for the service in general, the Board shall have the power to increase in the same proportion the various taxes on shipping on land and houses, and on trade, to a figure sufficient to supply its recognized needs. This eventual increase would apply in the same proportion of the contribution of the Chinese Government mentioned in paragraph e of Article XXX.
XXXIII. The Board shall give notice to the Superintendent of Southern Trade and to the Consular Body of the necessity for the increase referred to in Article XXXII. Such increase shall only come into force after its approval by the Consular Body at Shanghai.
XXXIV. The Board shall submit to the Superintendent of Southern Trade and to the Consular Body at Shanghai, within six months after the closing of each financial year, its annual accounts, accompanied by a detailed report on the general management and the receipts and expenditures during the preceding twelve months. This report shall be published.
XXXV. If the exact and published accounts of receipts and expenditures show a balance of receipts over expenses, the taxes mentioned in Article XXX shall be proportionately reduced by the Board and the Consular Body at Shanghai acting conjointly. The eventual reduction shall apply in the same proportion to the contribution of the Chinese Government referred to in paragraph e of Article XXX.
XXXVI. At the expiration of the first term of three years the signatories shall examine conjointly whether the provisions contained in the present annex require revision. A new revision can take place every three years under the same conditions.
XXXVII. The regulations of the Board within the limits provided for in Article XIII, and subject to the approbation of the Consular Body at Shanghai, shall be binding on all foreigners.
Peking September 7th, 1901.
ANNEX NO. 18
IMPERIAL EDICT of the 24th July, 1901
[TRANSLATION]
On the 9th day of the 6th moon the Grand Chancellery received the following Edict:
"The creation of officers and the determination of their duties has until now been regulated by the requirements of the times. Now, at this moment when a new treaty of peace is concluded, international affairs take the first place among important business, and it is more than ever necessary to have recourse to competent men to devote themselves to all that relates to establishing friendly relations and confidence in speech.
"The Office of Foreign Affairs, formerly created to deal with international questions, has been in existence, it is true, for years; but since the Princes and Ministers who composed it did not for the most part exercise these
