Rule 5.-Relaxation of Restrictions in Trade in Opium,

Copper Cash, Rice, &c.

The restrictions affecting trade in opium, cash, grain, pulse, sulphur, brimstone, saltpetre, and spelter, are relaxed, under the following conditions:

1.* Opium will henceforth pay thirty taels per pecul import duty. The importer will sell it only at the port. It will be carried into the interior by Chinese only, and only as Chinese property; the foreign trader will not be allowed to accompany it. The provisions of Article IX of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, by which British subjects are authorized to proceed into the interior with passports to trade, will not extend to it, nor will those of Article XXVIII of the same Treaty, by which the transit dues are regulated; the transit dues on it will be arranged as the Chinese Government see fit; nor, in future revisions of the Tariff, is the same rule of revision to be applied to opium as to other goods.

2. Copper Cash. - The export of cash to any foreign port is prohibited; but it shall be lawful for British subjects to ship it at one of the open ports of China to another, on compliance with the following Regulation. The shipper shall give notice of the amount of cash he desires to ship, and the port of its destination, and shall bind himself, either by a bond with two sufficient sureties, or by depositing such other security as may be deemed by the Customs satisfactory, to return, within six months from the date of clearance, to the Collector at the port of shipment, the certificate issued by him, with an acknowledgment thereon of the receipt of the cash at the port of destination, by the Collector at that port, who shall thereto affix his seal; or, failing the production of the certificate, to forfeit a sum equal in value to the cash shipped. Cash will pay no duty inwards or outwards; but a freight or part-freight of cash, though no other cargo be on board, will render the vessel carrying it liable to pay tonnage dues.

3. Rice. The export of rice and all other grain whatsoever, native or foreign, no matter where grown or whence imported, to any foreign port, is prohibited; but these commodities may be carried by British merchants from one of the open ports of China to another, under the same conditions in respect of security as cash, on payment at the port of shipment of the duty specified in the Tariff.

No import duty will be leviable upon rice or grain; but a freight or part-freight of rice or grain, though no other cargo be on board, will render the vessel importing it liable to tonnage dues.

4. Pulse. The export of pulse and bean-cake from Tungchau and Niu-chwang, under the British flag, is prohibited. From any other of the open ports they may be shipped, on payment of the Tariff duty, either to other ports of China or to foreign countries.

5. Saltpetre, sulphur, brimstone, and spelter, being munitions of war, shall not be imported by British subjects, save at the requisition of the Chinese Government, or for sale to Chinese duly authorized to purchase them. No permit to land them will be issued until the Customs have proof that the necessary authority has been given to the purchaser. It shall not be lawful for British subjects to carry these commodities up the Yang-tsze-Kiang, or into any port other than those open on the seaboard, nor to accompany them into the interior on behalf of Chinese. They must be sold at the ports only; and except at the ports they will be regarded as Chinese property.

Infractions of the conditions, as above set forth, under which trade in opium, cash, grain, pulse, saltpetre, brimstone, sulphur, and spelter, may be henceforward carried on, will be punishable by confiscation of all the goods concerned.

Rule 6. Liability of Vessels entering Port.

To the prevention of misunderstanding, it is agreed that the term of twenty-four hours, within which British vessels must be reported to the Consul under Article XXXVII of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, shall be understood to commence from the time a British vessel comes within the limits of the port; as also the term of forty-eight hours allowed her by Article XXX of the same Treaty to remain in port without payment of tonnage dues.

The limits of the port shall be defined by the Customs, with all consideration for the convenience of trade, compatible with due protection of the revenue; also the limits of the anchorages within which lading and discharging is permitted by the Customs; and the same shall be notified to the Consuls for public information.

Rule 7.-Transit Dues.

It is agreed that Article XXVIII of the Treaty of Tien-tsin shall be interpreted to declare the amount of transit dues legally leviable upon merchandize imported or exported by British subjects to be one-half of the Tariff duties, except in the case of the duty-free goods liable to a transit duty of two and a-half per cent. ad valorem, as provided in Article 2 of these Rules. Merchandize shall be cleared of its transit dues under the following conditions:

In the case of Imports. - Notice being given at the port of entry from which the imports are to be forwarded inland; of the nature and quantity of the goods; the ship from which they have been landed; and the place inland to which they

are bound, with all other necessary particulars; the Collector of Customs will, on due inspection made, and on receipt of the transit duty due, issue a transit-duty certificate. This must be produced at every barrier station and viséd. No further duty will be leviable upon imports so certificated, no matter how distant the place of their destination.

In the case of Exports.-Produce purchased by a British subject in the interior will be inspected and taken account of at the first barrier it passes on its way to the port of shipment. A memorandum, showing the amount of the produce and the port at which it is to be shipped, will be deposited there by the person in charge of the produce: he will then receive a certificate, which must be exhibited and viséd at every barrier on his way to the port of shipment. On the arrival of the produce at the barrier nearest the port, notice must be given to the Customs at the port, and the transit dues due thereon being paid, it will be passed. On exportation the produce will pay the Tariff duty.

Any attempt to pass goods inwards or outwards, otherwise than in compliance with the rule here laid down, will render them liable to confiscation.

Unauthorized sale, in transitu, of goods that have been entered as above for a port, will render them liable to confiscation. Any attempt to pass goods in excess of the quantity specified in the certificate will render all the goods of the same denomination named in the certificate liable to confiscation. Permission to export produce which cannot be proved to have paid its transit dues will be refused by the Customs until the transit ducs shall have been paid.

The above being the arrangement agreed to regarding the transit dues, which will thus be levied once and for all, the notification required under Article XXVIII of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, for the information of British and Chinese subjects, is hereby dispensed with.

Rule 8.-Foreign Trade under Passports.

It is agreed that Article IX of the Treaty of Tien-tsin shall not be interpreted as authorizing British subjects to enter the capital city of Peking for purposes of trade.

Rule 9.-Abolition of the Meltage Fee.

It is agreed that the percentage of one tael two mace, hitherto charged in excess of duty payments, to defray the expenses of melting by the Chinese Government, shall be no longer levied on British subjects.

Rule 10.-Collection of Duties under one System at all Ports. It being, by Treaty, at the option of the Chinese Government to adopt what means appear to it best suited to protect its revenue, accruing on British trade, it is agreed that one uniform system shall be enforced at every port.

The high officer appointed by the Chinese Government to superintend foreign trade will accordingly, from time to time, either himself visit, or will send a deputy to visit, the different ports. The said high officer will be at liberty, of his own choice, and independently of the suggestion or nomination of any British authority, to select any British subject he may see fit to aid him in the administration of the Customs revenue; in the prevention of smuggling; in the definition of port boundaries; or in discharging the duties of harbour-master; also in the distribution of lights, buoys, beacons, and the like, the maintenance of which shall be provided for out of the tonnage dues.

The Chinese Government will adopt what measures it shall find requisite to prevent smuggling up the Yang-tsze-Kiang, when that river shall be open to trade.

Done at Shanghae, in the Province of Kiang-su, this eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, being the third day of the tenth moon of the eighth year of the reign of Hien Fung.

NOTE. The Tariff of Imports annexed to this Agreement has been replaced by the Tariff annexed to the Agreement of August 29, 1902 (see p. 147). The Tariff of Exports, which has not yet been revised, is given in the Appendix to this work (see p. 1033).

No. 28.

CONVENTION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND CHINA.

Signed at Peking, October 24, 1860.*

HER Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China, being alike

desirous to bring to an end the misunderstanding at present existing between their respective Governments, and to secure their relations against further interruption, have for this purpose appointed Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine;

And His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China, His Imperial Highness the Prince of Kung;

Who, having met and communicated to each other their full powers, and finding these to be in proper form, have agreed upon the following Convention, in nine Articles :

ARTICLE I.

Apology of Emperor for Obstruction offered by Garrison of Taku to Passage of British Representative, with Ratifications of Treaty of 1858.

A breach of friendly relations having been occasioned by the act of the garrison of Taku, which obstructed Her Britannic Majesty's Representative when on his way to Peking for the purpose of exchanging the ratifications of the Treaty of Peace concluded at Tien-tsin in the month of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China expresses his deep regret at the misunderstanding so occasioned.

ARTICLE II.

Right of British Representative to reside at Peking.

It is further expressly declared, that the arrangement entered into at Shanghae in the month of October, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, between Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador the Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, and His Imperial Majesty's Commissioners Kweiliang and Hwashana, regarding the residence of Her Britannic Majesty's Representative in China, is hereby cancelled; and that, in accordance with Article III of the Treaty of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, Her Britannic Majesty's Representative will henceforward reside permanently or occasionally at Peking, as Her Britannic Majesty shall be pleased to decide.

ARTICLE III.

Separate Article of Treaty of 1858 annulled. - Payment o이 Chinese Indemnity to Merchants at Canton and for War Expenses.

It is agreed that the Separate Article of the Treaty of one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight is hereby annulled;