Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1925, Volume I

793.00/93

The Secretary of State to the British Chargé (Chilton)

Washington, July 23, 1925.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your notes Nos. 701, 702 and 703, all dated July 20, 1925, with further reference to the suggested reply to the representations recently addressed by the Chinese Government to the Corps Diplomatique at Peking. The Government of the United States is in complete accord with the opinion of the British Government that it would be inadvisable to make any delay in acquainting the Chinese Government with the attitude of the Powers. It is gratified to learn from your note No. 701 that the British, Japanese and Italian Governments agree with the views of this Government that the best way to meet the questions raised in the Chinese Government’s note is to announce the willingness of the Powers concerned to proceed at an early date to the fulfillment of the undertakings entered into at the Washington Conference in regard to the calling of the Special Conference on Tariffs and the sending of the Commission on Extraterritoriality. At present the only point at which there appears to be any lack of accord in the views of the Powers is in regard to the precise phraseology of the communication whereby the attitude of the Powers will be communicated to the Chinese Government.

Careful consideration has been given to the view of the British Government that the reply of the Diplomatic Body at Peking should embody “an emphatic statement that there can be no discussion of particular reforms, much less a review by the Powers of their treaty relations with China until the Chinese Government have given evidence of their ability and willingness to suppress disorders and to enforce respect for the safety of foreign lives and property and put an end to strikes and agitations which are harmful to Chinese and foreign commercial interests.” The American Government believes itself to be in substantial accord with the attitude of the British Government upon this point in the sense that it is obviously impracticable for the Special Conference to be convened in the midst of civil war or under conditions of anti-foreign agitation which might in any way prejudice or hamper its deliberations or its complete freedom of action. As a matter of practical policy, however, this Government is of the opinion that it would be preferable not to make the complete restoration of order by the Chinese Government a condition precedent to the discussion of particular reforms or a review of treaty relations because of the possible difficulty of attaining subsequent unanimity among the Powers as to the fulfillment of the condition desired. This Government believes that it will suffice to convey fair warning to the Chinese Government of its responsibility for the preservation of order, the suppression of antiforeign agitation, the protection of the persons and property of foreigners, and the maintenance of conditions which will make it possible for the Conference to function, clearly indicating the definite intention of the Powers to hold the Conference in the manner provided by treaty and placing squarely before the Chinese Government the fact that it will be that Government’s responsibility alone, if conditions remain or become such that the Conference cannot convene as intended. By this method of approach, it is believed that the end desired may be equally as well achieved without at the same time running the risk of creating another issue between the Chinese Government and the Powers, or of a division among the Powers themselves, as to the holding of the Conference.

The Government of the United States feels in short that to include in the note an emphatic statement that there can be no discussion of particular reforms, much less a review by the Powers of their treaty relations with China until the Chinese Government has given evidence of its ability and willingness to suppress disorders, strikes and agitations, would tend to defeat its own purpose. It is felt by this Government that the primary effect of convening the customs conference and the Commission on Extraterritoriality would afford the Chinese Government the very means by which it could effectively deal with the situation, and without which it would remain impotent. The conditions laid down by the British Government would in the opinion of the Government of the United States create in the minds of the Chinese Government and people a suspicion that the Powers were merely endeavoring to find grounds for delaying the carrying out of their commitments of the Washington Conference and far from exercising a calming effect on the country would tend to add new stimulus to the disorders, strikes and agitations.

The Government of the United States has no objection to the views of the British Government that the reply should indicate the willingness of the Powers to undertake a full inquiry of the facts into the Shanghai riots.

The Government of the United States desires to call the attention of the British Government to the fact that the proposed reply to the Chinese note suggested by the Japanese Government, in amendment to the British proposal of July seventh, does not, as does the British proposal, suggest that the Powers are willing to take steps for the comprehensive revision of the treaties at an early opportunity. It feels that some reference should be made to this in the proposed reply.

The Government of the United States agrees with the British Government that the exact text of the reply and the question of publicity can best be left to the discretion of the Corps Diplomatique at Peking. In order that the British Government may understand the views of the Government of the United States as to the nature of the reply which it would like to see transmitted to the Chinese Government I quote the following text which is being communicated to Mr. MacMurray at Peking for consideration with the representatives of the other Powers in Peking.⁹⁹

“Careful consideration has been given to the important questions raised in the note of the Chinese Government by the Government of the United States, which has for some time been aware of the growing feeling in China in favor of a readjustment of the Chinese treaty relations with the foreign Powers, and has watched the growth of that sentiment with a constant and sympathetic interest. It is believed that the Chinese Government does not require to be reminded of the concrete evidence of this interest which has been made manifest on each occasion when a question of treaty revision has occupied the attention of the two countries. The United States is now prepared to consider sympathetically and helpfully the Chinese Government’s proposal for the modification of existing treaties in measure as the Chinese authorities demonstrate their willingness and ability to fulfill their obligations and to assume the protection of foreign rights and interests now safeguarded by the exceptional provisions of those treaties. It is because of a most earnest desire to meet the aspirations of the Chinese Government that the Government of the United States desires to impress upon the Chinese Government the necessity of giving concrete evidence of its ability and willingness to suppress disorders and enforce respect for the safety of foreign lives and property.

“My Government sympathizes with the feeling of the Chinese Government that the tariff schedules attached to the various treaties between China, the United States and other Powers have become a severe handicap upon the ability of China to adjust its import tariffs to meet the domestic economic needs of the country. It must not be forgotten, however, that these tariffs were first inaugurated in 1842 and they were a modus operandi originally devised to meet and remedy a condition which had been a fertile source of friction in the relations between the two countries due to the uncertainties connected with the rates and methods of collecting the then existing tariffs. Schedules of those tariffs were seldom available for the information of the merchant, who was hampered in his business by the unusual abrupt and various methods in the assessment and the collection of the duties. It is the belief of my Government that the conventional tariff was welcomed, not alone by the United States and other Powers, but by China, as a diplomatic solution of what had proved to be a very vexatious question.

“Since the revision of the treaty relations between the United States and China of 1903, the United States has given particular attention to every evidence of effort on the part of the Chinese Government in the direction of fiscal reform which could be taken as an assurance that the old cause of international friction need no longer be feared and that the conventional tariff could be abandoned.

“It was at the time of the negotiation of the Commercial Treaty of 1903¹ that the Chinese Government expressed a desire to reform its judiciary system and to bring it into accord with that of western nations. The United States agreed to give every assistance to such reform and stated that it would be prepared to relinquish extraterritorial rights when satisfied that the state of the Chinese laws, the arrangement for their administration and other considerations warranted it in so doing. Having in mind this promise, my Government has observed each measure that the Chinese Government and its people, during the twenty two years which have passed, have taken for the establishment of an independent judiciary and the enactment of laws for the administration of justice. It has been gratified to note the progress that has been made in this connection. The establishment of courts and the enactment of laws, however, do not in themselves meet all the requirements of the situation. Courts cannot function and develop properly or consistently without the aid of a stable government, capable and willing to maintain them and enforce their findings and decisions. It is regretted that the inability of the Chinese Government during the past several years fully to enforce the mandate of its authority has made it difficult for the courts and judiciary already established to function in a normal manner.

“The questions of the conventional tariff and the extraterritorial rights under which citizens and subjects of the treaty Powers reside in China are two of the important questions raised by the Chinese Government’s note. Both received consideration at the Washington Conference and it is the belief of the Government of the United States that the most feasible method for dealing with them is by a constant and scrupulous observance of the obligations undertaken at that Conference. To that end the Government of the United States is ready to appoint its delegates to the Special Conference on Chinese tariff matters provided for in the treaty of February 6, 1922,² and is furthermore ready to accept any reasonable proposal for extending the scope of that Conference to enable it to deal fully and completely with all matters related to its purpose. My Government is also willing, either at the tariff conference or at a subsequent time, to take up the subject of a comprehensive revision of the treaties, looking toward ultimate tariff autonomy.

“Before it can form any opinion as to what, if any, steps can be taken to meet the desires of the Chinese Government in regard to the question of extraterritoriality and those special sanctions of the treaties under which its citizens live and conduct their enterprises in China, my Government desires to have before it more complete information than has heretofore been available, and the most feasible way in which the question can be approached and considered is to send to China the commission provided for in Resolution V of the Washington Conference³ in the expectation that the investigation made by that commission will help to guide the treaty Powers as to what, if any, steps should be taken as regards the relinquishment, by gradual means or otherwise, of extraterritorial rights at this time. My Government is now ready to appoint its commissioner to sit with the commissioners of the other interested governments in accordance with that resolution and hopes that that commission may be able to proceed at an early date to begin the work of collecting data necessary to enable it to make a report. It is prepared to instruct its commissioner to join his colleagues in including in their report recommendations based upon their findings which will enable the governments concerned to consider what, if any, steps may be taken with a view to the relinquishment of extraterritorial rights.”

Accept [etc.]

Frank B. Kellogg

99. The text of the draft reply was also telegraphed to the American diplomatic representatives in Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden with instructions that it be communicated to the respective Foreign Offices.
1. Foreign Relations, 1903, p. 91.
2. Ibid., 1922, vol. i, p. 282.
3. Ibid., p. 289.