however, understood that the Consular authorities mentioned in the same are in all cases to be replaced by the Japanese authorities.

All lands which may previously have been granted by the Japanese Government free of rent for the public purposes of the said Settlements shall, subject to the right of eminent domain, be permanently reserved free of all taxes and charges for the public purposes for which they were originally set apart.

It is, however, understood that if on any of these points more favourable conditions are granted to any other foreign nation, those conditions shall without further stipulation be equally applicable to Netherland subjects.

IV. It is understood that although with the entering into full operation of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day the jurisdiction now exercised by Netherland judicial authorities in Japan comes to an end, still in respect of all those affairs that are actually pending at the time the Treaty takes full effect the said jurisdiction shall continue to be exercised until the final decision of such affairs.

V. The undersigned Plenipotentiaries have agreed that this Protocol shall be submitted to the two High Contracting Parties at the same time as the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation signed this day, and that when the said Treaty is ratified the Agreements contained in the Protocol shall also equally be considered as approved, without the necessity of a further formal ratification.

It is also agreed that this Protocol shall terminate at the same time the said Treaty ceases to be binding.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms, &c.

Done at the Hague, in duplicate, this 8th day of the 9th month of the 29th year of Meiji, corresponding to the 8th day of September, of the 1896th year of the Christian era.

43.

JAPON, CHINE.

Traité de Commerce et de Navigation; signé à Péking, le 21 juillet 1896.*)

State Papers. V. XIIC.

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor of China, having resolved, in pursuance of the provisions of Article VI of the Treaty signed at Shimonoseki, on the 17th day of the 4th month of the 28th year of Meiji, corresponding to the 23rd day of the 3rd month of the 21st year of Kuang Hsü, to conclude a Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, have for that purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Baron Hayashi Tadasu, Shoshii, Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure, Grand Officer of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary;

And His Majesty the Emperor of China, Chang Yen Hoon, Minister Plenipotentiary, Minister of the Tsung-li Yamên, holding the rank of the President of a Board, and Senior Vice-President of the Board of Revenue;

Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles:

Art. I. There shall be perpetual peace and friendship between His Majesty the Emperor of Japan and His Majesty the Emperor of China, and between their respective subjects, who shall enjoy equally in the respective countries of the High Contracting Parties full and entire protection for their persons and property.

II. It is agreed by the High Contracting Parties that His Majesty the Emperor of Japan may, if he sees fit, accredit a Diplomatic Agent to the Court of Peking, and His Majesty the Emperor of China may, if he see fit, accredit a Diplomatic Agent to the Court of Tokio.

The Diplomatic Agents thus accredited shall respectively enjoy all the prerogatives, privileges, and immunities accorded by international law to such Agents, and they shall also in all respects be entitled to the treatment extended to similar Agents of the most favoured nation.

Their persons, families, suites, establishments, residences, and correspondence shall be held inviolable. They shall be at liberty to select and

*) Les ratifications ont été échangées à Péking, le 20 octobre 1896.

appoint their own officers, couriers, interpreters, servants, and attendants, without any kind of molestation.

III. His Majesty the Emperor of Japan may appoint Consuls, General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents to reside at such of the ports, cities, and towns of China which are now or may hereafter be opened to foreign residence and trade as the interests of the Empire of Japan may require.

These officers shall be treated with due respect by the Chinese authorities, and they shall enjoy all the attributes, authority, jurisdiction, privileges, and immunities which are or may hereafter be extended to similar officers of the nation most favoured in these respects.

His Majesty the Emperor of China may likewise appoint ConsulsGeneral, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents to reside at any or all of those places in Japan where Consular officers of other nations are now or may hereafter be admitted, and, saving in the matter of jurisdiction in respect of Chinese subjects and property in Japan, which is reserved to the Japanese Judicial Courts, they shall enjoy the rights aud privileges that are usually accorded to such officers.

IV. Japanese subjects may, with their families, employés, and servants, frequent, reside, and carry on trade, industries, and manufactures, or pursue any other lawful avocations in all the ports, cities, and towns of China which are now or may hereafter be opened to foreign residence and trade. They are at liberty to proceed to or from any of the open ports with their merchandize and effects, and within the localities at those places which have already been or may hereafter be set apart for the use and occupation of foreigners, they are allowed to rent or purchase houses, rent or lease land, and to build churches, cemeteries, and hospitals, enjoying in all respects the same privileges and immunities as are now or may hereafter be granted to the subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation. V. Japanese vessels may touch, for the purpose of landing and shipping passengers and merchandize in accordance with the existing rules and regulations concerning foreign trade there, at all those places in China which are now ports of call, namely, Ngan-ching, Ta-tung, Hu-kow, Wu-sueh, Lu-chi-kow, and Woosung, and such other places as may hereafter be made ports of call also. If any vessel should unlawfully enter ports other than open ports and ports of call in China, or carry on clandestine trade along the coast or rivers, the vessel with her cargo shall be subject to confiscation by the Chinese Government.

VI. Japanese subjects may travel, for their pleasure or for purposes of trade, to all parts of the interior of China, under passports issued by Japanese Consuls and countersigned by the local authorities. These passports, if demanded, must be produced for examination in the localities passed through. If the passports be not irregular, the bearers will be allowed to proceed, and no opposition shall be offered to their hiring of persons, animals, carts, or vessels, for their own conveyance or for the carriage of their personal effects or merchandize. If they be without passports, or if

they commit any offence against the law, they shall be handed over to the nearest Consul for punishment, but they shall only be subject to necessary restraint, and in no case to ill-usage. Such passports shall remain in force for a period of thirteen Chinese months from the date of issue. Any Japanese subject travelling in the interior without a passport shall be liable to a fine not exceeding 300 taels. Japanese subjects may, however, without passports go on excursions from any of the ports open to trade, to a distance not exceeding 100 Chinese li, and for a period not exceeding five days. The provisions of this Article do not apply to crews of ships.

VII. Japanese subjects residing iu the open ports of China may take into their service Chinese subjects, and employ them in any lawful capacity without restraint or hindrance from the Chinese Government or authorities.

VIII. Japanese subjects may hire whatever boats they please for the conveyance of cargo or passengers, and the sum to be paid for such boats shall be settled between the parties themselves, without the interference of the Chinese Government or officers. No limit shall be put upon the number of boats, neither shall a monopoly in respect either of the boats or of the porters or coolies engaged in carrying goods be granted to any parties. If any smuggling takes place in them the offenders will of course be punished according to law.

IX. The Tariffs and Tariff Rules now in force between China and the Western Powers shall be applicable to all articles upon importation into China by Japanese subjects or from Japan, or upon exportation from China by Japanese subjects or to Japan. It is clearly understood that all articles the importation or exportation of which is not expressly limited or prohibited by the Tariffs and Tariff Rules existing between China and the Western Powers may be freely imported into and exported from China, subject only to the payment of the stipulated import or export duties. But in no case shall Japanese subjects be called upon to pay in China other or higher import or export duties than are or may be paid by the subjects or citizens of the most favoured nation; nor shall any article imported into China from Japan, or exported from China to Japan, be charged upon such importation or exportation other or higher duties than are now or may hereafter be imposed in China on the like article when imported from or exported to the nation most favoured in those respects.

X. All articles duly imported into China by Japanese subjects or from Japan shall, while being transported, subject to the existing Regulations, from one open port to another, be wholly exempt from all taxes, imposts, duties, li-kin, charges and exactions of every nature and kind whatsoever, irrespective of the nationality of the owner or possessor of the articles, or the nationality of the conveyance or vessel in which the transportation is made.

XI. It shall be at the option of any Japanese subject desiring to convey duly imported articles to an inland market, to clear his goods of

all transit duties by payment of a commutation transit tax or duty, equal to one-half of the import duty in respect of dutiable articles, and 211⁄2 per cent. upon the value in respect of duty free articles; and on payment thereof a certificate shall be issued, which shall exempt the goods from all further inland charges whatsoever. It is understood that this Article does not apply to imported opium.

XII. All Chinese goods and produce purchased by Japanese subjects in China elsewhere than at an open port thereof, and intended for export abroad, shall in every part of China be freed from all taxes, imposts, duties, li-kin, charges and exactions of every nature and kind whatsoever, saving only export duties when exported, upon the payment of a commutation transit tax or duty calculated at the rate mentioned in the last preceding Article, substituting export duty for import duty, provided such goods and produce are actually exported to a foreign country within the period of twelve months from the date of the payment of the transit tax; all Chinese goods and produce purchased by Japanese subjects at the open ports of China, and of which export to foreign countries is not prohibited, shall be exempt from all internal taxes, impots, dnties, li-kin, charges and exactions of every nature and kind whatsoever, saving only export duties upon exportation, and all articles purchased by Japanese subjects in any part of China may also, for the purposes of export abroad, be transported from open port to open port, subject to the existing Rules and Regulations.

XIII. Merchandize of a bonâ fide foreign origin, in respect of which full import duty shall have been paid, may at any time within three years from the date of importation be re-exported from China by Japanese subjects to any foreign country without the payment of any export duty, and the re-exporter shall, in addition, be entitled forthwith to receive from the Chinese Customs drawback certificates for the amount of import duty paid thereon, provided that the merchandize remains intact and unchanged in its original packages. Such drawback certificates shall be immediately redeemable in ready money by the Chinese Customs authorities at the option of the holders thereof.

XIV. The Chinese Government consents to the establishment of bonded warehouses at the several open ports of China. Regulations on the subject shall be made hereafter.

XV. Japanese merchant-vessels of more than 150 tons burden, entering the open ports of China, shall be charged tonnage dues at the rate of 4 mace per registered ton; if of 150 tons and under, they shall be charged at the rate of one mace per registred ton. But any such vessel taking its departure within forty-eight hours after arrival, without breaking bulk, shall be exempt from the payment of tonnage dues.

Japanese vessels having paid the above specified tonnage dues shall thereafter be exempt from all tonnage dues in all the open ports and ports of call of China, for the period of four months from the date of clearance from the port where the payment of such tonnage dues is made.