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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
RECR
450
9850
[March EC 4 APR 10
CONFIDENTIAL,
SECTION 1.
[7425]
Sir,
No. 1.
Messrs, Brunner, Mond, and Co, to Foreign Office-Received March 3.)
Northwich, March 2, 1910. AT the request of our chairman, Sir John Brunner, we beg to enclose herewith a report which we have received from our resident manager, Mr. E. S. Little of Shanghae, on the political situation in China, which we think may be of interest to you.
Yours respectfully, For Brunner, Mond, and Co. (Limited),
ROSCOE BRUNNER,
Managing Director,
Enclosure in No. 1.
Memorandum by Mr. Little on the Political Situation in China (written en route
to Ichang).
I DEEM it my duty to write you the following memorandum on the political conditions in China, setting out certain facts and the deduction I draw from the same. The situation is developing so rapidly that it is desirable you should be informed as soon as possible of the present trend of events in this Empire.
In previous years I have informed you that, in my opinion, there was little likelihood of a revival of the Boxer folly, and that the policy of the Government, though as anti-foreign as ever, took the form of restricting foreigners' rights and not of cutting their throats. While at the time that statement was made it was quite correct, we are now passing from that condition into a more acute stage when we may expect violent and bloody outbreaks against foreigners somewhat after the Boxer style, but conducted by the student classes. These outbreaks are inevitable, unless immediate and drastic steps are taken. There is only one possible outcome to the present policy.
The whole policy and thought of Chinese Government and people is now directly or indirectly levelled against the foreigner, as the following among many other facts will show -
The Carved Melon. -In Chinese political writings the carving of a melon is a metaphor employed to describe the cutting up and division of political territory.
As in India, in the pre-mutiny days, the chuputty cakes were mysteriously circulated throughout the land, so there has suddenly come to light simultaneously all over the Empire of China circulars in varying terms, but all conveying the same meaning, namely, that China is to be carved up this coming spring like a melon and divided among the foreign lowers; to avert this calamity all students and other loyal Chinese are called upon to enrol themselves as volunteer soldiers, learn the use of arms, and prepare to fight the foreigner and drive him bag and baggage from the coast of China.
This document has appeared in many forms; in newspapers, as circulars posted on city walls, and in other ways, and has everywhere stirred up men's minds. It is, I find as I travel, the one subject of conversation. From north to south, from east to west, it has appeared and is doing its deadly work. Unless I am much mistaken this "carved melon" document will cause important developments in the near future, and will take its place in history as a famous episode in China's career.
The immediate result of this publication is that the students--a noisy, irre- sponsible, and fiery class-have become violently excited. They are everywhere talking of warlike deeds and enrolling themselves as volunteer soldiers and drilling.
[2675 c--1]
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