The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-11-14


TREATY WITH JArAs.-The other day we pub
lished the substance of the commercial treaty
recently concluded by Lord Elgin between Great
Britain and japan. We are told by the North
China Herald that this instrument is based on the
American treaty, which was signed three weeks
previously by Mr.. Harris, our Consul at Simoda
The latter is understood to embrace amongst
other privileges, the abolition of the government
monopoly of trade, and the right of diplomatic
residence at Yedo, and to correspond in every
material point with the Russian treaty. The COM
mercial arrangements of the English treaty are
stated to be these The export duty on all but a
few prohibited articles is to be five per cent, and
imports are TO be charged with duty of twenty
per cent-a list Of certain articles upon which
an import duty of only five per cent is to be
levied being appended to the treaty. In this
list Lord Elgin has procured the insertion Of cot
ton and woollen goods most important stipua-
ton for English manufacturing industry. But
another and more valuable clause in the English
treaty, and which is not to be found in those Of
the United States and Russia, is that agreeing
that the tariff shall be subject to revision at
the end of FIVE years. With such convention
it is not likely that English interests will be long
hampered by the conditions of the present treaty,
the insertion Of the limitation being in itself a
sufficient indication Of the future views Of the
British agents.
We are influenced by no narrow feelings Of
jealousy at the superior advantages secured by
British diplomacy in commenting upon the dis
parity of these treaties. We know that what
one Of the Western governments succeeds in ex-
torting from Japan the others must eventually
participate in. Under the most favored nation
clause for instance, we come in for all the bene-
fits guaranteed by the British convention with
China, although our own treaty does not stipu-
late in express terms for the right of residence at
Pekin, the right Of free passage through the en-
pire, or the opening Of more than two ports AS
we have not the text of Mr.. Harris treaty be-
| fore us, we are unable to state whether it con-
tains similar general stipulation securing such
privileges az may be granted to other countries.
II is probable that it does contain such clause:
but should this not prove to be the case, oppor-
tunities, we have doubt, will soon be found of
rcmedying the omission.
That which strikes us az inconvenent, if not.
to say the least of it, unbecoming our position.
is that we should be indebted for the first scanty
information concerning the results of our
negotiations to foreign journals. There can he
no rational motive, for instance. for the State
Department to withhold from the public the
text of the Chinese and Japan treaties. It
is essential to the interests of our COM
merce, and to the operations of our mer-
chants, that the latter shall be promptly in
formed of the changes which take place in our
relations with other governments In the case
Of the European nations, we can understand that
there may occasionally be well founded reasons
for diplomatic reserve or delay. With powerful
opposition presses always in arms against them
the monarchical governments have frequently to
study the effects Of their own measures on the
popular mind A too hasty announcement of
them may either affect their popularity or de-
feat by an ill-timcd publicity their COM
pletion. In negotiations with semi-civilized and
remote nations, like China and Japan, neither of
these results is to be feared. The distance be-
tween 10 10 too kItat IUT Us w bppTtnenu
failure from prccipitate publication; and besides
those countries have no presses to disseminate the
information thus obtained. There Is still less
motive for reticacc in these matters on the part
of our own government. Whether treaties be
satisfactory or not, they can exercise no sort Of
influence over the fate or stability of our Cabi-
nets. Administrations may bungle the whole
train of our foreign diplomacy and out their
full term of Office. We have therefore right to
complain that official routine should oppose I'M
necessary delays to the publication Of such i'm
portant information as that contained in the
Chinese and Japan treaties, the more particularly
as the contents Of these documents have already
been partially made known in our columns As
we have no occasion to resort to the stealthy and
crafty diplomacy Of the European governments,
VIC should cast aside all the Objectionable auxila-
ries by which IL accomplishes its ends
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