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attack on the Japanese consul produced some effect, and recently there have been marked indications that Chinese opinion at Canton is veering round to the other side." Mr. Jamieson, moreover, expresses the opinion that the German campaign did nothing to injure British or to maintain German trade, and that the latter is suffering severely. At Foochow the Germain campaign has been more successful, thanks to the activity of the German consul and the pro-German tendencies of his intimate friend, the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, and His Majesty's consul reports that Germany is obviously regarded as the nation which is to rescue China from the wolves which are tearing her to pieces." At Amoy on the other hand, where, as at Foochow, fears of Japanese aggression might have been expected to assist a German propaganda, the general feeling among the educated classes is a fear as to the effect of the war on trade, and the possibility of China being embroiled, while the masses feel an amused satis- faction that the Powers, who, they are told, are always united at China's throat, should now be grappling with each other." An attempt to stir up a pro-German feeling by the dissemination of highly-coloured pamphlets has met with no success. At Tsinan-fu the Japanese proved themselves the more skilful organisers of a press campaign, and they received effective support from His Majesty's consul, who showed great initiative and energy in obtaining the dissemination of Reuter's telegrains. Mr. Pratt's account of the general situation in Shantung during the past quarter is of special interest, and is therefore enclosed in extenso. In Yunnan, where mutiny and rebellion have been so common for years past as scarcely to excite comment, stories of mutiny in India are readily believed, though his Majesty's consul-general at Chengtu has been at pains to deny them.
Various circumstances have contributed to the success of the German press campaign in Western China; the withdrawal of the French missionaries recalled to the colours has naturally given rise to a crop of rumours, and the German scientific expedition, which is now travelling in Western Szechuan, has industriously spread every kind of story, while the two German professors at Chengtu have spared effort to disseminate glowing accounts of German victories in Europe. In the attack on Tsingtao an analogy has been found to the violation of Belgian neutrality, and it is freely argued that China should declare war on Japan for the same reason that Belgium is fighting Germany. There is no doubt that it would require no official encouragement to make an anti-Japanese policy on the part of the Government extremely popular." On the other hand, the command of the Dalai Lama that prayers should be offered throughout Thibet for the success of the British arms has had considerable influence on the frontier tribesmen. It is satisfactory that His Majesty's consul-general should be able to report that the local authorities at Chengtu have shown every desire to adopt a reasonable and impartial attitude. At Pakhoi the German campaign is in the hands of the Keeler Mission, which issues a broadsheet every week. Mr. Toller reports that "normally it is a religious tract pure and simple, but
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since the outbreak of the war it has become a local edition of the "Ostasiatischer Lloyd." Its editing would seem to leave room for improvement: Saturday's issue can often be bought on Thursday, and occasionally it appears with such items of news as :-
The Germans have defeated the
Or the German ship has sunk the
ship named
," the task of filling up the blanks in the stereotyped formula having escaped the missionary's notice." At Chunking the unfortunate Chinese are asked to believe that "the British fleet has been swept off the seas by the German warships." At Hankow the interest taken by the native population in the war is stated to be about as great as that which would be taken in a Thibetan border affray, and the same must be true of many other parts of China, as the subject of Chinese opinion or sympathies is not even mentioned in many of the quarterly reports.
Recently, however, the Germans appear to have decided that China is a suitable field for an active campaign. The two or three Chinese papers published at Peking, which are known to be partly or wholly German owned, have published many virulent attacks on Great Britain, a favourite theme naturally being the contrast between the attitude she adopted towards the violation of Belgian and Chinese neutrality. However, even these papers publish the official British telegrams and Reuter's telegrams, but in less prominent type than the German and with impertinent comments.
It is difficult to see what results it is hoped to achieve by this campain. Chinese sympathy could only show itself in a practical form by an attempt to massacre Germany's foes, and in such a massacre the Germans could not hope to escape. As is pointed out in some of the consular reports, from the commercial point of view, the Chinese are confronted with the concrete fact that German trade has almost ceased to exist. They are therefore compelled to trade with those who can trade with them, whether or no
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they believe that Germany's foes will at some future date be swept off the face of the earth.
At the same time there is a possibility, which cannot be entirely disregarded, that the many factions in opposition to the President (who is known to lean on British support) may think the moment a favourable one to rebel, and hope to gain adherents from the fact that that the educated classes have been led to believe that the President's main prop among the European nations is a broken reed.
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The actual news "issued by the "Ostasiatischer Lloyd" is a curious study. Occasionally this agency obtains information-notably in the case of the engagement off the coast of Chile two or three days before it is received from other sources; in other cases the news has every appearance of being Reuter's telegrams suitably" decked out" and expanded or minimised. Many of the "telegrams" which appear under a heading "New York, November 1; Peking, November 3," almost must have been drafted here. but they do little credit to their author's intellectual capacity, and in some cases even reveal a deplorable ignorance of geography. Another remarkable point is that the "Ostasiatischer Lloyd" news bears little resemblance to that issued by wireless from Germany as reported in "The Times." It is only occasionally that news is issued by the German Legation, and it has been observed that in cases where the statement is unusually inaccurate, the copy posted at the Peking Club sometimes bears the signature of the German Chargé d'Affaires. Reference has been made in the London press to the removal from the "Peking Gazette" of the English editor, Mr. Woodhead, for taking a too partial view of the war, and it may probably be traced to German influence, though it is impossible to speak with certainty, When the paper was founded rather over a year ago, a Mr. Eggerling, a British subject born of German parents in Scotland, informed Mr. Woodhead that he was the sole proprietor, and that the paper was in no sepse under German influence. Subsequently shares were acquired by Chinese, of whom the most prominent is one Eugen Chen, an able man, who is on the roll of English solicitors, but cannot on that account be regarded as a friend; he has, indeed, on one occasion made a violent personal attack on His Majesty's Minister in another Peking paper. Prior to the outbreak of the war the editor had on several occasions criticised the policy of the French, Russian, and Japanese Legations with more vigour than discretion, and the general view held in Peking was that the paper was directly or indirectly under German influence. As the war progressed, Mr. Woodhead adopted a steadily more anti-German line, with the result that he found himself in conflict with Mr. Eggeling, who had not inquished his position in the German Bank, and probably found himself subjected to considerable pressure. Mr. Woodhead, however, refused to change his tone, whereupon Mr. Eggeling transferred his interest in the paper to Eugen Chen, who promptly dismissed Mr. Woodhead on the ground that a strongly partisan attitude towards the European conflict cannot be held to be in conformity with the avowed policy of upholding the present régime in China and of maintaining an independent attitude towards the Governments of other Powers. This incident has been regarded by the German community as a marked success, but hitherto Eugen Chen, who has undertaken the editorship himself, has given no indication that he intends to run the paper in the interests of Germany, and indeed his comments on Mr. Asquith's Guildhall speech would not have excited adverse criticism had they appeared in any London paper.
He has, however, only been in control for three weeks, so that it is too early to judge whether he will really act on his public announcement that the paper will henceforth be conducted with the sole view of supporting Chinese interests and will discuss and report European questions in a perfectly impartial spirit. As regards the attitude of the official classes it is impossible to generalise more than to say that the President and his entourage have more sympathy with us than with our enemies, whereas the military classes who have come to some extent directly under German influence incline to the other side. Otherwise local conditions are the determining factor. With the fall of Tsingtao there is little danger of further serious violation of China's neutrality. During the past months many incidents have conclusively proved her inability to defend it, but whenever this Legation has called the Government's attention to any particular case, some serious effort has been made to meet our views, and we have every reason to be satisfied with the manner in which the Chinese Government has interpreted the duties of neutrality.
The general situation in the provinces, as portrayed in recent consular reports, has to some extent improved. Brigandage on a large scale has received a check in the disappearance of White Wolf," though small bands continue to flourish in most districts; mutinies of the troops have been less frequent in spite of the fact that the provincial authorities frequently enrol brigands in the army, even when they have been caught with arms in their hands. The only serious outbreak occurred at Kalgan and
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