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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

「 | ། 「T | TCO. 88?

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- | COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO

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The answers of Captains Watson and Barnes (forwarded herewith) the officers who have been commanding the Regiment during the absence of Lieutenant-Colonel Bower and Major Bruce, are a complete refutation of the charges made, and I can personally vouch for their correctness. I would call special attention to that portion of Captain Watson's Report, headed "General Remarks."

Many of the allegations made are so palpably false to anyone having any knowledge of the Regiment, that it would almost appear as if they were made with a view to pre- judicing it in the eyes of the authorities at home, on the principle that if mud is thrown, some is sure to stick, and thereby leading possibly to the reduction or even disbandment

of it.

Should the latter action be taken now, at a time when the Empire stands in need of every soldier she can obtain, it would, in my humble opinion, be most suicidal policy, and I am certain that Major-General Sir A. Dorward, under whom the Regiment fought most gallantly at Tientsin, and who knows more about the Regiment than any other Commander in China, would concur in this.

To the officers, who have worked hard to bring the Regiment to its present state of efficiency, and many of whom by so doing have lost the chances of distinction and promotion they would otherwise have had in South Africa, such a course would certainly be heart-breaking.

As regards the men even if compensation were paid them for terminating their engagements, doubt if that would satisfy them, and it would certainly shake their confidence and trust in the English nation, for which at present they still have some respect.

I humbly venture to submit that the accompanying correspondence may for the information of the Under Secretary of State for War.

I have, &c.,

J. H. COWAN,

be passed

Major, Royal Engineers, Acting Commissioner, Wei-Hai-Wei.

Enclosure 1 in No. 85.

THE CHIEF STAFF OFFICER, China Field Force, to OFFICER COMMANDING THE 1ST CHINESE REGIMENT OF INFANTRY, Wei-Hai-Wei.-Through the Officer Commanding at Wei-Hai-Wei.

Subject-1st Chinese Regiment.

Headquarters, Intelligence Branch, China Field Force,

Tientsin, December 1901.

(No. 857 I.C. Confidential.)

•

Reference. Previous correspondence through the General Officer Commanding, Wei-Hai-Wei.

Memorandum.--I forward extracts from reports received on the above named subjects for your information.

Please inform me whether there is any foundation for the allegations contained in the extracts.

In this connection can you throw any light on another statement, viz., that some men are serving under the Chinese as Officers who were formerly in the 1st Chinese Regiment?

By Order,

G. H. W. O'SULLIVAN,

Colonel, Chief Staff Officer.

China Field Force.

(2.)

Captain WATSON, 1st Chinese Regiment,

Forwarded for report, please, as carly as possible.

December 23, 1901.

J. H. COWAN, Major, Royal Engineers,.

Officer Commanding Troops.

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EXTRACT from the Diary of the Railway Staff Officer, Peking, dated November 26, 1901.

"I have been informed that the very large number of desertions in the W.H.W. Regiment is due to the amount of beating, the length of service (3 years), and some system of squeezing which is going on. My men (B.R.P.) are very much afraid of being transferred there. They say, owing to above causes only low-class Chinese enlist, with whom they would not consort."

A European Interpreter employed with the China Field Force writes as follows:- "The other day, during the course of conversation with three of Ma's (Ma-Yu-Kun) non-commissioned officers, I asked about the W.H.W. Regiment, and why were these desertions? They said:

1st. Three years is a long time to serve.

2nd. The English Officers beat and ill-treat their men.

3rd. If they are killed in action you do not bury the men, and the compensation

is not enough. (They said it was $100 in case of death.)

There is also, no doubt, that men joining Yuan-Shih-Kai's and Ma-Yu-Kun's troops, who have served in the W.H.W. Regiment get bigger pay than the ordinary sepoy as he can do a good bit of instructing. There are old soldiers of the W.H.W. Regiment in both these Generals' camps."

Enclosure 2 in No. 85.

Officer Commanding Troops, Wei-Hai-Wei,

Length of Service. (1.) I do not think that having to serve for three years is likely to affect the question of desertion to any appreciable extent. As far as I am aware in the Chinese Army they are enlisted for an indefinite period.

Burial of men killed in action. (2) This is absolutely false. Not only were all the men killed or died on service buried (with one exception, whose body could not be recovered), but the coffins containing the bodies of those killed at Tientsin havo been brought to Wei-Hai-Wei, where they now are. As the graves of these men at Tientsin were all carefully and legibly marked with the deceaseds' names both in English and Chinese, and also registered in the Municipal Office, there is no possible excuse for this statement. Moreover, it is only within the last three weeks that the coffins have been removed from Tientsin.

Compensation. The amount of compensation was decided by a Board, which was assembled for the purpose. The suggestions have been approved by the Commander- in-Chief. There is also compensation for men disabled by wounds. The amounts range from $300 downwards. Details can be ascertained by reference to the Allow- ance Regulations. It is on a very liberal scale. As to the best of my knowledge relations of soldiers of the Chinese Army killed on service receive nothing, and disabled men are left to look after themselves, why then should it occur to these non-commis- sioned officers of Ma's to think of speaking of compensation unless the idea was sug- gested to them by this "European Interpreter?"

Class.-There are no caste prejudices in China; the bulk of the men of the Chinese Regiment are peasants from the country villages, and about five-sixths are Shantung men; there are some 400 men enlisted in Tientsin and the vicinity as an experiment, they have not been found as good as the Shantung men.

Ill-treatment. (4.) The statement that the officers beat and ill-treat the men is a lie pure and simple.

Squeeze. (5.) The men are paid twice a month. They are invariably paid personally by an officer according to the customs of the British service. No native ever handles any man's pay. Who then can "squeeze?" Have these Police been allowed to imply that the officers follow the customs of the Chinese, and pocket the mens' pay?

Deserters serving in Chinese Army. (6.) I should think it was probable that a few deserters may be serving with the Chinese Army, but for reasons set forth in another report, I should think not many. Since the “ European Interpreter" knows for a fact, he should be able to state whether the men he speaks of are Shantung or Chih-li men, and I should be glad of the information. I do not see the object of comparing the pay with that of a sepoy, the conditions are not similar. The pay was purposely fixed at a higher rate than the ordinary scale of pay in the Chinese Army, otherwise