893.51/4447: Telegram
The Minister in China ( Schurman ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:47 p.m.]
397. My 379, December 1, 4 p.m., and despatches 1847, September 29,76 and 1912, November 9.76 Diplomatic body today adopted following communication to senior consul Canton which was telegraphed to him this afternoon by the dean.
“With reference to your letters dated September 7th77 and October 24th76 last on the subject of the claim put forward by the Government of Doctor Sun Yat-sen in Canton to a share in the customs surplus after the foreign obligations charged on the customs revenues are paid, I have the honor to inform you that this question was duly considered by the diplomatic body. The conclusion arrived at, which I am designated to request you to bring to the notice of the Canton authorities concerned, was to the effect that the granting or the refusal of such a claim does not lie within the province of the diplomatic body.
The signatory powers on the final protocol of September 7th, 190178 derive from that protocol the right to ensure the priority of the payment of interest and amortization of certain foreign loans secured on the customs revenues previous to 1901 and of the payment of interest and amortization of the indemnity mentioned in article 6 thereof, but no treaty right has been conferred upon them to decide for what purpose the Chinese Government should use the funds which at the end of each year shall remain at the disposal of that Government after the services of the said loans and indemnity shall have been entirely provided for. Moreover by the agreement between the diplomatic body and the Chinese Government of the 30th January, 1912,76 the former were practically appointed trustees of the Maritime Customs revenues for the protection of the above-mentioned obligations but that agreement did not confer upon the diplomatic body the power to allocate surplus.
As to the payments out of the surplus of customs receipts for certain domestic loans, to which Mr. C. C. Wu in his letter to you79 refers, I have to point out that the diplomatic body are in no way concerned with the service of these loans which was instituted without their previously having been consulted.
Finally, I may perhaps remind you that the arrangement by which the then existing constitutionalist government at Canton was handed over a certain percentage of the customs surplus in 1919 and 1920 was arrived at between that government and the Chinese Government in Peking. Diplomatic body on that occasion neither took the initiative nor did they act as intermediary for the conclusion of that arrangement. It is evident that they could not do so now either.”
It is left to discretion of senior consul whether in view of local conditions he shall present this reply to local Canton Government at once or wait until expiration of two weeks’ delay. See my 389, December 8, 10 a.m.
It was further decided that when we had heard from senior consul that he presented the message the diplomatic corps should communicate all correspondence had with Sun to the Chinese Foreign Office and make it public.