Mr. Williams to Mr. Seward
No. 36.]
Legation of the United States,
Peking,
August 5, 1866.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your despatches Nos. 29,30, and 31; and in reference to the
last, which alludes to a joint proposition of the foreign ministers in
Peking for some kind of simultaneous action on the question of a common
municipality at Shanghai, I have now to send you several important
papers, showing what the French government has done by itself, after the
reception of the proposal, in respect to the government of the quarter
commonly known as the French concession.
The first document (enclosure A) is a set of réglements
d’organization, issued by the French consul-general, to go into
effect on September 1st proximo; the second (enclosure B) is a joint
letter from the American and British consuls at Shanghai, requesting him
to delay their publication; to which Viscount de Montmorand replies,
(enclosure C,) giving the reasons why he cannot do so. To this Mr.
Seward replies, (enclosure D,) reserving the obedience of citizens of
the United States to regulations in whose formation they had had no
voice.
The moderate and judicious letter of Mr. Seward to me, (enclosure E,)
when forwarding the above correspondence, and my reply, (enclosure F,)
when sending a form of protest, (enclosure G,) complete the series of
documents, except a short note to him (enclosure H) giving the reasons
for suspending the publication of the protest at present.
The perusal of these enclosures will furnish you with all the serious
objections which have been urged against the réglements, and I will only
add some explanatory remarks upon them. It should be stated that M. de
Bellonet, the Frenchchargé d’affaires, recommended a fusion of the
entire foreign settlement under one municipality; but his plan was
overruled, and these réglements, I am informed, were principally devised
by a committee in Paris, consisting of BaronGros, Mr. Berthemy, and
Admirals Juares and Gravien, all of whom have been in China. The
characteristic feature of French rule, great centralization, is apparent
in every article, and, indeed, one is a little puzzled, after reading
them over, to know what the consul cannot, and what the council can do,
for the former is everything, and without him the latter is nothing. He
convokes it when he likes, suspends or dissolves it if he pleases, and
then nominates a provisional council for three or six months, which
seems likely to be seldom needed, however, for he can veto or suspend
every act it passes, until he reports to the French minister at Peking;
and, control.
[Page 529]
The contrast exhibited between the spirit of these regulations, and those
in force across the creek that separates the two settlements, remarkably
illustrates the different political education of continental Europe and
America; but perhaps the autocratic principle may be found to work in
practice as well as the democratic, in preserving the peace, and
promoting the welfare of a very miscellaneous population. The franchise
is widest in the French settlement; but in fact, one based on a payment
of $30 in taxes or on an annual income of $1,000, as in the other, would
have disfranchised so many residents that the voters would have felt
that they did not represent the community.
The limits of the quarter included under the réglements are not defined;
they are, however, much larger than when the land regulations were
issued in 1854,and have been extended so as to include the houses and
lots of several American citizens, who originally had no idea of coming
under French cognizance. These were all requested to register themselves
as members of the quarter, and takeout new bills of sale of their land,
sealed with the French consular seal. Some of them have done so, others
have declined. In one case of the latter, the old municipal council,
without consulting the occupants, erected a police station on the river
bank in front of the lot, which completely destroyed the frontage; their
repeated protests against this act brought them no redress, and the
authorities there have hitherto persistently refused to compensate the
missionaries who owned the lot for this injury. The ninth clause of
Article IX of the réglements provides for such a case, and it is to be
hoped that this long-pending case can be equitably settled.
It is premature to express an opinion as to their working among such a
heterogeneous community as are nominally living under the control of the
French consul-general at Shanghai, for the whole depends upon the
personal character of this functionary. I suppose that ninetenths of the
inhabitants are Chinese, and only one-fourth of the rest are Frenchmen,
the remainder consisting chiefly of Europeans and Asiatics; but I cannot
state the total population. The Chinese, who furnish most of the taxes
and industry, are only allowed a consulting voice if the council
please.
By Article XII the council can pursue at law all who refuse to pay their
assessment; and Article XIV enables them to cite the recusants before
the consular tribunal; if the party be a foreigner, he is then to be
sent to his own consul. Supposing that consul decides for the
defendants, the other party may resort to a writ of ejectment, which may
produce an appeal to force if there is a man-of-war in the harbor of
either of the parties. No such collision has previously occurred, for
there has heretofore been a kind of popular municipality in that
quarter; but last year the consul-general dismissed it as refractory,
and has since managed affairs nearly alone.
The French government disclaims all intention to encroach on the rights
of other nationalities, but one must be permitted to doubt whether such
a system of government as is here drawn up will work harmoniously in the
midst of those nationalities, and alongside of a free and effective
municipal consular jurisdiction. The problem will be an interesting one,
if it does not become hazardous or dangerous.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
S. WELLS WILLIAMS. Chargé
d’Affaires.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State,
Washington, D. C.
P. S.—It should be stated that, although the Russian and Prussian
ministers agreed to the principles stated in the protest, they
wished to obtain some legal opinions upon the questions involved
before issuing it.
S. W. W.
[Page 530]
A.
[Translation.]
Mr. Williams to Mr. G. F. Seward
Regulations for the municipal
organization of the French concession at Shanghai.
We, the consul general of France at Shanghai, in virtue of
instructions received from his excellency the minister of foreign
affairs of his Majesty the Emperor of the French, publish the
following dispositions to be in force from the first of September
next, unless some circumstance, measure, or order between now and
then oblige the consul general to execute them sooner:
Article.1. The municipal body of the French
concession at Shanghai is composed of the consul general of France,
and of eight municipal counsellors, four of which are French and
four foreign, all to be chosen by election. The municipal
counsellors are chosen for two years; they are renewed by half every
year. During the session after the first election the order of
renewal shall be determined by lot. The places of counsellors who
die or resign are filled at the same time as those whose time has
expired.
Art. 2. All Frenchmen and foreigners of
twenty-one years of age are electors under the following
conditions:
1. Those owning real property with a good title within the limits of
the concession.
2. Those renting land in the concession, and paying an annual rent of
one thousand francsat least.
3. Those living in the concession over three months, with an annual
revenue of four thousand francs.
Art. 3. The consul general makes out the
electoral list, revises it annually, and convokes the assembly of
electors. The electoral operations are verified by the municipal
council.
Art. 4. Every voter of twenty-five is
eligible—
1. If he owns land in the concession that pays two hundred and forty
francs yearly tax.
2. If he pays a yearly rent of four thousand francs at least in the
concession.
3. If he lives in the concession, and can prove a yearly revenue of
ten thousand francs.
Municipal officers whose time expires can be re-elected.
Art. 5. The ballot is secret. The vote is
by list. Each list must comprise an equal number of French and
foreign residents. The French residents who have a majority of votes
make a part of the municipal council. Candidates of other countries
who get the greatest number of votes shall also be members of the
council. One or more Chinese notables, or chiefs of corporations,
designated by the consul general and the Taotaë, may be admitted in
consultation if the council consents to it.
Art. 6. The council will not assemble until
called together by the consul general. It may be convened whenever
half the members petition it in writing. The consul general may
convene it whenever be thinks it necessary.
Art. 7. The consul general has a right to
preside over the council. The other officers shall consist of a
vice-president and a treasurer, chosen by the council every year
from its members. Deliberations are decided by a majority. In case
of a tie the president decides,
Art. 8. The consul general has the right to
suspend or dissolve the municipal council,; but must give his
reasons for it to his excellency the minister of foreign affairs and
to the representative of the Emperor at Peking. The suspension must
not exceed three months. In case of dissolution the electoral
assembly must be convoked in six months from the time of the
dissolution. In the mean time a provisional commission, formed by
the consul general, takes the place of the municipal council.
Art. 9. The municipal council shall discuss
the following subjects:
1. The municipal budget of receipts and expenses.
2. The tariff for collecting the municipal revenues.
3. The regulation of dues among the tax-payers.
4. Petitions for exemption or reduction of tax,
5. The mode of collecting the tax.
6. The purchases, sales, exchange, and location of municipal
property.
7. Opening streets and public squares, building wharves, piers,
bridges, canals, straightening of streets, location of halls,
markets, slaughter-houses, and burial-places.
8. Labors to promote health, and work on roads.
9. Seizure for public use. A committee composed of the consul of the
person whose property is seized and the consul general of France
shall fix the indemnity due to the persons whose property has been
taken. In case of disagreement between the two consuls, one of their
colleagues shall decide. The proceedings to be confirmed by the
consuls at Shanghai deciding between the municipal council and the
landed proprietor or tax-payer in the French concession.
10. Regulations concern in groads and the public health.
11. And upon all other subjects to which the attention of the council
is called by the consul general.
Art. 10. The deliberations of the municipal
council are not in force until signed by the consul general. The
consul general must execute every deliberation of subjects in
paragraphs [Page 531] one to six of
the preceding article within eight days. The consul general may
refuse to execute a deliberation of the municipal council on the
subjects enumerated in paragraphs eight to eleven of the preceding
article, provided it be confirmed by the minister of France in
Peking, who must be consulted without delay. The execution of the
deliberation is suspended until an answer is received from the
legation.
Art. 11. The sessions of the municipal
council may be public, and the debates in secret session may be
published according to special decisions of the council, approved by
the consul general. Sessions in which the council fixes the annual
budget of receipts and expenses must always be public; unless a
majority of the council oppose it.
Art.12. The municipal council has change of
highways, water distribution, lighting the streets, municipal
property, execution of works of public utility, fixing the tax
lists, and collection of the municipal revenues. It will also
prosecute delinquent tax-payers. The council elects its secretary.
It also appoints all employés in the municipal service, and suspends
or revokes their commissions.
Art. 13. The consul general is charged with
the preservation of order and public safety in the limits of the
concession. It has charge of the police force, the expenses of which
are paid by the municipality. It appoints their agents, suspends or
revokes their commissions.
Art. 14. Violations of road regulations are
tried by a delegate of the municipal council, with appeal to the
consul general. Violations of police regulations are judged by the
consul general or one of his officers. In case of prosecution for
non-payment of taxes the municipal receiver summons the delinquent
before the consular court.
Art. 15. If the person tried for one of the
three causes mentioned is not a Frenchman, and objects to the
competency of the judges, he must be sent before the judges of his
nation.
Art. 16. No foreigner can be arrested
within the limits of the concession by order of a judge or foreign
court without permission from the consul general of France or one of
his agents.
Art. 17. The consul general, when he thinks proper, and after consulting the
municipal council, may call an extra assembly of the Electors, and
even all the French and foreigners, who have no vote in the
concession, to get their opinion on questions of general interest to
be submitted to them.
Art.18. In case of the absence of the
consul general, or a vacancy in his office, all the powers and
prerogatives conferred upon the consul general by the present
regulations shall devolve upon the agent of the consulate.
Note.—After consulting the municipal
committee and the principal members of the community, the consul
general reserves the right to make any changes in these regulations
he may deem necessary to the interest of the community and
compatible with his responsibility to his government. By the 25th of
this month the electoral lists shall be made out and deposited in
the mayor’s office, where they shad be verified by the municipal
committee. They shall then be made public and the electors shall
have until the 10th of August, 1866, to make their remonstrances or
present their titles, by virtue of which they may vote or be
candidates. These titles and reclamations shall be examined by the
municipal committee, to which the claimants shall make application.
The time for holding the elections, and the details concerning the
mode of voting, and the nomination of municipal counsellors, shall
be made known hereafter.
B.
[Translation.]
Mr. Winchester et al. to
Vic. De Montmorand
Dear Sir and Colleague: We have had before
us, and considered in a general manner, the regulations which you
have received from the government at Paris, with instructions to
publish them.
We foresee many difficulties in making these regulations applicable
to persons not French subjects who may be resident within the limits
to which they refer. So far as regards Englishmen and Americans, any
rules, to be obligatory, must be made or enacted by their own
authorities, as is provided by the two governments Until they have
been ratified in the proper quarters we can take, therefore, no
steps to aid in enforcing them.
We particularly note that the 14th article is open to grave
objections, since it materially restricts the exercise of the
absolute exterritorial jurisdiction which has been conceded to our
respective governments by that of China.
We believe, moreover, that the tenor of the regulations will not fail
to give rise to the impression that it is the intention of the
government of France to assume territorial domination in China, an
intimation which we do not in the least attribute to it, because it
is directly opposed to the policy of co-operation which has
heretofore received the sanction of the several governments.
Considering that it cannot be the desire of the government of France
to abridge the privileges of the people of other nations living
here, or to give rightful ground to any to [Page 532] believe that it is its intention to assert
unusual powers here, and considering that a general desire has been
expressed in high quarters for a reference to the several
governments concerned, with a view to the delineation of a general
basis for the management of municipal matters in Shanghai, we
suggest that the publication of the regulations be delayed until
information can be had from Peking as to whether the reference
referred to has been made.
We make this suggestion with the more confidence on account of the
difficulty which must exist at a distance in arriving at a clear
perception of the extent to which such regulations affect other
jurisdictions concerned.
We return our thanks for your courtesy in handing us the regulations
before publication, thus giving us the opportunity of communicating
to you the impressions which the perusal has suggested.
We have the honor to be your obedient servants,
C.
[Translation.]
Vic. De Montmorand to Mr. Winchester et al
Shanghai
,
July 10, 1866.
My Respected Colleagues: Your joint letter
enclosing the English translation of the new regulations of the
municipal organization in the French concession reached me yesterday
evening.
Allow me to make a few hasty remarks on its contents.
In the first place, I cannot expect my honorable colleague from
America to aid me in enforcing these regulations against his
countrymen, when he could not do it with the land regulations in
force in the English concession; for, if my memory is not in
default, I think I have heard him say several times he was not
authorized to do it in any municipal regulations.
I hope, however, that steps will be taken in Peking, or elsewhere,
that will permit you both, as well as myself, to enforce any
municipal regulations that are, or may be, established in Shanghai
for the benefit of our respective countrymen inhabiting that
place.
On the other hand, you point out Article XIV as objectionable because
you think it restricts your right of ex-territorial jurisdiction in
China. But, gentlemen, I really think if you had examined Article
XIV or Article XV you would have seen the respect the French
government has shown to the jurisdiction of other nations and their
consuls at Shanghai.
Yet I am happy to see that, though you fear these regulations may
give cause to believe the French government intends to extend its
territorial dominion in China, you entertain no such idea. You are
right in this case, I am sure. In fact, the only intention of the
French government is to preserve the rights the Chinese government
has granted it in virtue of Article XXII of the treaty signed in
1844 between Mr. Lagrenée and the Chinese government.
I can, then, give you the firm assurance that the French government
has not the least intention or desire to diminish the privileges of
the inhabitants of Shanghai, to whatever nation they may belong, or
to claim extraordinary powers in China.
I regret, however, in conclusion, that I cannot accede to your wishes
in delaying the publication of the regulations in question till you
hear from Peking on the subject. My orders are positive, and I
cannot disobey them. But, from courtesy, and to show you my wish to
harmonize with you, I take the responsibility to delay the execution
of the regulations till the first of September, instead of carrying
them into effect immediately, as I was instructed I shall not be
obliged to enforce them sooner unless the provisional committee
resigns, or the landed proprietors undertake the management of
affairs in the concession before that time.
Please accept the assurance of my most distinguished
consideration.
VICOMTE BRENIER DE MONTMORAND.
D.
Mr. G. F. Seward to Vie. De Montmorand
United States Consulate
General, Shanghai,
July 11, 1866.
Dear Sir and Colleague: I have to own the
receipt of your letter yesterday, addresse to Dr. Winchester and
myself, in reply to our joint note of the 9th instant.
I have the concurrence of Dr. Winchester in saying that by a slip of
the pen the article to which special objection was taken was
erroneously indicated as the 14th, when the 15t was meant.
[Page 533]
Each of us will at once communicate this correspondence to our
respective superiors at Peking.
For myself, I desire to remark that your understanding of my position
touching these new regulations, as well as the old ones, is
correct.
Neither of these has been enacted in such manner as to make it, in my
opinion, of binding force as respects citizens of the United
States.
The authorities of the United States in China, as well as the
citizens of the United States residing at Shanghai, were, however,
consulted in the preparation of the old regulations, and the result
is that they have received such cordial support that the absence of
power to enforce them at law has not occasioned inconvenience.
It cannot be expected that like support will be given to regulations
in the preparation of which neither the one nor the other have been
consulted, and which will be regarded as trenching upon rights of
the first importance.
I have communicated a copy of this note to our colleague, Dr.
Winchester.
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
Vicomte Brenier de Montmorand, Consul General for France, Shanghai.
E.
Mr. G. F. Seward to Mr. Williams
United States Consulate
General, Shanghai
,
July 11,
1866.
Sir: The treaties of foreign governments
with China, and notably the treaties of the United States, Great
Britain, and France, provide for the complete removal of the
citizens of these several countries from amenability to the
government of China, and authorize each government to extend an
intercurrent jurisdiction over its respective nationalities. There
is no treaty between the several foreign governments, or any of
them, which grants to either or any of them jurisdiction of any kind
over the citizens of another or other powers; nor is there any
authority in the Chinese government to grant such jurisdiction,
since it has already renounced in favor of the several
nationalities, individually, all its natural powers over their
respective citizens.
It is manifest, then, that to form at any port a municipal
establishment which shall be enabled to levy taxes and collect them
at law, qualifications of fundamental importance, it is
indispensable that the authorities of the several nationalities
shall concur in creating regulations having such intent and
effect.
The principle thus set forth has received general support. So long
ago as 1854 a code of land regulations was framed by the consuls of
England, France, and the United States, then representing almost the
whole of the foreign interests involved. They were approved by the
ministers of those powers, and by the Chinese government through its
local representative. They have received from time to time the
sanction of other powers, and nothing should have remained but to
improve and enlarge them as circumstances might demand.
The successive French consuls have, however, for a long time assumed
peculiar powers over a portion of the general settlement Which has
become known as the French “concession.” Without consultation with
other consuls, one of them established a council, and through its
agency created a police force. Upon more than one occasion the writs
of consular tribunals of other nations have been prevented from
running in that quarter by the action of that police force, and the
sanction of the consul general of France for the time being.
Englishmen and Americans have been arrested and thrown into prison,
and held, pending the convenience of the police, without color of
law.
It was hoped that in time natural operations would induce our Gallic
neighbors, who are few in numbers, and who have only been able to
carry on their peculiar government by means of the jurisdiction
which they have established over the multitude of Chinese upon their
so-called concession, to drop these pretensions, and join with the
people of other nations in perfecting a general municipal
establishment.
I regret, however, to inform you that pretensions which have
heretofore been avowed only on the part of the local representatives
of the French government, have now been affirmed by that government.
I enclose a copy of a notification made this day in the public
prints, and I proceed to point out hastily, as my time is short, the
objections to them which occur to me.
1. They provide, without reference to the Chinese government, or to
any other government, for the establishment of a municipal
organization on Chinese territory, which is occupied by Englishmen
and Americans, as well as Frenchmen, but chiefly by Chinese. Thus,
nothing less than territorial dominion is assumed, irrespective of
the rights or wishes of the vast majority of those affected.
[Page 534]
2. The municipal organization thus created, or to be created, is so
arranged that French influence shall be ever paramount. Five of the
nine councillors, counting the French consul general as one, will
always be Frenchmen.
3. The consul general of France will not only be a member of the
council, with a casting vote, but he will also have autocratic
powers. He will prepare the lists of electors; he only will call
meetings of the council; he will be empowered to suspend and
dissolve the council; he, one of its members, will be one of their
arbitrators in questions arising between persons of other
nationalities and the council; he will have a veto upon the acts of
the council; his consent must be procured to appointments in the
municipal service, and he may remove any or all incumbents; he will
be charged with all things connected with the preservation of order;
his consent and co-operation must be had before any action can be
taken on the part of the tribunals of other nations within the
limits of the so-called concession.
4. Appeals of the council itself against the consul general will be
to the French minister at Peking, but only in cases enumerated.
I have, in conclusion, to point out that the assumption of the French
government in this matter is in direct violation of the principles
which have always been upheld by the government of the United
States, which were assented to long since, by the the British
government in particular, and more recently by the ministers of
Great Britain, France and Russia, (vide Mr.
Burlingame’s letter to me of June 15, 1864, and the references made
therein,) and to declare my opinion that in case the government of
France is not led to disavow the assumption, other powers will
attempt to imitate her example; and thus may be sounded the prelude
to the great work of breaking up and appropriating China.
I enclose a copy of a note addressed to the French consul general by
her Britannic Majesty’s consul and myself jointly; also of his
response and of my rejoinder. One object was, by preventing the
publication of the new rules, to render their reconsideration more
easy.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
S. Wells Williams, Esq., L. L. D., United States Chargé d’ Affaires.
F.
Mr. Williams to Mr. G. F. Seward
Legation of the United
States, Peking
,
July 30,
1866.
Sir: I have to acknowledge your despatch
No. 57 and its enclosures, relating to the new code of réglements
issued by the French consul general for the government of the
so-called French concession, and to commend their spirit and the
entire co-operation you have carried out with her Majesty’s consul
in the correspondence.
There are some objectionable points connected with the publication
and purport of these réglements, and their general bearing has been
fully discussed with her Majesty’s minister, (to whom I showed your
despatch, ) and with the Russian and Prussian ministers. I enclose a
form of protest, which expresses our views in relation to the
réglements, and to which you can get as many consular signatures as
possible. Sir Rutherford Alcock is writing to Dr. Winchester upon
the subject, and it is important that you and he continue to act in
entire accord in relation to this matter, whatever rule of action
the other consuls may see fit to adopt.
I notice in your reply of July 11 to Viscount de Montmorand the
remark that in your opinion “neither the old nor new regulations
have been enacted in such a manner as to make them of binding force
as respects citizens of the United States.” If you mean by new regulations those recently issued by the
French consul general, and by old those in
operation since 1854, it seems to me that you have placed two very
different things in one category.
If it be that you regard the latter as not of binding force upon
American residents in Shanghai, because they were not issued by Mr.
McLane as a decree, and approved by all the United States consuls in
China, it seems to me that their local nature, their character of
joint issue or sanction by the only foreign ministers then in China,
and their tacit acceptance by the government at Washington for
twelve years past, gives all the reasons for the exceptional form,
and sufficient approval to their validity and binding nature that
can be required.
I should be pleased, however, to learn the grounds of your opinion;
but meanwhile I wish you to assure the French consul general that
your private opinion will not conflict with your intention to carry
them into full effect until they are annulled by the same authority.
I regret that I misunderstood the purport of your question last year
as to the legal nature of the land regulations at Shanghai, as my
reply has led to the impression that we differ on this point, which
I think is not really the case.
I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,
George F. Seward, Esq., United States Consul General,
[Page 535]
G.
Draught for a notification on French regléments,
to be issued by the consuls and representatives of other Powers
at Shanghai, as a collective note and protest.
Whereas the treaties of foreign powers with China provide for the
complete removal of their respective subjects from the territorial
jurisdiction and all amenability to the laws or government of China,
and authorize each government to extend jurisdiction on Chinese soil
over their respective subjects;
Whereas there is no treaty between the several foreign powers, or any
of them, which grants to either or any of them jurisdiction of any
kind over the subjects of another government; nor is there any
authority in the Chinese government to grant such jurisdiction,
since it has already renounced in favor of the several nationalities
all its natural powers over their respective subjects:
It is manfest that to form at any Chinese port a municipal body which
shall be enabled to levy taxes and to collect them at law, it is
indispensable that the authorities of the several nationalities
shall concur in creating the rules or regulations having such intent
and effect.
Whereas, moreover, the principles thus set forth have heretofore been
recognized and acted upon so long ago as 1854, a set of land
regulations having been framed by the consuls of Great Britain.
France, and the United States of America, then representing nearly
the whole of the foreign interests involved, which regulations were
approved by the ministers of these powers and by the Chinese
government through its local representative, and these having from
time to time received the adhesion of other powers, it follows that,
until as formally and publicly disavowed and annulled as their
adoption was originally notified to all whom it concerned, such
regulations must be held to be valid and binding in an especial
manner upon the three powers above mentioned, whose ministers and
consular representatives signed and promulgated them in the first
instance. No such formal and public act of disavowal and
nullification having taken place, and land and property having been
acquired to a large amount under these regulations, and on the faith
of their application to the whole foreign location, as recited in
the preamble to the aforesaid regulations, by subjects and citizens
of various foreign powers, they must still be recognized and
accepted as the code of rules governing the legal status and
municipal relations of all the foreign residents within the said
limits, and no posterior act of any one of the contracting powers
alone can invalidate the anterior rights of property and
ex-territoriality duly and legally acquired.
In conformity with, these facts and general considerations, the
undersigned, consuls and representatives of their respective nations
at Shanghai, deem it incumbent upon them to declare, for the
information and guidance of all whom it may concern, that they
cannot recognize, and do hereby formally deny, the competence of the
French or any other government, of its own motion, without reference
to and the formal consent of the other powers interested, to
promulgate any réglements or municipal laws to be put in force on
any part of the foreign settlements comprehended in the limitations
defined in the rules already cited and established by common
consent. It must at all times be held incompetent to any foreign
power to make laws or rules operative on the subjects or citizens of
any other state resident in the Chinese dominions; and no laws,
rules, or regulations so promulgated can be admitted as having any
application or obligatory force whatever upon the subjects of
another foreign state.
The undersigned deem it incompetent, in consequence, for the citizens
or subjects of their respective nationalities to take any part in
the establishment or working of the réglements lately issued and
promulgated by the consul general of France at Shanghai. They are
not in a position to receive or give any vote, or take any part,
either in the formation or working of a municipality or council so
constituted. They are, by virtue of their nationality, outside the
limits of its jurisdiction, and independent of its action, and
therefore disqualified from participation in any of its acts.
The undersigned, considering it desirable in the general interest,
and the better to prevent misapprehension, that a public
notification should be made by the representatives of each
nationality whose ex-territorial rights are, or may be, affected by
the réglements emanating from an exclusive French authority, so
serve as a formal and public protest against any undue assumption of
a power to render arm nable to them, either individuals or
nationalities, not subject to the French government. And being in
full accord, they have hereunto, by common consent, this —— day of
—— affixed their signatures and seals of office.
H.
Mr. Williams to Mr. G. F. Seward
Legation of the United
States, Peking
,
August 3,
1866.
Sir: Referring to my last despatch of the
30th ultimo and its enclosure, relating to the Joint action proposed
to be taken by yourself and the British consul as to the réglements
[Page 536] lately issued by the
French consul-general for the future government of the so-called
French concession, I have now to request that you will regard the
form of protest enclosed in that despatch as a non-avenue, not at
present to be acted on.
This change arises from the explicit orders which have just been
received from the British government upon this matter, preventing
their consul at Shanghai joining you in issuing the protest, and as
I think it not unlikely that some communication may have also been
made to the American minister at Paris for the information of the
President upon the bearing of these réglements, it will not be
advisable to move in the matter until something definite is known;
besides, the protest would lose much of its effect unless the
consuls of the other two powers, which were parties to the first set
of land regulations, should both sign it.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
George F. Seward, United States Consul General.