In December, 1890, Also Died
Tseng Kwo Tsiuen, Uncle Of The Marquis, And A Man Who Had Taken A
Prominent And Honorable Part In The Suppression Of The Taeping Rebellion.
In 1885 an important and delicate negotiation between England and China
was brought to a successful issue by the joint efforts of Lord Salisbury
and the Marquis Tseng.
The levy of the lekin or barrier tax on opium had
led to many exactions in the interior which were injurious to the foreign
trade and also to the Chinese government, which obtained only the customs
duty raised in the port. After the subject had been thoroughly discussed
in all its bearings a convention was signed in London, on July 19, 1885,
by which the lekin was fixed at eighty taels a chest, in addition to the
customs due of thirty taels, and also that the whole of this sum should be
paid in the treaty port before the opium was taken out of bond. This
arrangement was greatly to the advantage of the Chinese government, which
came into possession of a large revenue that had previously been frittered
away in the provinces, and much of which had gone into the pockets of the
mandarins. This subject affords the most appropriate place for calling
attention to the conspicuous services rendered, as Director-general of
Chinese Customs during more than thirty years, by Sir Robert Hart, who, on
the premature death of Sir Harry Parkes, was appointed British Minister at
Pekin, which post, for weighty reasons, he almost immediately resigned. It
is impossible to measure the consequences and important effect of his
conduct and personal influence upon the policy and opinion of China, while
his work in the interests of that country has been both striking and
palpable. To his efforts the central government mainly owes its large and
increasing cash revenue, and when some candid Chinese historian sums up
the work done for his country by foreigners, he will admit that, what
Gordon did in war and Macartney in diplomacy, Hart accomplished in those
revenue departments which are an essential element of strength, and we
must hope that this truthful chronicler will also not forget to record
that all these loyal servants were English, members of a race which, after
fighting China fairly, frankly held out the hand of friendship and
alliance. In connection with this subject it may be noted that the emperor
issued an edict in 1890 formally legalizing the cultivation of opium,
which, although practically carried on, was nominally illegal. An
immediate consequence of this step was a great increase in the area under
cultivation, particularly in Manchuria, and so great is the production of
native opium now becoming that that of India may yet be driven from the
field as a practical revenge for the loss inflicted on China by the
competition of Indian tea. But at all events these measures debar China
from ever again posing as an injured party in the matter of the opium
traffic.
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