[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
AFFAIRS OF CHINA,
CONFIDENTIAL.
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C
о
38371
[November 10.]
SECTION 4.
leg 15 DEC 10
No. 1.
(No. 372.) Sir,
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received November 10.)
Peking, October 19, 1910, IN my despatch No. 151 of the 12th May I mentioned that a well-known English medical missionary, Dr. Duncan Main, has been specially singled out by the Chinese newspapers of Hangchow as the object of their anti-foreign venom. The history of Dr. Main's connection with the suburbs of Hangchow, of which a highly coloured account, extracted from a local Chinese newspaper, was enclosed in my despatch, dates back to the year 1894. In that year Dr. Main bought some land at a spot near the city called Chiang Tai Shan, but in consequence of local opposition it was arranged that he should accept some other land in exchange, and eventually the magistrate, at the instance of the Governor of Chekiang, bought and presented to Dr. Main a plot of land on a site adjoining the city known as Pao Shih Shan. The title-deeds, which were made out to the Kuang-chi Hospital, and not to Dr. Main personally, were scaled by the magistrate and the governor, and were deposited in His Majesty's consulate at Ningpo. For many years an objection was raised from any quarter to this transaction. Dr. Main built upon the land and upon adjoining sites subsequently acquired, but without injuring the ancient buildings and monuments on the property. In 1908 a society was formed under the name of the West Lake Company, under which Tang Shao-chien, of the Chekiang Railway, was a leader, and a report was Towards the end of spread that this company wished to acquire the site for a hôtel. the year a campaign was started in the local press with the evident object of intimi- dating Dr. Main into giving up his property. Simultaneously, a family of the name of Chien, descendants of the ancient princes of Wu Yüeh, raised a claim to the property, and a petition to the governor, demanding the immediate surrender of the land to them, was published in a Hangchow paper. Dr. Main left for England in February 1909, but before his departure he had discussed the matter fully with His Majesty's consul, and, in company with Mr. Clennel, with the governor.
His Majesty's consul protested against the manner in which the press had been permitted to indulge freely and with evident animus in the discussion of a matter which should have been reserved for friendly treatment between him and the authorities, but instead of showing any disposition to curb the dangerous tendencies of the papers, the governor endeavoured to widen the issue into a discussion of the general question of the occupation of land by foreigners outside the settlement limits at treaty ports. This unsatisfactory attitude of the governor, together with his subsequent action in deputing an officer to carry out independently a survey of the property, induced Mr. Clennel to inform his Excellency, with the approval of His Majesty's Minister, that no satisfactory settlement of the question could be come to during Dr. Maiu's absence. There appeared indeed to be no alternative to this course, as Dr. Main's presence was necessary for the elucidation of certain side issues which had arisen, but into which I need not enter in detail here. To this proposal Dr. Main agreed.
On receiving Mr. Clennel's report on the case, Sir John Jordan addressed a memorandum to the Wai-wu Pu on the 18th March, 1909, and requested that the Governor of Chekiang might be called upon to explain his reasons for allowing the newspapers and private individuals to interfere in a question which should have been dealt with through the medium of His Majesty's consul. He added that if any further steps were taken, during Dr. Main's absence, to interfere with his property or to influence public opinion against him the provincial authorities would be held responsible for any consequences which might ensue.
Mention should here be made of a hill known as Mokanshan, a summer resort of Hangchow, where a number of foreigners, principally British and American missionaries, have been established, with the tacit consent of the provincial authorities for some nineteen years. In August last year the provincial authorities raised the question of the right of foreigners to reside in Mokanshan, and the commissioner of foreign affairs approached Mr. Major, then acting consul at Hangchow, with a proposal
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