The summer has been unusually wet throughout the province and much distress caused among the lower classes by floods. The crops, however, do not appear to have suffered, and the harvest, particularly of rice, is a very fair one.
Vice-Admiral Sir A. Moore, Commander-in-Chief on the China station arrived at Chungking on His Majesty's ship "Widgeon" on the 11th October after five days' steaming through the rapids and gorges from Ichang. He called on the Taotai and Chentai, and his visit seems generally to have created a good impression.
Hupei and Hunan.
The Viceroy Chang Chih Tung, just before leaving Wuchang, decided that the Hupei Railway Office should enter into a two years' contract with a British engineer, Mr. Ross, as executive engineer, with liberty to lend him to the Hunan Railway Company. The contract is to be signed and dated the 5th July, the day of Mr. Ross' arrival at Hankow, as soon as telegraphic instructions to that effect are received from his Excellency from Peking. It is expected that work on the section Changsha Chu-chou Chên will then be undertaken as soon as possible. Assurances have been given to Mr. Consul-General Fraser that Mr. Ross will be given a free hand in Hunan.
Feuds between Sikhs at Hankow are of frequent occurrence. Over the Sikh police the Consul-General now has more or less effective control, but there are numbers of watchmen and unemployed who live in other concessions, in the native town and in other places round Hankow. Mr. Fraser considers their presence in Treaty ports in increasing numbers as a menace to peace and good order in our relations with the Chinese people and their authorities, who regard them all as employés of the British authorities. At the same time it is difficult to see what steps can be taken beyond the issue of the notice inclosed in my despatch No. 414 of the 15th October, 1907, the provisions of which cannot, however, be enforced upon private individuals engaging watchmen nor upon foreign municipalities other than British. The restriction of emigration from India except under proper guarantees and passports would be the only remedy, but there would probably be many difficulties in the way of such a course.
According to the Rev. Arnold Foster, a missionary of long experience in Wuchang, the schools started by the late Viceroy are shutting up. The scholars have now to live in inns and pay their own board and lodging. This and the low character and attainments of the Government school teachers has led to repeated complaints of parents and the withdrawal of their children.
In the Liuyang district of Hunan, on the Kiangsi border, a state of chronic unrest appears to exist, and the local authorities are in constant apprehension of an outbreak. It is said that a military graduate named Chu Yen Sen has enrolled four or five thousand followers with a view to creating trouble when a favourable opportunity occurs, but the Governor of Hunan knows little of their desires and movements.
Anhui.
Great nervousness in regard to revolutionaries exists among the provincial authorities, and a very close watch is kept on all passengers landing from steamers at the various ports of call; all luggage and coffins are very carefully searched for smuggled arms and ammunition. The cutting off of the queue, which is regarded as an outward sign of revolutionary sympathies, has been expressly prohibited.
Mr. Goffe, His Majesty's Consul at Wuhu, reports that the general attitude of the new Governor towards foreigners is hostile and that during his short tenure of office he has made it abundantly clear that foreign interests will receive scant consideration at his hands.
Very little progress has recently been made with the Anhui Railway. The foundation work of a few bridges has been begun and some culverts prepared, but no embankment has yet been started.
Kiangsu.
Fears have been entertained that there would be a recrudescence in the autumn of the disastrous famine which visited part of this province in the autumn of last and in the spring of this, but His Majesty's Consul at Chinkiang hears that the crops this year are unusually good, so it is to be hoped that these fears will not be realized.
On the 17th October the first through trains between Shanghae and Chinkiang began to run, and it is not impossible that the whole line from Shanghae to Nanking may be in working order by April next.
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COAST PROVINCES.
Chekiang.
Disturbances, which were suspected to be of an anti-dynastic character, took place in various parts of the province during the latter part of June and July and occasioned the local authorities much anxiety. Quiet was, however, gradually restored, and the unpopular Governor Chang Tseng Yang transferred to Soochow as Governor of Kiangsu. His Excellency was a man of bad temper and harsh character and incurred much hatred by the ruthless manner in which he dealt with the rioters and their adherents. The reforms which he was credited with the desire of inaugurating were never carried out, mainly owing to lack of funds. Although not pro-foreign, he showed himself determined to have no murders of missionaries within his jurisdiction, and never failed to take prompt and effective precautionary measures when applied to.
The Hangchow section of the railway from Chiang Kan, south of the city, to Hu Shu near the Settlement on the north was opened to goods traffic in July. As passenger cars failed to arrive, goods waggons were fitted with seats and passengers have been carried since the end of August, though the line will not be officially opened until the arrival of the cars from Europe, the date of which is still uncertain. It is estimated that the receipts of the line now average £500 a-month.
The line is now being extended towards Kashing and embankments have been completed for a distance of some 15 miles to Liu Ping.
Fukien.
Work has been begun on the Amoy end of the Amoy-Changchou Railway and a couple of miles of embankment have been completed. The line is a Chinese undertaking, and a Board of Directors was appointed on the 19th August. There has been no public call for tenders, but a British firm, Messrs. Tait and Co., has secured a contract for the supply of picks, shovels, and other tools. On the other hand, a contract for two locomotives has been divided between a Japanese and a German firm, the British firm referred to complaining that they lost the contract, a small one but carrying the promise of others in the future, because of the attitude of their principals in England, who refused to submit specifications, &c., but desired to have these sent to them first. The Directors of the Company do not appear to be conversant with railway matters. On a catalogue of engines being submitted to them they spent some time in admiring the locomotives depicted, but unfortunately they held the book upside down. Rails and rail accessories are to be obtained from the Hangyang Arsenal.
Kuangtung.
Pakhoi District. The disturbances which took place in this district during the summer have been reported upon in separate despatches. Small outbreaks are still of frequent occurrence, and there seems to be a general feeling of insecurity. Although the officials profess to feel security, Mr. Fletcher, Second Assistant in charge of His Majesty's Consulate, considers that the general position is far from assuring, and that everything seems to point to a serious outbreak growing imminent. The Port of Pakhoi is somewhat isolated, and communications are uncertain, as all telegraph wires pass through the disturbed areas.
Thibet.
The Rev. T. H. Edgar, in letters to the Acting British Consul-General at Chengtu from Litang and Batang, dated the 16th and 28th August, states that he can see no signs of Chinese colonization, nor does he think that such colonization is possible without dispossessing the natives. On the whole he considers that the Thibetans are being well treated by the Chinese, and that they are happier under them than when they were under their own Lamas and native Chiefs. In Batang the utter subjection of the Lamas is very noticeable, but the country does not present the same military appearance as Litang, where there are 1,000 men, and which shows signs of becoming an important military station.
The unfortunate experiences of an American named Demenil and a German named Dr. Tafel, while travelling in the native States on the Thibetan border, called forth a despatch from the Viceroy of Szechuan to the foreign Consuls, drawing attention to the fact that recent cases had occurred of foreign travellers, unprovided with passports,
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