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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
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(No. 142.) Sir,
No. 1.
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received May 23.)
Peking, May 5, 1910. WITH reference to my despatch No. 119 of the 21st ultimo, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a report drawn up by Mr. Hewlett, His Majesty's consul at Changsha, upon the recent riots at that port, and the probable causes of the disturbances.
The actual course of events is described in detail by Mr. Hewlett, and his account does not call for any particular comment on my part. It will be the work of time to disentangle one from the other the various causes which contributed to the outbreak. In his despatch No. 496 of the 31st December last, Sir John Jordan reported fully upon the case of the International Export Company's land, to which reference is made in paragraph 2 of the despatch enclosed, and stated that, in his opinion, Changsha was, with the exception of Canton, the most likely city to be the scene of disturbances of an anti-foreign or anti-governmental nature. Since the ground had been so well prepared for a turbulent movement, and the populace and gentry were in the temper fitted to revolution, it is difficult to ascertain with any degree of accuracy what started the riot and who were its leaders. The populace at Changsha are ignorant, conceited, and many of them on the verge of starvation, the gentry are for the most part arrogant and self-seeking; the authorities, as events have proved, are hopelessly weak and inefficient. A combination of these conditions is nearly always productive of unrest, ond it requires but slight provocation to bring matters to a head.
From Mr. Hewlett's report it would seem that the Guild of Masons took a leading part in fomenting the disturbances. I shall have the honour of addressing a further despatch to you as to the alleged presence among the rioters of so-called boxers," but, whatever the truth of this rumour, there appears to be no doubt that the rioting proceeded upon a systematic plan, that the rioters were organised, and provided with house-breaking implements, that they worked in small bands, were comparatively few in number, and could easily have been dispersed. The lamentable weakness of the authorities is indeed the most significant feature of the whole occurrence. They had at their disposal close upon 6,000 foreign drilled troops, whose conduct and discipline during the riots appear to have been all that could be desired. These troops were amply sufficient to deal with the situation, but were apparently deliberately ordered to remain passive spectators. I mentioned in my despatch No. 119 the rumour, which I could hardly believe at the time, that two soldiers had been beheaded for firing on the crowd, and from Mr. Hewlett's report, the rumour would appear to be true, so that the only energetic measure taken by the authorities was to inflict drastic punishment on the soldiers, who did that which all the troops should have been ordered to do, and attempted to affect the obvious purpose for which they were called out, the preservation of order.
Another point which is made clear in Mr. Hewlett's report is that he repeatedly warned the authorities that trouble was coming and that they as often assured him that they had taken full measures to meet any such eventuality, Apart from communicating to the governor and taotai the letter of warning, which he received on the 5th April and of which mention is made in my despatch No. 119, he made representations on the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th April, and on these three last occasions was given the fullest assurances of protection. Further, while the disturbances were in progress, the taotai on three separate occasions declared that troops had been sent to protect the missions, which declaration was quite untrue.
The "North China Daily News," on the 25th April, published what appears to be a succinct and accurate account of the riots, and I have the honour to enclose it also for your information.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
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