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4. That their petition was addressed to the British consul at Tengyueh, in China, may be due either to the fact that their aggressor was subject to the authorities at Tengyueh or else to the ignorance of the person who drew up the petition. This was evidently a transfrontier Chinese, who had probably no definite idea of any other British official than the consul at Tengyuch. He wrote the petition in his own national language and with his own expressions, and it will be noted that he dated it in the Chinese style.
5. The petition, when written, was sent by the villagers, not to the consul at Tengyueb, but to the Burmese local official at Sadon. The whole matter was brought in due course by the Government of Burmah to the notice of the consul at Tengyueh for discussion and arrangement with the taotai at that port.
(Translation.)
I have, &c.
Enclosure 6 in No. 1.
P. E. O'BRIEN-BUTLER.
Mr. Shih to Consul-General O'Brien-Butler.
Yunnan-fu, April 24, 1910. THE Administrator of Foreign Affairs makes the following communication in reply to the British consul-general :——
The administrator has received the consul-general's despatch of the 18th April, in which he states that he has sent copies of the administrator's despatch on the subject of the raid made by the Chief of Teng Keng on the village of Pieuma to His Majesty's Legation at Peking and to the Government of Burmah, and that the petition sent by the villagers was not written by themselves, who regarded them- selves as British subjects living on British territory, which fact is expressed under five items.
The frontier between Yunnan and Burmah north of the high conical peak has not been determined yet. According to the boundaries within which both nations now exercise jurisdiction, Pienma was formerly under the magistrate of Yunlung Chou in Talifu, and afterwards was transferred to the jurisdiction of the magistrate of Paoshan Hsien in Yungehang-fu, and the village is now under the control of the Chief of Teng Keng; and as the records of taxes collected by the Government and paid by the village can be referred to it is a matter of fact beyond all doubt that the villagers are Yünnan people living in the province of Yunnan. The true facts were stated fully in the administrator's despatch of the 2nd instant (11th April). The consul-general, knowing well enough that the question about the frontier has not been settled, made no statement different from that of the administrator. However, he has argued much with regard to the fact of the villagers making the mistake in sending the petition. This the administrator cannot agree with. If this false petition could be considered as proof that the village is in British territory, it will be probable that when Burmese should be induced by some person to write a false petition, and to address it to some Chinese authority, the fact can also be taken as proof that they are Chinese subjects living in Chinese territory. This is, of course, contrary to reason, and therefore the petition, without proof being obviously deceptive, is of no importance. Though the petition was not rejected by the Burmese officials, yet it is regarded by the administrator as one which will produce no effect. As the consul- general made his statements under different items the administrator will express his ideas as fully as he has done, with the earnest hope that the matter may be made certain, and no one will be deceived by it.
1. Pienma and other villages are on the east of the Hsiaochiang River, and the inbabitants are assuredly Yünuanesc living in the province of Yünnan. As to their language being different from that spoken by the people in the interior, the administrator knows this already.
2. The villagers, being instigated by a certain bad person, acted against their superior, the Chief of Teng Keng, and getting that person to draw up the false petition, brought charges against the chief, and purposely made the mistake of addressing it in a wrong way. Since the petition was written for them, the words used must agree with their thoughts and not with the writer's. Though the villagers are ignorant and simple, the writer must not be so.
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3. They knew that they wereunder the Chief of Teng Keng, and had long submitted to his rule. If on being misled and making false charges they addressed their petition to Chinese officials, they would be punished for the crime of quarrelling with their chief. They knew this very well, and so would not throw themselves into a net, even if they were very ignorant. The administrator fears that it is not in accordance with reason that the consul-general considers the fact of the petition being addressed to a British official as proof that the petitioners regarded themselves as British subjects living on British territory, and he cannot assent to it.
They were all silly, and so let themselves be misled. As the petition was dated in the Chinese style, the person writing it must also be a Chinese subject. He dared not address the petition to Chinese officials, and, besides Chinese officials, he only knew of the existence of the consul at Tengyueh.
5. As they were not British subjects living on British territory, they did not know the different classes of British officials, and yet British officials have insisted that they are British subjects without any proof except the false petition which is rarely nothing, even without the administrator expressly stating this fact. In the petition there is the expression "Ling Shih Ta Jen" (his Honour the consul), but it was sent to the Burmese local official at Sadon, and not to the person addressed in it; it is evident that the petitioners made this mistake on purpose.
In short, the inhabitants of Pienma and the other villages are Yunnanese living in the Province of Yunnan, according to the boundaries within which both nations now exercise jurisdiction, and there is plenty of trustworthy proof of this. If the consul-general takes this petition as proof to the contrary, the administrator is determined not to admit it.
As the consul-general has sent copies of the administrator's despatch to His Majesty's Legation at Peking and to the Government of Burmah, he must also report to the Viceroy, and request him to inform the Board of Foreign Affairs at Peking.
It is the administrator's duty to write this in reply to the consul-general, trusting he will take note.
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