'Volume II. MEMORANDA REGARDING OTHER EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. 1905.' [‎92v] (189/228)

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Treaty, no obstruction sliould be placed in the
way of any traders proceeding to that place, and
that the Jongpen should receive and forward
any letters for the Tibetan Government. The
Political Officer has aaain written to the ii
Itimpoche to say that the British Trade Agent s
letters must also be forwarded.
(See paragraph 8 of the Memorandum for
July 19050 Mr. Bell has noted the value of
the year’s trade through the Chumbi valley.
Since the date of the signature . of the Lhasa
Convention, the exports to India amounted to
Its. 7,16,595; the imports from India to
Its. 12^61^033 : totalling Rs. 19,77,628. These
are the figures of the Chinese Customs Officer
at Yatung; and allowing 30 per cent for the
customary undervaluation, the value of the
trade would appear to be Rs. 25.71,000. To
this must be added Rs. 50,000 for the year’s
trade via the Natu La, the grand total thus
amounting to Rs. 26,21,000. This is equi
valent to an increase of nearly 40 per cent
over the average of the years 1896 to 1903,
and the amount is 14 per cent higher than the
value for 1899, which was the highest hitherto
recorded.
NEPAL.
21. The question of the right of the
Nepal Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). to purchase and import muni
tions of war into the State has recently come
under consideration. In 1893 Lord Lansdowne
permitted the Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). to purchase and import
war material, subject to the condition that the
demands made should be reasonable. In 1894
Lord Elgin again pointed out that there must
necessarily be a limit which it was for the
Government of India to prescribe in respect
to such importations and purchases. Under
Lord Elgin’s instructions, it was also pointed
out to the Prime Minister that the possession
by the Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). of machinery for the manu
facture of arms and ammunition would
obviously render impossible any limitation of
the extent to which Nepal might arm without
the knowledge of the Government of India.
22. In 1902 it was brought to notice
that the Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). still maintained two arsenals
for the manufacture, not only of rifles and
cartridges, but of guns. Lord Curzon in
formed the Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). that he was in complete
accord with the view taken by Lord Elgin,
and pointed out that the chief object of the
permission given by Lord Lansdowne for the
importation of arms was to ensure that in
future all transactions connected with such
import should be conducted by the Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). in
a perfectly open manner, and that they should
no longer have any ground either for manu
facturing arms or ammunition or for import
ing the material for their manufacture in a
surreptitious manner. His Excellency stated