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Two-and-a-half years later, in April 1920, in a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the present doyen of the Diplomatic Corps insists on the fulfilment of the above-mentioned promise, but up to quite a recent date, at any rate, no reply had been received.
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"The lot-holders have met on several occasions, and are unanimous in claiming that the rights and privileges they have had since they bought their properties and started their trading, and which they enjoyed under the old régime, must be recognised by the new order.' Were this not to be it would mean that the Treaty of Versailles had abrogated old rights and privileges, without which the present prosperous settlement would never have come into existence and will certainly not last.
"The lot-holders have in January and in July of this year addressed letters to the senior consul for transmission to the Legation in which the position of foreign interests in the concessions is clearly defined and insisting upon the promulgation of a constitution for the concession in which foreign interests are adequately protected. So far as is known, no heed whatsoever has been paid by the Chinese Government to this legitimate claim. Apparently it is making use of the circum- stance that China never signed the Versailles Treaty indefinitely to postpone an arrangement.
While thus not lifting a finger to redeem the promise of the Waichiaopu of the 5th October, 1917, the Government have, by Presidential Mandates Nos. 24 and 25 of the 19th December, 1919, made a deliberate attempt to legalise Chinese taxation of all foreign interests in the concession. The rates authorised by the mandate refer to transfer of properties and to new buildings and are respectively 30 and 28 times higher than those charged by the German Administration, but the crowning effrontery lies in the fact that the taxes collected were to be emitted to the Ministry of Finance in Peking.
The concession has now been under Chinese administration for three-and-a- half years, during which the framework of the previous municipal council adminis- tration, which the Chinese made some show of basing the new order on, has slowly crumbled.
Respect for law and order has suffered very considerably. Burglaries and thefts are matters of common daily occurrence, while thieves apprehended on foreign premises have often to be dealt with on the spot, as the purely Chinese methods of the police offer no guarantee of an adequate punishment.
Roads are in permanent need of repairs, on which, however, only such money as can be obtained from the Tuchun's Yamen in Wuchang is spent. Public buildings and plants previously erected from moneys derived from taxation of ratepayers are neglected. The annual contribution of the concession towards the upkeep of the International Hospital has been unpaid for three years.
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Armed forces of Chinese soldiery march through the streets, and the Bund is used as a practice ground. Street and wharf coolies have become assertive, and the house servants are not failing to take advantage of the laxity of the police. "Tales of squeeze and graft in the various sections of the municipal adminis- tration are rampant, and whether true or not are detrimental to the dignity of the administration and to the co-operation of the same with the foreign population.
"If this was only a transient stage, the municipal interregnum might be regarded as a deplorable interlude only, but, worst of all, despite the undertaking of the Waichiaopu, despite all the representations of the Diplomatic Corps, despite the sympathy and assistance of the local Consular Body. despite the united efforts of the foreign property holders whose vital interest are threatened, the prospects of the establishment of a properly- constituted municipality are to-day as remote as ever and undeniably not only foreign economic interests but also foreign prestige is suffering by the apparent inability of the Powers to make the Chinese Government abandon its well-known attitude of passive resistance in this highly important matter affecting a considerable portion of the foreign economic and trade interests in Hankow.
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The only effective protest that lot-holders have so far been able to register is the withholding of all taxes, but the moment there is any guarantee that the money will be spent rightly, and for the purpose for which it is collected, there will be no hesitation in paying back dues as well as current taxes.
"I have not so far spoken of the question of the endangering of the safety of the concessions generally through the taking over of the ex-German and Russian concessions, though this is a very vital matter indeed.
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The moment there is trouble brewing there is not only an influx of Chinese to these strips of land under foreign management, but what is more dangerous, there is a steady flow of treasure and household goods, &c., to an incredible extent and A few years ago value, so that the concessions offer a very lucrative field for loot.
the foreigners had a long unbroken river front of their own, and the middle con- cessions had only to guard their rear: to-day the British. French and Japanese are surrounded by Chinese, and already the wall right along the rear of the Russian concession, a great safety in times of stress. is being demolished."
In the course of the discussion, a resident in Tsinanfu said :---- "The state of Tsinanfu is unique, for it is a treaty port opened by the Chinese upon their own initiative. It is not even like the places in Manchuria which were opened after treaty. There was an area outside the West Gate, and the Chinese said that if any foreigner liked to come and live and trade there, in that area. he would be allowed to do so. He stays there at the mercy of the Chinese, but the experience of fifteen or sixteen years is that living in that way the foreigner is not so badly off.
I appreciate the fact that the problem in Tsinanfu is a different one from that of Tien-tsin and Hankow. There you had an established state of things where people had bought land thinking that a certain state of things that had given If those conditions were taken the land a certain valuation was going to persist, away the land which they have purchased and the premises they have erected are likely to go down in value. The only thing that one learns from the administration in Tsinanfu is that the Chinese official, if he is given a fair chance, is really not so bad after all. I think they are on their mettle. and are trying to put up something good enough for decent foreigners to live on. They have macadamised roads, quite The electric good electric light; no water supply at present, but that will come. light and the roads are perfectly good, the sanitation is not equal to that of this In the matter of taxation it is beautiful city of Shanghai, but it is not so bad. extraordinarily lenient. The foreigner takes up the land at 2 dollars per mow I think it would be very per annum land tax, and does not pay a cent more. advantageous of us to approach this whole subject in an attitude of friendship and a spirit of co-operation. If a big scheme like that of Mr. Mounsey's could be intro- If duced it would be a great advantage as it is, the position of both Hankow and Tien-tsin is rather absurd, and differs largely from the position in Shanghai. Mr. Mounsey's scheme or something of the sort were put into force, then I am not sure that the things which seem so like a disaster at present would not turn out a blessing in disguise."
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CHINA COMPANIES.
The Term
Limited."
It was unanimously agreed :-
CC
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That this conference considers it desirable that enquiry be made into the advisability of legislation being enacted whereby the word British' or other word or words of similar import be appended to the names of all China companies, present or future, following the word limited, and that the Secretary to the Association be instructed to institute these enquiries at as early a date as possible."
The above resolution was the one finally passed. proposed by Mr. A. L. Anderson, it ran as follows:-
In its original form, as
That this conference considers it desirable that legislation be enacted whereby the word 'British or other word or words of similar import be appended to the names of all China companies present or future, following on the word 'limited.'
In proposing this resolution, Mr. Anderson said, in part :--
"The resolution which I wish to bring before you is not constructed with the idea that all Britons are angels without wings and that all bad characters are the It is looking towards the fact that British prestige subjects of other nations. should only suffer from such acts of ill-faith as are committed by members of the British Empire that Britons should not suffer from the acts of other nationals.
491