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when the rioting was at its height. Reparation was demanded and obtained by both the British and Japanese consular officials, but unwise delay occurred in dealing with the unruly soldiery concerned on the plea that some forty men remained absent from barracks. As a result, a second riot occurred on the 13th February in which a Chinese police officer and several constables were wounded. The trouble was alleged to have originated in the withholding of the men's pay.
I visited this 46th regiment at Soochow on the 9th instant and saw the men on parade, in their barrack-rooms, and in their class-rooms, and spoke to many of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers. Everything appeared to be orderly and regular, and the demeanour of the men and their bearing towards their officers respectful and soldierlike.
Before I left Peking (on the 15th March) the judge advocate-general of the Chinese army had informed me that the brigadier, C'hên Të Lung, had been removed, but on my arrival at Soochow I found him still there, in command, and believe he is
so now.
The Wai-wu Pu has now officially informed His Majesty's Legation that the following punishments were awarded, viz. :—
The ringleader, Sergeant C'hên Li Shan; imprisonment for life.
Privates Weng and Sun; twenty years and ten years imprisonment respectively. Majors Tseng Li Chao and Chiêng Hung En, commanders of the two mutinous battalions (1st and 2nd) of the 46th regiment, who had already been deprived of their rank, to undergo in addition a term of imprisonment (poriod not stated).
At Kiang Yin forts, His Majesty's consul at Nanking reported, on the 12th January, there had been considerable disaffection in the 36th regiment, which culminated in the desertion of nearly 100 men. The cause would appear to have been dissatis- faction with promotions to non-commissioned rank. (The 36th regiment belongs to the 9th division, the discipline of which has frequently been a subject of unfavourable comment.)
His Majesty's consul now reports that the following punishments were awarded in connection with this outbreak, viz. :--
The sergeant who originated the mutiny was beheaded.
The captain of the company concerned has been dismissed, deprived of his feather, button, and badge of merit, and sentenced to imprisonment for five years.
The colonel, who had been removed from his command before the mutiny broke out, has three marks recorded against his name.
The major (battalion commander) has been removed, and is not to be employed in the army again.
name.
The brigadier-general of the 18th brigade has two marks recorded against his
At Ch'ing Chiang P'u, in the 13th Brigade (Mixed Brigade) of regulars, serious disaffection appears to have undoubtedly occurred last month. The native papers at the end of March contained alarming accounts of the state of things there, pointing to an entire disorganisation of the brigade. It was said that a letter suggesting disturbance was sent from one of the infantry regiments at Soochow to an infantry regiment at Ching Chiang P'u, but was delivered to the cavalry by mistake, and that General Wang (the military governor of Kiang Pei) called out the infantry but they refused to obey the order; that General Wang bad then sent the gendarmerie and city guards to open the floating bridge and close the city gates and man the walls at the west and south gates; that the mutineers had then assembled outside the city wall and sharp fighting had taken place in which the civil canal-side population had suffered heavily as well as the mutineers, who had then retired to the south bank of the old Yellow River, and that two battalions had been sent up from Nanking.
I anticipated, therefore, that I should probably be prevented by the Chinese authorities from proceeding to Ching Chiang P'u, but no objection was raised, and I arrived there after nightfall on the 4th April, and was very well received by the authorities. There was a dense and curious crowd at the landing-place as I disembarked but, in my passage through the heart of the city, could discern no sign of disorder, the streets being full of people and the shops open as usual.
The following day I saw the 13th Mixed Brigade at their lines, about 1 mile north of the town, making a long inspection of the barracks and institutions and seeing some units of every arm (except the transport, whose barracks are not yet
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ready) on parade. In the afternoon they had a small field-day (cavalry and infantry only) for my benefit in the old bed of the Yellow River. The officials were exceedingly reticent about the recent disturbance, and, indeed, denied that there had been a serious mutiny. In any case, I am satisfied that the disturbance has been greatly exaggerated, for it had not resulted, at any rate, in any visible disorganisation of the brigade. My Chih-li servant, whom I sent out into the town to make enquiries, and my boatmen (two of whom were Ching Chiang P'u men) could obtain no confirmation of the alarmist reports, and informed me that it was untrue that two battalions had been sent np from Nanking. They admitted, however, that there was talk in the town about some discontent in the luchun (regular troops), and that it concerned the men's pay. I have little doubt that there was more or less serious trouble, as the officials took care to keep me very fully occupied during my stay, inspecting troops, schools, hospital, &c., and were obviously auxious to prevent my visiting Dr. Woods, of the American mission. I insisted, however, on calling at the mission, but he and the Rev. Graham were both, unfortunately, away, and I subsequently failed to catch up Dr. Woods at Shanghae.
In the men's dining-rooms, moreover, in barracks, I noticed a proclamation by the military governor Wang referring to discipline and exhorting them to good behaviour, which would point to there having been some necessity for its issue. The officials, moreover, laid particular stress on the unreliability of newspaper reports.
On the 4th April His Majesty's consul at Nanking saw the Viceroy's confidential adviser Yang Chêng (ex-Minister to Vienna), who told him that the trouble was not yet over; and on the 15th April he referred to a native newspaper report of the 13th instant, which stated that "a further 1,000 men had handed in their uniforms and asked for their pay, with the intention of leaving the service, and that the officers had not dared to refuse them." (I am inclined to doubt this statement.)
At Changsha, during the recent serious riots, the inactivity of the 26th mixed brigade of regulars quartered there is significant. His Majesty's consul-general at Hankow reported that "soldiers, often in far greater number than the rioters, watched the work of destruction without moving a finger, till Friday evening (the second day of the riot), when two men, for sharing in the burning of the Standard Oil premises, were put to death and their heads exposed. The inactivity of the troops is ascribed to two of their number being beheaded for firing on the assailants of the governor's yamên."
His Majesty's consul at Changsha reported on the 18th April that “500 of the regular troops have deserted from barracks with their arms and ammunition, and their intentions are as yet unknown." He had, however, previously very justly remarked that "seeing that soldiers were executed for firing on the mob, it is not surprising that they were not keen."
The above are the more striking instances of recent indiscipline, but do not by any means complete the list; minor cases, such as quarrels with the police and civil population, and strikes on the part of military students, &c., having been from time to time reported from various places.
As regards the causes underlying this laxity of discipline, from enquiries made during my tour, and information from various sources, both official and private, the impression left on my mind is that the following various specific causes have led to the present unsatisfactory state of things:
1. Territorial Enlistment.--This has been a pet scheme with the War Office owing to its advantages in the matter of formation and training of reserves. The fact seems to have been somewhat overlooked at Peking that, with territorial enlistment, it cannot but happen that local popular sentiment will also, to a great extent, be the sentiment of the local soldiery,
2. Conscription. This is being gradually introduced in a modified form, and is not everywhere welcomed.
3. Incessant und Hard Work.-Incessant and hard work, both on parade and in the class-rooms, has been imposed on the soldiers of the regular army. The gymnastic training, especially, by which much store is set, contains many unnecessarily dangerous practices, whereby a number of men are annually more or less seriously injured. The Chinese army doctors, with whom I have spoken, very generally condemn many of these practices.
4. Lack of Short Leave. This is a very general grievance, and one that might easily be remedied in territorially-recruited forces.
5. Cases of Irregularity in the Issue of Pay.-Last year, as far as I could gather,
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