CO129-437 - Public Offices - 1916 — Page 151

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plussed them for a moment; but Ts'ai quickly recovered himself and said that under any circumstances Japan would take advantage of the preoccupation of the European Powers to pursue her aims in China, and that in any case the responsibility for anything which might happen rested with the President, who, to further his ends, had not only violated the Constitution but had also rejected the advice of the Entente Powers. I retorted that, even supposing that were so, it did not justify them in affording Japan a pretext for further intervention.

I asked if they would tell me, for your private information, the number of provinces whose support they expected, but they declined; the declarations of inde- pendence which would follow in the next few days would, they said, show this.

I asked if there was any way of accommodating their differences and they said, No; the telegram to the President was their final word; he had ignored them, and his only reply had been to order troops to attack Yunnan, and there was nothing left for them to do but to fight to the bitter end,

At my interview to-day, on receipt of your telegram No. 34, Ts'ai was not present; the Chiang Chun asked if I had anything particular to communicate to him, and I replied in the negative. Tang admitted that the information I gave him was correct, and said that they had known all along that General Lung would not go with them; he expected shortly a declaration of independence from Kueichow and also from other provinces, but as his communications were blocked the news of Yunnan's action would only filter through slowly. I said that the fact remained that they were alone, and therefore they were not justified in raising the standard of rebellion. He said that although they were the only province which had declared independence, they had many partisans in other provinces, and they must wait and see the course of events. replied that, even admitting that, he could not deny that, with the exception of Yunnan, no province felt sufficiently strongly about the question to go to the length of raising the standard of revolt; and as they were in a minority of one against seventeen, and success was out of the question, it was clearly their duty to bow to the decision of the majority.

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He then shifted his ground and said it was not so much the question of the restoration of the monarchy they were opposing as the family of Yuan Shih-kai: the latter they disliked and his son was still more an object of their terror; if the people were allowed to choose their own Emperor they would have no objection. I replied that my previous argument applied to this also: seventeen provinces had accepted Yuan Shih-kai as Emperor; I added that Yünnan had also telegraphed accepting the President as Emperor, and their present revolt wae difficult to reconcile with their previous attitude. He said that they had no option but to acquiesce, otherwise they world have been removed from office and punished.

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He thanked me for my visits and asked me to express to you his profound gratitude your kindly interest; he also requested me to assure you that he felt deeply his responsibility, but that no course was open to him but to fight it out. I replied that I would transmit his message, but I was sure you would not agree with him, as your anxiety as well as my own, was to save China from the horrors of war; however strong his convictions might be, he was not justified in indulging them at the expense of millions who not only did not share them but who had no interest in, or even knowledge of, the principles at issue.

In the meantime, events are marching quickly. Tsai, who looks and says he is ill, has nominated himself Tsung Seu Ling Kuan and proposes to levy 20,000 troops, half of whom are to be sent to the frontiers and the remainder to keep order in the province. The Mengtzu Taotai has fled and has been replaced by General Ho; and General Ku, who was formerly in command of the first division and until recently chief of the military college, has been sent to Talifu. Large quantities of silver are coming into the province through Tonkin, mostly in the form of fourth-class baggage, and the premium on French notes, which has hitherto been 12 per cent., has now dropped to 3 per cent. I represented to Ta'ai and T'ang the importance of keeping up the face value of the Fu-tien bank notes, and they said they were taking measures to that effect, A meeting of merchants was held yesterday and they decided to continue to accept these notes, and M. Baude has undertaken to receive them, for the present, in payment of the salt revenue. Proclamations are out calling for recruits and ordering extensive decorations on the 1st January in celebration of the independence of Yunnan, But there is not the least sign of local enthusiasm; merchants are scared, and trade is at a standstill. The press confines itself to abusing Yuan Shih-kai and eulogising the Chiang Chun; but my writer, who is a Yünuanese, tells me that the general sentiment

ie against the movement, and that those who can afford to do so will quit the province, leaving the poorer classes to suffer for T'ang's "convictions."

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The messages I have received from the missionaries in the interior of Yunnan indicate that so far there has been no trouble, though there is some anxiety as to the future. have no news from Kueichow, and the recent order prohibiting all telegraphic messages in code and cypher will prevent me from obtaining much information. I have, &c.

HERBERT GOFFE.

P.S. Since writing the above I have received a despatch from the Military and Civil Governors notifying me that the Customs Taotai (Chien Tu) at Mengtzu bas fled and has been replaced by Chang Tzu Liang, of whom I have no knowledge.

H. G.