[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
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AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[22015]
(No. 175.) Sir,
No. 1.
Jund 20853
SHION 1.
REGE 8 JUL 10
Mr. Max Müller to Sir Edward Grey-(Received June 20.)
Peking, June 1, 1910. IN my despatch No. 151 of the 12th ultimo, dealing with the anti-Japanese riots and anti-foreign agitation at Hangchow, I transmitted a paraphrase of a telegram from his Majesty's consul at that port to the effect that signs of impending trouble were becoming increasingly clear. I stated that I had brought the matter to the notice of the Wai-wu Pu, who had thereupon telegraphed to the Governor of Chekiang instructions to take every possible measure to prevent the outbreak of anti-foreign disturbances.
I now have the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of a despatch from His Majesty's consul,* amplifying the information conveyed in his felegram above mentioned, and enumerating the main reasons for the unrest at present existing in that city. The high price of rice, due largely to the failure of the crop, but also in no small part to the speculative operations of the gentry and merchants, combined with the failure of other crops, has brought the common people-the coolies who in their millions depend upon wages just sufficient for their simple needs-to the verge of starvation. Distress naturally breeds discontent, and discontent in its turn com- bines with ignorance and superstition to create a feeling of sullen resentment and hostility which naturally turns into the channel of anti-foreign agitation. Mr. Savage lays stress upon the very same conditions which I have already pointed out as characteristic of the situation throughout China in my despatch No. 108 of the 14th April, dealing with the general condition of affairs, and my despatch No. 166 of the 21st ultimo, reporting upon the Changsha riots. The ignorance and distress of the people, the unreasoning and selfish conduct of the gentry and merchants, who appear to have, commercially and morally, no aim beyond that of immediate profit, and, politically, no idea except that of resisting foreign enterprise; and the weakness of the local authorities, who seem incapable, either through fear or through sympathy with the party of disorder, of guarding against disturbances or of repressing them when they break out-these facts are equally true of all but a very few portions of the Chinese Empire. I am, however, glad to learn, from a private letter from Mr. Savage (received on the 30th altimo), that the agitation at Hangchow is subsiding, and that the officials, upon whom the Changsha riots appear to have had a sobering effect, are by no means anxious to incur the responsibility of a disturbance, and are less apathetic with regard to the situation.
The accompanying extract from a private letter which I have received from His Majesty's consul at Chinan-fu will show that a similar state of affairs, though in a less acute form, exists in Shantung, where distress is on the increase owing to the failure of the crops; and the missionaries, who are in the best position to judge the situation, are apprehensive of trouble.
Similarly a state of unrest is, as I have already reported, apparent at Nanking. His Majesty's consul at that port telegraphed to me on the 15th ultimo that the tails of cocks and hens were being cut off, that queues were disappearing mysteriously, and that children were wearing charms to protect them from foreigners. I at once made representations to the Wai-wu Pu, and urged them to take the necessary measures to prevent an outbreak (see my telegram No. 96 of the 18th ultimo), and I was able to report to you in my telegram No. 98 of the 19th ultimo that his Excellency Natung bad assured me that the foreign residents at Nanking would be protected, and that the Imperial Government would take vigorous action to preserve order. The enclosed despatches from His Majesty's consul at Nanking, which I have received since that
*
Hangchow, No. 8, May 12, 1910.
Extract from Mr. Wilton to Mr. Max Muller, May 19, 1910. Nanking, No. 30, May 16; May 18; No. 32, May 23, 1910.
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