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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
BRITAIN AND THE CHENGCHOW! the present case we are in hearty accord
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MURDERS.
with the Hankow correspondent of our ! Northern contemporary
that, if this pastime of butchering inoffensive British subjects, as if they were so many mad dogs, is ever to be put a stop to, the responsible officials must be dealt with." The Chinese Government did not make the slightest attempt to deal with them in the Cheng chow case, even though the Governor of the province went so far as to denounce them and edicts for their “ degradation" were issued. The demands of Consul-General FRASER, one of the British consular officials, of the type required, but rare, in China, and the response of the Chinese authorities, are set forth in the letter from Haukow. It is unnecessary to expatiate on the dishonest evasiveness or the contemptuous levity (to use a phrase already applied by a London con- temporary) displayed by the Chinese. We may call attention to the last paragraph in the Hapkow letter His Majesty's
Government and Minister,
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(Daily Press, 5th November.) For the past six days Hongkong has been thrown into a state bordering at least on excitement by an unwonted display of naval activity in this, usually the restful season of the year for the warships on the China station, accompanied by a sudden cessation in the movement of troops leaving Hong koug for the South. Naturally the rumours arising from such a combination of events have been numerous and wild. It only wanted the arrival of alarming news from the North to cause something approaching a panic. But Shangbai, the home of bunders," was silent. This at least proved one thing, that no serious trouble had occurred in Shanghai itself over the evacuation, as soine people inagined. Furthermore, as those
whose business compelled them to watch the home money market carefully pointed out, there was no agitation of that market which indicated international complications or even a serious difficulty with Chiua. A consideration of these facts led to the abatement of any ! scare in Hongkong and the theory became general at the beginning of this week that the naval activity was of the nature of an experimental demonstration, or at any rate did not portend anything very grave, whereas the detaining of the Fusiliers in Hongkong was but a coincidence. The arrival from the North yesterday of the Shanghai papers up to last Saturday's date helps us at least to form an estimate of the situation actually based on trust- worthy reports. We may now examine what intelligence has come to land.
In the first place, it may be said that all the information which reaches us points to the naval activity here being occasioned by the necessity of a strong appeal to the Chinese Imperial Government in connection with the Chengchow murders on the 15th August last. Diplomatic relations between Britain and China came to breaking point over this when Sir ERNEST SATOW refused 10 attend the Imperial audience at Peking on the 18th ultimo. With reference to this the Peking and Tientsin Times says that the essential points of the case were these :- In the official documents transmitted to Sir ERNEST SATOw by the Wai Wu Pu on the recent murder of British subjects at Cheng- chow, there were certain characters used in connection with the British name that our Legation people deemed objectionable, if not positively offensive. The Minister drew formal attention to their presence, and received what he deemed an inadequate explanation of apology. Sir ERNEST in- stantly took the only course open to a Minister with any just sense of the dignity of his Sovereign and his mission, and absented himself from the audience. This explanation of Sir ERNEST SATOW's attitude, it may be remarked, is hardly sufficient. is obvious that the Chinese Government had offended more deeply than by a mere indiscreet use of Chinese terms about "barbarian nation. That this was £0 is practically proved by the letter published in another column from the Haukow correspondent of the North- China Daily News. The writer of that letter gives a concise account of the massacre and of the attitude of the Chinese local officials before, during, and after the event. Nothing could have been more brutal and wicked. We have never been supporters of indiscriminate missionary activity nor of the policy of making attacks on missionaries an excuse for wholesale executions or for extorting concessions from China. Put in
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November 8, 1902.
would probably be a better term-certainly resulted in showing that in its present form, from errors of omission as well as cominission, and also from serious defects in the wording which throw grave doubts upon its correct rendering, the treaty is, even when compered with former conven- tions with China, a monument of blunder- ing; and from these considerations alone will need careful revision and amendment. But its defects go further than this, and are fundamental. inasmuch as when sifted its clauses are found utterly to belie the pro- posed objects it was ostensibly put forward as ensuring. A strange point was somewhat feebly attempted to be made in its favour, that the Association has more than once pointed out that an increase of import duties even to ten per cent,, if it could be made to supersede the illegal taxation to which trade in the interior is at present subjected, would be gladly accepted. "See, Mr. DUDGEON triumphantly exclaimed, how you would stultify the Association. You have all through favoured the exchange ' of lekin for higher import duties; yet when "Sir JAMES MACKAY actually extinguishes forever lekin, as an abomination not to be mentioned amongst the elect, you cavil at "his having raised the import duty to a "miserable twelve and a half per cent." To this somewhat foolish charge of inconsis tency there were two replies, both effective. In the first place the proposed increase to twelve and a half per cent. is a very differ eut thing from the ten per cent. spoken of by the Association. As matters stood under the then existing treaties, only the Import Tariff of five per cent. was actually payable, and the majority of the imports, going as they do into consumption in the neighbour- hood of the ports, have never been called on to pay any surcharge. Moreover there was a large duty-free list, the imports under which, taking Mr. DUDGEON's own showing, now amount to some ten million taels per annum. On both of these it is intended to raise an additional duty. The excess under the system thought of by the Association would have amounted to, at the outside, some fifteen million taels per annum ; on the scheme proposed by Sir JAMES MACKAY the difference would be at least twenty-six and a half millions. It is possible in all things to pay too dearly for one's whistle; and so evidently thought the majority of the members. But there is a second point, of even graver importance, brought into pro- minence at the discussion, Sir JAMES MACKAY bas stated that he has succeeded in abolishing the very name of lekin, and has so controlled the number of custoin houses in the interior that they cannot become an obstacle to trade. Now, what is the state of the case? As a rule the barriers which have attained notoriety by their ubiquity and the damage they inflict on trade are not known as lekin stations but by many other names varying in different localities. The stipulation to sup- press the name practically then amourts to little-words, mere words, in fact; but the supporters of the treaty would have us believe it is the principle that is to be abolished. Unfortunately this is left to be understood, and as hitherto the Chinese have invariably-and can we quite blame them?-held that they are entitled to interpret their privileges as extending to the furthest limits an indefinite clause may be made to bear, we may feel assured they will continue to adopt the same practice in the future. The way is in fact prepared for such an interpretation. Sir JAMES MACKAY has stated in so many words that the increased duties are in compensation for the abolition of lekin, and most people
fied with the justice of their demands, "have ordered up the gunboats.
CA The probability is that all will be settled before they arrive. The Chinese authori- ties uo Inger argue, but appeal art misericordian to have the terms mitigated, especially to have the decapitation altered to something else. If H.M. Government stands to its terms the Chinese will give in in any case what is insisted on how "will be oltamed." This we are glad to think. We must, however, refer to one story reported by the North-China Daily News as in circulation among the Shanghai mandarins last week. According to this, when the news of the despatch from Ilong kong to Shanghai and Yangtsze ports of a large British squadron of armoured ships and gunboats was transmitted by telegraph to the Grand Secretary YUNG LU in Peking, the latter at once went to Eho Park and showed the telegram to the Empress Dowager. The conference between the two is stated to have been very secret, but when the Grand Secretary left the Presence he was distinctly heard to say: "Well, there is no help for it but to send troops to oppose any hostile movements.” This he said repeatedly, to no one, however, in particular, concludes the story. Perhaps too much attention must not be paid to this. Com monseuse is not expected of YUNG LU, who is hardly likely to have been convinced, by the manner in which some of the prominent criminals in the "Boxer' rising got off, that it is necessary to be thorough in carrying out promises of punishment for outrages against Europeans. It is hoped, however, by this time that he and the rest of the Chinese Government have been brought to their senses, and that the demonstration which lately alarmed us has by now had its effect.
THE CHỊNA ASSOCIATION AND SIR J MACKAY'S TREATY.
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(Daily Press, 3rd November.) Notwithstanding the extraordinary threat held over it, that if it failed to express its approval of Sir JAMES MACKAY'S treaty with China, the China Association would extinguish itself," and would lose its own special raison d'étre, the Shanghai branch made bold on the 27th ultimo to contravene the somewhat mean-spirite i cajoleries of the Committee, and forced the acceptance of an ancudment, which although ostensibly framed to "save the face" of the Committee really amounted to a condemnation of its whole proceedings. The criticism to which the Eighth Clause of the treaty, as it is called in many quarters-though convention
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