Peking's Attempt to Evade Control in Spending of Money Provided From Our Own Contesronsenr, Peking, May 29, Much comment has been oecasic ed in foreign circles by the Chi ese reply to the Customs Suttax Note of the Diplomatic Corps. When the Powers signified their agreement to the Chinese request, they attached several conditions, the principal being, fist, that all com= munication surtaxes' should cease after the Customs surtax had come {nto effect, and second, thst the administration of the fund should be vested in the China Internaonal Famine Relief Commission, with the help of a Sino-Foreign Supervisory [Commission The Waichiaopu nccedfed to the first condition but did not mention the second, suggesting that the procedure followed after the Jast famine should be again adopied, namely, that the allocation of the funds should be taken over by 2 Sino-foreign financial commission. Thin is taken to menu that the present machinery of the Government Famine Relief Bureau should be utilized, Tt seems extraordinary that the Government should ignore the Diplomatic Corps' condition.
Here was an opportunity for them to benefit by an increase in Customs revenue for the purpose of mee! ing urgent needs caused by post-{flood conditions. Their quibble shows that they want to exercise more control over the funds. that were to involve the same kind of control as it exercised in res pect of the communication surtaxes, there would appear to be little Jchance of famine suffers obtaining much benefit out of the extra Cus toms revenue, It is not expected, however, that the Government's request for the recognition of their own Commtssion as both the allocating and administering body will meet with the approval of the Diplomatic Corps. It is not expected either that the Government will that this procedure be followed as a condition of thei surtax. It w Government Commission may possibly be used ax the supervisory Commission, instead of the ap pointment of an entire new body.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.