Isaac F. Shepard to Chester Holcombe, November 2, 1878

Mr. Shepard to Mr. Holcombe.

Sir: I had the honor to receive, on the 30th of May, your No. 47, covering an inclosure of a reply from the foreign office touching transit passes for the export of native produce from the interior, and especially from the province of Szchuen. Your dispatch also suggested an expression of my opinion as to whether the arrangement proposed would meet the requirements of the trade to be affected by it.

I delayed to offer such opinion until the facts of operation should give me some grounds upon which to base it with some show of reason, although the plan decided upon by the board appeared on paper to give, in a degree, the facilities we had a right to ask. Such facts have now transpired, and I regret to say certain officials have shown no disposition to carry out the provisions agreed to, but have, on the contrary, not merely made them a dead letter, but by refusal to respect them, have been the willing and direct cause of pecuniary loss and trouble to an American merchant acting in good faith under them. The details I give for your full information, and also copies of a correspondence to substantiate them.

On reception of your dispatch above referred to, I at once communicated the basis of it to the two American houses then engaged here in the inland transit business. The same information was promulgated by the native authorities about the same date and notice given that the requisite blanks were in readiness at the Hankow customs. One of the merchants, Mr. M. Andrew Jenkins, on whose occasion my original correspondence arose, on the 13th of July applied to me to procure for his use ten transit passes to bring goods out from Szchuen. These are the passes described in the Chinese dispatch inclosed, On the 27th of the same month he applied for ten more.

In both cases I at once communicated with his excellency the Taotai, asking for the passes, and he promptly forwarded them to me. They were promptly delivered to Mr. J., who paid the established fee of $2 on each—$40 in all. He sent the documents forward to his agent at Chung Ching, directing the purchase and forwarding of the merchandise. The result is, the goods are stopped, as stated in the official communication, and they arbitrarily refuse to forward under the provision of the passes.

In fact they are repudiated, and the merchandise detained from market, and left to lose from deterioration. The authority of the foreign office at Peking is set at defiance by subordinate officials, and I am decidedly of opinion that Mr. Jenkins has undoubted claims for remunerative damages.

I am sorry that the plighted faith of officials is not more readily observed, and doubt not you will do all that is possible to secure our treaty rights, absolutely indispensable for the transaction of business.

I am, &c.,