網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

cases specified in Remark (a) to Article 96 of the Temporary Regulations for the Administration of the Kwantung Region.

[ocr errors]

'4.—To impose upon the frontier guards of the Trans-Amur Region the duty of executing the judgment and orders of the Justices of the Peace and other legal institutions, as well as the serving of summons and other documents on the parties, on the line of the Chinese Eastern Railway.

"5.-In supplement to the present arrangements of those judicial institutions, to institute for each of the district courts of Vladivostok and Chita, as well as for the Appeal Court of Irkutsk, the post of Assistant Prosecutor in each of these tribunals.

"6.-To give to each of the officials mentioned above in §§ I and 5 the maintenance, rights and privileges established by the Temporary Regulations for the Administration of the Kwantung Region for the Justices of the Peace of that Region and for the Assistant Prosecutor of the District Court of Port Arthur, with the exception that they are to receive lodgings instead of an allowance for that purpose.

"7.-To entrust to the Minister of Justice, after a preliminary understanding with the Minister of Finance, the appointment of the Justices of the Peace established on the line of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and the determination of their number, their place of residence, and their dependence upon the District Courts of the Empire.

"8.-To insert annually in the budget of the Ministry of Justice the sums necessary for the maintenance of the officials mentioned in §§ 1 and 5, to an amount to be determined by the Minister of Justice in accord with the Minister of Finance, and in reimbursement of this expenditure by the State, to demand from the treasury of the Chinese Eastern Railway the payment of a sum equivalent to this amount. Apart from the yearly payment of the said sum, to impose upon the said Company the obligation: (a) To furnish the Justices of the Peace and the Assistant Prosecutors, on the line of the Chinese Eastern Railway, lodgings and their transportation within the limits of their districts; and (b) To reimburse to the Government Treasury all expenses incurred by them and all the transportation money and all sums established by law for their maintenance during their transit to their posts.

"9.-To give the Chinese Eastern Railway Company the right to sue civil cases and to be defendant in civil cases, in matters concerning its property, upon the terms specified in Section I, Book III, of the Code of Civil Procedure (Articles 1282-99 [Re

lating to suits by or against Governmental institutions.-EDITOR.]; Volume XVI, Chapter I, Collection of Laws, edition of 1892), and with the application of the provisions contained in Remark 2 to Article 1289 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

"10. To extend to employees of the Chinese Eastern Railway, in respect to criminal prosecutions against them for wrong-doing in the course of their functions, and claims against them for loss or damage due to their carelessness, neglect or delay, the provisions established in Articles 1066-1123 of the Judicial Regulations and 1316-1330 of the Code of Civil Procedure [Relating to claims against Government agents and officials in connection with their functions.-EDITOR] (Collection of Laws, Volume XVI, Chapter I, edition of 1892).

"11.-To put the above regulations into force at a time to be determined by the Ministers of Justice and Finance.

"12.-Not to publish the present ukaz for general information. "On the original is the signature of His Imperial Majesty, in his own hand.

"NIKOLAI."

APPENDIX VIII

Convention for the lease of the Liaotung Peninsula.-March 27, 1898.

His Majesty the Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, and His Majesty the Emperor of China, being desirous of still further strengthening the friendly relations existing between the two Empires and mutually wishing to insure the means whereby to show reciprocal support, have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, for the purpose of arriving at an agreement on this matter:

His Majesty the Emperor of Russia-M. Alexander Pavlow, Gentleman of the Court, and His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires accredited to the Government of H. M. the Emperor of China;

His Majesty the Emperor of China-Count Li, Chancellor, Member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Senior Preceptor of the Heir to the Throne, and Chang, Assistant Minister of Finance, and Member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Ministerial rank.

The above-named Plenipotentiaries, furnished with due powers, have decided upon the following stipulations:

Art. I.-For the purpose of ensuring that the Russian naval forces shall possess an entirely secure base on the littoral of northern China, H. M. the Emperor of China agrees to place at the disposal of the Russian Government, on lease, the Ports Arthur (Liou-choun-kow) and Ta-lien-wan, together with the water areas contiguous to these ports. This act of lease, however, in no way violates the sovereign rights of H. M. the Emperor of China to the above-mentioned territory.

Art. II. The frontier of the territory leased on the abovespecified basis, will extend northwards from the Bay of Ta-lienwan for such distance as is necessary to secure the proper defence of this area on the land side. The precise line of demarcation and other details respecting the stipulations of the present Convention will be determined by a separate Protocol which shall be concluded at St. Petersburg with the dignitary Siou-tzin-ch'eng immediately after the signature of the present Convention. Upon the determination of this line of demarcation, the Russian Government will enter into complete and exclusive enjoyment of the whole area of the leased territory together with the water areas contiguous to it.

Art. III. The term of the lease shall be twenty-five years from the date of the signature of the present agreement and may be prolonged subsequently by mutual consent of both Governments.

Art. IV.-During the above-specified period, on the territory leased by the Russian Government and its adjacent water area, the entire military command of the land and naval forces and equally the supreme civil administration will be entirely given over to the Russian authorities and will be concentrated in the hands of one person who however shall not have the title of Governor or Governor-General. No Chinese military land forces whatsoever will be allowed on the territory specified. Chinese inhabitants retain the right, as they may desire, either to remove beyond the limits of the territory leased by Russia or to remain within such limits without restriction on the part of the Russian authorities. In the event of a Chinese subject committing any crime within the limits of the leased territory, the offender will be handed over to the nearest Chinse authorities for trial and punishment in accordance with Chinese laws, as laid down in Article VIII of the Treaty of Peking of 1860.

Art. V.—A neutral zone shall be established north of the above-specified frontier of the leased territory. The frontiers of this zone will be fixed by the dignitary Siou-tzin-ch'eng and the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs in St. Petersburg. Within this specified neutral zone the civil administration will be entirely in the hands of the Chinese authorities; Chinese troops will be admitted within this zone only with the consent of the Russian authorities. Art. VI. Both the Governments agree that Port Arthur, as an exclusively military (naval) port, shall be used solely by Russian and Chinese vessels and shall be considered as a closed port to war-ships and merchant vessels of other States. As regards Ta-lien-wan, this port, with the exception of one of the inner bays which, like Port Arthur, shall be set apart exclusively for the use of the Russian and Chinese fleets, shall be considered open to foreign commerce and free entry to it will be granted to the merchant vessels of all nations.

Art. VII.-The Russian Government takes upon itself at its own expense and with its own resources to erect all buildings necessary for its fleet and land forces on the area leased to it and especially in the ports Arthur and Ta-lien-wan, to erect fortifications, maintain garrisons in them and generally to take all necessary steps for the proper defence of the specified locality from hostile attack. Similarly the Russian Government binds itself at its own expense to erect and maintain light-houses and other precautionary signs requisite for the security of navigation.

Art. VIII. The Chinese Government agrees that the concessions granted by it in 1896 to the Chinese Eastern Railway Company, from the date of the signature of the present agreement shall be extended to the connecting branch which is to be built from one of the stations of the main line to Ta-lien-wan, and also, if deemed necessary, from the same main line to another more convenient point on the littoral of the Liaotung Peninsula between the town of In-tzü and the estuary of the River Yalu. All the stipulations of the contract concluded by the Chinese Government with the Russo-Chinese Bank on August 27 (September 8), 1896, shall apply scrupulously to these supplementary branches. The direction and points through which the above-mentioned lines shall pass will be determined upon by the dignitary Siou-tzin-ch'eng and the administration of the Chinese Eastern Railway. Consent to the construction of the railway on the basis indicated shall never under any form serve as a pretext for the seizure of Chinese territory or for an encroachment on the sovereign rights of China. Art. IX.-The present Convention shall come into force from the date of exchange of copies thereof by the Plenipotentiaries of the two States.

The exchange of ratifications will take place in St. Petersburg with the least possible delay.

In virtue of which the respective Plenipotentiaries of the two parties have signed and affixed their seals to two copies of the present Convention in the Russian and Chinese languages. Of the two texts which upon comparison, have been found to be in agreement, the Russian text shall be that used for the interpretation of the Convention.

Done in duplicate at Peking, this 15th day of March (March 27), 1898, and by the Chinese calendar the 6th day of the 3rd moon of the 24th year of the reign of Kuang-Hsü.

[blocks in formation]

Rockhill, p. 370, prints the following translation of an imperial order of July 30/August 11, 1899, for the building of Dalny and creating it a free port:

Russian Imperial Order regarding Establishment of Dalny as a Free Port.-August 11, 1899.

"TO THE MINISTER OF FINANCE.-Our Empire, comprising as it does immense territories in Europe and Asia, is called upon by Divine Providence to contribute to the pacific intercourse of the peoples of the East and the West. For the attainment of this historic object we have received the friendly assistance of the Chinese Empire, which has ceded to us the use of the Harbour of Talienwan and Port Arthur, with the adjacent territory, and has furnished for the Great Siberian Railway an outlet through its possessions to the Yellow Sea. Thanks to this wise decision of the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of China, the extreme limits of two continents of the Old World will very shortly be connected by an uninterrupted line of rails, which will secure for all nations the incalculable advantages of easy communication, and bring new regions within the operations of the commerce of the world.

"In our increasing solicitude for a scheme of such general utility as this, we have directed our attention to the first-rate importance

« 上一頁繼續 »