Page:The Truth about China and Japan - Weale - 1919.djvu/111

 the present amount of the national indebtedness, adding in every loan made for no matter what purpose during the past thirty years, and including all the reckless borrowing of the past quinquennium.

If and when this matter of Chinese trade comes up for consideration, another matter which is closely allied to it should not be forgotten.

This is the question of exterritoriality.

To most people who have lived under their own laws and accepted such a condition as natural all the world over, the idea of exterritoriality—that is, that in a given territory you are not liable to the jurisdiction of the local authority, but come under jurisdiction exercised by officers of your own country—must be surprising.

The origin of exterritoriality is to be sought on the shores of the Mediterranean, where in the period of transition from the age of Rome's universal empire to that of independent territorial sovereignties, it was held necessary by the maritime cities and republics to appoint officers to take charge of the depositaries of merchandise and exercise jurisdiction over their citizens. This practice, which was well-established by the eleventh century, received