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only right and fair to give credit where credit is due, and that it might be politic, and would at any rate be a graceful act, to convey, through the Central Government, to the troops who guarded His Majesty's consulate, some tangible mark of appreciation of their admirable behaviour.
It is necessary to add, further, that the latest detailed information from Hunun, viz., a letter from Mr. Hale, of the Yale Mission, Changsha, to the "North China Daily News" (May 27, 1910), refutes the report (telegraphed by Mr. Hewlett on the 18th April) of the desertion of 500 of the regular troops, and explains that the movement referred to was, on the contrary, "marching out, under proper orders, to Ninghsiang, Yiyang and Changsha on the west, and to Liu Yang on the east, their arrival everywhere resulting in a cessation of the rioting and disquiet which in each of these places had already commenced.”
M. E. WILLOUGHBY, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Military Attaché, Peking.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[22016]
No. 1.
331
[June 20.] C
SECTION 3.
20853
REC?
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 20.)
(No. 176.) Sir,
Peking, June 3, 1910. WITH reference to my telegram No. 99 of the 21st ultimo and to your telegram No. 81 of the 31st, I have the honour to transmit herewith a translation of the note from the Wai-wu Pu, in which they claim that Pienma lies in Chinese territory governed by the native Chief of Tengkeng, and is therefore under Chinese jurisdiction, and invite my attention to a suggestion of the Chinese Government contained in a note addressed to Mr. Carnegie on the 30th August, 1906, that both parties should appoint officers for a joint delimitation of the frontier.
On receipt of your telegram No. 81 of the 31st ultimo I addressed the enclosed note to the Chinese Government, stating that His Majesty's Government were not yet in a position to reply to their note, and warning them of the danger of a collision with British troops in the event of a Chinese armed force being moved into the territory definitely claimed as British in Sir Ernest Satow's note of the 1st May, 1906.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER,
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Sir,
Wai-wu Pu to Mr. Max Müller.
May 10, 1910. I HAVE the honour to inform you that I have received a telegram from the Governor-General of Yünnan and Kueichow, stating as follows:---
"On account of the attempt made by the Chief of Tengkeng to collect taxes from the village of Pienma, certain bad characters incited the villagers to lodge an accusation against the chief with the Paoshan Hsien. An investigation had just been ordered, when it happened that the said chief, on proceeding to that village to dig up opium and take a census, was opposed by a crowd of people and a fight took place. Three empty houses were burnt but no one was injured, nor was there any property stolen. The villagers, further, dispatched some of their number to appeal to the British deputy-commissioner at Myitkyina, stating that all the villages beyond the Kao Li Kung mountain ought to come under British jurisdiction. Consul Rose made this a pretext for interfering, but he was told, in reply, that it was the duty of the local authorities to deal with disputes between native chiefs. At the same time, a telegram was sent to the Paoshan Hsien ordering him to proceed to the locality and hold an investigation. However, Mr. Rose, alleging that he was merely going on a trip, proceeded in advance to Pienma, and also telegraphed to Consul-General O'Brien- Butler in Yünnan Fu, asking that the magistrate be prevented from going to Pienma I submit that there is plenty of evidence showing that Pienma is really Chinese territory. Further, in this case an appeal was first lodged with the Paoshan Hsien, and we certainly cannot permit the consul to interfere on account of a fabricated appeal lodged by one or two unprincipled parties. I have now again instructed the magistrate to proceed and hold an investigation, and I beg that you will request the British Minister to send instructions that there must be no interference with or crossing the boundaries of the territories ruled by our native chiefs. At the same time, I beg that he may be requested to appoint officers to delimitate the boundaries afresh."
The Board has the honour to observe that the boundary of the northern section of the district of Tengyueh should run from the Chien Kao Shan across the Chih Fei River up to the west of the foot of the Kao Liang Kung hills, then following the Chin Chüch Tang River up to the crest of the Pa La Ta mountain, where the line stops. In August 1906 I addressed a despatch to Mr. Carnegie in that sense.
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