The New York herald., 1870-03-14
G n ! NJ A..
Lord Clarendon. and the English Treaties
and Commercial Right.
From the London Times, March IL

ltEOW Ine LOnQO0 IlIDeS, M0rC0 III
The depnJatl0n whIcn yesterday waited on Lord
Clarendon represented, beyond doubt, not only the
interests Of very Important trade, but very grave
concurrence OF opinion. The population Of Cnina,
as was OBSERVED IL not less than AGO. COO, ana the
total value OF the Chinese uade already reaches
f45, ,OOy 900 sterling. convention which Influences
the development or such a prcsenI and future com.
merce Is or more consequence to the welfare OF both
countries than many q European treaty OF historic
fame. The CDin0 mercnants, again, are The class
whose interests the government are most directly
concerned In promoting, for the benefits VIC desire
be secured through their agency. IL rs,
therefore, at first sight strong objection any
convention that sEcD persons are, as whole, DIS
satisfied wth 1t. AT the same time rt IS proper 10
bear IN mind that merchants ike Gil other classes.
are liable to take more narrow Views, even OF their
own In tefests, than can be adopted by impartial
observer. and that 1t may he me duty OF govern
ment 70 promote arrangements which may be dts
tasteful at tho moment Tor the sake Of an ultimate
advantage. This is q consideration which rs OBJ
scureiy suggested In Lord Carendon's frank but
courteous reply. He does not shrink from sayrg
tnat "Her MaJestys government have hold very
dhereat opinion FROM tho menoriattsts as to the
limits within which IT was desirable. In the general
ana permanent interests OF our commercial rea-
tons with CHINA, TO connne the recent negoIa-
tions." me truth s, that we have or late entered
in 0s on poc s N our
to deal rather with the central than with the
local governments and traces OF this change are
clearly to Oe seen In the present conversion. It
woaid not be uRnaturai VI tlIe mercantile commu-
nitv having built up their trade unuer the old
system, lovAed tor extension IN the old direction
and dlsked the prospect or adapting themselves to
the new methods. There can De' no doubt that In
similar cases II has more than once been the duty
view OF mercantile interests tnan was adopted
by merchants themselves. In this Instance,
moreover, II IS Important 10 observe that
mercantile opinion appears by no means unan-
nous. Lord Clarendon is abupdantiy justified In
saying that "pubilc opinion III tue consular ports
OF Chna, 80 far as " has yet been collected appears
be very much dviaed to the merits OF the pro-
posed arrangements, and THAI some portion OF the
mcT1..atile community view them with favor and
~ IT ~ N
not 50 pam as the apparent unanlmity OF opinion
among merchants III Eugialu would seem TO imply.
that not only the deputallen, but the mercan
tile community generally, have been under
material misappreaension Ia regard to our
present position. hls reply is not q mere
argumentatlye retoft, but adduces substantial
considerations which have hitherto Deon negec led.
He brings 10 light what almost amount new Iacts
ON the SUBJECT and IL Is very possible merchants
may modify their opinions alter taking into account
THESE fresh elements IN the question: The discussion
has practically eliminated all points Of dispute ex-
pbIwo--tne increased duty on SILK and the rear
rangemens OF the transit Dues With respect to the
hrst o these Lord Clarendon represents that nave
really made no new concession ut all, but have SIM
ply submitted TO an existing regulation. the funl-
ment OF which the Chinese had right to demand
0f us. zine intention OF the treaty OF Tfen-tsIn
was that emma should receive revenue calcu ated
at the rate 0i i've per cent on the value OF SILK ex.
ported" For administrative convenience specific
duty was fixed; but. III consequence OF the rise IN
the price OF SILK, this has Tor some time been ess
/. than that whlch was intended by both contracting
putie5 IL ucCAiilc u Ol Simple Justice
allow OF Its recicatlon. Unless TINS an erroue-
GUS statement OF facts we do not see there Ia room
for any further complaint on this head. Bus we,
moreover apprehend that we were not our own mas
ters. Mr.. Magnlac said he would have preferred TO
rest contented with the treaty Of Tien-
tsn, and to trust time. But that treaty expressly
provides that 'either of the contracting parties may
demand Q further revision of the tailn ana OF the
commercial articles ol tna treaty at the end OF TED
years" SO that II we were TO keep iaith With the
CAnese, we might nave been compelled to accept
ths Increase independently OF any counter conces-
sions. II - very important and advantageous
point I'D tGe present conyenton tnat no time Is liked
iof iurther revision. 1t VIII consequently be III che
power OF our government at "any future time,
Should Ia Ia tue price OF silk enable them to DO so
70 iait PACK upon the stipuiatios oil the treaty OF
1ten-tsin, and TO found au equitable Claim on the
Povernmelf Of China Ior o corresponding reduction
ia the tax"
1t would seem then, that. the only po,nt really
open 70 DEBATE Is that OF tho transit dtea THIS Is
INC point on which the chief msappre OF our
present. position has prevailed. We may roughly
s'ate tiat under the old system foreign and native
produce was aUle to an Import port duty or i've
per cent and TO transit duty, levied by the local
oiicefs, oiuwo and half per cent As we observed
AT the outset, We have resolved to deal more with
the central aud less with the local governments IL
~ Just possible tnat the mercantile community may
leei themselves more secure In dealing with the
local authorities; but u might be the duty OF the
government to act on . broader prlncIpie. Al.
hitting, however thar the question thus stated
10 iairly open to discussion, there reinalns
tue security that this convention Is ,isb.e 10
revision W any future tms. Sir Rutherford