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their titles registered at their own consulates, and a further right to a continuation of the municipal system of control and a voice in the expenditure of the rates and taxes to which they contribute.
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With the above instances of violation of treaty rights before one, what guarantee is there that in the event of further resumptions a similar or worse state of affairs will not be brought into existence? The thin end of the wedge has been inserted and you have now to contend with a new spirit which aims at driving the wedge still further in until the position of foreigners enjoying the privileges of extraterritorial rights is so far weakened as to bring the whole fabric to the ground. A new situation has been created by reason of the resumption by the Chinese Government of the privileges granted by treaty to certain foreign Powers, in the process of which encroachments have been made on the treaty rights of others; and the question arises as to what steps should be taken by those whose treaty rights are still intact, or in respect of which such encroachments have been made, if not to preserve the former state, at least to assure to them as many as possible of those privileges they have hitherto enjoyed.
I suggest that the answer to this question is to be found on the following lines. Whilst protesting against the new conditions as evidenced in the areas where control has been already resumed by the Chinese Government or held in trust by them, recognition must be given to the fact that the rendition to China of extra- territorial rights is only a question of time, and the fact that certain of the more influential Powers have ceased or are likely to cease from the exercise of those rights makes it increasingly difficult for those Powers whose rights are still intact to approach the Chinese authorities with the same confidence which they enjoyed before the present state of affairs was brought into existence. This difficulty which is making itself felt with a definiteness which cannot be ignored will, as time passes (unless Germany and Russia, for instance, recover their power), and non-treaty Powers become more firmly established in the Chinese polity, make it increasingly difficult for the remaining treaty Powers to maintain their old privileges intact. It is only too probable that the latter will have to make terms with the Chinese Govern- ment under much less attractive conditions than exist to-day. Already we find Germans returning to China, and a class of Russians, of Bolshevik tendencies. becoming increasingly numerous and distributing themselves over the country and to whose interest it undoubtedly is to see extraterritoriality and foreign municipal administration abolished and so drag their opponents down to their own level.
It would appear, therefore, to be of the highest importance to discuss as soon as possible the conditions under which the treaty Powers possessing rights can negotiate with China for a readjustment of certain of those rights in return for the establishment of a state which will have a greater chance of enduring than the present.
At present the treaty Powers have their extraterritorial rights to bargain with and those Powers with concessions have those concessions. In striving to arrive at what would be the most advantageous form of concession government it cannot be denied that where foreign Powers come to China with certain proposals, and they are all of one mind, the chances of getting what they want must be greater than if they are at variance.
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Non-treaty Powers have nothing to lose and everything to gain by an arrange- ment with treaty Powers, but those Powers with concessions would apparently lose much by giving up special rights in their particular concessions, Great Britain perhaps more than any other. All, however, must recognise the fact that a delay in the reorganisation of their rights nis-à-vis the Chinese Government now, whilst most of those rights are still in force, must react adversely sooner or later.
"It comes to this. therefore, that with the evidences before us of the trend of events during the last few years, and with the knowledge of Chinese feeling and the atmosphere which is gradually being created by official utterances on the subject, unless a move is made forthwith to establish our position on a firm foundation in a few short years the rights we now possess run a grave risk of being further shorn until the Chinese Government is in a position to demand complete rendition without a compensating quid pro quo.
"On what lines such a reorganisation should proceed is no doubt a matter of diverse opinion, but it is my purpose to offer to this conference certain suggestions which I trust may be considered as not unworthy of consideration.
"Treaty Powers with concessions in the different ports might be prepared to surrender them and form international settlements. To these might be added a
9
demand on China to include the late enemy concessions as well as the Russian area, with the consent, if possible, of Russia. The whole settlement thus formed would come under the control of a municipal council elected by popular suffrage and under regulations framed that the foreign vote on the council should form the majority.
"Above this council a Consular Body, presided over by the senior consul, would act as an ultimate court of appeal on municipal difficulties.
"Municipal control is not, however, the whole question.
But
Another point is the settlement of disputes between foreigners and natives. Here is a point on which both parties can meet on more or less common ground. Except in ports such as Shanghai or Hankow where a Mixed Court functions, foreigners in other ports, as in Tien-tsin, for instance, are thrown on the tender mercies of Chinese courts with their long delays and the scantiest justice. apart from this you have the anomaly of foreigners residing in one port in a more favourable position for recovering their claims than those residing in another port. More often than not, where there is no Mixed Court, the difficulty in obtaining any sort of satisfaction is so great that unsatisfactory compromises are entered into rather than suffer the disadvantages of invoking the assistance of the court.
Then there is the case of the so-called political offender who seeks and hitherto has had no difficulty in securing sanctuary in the foreign-controlled areas, and thus evades the claims of his own Government. In each international settlement, there- fore, should be established an international court with an international code of laws acceptable to all concerned and presided over by an international jurist of tried reputation, and in that court should be administered an even-handed justice between all foreigners and Chinese resident or connected with the foreign concessions, and thus all, both foreigners and Chinese, would be in this respect on an equal footing.
It is possible that these suggestions might not altogether commend themselves to the Chinese Government, but a step further could be conceded in regard to the status of those so-called political offenders to whom I have already made reference. Provision should be made whereby all such persons who seek sanctuary in foreign- controlled areas should be handed over to their own Government on demand unless they are able to prove that their case would be referred to the judgment of the international court.
C
With such a system as I have tried to outline, I believe the rights and privileges If, however, a of our foreign community might be preserved for many decades. policy of drift is followed and some such arrangement is not sought to be made without waste of time, foreigners in China may find themselves so shorn of their rights as to be unable to resist a complete demolition of what remains to them.** In seconding the resolution, Mr. Fraser, on behalf of Hankow, said :— "So far the Chinese Government have not taken any really active steps in interfering with the Russian concession except that the archives of the consulate It is true that are now in the hands of the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs. M. Beltchenko is no longer consul and that it is at present impossible, for instance, to transfer land owing to doubt as to which is the proper authority, but as regards the actual running of the concession the old municipal council function as before. As far as I could learn, the Chinese authorities have all through shown no disposition to be unreasonable, and those in authority feel fairly confident that that attitude will be continued. With the object lesson of the ex-German concession before us we should strive as much as possible to have the present reasonable attitude put into concrete form, and an agreement concluded in black and white with the proper Chinese authorities.
Since the
Turning to the ex-German concession, the picture is a different one. Government took over this concession in March 1917 no change whatsoever has taken place in its administration. In accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles the Chinese Government, although they never signed that treaty, entered into possession of the concession with the proviso that it was to be used for inter- national purposes. To give effect to this a properly constituted municipal council composed of members of the various nationalities with vested interests who are settled in the concession would have to be formed, and it must be presumed that this also was from the beginning what the Chinese Government had in mind. In fact, in a despatch of the 5th October, 1917, from the Waichiaopu to Sir John Jordan, the then doyen of the Diplomatic Corps, the Waichiaopu undertook to elaborate a system of municipal administration of the Special Administrative District, which should make it a model commercial settlement.
15815 c-3]
D
490