<論説>大隈条約改正交渉再考 : 立案過程と国際的背景

Abstract

本稿では、いわゆる大隈条約改正交渉を立案段階において分析することで、その性格と歴史的意義の解明を試みた。井上馨外相による会議方式の挫折の後、諸外国の公使から数種の暫定協定案がもちだされる。伊藤兼任外相はこれを利用して新たな交渉を模索し、つづく大隈外相も、ドイツや特にアメリカをパートナーとして新条約案を構築していった。この過程を通じて井上馨は継続的に助言者として重きをなしている。外国人裁判官任用や法典の交付をいったん外して構想された条約案は、明治二一年九月の段階でほぼ固まったとみられるが、それは結局井上が主導した条約改正会議最終案の枠組に収束していく。一方、大隈交渉を特徴づける「強硬政略」は、最恵国条款の有条件的解釈に依拠した個別交渉と、条約廃棄戦術を主要な骨格としていた。前者は井上外相時代からの外務省関係者、なかでも鳩山和夫やデニソンに多くを負っていたが、後者は主に大隈独自の協力者としてのアメリカ人ハウスの献策にかかっており、こちらが大隈の入閣そのものを後押ししていた。交渉開始時期までの宣伝工作も井上・大隈らの合作によっており、そこではイギリス代表部の懐柔とともに廃棄断行を示唆する威嚇も行われていく。つまり大隈条約改正交渉とは、条約立案面で先行し外国人関係の人脈も豊富な井上馨と、独自の外国人ブレーンや民間勢力を背景とする大隈との、密接な協力体制の産物だったのである。

This article attempts an analysis of the process of planning for what have been Called "Okuma's negotiations for treaty revision" 大隈条約改正交渉 in an effort to clarify their character and historical significance. After the failure of Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru at the Treaty Revision Conference, some representatives of the Treaty Powers had submitted draft proposals for provisional agreements. Ito, the acting Foreign Minister, had then tried to use these proposals in an effort to create a break-through in the negotiations. The succeeding Foreign Minister Okuma Shigenobu fashioned a new draft in cooperation with Germany and particularly the United States. Throughout all these processes, Inoue played a very important role as an advisor. The newly drafted treaty, which was designed without employ of foreign judges or the issuance of law codes, appeared to have been settled by the ninth month of the twenty-first year of the Meiji era (1888), but was finally incorporated within the framework of the final draft presented by Inoue at the previous conference. On the other hand, the "strong tactics" that characterized Okuma's negotiations consisted primarily of two strategies--first, separated negotiations depending on conditional interpretations of most-favored-nation clauses, and, second, renunciation of the existing treaties. The first strategy owed much to those who had been associated with the Foreign Ministry since the time of Inoue, and particularly to Hatoyama Kazuo and Henry Denison, but the second derived from the policy proposal of the American journalist E.H. House, a private aide to Okuma, who had promoted Okuma's inclusion in the cabinet. The public relations campaign of propaganda begun at the opening of the negotiations was a joint creation of Inoue and Okuma. They took simultaneously a conciliatory line toward the British diplomatic representatives in Japan and threatening posture hinting at a decisive renunciation of the treaties. In other words, the negotiations of Okuma were a result of cooperation between Inoue, who had more experience in planning treaties and rich connection among the diplomatic corps, and Okuma, who maintained his own "brain trust" and had the backing of portion of the non-governmental sector.