论晚清矿章关于办矿洋商的规定及其效果

晚清政府频繁更改矿章的用意之一就是藉此约束洋商,实现中外合资办矿的“权操自我”。从《矿路公共章程》到《大清矿务章程》,关于办矿洋商的规定不断完善。但是,在外国驻华领事、公使甚至外国政府的支持、袒护下,洋商专意于私订合同,盗挖华矿,基本上不将清政府矿章放在眼里,部分官员面对洋商。执法信心不足,所有这些又使得晚清政府期望借助制订矿章来实现保护矿权的努力,终究未能取得多大效果。

On the Regulations of Mining Concerning Foreigners and Their Effects in Late Qing

To restrain foreign merchants and dominate the mining exploited by Sine-foreign cooperations, the government of the Late Qing had to change the mining regulations repeatedly, from the Common Regulations of Mining and the Railway in 1898 to the Mining Rules of the Qing in 1908. However, with the shelter provided by foreign consuls and ambassadors in China and even foreign governments, the merchants were absorbed in signing the contracts with the Chinese secretly and excavating mines illegally, and to a large extent ignored the mining regulations of the Late Qing. Moreover, some Chinese officials did not have enough confidence to enforce the laws. As a result, the government's attempts to safeguard its mining rights by formulating mining regulations failed to be effective.