Tue report. of the Executive Committee which was read at the annual meeting of the American Association in China on the 17th instant deals succinctly but yet sufficiently with a number of interesting topics. It begins with a reference to the recent extension of the domestic rates of postage to the U.S: Postal Agency at Shanghai and to the cities la China served through that agency, a boon in itself and as an indication to American citizens that, as long as extraterritoriality prevails, they are still at home wherever in China their flag flies, There is a reference too to the contention of the Chinese Post Office that when it takes charge of a letter which has been stampedathome at the low tariff charged by Great Britain and the United States, it has a right to consider that letter as insufficiently stamped, and to charge the recipient double the difference between the said low tariff and the ordinary Postal Union rate. The question, we read, has been referred to the U.S. Minister at Peking and the Inspector-General of Customs.
A very important matter is then referred to, the question of the separation of the consular and judicial functions of the U. S. Consulate-General at Shanghai. We have already noted that this has been taken up by the American Asiatic Association in New York. There can be no doubt of the advantage of having a trained Judge as President of a U.S, Supreme Court here, followin; the British precedent, which would relieve the Consul-General of the great burden of judicial work falling to his share. No one would assert that the various Consuls-General here have not done their best to execute substantial justice in the cases brought before them, but the number and importance these cases naturally increases with the expansion of American interests in China, ard it is no reflection on the Consular officials, who have sometimes had nothing more than the unworldly training of missionaries, to ask that a competent lawyer should be provided for the decision of serious cases, civil and criminal, As regards the regulations for the issue of passports, which forms the next section in this report, it is only reasonable to ask that the U.S. Department of State should " permit universal passports and passports for Chinese and Russian territory to be issued by the U.S. Consul-General at Shanghai as 1s done by the British and other Consuls-General at this port."
It is pleasant to learn from this report of the great success of the banquet recently given by the Associ tion to the U. S. Treaty Commissioners, Messrs. E. H. Conger, John Goodnow, and John F. Seaman, notwithstanding the unfortunate absence of the American Minister and the President of the Association. "In the history of this Association, these social meetings," we are told, "have always been functions which have brought together in a happy reunion and fraternal friendliness those who are proud to call themselves citizens of the United States of America. The banquet last October was no exception to the rule, and the general verdict was that the spirit of true Americanism pervaded the occasion." The proceedings of the banquet were not reported at the time, and it is therefore a source of much satisfaction to learn that the speeches of the Commissioners present, Messrs. Goodnow and Seaman, are to be published in the first issue of the Association's Journal for 1904.
The remarks on the American Commercial Treaty with China can meet with nothing but approval. It is pleasant to see- that the belief] which actuated Sir James Mackay throughout his negotiations, that a treaty could never be satisfactory unless it was for the advantage both parties to it, was also taken as their guiding principle by the American negotiators. This report says: "The days of the diplomacy which selfishly took advantage of a weak opponent, and by short-sighted and narrow policies gained some ready advantage to the neglect of great future benefits, have passed, and the spirit of such diplomacy is not in accord with the policies of the broadminded Secretary of State, John Bay, who is guiding the foreign affairs of the nation." As was anticipated at the time, the strong opposition made by the American Association here to the likin clause of the British treaty was of 1:0 practical avail, and American merchants are to comfort themselves with the thought that "the temporary disadvantages, such as the increased duties on imports, which full to the lot of our merchants, are to be borne with a view to the hoped-for ultimate good." The other advantages secured by the treaty have mostly their counterparts in the British treaty, both countries being equally desirous to assist such reforms in the Chinese government as will avert partition.
The report then alludes to the mission of Professor Jenks, in whose success we ure all interested; and to the grave prejudice to American trade' in the north owsed by the Russian aggression in Manchuria, "It would probably he much better," says the report, "to keep the sovereignty of China as it was before the Russian occupation, even with the corruption which then prevailed." There is a note on the progress of the Canton-Hankow railway, with a touch of sadness mit, "It is with humiliation and regret that Amcricans learn from the public prints that the controlling interest in this great enterprise has passed into other than American hands." Mention is made of the new American syndicate represented here by Mr. A. W. Bash, and of the completion of the American trans-Pacific cable to Manila. The concluding paragraph deals with the establishment here of a branch of the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. We echo the hope that as banking facilities multiply the day of an improved currency in. China will be hastened, so that a bank note issued at one treaty port will be realizable at its face value at any other, without being the subject of a different "squeeze" at every port. This, which is at present only a counsel of perfection, closes a comprehensive and well-compiled report, on which the secretary is to be heartily congratulated.
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Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.