Office of the Historian

893.512/740: Telegram

The Minister in China (MacMurray) to the Secretary of State

Peking, January 9, 1928—1 p.m.
[Received January 9—9:35 a.m.]

13. 1. Following from Hankow:

“January 6, 3 p.m. Fifty percent ad valorem tax on cigarettes became effective yesterday, pursuant to instructions from Nanking. Tobacco companies have been paying 12½ percent. Request instructions whether protest should be lodged. American companies Peking claim impossible to continue business under this tax.”

2. Lockhart29 authorized to lodge protest, if he considers it advisable, bearing in mind the Department’s 278, July 7, 2 p.m., 1927.30

MacMurray
  1. Frank P. Lockhart, consul general at Hankow.↩
  2. Foreign Relations, 1927, vol. ii, p. 393.↩