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serious fresh outbreak. How far this will prove to be true it would be hazardous to prognosticate.
That the Central Government are satisfied with the manner in which Jui Cheng, the Acting Viceroy of Hukuang, and Yang Wen-ting, the Acting Governor of Hunan, have dealt with the situation is proved by an edict issued a few days ago, making their acting appointments substantive. As a rule, substantive appointments to officials doing temporary or acting duty in such high posts are not given until after considerably longer service than in these two cases, and the promptitude with which these appointments have been confirmed is particularly significant, in view of the fact that certain strong elements in Hupei and Hunan had been reported as agitating against these two officials.
I am now fully in accord with the instruction contained in your telegram No. 82 of the 2nd instant, that it would be neither judicious nor proper to include questions quite unconnected with the recent riots in a settlement of the case, but I cannot help sharing the opinion of His Majesty's consul-general at Hankow that there will be no real or permanent security against fresh trouble in Hunan so long as the long- pending questions involving our treaty rights are not definitely settled one way or
I have, &c.
the other.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
Acting Consul Hewlett to Mr. Max Müller,
(No. 31.) Sir,
Changsha, June 6, 1910, THE three direct causes of the recent outbreak at Changsha, as recorded in my despatch of the 4th May, appear to me to exist at the present moment in an aggravated form.
1. The Shortage of Rice on the Market.
At present if anyone wishes to buy rice he has to proceed to one of the comparatively few rice shops still doing business, deposit his money (at 8,200 cash a picul), and call for his rice next day.
With the governor's orders to lower the price of rice the dealers refuse to comply until larger supplies justify this measure. The sums set against the names of generous notables in the long lists of subscribers to the rice funds given in the local papers appear to be like railway subscriptions-merely paper promises.
The governor takes no steps to verify the common report that Yeh Te-hui has tens of thousands of piculs stored away; and it is left to General Yang to see the matter thoroughly investigated.
A body of rice-seckers were allowed to hold heated discussion outside the Lin- Yang Gate yesterday, despite the supposed state of martial law and prohibition of all assemblies.
2. The Hostility of the Masons and Carpenters.
Although the complicity of these men in the riots was reported to the Throne their guild's pretensions remained unchanged, and the local authorities make no attempt to control them, accepting apparently as quite satisfactory the sole exception of His Majesty's consulate from their claim to monopolise work in Hunan.
On the 4th June the masons and certain of the gentry held a meeting to discuss a general strike as a protest against the punishment of the gentry. I am told that Wong Hsien-chien urged the masons not to strike, as it might cost him his head; but the masons replied that as the gentry had supported them in the past the guilds would uphold them during their present difficulties. The meeting was ultimately adjourned till the 6th or 7th June.
3. The Weakness of the Local Authorities and the Power of the Anti-foreign Political Association.
In discussing the apportionment of blame in the despatch above referred to, I stated: "It is a most certain fact that unless an exemplary lesson is brought home
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to the political association of Hunan the recent riots will but prove the first step to what might develop into a revolution." The lesson has not been brought home, and not only have I no reason to modify this assertion, I would repeat it with emphasis.
The first edicts condemning the four gentry principally implicated were hailed with delight by nine-tenths of the residents of Changsha, and especially by the regular troops. The mild penalties announced in the later edict have rendered the gentry more reckless and dangerous than ever, while irritating the regular troops of Hunan, who have a very fair and just idea of the punishment these men deserve, and whose one longing is that the Central Government should be resolute and prompt in dealing with the guilty gentry.
The provincial assembly has already demanded that all matters affecting the settlement of the riots should be referred to them. Further, they have asked the governor why the indemnity has not been paid at once and the case closed. A special session has been called for this month; in fact, there is every indication that the fight over treaty questions is to be renewed with keener vigour than ever, and the situation, if not firmly handled, can only end in complications of a most serious kind.
There are other causes in addition to the three mentioned, which lead me to think that the situation here is serious.
Recently the township of Ch'uan-chiao-ho, 30 miles from Iyang, was destroyed by a gang of rioters, who were more or less armed. This involved the destruction of an out-station under the Norwegian Missionary Society. The destruction was followed by the burning of thirty homesteads. Soldiers appeared on the scene, and the rioters dispersed. Their next appearance was at Hua-Shih, 20 miles south of Hsiang-T'an, where they destroyed a chapel belonging to the American United Evangelical Churchi Mission. Here again the troops appeared, late, though three men implicated were caught.
This gang consists at present of thirty-four men. They wear yellow scarves on their heads, and are in uniform; they also have flags bearing the inscription, as in the Boxer days. "Support the dynasty and exterminate the foreigner." Now an interesting fact to note is that, with about 13,000 men in the provincial troops, 6,000 in the regular troops, and 3,000 in the river guard boats, up to the present no force has been detached to exterminate this band, whose audacity is increasing. They call themselves "Men of the superhuman striking art," and bound themselves as a band at Hsiang-T'an, where as at Iyang their adherents are known to be numerous.
*
It is true that the local authorities profess themselves masters of the situation; but up to the actual outbreak of trouble nothing could have been more satisfactory than the assurances of the then governor and Customs taotai, in face of which I felt it useless to set my own apprehension in applying for one of His Majesty's ships to the naval authorities.
The present absence of any effective precaution on the part of the provincial autho- rities against renewed trouble compels me to state deliberately that His Majesty's ship Nightingale" is not sufficiently imposing to convince the hostile element in Changsha and in Hunan generally of the importance attached by His Majesty's Government to safeguarding British lives and property in this province. I am fully aware of the many and complex duties of His Majesty's squadron in these waters, and I trust that the above declaration of my honest conviction, which my sense of duty forces me to record, will not be misconstrued.
I will close this despatch with the last curious phase in an exceedingly difficult situation. This is the unmistakable friction between General Yang and the governor.
General Yang during the last week paid me one open and two secret visits, and gave me his secret views, assuring me, I believe quite truly, that he speaks to me freely because of our exceptional friendship and his knowledge that all foreigners in Hunan rely on me for advice and protection.
General Yang states emphatically, and his opinion is endorsed by many others, that Governor Yang is utterly incapable of facing the present situation. He asserts that but for the vigour displayed by the Viceroy of Wuchang, trouble would at once break out in Changsha. He speaks in the highest terms of the justice shown by the Viceroy in apportioning blame, and says that the governor would never have taken such steps on his own responsibility.
He begged me most earnestly not to believe the official assurances that order was completely restored, and that there was no danger of further troubles. He pointed
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