893.512/467: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in China (MacMurray)
287. Paragraph 5 of your 594, December 2, 5 p.m. In case the Chinese Maritime Customs were to become the agent for the collection of surtaxes which are imposed in contravention of existing treaty rights by factions which are in revolt against the so-called Chinese National Government, it seems to the Department that the question must arise at once as to how to dispose of the funds so collected, which inevitably must turn the Customs Service into an agency of the local factions. This would destroy the status it has of being a national institution. It is believed by the Department the proper attitude for us should be that taxes so imposed contravene the treaty existing between China and the United States, and that upon that ground they should be protested in order to have the record of this Government perfectly clear on the question of all such taxes when the time comes for a discussion with a Chinese Government on the question of tariffs. In the event that the British authorities are successful in making the Customs the agency for collecting said taxes, such a proposal should neither be supported nor objected to by this Government. No matter who collects the taxes, the usual protest should be filed. It should be understood that if American merchants pay the taxes, they do so subject to such protests.