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It is hardly necessary for me to the accompanying note from the Wai-wu Pu, point out that the Chinese Government's answer is quite unsatisfactory, though the German Legation expressed the opinion that their arguments were conclusive. I bave, in my minute on this note for circulation among my colleagues, laid stress upon the fact that the Chinese Government have taken seven months to reply to our repre- sentations and have suggested that we should, as a first step, " enquire of the consular body at Shanghae whether any practical steps have been taken by the Chinese Govern- ment towards the improving of the sanitation and the policing of the district in question before accepting these vague assurances as satisfactory."
No action has, however, so far been taken by the doyen, and there the question of the extension of the settlement stands, as far as the joint action of the diplomatic corps is concerned. I have, however, as subsequently stated, ascertained for myself from Sir Pelham Warren that nothing has been done towards the improvement of the sanitation or policing.
The effect of all these negotiations with the central Government and the local authorities would appear to have been to stimulate them to active measures, taken, not with the desire to effect any real improvements, but to hamper all foreign enterprises and injure all foreign interests in the Paoshan district. The cases of Mr. Algar's land and the Dixwell road extension, of which mention is made above, are examples of this obnoxious policy, while the request made by the Wai-wu Pu that the telephone company should be instructed to confine its operations within the settlement limits, which is fully reported in my despatch No. 133 of the 30th ultimo, is to be attributed largely to the same cause. But the most serious instance of interference, and one which may,
unless firm measures are taken, lead to a regrettable incident, forms the subject of Sir Pelham Warren's despatch No. 31 of the 5th ultimo, of which I have the honour to enclose a copy. The unwarrantable obstruction which has been offered to the legitimate enterprises of the Shanghac gas and water companies is fully explained and the question reviewed in all its bearings in this despatch, and I need only say that I am in complete accord with what Sir Pelham Warren says on the subject.
On the 30th ultimo His Majesty's consul-general telegraphed that the taotai had refused to agree to the terms upon which Sir Pelham Warren was ready to consent to a temporary limitation of the right of the two companies to extend their mains on Chinese-owned property pending discussions of the whole question, although be had made concessions to him in agreeing that a period of two months should be allowed for the discussion, during which time any permits required by the companies must be applied for through His Majesty's consulate-general, and in reducing the distance of 200 yards from the main pipes to 150 yards; while the taotai wished him to agree at once to a definite limitation of area and to the grant of reciprocal privileges to the proposed Chinese company. Sir Pelham Warren stated that interference by the Chinese police with the employés of the companies had recommenced, and he asked whether he might take steps to afford protection to the companies' interests, as he was convinced that energetic action in one instance would strengthen the taotai's hands against the opposition of the gentry and enable him to assent to Sir Pelham Warren's proposal.
I have instructed Sir Pelham Warren in reply that such interference by the Chinese police cannot be allowed, and that he should take effective steps to afford protection to the companies while engaged in their legitimate business outside settlement limits. I have requested him to inform the taotai of these instructions, and if he does not receive a prompt and satisfactory reply, to take such action as he may consider necessary to show that he is in earnest, while avoiding, if possible, the actual employment of force and allowing the aggression, if any, to come from the Chinese side. I have instructed him further that the Chinese police cannot in any case be allowed to exercise their duties on bond fide British-owned property, as reported by him in his despatch, and that steps must be taken to prevent this.
I trust that you will approve my action in the matter.
There can, to my mind, be no doubt that the aggressive and uncompromising attitude of the Chinese authorities is part of a campaign deliberately aimed at restricting foreign enterprise, which will grow in proportion as we yield. The immediate object of the Chinese is to prevent the extension of the settlement limits; but that such extension is necessary is proved, if further proof were needed, by the condition, under Chinese rule, of the district which it is sought to incorporate. In this connection I would draw your attention to Sir Pelham Warren's description of the conditions obtaining there, which shows that practically no improvements have been effected since Sir John Jordan visited the district in the early part of 1908 and was impressed by the
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necessity of reform. I myself inspected the boundaries and all the district beyond when I was in Shanghae last December, and was disgusted at the unsanitary conditions existing close to the well-to-do foreign houses inside the settlement. It is difficult, however, to get the foreign representatives to take any concerted action when many of them, and notably the doyen himself, have little interest in the question; but the American Government, to judge from the enclosed despatch from the State Department to the American consul-general at Shanghae, which has been furnished to me confidentially by Sir Pelham Warren, are as anxious as we are to get the matter settled, and as ready to give support to the proposal of incorporation. There is some hope, therefore, that the American Minister's co-operation will make up for the half-hearted nature of the assent which the foreign representatives give to any proposal to approach the Chinese Government in the matter. I have, &c.
Your Highness,
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
Dean of Diplomatic Body to Prince Ch'ing.
August 22, 1909. I HAVE the honour to inform your Highness that in July 1908 the consular body at Shanghae addressed a communication to his Excellency the Viceroy of Nanking regarding the question of the extension of the northern boundary of the international settlement, in which it was pointed out that the duties of sanitation and police were exercised in a very defective manner in the district lying between the existing limits and the Shanghae-Nanking Railway line, and that this state of affairs constituted a permanent danger to the health and good order of the international settlement.
A resolution passed at the annual meeting of the ratepayers of the international settlement on the 22nd March of this year, urging the extension of the northern boundary, was forwarded by the consular body to the foreign representatives at Peking, and I am now desired by my honourable colleagues to invite the serious attention of the Chinese Government to the conditions obtaining in the district above mentioned, and to request that measures may be taken to ameliorate the sanitation and police, so as to remove the apprehensions justly entertained by the municipal council.
I avail, &c.
Enclosure 2 in No. 1.
Wai-wu Pu to Doyen of Diplomatic Body.
March 23, 1910.
THE chief president of the Wai-wu Pu and Frince of the 1st Order, Ch'ing, makes an official reply:
Some time ago a note was received that the consular body of Shanghae wish to extend the northern boundary of the international settlement, and that they say that the sanitary conditions and the police in the territory lying south of the Shanghae- Nanking Railway and north of the settlement are very unsatisfactory. The diplomatic body have been requested to draw the attention of the Government to this fact, and to find ways for the improvement of the sanitary conditions and police, with the view to remove the justified apprehensions of the Shanghae Municipal Council, &c.
As sanitation and police all are to be managed by the Chinese local authorities, our board at that time addressed a communication to the Superintendent of Trade for the Southern Ports (ordering him) to give orders for the management (of these affairs). Afterwards we repeatedly received telegraphic replies by the Superintendent of the Southern Ports to the following effect: For the sanitation of a place water- works are of the greatest importance." I have already ordered the Shanghae taotai to raise funds for the establishment of those; as to the necessary affairs of police I also ordered the Shanghae taotai to take part with all officials concerned in energetic action for reforms, &c.
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