The Shanghai correspondent of the Times furnishes details of a
new commercial treaty or agreement which Sir James Mackay has arranged with the Southern. Viceroys of China, and which has been accepted at Pekin. -Under the provisions of this treaty the local Treasuries are to receive a surtax upon the Customs, which will, roughly speaking, bring up the tariff to 10 per cent. ad valorem. In return for that concession the internal transit duties, which are the great obstacle to com- merce, are to be swept away, foreign capital is to be protected
in mining enterprises, there is to be free admission of traders to internal waters, and all disputes are to be settled locally by Consular and Chinese tribunals. A national coinage is also to be introduced, and Chinese shareholders in companies are to be compelled to recognise calls. The reforms are cordially welcomed on the spot, and only await the acceptance of the British Government, which has, of course, to consider carefully the incidence of the new surtax. The arrangement is with Great Britain, but all other nations can claim its benefits if they accept the new taxation. They probably will; but it is to be noted that they are excessively jealous about the security for the indemnity, and that they insist, in spite of English and American remonstrances, that it shall be paid in gold. There will be some further diplomacy before a com- plete right of trading with the interior of China is finally established.
