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manner in which it arose is explained in my despatch to Mr. Werner, copy of which I have the honour to enclose, and it is a matter for regret that this officer should have omitted to refer to the legation for instructions before taking action, which a careful consideration of the facts of the case and of the previous correspondence would have convinced him was ill-advised.
The result of this preliminary hearing, which lasted from the 9th August to the 12th August, and ended in a decision that there was no case against the police superintendent, was not slow to make itself felt, and on the 17th August I received a telegram from His Majesty's consul-general at Shanghae stating that a boycott had been declared, and that no cargo for Kiukiang could be obtained by British shipping firms.
Mr. Max Müller at once made a strong verbal protest at the Wai-wu Pu, and on the 19th August a note was received stating that the Taotai at Kiukiang had taken measures to prohibit a boycott. On the 21st August Sir Pelham Warren telegraphed that the boycott still continued, and Mr. Max Müller again addressed the Wai-wu Pu on the 23rd August, pointing out the serious consequences which might ensue if the movement were not suppressed, and requesting that telegraphic instructions be sent to put an end to it and punish its instigators.
The Wai-wn Pu, in their reply ou the 27th August, stated that, according to the Governor of Kiangsi, there was no organised boycott, but that, as cargo for the steamers of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson, and Co., and Messrs. Butterfield and Swire had to cross the concession, the merchants were afraid to enter the concession and go to the customs for a permit to land cargo on account of the fact that the superintendent who had killed a Chinese by striking him with a stick was still allowed to "wander about." The note further stated that His Majesty's consul was shielding the culprit, that there was consequently great popular indignation, and that, unless the man was sent to Shanghae for trial, it would not be possible to put an immediate end to the agitation.
As the boycott, according to the telegrams from Shanghae, showed no signs of coming to an end, I sent Mr. Campbell to the Wai-wu Pu on the 10th instant, to urge again the adoption of effective and immediate measures. He was assured by his Excellency Lien-fang that repeated telegrams had been sent, and that another would be sent forthwith. On the 11th instant I heard from Shanghae that, not only was the boycott continuing, but that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce had forbidden the consignee of a trial shipment from Shanghae to receive any more cargoes from a British ship. This constituted the first instance of active interference in the present dispute by this semi-official body, and as the local authorities can, if they choose, easily prevent such manifestations on the part of a responsible organisa- tion, I addressed a strong note to the Wai-wu Pu on the 13th instant, in which I expressed the opinion that such illegal interference with the trade of British merchants can be stopped at once by the local officials if they choose to exert their authority, and once more requested Prince Ching to telegraph instructions to the provincial authorities of Kiangsi to suppress the boycott quickly and firmly, and especially to put an immediate stop to the illegal interference of the Kiukiang Chamber of Commerce.
The boycott is causing considerable loss to the British companies concerned, although the trade on the Yang-tsze is "pooled" between them and the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, and the latter company consequently suffer their share in the general loss, but this consideration does not seem to weigh with the promoters of the boycott.
I saw the Grand Secretary Na to-day and impressed upon him very earnestly the serious responsibility which the Chinese Government would incur if they did not at once take steps to put a stop to the boycott. I said that the effective censorship which the central Government had exercised over the vernacular press during the recent negotiations with Japan proved conclusively that they could impose their will upon the provinces when they chose to do so, and that the continuance of the boycott would be held to be clear evidence that it had their tacit sympathy, if not their active support.
While admitting the force of this contention, Na chung tang said that the continued presence of the police superintendent at Kiukiang was calculated to keep alive the agitation and begged me to have him quietly transferred to another port.
I said I had no power to do anything of the kind, and added that it was perse- cution rather than legitimate prosecution which seemed to be the object of the agitators. A similar case had occurred at Canton, where the members of the Self-
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government Society had succeeded by their clamour and coercion in securing the removal of one of the oldest and most respected sea captains on the coast for an incident which occurred on the lower decks while the captain was engaged in navigating his ship through one of the most difficult passages of the Canton River. Such outbreaks of popular passion were, I did not hesitate to say, a disgrace to the good name of China, and the day would come when the easy tolerance with which they were now regarded would be bitterly regretted.
The Crown Advocate is expected here within the next few days, and I understand that the case can be reopened by indictment in the Supreme Court. The publicity which the whole proceedings would receive by a judicial enquiry at Shanghae seems to point to this as the best course to remedy the mistake made by Mr. Werner, but I do not know whether Mr. Wilkinson will consider himself justified in adopting it.
I have, &c.
J. N. JORDAN,
(No. 4.) Sir,
Inclosure in No. 1.
Sir J. Jordan to Consul Werner.
Peking, September 13, 1909. 1 HAVE received your despatch No. 10, Confidential, of the 22nd ultimo, enclosing a copy of your judgment on the preliminary examination of the charge of felonious killing brought against Constable Mears, and commenting on various matters connected with the trial.
of
I cannot help feeling that, in view of the state of public opinion in Kiukiang and your previous official connection with the case, you committed an error of judgment in trying the case yourself without referring the point for advice either to the Supreme Court or to me.
In
As long ago as the 26th May, in telegraphing to the judge, I expressed the wish that if the case came on for trial the Supreme Court should deal with it, and I sent the Crown Advocate to Kiukiang to form an independent judgment as to whether the evidence justified a prosecution. In his subsequent report to me, dated the 6th June, Mr. Wilkinson wrote that he had informed the Chinese authorities that if a charge were brought by the relatives of the deceased against Mears they would have every assistance in filing it, and it would be fully and duly tried by His Britannic Majesty's Supreme Court, and I subsequently informed the Wai-wu Pu to the same effect. your telegram No. 10 of the 6th July you informed me that the case was dead locally, and you requested instructions as to the course you should adopt in view of the intention of two American lawyers to file a charge against Mears. To this telegram I replied that in that event the case must take its course and a preliminary hearing be held. This telegram was not meant to modify in any way the opinion that I had already expressed to the Supreme Court and the Crown Advocate, and which the latter conveyed to the Chinese local authorities, and was certainly never intended to convey the impression that the preliminary hearing should be held before you as judge, for, as I have before said, I had contemplated from the beginning that the Supreme Court should deal with the case. The Crown Advocate, however, appears from his letter to you of the 20th July to have been under this impression. But even granting this, it is, I feel, most unfortunate that you should have disregarded Mr. Wilkinson's advice that, in the event of a suggestion to that effect by the American lawyer, it would be possible for the enquiry to be held either before His Majesty's consul-general at Hankow or the police magistrate from Shanghae, especially in view of my instruction to you to be guided by the advice of the Crown Advocate. If any doubt existed in your mind as to the exact intention of my telegram, much trouble would have been saved if you had referred to me for advice when the American lawyers first raised the question as to the propriety of your trying the case.
The incident which gave rise to all this trouble occurred on the 26th April, and on the 15th June I telegraphed to you to forward me a full report, and on the same day I wrote to you pointing out how necessary it was to keep His Majesty's legation fully and promptly informed in cases which were the subject of discussion with the Wai-wu Pu. In spite of this you never sent me any report either by telegram or despatch as to the progress of the case until, in consequence of a telegram received from Shanghae as to the commencement of a boycott of British shipping at Kiukiang
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