The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Rockhill.

No. 54.]

Sir: In a letter from Herzig Brothers, of New York, dated the 14th instant, the Department is informed that, although the newspaper cables state that the Chinese boycott against American products has ceased in China, they are advised by cables received on the 13th instant from China that the boycott against ginseng root is still in effect.

The Department has answered the letter by saying that the Department has received a dispatch, No. 39, of August 24, 1905, from the American consul-general at Shanghai, in which he states that the taot’ai of that province is bringing pressure to bear for the suppression of anti-American meetings, which, it is hoped, will practically end the boycott in the cities, although it may take some time to eliminate it from the minds of the people in the interior.

I am, etc.,

F. B. Loomis.