This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
2
will be able to ensure that their advice will be followed. It is perhaps not too much to hope that the formation of a body composed of influential representatives from all parts of the Empire may achieve something towards strengthening the political power in Peking vis-à-vis the hitherto largely wielded by the Central Government independent units of authority in the provinces, though, on the other hand, it must not be forgotten that the provincial delegates will be in correspondence with their provincial assemblies, and will represent to a great extent their tendencies and wishes. The opening of the Senate is another illustration of the world-wide movement towards parliamentary institutions of the growing determination of the peoples of the Certainly, these first world not to submit to "taxation without representation." steps towards the introduction of a more democratic form of government into China are being adopted with great caution, and the Throne gives no hint of giving up its absolute power or that of the mandarinate or Chinese officialdom; so far, it only condescends to bear the wishes of the so-called representatives of the people. It is open to question whether democratic institutions are ever compatible with Oriental life and ideas, and certainly in China public life has not yet risen to that stage of advancement where individual and local interests are subordinated to those of the nation as a whole.
It would, however, be unwise to judge of the work of the Senate without giving sufficient time for trial, but at present everything appears to indicate an expansion of its powers far beyond the point contemplated in the edict that brought it into being, while one result of its assembling will be a renewal of the agitation in favour of a curtailment of the period for the opening of the real national Parliament.
Already the "Shun Tien Shih Pao," a prominent local Chinese newspaper, the contents of which show strong traces of Japanese inspiration, has in a lengthy leading article urged on the Senate the necessity of paying careful attention to this question. The majority of the native papers have, however, confined themselves to eulogising the Prince Regent for allowing the establishment of the present provisional parliament and for attending in person the ceremony of its inauguration; they congratulate the nation on the accomplishment of this important step towards the fulfilment of its desire for a constitutional government, and exhort the members of the Senate to strenuous and honest endeavours in carrying out the duties and responsibilities of their new appointment.
I have, &c.
W. G. MAX MÜLLER.
C O
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
36747
CONFIDENTIAL.
[September 5,]
SECTION 2.
RECS
Rea£ 1 OFC 10
No. 1.
[32267]
Enclosure in Mr. Max Müller's No. 232 of July 16.--(Received September 5, 1910.)
Note on the West River.
GOODS from Hong Kong and Canton proceed in steamer by independent routes to the treaty port of Wuchou. Thence they are carried in motor-boats, steam launches, lighters, and junks to Nanning. In the high-water season (June-October) the motor bouts tow lighters laden with cargo. During the remainder of the year they are unable, owing to the low-water rapids, to do any towing. The steam- launches do not generally run above the Ta t'an rapid, about 130 miles below Nanning. Beyond Nanuing cargo is conveyed to Pose, the limit of junk navigation on the West River.
A motor boat made her first trip in November 1909 to Pose without mishap, and it was expected that she would be able to continue until the end of December. Motor- boats will probably in future run regularly between Nanning and Pose from April until December. Messrs. Banker and Co., of Wuchou, are having two of these craft constructed at Hong Kong specially for the Nanning-Pose run.
At Pose the goods separate according as they are bound for south-east Yünnan or for Kueichon and east Yünnan. The former are taken up to Pongai, the extreme limit of boat navigation on the West River, in small boats of a capacity of about 16 cwt. The latter proceed overland via Hsing I hsien (Huang ts'au pa), crossing the Red Water River (Fung shui chiang), a northern branch of the West River below Po chio, a li-kin station notorious for its defiance of transit passes, At Huang tsao pa those destined for Kueichou consumption are distributed by a variety of routes, the principal being that via Anshun. Those for East Yünnan cross the Red Water River again at Chiang ti, and take the Lo ping chou route.
Li-kin
On arrival at Pongai, the goods, which are principally cotton yarn, cotton piece goods, woollen blankets, kerosene oil, Chinese tobacco and sugar, are carried on pack- animals to Kaihua, Kuang nan, and Tung hai. The Yümuan commodities exchanged for these are anise-seed oil, star aniseed, medicinal roots, oil-seeds, gallnuts, furniture rattans, gums, white wax, hides and antimony. Opium, formerly the staple export, being now declared contraband, it is feared that the yarn trade will be diminished by 700 bales yearly. It is, however, too early to be able to confirm these fears. along this route is light. The first barrier after Nanning is Pingma. There is another barrier between Pingma and Pose, and li-kin is levied at Pose and Pongai. Between Pongai and Kuang nan there is one barrier, but the k-kin at Kuang nan itself is heavy. The same remark applies to Kaihua. From Pongai to Tang hai by the route south of Kuang nan there are two barriers with light dues. The civil officer at Pongai told me that the li-kin office there would probably raise its dues 40 per cent. in 1910, in order to make up for the loss of opium li-kin. If this increase be made the result will be a great blow to the trade which, although small and struggling, is promising.
Navigation.-Navigation on the West River as far as Wuchou is easy. Beyond to Nanning the river is broken by rapids, but is not exceptionally difficult for navigation by launches or motor-boats, except in two places. The first of these from Pose is the Pan t'an and the other is the Ta tau or Fu po t'an. The latter is by far the more dangerous of the two. It is in reality a stretch of rapids 34 miles long. To give some idea of the Ta-t'an I will quote from the diary of my journey in a motor-boat from Wuchou to Nauning in January 1907. "At 6:30 we got under weigh. Subdued excitement on board and whispers that we would pass over the dreaded Fu po t'an this afternoon. There was no doubt that this rapid inspired respect and some fear in our crew. The little motor-boat in her former (trial) trip had struck a rock in this rapid, and, had it not been for the skill and coolness of the pilot in beaching her, she must have become a total wreck. At about 3 I was warned that we were approaching the rapid. Ahead of us the river seemed choked with rocks and
[2893 -2]
430