CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910 — Page 406

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and ingenuity are devoted by the authorities and the self-appointed leaders of reform --so called. To what extent these latter are represented by the mass of the people it is hard to say, but they at least deserve the credit of not openly advocating violent

measures.

According to the vernacular press and to common report, the "carved melon story, if it ever circulated in this part of China at all, has not laid hold on the minds of the populace in the way it has done in Central China. Ever since the annexation by France of Upper Tonquin, it is true there has existed an apprehension with regard to further expansion in a northerly direction, but such apprehension is in nowise connected with recent happenings. It may be called chronic, and is mainly confined to those stationed or dwelling along the frontier in Kuanghsi and Yunnan. Of late, the negotiations regarding the delimitation of Portuguese territory at Macao led to the circulation of rumours that Portugal contemplated aggression on Chinese soil. These, however, were circulated by those desirous of rendering the negotiations abortive, and it is difficult to imagine that general importance has been attached thereto. Of anti-foreign agitation amongst the student class there is practically no trace. Local scholars would seem to have a respect for authority, and to be content to leave agitation to the various associations of which mention will be made later on,

As to railway loans and the construction of railways, there is similar lack of The Kuangtung evidence of popular dissatisfaction with foreigners on their account. section of the Yüeh-han Railway is being constructed with Chinese capital-rapidly approaching exhaustion,--and the squabbles between its shareholders and their directors, and the tracasseries to which the Chinese engineer-in-chief is subjected, only affect those directly concerned. The Canton-Kowloon Railway is being allowed to progress without any opposition beyond that offered by turbulent local rowdies, anxious to turn a dishonest penny out of land sales, or the advancement of personal interest. The Chinese newspapers, since 1900, cannot be said to preach hatred of the foreigner. They confine their efforts to asserting the sovereign claim of the people- i.c., themselves--to do what seems right in their own eyes, irrespective of treaty conditions or international obligations, vigorously and ably seconding in this respect the efforts of the self-governinent aud other similar societies.

The clannish and self-centred spirit, which is characteristic of the Cantonese, may account for the fact that subscriptions towards paying off foreign loans and indemni- ties or towards providing funds for a national navy are not forthcoming, but towards their own particular railway lines and other provincial undertakings they have contributed freely. An intense interest is also displayed in any official proposals for raising internal taxation, and when it comes to discussing salt or gambling monopolies, the voice of the people makes itself loudly heard. (Indirect proof of an absence of hostility against a scheme purely because of its foreign origin might be found in the generous subscriptions made towards the University of Hong Kong.) These are not, however, matters which can be said to affect foreign relations. Of disloyalty amongst the foreign drilled troops one can ascertain but little. It was whispered that the recent outbreak on the occasion of the Chinese New Year had been fomented by revolutionaries, but of this there is no proof whatever. Nor can any credence be attached to stories prophesying an anti-dynastie rising in the near future.

From the above, it will be evident that Mr. Little's appreciation of the general political situation, however accurate it may be in respect of Central or Northern China, tends to give a somewhat distorted view of the state of affairs actually obtaining in Southern China, or perhaps, to put it more correctly, in the provincial capital of the Liang Kuang, although there is no reason to suppose that the one differs from the other. Given, bowever, as is at present the case, a weak Governor-General, there is one phase of local politics which is becoming a grave menace to constituted authority, and one which, under conceivable circumstances, might very seriously imperil foreign relations. The reference is to the growing power of the Self-Government Society and its affiliated bodies, the Merchants' and Mercantile Steam-ship Associations, aided and abetted by the Newspaper Syndicate. These combinations arrogate to themselves the right to interfere in anything and everything, and, the appetite coming with eating, pusillanimous concession has placed them in the position of being able to hector and bully the officials. So long as purely domestic affairs are at stake one might regard matters from a disinterested standpoint, but it is in foreign affairs that they particularly claim the right of intervention, as witness the Tatsu Maru and Fatshan cases-two of the more important recent ones. Nothing is too trivial to escape their attention their emissaries pounce on every communication to and from a foreign consulate, and

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immediately publish it with sarcastic or prejudicial comment, in some instances even before it reaches the addressee. The transaction of public business has accordingly become almost intolerable, and were a grave international question to arise, it is not difficult to foresee what complications might ensue or to what extent endeavours to arrive at a diplomatic settlement would be frustrated. Remonstrances addressed to the authorities are unavailing, as the people, in other words the societies, insist on knowing what is going on and on dictating the course of action to be pursued. To those conversant with history, parallels with the conduct of public affairs by the national assembly would readily occur, but of these governors and governed are ignorant. Fortunately, as has already been pointed out, this energy has, up to the present, been directed solely towards the maintenance of the principle that in matters between Cantonese and foreigners, the former have everything and the latter nothing to say. Should the foreigner be so ill-advised as to object, he is threatened with boycott and pecuniary loss; his life and personal property would not so far appear to be placed in jeopardy.

J. W. JAMIESON, Consul-General.

Canton, April 20, 1910.

(No. 36.) Sir,

Enclosure 6 in No. 1.

Consul-General Wilkinson to Mr. Max Müller.

Chengtu, May 23, 1910. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your despatch No. 3 of the 6th ultimo, enclosing copy of a memorandum on the political situation in China, drawn up by Mr. E. S. Little, and instructing me to report upon it.

Since my arrival at Chengiu last December I have, in my despatches to the legation, dealt with most of the topics discussed by Mr. Little. To take them in the order in which they are given in the memorandum :---

1. The" Carved Melon,”—A translation of a circular that had found its way into Szechuan formed Enclosure No. 2 of my despatch No. 4 of the 13th January last; while my despatch No. 40 of the 23rd December had for its subject the cognate matter of the Japanese boycott. I need only say here that either agitation would appear to have died out in this province.

2. Railway Loans.-I would refer to my despatches No. 12 of the 3rd February, No. 13 of the 11th February, and No. 24 of the 23rd March. When Mr. Little's memorandum was compiled he had not had access to the published accounts of the Chuan-Han Railway Company; consequently, the figures he gives for the loss sustained by the shareholders are below the mark. I fear that, pace Mr. Nicolson's informant (Enclosure No. 1 in my No. 24), the shareholders and the Government and people of Szechuan are still strongly opposed to obtaining from foreigners the money necessary to bring that railway to completion. As sufficient funds, even after the disappearance or dissipation of some 5,000,000 taels, yet remain to construct the first section of the line-a section that the native engineers reckon that it will take three years to build- the question of a foreign loan has not become acute as far as this province is concerned.

Newspapers.-The newspapers published here are the "Chengtu Jih-pao," a semi-official organ, and two other daily papers, the Tung-su Jih-pao

" and the

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Ping-lun Jih-pao," both under police supervision. Nothing to which serious objection could be taken has appeared in the first of these, while the second, as has heen reported elsewhere, is subsidised by my French colleague. The "Ping-lun Jih-pao has reprinted some articles ou alleged French designs in Yunnan, but otherwise has not attacked foreigners. On the other hand, the "Chengtu Jih-pao" has published without comment Dr. Timothy Richards' outspoken "Parting of the Ways," in which he contrasts the losses and dangers certain to result from refusal of foreign aid in railway and mining ventures with the prosperity and security that would follow a more liberal policy.

Officials.The Governor-General, Chao Erli-hsun, has, with the exception of his somewhat testy refusal to admit our right to take an interest in the Thibetan campaign (see my No. 17 of the 23rd February), always shown himself courteous and reasonable. Whenever I have had occasion to write to him regarding anti-foreign rumours or the occasional anonymous placards imputing offences to foreigners he has promptly

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