TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPORT DUTIES IN ZANZIBAR. Signed at Washington May 31, 1902. Ratification with amendment advised by the Senate June 30, 1902. Ratified by Great Britain August 27, 1902. Ratifications exchanged at Washington October 17, 1902. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting: Know Ye, that whereas a Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain, concerning the establishment of import duties in that portion of the Dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar which is under the protection of Great Britain, was concluded at Washington on the 31st of May, one thousand, nine hundred and two, the original of which Convention is, as amended by the Senate of the United States, word for word as follows: The United States of America and His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperer of India, acting in the name of His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar, have, for the purposes hereinafter stated, appointed their respective Plenipotentiares, namely: The President of the United States of America, the Honorable John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America; and His Britannic Majesty, Arthur Stewart Raikes, Esquire, his Britannic Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires. Who, after having communicated each to the other their respective full powers in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles: ARTICLE I. Recognizing that it is just and necessary to facilitate to that portion of the dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar which is under the protection of Great Britain, and which is situated in the basin of the Congo, as defined by the General Act of the African Conference at Berlin of February 26th, 1885, the accomplishment of the obligations which it has contracted by virtue of the General Act of Brussels of July 2nd, 1890, the United States waives any objection on its part to the collection of import duties upon merchandise imported into that Protectorate. The tariff of these duties, as provided in the Declaration of Brussels bearing the same date as the said General Act of Brussels, for the period of fifteen years next ensuing from that date, is not to exceed ten per centum of the value of the merchandise at the port of importation, except for spirits and for firearms and ammunition, which are regulated by the General Act of Brussels. At the expiration of the said period of fifteen years, and in default of a new agreement, the United States will, with respect to this subject, be restored to the relations with the said Protectorate which existed prior to the Conclusion of this Convention, the right to impose thereafter import duties to a maximum of ten per centum upon merchandise imported into the said Protectorate remaining acquired to the latter so long only as it shall continue to comply with the conditions and limitations stated in this Convention. ARTICLE II. The United States shall enjoy in the said Protectorate as to import duties all the advantages accorded to the most favored nation. Neither differential treatment nor transit duty shall be established in said Protectorate. In the application of the tariff régime of the said Protectorate, the formalities and operations of commerce shall be simplified and facilitated so far as possible. ARTICLE III. Considering the fact that in Article I of this Convention the United States has given it assent under certain conditions to the establishment of import duties in that portion of the Dominions of His Highness the Sultan of Zanzibar which is under the protection of Great Britain, it is well understood that the said Protectorate assures to the flag, to the vessels, to the commerce, and to the citizens and inhabitants of the United States, in all parts of the territory of that Protectorate, all the rights, privileges and immunities concerning import and export duties, tariff régime, interior taxes and charges and, in a general manner, all commercial interests, which are or shall be accorded to the signatory Powers of the Act of Berlin, or to the most favored nation. This Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington as soon as may be and within twelve months from the date hereof. Done in duplicate at Washington this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and two. JOHN HAY And whereas the Convention has been duly ratified, as amended, on both parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were exchanged in the city of Washington on the 17th day of October, one thousand, nine hundred and two: Now, therefore, be it known that I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Convention, as amended, to be made public to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this seventeenth day of October, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and two [SEAL] and of the Independence of the United States, the one hundred and twenty-seventh. By the President: JOHN HAY THEODORE ROOSEVELT Secretary of State. PROTECTION OF AMERICAN INTERESTS BY BRITISH VICE-CONSUL AT BITLIS, TURKEY. a No. 1034.] Mr. Hay to Mr. Choate. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 18, 1902. SIR: The Department has corresponded with the American legation at Constantinople and the United States consul at Erzerum with reference to the protection of American interests at Bitlis. The upshot of this correspondence is that the British vice-consul at Bitlis has been authorized by the British ambassador in Turkey to use his good offices on behalf of American interests in his consular district. In his No. 282, of the 30th ultimo, the chargé d'affaires ad interim of the United States to the Ottoman Porte writes that he has received the customary ministerial letter authorizing His Britannic Majesty's vice-consul to protect American interests as requested. You will express to Lord Lansdowne this Government's appreciation of the courtesy shown in permitting the vice-consul to assume charge of those interests. I am, etc., JOHN HAY. SIR: I have the honor to inclose for your information copies of a Parliamentary publication which has just been received from the foreign office containing a dispatch from His Majesty's special commissioner inclosing the treaty between Great Britain and China, signed at Shanghai, September 5, 1902. I have, etc., JOHN RIDGELY CARTER [Inclosure.] Dispatch from His Majesty's special commissioner, inclosing the treaty between Great Britain and China, signed at Shanhai, September 5, 1902. No. 1. Sir J. Mackay to the Marquis of Lansdowne. SHANGHAI, September 8, 1902. (Received October 13.) MY LORD: I have now the honor to transmit to your lordship the original signed copies, in English and Chinese, of the new treaty which under your lordship's instructions has been made between Great Britain and China The treaty was signed on the 5th instant. I have, etc. JAS. L. MACKAY. a See also under Turkey. [Inclosure in No. 1.] Treaty between Great Britain and China, signed at Shanghai September 5, 1902. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the Emperor of China, having resolved to enter into negotiations with a view to carrying out the provision contained in article 11 of the final protocol, signed at Pekin on the 7th September, 1901, under which the Chinese Government agreed to negotiate the amendments deemed useful by the foreign governments to the treaties of commerce and navigation and other subjects concerning commercial relations, with the object of facilitating them, have for that purpose named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say: His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, His Majesty's special commissioner, Sir James Lyle Mackay, knight commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, a member of the council of the secretary of state for India, etc.; And His Majesty the Emperor of China, the imperial commissioners, Lü Hai-huan, president of the board of public works, etc., and Shêng Hsüan-huai, junior guardian of the heir apparent, senior vice-president of the board of public works, etc.; Who, having communicated to each other their respective full powers and found them to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE I. Delay having occurred in the past in the issue of drawback certificates, owing to the fact that those documents have to be dealt with by the superintendent of customs at a distance from the customs office, it is now agreed that drawback certificates shall hereafter in all cases be issued by the imperial maritime customs within three weeks of the presentation to the customs of the papers entitling the applicant to receive such drawback certificates. These certificates shall be valid tender to the customs authorities in payment of any duty upon goods imported or exported (transit dues excepted), or shall, in the case of drawbacks on foreign goods reexported abroad within three years from the date of importation, be payable in cash without deduction by the customs bank at the place where the import duty was paid. But if, in connection with any application for a drawback certificate, the customs authorities discover an attempt to defraud the revenue, the applicant shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five times the amount of the duty whereof he attempted to defraud the customs, or to a confiscation of the goods. ARTICLE II. China agrees to take the necessary steps to provide for a uniform national coinage which shall be legal tender in payment of all duties, taxes, and other obligations throughout the Empire by British as well as Chinese subjects. ARTICLE III. China agrees that the duties and likin combined levied on goods carried by junks from Hongkong to the treaty ports in the Canton province, and vice versa, shall together not be less than the duties charged by the imperial maritime customs on similar goods carried by steamer. ARTICLE IV. Whereas questions have arisen in the past concerning the rights of Chinese subjects to invest money in non-Chinese enterprises and companies, and whereas it is a matter of common knowledge that large sums of Chinese capital are so invested, China hereby agrees to recognize the legality of all such investments, past, present, and future. It being, moreover, of the utmost importance that all shareholders in a joint stock company should stand on a footing of perfect equality as far as mutual obligations are concerned, China further agrees that Chinese subjects who have or may become shareholders in any British joint stock company shall be held to have accepted, by the very act of becoming shareholders, the charter of incorporation or memorandum and articles of association of such company, and regulations framed thereunder as interpreted by British courts, and that Chinese courts shall enforce compliance therewith by such Chinese shareholders if a suit to that effect be entered, provided always that their liability shall not be other or greater than that of British shareholders in the same company. Similarly the British Government agree that British subjects investing in Chinese companies shall be under the same obligations as the Chinese shareholders in such companies. The foregoing shall not apply to cases which have already been before the courts and been dismissed. ARTICLE V. The Chinese Government undertake to remove within the next two years the artificial obstructions to navigation in the Canton River. The Chinese Government also agree to improve the accommodation for shipping in the harbor of Canton, and to take the necessary steps to maintain that improvement, such work to be carried out by the imperial maritime customs, and the cost thereof to be defrayed by a tax on goods landed and shipped by British and Chinese alike according to a scale to be arranged between the merchants and customs. The Chinese Government are aware of the desirability of improving the navigability by steamer of the waterway between Ichang and Chungking, but are also fully aware that such improvement might involve heavy expense, and would affect the interests of the population of the provinces of Szechuen, Hunan, and Hupeh. It is therefore mutually agreed that until improvements can be carried out steamship owners shall be allowed, subject to approval by the imperial maritime customs, to erect, at their own expense, appliances for hauling through the rapids. Such appliances shall be at the disposal of all vessels, both steamers and junks, subject to regulations to be drawn up by the imperial maritime customs. These appliances shall not obstruct the waterway or interfere with the free passage of junks. Signal stations and channel marks where and when necessary shall be erected by the imperial maritime customs. Should any practical scheme be presented for improving the waterway and assisting navigation without injury to the local population or cost to the Chinese Government it shall be considered by the latter in a friendly spirit. ARTICLE VI. The Chinese Government agree to make arrangements to give increased facilities at the open ports for bonding and for repacking merchandise in bond, and, on official representation being made by the British authorities, to grant the privilege of a bonded warehouse to any warehouse which it is established to the satisfaction of the customs authorities affords the necessary security to the revenue. Such warehouses will be subject to regulations, including a scale of fees according to commodities, distance from custom-house, and hours of working, to be drawn up by the customs authorities, who will meet the convenience of merchants so far as is compatible with the protection of the revenue. ARTICLE VII. Inasmuch as the British Government afford protection to Chinese trade-marks against infringement, imitation, or colorable imitation by British subjects, the Chinese Government undertake to afford protection to British trade-marks against infringement, imitation, or colorable imitation by Chinese subjects. The Chinese Government further undertake that the superintendents of northern and of southern trade shall establish offices within their respective jurisdictions under control of the imperial maritime customs, where foreign trade-marks may be registered on payment of a reasonable fee. ARTICLE VIII. PREAMBLE. The Chinese Government, recognizing that the system of levying likin and other dues on goods at the place of production, in transit, and at destination, impedes the free circulation of commodities and injures the interests of trade, hereby undertake to discard completely these means of raising revenue with the limitation mentioned in section 8. The British Government, in return, consent to allow a surtax in excess of the tariff rates for the time being in force to be imposed on foreign goods imported by British subjects and a surtax in addition to the export duty on Chinese produce destined for export abroad or coastwise. It is clearly understood that, after likin barriers and other stations for taxing goods |