washington, August 9, 1880. SIR: We have the honor to inform you that the Chinese screw steamer Wo Chung, the first Chinese steamer entering an American port, is soon expected to arrive at San Francisco, and to prevent any misunderstanding in regard to duties or other charges, we would ask you to be so good as to notify the Secretary of the Treasury, that he may issue orders to the customs authorities of that port to extend to that vessel the privileges which are conceded to vessels of other nations in treaty relations with the United States. Accept, &c., CHEN LAN PIN. See appendix 6 to Mr. Seward's No. 510 of Nov. 21, 1879, ante, page 177. No. 189. Mr. Hay to Chen Lan Pin and Mr. Yung Wing. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, August 13, 1880. GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 9th instant, whereby you informed this Department of the expected arrival at San Francisco of the Chinese steamer Wo Chung, being the first of her class to enter an American port, and, in order to prevent any misunderstanding in regard to duties or other charges, you request that the Secretary of the Treasury be notified, to the end that the customs authorities at San Francisco may extend to that vessel the privileges conceded to vessels of other nations in treaty relations with the United States. The matter was forth with referred to the Secretary of the Treasury, from whom I now learn that under the laws of the United States and the provisions of the existing treaties with China it will be necessary to exact tonnage tax at alien rates. It appears that discriminating duties of tonnage and impost on foreign vessels and their cargoes are to be charged, as provided by law (section 4219 Revised Statutes), in all cases except where exemption is secured by treaty stipulations, or where special exemption is proclaimed by the President upon evidence of reciprocal exemption accorded to vessels of the United States, conformably to the provisions of section 4228 of the Revised Statutes, or where an exemption is created otherwise by law. The treaties between the United States and China do not establish reciprocal exemption from discriminating taxes. While the tonnage tax to be collected from American vessels in the open ports is fixed by the treaty of June 18, 1858, between the two countries, it does not appear that Chinese vessels entering those ports are subject to the same charges. Neither does it appear that Chinese vessels resorting to the ports of the United States may not trade directly with the closed ports of China whither American vessels are debarred from going. Under these circumstances the Secretary of the Treasury, conforming to the prescriptions of the statute as to tonnage duties, section 4219 of the Revised Statutes, has directed the collector of customs at San Francisco to exact, upon the arrival of the steamer, tonnage tax at alien rates, in addition to the ordinary tonnage tax paid annually, if the vessel be engaged in regular voyages between the two countries. He has, however, reserved for the present, consideration and decision of the question of duties on the cargo which the vessel may bring. Accept, &c., JOHN HAY, No. 190. Acting Secretary. Mr. Hay to Chen Lan Pin and Mr. Yung Wing. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, GENTLEMEN: Referring to your note of the 9th instant relative to the expected arrival of the Chinese steamer Wo Chung at the port of San Francisco, and to my reply thereto of the 13th, I have now the honor to inform you that the reserved question of the customs duties of importation chargeable upon the cargo which the vessel may bring has received careful consideration. Like the question of alien tonnage dues, of which my former note treated, the matter of customs duties on cargo entering the ports of the United States from foreign ports is one to be exclusively decided, in the absence of specific and reciprocal exemption by treaty, according to the domestic legislation of the country. The existing treaties of commerce between the United States and China do not provide for such reciprocal exemption, but stipulate solely "that citizens of the United States shall never pay higher duties" [on merchandise entering China] "than those paid by the most favored na tions." The question is, therefore, remitted to the domestic legislation of the United States. That legislation prescribes, in section 2502 of the Revised Statutes, a discriminating duty of ten per centum ad valorem in addition to the regular duties imposed by law on goods imported in vessels not of the United States; but it also provides that this discriminating duty shall not apply to merchandise imported in alien vessels which are entitled by treaty or any act of Congress to enter the United States on the same footing as though imported in vessels of the United States. An act of Congress, applicable to the case in point, is found embodied in section 4228 of the Revised Statutes, which empowers the President, upon satisfactory proof being given by the government of any foreign nation that no discriminating duties of tonnage or import are there levied upon United States vessels, or upon merchandise carried thither in American bottoms, to issue a proclamation suspending and discontinuing the discriminating duties aforesaid with respect to the vessels and cargoes coming to the United States under the flag of such foreign nation. In order, however, that the discretionary authority conferred by this enactment should be applied in conformity with its entire spirit as well as its letter, it becomes necessary that the satisfactory proof it contemplates shall cover not merely American imports into China, but the flag under which they enter the empire, on which point the treaty is silent. It is found practicable, in this view of the question, to join the question of tonnage dues, treated of in my former note, to the question of customs duties now under consideration between us, inasmuch as both matters are within the competence of the President under the abovementioned section 4228 of the statutes. I have, therefore, the honor to inquire whether you are prepared to support the request contained in your note of the 9th instant, for the accordance of the most favored nation treatment to the Wo Chung, and consequently to Chinese vessels in general which may enter our ports. with cargo, by giving, on behalf of your government, satisfactory proof on the following points: First. Are any other or higher tonnage dues exacted in the open ports of China, from the vessels of the United States resorting thereto, than are paid by Chinese vessels or any foreign vessel engaged in like trade therewith? Second. Are any other or higher customs duties of impost exacted in China from American citizens importing merchandise thither than are paid by Chinese subjects, or the citizens of the most favored power, importing the like merchandise into China? Third. Is there any discriminating or additional customs duty im posed upon merchandise, whether of American or foreign origin, entering the open ports of China in vessels of the United States, which is not imposed upon the like goods entering those ports in Chinese vessels, or in the vessels of any foreign power? I have thus presented my inquiries in categorical form, in view of the circumstance that the most favored nation treatment which is sought by your note of the 9th, for the Wo Chung and her cargo, is identical with that which a vessel of the United States and her cargo receive on entering the ports of the United States. I have also, as you will perceive, limited my inquiries to the open ports of China, because a Chinese vessel coming from or trading with a port of the empire closed to the commerce of non-Chinese vessels would necessarily have no claim to exemption or favor based upon reciprocity of treatment. Upon the receipt of your reply to the foregoing inquiries, the Department will be in a position to decide whether and to what extent the case of the Wo Chung and vessels of her class come within the discretionary power of the Presidential proclamation contemplated in section 4228 of the Revised Statutes, both as to tonnage and customs duties. Accept, &c. No. 191. JOHN HAY, Chen Lan Pin and Mr. Yung Wing to Mr. Evarts. CHINESE LEGATION, Washington, September 4, 1880. SIR: We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your two notes dated respectively the 13th and 23d ultimo, relating to questions of tonnage and import dues raised by the arrival of the Chinese steamer Wo Chung at the port of San Francisco, and stating that discriminating tonnage dues and import duties are to be charged on all foreign vessels and their cargoes in all cases except where exemption, is secured by treaty stipulations or where special exemption is proclaimed by the President upon evidence being furnished of reciprocal exemption being accorded to vessels of the United States, pointing out the statutes of the United States governing the subject and inquiring of us whether we are prepared to support our request in our note of the 9th ultimo in behalf of the Wo Chung by giving satisfactory proof in regard to the payment of tonnage dues by American vessels in Chinese ports, in regard to the payment of import duties by American citizens bringing foreign merchandise into China, and in regard to the existence of discriminating duties on cargoes in virtue of their origin. To these inquiries propounded in your note of the 23d ultimo, we beg leave to reply First. No other or higher tonnage dues are exacted in the open ports of China from vessels of the United States than are paid by Chinese vessels or any foreign vessels entering those ports. The tonnage dues were fixed by the treaty of 1858, article 16, at the rate of four mace per ton on vessels of one hundred and fifty tons and upwards. The same rate was, at that time, fixed in the British treaty, article 29, and in the treaty with France, article 22, and the same rate will be found in the subsequent treaties with other powers. No discriminating tax is levied in Ch nese ports upon the vessels of any foreign power. |