493.11/1463
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury (Mellon)
Sir: There is enclosed herewith a copy of telegram No. 672, of August 5, 1929, 3 p.m., from the American Minister at Peking.44
It will be noted that this telegram is to the following purport:
The Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs has informed the American Minister that:
- 1.
- The management of Tsing Hua College and of the Educational Mission in the United States, including the control of the proceeds of the Boxer Indemnity remissions devoted by the Chinese Government to the support of these institutions, has been entrusted by the Chinese Government to the Ministry of Education. (Comment: This supervision has hitherto been exercised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.)
- 2.
- The Minister of Education has made and the Minister for Foreign Affairs has approved a recommendation that the monthly indemnity remissions referred to above, namely, the remissions made under the terms of the Joint Resolution of May 25, 1908,45 and of the Executive Order of December 28, 1908,46 shall hereafter be paid to the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture.
- 3.
- This proposal has been submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval.
The telegram concludes with the text of the request from the Minister of Education that future payments of the 1908 Boxer Indemnity remission be paid to the Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture until the expiration of the Indemnity payments, and with a request from the American Minister that he be authorized to carry this proposal into effect after the Executive Yuan has formally approved the procedure.
The Department of State has, for its part, no objection to offer to this plan. You will recall that under the procedure now in force the American Minister receives each month a check in Shanghai taels for an amount equal to the indemnity payment for that month in United States currency and, after properly endorsing the check, hands it to [Page 857] a payee designated by the Chinese Government through the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He receives a receipt which indicates that the money is allocated to “the support of Tsing Hua College and of the Educational Mission in America”. (See, for instance, the Department’s letter to the Secretary of the Treasury of January 12, 1929, and the reply thereto of January 23, 1929.47)
Payment of that portion of the Boxer Indemnity remitted under the terms of the Executive Order of July 16, 1925,48 are now made to the China Foundation for the Promotion of Education and Culture (see your letter of March 30, 192949), and it would appear to be not only permissible, but also desirable from many standpoints, to follow the same course in connection with the earlier remission. The Department desires to ascertain whether, in the view of the Treasury Department, the authorization asked for by the American Minister may be granted.
If the Treasury Department arrives at the conclusion that it is permissible under the terms of the Joint Resolution of May 25, 1908, and of the Executive Order of December 28, 1908, to assent to the proposal made by the Chinese Government after it has been approved by the Executive Yuan, the Department proposes to telegraph to the American Minister, conveying this information, and instructing him to arrange for a proper form of receipt from the China Foundation, the wording of which, in conformity with past practice, shall indicate that the funds in question are to be utilized for the support of Tsing Hua College (i. e. the so-called “Indemnity College”) and of the Educational Mission in the United States.
Very truly yours,
Assistant Secretary
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1908, p. 65.↩
- ibid., p. 72.↩
- Neither printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1925, vol. i, p. 935.↩
- Not printed.↩