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steamers, one by one these reservations crumbled away, until finally wood-oil was the only one that survived.
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In 1923 the Loongmow" (now the "Wanliu") endeavoured to load wood-oil at Wanhsien, but met with such determined opposition from the powerful guild controlling the trade in this commodity that she was compelled to desist from the attempt. Finally, an agreement was come to whereby steamers would abstain from shipping this article except during the high-water season, i.e., not until the 15th June at the earliest. Accordingly, in the latter half of June 1924, the same vessel, now called the Wanliu, proceeded to Wanhsien to load wood-oil, and, in anticipation of possible trouble, H.M.S. Cockchafer proceeded thither also. The anticipa- tions were speedily realised, and the wood-oil guild alleged, with some justice, that the shipper, who was an American, but the agent of Messrs. Arnhold and Company (Limited), a British company, had infringed the spirit of the agreement by accumulating stocks of wood-oil during the low-water season in order to ship it by steamer immediately after the 15th June. As soon, therefore, as it was known that wood-oil was to be shipped on the "Wanliu," a large and violent mob collected. They proceeded to break up the lighters used for conveying the oil to the steamer. Mr. Hawley, the American agent, endeavoured to control the mob, but was at once set on by them. H.M.S. Cockchafer fired a round of blank and dispersed the crowd, but Mr. Hawley had already been murdered. The commander of the gunboat then took measures to force the local authorities to bring to justice the instigators of the riot, two of the leading members of the junk guild, and to make amends for their default. The commander,' not unnaturally, had great difficulty in securing compliance with his demands, and finally had to issue an ultimatum that if the two ringleaders were not forthcoming in a certain time, he would bombard the town and would sink every junk in the harbour. This produced the desired effect; the two ringleaders were duly executed, and the officials of the town followed on foot the funeral cortège of Mr. Hawley. This was the second occasion on which force had to be used at Wanhsien, It is worthy of note that the two vessels concerned
Wanliu in this incident, H.M.S. Cockchafer and the steamship
were also involved in the affair of the 5th September this year.
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It is feared that the only conclusion that can be drawn from all the circum- stances indicated above is that there is among all classes in Szechuan-officials, junkmen, soldiers and brigands-a feeling of hostility towards steamers, and particularly towards foreign steamers, and with the constant state of anarchy in that province in recent years and the growth of a spirit of nationalism which, at its worst, is pure xenophobia, the manifestations of this feeling have taken a more and more violent form. Steamers are constantly being boycotted, fired on and com- mandeered, while intimidation of the Chinese pilots is a recent development of this persecution. Much of this would no doubt vanish with the establishment of ordered Government in the province, and the commandeering of the steamers, as well as most instances of shooting, are the direct result of the civil war.
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The first serious case of firing on steamers occurred in 1917, when the steamship Anlan had to run the gauntlet of a heavy and persistent fusillade at Chungchow, when her master was killed. This took place while the Szechuanese were in process The Szechuanese had just of expelling the northern forces from the province.
captured Chungchow, and their attack on the " Anlan," apparently, was due to an idea that she was conveying fugitive northerners.
As a result of the geographical configuration of the Upper Yang-tsze Valley, it usually happen, especially during periods of active hostilities, that various sections. of the river are held by small isolated pockets of troops, who are well protected by natural obstacles on the land side, but are vulnerable from the water. In these circumstances every species of craft moving on the river is an object of suspicion, and the general's desire that all vessels should submit to inspection is not in itself unreasonable, but, unfortunately, it is but rarely that any effective steps are taken to bring it to the notice of steamers except by means of a volley. There are also instances of troops firing at steamers out of sheer lightheartedness. Steamers have been fired on too by robbers and by tax collectors, while the smuggling of arms that was indulged in by certain vessels has furnished an additional motive for these attacks.
The first The most recent form of outrage on steamers is commandeering. instance of this took place at Chungking in 1920, when the local military authorities confiscated a small steamer and tore down (metaphorically speaking) the foreign flag-American, French or Japanese, for the steamer was very protean-which she wore at the time. This particular vessel no doubt deserved its fate, but the incident
set an unfortunate precedent, and it was not long before steamers, genuinely British owned, were victims of the same illegality. At first they were required to carry soldiers free of charge, but latterly the action of the Chinese has amounted practically to appropriation of the vessel. The large increase in the number of steamers has made it more and more difficult for the limited number of gunboats to take prompt and effective action on each occasion (which is the only useful way of checking these offences), with the result that this year General Yang Sun appears to have been commandeering British ships ad libitum, a course of action which finally culminated in the Wanhsien incident of the 5th September.
W. STARK TOLLER.
October 23, 1926.
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