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THE EVACUATION OF NEW. CHWANG AND MANCHURIA.
· (Daily Press, 24th March.) Among the subjects dealt with in the report published last week of the local branch of the China Association was that of the continued occupation of Newchwang by the Russians, and their interference with the trade of that treaty port, which, as Mr. WILCOX Baid at the meeting on the 17th instant, has led to the interchange of much correspondence and excited a great deal of just indignation on the part of those engaged in trade with Newchwang. By the French mail on Tuesday we received from London a Government White Paper (China No. 2), containing correspondence respecting the Russian occupation of Man- churia and Nowchwang and comprising 163 despatches, ranging in date from July, 1900, to January, 1904. Not all of the despatches are new, those previously published being apparently included in order to furnish a complete narrative of the negotiations The story is a most striking one of the pro- crastination and intrigue with China on the part of Russia, and of the diplomatic pressure by Great Britain, the United States, and Japan to secure evacuation and to prevent any compact between Russia and China prejudicial either to the integrity of China or to the commercial rights of the Powers. There is a great deal of interest ing matter in the White Paper, which would be well worth quotation if we could devote the space to it. However, we cannot do so, and we must content ourselves with drawing attention to a few points. The first document is noteworthy-a communicated despatch of July, 1900, from Count Lamsdorff, to the Russian Chargé d'Affaires in London setting out the objections at the time held by the Russian Government to Japan being given a special mandate in China with a view to the suppression of the insurrectionary move- ment provoked by the Boxers and the re- establishment of order at Peking and Tien- tsin. Such a special mandate to Japan might to a certainty encroach on the fundamental principles which had already been accepted by the majority of the Powers as the basis of their policy relative to events in China." So thought Count LAMSDORFF. It is well to consider his remark carefully when one analyses Russia's subsequent policy with regard to China.
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[March 26, 1904, "date would certainly have a reassuring
effect. So far as I was aware there was not "local difficulty in the way."
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The whole correspondence is a study in diplomacy. The matter is now, for the time at least, out of the hands of diploma- tists and must be till the present war ends. Then, as the Chairman said at the China Association meeting, it will be the duty of the Treaty Powers to see that their rights in Manchurian Treaty ports are secured and that no interference with Chinese con- trol is permitted in the future,
TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN HONGKONG.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
assurances. That amiable Russian diplo matist was ready with fresh assurances and talked of "the very dangerous claim of the Press and public to be admitted to a seat and voice in the councils of the Powers. The agreement fell through soon after, but in August of the same year Russia resumed negotiations with China. Britain How began to interest herself more particularly in the matter of Newchwang, pressing for the restoration of the Customs to the Chinese Government. But, as is well known, nothing happened beyond the inter- change of despatches, and affairs dragged wearily on, with more negotiations he- tween Russia and China, and Russian assurances to the Powers. Then, in May last, while Lord LANSDOWNE WILS trying to exert more energetic pressure upon Russia to evacuate, and was receiving the usual assurances, Mr. MAC- CORMICK, the United States Ambassador at S. Petersburg, confronted Count LAMSDORFF with a Note asking him whether certain further demands alleged to have been made by Russia upon China had in fact been made. The account of the interview, given by Mr. MACCORMICK to Sir C. Scorr states that "Count LAMSDORFF looked at the Note, and at once in the most positive mau- ner assured Mr. MACCORMICK that no such demands had been made by the Russian Government, and he expressed surprise that it should have been credited in any quarter that the Russian Government had presented any demands of the kind," etc. The gaine went on until, on the 25th Novem- ber last, Lord LANSDOWNE asked the Rus sian Ambassador whether a date could not be fixed for evacuation. In reply Count BENCKENDORFF "dwelt upon the danger of giving these pledges in circumstances which, as experience had shown, rendered it not always easy to fulfil them." Lord LANS- DOWNE recognised Russia's special position, but urged adherence to promises of evacua- tion, especially of Newchwang. On the 8th January of the present year Couut BENCKEN- DORFF communicated à memorandum, con- taining a formal declaration that Russia would not interfere with the enjoy ment of treaty rights by the Powers in Manchuria, and concluding thus: “Russia considers it indispensable, inde- pendently of the conditions which will in "the future definitely determine the char- "acter of her relations with Manchuria, to declare from this day forth that she has "no intention whatever of placing any "obstacle in the way of the continued " enjoyment by foreign Powers of the rights "acquired by them in virtue of the Trea- "ties now in force." On this the Marquis of LANSDOWNE sent to Sir CHABLES Scort the following despatch, the last in the White Paper before us:-"The Russian Ambas- "sador asked me for an interview to-day, "and made to me a statement in the terms of the memorandum of which a copy is "annexed. I expressed the satisfaction with "which I had listened to his Excellency's
In his remarks on the various schools "observations, which, unless I misunder- "stood them, were in accordance with which he inspected, Mr. IRVING speaks well the assurance which he had given me ou of the reorganised District schools with " previous occasions in regard to the inteu- regard-to instruction in English. Special tions of Russia towards Manchuria. attention, he says, has been paid to the "could not, however, help regretting that improvement of the Chinese masters in the "Russia should have found it impossible to method of their teaching, especially of "take even a single step in pursuance of English. These masters, he adds, are wil- "the policy which she has thus prescribedling and quick to learn, which is satisfactory "for herself. I trusted that his Excellency
It was in January, 1901, that the British Foreign Office first heard of the Manchurian agreement between China and Russia, the revealer of it being the Peking correspon- dent of the Times; and a telegram was despatched to Sir CHARLES SCOTT, at S. Petersburg, directing him to enquire into the truth of the report. The British Ambassador on the 6th February of the same year obtained from Count Lamsdorff an emphatic denial of the agreement and a statement that Russia was in the same position with regard to fixing a final date for evacuating Manchuria as the allies found themselves in with regard to the evacuation of Peking and the Province of Pechili." The Chinese Minister in London had already on the 15th January-assure l Lord LANSDOWNE that no such agreement as published in the papers had been cou- cluded. In February a memorandum was handed to the Chinese Minister at Wash- ington, warning China not to conclude an agreement with any one particular Power. In March Sir ERNEST SATOW telegraphed to the Foreign Office a translation of the Chinese text of the agreement. Sir CHARLES SCOTT was at once instructed to communicate this to Count Lamsdorff aud point out that it was irreconcilable with his
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(Daily Press, 22nd March.) In the report of Mr. E. A. IRVING, Inspector of Schools in Hongkong, which was laid on the Legislative Council table yesterday, one of the subjects to which allusion is repeatedly made is the teaching of English in the Colony's schools. It is only right that Mr. IRVING should devote considerable attention to it, for this branch of instruction is of the utmost importauce in a place like Hongkong. It has often been noted that such of the natives of this part of the world as speak French or German have a much better knowledge of the language, which- ever it is, than the average English-speak- ing
" Chinese. Partly, no doubt, this is due to the greater diffusion of English, whereby more quite illiterate natives pick up English than have a chance of getting any acquaintance with French or German But also it cannot be denied that the French and the Germans insist on a deeper know- ledge of their respective tongues than we do. The consequence is that English is the most and the worst spoken foreign language in China. The remedy for this, or a partial remedy, is a greater stress upon the teaching of English in Anglo-Chinese schools. In this direction the recent efforts of the educa. tional authorities in this Colony have been tending. The late Committee on Education made a strong point of the difficulty of co-education of young English-speaking boys with usually older Chinese boys begin- Sir HENRY ning the study of English. BLAKE also expressed the opinion (which was endorsed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies) that the difficulty should be surmounted by not teaching English to Chinese boys in the same class as Chinese until the former have a sufficient to understand knowledge of English class teaching in that language. new Grant-in-Aid Cole, introduced here on the 1st January last as a result of the labours of the Committee on Education, works more or less on these lines, for it grants ni∙l only to schools adopting Western methods of instruction, and where either English or Chinese is the medium of instrue- tion. This is a sound principle, and the authorities are to be congratulated on taking steps, if late in the day, to remedy the teaching of English in Hongkong.
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since, if a knowledge of English is to spread rapidly, we shall have to depend on Chinese masters for the instruction of the lowest standards. The change for the better in English-speaking at his latest inspection Mr. IRVING found most promising. The "talk courageously," and y senior boys now
would forgive me for telling him frankly "that, in this country, people were looking for some concrete evidence of Russia's "intention to make good her promises. An
announcement, for example, that chwang was to be evacuated at au
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