No. 180.
Mr. Bayard
to Mr. Denby.
Washington, March 7, 1889.
Sir: I have received your dispatches (Nos. 529 and 533) of the 20th and 28th of December, respectively, in relation to the missionaries’ troubles in Chi Nan Fu, and in China in general.
The views expressed by you in relation to this subject meet with the approval of the Department. It can not be contended that the treaties grant to citizens of the United States an unlimited right to buy or lease land in the interior of China, and it is therefore proper for the legation to inform those who apply to it for information of that fact. On the other hand if, as you say, the missionaries, with the consent of the local authorities, effect a lodgment, they should be protected. When China was opened by treaties with foreign powers to the entrance and residence of foreigners, it was inevitable that the restricted limits of residence and business prescribed in those treaties should be extended, and as this has gradually been done, with the consent of the local authorities, it may be implied that those authorities have assumed the duty of giving proper protection.
I am, etc.,