262
BRITAIN'S NAVAL STRENGTH
IN THE FAR EAST.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
jealousy and suspicion. Then we have to provide for possibilities, which include, as one outcome of the war, the contingency of anarchy in China, in which case we should require all the vessels sent out, and more, to protect British subjects and trade in the Chinese Treaty ports. There is, moreover,
horizon. a larger question gradually looming on the If the present peace negotiations fail and the war goes on for months, as it may, until Peking, Nanking, and possibly Canton fall into the hands of the Japanese, may not a settlement of the quarrel involve the breaking up of the present Chinese empire? We do not believe that it is either the wish or the intention of the Japan- ese Government to destroy the present Mauchu Government, for they will naturally wish to have some stable Government with which to conclude the terms of peace, when they are eventually decided upon; But events may be too strong for them. It is one thing to call, as the Peking Government has called into existence over a hundred thousand troops, but it will not be so easy to pay and disband them! There will be the danger of these undisciplined hordes, having arms in their hands, turning upon the Government. sacking the cities, and creating civil war. In that case the Foreign Powers would have to step in, and might find it necessary to administer parts or even the whole of the Empire. Great Britain onght assuredly, in such a case, seeing that her interests in China so greatly preponderate dver those of all other nations, to take her full share in any action that may be essential to preserve peace and order in the Central Kingdom. She ought also to be ready to assert and maintain her rights if, as is not improbable, some alterations in the map of China follow the conclusion of the present conflict.
At that mournful time when Death's igy hand bad fallen on the Czar ALEXANDER III, and the Prince of WALES, as uncle to NICHOLAS II., bore so prominent a part in the melancholy ceremonies that followed, Russia and Great Britain were drawn together by the sympathy that flowed out from the latter, and which was warinly ap preciated in the great Muscovite Empire. Thereafter and in some degree perhaps in consequence thereof, a better understanding arose between the two great Powers. The distrust felt by a very large section of the British public for Russia and the Russian Government, if not actually dissipated, be- | came greatly modified while many journals warmly advocated an Anglo-Russian alliance. No actual alliance was entered into, but it was commonly believed and understood that, so far as Eastern Asia was concerned, the two Powers had come to a mutual under- standing and would act in concert. There can be no doubt that such was the wish of the young CZAR, and it is certain his lean- ings must count for much in the framing of the foreign policy of Russia. In this belief the British Press and people have looked ou with equanimity while ship after ship has been despatched from Europe to reinforce the Russian squadron in the Pacific. The additions to the Russian naval power in these waters have been, comparatively, far greater than those made to the British Squadron, which has been temporarily strengthened during the Chino-Japanese war by five cruisers and two gunboats, for the better protection of British commercial interests on the coasts and in the ports of China. The Russian fleet was first increased
FE.
the addition to it, last year, of the clad Admiral Nohimoff and the cruisers da and Zabiyaka, while during the pre- year it has been further reinforced by ironclads Pamiat Azova, and Vladimir nomach, two or three torpedo cruisers done torpedo boat. The garrison at ladivostock has also been considerably einforced. That of Hongkong has not been increased by single man, and the Squadron has been reduced by the des. patch homeward, first of the cruiser Fallas, then of the cruiser Crescent, next of the gun boat Pigeon to the Indian Station, while now the cruiser Gibraltar is leaving for home, to be followed in a few days by the cruiser Severn. The much talked of replacement of the hulk Victor Emanuel by the battle ship Nelson has not taken place, and the Squadron will no doubt soon be further weakened by the return of the Edgar, Spartan, and Holus, in which event. its last state will be worse than its first.
MANDARIN ARKOGANCE AND THE
PROSPECT OF REFORM.
Although the Chinese Empire lies to-day practically helpless and well nigh at the mercy of the conquering forces from Dai Nippon, the arrogance of the mandarins to wards foreigners of all nations remains undi- minished, and the ignorance of the Chinese people away from the coast is as invincible as ever. A Wenchow correspondent relates how heoverbeard recently a native remark, They say the foreigners are rebelling, but it must be mere talk, to which the listeners assented, having neither knowledge nor suspicion that a foreign invader was thundering at the gate, having destroyed the first line of Chinese defence. Nor can the common people un- derstand for what purpose the Government require the loan now being raised. Viceroy of the Two Kwang has had much difficulty in bringing this so-called voluntary loan up to the right side of twe million taels, By making concessions to the various guilds in the manner of collecting lekin and other taxes and no doubt also by applying the screw pretty freely the amount has been brought up to nearly two and a half million taels! And this is supposed to be a volun-
[April 11, 1895.
provinces, and so long as the hostilities are at a distance and do not directly affect them they feel little or no interest in the course of events. The Peiyang Squadron may be effaced from the seas, the great naval stations captured and destroyed, and Man- churia itself fall into the hand of the invader, but the toilers in the interior of the Empire do not know, and, if told, will not feel these reverses as national disasters or as immediately concerning them.
If this apathy and indifference to the blows which are being showered on the Central Kingdom on the part of its denizens only affected themselves it would matter nothing to the foreigners living on its fringe and engaged in its trade. But unfortunately the Chinese in their ignorance and preju- dice having decided that there is nothing good in the "outer barbarians," and having set them down as responsible for the losses that have been suffered, the anti-foreign feeling always existing has only become intensifed A. Shanhaikwan incidents have just occurred which show how little the Chinese bave profited from their experiences. Four Korean priests were discovered one day looking at one of the temples, and they were promptly seized as Japanese spies, and, despite their protestations of inuocence and of Chinese sympathies, they were awarded a thousand strokes
with the bamboo, from the effects of which it is thought they cannot recover. About the same time the local mandarins swooped down upon the American Methodist Mission premises, which they subjected to a minute search, in the course of which they carried off a quantity of sycee, dragged the native preacher and the chapel keeper off to the yamen, and detained them there all night. At Wenchow, too, the officials have taken up a strong anti-foreign attitude, having seemingly determined to prevent any Euro- pean acquiring any land at the port, as notices have been sent to the tipaos instruct- ing them not to allow any such sale or transfer of land. This is a new develop- ment at Wenchow. In no part of China do foreigners find the officials at all more dis- posed to do them justice, or to make con- cessions than was the case before the war, at which time mandarin obstructiveness appeared to have reached a climax. Ex- perientia docet is a maxim that does not apply in China, so far as the officials are concerned at any rate, and there is every reason to believe that, if peace were now concluded on terms fairly favourable to China, in a few years all the lessons of the war would be forgotten, and official ar rogance would be more pronounced than
The ever.
Meantime the French Squadron has been materially increased, and the new vessels have not been ordered home again. Fre. sumably the British Government has good reasons for placing implicit reliance on Russian assurances, and it may be desirable to give Japan proofs of trust, but there are other ways, we submit, of showing confidence in our friends which would, in the presencetary contribution to a loan, for which bonds of possible dangers, at present unsuspected, be safer of adoption. The saying attributed to the great PROTECTOR, “Put your trust in God; but mind to keep your powder diy,' may well be laid to heart in the present in- stance. Russia may be our Providence, but nevertheless it will be prudent to be prepared for any emergency. We have not duly Russia to consider in the present crisis. That extremely touchy neighbour of ours across the English Channel, who is for ever on the watch to discover evidences of perfidy and bad faith on our part, cannot, unfor- tunately, be trusted owing to her ceaseless
bearing, nominally, good interest are offered! Iu Wenchow proclamations asking the people to subscribe to a similar loan are posted, and the people venture on mild sneers like the following:-"How poor the Emperor has become, that he must go round begging; who's going to lend him money? So little sympathy has the Central Government from the people, where they are remote from the influence of Peking, and care nothing for the Emperor or the dynasty. The Emperor represents a tradition rather than a person. age or even an entity to the mass of the people, especially those of the southern
J
Even now the mandarins still refer officially to the Japanese as the "dwarf pirates," or wo-jen, and still offer rewards for Japanese captured or killed, placards to that effect having only lately been posted at Shanhaikwan.
There is some disposition among the Man- chus to inaugurate reforms, if the Peking correspondents of our Shanghai morning contemporary are well informed, and the young Emperor is strongly in favour of sweeping administrative changes be ing made, but it is very doubtful whe ther either His Majesty or any of his relatives has the power to institute them, or to effectively fight against the vis inertia of the Chinese, which is sufficient to paralyse the efforts and wear out the enthusiasm of a far more energetic mind than that of the de- licate youth who now occupies the Dragon Throne. The correspondent above referred to very truly remarks:—“
The Manchus and
Chinese do not draw together; the former are progressive, the latter conservative. The country is one vast jelly-fish withou