'TREATIES, To the Editor of the During the Congress of Vienna, at one of those brilliant conversazioni Uirough hose influence 10 much of the real work of the European political nego accomplished Lord Castlereagh is to have oaked the Roman Cardinal, Creole Consalvi, to tell him the secret of the yeat diplo wuecesses which he had 0 recently a. His Eminence replied, that it all consisted of three words—lcolate la resistenza" (calculate the resistance), which he anid he always carefully moighed previous to undertaking any affair.
venture to recall this incident, because it would really look aa though some of the politi, wisdom of the acute Ital diplomatist had been wafted from Vienna across Europe and Asia, and had endeavour by the Foreign Mi unsparingly employed at. Peking
to negotiate successfully with the Chinese Government, and especially for obtaining the exemption. of foreign merchandise from the lekin taxes; only instead of the Cardinal's aphorism being practically applied to uvercume the resistance," it to been developed by 80 that the result has been and to merch: assert to be an unjust taxation on their commerce.
If this is not exactly the true picture of the situation, it is at all events its apparent aspect from an outside point of view; for until the other day, it might have been sid that a truce on the subject of lekin taxes has been declared, and that its tion had been adjourned sine die by special agreement; but the recent Tumours that the German Government Were going to insist on the cessation of Jekin taxation on foreign merchandise in the revision of its treaty with China, and the more substantial assurance contained on the "Yunnan outrage" blue book, that the whole subject is being firmly grasped by Sir Thomas Wade, with " view of bringing the Peking Government to its senses, offers an encouragement to expect approaching remedial measures for the wrongs we have so long suffered, and it may therefore not be considered inopportune at the present moment, to offer some observations on the subject, in order to show that the merchants still feel unabated interest in its favourable solu-min, and to justify their having so per-ingly insisted in their reclamations against this unjust tax.
Tt may possibly be remarked that he question of lekin taxes is naturally cluded in the general case of the transit duties already discussed, and stands or falls with the legality or otherwise of any excess in inland taxation on foreign merchandise over treaty rates. Under ordinary circumstances it would be indeed venturesome to ask any attention to separate observations on the subject the lekin taxes, but it has been so distinctly laid down in the " Memorandum' on the revision of the Tientsin treaty often referred to, that " thelekin and transit dues are, as far as we are concerned, of "a totally' different character, and that "we may fight any augmentation of the "Intter by treaty, but that the treaty will "not help us against the lekin," that such serious assertion de mat tion, It is not with any Sir Thoma Wade at the present day with his former statements, that the above assertion is brought under notice, for there is every reason, judging from the last blue book, for believing that he line greatly modified his opinions on the lekin taxes, just as other public men have changed their views on political questions and Memorandum" the onl of an appeal to the treaty again being disallowed, there could be no advantage in examining the question in such separate light; but as the Chinese Government and other ain, oD the strength of the "Memorandum," that the lekin is different from the transit dues, and hence not included in the treaty; the necessity arises for is being considered separately in order to refute such an assertion, even supposing that the lekin wel ded from the general issue of the transit dues question, I ask permission at the same time to state the case of the lekin grievance as described in official documents, so that there may be no ground for imputing our complaints as imaginary.
Sir Thomas Wade in his Memo-random " wrote as follows.—'" But it is of the injury inflicted on their business observance of article XXVIII that ts one and all complain burden that has fallen on trade is hard to bear, no one will "attempt to deny."—"'The great weight pressing upon the import trade of the "British merchant is the weight of the **Jekin contribution."—"'The import trade "in not only Cxrpeten, but at some points "the lekin hits our own trade hard; and for "more reasons than one we are justified in "crying out." There are other numerous evidences of the reality of the complaints on the injury done to foreign trade by lekin, set forth in the reports of the Chambers of Commerce, with which every one is familiar; and the recent disclosures at Shanghai of the levy of these taxes on foreign merchandise within the Settlement, are not the least telling of them. It would be inexpedient, therefore, to accumulate further proof of what every one knows and admits to be true.
Now the first impulse which comes to the mind on seeing this picture as drawn by Sir Thomas Wade, of foreign commerce lying crippled and paralysed in the sight of every one, surely is to exclaim—Is such a state of th accordance with the spirit of the British Treaties, and how is it that such crying evil has been left unredressed for so many yeara? Were Lord Elgin and other distinguished statesmen sent out to China to conclude treaties having for their special object to obtain increased facilities for commerce, and which, alas! have only resulted in quasi destruction? What a contrast between such a supposed cataclysm of trade by treaty, and Lord Elgin's letter to Lord Clarendon, of 9th July, 1857, "our disputes with the Chinese Empire are to be amicably settled, the cone: "which we obtain must be so a1 "substance, and so uncompromising in "form, as to put it ent of the power of "even" that ingenious and sophistical "peuple to attribute to weakness or pusillanimity a moderation prompted by "humanity alone." Can it be supposed for an instant that Lord Elgin, with such fixed impressions, would or could have concluded a treaty by virtue of which the Chinese could justify themselves for erippling and paralysing British trade in the way we are officially informed is the ens by the lekin? I merely lay streas at present on such a state ut affairs being opposed to the spirit of the British: treaties with China, because it is no small matter being able to point out that our demands are in accordance with the spirit of our treaties, for it will go long way to prove that the letter of the treaties is also on our side when we come to examine it, Please observe that this appeal to the spirit of the treaties is not novel, or cou fined to the merchants alone, Sir', Wade, in a note to his translation of a Chinese document sent to Lord Elgin by Mr, Consul Parkes, relative to Mr. Bruce's going to Peking by the Peiho instead of by the Pehtang, wrote, "I feel satisfied "that our object considered, the fulfilment of the treaty, not in the letter, Dut in the "spirit, we should make a' mistake in "approaching the capital otherwise than by "its recognised highway." So we have his support in relying on the spirit of the treaty for enlightening one special instance of its application. the Chi ment even appeal to the treaty, and plead that it i judging affairs connected wi *Yaung-li-yamen's circular desp: March, 1872, it is stated, "Chis is not only "the spirit, but the plain language of the "treaty and again in the same document, As, however, in accordance with "the spirit of the treaty all of which clearly upholds the propriety of the course we are pursuing, To get, however, a full and clear light of what the spirit of the treaty consists, it will be necessary to go back again to Lord Eigin's time and see the circumstances of its negotiation, When His Lordship came to Chiuain 1857, Mr. Bruce by Lord Elgin's desire addressed a lotter on 28th July of that year, to H.B.M, Consulsat the different ports, His Excellency wishes you therefore put yourself in communication with "the Chambers of Commerce and leading "members of the mercantile community, "with a view of obtaining from them the "information on these and similar points "of detail, which they are so well qual fold to' give, His Excellency' wil "receive with pleasure any suggestions of more general nature bearing on the "important subject of our commercial "relations with China." Shortly after this letter was written, when answering an address presented to him by British Mer-sat Hongkong, on 8th July, 1857, Lord Elgin stated, 'I shall, therefore, "at all times listen with attention and respect to any representation which you "may see fit to make to me on those "subjects." In consequence of this, the British Chamber of Commerce at Shanghai wrote to Lord Elgin on the 2nd October, 1857, as follows: © Inland duties.—At "present, and for some time past, con-"siderable extra duties have been levied "in the interior on goods and produce in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.