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grants I have also forwarded a copy of these documents to His Majesty's consular officers at Philadelphia, New Orleans, Portland, Oreg., Seattle, and San Francisco in compliance with the suggestion in your communication of the 27th instant, and have called their special attention to the fact that the granting of a permit is discretionary with the governor of the colony.

I am, etc.,

MICHAEL H. HERBERT.

[Inclosure 1.]

Notice to press.

After the 1st of December next no permits to proceed to the Transvaal or Orange River Colony will be issued in the United Kingdom or by His Majesty's consular officers abroad or elsewhere than at the South African ports.

Persons wishing to proceed to the Transvaal or Orange River Colony should therefore apply for the necessary permits to enable them to do so to the Transvaal and Orange River Colony permit office at the port at which they propose to land.

They are warned that such permits are liable to be refused by the government of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony, and it is suggested that, in order to avoid disappointment and delay, they should ascertain before sailing for South Africa from the permit office at the port where they propose to land whether permits will be granted to them.

Under the peace preservation ordinances now in force in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony persons who enter those colonies without permits may be ordered to leave, and if such order is not obeyed within a given time they will be liable to fine and imprisonment.

[Inclosure 2.]

Notice to persons intending to visit the Transvaal or Orange River Colony.

It is notified for information that permits to enter the Transvaal or Orange River Colony are still required, except by persons exempted in the terms of the ordinance quoted below. Such permits are issued at all coast ports in British South Africa, at Bulawayo, and at Lourenço Marquez.

Persons about to visit the new colonies are advised, in order to save themselves delay and disappointment, to forward their application for permits at least one week before their departure in order that the permits may be ready for them when they land.

Applications should, in the case of British subjects, be addressed to the permit secretary at the intended port of disembarkation.

Foreigners should make application through their consular representatives. Persons proceeding via Delogoa Bay should address their applications to His Britannic Majesty's consul-general, Lourenço Marquez.

Application forms are obtainable at the colonial office, London, at the principal South African shipping offices in London and Southampton, at the Bank of Africa, and Standard Bank of South Africa in London, and on board the principal South African-bound steamers.

The following extract from the peace preservation ordinance, Transvaal, is published for information. The terms of the peace preservation ordinance, Orange River Colony, sections 19 to 23, are mutatis mutandis identical:

"19. After the date of this ordinance no person shall enter this colony without a permit granted under the terms of this ordinance, unless

"(a) He was resident and within this colony or the Orange River Colony on the 31st of May, 1902, and has not since that date been expelled from or ordered to leave this colony or the Orange River Colony.

"(b) He has since the 31st of May, 1902, and before the date of this ordinance, received a permit or other formal authorization to enter this colony from some duly constituted authority.

"(c) He is a person coming within the provisions of article 2 of the terms of surrender, signed at Pretoria on the 31st of May, 1902, and published in the Gazette Extraordinary, dated the 3d of June, 1902.

"(d) He is employed in His Majesty's navy or military service or in the civil service or in any police force of this colony or the Orange River Colony.

"20. Permits to enter the colony under this ordinance shall be granted by such persons as may be authorized to do so by the governor, and shall be in such form as the governor may direct.

"No such permit shall be granted to any person who, having been a burgher of the South African Republic or the Orange Free State, has not taken the oath of allegiance to His Majesty, or made some declaration of equivalent import in form approved by the governor. In all other cases it shall be in the discretion of the governor to grant or refuse any permit.

"21. It shall be lawful for the colonial secretary, if he has reason to believe that any person is residing or sojourning in this colony having entered it without proper authority, to give notice thereof to any resident magistrate, and such magistrate shall thereupon summons such person to appear before him, and if such person fails to satisfy the magistrate that he has obtained a permit under this ordinance, or is exempt under the provisions of section 19 from obtaining such permit, the magistrate shall make a written order directing such person to leave the colony within seven days, unless, before the expiration of that time, he has received permission in writing from the colonial secretary to remain in the colony. Such permission shall have the same effect as a permit granted under this ordinance.

"22. (1) If any person in whose case such order has been made is found within the colony after the expiration of seven days after service of such order without having obtained permission from the colonial secretary aforesaid, he may be arrested and brought before a magistrate, and shall, upon conviction, be imprisoned for a period not less than one month and not more than six months, and with or without a fine not exceeding £500, and in default of payment to a further term not exceeding six months.

"(2) If any person imprisoned under the terms of the preceding subsection shall remain in the colony for a period of more than seven days after the expiration of his term of imprisonment, or any subsequent term of imprisonment inflicted under this section, without obtaining permission in writing from the colonial secretary to remain in the colony he may be arrested and brought before a magistrate, and shall, on conviction, be imprisoned, with or without hard labor, for a period of not less than six months and not more than twelve months, and with or without a fine not exceeding £500, and in default of payment to a further term of imprisonment not exceeding six months.

"23. Any person entering this colony on a permit not issued to him by proper authority or obtained by him by any fraudulent means shall be liable to imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for a period not exceeding two years, or to a fine not exceeding £500, or to both such imprisonment and fine."

Mr. Hay to Sir Michael Herbert.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 3, 1903.

MY DEAR Mr. AMBASSADOR: I have received your personal note of the 30th ultimo, in which you inform me of the course followed by His Britannic Majesty's consul-general at New York City with reference to persons desiring to go to South Africa, and in which you state that you have instructed His Majesty's consular officers in certain. ports of the United States along the lines suggested in my prior note on the subject.

I desire to express my thanks for the promptness with which you were good enough to accede to my requests. JOHN HAY.

I am, etc.,

GRAVES OF BRITISH SAILORS DISCOVERED ON UNITED STATES NAVAL RESERVATION AT GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA.

Mr. Hay to Mr. Choate.

No. 1307.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 9, 1903. SIR: I inclose a copy of a letter of the 22d ultimo, from the Secretary of the Navy, stating that the grave of a British naval officer and three mounds, supposed to be graves, have been discovered on Hospital Cay, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within the limits of the United States naval reservation.

You may bring this to the knowledge of the British Government and inform it that, should the removal of the remains in the graves be desired, the Navy Department will gladly render every assistance, but should that not be the case, the graves will be properly cared for. I am, etc.,

JOHN HAY.

[Inclosure.]

Mr. Moody to Mr. Hay.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, October 22, 1903.

SIR: I beg to call your attention to the fact that there are on Hospital Cay, within the naval reservation at Guantanamo, graves of one or more British naval officers. Rear-Admiral Coghlan, commander of the Caribbean Squadron, under date of June 3 last, reports:.

"That an examination of Hospital Cay, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, discloses one marked grave and three other mounds of stone unmarked in any way, but bearing the appearance of graves.

"2. The marked grave is at the southern end of the cay, the other three supposed graves are farther north, but on the southern highland of the cay. They are all covered with mounds of stones, oblong in shape, resembling the customary grave mounds. The marked one has a wooden cross at its southern end, made of 2 by 4 inch stuff, painted black, with a copper plate at the crossing of the arms, bearing the following inscription cut in and blackened, viz:

M. S.

E. N. Harrison, Esqr.
Paymaster

H. B. M. S. Buzzard
OB
Dec. 1st, 1854.

-0

Instructions have been given by this Department that these graves shall be properly cared for and protected from injury after the cession of land to the United States Government has been effected.

I have the honor to suggest that these facts be brought to the attention of the British Government. Should the Admiralty desire to remove the bodies, the Navy Department will gladly render every assistance. Should they prefer to let them remain where they have lain so long, they may be sure that the graves will be properly cared for. Considering the change of leasehold of the site, it seems right to inform the Admiralty that these graves are within the limits of the United States naval station.

I have, etc.,

WILLIAM H. MOODY, Secretary.

No. 1265.]

Mr. Choate to Mr. Hay.

AMERICAN EMBASSY, London, December 18, 1903.

SIR: With reference to your instruction No. 1307 of the 9th ultimo, relative to the graves of British sailors which have been discovered on Hospital Cay, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within the limits of the United States naval reservation, I have the honor to inclose herewith, for the information of the Secretary of the Navy, a copy of a note from the foreign office, dated the 16th instant, stating that the lords commissioners of His Majesty's Admiralty would prefer that the graves recently discovered should remain undisturbed, and at the same time requesting me to convey their thanks for the courteous offer of our Government to take care of the graves, an offer of which they are most happy to avail themselves.

I have, etc.,

JOSEPH H. CHOATE.

[Inclosure.]

Mr. Villiers to Mr. Choate.

FOREIGN OFFICE, London, December 16, 1903.

YOUR EXCELLENCY: With reference to my note of the 24th ultimo, I have the honor to inform your excellency that the lords commissioners of His Majesty's Admiralty would prefer that the graves recently discovered on Hospital Cay, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should remain undisturbed.

I have at the same time to convey to your excellency the thanks of the lords commissioners for the courteous offer of the American Government to take care of the graves, an offer of which they are most happy to avail themselves.

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SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a Blue Book-Treaty Series No. 17-containing the treaty between the United Kingdom and China. respecting commercial relations, signed at Shanghai September 5, 1902, ratifications being exchanged at Peking July 28, 1903, which has just been published here.

I have, etc.,

JOSEPH H. CHOATE.

Treaty between the United Kingdom and China respecting commercial relations, &c.

Signed at Shanghae, September 5, 1902.

Ratifications exchanged at Peking, July 28, 1903.

[Signed also in Chinese.]

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 Peking 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, &c. And His Majesty the Emperor of China, the Imperial Commissioners Lü Hai-huan, President of the Board of Public Works, &c., and Shèng Hsüan-huai, Junior Guardian of the Heir-Apparent, Senior Vice-President of the Board of Public Works, &c.

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 re-exported 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 Hong Kong 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 right 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 recognise 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.

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