"2. The most important duties with which the Japanese police are charged are: First, to prevent the commission of crimes by Japanese, and, second, to find and prosecute Japanese criminals when crimes are committed. "In view of the geographical proximity of the two countries, it is natural that certain disorderly elements in Japan should move to China and, taking advantage of the present conditions in that country, should there undertake unlawful activities. When these lawless persons are caught in the act of crime by the Chinese police, it is not difficult for that police force to deal with the case. The culprits are handed over as early as possible to the Japanese authorities for prosecution and trial. But when the criminals flee from the scene of their acts, it is in many cases hard to discover who committed the crimes and what were the causes and circumstances that led up to their commission. This is more difficult for the Chinese authorities, as they have no power to make domiciliary visits to the homes of foreigners, who enjoy extraterritorial rights, or to obtain judicial testimony in due form from such foreigners. "Without the full cooperation of the Japanese police, therefore, the punishment of crime is, in a great many cases, an impossibility, and those who are responsible for lawbreaking escape trial and punishment. "This tendency is especially evident in Manchuria, in which region hundreds of thousands of Japanese are resident. In places where the Japanese police are stationed there are far fewer criminal cases among Japanese than in places without Japanese police. Lawless elements constantly move to districts. beyond the reach of Japanese police supervision. "Apart from the theoretical side of the question, it will thus be observed that the stationing of Japanese police in the interior of China has proved to be of much practical usefulness in the prevention of crimes among Japanese residents, without interfering with the daily life of the Chinese or of other foreign nationals. The Japanese policing provides a protection for the Chinese communities which at present their own organization fails to provide. "The Japanese delegation is in possession of knowledge and information as to the actual conditions prevailing in China, and especially in Manchuria. However, it is unnecessary to go into details at the present stage." C. RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE CONFERENCE, Whereas the Powers have from time to time stationed armed forces, including police and railway guards, in China to protect the lives and property of foreigners lawfully in China; And whereas it appears that certain of these armed forces are maintained in China without the authority of any treaty or agreement; And whereas the Powers have declared their intention to withdraw their armed force now on duty in China without the authority of any treaty or agreement, whenever China shall assure the protection of the lives and property of foreigners in China; And whereas China has declared her intention and capacity to assure the protection of the lives and property of foreigners in China; Now to the end that there may be clear understanding of the conditions upon which in each case the practical execution of those intentions must depend: It is resolved: That the diplomatic representatives in Peking of the Powers now in Conference at Washington, to wit, the United States of America, Belgium, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Portugal, will be instructed by their respective Governments, whenever China shall so request, to associate themselves with three representatives of the Chinese Government to conduct collectively a full and impartial inquiry into the issues raised by the foregoing declarations of intention made by the Powers and by China and shall hereafter prepare a full and comprehensive report setting out without reservation their findings of fact and their opinion with regard to the matter hereby referred for inquiry, and shall furnish a copy of their report to each of the nine Governments concerned which shall severally make public the report with such comment as each may deem appropriate. The representatives of any of the Powers may make or join in minority reports stating their differences, if any, from the majority report. That each of the Powers above named shall be deemed free to accept or reject all or any of the findings of fact or opinions expressed in the report, but that in no case shall any of the said Powers make its acceptance of all or any of the findings of fact or opinions either directly or indirectly dependent on the granting by China of any special concession, favor, benefit or immunity, whether political or economic. Appendix IX FOREIGN POST OFFICES IN CHINA A. MR. SZE'S STATEMENT BEFORE THE FAR EASTERN COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 25, 1921 "As was referred to by Mr. Koo the other day in his remarks before the committee, China has suffered and is now suffering not only from limitations upon her territorial and administrative integrity, to which she has been led to consent, but also from open violations of her rights as a territorial sovereign for which not even a vestige of contractual right can be claimed. "Among these violations are the stationing of foreign troops and railway guards at various points, the installation of wire and wireless telegraph communications, the maintenance of foreign post offices, and so-called 'police boxes.' I shall first speak of the foreign postal services maintained upon Chinese soil. "China requests that the Powers assembled in the Conference agree at once to abolish all postal services now maintained by them in China. She bases her request upon the following propositions: "1. That China has organized and is now conducting a postal system covering the entire country, and maintaining relations with all foreign countries adequate to meet all requirements. The transmission of postal matter is a Government monopoly, the first paragraph of the postal statutes of October 12, 1921, reading: "The postal business is exclusively conducted by the Government.' "2. That the existence of these foreign post offices interferes with and makes more difficult the development of this system, and deprives it of a revenue which legally and equitably should belong to it. "3. That the maintenance by foreign Governments of post offices in China is in direct violation of the latter's territorial and administrative integrity, and rests upon no treaty or other legal rights. "Early in the '60's of the last century foreign post offices began to open branches and agencies in the particular treaty ports of China. The opening of these offices was not based on any treaty provision or concession. Their existence and gradual increase was merely tolerated by the Chinese Govern ment. "About the same time a regular service for the carriage of mails was established on foreign lines in connection with the customs, operating chiefly between the numerous ports on the coast of China and those far up the Yangtse River. This service continued to work and improved its machinery year by year. By imperial decree of March 20, 1896, this system was developed into a distinct Chinese postal system, and placed under the general direction of the Inspector General of Customs. Finally, by imperial decree of May 28, 1911, the system was taken from under the administration of the Inspector General of Customs and developed into an independent system operating directly under the Minister of Posts and Communications. Since that date the system has operated wholly as one of the administrative services of the Chinese Government. "On March 1, 1914, China gave her adherence to the Universal Postal Convention, and since September 1 of that year China has continued as a member in good standing of the Universal Postal Union. "As the Universal Postal Union does not recognize the right of any country to maintain post offices in another country which is a member of the postal union, the Chinese delegation brought up the question of alien establishments in China at the Universal Postal Congress, opened at Madrid on October 1, 1920. The question of their withdrawal was, however, regarded as within the purview of their respective Foreign Offices, and no definite decision was reached. A measure was passed, however, to the effect that only such foreign postal agencies could be considered as within the Union as were established in a foreign country not itself within the Universal Postal |