合乎新规还是依循旧约:苏州日租界开设茧行之争(1924—1925年)

Conforming with New Regulations or Obeying Established Treaties:Debate on the Establishment of Cocoon Guild in Japanese Concession in Soochow( 1924—1925)

民初江苏地方官厅及农商部为保护江南丝织业发展,一方面出台了丝区、茧区分设的政策,另一方面严格限制茧行的开设。20世纪20年代日本驻苏领事为振兴苏州日租界,决定于租界内开设茧行。苏州地方丝织业团体联合苏州总商会进行了严重抗议,苏州地方官厅、交涉公署、苏省政府以及北京的农商部、外交部等多个相关部门就苏州日租界开设茧行一事与日方进行了一系列、多层级的交涉。但因租界经商并不违背中外已经签订之条约,因而交涉最终并未能达到预期效果,只得到了日本领事嗣后如再有添设茧行事,一定慎重考虑的承诺。苏州日租界茧行交涉也成为近代通商口岸贸易及对外交涉的一个缩影。

In the early period of Republic of China,in order to protect silk industry in Jiangnan,Jiangsu local government and the Ministry of agriculture and commerce on the one hand introduced the policy of separating silk zone and cocoon zone,on the other hand strictly limited the establishment of cocoon guild. For the purpose of rebooting concession in Soochow,Japanese consul in Soochow decided to establish cocoon guild in Japanese concession. Soochow local groups of silk industry and Soochow chamber of commerce launched serious protest. And then relevant departments including Soochow local government,Jiangsu provincial government,Ministry of agriculture and commerce and Ministry of foreign affairs made a series and multi-layer negotiation with Japanese relevant departments. But due to the fact that trading in concession didn＇t violate the treaties signed by Chinese government and foreign government,negotiations revolving around the establishment of cocoon guild in Japanese concession in Soochow didn＇t live up to the expectation. Japanese consul in Soochow merely made a promise that if Japanese wanted to establish cocoon guild in the future in Soochow,they would seriously deal with. Debate on the establishment of cocoon guild in Soochow is also the epitome of commerce and negotiation in treaty ports in Modern China.