(Speciully translated for the Novth-China Daily News.")
Peking, 13th March, 1901, Chou, Substantive Provincial Treasurer of Chihli, to the Generalissimo Count von Waldersee.
T beg leave to suggest the following to Your Excellency (1).—Although the allied troops quartered in the various villages and market towns keep the peace and it is further conceded that patrols must be sent out by them at various times to scour the countryside in order to gain information, I have the honour to request that whenever said patrols yo out some responsible officer be Getailed to command each party, and that the custom hitherto prevalent of allowing soldiers in parties of three or tive men, as the case may be, to roam about the country villages and towns at will be hereafter discontinued, These soldiers strike terror into the hearts of the inhabitants and as a result the Commanders of these troops find it difficult to watch the conduct of their amen.
(2).—The price of rice and cereals in Peking and Tientsin is becoming daily higher' and it is urgently meeded to encourage local merchants to proceed to Shanghai and other places to purchase rice for sale up here. Merchants, however, hesitate to proceed for fear that when their rice enters''sku there will be either charges made on the cargoes or that they will not be able to protect said rice from depredation. It is therefore hereby necessary to request Your Generalship to send instructions to the various Commanders of the allied forces at Tientsin not to collect Customs duties on avy cargoes of rice entering the port of Taku imported by Chinese merchants, and that the same exemption be observed when said rice leaves Tientsin for Peking. In this way both Chinese and Foreigners will reap much benefit from it. Formerly the Tientsin Tuotai used to collect a duty of 30 copper cash on every picul of rice imported into Tientsiv, and when there was a famine in the country to exempt such rice from said duty. Now since June of last year neither rice nor other goods have entered the country, on which account it is thought that imported rice should be eniently treated for the sake of encouraging the said importations.
(3).—Peking is cut off from telegraphic communication westwards to Paoting and Chénting; and eastward to Shanhaikusn. Merchants suffer great inconvenience from this, hence it is requested that permission may be given to our Commercial Telegraph Company to set up a line from Chén-ting, Paoting and Shanhaikuan to Pe-King for the sake of giving our merchants and traders rapid communication.
Should such permission be difficult of attainment immediately, perhaps you may allow us to place a telegraphist in the telegraph office of the Allied troops, who niay transmit such telegrams (for the Chinese Merchants). If permis-ion be granted, Twill at once communicate with H.E. Sheng, Director-General of Telegraphs, to send men to Peking to settle as to how such telegrams can be transmitted in the near future, [the above three points were yesterday presented in per-on.]
(4). The district and departmental officials of a locality keep intimate relate ship with the inhabitants thereof whilst the gentry and literati of a district are repre-Sentatives of the inhabitants vis-a-vis the local officials, Now that we are trying to bring about harmony between Christians and non-converts, the duty of supplying the allied troops falls upon the gentry and literati, who Iso are the chief means of preventing bad characters from causing trouble. If there has been a failure of duty the Grand Secretary (Li Hlung-chang) and Provincial Treasurer and Judge and Taotais should be communicated with and the culpable officials or gentry will be punished or a black mark be recorded against their name or they may be remo. from office. There can then be nothing said by them against the penalties inflict:
them. I would, however, request the officers of the allied forces to treat courteously the officials, gentry and literati with whom they may' come in contact; they should not send soldiers on their own responsibility to arrest and imprison said local officials and gentry; for by lightly treating these officials the common people will lose their fear of their officials and defy the authority of the latter in local matters.
Reply of Count von Walderse I beg to acknowled.¢ the receipt of your dispatch of the 2ist of March, contents of which are duty noted. With respect to Nos. 1, 2 and 4 of your dispatch I have already notified the same to the various Generals in command of the Allied forces to give due care to the questions therein stated. As for the establishment telegraph line this matter will have to be deliberated upon, At present if there are telegrams in ordinary words and not in eypher for transmittance from Shanhaikuan to Paotingfu they may be sent by the German military telegraph line between the two points. Telegrams from Paoting to Chénting must be sent by the French telegraph line under General Vosron, who should be consulted with thereanent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.