CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 348

2

means more to the two officials, the treasurer and the customs taotai, than to the two members of the gentry-Yang Kuo and Yeh Te Hui.

From communications I have had with persons whose opinion in such matters must carry weight, especially with the Japanese Minister, I conclude that the guilty officials have been as severely dealt with as we could expect. In regard to the punishment of the gentry, M. Ijuin considers that the penalties are light, and not sufficient to act as a deterrent in the future; but he is of opinion that the Central Government have probably gone as far as they can without risking a recrudescence of trouble, and on the whole I am inclined to agree with him.

Mr. Liu Yu-lin, acting junior councillor of the Wai-wu Pu, expressed privately the opinion that both the expressions employed in the decree in regard to the action of certain members of the gentry and the penalties inflicted on them are severer than had been expected.

I have, &c.

W. G. MAX MÜLLER.

Enclosure in No. 1.

Extract from Memorandum proving the Complicity of certain Officials and Gentry in

the Changsha Riots.

Chuang Keng-liang.-Has been an official in Hunan for nearly forty-five years. He has openly let it be known that he was not in accord with the governor, and has caballed with the gentry to work against him. It is stated that with the help of the gentry he organised the outbreak in the hope of ruining Ts'en and taking his place. After the burning of the governor's yamên he took over the seals of office, and it was while he was in charge that the greater part of the damage to foreign property was done. At the time of his assuming charge only three missions had been destroyed, and there was still time to protect a good deal of other foreign property. However, although he was complete master of the situation, and had the sympathy of the whole On city, he did not send a single soldier to protect the foreign property still intact. the other hand, he forbade the troops to fire on the rioters, and made no attempt to stop the destruction of foreign property. He visited and gave gratuities to members of the mob who had been wounded, and even forbad firing when men were pouring oil on the roofs of the governor's t'ingrhs.

2. Chu Yen-hsi (the customs taotai).-Mr. Hewlett called on him

on the 11th April and warned him of impending trouble. He gave Mr. Hewlett repeated assurances that the fullest protection would be afforded. However, Taotai Chú took no precautionary measures of any kind, and when the riot broke out took no steps After the riot whatever to prevent either loss of life or destruction of property. started he even telephoned to His Majesty's consul that troops had been sent to all the missions, when, as a matter of fact, he had taken no such steps.

Three of the gentry are especially implicated, viz., K'ung IIsien-chiao, Yang Kung, and Yeh Tê-hui :-

1. K'ung Hsien-chiao.-This man was seen going round in his chair, directing the movements of the robbers. His son, it is stated, was actually seen helping to fire Messrs. Butterfield and Swire's establishment on the river front. Further, a Chinese preacher of one of the missions was warned by the head of the local train-bands on the morning of the 14th April that instructions had been given by K'ung for the destruction of the mission property at noon that day, and the warning proved to be true, according to Mr. Hewlett. The people openly accuse K'ung as the leader of the

movement.

2. Yang Kung. This man also was seen going round in his chair directing the movements of the rioters.

3. Yeh Te-hui.-This man and his father, Yeh Yü-ts'un, helped in cornering the rice-market, and held on to their stock of 30,000 piculs until the price rushed up to 8,400 cash a picul. The poor people then began to make an uproar and trouble broke out.

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.?

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[22587]

No. 1.

345

C O 21654

[June 28.]

SECTION 1.

15 19 10

Sir C. MacDonald to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received June 23.)

(No. 133. Confidential.)

Sir,

Tokyo, June 7, 1910. I RECENTLY received from the acting consul-general at Mukden a copy of his despatch No. 27, Confidential, of the 24th May last, addressed to His Majesty's chargé d'affaires at Peking, with reference to the proposed construction by the provincial authorities of the Manchurian Government of a harbour at Hu Lu Tao.

I have since received a despatch from His Majesty's consul at Dairen, of which I have the honour to enclose a copy, giving the details, as published in the local Japanese press, of a proposed harbour to be constructed at Lienshan, which Mr. Parlett believes to be the same as Hu Lu Tao.

I took the opportunity of referring to the matter in conversation with Count Komura yesterday. His Excellency told me that he was aware of the project, but added that he did not attach much importance to the matter. The water at that point was shallow, and the country behind the proposed harbour was hilly.

Copies of this despatch will be forwarded to Mr. Max Müller, Mr. Willis, and. Mr. Parlett.

I have, &c.

Enclosure in No. 1.

CLAUDE M. MACDONALD.

Consul Parlett to Sir C. MacDonald.

(No. 31.) Sir,

Dairen, May 27, 1910. I HAVE the honour to report to your Excellency, with reference to the informa- tion contained in Mr. Willis's despatch No. 27 of the 24th instant, that the "Ryoto- Shimpo" in its issue of the 23rd of this month contained a paragraph on the subject of a proposed harbour at Lienshan, which would appear to be the same as Hu Lu Tao. According to the Japanese paper, the foreign engineer dispatched by the Chinese provincial authorities to survey the spot was of opinion that a good commercial harbour, with piers, &c., would cost 7,000,000 taels, and take ten years to build. One less ambitious could, however, be constructed in five or six years at a cost of about. 3,000,000 taels, but it would probably prove inadequate.

I have, &c.

HAROLD G. PARLETT.

[2788 -1]