3. Your visit with the Villalobos to Nanchang for the purpose of investigating the condition of and providing for the protection of the lives and property of Americans is approved. It is my desire that, so far as practicable, similar visits be paid to all Americans having property or other lawful interests in China, that I may be kept fully informed regarding all things concerning their welfare. 4. You will, if occasion offers, inform the taotai who wrote the letter protesting to the consul-general against your vessel that his objections will not receive consideration, and that if he thinks the people of the Poyang district are "bad men" such a reason is a greater cause for more frequent visits and more careful inspections of our interests by our armed vessels, and that these visits will be continued in the future as in the past. You are also authorized to inform the taotai, should occasion offer, and any other Chinese officials who may raise objections of this character that our gunboats are always amply provided for dealing with "bad men," and that if there should be any indication of a desire to pay other than proper respect to American life and property on the part of these men they will be dealt with immediately, and that the gunboats will, without further instructions, administer severe and lasting punishment. 5. It is expected that the taotai and other officials of China will suppress all disorder and give ample protection to the lives and property of Americans, but if these officials fail to do so the question of adequate and proper protection will be taken in hand by our gunboats. In order to satisfy ourselves that the various local officials are properly affording protection, our gunboats will continue to navigate the Poyang Lake and the various other inland waters of China wherever Americans may be, and where, by treaty with China, they are authorized to engage in business or reside for the purpose of spreading the gospel. Very respectfully, R. D. EVANS, Commander in Chief United States Asiatic Fleet. Mis., No. 1882.] [Subinclosure 6.] Mr. Conger to Rear-Admiral Evans. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 30th ultimo, with extract from the report of the commanding officer of the U. S. S. Villalobos concerning his recent visit to Nanchang, and the taotai's objection thereto as made to Consul-General Wilcox at Hankow. My letter of the 30th ultimo evidently crossed yours en poste. I beg to add to that, however, that the matter will be duly brought to the attention of the Chinese Government; but I will be pleased to have you point out to me the provisions of the treaty which give our gunboats the right to go wherever they please in the interior of the Empire, except on rivers leading to open ports. I am, etc., [Subinclosure 7.] Rear-Admiral Evans to Mr. Conger. E. H. CONGER. COMMANDER IN CHIEF'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES ASIATIC FLEET, FLAGSHIP KENTUCKY, Chefoo, China, August 11, 1903. SIR: 1. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communications Nos. 1877 and 1882, of July 30 and August 4, respectively, relative to a translation of a communication from the taotai at Kiukiang to the United States consul-general at Hankow, in regard to gunboats visiting inland waters where there are no treaty ports, and in the latter of the above-mentioned communications I note your request to have pointed out the provisions which give to our gunboats the right to go wherever they please in the waters of China, except on rivers leading to open ports. 2. In reply I have to inform you that whereas there may be no express stipulation in our various treaties with China covering entirely the matter to which you refer and I may be, therefore, unable to point out any specific paragraph granting this general authority, yet I consider that the clause embodied in our treaties which grants to us the same or equal rights as may be granted to any other country-in short, the "most favored nation" clause-covers my action in authorizing our gunboats to cruise in the same manner and through the same waters as are allowed by China to the armed vessels of other nations; and in this connection I have to state that the Poyang Lake and neighboring waters have been, for some time past, visited by the gunboats of various other nationalities, very probably, I presume, for the same purposes for which our vessels have visited those waters, and apparently with the sanction of the Chinese authorities. If China grants or does not object to the visits of these vessels, we have the same rights and can justly claim the same privileges. 3. I consider it my duty to watch over and protect the lives and property of the citizens of our country who may be in China engaged in any lawful pursuit, and if the Chinese Government permits our people to engage in business or reside elsewhere than at treaty ports it is incumbent upon me to keep informed, so far as possible, of their welfare, and if at any time the Chinese authorities maltreat them or fail to give them adequate protection for life and property, which you know is frequently the case, it becomes my duty to instantly and unhesitatingly send such armed force as may be at my disposal and give the protection necessary. 4. In this connection your attention is invited to the recent riots on the North River, some hundred or more miles above Canton, where we had no treaty port, and in which riot the property of the American engineering party engaged in the building of the Hankow-Canton Railway was destroyed and our people forced to return to Canton to prevent loss of life, their property having been damaged and their work stopped; and again, to a riot in the same locality in which an American subject was kidnaped by Chinese pirates and held for ransom, of both of which instances you were promptly notified by our consul-general at Canton and by myself. Had it not been for the instant dispatch of the gunboat Callao to the scene of these riots the consequences might have been serious indeed. As it was, the presence of the gunboat so quickly after the commission of the offenses prevented further attack upon the engineering party and secured the release of the captive without ransom. No objection was made, so far as I am aware, by the Chinese authorities or by any other official to this action of the commanding officer of the Callao, notwithstanding the fact that the locality visited was in a much less sense one embraced within our treaty rights than places up the Yangtse River, where numerous treaty ports exist at intervals along its waters. 5. The line of the Canton-Hankow Railway, extending through a portion of China seldom visited by foreigners, is liable to, and in all probability will, be the scene of more or less trouble with the Chinese, and if the Chinese authorities fail to afford ample protection to the lives and property of the Americans engaged in that enterprise, then I shall consider it my duty to afford them protection at any point along this line which it may be possible to reach with our armed forces, just as I have done in the instances above mentioned as regarding the attack on the engineers near the Canton line and the abduction of an American subject. 6. My instructions to the commanding officers of the gunboats are in all cases to cultivate the most friendly relations with the Chinese officials and people and to give no occasion for ill feeling or trouble of any kind by any act of theirs, but if trouble is provoked by Chinese mobs, then they must act immediately and as in their judgment may be deemed for the best interests and welfare of our Government and its people. 7. In this connection, as I judge from your communication you may not take the same view as myself, I respectfully request that you inform me explicitly and definitely as to your views of the action of the taotai at Kiukiang in forbidding our gunboats to navigate the Poyang Lake and neighboring waters, the recent action of the Callao in her trip up the North River to quell the riots above-mentioned and protect American interests in a locality where there was no treaty port, and in the release of the abducted American subject. I should also be pleased for a definite statement as to what you may consider our actions should be in the very probable event of rioting and attack upon the lives and property of Americans engaged in the construction of the Canton-Hankow Railway, and in the event of uprisings liable, as we well know, to occur, and actually frequently occurring, in the valley of the Yangtse and elsewhere throughout China, in many cases similar to which delays in the appearance of an armed force for the protection of our people has so often resulted disastrously. 8. Upon the receipt of the expression of your views in these matters, I desire, if they are not in accord with my own, to request of the Navy Department more detailed instructions regarding my own line of conduct, that it may vary as little as possible from the policy outlined to you by the State Department. Very respectfully, R. D. EVANS, Commander in Chief United States Asiatic Fleet. [Subinclosure 8.] Rear-Admiral Evans to the Secretary of the Navy. COMMANDER IN CHIEF'S OFFICE, UNITED STATES ASIATIC FLEET, FLAGSHIP KENTUCKY, Chefoo, China, August 14, 1903. SIR: 1. Referring to my letter, No. 114-M, of August 11, relative to the visit of the Villalobos to certain tributaries of the Yangtse and to the translation of the letter from the taotai to the consul-general at Hankow prohibiting the visits of our vessels to the Poyang Lake district and to my correspondence with the United States minister in regard to these matters, I have to inform you that on August 1 the commanding officer of the Villalobos informed me that the consul-general had informed him of a few words which had been left out in the translation of the taotai's letter by which the sense would be changed to read as follows: "Gunboats' visits to the Poyang district should be prohibited unless on business or for some good reason." 2. As this change in the translation completely alters the tone and meaning of the letter, and as it does not appear to me that so important an omission could have been made by unintentional error, I have to invite the attention of the minister to it with the suggestion that the interpreter might, perhaps, be not a reliable person. Very respectfully, R. D. EVANS, Commander in Chief United States Asiatic Fleet. [Inclosure 2.] Mr. Hay to the Secretary of the Navy. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 7, 1903. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2d instant, inclosing copies of correspondence recently received from the commander in chief, United States Asiatic fleet, in relation to visits by small gunboats of the United States Navy to certain parts of the upper Yangtse, China; and requesting such comment as this Department may desire to make. In reply I have the honor to say that the Department is inclined to the opinion that Rear-Admiral Evans is right in his contention that our gunboats may visit the inland ports of China, including those which are not treaty ports. Even if this right were not explicitly granted to us by treaty, Rear-Admiral Evans is unquestionably right in using it when like ships of other powers are constantly doing so. His reasons for wishing to visit these places, as expressed in his communication of August 11, 1903, to Minister Conger, are absolutely convincing. This Department thinks, however, that Article LII of the British treaty of 1858 with China, which is reproduced in Article XXXIV of the Austro-Hungarian treaty of 1869, gives full authority for his course. The text of Article LII of the British treaty is as follows: "British ships of war coming for no hostile purpose, or being engaged in the pursuit of pirates, shall be at liberty to visit all ports within the dominions of the Emperor of China, and shall receive every facility for the purchase of provisions, procuring water, and, if occasion require, for the making of repairs. The commanders of such ships shall hold intercourse with the Chinese authorities on terms of equality and courtesy." If the communication of the taotai of Kiukiang is to be amended by the addition of the phrase mentioned in Admiral Evans's communication of August 14, it would show that the Chinese authorities have also remembered Article LII of the British treaty of 1858. I have, etc., JOHN HAY. TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA FOR THE EXTENSION OF THE COMMERCIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN THEM. Signed at Shanghai, October 8, 1903. Ratification advised by the Senate, December 18, 1903. Ratified by the President, January 12, 1904. Ratified by China, January 10, 1904. Ratifications exchanged at Washington, January 13, 1904. Proclaimed, January 13, 1904. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas a Treaty and three Annexes between the United States of America and China to extend further the commercial relations between them and otherwise to promote the interests of the peoples of the two countries, were concluded and signed at Shanghai in the English and Chinese languages, on the eighth day of October, one thousand nine hundred and three, the original of the English text of which Treaty and Annexes is word for word as follows: The United States of America and His Majesty the Emperor of China, being animated by an earnest desire to extend further the commercial relations between them and otherwise to promote the interests of the peoples of the two countries, in view of the provisions of the first paragraph of Article XI of the final Protocol signed at Peking on the seventh day of September, A. D. 1901, whereby the Chinese Government agreed to negotiate the amendments deemed necessary 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: The United States of America Edwin H. Conger, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to China John Goodnow, Consul-General of the United States of America at Shanghai John F. Seaman, a Citizen of the United States of America resident at Shanghai And His Majesty the Emperor of China— Lü Hai-huan, President or the Board of Public Works Sheng Hsüan-huai, Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. who, having met and duly exchanged their full powers which were found to be in proper form, have agreed upon the following amendments to existing treaties of commerce and navigation formerly concluded between the two countries, and upon the subjects hereinafter expressed connected with commercial relations, with the object of facilitating them. ARTICLE I. In accordance with international usage, and as the diplomatic representative of China has the right to reside in the capital of the United States, and to enjoy there the same prerogatives, privileges and immu e shall be given audience of His Majesty the Emperor whenever cessary to present his letters of credence or any communication from e President of the United States. At all such times he shall be ceived in a place and in a manner befitting his high position, and on such occasions the ceremonial observed toward him shall be that served toward the representatives of nations on a footing of equality, th no loss of prestige on the part of either. The diplomatic representatives of the United States shall enjoy all e prerogatives, privileges and immunities accorded by international age to such representatives, and shall in all respects be entitled to e treatment extended to similar representatives of the most favored tion. The English text of all notes or dispatches from United States offils to Chinese officials, and the Chinese text of all from Chinese icials to United States officials shall be authoritative. ARTICLE II. perty may hereafter be the most favored in t Chinese Government. des on goods in tr nas likin, impede end injury of trade, ed all other transit du fs, stations and bar as other offices understood that, af Mods in transit have h them in any fo bernment of the Un in excess of the tari et on foreign goods inese produce desti anderstood that in n one and one-half time al Protocol signed by C mer. A. D. 1901; th all secure for fore or foreigners, in ori from all other taxati of taxation, inclusive duce for export abro As China may appoint consular officers to reside in the United States d to enjoy there the same attributes, privileges and immunities as e enjoyed by consular officers of other nations, the United States my appoint, as its interests may require, consular officers to reside at e places in the Empire of China that are now or that may hereafter opened to foreign residence and trade. They shall hold direct official ercourse and correspondence with the local officers of the Chinese overnment within their consular districts, either personally or in riting as the case may require, on terms of equality and reciprocal spect. These officers shall be treated with due respect by all Chinese thorities, and they shall enjoy all the attributes, privileges and immuties, and exercise all the jurisdiction over their nationals which are may hereafter be extended to similar officers of the nation the most vored in these respects. If the officers of either government are srespectfully treated or aggrieved in any way by the authorities of e other, they shall have the right to make representation of the same the superior officers of their own government who shall see that Il inquiry and strict justice be had in the premises. And the said nsular officers of either nation shall carefully avoid all acts of offense the officers and people of the other nation. ind one-half g in this article is in China to levy such o per centum ng these fundamental lave agreed upon the f Chinese Government u of whatsoever kind f goods in transit, shall and waterways in t Eastern Provinces. toms offices at presen ere there are offices and frontiers of China Eastern Provinces. er there are offices o such may be hereafte stablished. as well as On the arrival of a consul duly accredited at any place in China ened to foreign trade it shall be the duty of the Minister of the nited States to inform the Board of Foreign Affairs, which shall, in cordance with international usage, forthwith cause the proper recogtion of the said consul and grant him authority to act. ARTICLE III. Citizens of the United States may frequent, reside and carry on ade, industries and manufactures, or pursue any lawful avocation, all the ports or localities of China which are now open or may reafter be opened to foreign residence and trade; and, within the itable localities at those places which have been or may be set apart emment of the Unite , in addition to the e ded for in the Protocol |
