2
.)
C
3
When questioned closely as to the language of this telegram, his Excellency was vague and contradictory, and I rapidly came to the conclusion that there was no such telegram, but that the opposition to the scheme of a reference came from Prince Ch'ing or from other members of the Wai-wu Pu. In the course of his confused explanations be made one interesting statement, which he afterwards requested me to consider as private, and which I have reason to believe had some basis in fact. It was that a foreign Consul at Shanghae had lately told the Viceroy that the rioters of December 1905 were inhabitants of the foreign Settlements, and had therefore advised against the payment of the British claims for compensation,
I remarked strongly on the change of mind of the Grand Secretary since the inter- view of the 18th December, and a long discussion followed in which his Excellency complained that my proposed terms of reference were out of the question. I rejoined that I was prepared to discuss them, and eventually it was arranged that the Wai-wu Pu should consult with the Viceroy and prepare a draft of counter-proposals, which could
be considered at another interview,
Much stress was laid in the discussion, both by the Grand Secretary and his Excellency Tong Shoa-Yi, on the fact that thirteen Chinese were killed during the riots, and though I have steadily declined to admit that it has any relation to our demands, and have pointed out not only that a police inquiry was offered a year ago and refused, but that the question of these deaths was not raised officially by the Chinese Government at the time, it is probable that further attempts will be made to balance concessions to us by an investigation into the Chinese loss of life.
I have little hope that the counter-proposals of the Wai-wu Pa will contain the germ of a settlement, and if I find that they are not likely to prove acceptable to you, I shall continue to press for the dispatch of the Viceroy's deputies to Shanghae in pursuance of the Wai-wu Pu's undertaking of June last; but it is clear from the attitude taken by the Viceroy, as disclosed in Mr. Ker's private letter, that this course does not offer any immediate prospect of a solution.
I have, &c.
(No. 16.) Sir,
(Signed)
Inclosure I in No. 1.
Consul Ker to Sir J. Jordan.
J. N. JORDAN.
Nanking, December 17, 1906. ON receipt of your telegram of the 5th instant, informing me that the Wai-wu Pu had agreed to telegraph to the Viceroy Tuan-fang urging the immediate dispatch of deputies to Shanghae to discuss the settlement of the claims in connection with the riots of last December, I arranged for an interview with his Excellency, which, however, I subsequently postponed in order to wait for the documents which I was instructed in your telegram of the following day to obtain from Shanghae. By the time these arrived, the Viceroy's whole attention was absorbed by the measures that had to be taken to assist in the suppression of the insurrection in Kiangsi; and, on the morning of the 14th instant, the day fixed for my interview, he sent his Secretary to request me to postpone my visit until Sunday, the 16th, when he would be comparatively at leisure, and would be glad to see me at luncheon. (The Viceroy hasr ecently given instructions to the various Government Departments at Nanking to adopt one day in seven, corresponding to the European Sunday, as a day of rest, as far as possible, from official business and official interviews.)
I accordingly visited his Excellency yesterday, and inquired about the telegram from the Wai-wu Pu, urging him to lose no further time in carrying out the undertaking of the Central Government.
The Viceroy informed me that he had duly received the Wai-wu Pu's telegram, and admitted that it had urged him to send deputies to discuss the question of compensation and not the origin of the riots. He had already replied by telegraph to the Wai-wu Pu, and asked me to refer you to this reply, which would no doubt be communicated to you by the Ministers. From the way in which he reiterated the difficulties of his present position, with famine on one side and insurrection on the other, I gathered that his reply was not favourable.
Referring to his assertions at previous interviews that the Wai-wu Pu had never admitted the principle of compensation, I went over the circumstances of the original proposal to send deputies, as set forth in Mr. Carnegie's note to Prince Ching of the
14th August last, to show the impossibility of this contention. The Viceroy had to acknowledge that the Wai-wu Pu must have admitted the principle to the Legation, but he stoutly maintained that neither his predecessor, Chou Fu, nor he himself had ever .done so.
I have, &c. (Signed)
(Private and Confidential.) (Extract.)
Inclosure 2 in No. 1.
Consul Ker to Sir J. Jordan.
W. P. KER.
Nanking, December 17, 1906. THE Viceroy was so very urgent that I should not tell you what he said privately to me yesterday that I have confined myself in my despatch to saying that I gathered that his reply to the Wai-wu Pu was not favourable, and I am anxious not to write anything that might tend to check his free speech in future. But his confidential remarks would be of no use to me if I could not pass them on to you, and 1 do so with all reservation.
He asked me if I personally thought the main object of the demand for compensation was to indemnify the sufferers or to make China lose face. I said I was sure no one desired to humiliate China, but it was right that the sufferers should be compensated, and if this involved some loss of face to Chinese officials that was not our fault. "For," he went on, "if it is only a question of indemnity and not of face, it can be done. The amount is small, and means can be found to pay it, provided the fact of payment is kept secret. But if the press gets hold of the idea that deputies are to be sent to Shanghae to discuss compensation, this will be the spark for a general con- flagration, and there will be more riots and more claims." He gave me to understand that he would ask leave to resign his post rather than do as the Wai-wu Pu want him to do.
I said if that was his attitude I had better report that he definitely refused to send the deputies, instead of keeping on with the story of his waiting a report from Shanghae and so forth. But he said, "On no account do so; it would only make the settlement more difficalt. Just wire to the Minister that you have pressed me very urgently to send the deputies, that you used very strong language in doing so, and that I only replied I had already given my views by telegraph to the Wai-wu Pu, who will no doubt communicate them to the Minister." He quite understands that I bare no authority to discuss any suggestions, fantastic or otherwise, for a settlement, and I think it is possible he is biding his time to put forward to you through the Wai-wu Pu some counter-proposal on the above lines.
Inclosure 3 in No. 1.
Memorandum respecting the Shanghae Riots,
SIR JOHN JORDAN understands that the proposal of the Wai-wu Pu is that the following matters should be referred to the Judge of His Majesty's Supreme Court and the Taotai of Shanghae for their joint consideration and decision :—
1. To determine the sums justly due to British subjects who suffered in person and property by the riots.
2. In Proclamations published in Shanghae on the 20th December, 1905, and the 10th January, 1906, the Viceroy of Nanking and the then Taotai stated that the riot of the 18th December was caused by the strike circular issued on the evening of the 17th December, and by roughs and bad characters. The Viceroy's Proclamation also stated that the strike circular was issued by the Kung Chung Yen Shuo Hui, and that he had instructed the Taotai to close up the Society and arrest and punish the offenders.
The Judge and the Taotai shall jointly investigate the manner in which the Viceroy's instructions were carried out, and, if it is ascertained that any ringleaders of the agitations or disturbances have not been punished, they shall decide on the necessary punishments.
486
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.