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Government has lost upon the provinces since 1900 is the notable feature of the present situation in Peking.
I have, &c. (Signed)
J. N. JORDAN.
P.S.---Since writing the above I have received an Intelligence Report from the Acting British Consul at Hangchow, of which I have the honour to inclose an extract. In view of what Sir Robert Hart told me, and of the universal vigilance of the Customs' inspection, information of which reaches me from several quarters, there can be no doubt that the Viceroy of Chilli, and probably also the Central Govern- ment, are apprehensive of an anti-dynastic movement, and that foreigners are in some way suspected of being connected with it. For this suspicion there is not, so far as I know, a particle of evidence.
(No. 186.) Sir,
Inclosure I in No. 1.
Consul-General Sir P. Warren to Sir J. Jordan.
J. N. J.
Shanghae, December 24, 1906.
I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith, for your information, copy and translation of an extract from the "Nan Fang Pao" of the 15th instant, being instructions from his Excellency Chang Chih Tung on the subject of rebellious Societies, giving particulars as to their methods and organization.
I have, &c. (Signed)
(Translation.)
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
PELHAM WARREN,
Extract from the "Non Fang Pao" of December 15, 1906.
Confidential Instructions from the Hukuong Viceroy.
THE foreign adviser reports as follows:-
Of the large rebellious Associations one is the Kolao Hui, which exists in a secret manner in the Yang-tsze region, and of which the bead is one Wang Sheng; another is the Triad Society, which exists in the Two Kuang, Kueichou and Fukien, of which Sun Wen is bead, and these two Associations have in the course of time united, and now form the Tung Meng Hui (Alliance Society), and Sun Wen is the head, Wang Sheng the second. Their cry is "Down with the Manchus!" and " Revolution!" They establish branches everywhere, and men of all provinces join them, 60 per cent. of the Hunan men being members. The Kolao Hui in Hunan is in three divisions-- the red division, consisting chiefly of rowdies; the blue and black divisions being mostly men of rank and merchants. The Ch'ang Sha leader is Tsung Huang, a wealthy leader, who is also known as Hsia Ming, 40 years of age; 500 of the Chang Sha garrison are members, and 500 of the police force of Yochou, as well as 3,000 men of the provincial army. The head in Hupei Province is one Lin Chia Yun, and at Wuch ang and Hankow a younger brother of Ho Taotai, Commander of the Kueilin new model forces. At Shahshib, a rich merchant named Ts ao Yu Ying, 39 years old. A third of the officials, troops, and men in the arsenal at Wuch'ang are members.
A meeting was held in July, at which twenty-five military officers and many soldiers were present. Before the union of the two Societies, the leaders asked for help from Great Britain, France, and Japan, and sought their recognition. Certain foreigners concerted with the heads of the Societics at Wuch'aug, Chang Sha, Kiukiang, Nan Chang, Nanking, Foochow, Canton, Kueilin, Kueiyang, and Sun Wen collected 3,000,000 taels from the Chinese merchants at Singapore, Kalumpor, Hong Kong, &c., and this was deposited chiefly with the . . . . Bank, and large quantities of munitions were purchased. The original idea was to take the opportunity of the
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autumn manœuvres for a rising; but Wang Sheng altered the time to the end of the year, as the Yang-tsze leaders were not ready. I cannot say if this be a fact or not.
A Chinese officer reported to the same effect. He says:-
The Ko Ming Society in Hunan was broken up the year before last, and was converted into a "Secret Society," the objects of which have been anarchical, and its beginnings were in Tokio. It gradually spread into the inland parts of China. The officers of this Society belong to the waterway districts, and they busy themselves with cementing the relationships of the branches; but the Settlements at Shanghae and the Kiangnan Arsenal (Kao Chang Miao) neighbourhood are their biding-places; their head-quarters are Hunan and Hupei, these being in reach of Kiaugsi on the east and Canton Province on the south. The idea was to command Szechuan, and so move north, while a force was to go by Shensi, thus rendering complete defence impossible. The capital of Hunan was to be their head city, and a central house was to be established there, and there were in addition four lodges, each with its own organization, east, west, south, and north.
The seat of the south branch was at Linchou, in Hunan, in direct com- munication with Loch'ang and Ping Shih, in Kuangtung, Shao Kuan, and Canton Province, and also in control of the Pao Ching and Yung Chou Prefecture organizations.
The east lodge has its seat at Hsiang Tung, in Liling district, to be in direct communication with Yuan Chou and Lin An Prefectures, the chief points being Kiukiang and Huk'ou (this part of the scheme involves extreme danger). The seat of the north was at Ch'ing Chiang, south of Yochou, in Hunan, in close com- munication with Wuch'ang and Hankow. Drilling went on as of village militia, and under this guise desperate enterprises were prepared. At a moment's warning they were to rise and make a determined effort to seize the Tungting Lake.
Another branch came into existence in Hupei, of which the objective was Tion Chia Chen, in Wu Hsueh, with the purpose of holding the key to the northern approach. There was to be no immediate attack upon the Lower Yang-tsze for fear of opposition on the part of Great Britain, and although there were many confederates at Tungehou, Ta Tung, Hsiang Yang, and Chinkiang, these were only to serve as hindrances to any forces sent out against the movement; those places were not the important ones.
The seat of the west lodge was to be at Hang Chou, in Hunan, in connection with Kuanghai, and the disbanded soldiers and the bad characters there, and with the Miao and Yao tribes in Kueichou, in Hunan, and Chang Chou and Li Ling Prefectures, in Kuanghsi, were under them.
This fire has been smouldering many a day. All the officials of the Association are divided into two sections, the Wai Pu and the Nei Pu. All of these Wai Pu made their arrangements in the Straits, &c., and of these Sun Wen is the head, men like Huang Ta Wu and Liu Lin Sheng being his lieutenants, and they are the chief plotters. These are the people by whom the Chinese merchants in foreign countries, enraged at the failure of their Governments to protect them against oppression, are influenced and subscribe to their schemes, in the hope that when the plot has succeeded they may be granted some better kind of protection.This is a note of the official making the Report.] They (the Wai Pu) purchase and ship munitions of I hear that the munitions and dynamite are purchased from a certain country and stored in Singapore with the idea of shipping them to the Indian Railways, then to Chen Nan Kurn in Yunnan, and so conveying them into the interior. Great Britain has not allowed this, and it has not been possible to convey them by this route. I shall report further when I have found out actually about this.
war.
The Wai Pu also makes Agreements with foreign Powers. Three Powers have already consented to recognize the Independent State, and have made Agreements with them, by which when the success is assured twenty and more new mercantile ports are to be opened, and a guarantee has been given for the protection of the property of foreign merchants and the churches, and for recompense in case of any damage or destruction. These matters are under the Wai Pu's direction. members do not corue into China.
Tts.
The Nei Pu members are all distributed along the Yang-tsze, and there make their secret dispositions. Such as these are Cheng Hsien Sheng, Li Hsieh Ho,
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