§ EARL PERCY (Kensington, S.)I beg-to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether any Report was drawn up by the Commission appointed in 1899 by the Chinese Government to consider the question of the abolition of likin and the substitution of a revised tariff; and whether His Majesty's Government have been furnished with a copy of such Report; and, if so, whether they intend to publish its contents.
§ *Viscount CRANBORNEIn December, 1899, Her Majesty's Minister reported that an Imperial Decree had been issued appointing two Chinese Commissioners to consider the question of tariff revision in consultation with Sir R. Hart. The decree, however, contained no reference to the abolition of likin. We have not heard that the Commission have made any report.