These three classes of vessels will be dealt with according to Treaty and the Rules for the ports traded at.

ART. 4. Sea-going Vessels.—Sea-going vessels trading no further up river than Chinkiang will be dealt with at Chinkiang in every respect like vessels trading at other coast ports; but sea-going vessels on a voyage further up river than Chinkiang become thereby vessels trading on the river of the first class set forth in the preceding Article: such merchantmen, whether steamers or sailing vessels, must deposit their Registers with the Consul, or, if Consularly unrepresented, with the Customs, at Shanghae, Woosung, or Chinkiang, where the Customs, on receipt of a Consular application or a deposit of papers, will issue a Certificate to the vessel, to be called the "Special River Pass," on which shall be entered the vessel's name, flag, registered tonnage, general cargo, and armament. The vessel may then proceed up river and at whatever Treaty ports she trades must report and clear, load and unload cargo, and pay dues and duties in the same manner as at other Treaty ports along the coast. On return to the port that issued it--Chinkiang, Woosung, or Shanghae-the "Special River Pass" is to be surrendered to the Customs, and the Customs, on having ascertained that all dues and duties have been paid and all other conditions satisfied, will then issue the Grand Chop to enable the vessel to procure her Register and proceed to sea.

ART. 5. River Steamers. Any steamer intended to trade regularly on the river may deposit her register at the Consulate at Shanghae, or, if Consularly unrepresented, at the Custom-house, when the Customs, on the receipt of a Consular application or on the deposit of the register, will issue a certificate, on which shall be entered the vessel's name, flag, registered tonnage, and armament, to be called the "river pass," that shall be valid during the current year; such river pass must be renewed every year either at Shanghae or at Hankow or Ichang in the case of river steamers trading above those places, and not returning to Shanghae.

River pass steamers will report and clear, load and discharge, and pay dues and duties in accordance with the Customs Regulations of the port concerned; their tonnage dues are to be paid at the ports which issue or renew the river pass (Shanghae, Hankow, or Ichang).

Infringement of River Port Regulations will be punished by the infliction of the penalties in force at other Treaty ports; for a second offence the river pass may be cancelled and the steamer refused permission to trade thenceforward above Chingkiang.

Any steamer not provided with a river pass, if proceeding above Chinkiang, will come under the rule affecting sea-going vessels laid down in Article 4, and will be treated accordingly.

ART. 6. River Pass Steamers' Cargo.-The former Regulation having been abrogated which made it obligatory to deposit coast trade duties.

simultaneously with paying export duties, river pass steamers will now pay duties in the same way as vessels at other Treaty ports along the coast, that is, export duties at the port of departure before shipment of exports, and import or coast trade duties at the port of discharge before release of imports, and similarly they will ship, tranship, and discharge cargo after report, examination, and issue of permit, in the same way as vessels at Treaty ports along the coast.

When tea is landed by a river pass steamer, the consignee, instead of paying coast trade duty, may deposit a bond for the amount; on proof of reshipment within a year the bond will be cancelled. When reshipped tea is relanded at another port-e. g., reshipped at Hankow and relanded at Shanghae-a new bond will be required in lieu of coast trade duty, to be cancelled on subsequent reshipment; and so on.

ART. 7. Small Craft (Lorchas, Papicos, Junks, &c.):

(a.) Lorchas, &c., owned by foreigners, if provided with registers, and entitled to fly national flags, are required to take out a special river pass either through the Consulate or from the Customs direct at Chinkiang if proceeding further up the river. They will report, work cargo, and pay duties like other sea-going special river pass vessels.

(b.) Papicos, &c., owned by foreigners, but not provided with registers or entitled to fly national flags, are to take out Customs registers at the port they belong to, and report, work cargo, and pay duties in the same way as lorchas, &c.

(c.) Chinese junks chartered by foreigners are only available for conveying foreign-owened cargo from Treaty port to Treaty port; they must take out special junk papers at the Customs, to be obtained in exchange for bonds executed at and deposited with the Customs, the conditions of the bond being that the cargoes are bonâ fide foreign property, and will be landed and pay duty at a Treaty port, and the penalty that if the cargoes fail to be so landed and pay duty no chartered junk will thereafter be cleared for the foreigner in question. Such junks to report, work cargo, and pay duties in the same way as lorchas, papicos, &c.

ART. 8. Cargo Certificates.-Special river pass merchantmen, river pass steamers, and lorchas, papicos, and junks, &c., must apply to the Customs at the port of departure for a cargo certificate ("tsung tan"), which, on the vessel's arrival at the port of destination, must be handed in to the Customs before permission to discharge can be given. The vessel will be responsible for the duties on all goods entered on the said cargo certificate, and not landed on permit at port of discharge. ART. 9. Miscellaneous.—Any trading vessel falling in with a revenue cruiser or Customs boat on the Yang-tsze-Kiang is to produce her papers for inspection if examination of them is required. Vessels unprovided with proper papers will be dealt with under the Treaty Articles penalizing clandestine trade along the coast.

The Customs may seal the hatches of any vessel trading on the Yang-tsze, and may place Customs officers on board to accompany her on the trip, whether up stream or down.

Special river pass vessels of the first-class are not required to anchor to exhbit their papers at the intermediate ports passed and not traded at.

ART. 10. Yang-tsze Customs and Port Regulations.-The adoption and promulgation of new Regulations for vessels trading on the Yangtsze having rendered meaningless sundry Customs and Port Regulations which guided procedure under the former system, and having necessitated the substitution of fresh Regulations and different practice under the system now introduced, the ports concerned (Shanghae, Chinkiang, Nanking, Wuhu, Kiukiang, Hankow, Shasi, Ichang, and Chunking) will proceed forthwith to arrange and publish new Rules and Regulations, and these are, on the one hand, to facilitate trade, and, on the other, to protect revenue and prevent smuggling.

The above Regulations are open to revision when and if necessary."

a The above Regulations have been revised and amended by Art. X and Annex C of the British Treaty of 1903 (see supra, pp. 112, 118-120), and by Art. III and Annex I of the Japanese Treaty of 1903 (see supra, pp. 122, 126–128).

No. 45.

GREAT BRITAIN.

CONCESSION AGREEMENT RESPECTING THE NAN P'IAO COAL MINES. a

OCTOBER 10, 1898.

This is an Agreement between his Excellency Hu, Governor of Peking, Administrator-General of the railways of North China, within and without Shan-hai-kuan, hereinafter called the "AdministratorGeneral," of the one part, and the Hong Kong and Shanghae Banking Corporation, for themselves and on behalf of the British firm of Jardine, Matheson, and Co., representing as joint agents the British and Chinese Corporation (Limited), hereinafter called the Corporation," of the other part.

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1. The Administrator-General having purchased the coal mines known as Shang P'iao, Chung P‘iao, and Hsia Piao, at Nan P‘iao, in the district of Ch'ao Yang, now enters into an Agreement with the Corporation to operate the same on joint account. Any other mines in the neighbourhood of the above, or of the railway line between Nu-erh-ho and Nan P'iao, and between Nan Piao and Chinchou that may subsequently be acquired by purchase or otherwise by the Administrator-General, shall also come under the terms of this Agreement for operation either on joint account or by the Corporation alone, it being always provided that all operations under the terms of this Agreement are optional to the Corporation, and subject to a favourable report from its Mining Engineer.

2. The Corporation shall send its own Mining Engineer as soon as possible to examine the property acquired, and will indicate, after consultation with the Administrator-General and the Chief Engineer of the Railway Administration, the points at which it is desirable to sink shaft and commence operations. The Mining Engineer of the Corporation will also make a survey of the whole area above named, with a view to the extension of operations, and on the receipt of his Report upon the same, the Administrator-General will take immediate steps for the purchase of the necessary property at the points recommended in the Report. No compulsion shall be used in the purchase of such property if the owner refuses to part with it, but in such case it will be arranged that the Administrator-General shall have the first refusal thereafter.

a British Parliamentary Blue Book, China No.

(1899), p. 40.

3. An estimated capital of 1,000,000 Kung-p'ing taels for the opening and working of the mines shall be provided in equal shares by the Administrator-General and the Corporation, either by private subscription, the public issue of script, or in such other manner as each party may deem necessary in its own interests. Of the estimated capital of 1,000,000 taels the sum of 125,000 taels shall be deposited by the Corporation at the Hong Kong and Shanghae Bank, London, in £ sterling not later than the 30th November, 1898, and the sum of 125,000 taels shall be deposited by the Administrator-General at the Tien-tsin branch of the same bank on or before the same date. The balance of the estimated capital, namely, 750,000 taels, shall be similarly provided in equal shares by each party not later than the 30th November, 1899. All such deposits shall be held by the bank to the order of the Corporation for the purchase of plant and the opening and working of the mines. Should an increase of capital be found necessary later on, it shall be similarly provided in equal shares by the Administrator-General and the Corporation.

4. The construction of the branch line from Nu-erh-ho to the Nan P'iao collieries will be carried out by the Administrator-General in terms of his Agreement with the Corporation for the Shan-hai-kuanNewchwang main line and dependencies.

5. All matters of exploitation, administration, employés, and finances shall be undertaken by the Corporation in co-operation with the Administrator-General of Railways.

6. The mines shall have one foreign Manager, appointed by the Corporation, and one Chinese Manager, appointed by the Administrator-General; the foreign Manager will control the works, and the Chinese Manager will attend to all questions between natives and foreigners.

Accounts shall be kept on the foreign system by an European Accountant.

All receipts and payments of money will be controlled by the foreign Manager, and audited by the Chinese Manager.

Chinese shall be employed in the mines as much as possible, and where aptitude is shown, opportunity will be given to Chinese to fit themselves for posts of responsibility.

7. The royalty and taxes to be paid by the mines are restricted to the following:

(1.) To the Taotai of Jehol an annual fee of 15 taels.

(2.) To the Imperial Government of China a royalty of 5 per cent. of the output of coal, or its value, at the pit's mouth.

(3.) To the Mongolian Chief of the district a commuted payment of 1,500 taels per annum.

(4.) Duty payable by the Shang, Chung, and Hsia P'iao mines, amounting to a total sum of 790 taels per annum.