than at present. The portion used for building purposes will also be sent at the same time, and as your dispatch mentions no particular time to do so, and specifies no purpose for which the money is wanted, I hope that no inconvenience will be suffered by the short delay. I trust that you have duly received the account and advices from Messrs. Olyphant & Co., accompanying the remission of the bills for the $220,000 at various dates up to December 1, 1867. In the dispatch now acknowledged, when speaking of the application of part of this fund to building purposes, you refer to my explanations given in the letter sent last spring, and I fully appreciate the favorable terms in which you mention them. Yet, in view of your remarks, a reperusal of my letter of March 12 leads me to think that I failed to state my reasons fully. You say that you "cannot find any warrant in law for the appropriation of the interest or principal" to erect these buildings, and I did not suppose there was. No law existed, that I knew of, applicable to the case. The chief diplomatic agent of the United States had been left in charge of the fund from the first; he had some years ago removed it from the Commercial Bank to the Oriental for greater security, and when I decided to apply a part for building, one motive was the still greater security of what was so used. The Commercial Bank had failed, the Agra Bank was tottering, several large English houses had gone down, and it was known that the Oriental Bank had suffered heavy losses in India. In this state of things, such an investment seemed to be one of the safest modes of placing the money, which I supposed at the time was not likely ever to be removed from China. It seems to be due to myself to bring this again to your notice to show that I had the best interests of the fund in view, as well as to provide a residence for the representative of the United States. I still cherish the hope that this surplus fund will be set apart by Congress for the promotion of learning among this people, by founding an institution in this city, as has been already set forth in former dispatches. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. LIAM S. WELLS WILLIAMS. Mr. Williams to Mr. Seward. No. 12.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatches addressed to Mr. Burlingame, Nos. 220 to 225, inclusive, but No. 219 has not yet come to hand. That of October 7, 1867, (No. 221,) relating to the extension of the light-house system in China, has been communicated to Mr. Hart, who has promised to send me a report showing what has been done up to this date. The two sets of the publications and plans of the United States light-house board, referred to by Major General Delafield, have not yet been received. His Imperial Highness Prince Kung, and Sir Rutherford Alcock, her Britannic Majesty's envoy, have each recently appointed their deputies, to discuss the proposed modifications to be made in the treaty of Tientsin, most of them having for their object the better execution of its exist ing stipulations. The 27th article of the British treaty provides for the revision of the tariff and commercial articles, and the main purpose in view is, I understand, to promote the extension of trade throughout the provinces, and to open up their resources to general use and advantage. These desirable objects will, it is thought, be greatly promoted by allowing steam vessels to navigate the inland waters of the country, partly for the purpose of bringing down British property from depots in the interior to the ports, and partly, when so doing, to facilitate the collection of the legal transit dues on that property. But the great and beneficial result of such an extension of steam navigation would, I think, be seen in the increase of the passenger traffic up and down the rivers of China, and a rapid development of the internal carrying trade. The hazards now attending the navigation of these waters from dacoits or river-pirates, ill-constructed boats, and unskillful sailors, as well as their slowness, prompt the native traders to avail themselves of steamers whenever it is possible, and the number of passengers carried by them increases daily. Steain is a great civilizer, and if its power can be used to bring the people of this land into better acquaintance with each other, it will tend to the maintenance of peace, security of travel, and prosperity and strength of every department of government. For these and other reasons I regard the extension of steam navigation in China as fraught with many advantages. During the last six or eight years the course of the foreign trade has tended more and more into the hands of natives, and in some of the open ports nearly the entire traffic is now under their control, Some of the causes are to be found in their cheaper style of living, their better knowledge of the products wanted, and accessibility to the consumers further inland. The ignorance of most foreigners of the language puts them at a great disadvantage with natives, who avail themselves of the information imparted to them respecting foreign markets to promote their own interests. These and other causes are every where tending to throw the foreign trade into the hands of natives, who now usually obtain their own prices for native produce, and combine to control markets. The internal traffic nearly all belongs to them, but they own few or none of the steamers or other vessels in which it is freighted from port to port. If, therefore, the imperial government can be induced to permit steamers to navigate its internal waters, the natives would probably still get the chief advantages of the change, even in trade; for the local dealers and brokers would countervail the foreigner at every depot and carry on the business. However, cheaper transportation and fixed transit dues would render all goods cheaper, and in this way both parties would benefit; but my impression is that the foreigner will still remain, as he has been, an importer merely, and cannot compete in the inland commerce. It is natural that it should be so; and although some untoward results may attend the access of steamers and foreigners to remote parts of the country, the advantages will doubtless outweigh the evils, while a few years' experience will furnish data and means for regulating and avoiding them. In order to understand all the bearings of this change it is well not to overlook some of the undesirable results. In some portions of the country the inhabitants are lawless, and reckless foreigners are tempted to join them, or supply them with fire-arms, which are not seldom used against the government. The arrival of a small steamer for the first time in some of these regions would give rise, perhaps, to violence; and, I regret to say, that experience has shown that strifes are more frequently caused by foreigners than natives. Yet these acts would not be the rule, and could be restrained; their evil effects would be temporary, and far less than those caused by the impetus which would be given to the opium trade, by thus bringing it within the reach of multitudes who now do not use the drug. This traffic has remained nearly stationary during the last six years, at between 80,000 and 90,000 chests, whose market value has been about $60,000,000 annually-about 10 per cent. less than the annual export of tea and silk. Such is the passion of this people for opium, that its use is sure to increase as it is brought within their means; and that increase everywhere develops disorder, weakens law, encourages idleness, and saps the prosperity of the people. As this trade has increased since the year 1800 from about 4,000 chests to 88,148 chests imported last year, so have the resources, the energies, and the efficiency of the Chinese government and people diminished. The weakness of every department of state is supplemented by the disorders and seditions which have arisen in every province for lack of the strong arm which can repress them. I do not intend by this to ascribe all these evils to the use of opium, but they are intensified and developed by it. Among the literary classes and gentry, the army and lower ranks of civilians, indolence lends force to temptation, and opens the way for the novice too soon to reach the victimized smoker's end. The resistance which was once exhibited by passing stringent laws and denouncing its use on moral grounds has long since ceased, and no one now raises a voice against the drug. Those who consume the most return the least to the general stock of wealth, and every smoker more or less disables himself from performing his share of the national industry. The decadence of the moral sense of the nation, never very strong in a pagan land, has kept pace with its increasing debility and impoverishment, and the prospect at present is far from cheering. I have digressed on this topic in order to explain why the Chinese are so slow to adopt some of the improvements which we urge upon them. They feel their poverty and weakness to cope with some of the propositions made to them, through an inadequate appreciation of their utility and urgency, and this sense of weakness makes them likewise afraid of the results. A great portion of their revenue is lost by disorders and rebellion in the regions which furnish it, and the outlays necessary to repress these disturbances consume much of what is collected. The extension of trade by the presence of foreign vessels into the remoter parts of the interior will do something to restore quiet; but it may also tend to transfer power to those who are able to insure security and peace, for the natural tendency is to lean on the strongest. Yet I think the advantages will outweigh the risks, and prove the wisdom of opening the waters of China to steamers by the many beneficial results flowing from it. It may seem unnecessary at this day to adduce reasons why it is desirable to promote greater intercourse between any portions of mankind, but the long seclusion of the Chinese leads both government and people to regard foreigners with fear and dislike, and therefore resist or hesitate at accepting whatever propositions come from them. Yet if we look back to 1844, when the first treaties opened the way to five new ports, and then on to 1858, when the country and its capital became accessible to foreign influences, and compare the condition of things then with the progress made since, it will be better seen what a powerful stimulus has been at work to push this people and government on in the way of improvement. The Chinese people are habitually peaceful, industrious, and law-abiding, and their officials, on the whole, have should a laudable desire to carry out the treaty stipulations, and even to adopt desirable modifications when shown to be useful. They had everything to learn in international law and its application to their peculiar position under the rules of ex-territoriality, but a candid appreciation of the advances made afford encouragement to hope for still greater progress, and show whether China can be renovated without destroying its institutions. This progress will rapidly accelerate as the people themselves become more acquainted with what foreign nations can teach and bring them; and among the influences now tending this way, not one of the least is the emigration and passing to and fro of the myriads who go to California and Australia. In view of the present revision of the British treaty, it is desirable that instructions and powers be furnished to the United States minister in China, if it is deemed best to enter upon similar negotiations for the revision of the American treaty, during the coming year, so that he may be prepared to obtain the same advantages for his countrymen which others enjoy. Though the diplomatic mission sent last year to the treaty powers was designed, among other objects, to show them that this gov ernment is not yet prepared to accept all the proposals made to it, there is no determination to resist every change and return to the seclusion of former days. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, S. WELLS WILLIAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. No. 13.] Mr. Williams to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR Referring to my dispatch No. 3, of January 11, 1868, relating to the reduction of the duty on tea-dust, I have now the honor to send you an additional correspondence supplementary to that. (inclosures A, B.) It appears that a question was started as to what was properly included under the term tea-dust, and in order to obviate any further doubt the Chinese government has reduced the limit under which the half duty is to be levied, from that costing 15 taels per pecul to that costing 10 taels. However, as no tea-dust has been in market for many years whose cost has reached 10 taels, the change has no practical bearing. It is said it has been customary at some ports to admit tea-dust from Japan at an ad valorem duty of five per cent., but the import is trifling. At Tientsin 765 peculs of tea dust and tea stalks entered last year, valued at 3,033 taels, or four taels per pecul. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. A. Prince Kung to Mr. Williams. [Translation.] MAY 22, 1868, (Tungchi, 7th year, 4th intercalary moon, 1st day.) Prince Kung, chief secretary of state for foreign affairs, herewith makes a communication: On the 25th ultimo, Mr. Hart, the inspector general of customs, sent me the following report: "On receiving the orders from the Foreign Office fixing the duty on tea-dust at 1t. 2m. 5c. per pecul on all that whose cost did not exceed 15 taels per pecul, while such as cost over 15 taels per pecul was still to pay the regular tariff duty of 2t. 5m., I immediately gave directions to carry the same into effect, as the chief object of the change was to benefit the native merchants in their trade between the various ports. But when the duty on the cheaper sorts of tea-dust was placed at 1t. 2m. 5c. per pecul, I heard that foreign merchants erroneously concluded that all kinds of tea leaf which cost less than 15 taels per pecul were likewise included in this new regulation. As this would, in my opinion, be a detriment to the revenue, I have to request that orders may be issued directing that the tariff on tea-dust shall be fixed at 1t. 2m. 5c. for all that whose cost does not exceed 10 taels per pecul, while all whose cost exceeds that amount, whether sent from port to port or exported to foreign countries, shall pay the former duty of 2t. 5m. per pecul," &c. An examination of this subject shows that tea leaf and tea-dust are quite different in many respects, and the object of making the new regulation was to reduce the duty in some proportion to the article, as was shown in the dispatch sent you on the 29th of last December. But if it is, as the inspector general of customs says in his report, that foreign merchants have mistakenly inferred from this that tea leaf itself (when under that cost per pecul) pays only 1t. 2m. 5c., they have truly confused the matter. The rule must accordingly be changed in order to mark the difference more plainly, and the limit placed on tea-dust exported must accordingly be restricted so that the revenue shall not be diminished. Hereafter the duty on tea-dust exported from any port shall be levied in accordance with this recommendation of the inspector general of customs. For all that whose cost does not exceed 10 taels per hundred catties, the duty shall henceforth be 1t. 2m. 5c. for that quantity, whether it is to be sent abroad or carried to another open port; while for that whose cost exceeds 10 taels per pecul, the duty shall be as before, at the rate of 2t. 5m. per pecul. By this arrangement the duty on the article will be clearly distinguished, and no doubt, too, to the advantage of all interested. Orders to act in conformity to this arrangement have been sent to the inspector general of customs, and this communication is now likewise sent, that your excellency may give the necessary instructions to all the American merchants to act accordingly. His Excellency S. WELLS WILLIAMS, United States Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. B. Mr. Williams to Prince Kung. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your imperial highness's dispatch of the 22d instant, in which you inform me that in consequence of mistakes having been made by the foreign merchants, who inferred that the new regulation fixing the duty on tea-dust at 1t. 2m. 5c. per pecul applies also to tea leaf whose cost did not exceed 15 taels per pecul, you had decided, in order to protect the revenue, to adopt the suggestion of the inspector general of customs, limiting the reduced duty of 1t. 2m. 5c. per pecul on teadust to all that, whenever exported, whose cost did not exceed 10 taels per pecul; while all above that price should pay the former duty of 2t. 5m. per pecul, &c. The articles of tea leaf and tea-dust are no doubt very different, and as I now learn from your imperial highness's dispatch that the foreign merchants have erroneously supposed that the cheaper kinds of the former were included under the new regulation, you have deemed it best, in order to prevent mistakes, to limit the reduced duty of It. 2m. 5c. to those kinds of tea-dust whose cost does not exceed 10 taels, which modification shall accordingly be made known to American merchants at the various ports. I have the honor to be, sir, your imperial highness's obedient servant, S. WELLS WILLIAMS.. His Imperial Highness PRINCE KUNG, Chief Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. |