262
2
The news of the fall of Lin An caused much panic in Yünnan Fu; rowdies, said to be in correspondence with Chou, collected in the streets, and for a few days matters were serious. The whole affair had, of course, taken a turn which the Viceroy neither desired nor anticipated, and had got beyond his control. His Excellency lost his head, and it is said, was preparing to bolt north. But the Governor Lin showed more sense. He seized the local head of the Kao Lao Hui and caused him to be executed out of hand. A word from head-quarters suppressed the anti-foreign rumours as suddenly as they had begun. Stringent police measures were adopted at the city gates, and under the control of special officers. Every householder was held responsible for the inmates of his house. This had a calming effect at the capital.
All available troops and levies were then sent south, and the military arrangements were put in the hands of the provincial Judge Liu. This man has always been identified with the policy of keeping the bad characters of Kuo Chiu as a reserve to harass the French, and his appointment was apparently on the principle that the man who had got the Government into the mess must get the Government out of it.
Chou's followers advanced north from Lin An to near T'ung Hai City, where they had friends and the officials were prepared to decamp, but happily the advance guard of the Government troops, who were under a good officer, came up in time; Tung Hai was saved, and the rebels were driven back to Lin An.
The fighting near Lin An resolved itself into a contest between the Mohammedans, who have many large villages in the district, and Chou, who with the Lin An gentry had a special feud with the followers of the Prophet.
Wei, the Mengtse Taotai, had some reliable troops under a Mussulman officer named Pei, who had distinguished himself in recent operations against the Kwang-si rebels. Pei, co-operating with the Mussulman villagers, advanced on Lin An from the south-east while the Judge Lin advanced from the capital. The troops under Liu proved quite useless, but as Lin An City was not provisioned, and as the authorities collected some 8,000 men round it, the gentry thought it time to open the gates and deliver up the rebel leaders. Six of the latter were beheaded at once; the officials declare that Chou himself was among them, but from private information I am as yet inclined to doubt it.
Shi Ping City was recovered before Lin An, the Judge having granted to the rebel who had taken it a button of the 5th rank and a military command in exchange for his submission.
There has been much destruction of life and property, and there are still scattered bands of rebels in the south. The Mengtse trade, on which a number of people depend for their subsistence, is at a standstill, and some time must elapse before order can be restored.
The south-west of the province and all the west frontier from Teng Yueh southwards are also in a state of anarchy.
When Viceroy Ting took charge the province was perfectly quiet. Its present condition is the natural result of placing the Government in the hands of such a Viceroy. When he was Acting Viceroy here three years ago, and when he was Governor of Kwang-si, the same thing happened—weakness, disorder, rebellion—nor do I believe that we shall have peace in this corner of China so long as Ting remains in power.
The most interesting point in connection with these disorders is the attitude of the French:
(1.) It is becoming increasingly evident that M. François' mission has been a failure, and I am inclined to believe that the railway would have been nearer to a speedy completion if he had never put his foot across the frontier of Yunnan. When he first came into the province four years ago he endeavoured to carry matters through with a high hand; lately, and especially since the appearance of a British Consular officer, he has tried to persuade the Chinese officials that "Codlin's the friend, not Short," but he has wholly failed to conciliate their goodwill or to allay their suspicions, and matters have been further complicated by triangular quarrels between the Railway Construction Company, the Consulate, and the Tonquin officials. A number of surveyors, who are constantly being shifted, but none of whom know the language or understand the prejudices of the people, have been distributed over South Yünnan. There has been the maximum of friction with the minimum of progress.
As soon as the Lin An disturbances commenced, all survey parties in the country were recalled, and there are now 70 refugees, including Italians, Greeks, and some 20 women and children in this city, besides several hundreds at Mengtse. Work is at a standstill, and I gather that M. François takes a pessimistic view as to its renewal.
3
(2.) It is, I think, pretty clear that, as I pointed out when I first came to Yunnan, the French are not in a position to take any active hostile measures in connection with Yunnan affairs; to send troops over the north frontier of Tonquin would be to reopen the whole Chinese question in an acute form, and under such conditions that the French would stand to lose far more than they could hope to gain. Any such expensive adventure would be highly unpopular in France; and it is quite possible that in grasping at the shadow of dominion in South China they would lose much of the substance of power in Tonquin. If the Chinese refrain from committing outrages on Frenchmen of such a character that the honour of the French Government would be involved, I believe that the Yunnan Mandarins can go, and know that they can go, to almost any length in the way of obstruction, delay, and tergiversation respecting the railway. The present Governor-General of Indo-Chine is a man of far less energy and character than his predecessor M. Doumer, and he is further credited with no very favourable opinion regarding the railway. To the chagrin of the engineers, M. François, who is supposed to be here to assist the railway, does not conceal his present opinion that it is an unprofitable scheme which ought never to have been undertaken. It will be interesting to watch the further developments of this mismanaged railway, which I cannot doubt has been the real exciting cause of the present disorders.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
G. LITTON, Acting Consul.
262
2
The news of the fall of Lin An caused much panic in Yünnan Fu; rowdies, said to be in correspondence with Chou, collected in the streets, and for a few days matters were serious. The whole affair had, of course, taken a turn which the Viceroy neither desired or anticipated, and had got beyond his control. His Excellency lost his head, and it is said, was preparing to bolt north. But the Governor Lin showed more sense. ) He scized the local head of the Kao Lao Hui and caused him to be executed out of hand. A word from head-quarters suppressed the anti-foreign rumours as suddenly as they had begun. Stringent police measures were adopted at the city gates, and under the control of special officers. Every householder was held responsible for the inmates of his house. This had a calming effect at the capital.
All available troops and levies were then sent south, and the military arrange- ments were put in the hands of the provincial Judge Liu. This man has always been identified with the policy of keeping the bad characters of Kuo Chiu as a reserve to harass the French, and his appointment was apparently on the principle that the man who had got the Government into the mess must get the Government out of it.
Chou's followers advanced north from Lin An to near T'ung Hai City, where they had friends and the officials were prepared to decamp, but happily the advance guard of the Government troops, who were under a good officer, came up in time; Tung Hai was saved, and the rebels were driven back to Lin An.
The fighting near Lin An resolved itself into a contest between the Mohammedans, who have many large villages in the district, and Chou, who with the Lin An gentry had a special feud with the followers of the Prophet.
Wei, the Mengtse Taotai, had some reliable troops under a Mussulman officer named Pei, who had distinguished himself in recent operations against the Kwang-si rebels. Pei, co-operating with the Mussulman villagers, advanced on Lin An from the south-cast while the Judge Lin advanced from the capital. The troops under Liu proved quite uscless, but as Lin An City was not provisioned, and as the authorities collected some 8,000 men round it, the gentry thought it time to open the gates and deliver up the rebel leaders. Six of the latter were beheaded at once; the officials declare that Cliou himself was among them, but from private information I am as yet inclined to doubt t
Shi Ping City was recovered before Lin An, the Judge having granted to the rebel who had taken it a button of the 5th rank and a military command in exchange for his submission.
There has been much destruction of life and property, and there are still scattered bands of rebels in the south. The Mengtse trade, on which a number of people depend for their subsistence, is at a standstill, and some time must elapse before order can be restored.
The south-west of the province and all the west frontier from Teng Yueh south- wards are also in a state of anarchy.
When Viceroy Ting took charge the province was perfectly quiet. Its present condition is the natural result of placing the Government in the hands of such a Viceroy. When he was Acting Viceroy here three years ago, and when he was Governor of Kwang-si, the same thing happened-weakness, disorder, rebellion-nor do I believe that we shall have peace in this corner of China so long as Ting remains in power.
The most interesting point in connection with these disorders is the attitudo of the French:
(1.) It is becoming increasingly evident that M. François' mission has been a failure, and I am inclined to believe that the railway would have been nearer to a speedy completion if he had never put his foot across the frontier of Yunnan. When he first came into the province four years ago he endeavoured to carry matters through with a high hand; lately, and especially since the appearance of a British Consular officer, he has tried to persuade the Chinese officials that "Codlin's the friend, not Short," but he has wholly failed to conciliate their goodwill or to allay their suspicions, and matters have been further complicated by triangular quarrels between the Railway Construction Company, the Consulate, and the Tonquin officials. A number of surveyors, who are constantly being shifted, but none of whom know the language or understand the prejudices of the people, have been distributed over South Yünnan. There has been the maximum of friction with the minimum of progress.
As soon as the Lin An disturbances commenced, all survey parties in the country were recalled, and there are now 70 refugees, including Italians, Greeks, and some 20 women and children in this city, besides several hundreds at Mengtse. Work is at a standstill, and I gather that M. François takes a pessimistic view as to its renewal.
3
(2.) It is, I think, pretty clear that, as I pointed out when I first came to Yunnan, the French are not in a position to take any active hostile measures in connection with Yunnan affairs; to send troops over the north frontier of Tonquin would be to reopen the whole Chinese question in an acute form, and under such con- itions that the French would stand to lose far more than they could hope to gain. Any such expensive adventure would be highly unpopular in France; and it is quite possible that in grasping at the shadow of dominion in South China they would lose inuch of the substance of power in Tonquin. If the Chinese refrain from committing outrages on Frenchmen of such a character that the honour of the French Government would be involved, I believe that the Yunnan Mandarins can go, and know that they can go, to almost any length in the way of obstruction, delay, and tergiversation respecting the railway. The present Governor-General of Indo-Chine is a man of far less energy and character than his predecessor M. Doumer, and he is further credited with no very favourable opinion regarding the railway. To the chagrin of the engineers, M. François, who is supposed to be here to assist the railway, does not conceal his present opinion that it is an unprofitable scheme which ought never to have been undertaken. It will be interesting to watch the further developments of this mismanaged railway, which I cannot doubt has been the real exciting cause of the present disorders.
I have, &c.
(Signed)
G. LITTON, Acting Consul.
enl.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.