[ { "id": 245406, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-069 - Sir Bowring - 1858 [5-12]", "page_number": 485, "title": "CO129-069 - Sir Bowring - 1858 [5-12]", "content_text": "482 \n\nIn the Passenger Act Chap:1014 \nof 1855, have been complied with.\n\nMany \nboard, and \nholding \nCL \nExtra \nEnglish Surgeon diploma from the \nC.S London - proceed in the \nvessel in \ncharge of the \nEmigrants \nhave \n\nThe object for \nwhich I \nam addressing you \nis to request \nthat you \nwill be pleased \nto move - His Excellency \nthe Governor that the ship may be permitted to clear out from Macao - instead of back to this port on coming.\n\nand to be inspected \nand \nCertificate granted by H.M. Consular Agent of that port \nthe facilities for inspecting the \nmen and provisions, are greater \nthan at \nHongkong which is \nof the \ngreatest importance it will tend to shorten the \nvoyage (or time in which the Emigrants may have to be on board) by 6 or 8 days.\n\nBy granting this now will confer a great favor \n\nConcurring. \nIrrawaddy 12 August \n(Signed) Thos Grant \nAgent for \nAssociation for Chinese Emigration, \nZC", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-069 - Sir Bowring - 1858 [5-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 292772, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-166 - Public Offices & Others - 1873", "page_number": 202, "title": "CO129-166 - Public Offices & Others - 1873", "content_text": "## Paper: 4\n\nCuba - Cookies from Chuia.\n\n(Copy of harshly dise...\n\n200 that the vessel went from point to point kidnapping Chinese; others were enveigled.\n\nChinese labourers continue to arrive. The Steamer Fatchoy brought over 900 of this unfortunate people, & official notice has been published of the expected arrival of the Irrawaddy with the same number. Other vessels now in China are engaged in the same traffic, which yields an immense profit to ship-owners engaged in it. A passenger of the Fatchoy has informed your correspondent that they were taken on board by speculators or \"coolie brokers\" (as they are called here), who receive $30 for each one of their victims. As soon as they arrive on board, they are stowed away below in irons until the full complement was received, which was ten times the number the capacity of the vessel allowed. The horrors of the traffic & the voyage of the Fatchoy can easily be imagined.\n\nThree.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-166 - Public Offices & Others - 1873.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 299499, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-176 - Public Offices & Others - 1876", "page_number": 336, "title": "CO129-176 - Public Offices & Others - 1876", "content_text": "128\n\nL'ÉCONOMISTE FRANÇAIS.\n\ntrois lecteurs et deux autres maîtres; la rétribution du personnel administratif à 50,240 marks; les frais de matériel à 46,390 marks; la dotation des instituts, des cliniques et des séminaires à 240,810 marks; les prix annuels mis au concours à 3,300 marks. Sur les frais du personnel administratif, il y a: 3,000 marks, traitement du curateur; 3,600 marks suppléments au recteur et aux doyens des facultés; 100 marks au secrétaire de l'Université; 3,100 marks au questeur trésorier; 4,500 marks au secrétaire du curateur, contrôleur de la caisse; 2,100 marks au commis de la chancellerie et au commis de la caisse; 7,870 marks pour promotions au doctorat; 6,000 marks pour travaux extraordinaires, etc., etc.\n\nQuelques détails sur la dotation des instituts, des cliniques et des séminaires attachés aux diverses classes trouveront ici leur place et ne seront pas sans intérêt. On n'a pas consacré moins de 3,308,080 francs pour l'installation première de l'Université et de ses annexes, de 1872 à 1870. Cette année même, le budget d'Alsace-Lorraine leur accorde 240,810 marks pour dépenses ordinaires, et 21,930 marks pour dépenses extraordinaires: soit, ensemble, 262,740 m. ou 328,450 francs, contre 362,760 marks attribués en 1876 aux instituts et aux laboratoires de l'Université de Strasbourg. Il y a 668,870 marks inscrits au même titre sur le budget de la Prusse pour l'Université de Berlin; 306,746 m. pour l'Université de Konigsberg; 338,764 marks pour l'Université de Bonn. L'allocation annuelle ordinaire de l'Université de Strasbourg se répartit comme il suit dans l'ordre d'inscription au budget.\n\nSéminaire juridique, 1,200 m.; séminaire des sciences sociales, 1,200 m.; institut anatomique, 10,170 m.; institut de chimie physiologique, 7,400 m.; institut pharmacologique, 6,930 m.; institut physiologique, 8,000 m.; institut d'anatomie pathologique, 3,900 m.; clinique médicale et polyclinique, 18,810 m.; clinique chirurgicale, 10,380 m.; clinique d'accouchements, 49,830 m.; clinique des yeux, 5,170 m.; clinique des maladies syphilitiques et de la peau, 2,100 m.; clinique psychiatrique, 9,150 m.; séminaire mathématique, 1,500 m.; institut physique, 9,300 m.; institut chimique, 76,700 m.; institut zoologique, 3,700 m.; institut de minéralogie, 4,800 m.; institut de géologie et de paléontologie, 4,500 m.; institut de botanique, 11,150 m.; Institut pharmaceutique, 5,400 m.; institut petrographique, 600 m.; observatoire astronomique, 5,700 m.; séminaire philologique, 1,800 m.; séminaire d'histoire moderne, 900 m.; séminaire philosophique, 600 m.; institut d'archéologie artistique, 2,100 m.; institut pour la connaissance des antiquités grecques et romaines, 1,800 m.; institut pour l'épigraphie romaine après Jésus-Christ, 600 m.; séminaire de philologie allemande, 1,200 m.; séminaire des langues romanes et anglaises, 1,500 m.; pour l'étude des antiquités égyptiennes, 300 m.; cabinet de lecture académique, 3,900 m.; réunion musicale de l'Académie, 1,200 m.; école d'équitation, 1,500 m.; dépenses non prévues, 4,000 m.\n\nA elle seule, la bibliothèque de l'Université dispose encore, en dehors de ces sommes, d'un crédit ordinaire de 121,050 marks. Ces chiffres n'ont pas besoin d'autre commentaire. J'ajouterai seulement, en manière de comparaison, que, pour un crédit annuel de 328,450 francs, attribué aux laboratoires et aux collections de l'Université de Strasbourg, bibliothèque non comprise, le total des sommes portées au budget de 1871, en France, pour entretien et renouvellement des collections, établissement des laboratoires, frais de manipulations et de cours de toutes les Facultés des sciences, des Facultés de médecine et des Écoles supérieures du pays entier, ne dépasse pas 341,000 francs. Si, dans les principaux établissements du haut enseignement en France, les instruments de travail manquent ou sont beaucoup trop restreints, nous ne nous plaindrons pas de voir l'administration de l'Alsace-Lorraine faire plus largement les choses à Strasbourg. L'exemple donné sera bon à suivre, car, dans l'état actuel de la science, l'enseignement oral ne suffit plus. Sans peine de déchéance, l'enseignement doit s'appuyer sur l'expérimentation, sur les exercices pratiques du laboratoire, travail également indispensable pour les élèves et pour les maîtres, et sans lequel il n'y a point de progrès possible. Pour compléter les chiffres donnés ci-dessus, disons encore que, sur nombre de 677 étudiants immatriculés en 1870 à l'Université de Strasbourg, nous comptons seulement 106 Alsaciens-Lorrains pour l'étude de la théologie protestante, de la pharmacie et de la médecine. L'Université nouvelle a été fondée par décret impérial du 28 avril 1872, en remplacement de l'Académie établie en 1808, qui succéda elle-même, après la Révolution de 1789, à l'ancienne Université érigée par une ordonnance de l'empereur Maximilien Ier, en date du 1er juin 1566, à la demande du magistrat de Strasbourg.\n\nCHARLES GRAD.\n\nL'OUVERTURE DU TONG-KIN AU COMMERCE EUROPÉEN.\n\nL'EXPLORATION DU SONG-KOÏ.\n\nOn a raconté ici-même comment la deuxième expédition envoyée par les Anglais afin de reconnaître les jalons d'une route commerciale entre le Barma britannique et la Chine occidentale avait échoué d'une façon si tragique. On constatait en même temps que, la route par Bhamo écartée, au moins provisoirement et pour longtemps peut-être, et le grand fleuve de la Cochinchine française étant impraticable dans sa partie moyenne, la solution la plus naturelle du problème semblait être de recourir au Song-Koï, ou fleuve Rouge, grand cours d'eau qui se déverse, par un large delta, dans le golfe du Tong-Kin, et que notre intrépide compatriote, M. Jean Dupuis, négociant à Han-Kéou (Chine centrale), avait reconnu offrir, sur un parcours de 800 kilomètres, une communication non interrompue entre le littoral et le cours même de l'Yûn-Nân.\n\nLes faits qui se rattachent à la tentative de M. Dupuis sont peu ou point connus en Europe. L'opinion publique s'est un instant éveillée chez nous à la nouvelle inattendue qu'une poignée de Français, guidés par le lieutenant de vaisseau Francis Garnier, l'éminent explorateur du Mé-Kong, avait emporté d'assaut, le 20 novembre 1873, la citadelle de Ha-Noi, défendue par des milliers de soldats annamites; de même qu'elle devait s'émouvoir plus tard en apprenant que, à un mois à peine d'intervalle, le chef de cette expédition tombait, dans une sortie, sous les coups de bandits embusqués qui le perçaient de leurs lances et lui coupaient la tête. Puis le silence s'est fait de nouveau autour de ces événements, qui avaient le double tort de se passer si loin, et de tomber au milieu des plus vives préoccupations politiques. On n'en connaissait pas mieux la nature et les détails qu'on n'en appréciait la portée et les conséquences possibles. Éclaircir les uns et faire ressortir les autres, telle est la pensée des lignes qui vont suivre, et qui sont écrites sur les notes manuscrites que M. Dupuis a bien voulu nous remettre lui-même. L'explorateur du fleuve Rouge se trouve actuellement à Paris, et il y est venu dans l'espoir d'intéresser ses concitoyens au succès définitif d'une œuvre à laquelle, pour son propre compte, il a consacré toutes ses forces et sacrifié sa fortune.\n\nM. Dupuis arrivait au Céleste-Empire en 1868, et, dès l'année suivante, il quittait Shang-Haï en compagnie de M. Eugène Simon, aujourd'hui consul de France à Sydney, pour s'enfoncer dans l'intérieur du pays et remonter jusqu'au Thibet, s'il était possible. Mais l'état troublé du Sze-Tchuen, que désolait alors la guerre civile, les força de s'arrêter à Han-Kéou, où ils devançaient tous les autres Européens. En 1871, M. Dupuis eut quelques rapports avec la mission Morel et Blakiston, qui remontait alors le Yang-Tse-Kiang dans un but commercial, et ces rapports attirèrent son attention sur le fleuve Rouge, que, dès lors, il se promit d'explorer un jour ou l'autre. Il y avait évidemment de grandes difficultés dans une pareille tâche; mais M. Dupuis, qui avait déjà parcouru une grande partie de la Chine, qui en connaissait parfaitement la langue et s'était créé de grandes relations avec les mandarins, M. Dupuis espérait bien les vaincre. Dans ces conditions, il s'apprêtait, en 1872, à se mettre en route, lorsqu'il apprit qu'une commission française venait d'être formée afin de chercher, par la voie du Mé-Kong, cette route commerciale vers l'ouest de la Chine que lui-même entrevoyait dans le fleuve du Tong-Kin. Le Mé-Kong, débouchant dans une possession française, répondait mieux que toute autre voie aux besoins mêmes qui préoccupaient notre compatriote, et il jugea convenable d'attendre ce qui résulterait de son exploration. Mais lorsque, deux ans plus tard, il eut appris des membres mêmes de l'expédition que le Mé-Kong ne pouvait être utilisé au point de vue commercial, sa résolution fut prise et, au moment même où le major Sladen, remontant l'Irawaddy, allait à Momien, il prenait lui-même la route du Yun-Nan.\n\nMandarin à bouton rouge, grade qui correspond dans la hiérarchie chinoise à notre généralat de brigade, M. Dupuis put parcourir au grand jour toute la distance qui le séparait...\n\nPage 129\n\n(1) Voir, dans l'Économiste Français du 2 septembre 1876: les Routes commerciales entre l'Indo-Chine et la Chine, etc.\n\nOffice or Individual.\n\nNo. 15253\n\n(Subject.)\n\nRECEIVED\n\n28 DEC 1876\n\nDOMESTIC.\n\n331\n\nFor Office Proceed of Suez relative to demand of the\n\nDate.\n\n1876\n\nDec 26\n\nLast previous Paper\n\n14706.\n\nBest\n\npirms.\n\nTelegram BGN - 27 Jan 187\n\nGW-2-2-\n\nHaßer\n\n158\n\n366\n\nE. S. Consel for surrender of extann\n\nFugitive Criminals\n\nC. concur in approval of V'suggest that the? be informed by telegraph of the redemption of effionlition arrangements with the & S. San\n\n99€\n\n(Minutes.)\n\nM. Kramiton\n\nLe 14706. Now pprove fumois parading. Joumors\n\nBut see\n\nresgutest\n\nad\n\nalegram to for. daging stendation will this U. Mater\n\nbeen resumed.\n\nTelegraph.\n\n((29.12.06\n\n& send copy to Govencon\"?\n\nJay that Love Duty has concured in\n\nM. 111/77\n\n2014. 4176-11 & 12 apterig.\n\nDrafttel almue", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-176 - Public Offices & Others - 1876.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 307597, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-191 - Public Offices & Others - 1880", "page_number": 175, "title": "CO129-191 - Public Offices & Others - 1880", "content_text": "LIST OF CASES.\n\nPage\n\n \n Spain\n Portugal\n February 1844\n Contemplated removal of a Spanish subject out of the Mail-packet \"Pasha\" at Vigo\n 8\n \n \n \n \n March 1844\n Demand of Portuguese police at Lisbon for surrender of a Portuguese from the Peninsular contract steamer \"Lady M. Wood\"\n 8\n \n \n Austria, France, and Sardinia\n \n 1859\n Proposal to run Austrian Lloyd's steamers under British flag during Sardinian war\n 20\n \n \n Austria\n \n 1864\n Austrian Lloyd's steamers in Ionian Islands\n ..\n \n \n Peru\n \n March 1865\n Refusal of revolutionary authorities at Islay to allow an officer who rejoined the revolutionary party to land at Islay from the mail-steamer \"Bogota\"\n 19\n \n \n Peru\n \n July 1865\n Demand of Peruvian authorities at Lima for surrender of political refugees on board Her Majesty's ship \"Shearwater\"\n 10\n \n \n Peru\n \n December 1865\n Removal of Peruvian naval and military officers by the revolutionary party from the Pacific Company's steamer \"Bolivia\" at Islay\n 12\n \n \n Spain\n \n January 1866\n Contemplated surrender of a Spanish Diplomatic Agent to the Peruvian authorities from the British Mail-packet \"Pacific\"\n 13\n \n \n France\n \n September 1868\n Riot on board French Messageries steamer \"Tigre\" at Hong Kong\n 13\n \n \n Turkey\n \n 1870\n Dues on foreign postal steamers at Constantinople, &c.\n 14\n \n \n France\n \n 1872\n Collision with French Messageries steamer \"Ava\" at Hong Kong\n 14\n \n \n France\n \n 1874\n French Messageries steamer \"Onadyr,\" boarded at Hong Kong\n 16\n \n \n France\n \n December 1874\n Defaulter from Her Majesty's ship \"Vigilant\" on board French mail-steamer \"Sindh\" at Hong Kong\n 15\n \n \n France\n \n 1876\n Proposed arrangement for execution of legal process on board privileged vessels..\n 17\n \n \n France\n \n June 1876\n Claim of French steamer \"Tanais,\" of the Messageries Maritimes, to exemption from local jurisdiction in harbour of Hong Kong\n 16\n \n \n France\n \n September 1877\n Quarantine on French mail-steamer \"Irrawaddy\" at Aden..\n 18\n \n \n Austria\n \n March 1878\n Jew Goldstein on board Rubattino steamer \"Australia\" at Aden\n 19\n \n \n Italy and Austria\n \n \n Question of privileges of Rubattino and Austrian Lloyd's steamers in British ports\n 19\n \n\n[List of Treaties.\n\n172", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-191 - Public Offices & Others - 1880.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 307607, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-191 - Public Offices & Others - 1880", "page_number": 185, "title": "CO129-191 - Public Offices & Others - 1880", "content_text": "182\n\ndel\n\n18\n\nreciprocal arrangement could not be advantageously arrived at, whereby the Consuls of either nation in the ports where these privileged vessels were usually stationed should be instructed, on the application of local police and functionaries of the Courts, to give every facility for the execution of legal process on board of those vessels which could be granted without sacrificing any necessary privilege, or occasioning any delay in the departure of the vessel; and also as a general rule to hand over to the local jurisdiction all cases of offences committed on board those vessels in harbour which the Tribunals on the spot could conveniently and properly deal with, should no special reason exist to render a departure from this course expedient.\n\nThe French Minister for Foreign Affairs appeared to consider that the conduct pursued by the French Consul at Hong Kong had been correct, but he promised to look into the matter, and to consider the proposal made by Her Majesty's Government, but nothing further was done. Lord Lyons, No. 1030;\n\nDecember 13, 1876.\n\nIn September 1877 the Acting Vice-Consul of France at Aden protested against the quarantine imposed on the French mail-steamer \"Irrawaddy,\" belonging to the Messageries Maritimes Company, on her entrance into the Port of Aden, in virtue of the Indian Native Passengers Act, No. 8, of 1876, and under which the Aden authorities claimed the right to visit any steamer, even mail-steamers, carrying more than 60 passengers, natives of Asia and Africa. The French Vice-Consul based his protest on the Postal Convention of 24th September, 1856, but how the matter was ultimately decided does not clearly appear from the papers supplied to this Office by the India Office. In India Office Letter; November 13, 1878. Quarantine. French mail-steamer \"Irrawaddy\" at Aden.\n\nNovember 13, 1878.\n\nThe question now asked by the India Office is, whether any special privileges have been conferred, by Treaty, upon the Rubattino Line of steamers, or the vessels of the Austro-Hungarian Lloyd's Steam Navigation Company, when lying in British ports; or whether, upon any other grounds, they can claim exemption from British jurisdiction in British ports.\n\nThese questions arise out of the following incident:- Jew Goldstein on board Rubattino steamer \"Australia\" at Aden. Bradshaw, p. 709. Question of privileges of Rubattino and Austrian Lloyd's steamers in British ports. See Appendix. Austrian Lloyd's steamers in Ionian Islands.\n\n19\n\nIn March last (1878), a \"Continental Jew\" named Goldstein, alias Grurnstein, having stolen various articles of jewellery and money in Bombay, embarked on board the Rubattino steamer \"Australia,\" then bound for Aden,\n\nOn hearing of the robbery and the departure of Goldstein, the Commissioner of Police at Bombay telegraphed to the Resident at Aden to go on board the \"Australia\" on its arrival at that port, and effect his arrest.\n\nThe Aden police accordingly proceeded on board, but the master refused to give up the accused without an order from the Austrian Consul, and as that functionary resided five miles distant, and it was impossible to communicate with him before the vessel's departure, the arrest was not made.\n\nOn the facts being brought to the knowledge of the Austrian Consul, he supported the action of the commander of the \"Australia,\" but on being appealed to by the Resident at Aden, he authorized the accused to be given up, but not until it was too late; and the question then arose as to the necessity for the police obtaining the sanction of a foreign Consul in order to visit and search a foreign vessel lying in Aden Harbour, on board of which a person might have taken refuge who had committed an offence against British law on shore.\n\nThe Rubattino Line of steamers belong to R. Rubattino and Co., of Genoa, and they carry the Italian mails.\n\nThe Austro-Hungarian Lloyd's steamers belong to an Austrian Company, and they carry the Austrian mails; but there is no clause in any of our Treaties with Italy or Austria which gives any special privileges whatever to vessels of those Companies when lying in British ports; and I am not aware of the existence of any other grounds upon which they could claim exemption from British jurisdiction in British ports, beyond the law of nations with regard to the treatment of mail-packets; and for facility of reference, extracts are given in the Appendix to this Paper from writers on the law of nations bearing on that subject.\n\nWith regard to the Austrian Lloyd's, it may be mentioned that, at the time of the cession of the Ionian Islands to Greece, it was recorded in a Protocol dated the 25th January, 1864, that the Hertslet's Treaties, vol. xii, p. 526.\n\n[79]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-191 - Public Offices & Others - 1880.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 326594, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-218 - Administrator Marsh Governor Sir Bowen & Others - 1884 [11-12]", "page_number": 58, "title": "CO129-218 - Administrator Marsh Governor Sir Bowen & Others - 1884 [11-12]", "content_text": "## Enclosure 1.\n\n55>\n\nas that recently republished in \nThis Colony.\n\nI have the honour to be, \nMy Lord, \nYour Lordship's Most Obedient \nHumble Servant, \n5. Bowen\n\n## Report to the Secretary General \nby \nThe Hon'ble J. W. Irrawaddy \n\nThe \n**RECO** \nC1 0. \n(1854) \n**REGE 22 DEC 34**\n\nprosecution of four newspaper \nwas directed; but I thought it better to proceed in the first instance against \none only.\n\nThe case was tried on October 22nd, before a special jury and a fairly accurate report of the proceedings is given \nin the **Shonghong Daily Press** of October \nsent \ncopy of which I send herewith.\n\nIt will be seen that the \nquestion \nas \nto the meaning \nand \nbearing of the passage complained of \nwas \nfully placed before the jury; \n732 \nthat", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-218 - Administrator Marsh Governor Sir Bowen & Others - 1884 [11-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 329973, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885", "page_number": 296, "title": "CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885", "content_text": "## for Lord Salisbury to Consider \nWhether, under the most favoured nation clause he is entitled by art 54 of Treaty of Peking; & whether such claim the same right of placing Customs on the Irrawaddy frontier as the French obtain under art. 5. of this treaty, or whether the British subjects are not also entitled to bring import goods into (Rangoon by land at the frontier traffic established under art. 6 ~ (if the Burmese Government will allow them to get the favour) - \n\n`D15/7` \n`Ag.14.` \n\nIt is a question for Lord Salisbury to consider. \n\n\"Most favoured nation treatment\" are usually confined to questions of tariff, and they vary much, are capable of various interpretations according to the context, are capable of causing jealousy.\n\nTreaty of Peking would categorically seem to accord any right explored by art. 54.\n\n## Tonquin \n`D15/7` \n`6-30]`\n\n`7.0. print - Confidential` \nreturned to F.O \n\n## Foreign Office \n`July 9. 1885.` \n`12016` \n`294` \n\nYou are directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a Despatch from Her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, reporting the proceedings in the French Chamber of Deputies, in connection.\n\n`for Under Secretary of State Colonial Office.`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 330123, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885", "page_number": 446, "title": "CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885", "content_text": "116 \n\nWith Yünnan the trade routes follow four rivers: the Irrawady, the Upper Yang-tse, the West River and its affluents, and the Song-koi.* \n\nThe trade by the Irrawady only affects the extreme west of Yunnan, and is partly carried by the Nan-ta-ping River. General Mesny considers that the present trade would justify the making of good roads between Bhamo and Momein (Têng-yüeh), but that it would not pay to carry these roads on to Ta-li Fu, as between Ta-li Fu and Momein there are six difficult ranges of mountains to cross. \n\nThe trade by the Upper Yang-tse affects the north of Yünnan, including the Prefecture of Chautung, which General Mesny states is the most populous and richest part of Yunnan, but a few of our goods find their way by that route, even as far south as Yünnan Fu. \n\nIt is worthy of remark that goods should take this long route involving trans-shipment at Shanghae, Hankow, and Ichang, and then go through the formidable rapids below and above Ch'ung King. It is still more worthy of remark, that the greater portion of the trade between Yünnan and the Upper Yang-tse goes by the route followed by M. Rocher in 1871. That is, the commodities are again transhipped at Na-chi Hsien, go up the Yung-ning River to Yung-ning Hsien, whence they are conveyed by mule back through a corner of Kwei-chow to the various markets in Yunnan. \n\nThe cost of conveyance from Yung-ning Hsien to Yunnan Fu is 7 taels per customary picul of 120 catties. The lesser portion of the trade only finds its way by the easier route of Hsü-chow. (The route followed by Messrs. Lagrée and Garnier in 1867-68.) General Mesny informs me that the preference for the Yung-ning route is due to the heavy imports levied at Ta Kwan. \n\nThe trade by the West River would, if things depended entirely on geographical considerations, affect only the east of Yunnan. \n\nThere are two branches of the West River flowing together at Ling-an Hsien by which communication can be had with Yünnan. The northern branch is the Hung-shui River, the southern is the Ngo-yü. General Mesny, who has travelled on both, informs me that though the Hung-shui River has the disadvantage of some formidable rapids, there was formerly a great local traffic on it; that this traffic has at present nearly ceased, he considers due rather to the depopulations caused by disorders than to the difficulties of navigation, and he believes that now order has been restored the traffic will revive. \n\nOn the Ngo-yü River there is a very large traffic. It is navigable by large boats to Pai-hsieh Ting, and thence by small boats or canoes carrying 1 ton or so to Si-lin. General Mesny tells me he was informed by the Chinese merchants at Pai-hsieh Ting that the import trade to that mart last year amounted in value to 2,000,000 taels, one-half of which was forwarded to various markets in Yünnan, the other half was consumed locally and in Kwei-chou. Pai-hsich Ting is only two or three days' journey from the town of Kwang-nau and is still nearer the town of Kwei-chou in Yünnan. According to M. Dupuis, Pai-hsieh Ting is nineteen; according to General Mesny, twenty-two days from Yunnan Fu. The cost of transporting merchandise from Pai-hsieh Ting to Yünnan Fu is about 6 taels the customary picul of 120 catties. \n\nThe main branch of the Song-koi River would be the natural outlet of the trade of south and central Yünnan. On the other hand, I do not think its eastern affluents, the Chin-ho and Nan-si Ho, can be thus utilized. The Ching-ho, or Blue River, has its source in the hills above Kai-hwa, and flows into the Song-koi River just above Sontay. General Mesny informs me that only a very small portion of the Ching-ho is navigable, but Kai-hwa itself is a very poor place, and the little trade it does is done entirely with Pai-hsien Ting on the West River by way of Kwang-nau. \n\nThe Nan-si Ho flows into the Song-koi by Lao-kai, and is not navigable. The Song-koi River, on the other hand, in spite of a few not formidable rapids above Lao-kai, is navigable except in very dry seasons in December and January by large boats as far as Mong-hwa (or Man-hao, Mong-ko, Man-hai, &c., as it is variously spelt). \n\nMong-hwa is the point of juncture of the Ho-ti and Li-seen Rivers. The Ho-ti River is, by landing cargo at rapids, navigable by skiff or canoes to Pakang, where there is a custom-house. This custom-house is about 30 miles south-west of Liu-ngan, and about 40 miles south-east of Yüan-chiang Chou. The Li-seen River passes through Pu-urh, the most southerly district of Yunnan, which produces the celebrated Pu-urh tea mentioned in my Ichang trade Report for 1883. The Li-seen River is only navigable by skiffs and canoes, and I have not ascertained how far it is navigable by them. \n\n* I do not mention the Yuan river flowing into the Tung-ting Lake, though it was the route taken by Mr. Margary, because the long land journey across Kwei-chou bars carriage of commodities. \n\nThe very valuable Map of M. Garnier attached to \"Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine\" (Paris 1873) does not give the course of these two streams quite accurately. They are given accurately in M. Dupuis' “La Conquête de Tonquin, par Vingt-sept Français, 1890.”", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 330132, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885", "page_number": 455, "title": "CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885", "content_text": "122 \n\nquestion calling for solution; and I ought to be able to collect information that would add to the existing data. The routes in question are:— \n\n1. The Yang-tzu by Sui Fu. \n2. The Irrawaddy by Bhamo. \n3. The Salween by Lung-ling Chou. \n4. The Ssu-mao caravan route. \n5. The new Tonquin caravan route. \n6. The Canton River. \n\n452 \n\nOn the way back I could obtain particulars of opium production in South-east Yünnan and Kwei-chow. \n\nI have obtained instruments and the necessary knowledge to observe for latitude by stars north and south of the zenith, and for altitude by boiling point and by aneroids, and I hope, therefore, to be able to show results of some value to geography. \n\nI have a passport from the Governor-General of this province, which would be sufficient. The expenses incurred would be very moderate. \n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) \n**FREDK. S. A. BOURNE** \n\n## Inclosure 2 in No. 117 \n\nSir, \n\n**Mr. O'Conor to Mr. Bourne** \n\nPeking, September 9, 1885. \nIN REPLY to your application dated the 10th August last, I have to instruct you to proceed upon a journey of a somewhat more extended nature than you have proposed to undertake. \n\nIt appears to me desirable to gain a more detailed acquaintance with the commercial relations and requirements of those provinces of Southern China which border upon Tonquin, seeing that it is difficult under present conditions to anticipate in what manner or degree the trading facilities given to France by the Franco-Chinese Treaty may be expected to affect British interests. \n\nThe direction which your journey will take must of course depend upon the quiet and undisturbed condition of the country; but as a general programme you will travel from the city of Pu-erh Fu along the southern frontier of Yunnan and Kwangsi, passing not very far from Laokai and Kaobang, and probably ending your southern travel at Nan-ning Fu, whence you will return through Kweichow to Ch'ung-ch'ing. \n\nThe main purpose of your journey will be to inquire into the commercial condition and communications of South-western China, and the probable effect which the trade clauses of the Treaty recently concluded between France and China will exercise upon British commerce with the inland markets of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yünnan. \n\nAlthough I refrain from binding you to observe these instructions in too literal a sense, you will nevertheless be guided by their tenour, and will adhere to them as strictly as circumstances permit. You will on no account enter any district to which the Chinese authorities are disinclined to allow you to proceed. You will bear in mind that the purpose of your journey is to inquire into the trade of the country, and that other subjects, however interesting they may appear, are to be strictly subordinated to that consideration. \n\nYou should start within a few days of the receipt of these instructions, and in such interviews as you may have with local officials it will be sufficient for you to inform them that you are travelling for general purposes in the way in which your predecessors at Ch'ung-ch'ing were accustomed to travel. It is undesirable for the officials to think that your journey has any relation to the question of Franco-Chinese trade on the Tonquin border. \n\nYou will keep me acquainted with your movements, and will report to me, as occasion may serve, upon the general object of your mission. Your expenses will be moderate, and should not, I consider, exceed 5 dollars a-day. \n\nIn conducting your inquiries you will devote special consideration to the trade communications of Pakhoi with the Province of Kwangsi, so far as you may be able to judge of the question from Nan-ning Fu, which city, I have reason to believe, is at present almost the terminus of British imports from Pakhoi. \n\nI am unwilling that you should attempt to make a running survey of the country you pass through. Such work is very severe, and would occupy too much of your time, which may be more profitably devoted to the main purpose of your expedition.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-224 - Foreign Office - 1885.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 335712, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887", "page_number": 328, "title": "CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887", "content_text": "## No. 22.\n### Sir J. Walsham to the Marquis of Salisbury.—(Received May)\n\n**(No. 23. Confidential.)**\nMy Lord,\n\nPeking, March 29, 1887.\n\nI HAVE the honour to forward herewith to your Lordship a copy of a confidential Report drawn up by Mr. Bourne in connection with his recent journey in South-west China. The first part of Mr. Bourne's general Report on his journey was forwarded to the Earl of Rosebery in my No. 234 of the 22nd July last, and Parts II, III, IV, which are now being completed by Mr. Bourne, will be transmitted as soon as they are ready. The accompanying paper, which was drawn up under Mr. O'Conor's suggestion, contains the result of Mr. Bourne's observations as regards the feeling on the frontiers of the provinces of Yunnan and Kuei-chou with regard to the proceedings of the French in Tonquin and those of our own troops in Burmah, and embraces matter which it was thought advisable not to include in a general Report.\n\nI have, &c.\n(Signed) **JOHN WALSHAM**.\n\n### Inclosure in No. 22.\n#### Confidential Report by Mr. Bourne in connection with his Journey in South-west China.\n\n**Tonquin.**\n\nTHE proceedings of the French in Tonquin supply examples of all that should be avoided by a Western Power coming into frontier relations with China. The district embraced by the provinces of Yunnan and Kuei-chou has been under the direct rule of China for about 1,400 years; it is a mountainous plateau, if that expression may be allowed, with an average altitude of 5,000 feet, breaking abruptly away to the plains of the Irrawaddy, the Salween, the Mekhong, and the Sang-koi, so that there is no navigable water between the plateau and the plains. The only traffic is by caravan of traders who have never seen the sea, and who know of no Great Power in the world but China. I have talked to many of these men, merchants and drovers; the only Governments of which they have heard are the Ta-ch'ao (the great Court), i.e., China, and the Hsiao-ch'ao (small Courts), i.e., Burmah, Tonquin, Chê-li, &c. The Chinese traders and coolies who leave the Eastern provinces in such numbers to settle on the coast of Indo-China have no more rapport with these people than the North American Indians have.\n\nWhen, therefore, a Western Power comes above their horizon, these Yunnan-Chinese, Shans, Lolos, &c., have nothing but what goes on before their eyes to judge it by.\n\nThe impression which the French have produced on the people who inhabit these regions is as bad as it can well be, considering the object which the French presumably have in view, that is, the settlement of the country under their rule. They look on the French with a mingled feeling of dread and distrust, dread of their \"huo-kung\" (artillery and musketry practice), and distrust of their justice and good faith.\n\nThe General of the Lin-ngan Brigade, whom I saw at Mêng-tzu Hsien, gave it as his opinion that the Tonquinese were in wretched plight and much to be pitied (\"tsao nich k'o lien\"); \"the French will kill them, of course,\" he said, \"but you can't reduce a country to order by merely killing the inhabitants, and the people have no confidence in the French, and will not submit so long as they can help it.\"\n\nThe Mông-tzu Magistrate said the same thing, alleging that the French treat the Tonquinese very badly in the matter of women, making them provide girls and change them every few days, a proceeding which, to say no worse of it, undermines the position by destroying confidence in the security of property under the new régime, for girls are usually sold in those parts.\n\nIn the matter of the delimitation of the frontier, the French have damaged their credit with the Chinese officials by their childish want of forethought in rushing to", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 335792, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887", "page_number": 408, "title": "CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887", "content_text": "## OCR Proofread Text\n\nThe brother told me that the MSS. contained nothing but religious forms, charms, and such like--the only purpose, so far as I have heard, for which the Lolos employ their writing. I now begged one of the MSS. The wife and brother of the absent perma both saw insuperable obstacles, but the T'u-ssu overruled their objections and insisted that I should have one. This MS. is now in the British Museum.\n\nThese Lolos had bigger and more irregular features than average Chinese. The colour of the skin seemed much the same, but the eyes were deeper sunk. They are divided into three tribes, known in Chinese as \"Hei,\" \"Pai,\" and \"Kan\" (Black, White, and Dry) Lolo, or I-jên, a meaningless distinction, but corresponding to a real tribal division apparently. They believe in a future state of retribution, burn the dead, worship their ancestors with the sacrifice of an ox, and have no idols. Four pieces of brown paper were said to represent the potentialities of the other world, and three sticks of bamboo their ancestors.\n\nThe Tang-tang River is an insignificant stream, but has a broad bed covered with débris from the hills, and is, like the K'o-tu River, no doubt a formidable stream in the rains. At Shih-ya-k'ou we passed the first cart I had seen since leaving Shanghae. This cart we took to be a promise of better things, for it was of such a clumsy construction, with solid wooden wheels, which were worn unevenly into oblate form, that no power of bullock could have dragged it over the roads we had passed. And, sure enough, a turn from the village brought us on to a plain, so that we had actually before us a level horizon--the first that I had set eyes on since leaving I-ch'ang. For the next 10 miles, to the first town in the Yunnan Province--Hsüan-wei Chou--our road ran over an expanse of dry red loam, with scarcely a house or tree in sight.\n\nHsüan-wei Chou is a town about which a pioneer of commerce cannot find much to say. My Chinese clerk went out as usual, armed with samples, to discover what the inhabitants paid for foreign imports, but returned to say that the only trade was in hams, and that there was no one in the place worth $200.\n\nThis plain has been almost cleared of wood, probably at the time of the rebellion, when 200,000 men are said to have been encamped here. But the lack of wood in the neighbourhood of towns is the rule in Yünnan. After the ascent from T'ang-t'ang on to the plain coal is met no more, and during the next three months which we are to spend in the Yunnan Province coal will only be once met with (at Lin-yan Fu). Nearly all the towns burn wood, which the Lolos and other inferior races bring in for sale, often having to go 5 miles from the town to find it. On the other hand, in Kuei-chou and Ssu-ch'uan, coal is found everywhere.\n\nEveryone one meets is armed here. Between Hsüan-wei Chou and Chau-i Chou we met a man carrying a weapon I had never seen before, but which I found afterwards to be very common all over the Yunnan Province. It is a rod of iron about 3 feet long, with a sword handle at one end, and at the other a bar at right angles to the rod about 5 inches long, pointed and sharpened on the inner edge. Asked what it was for and how used, the man replied for men or wild beasts it would give a stab by striking or a cut by pulling. This weapon is called `kou-lien` (hook).\n\nThere is plenty of food for the gun in this part, and probably for the rifle. The lakes are covered with water-fowl, and the country infested by an enormous bird with black head, black tips to feathers, and slate-coloured body called `ching-chuang` or `huo` by the Chinese, probably a kind of crane. I noticed a Proclamation by the Magistrate of Ma-lung Chou offering a reward of 2 dollars each for wild dogs, whatever that may mean, and other beasts who attack children and dig up dead bodies.\n\nAt Ma-lung our road unites with the main western road which runs across China from Hankow to Burmah. This part of it has been described by several travellers, and need not detain us.\n\nAt Yang-lin I noticed for the first time a curious custom that appears widely spread over Western China. Wherever there is an overhanging ledge of rock the coolies brought bits of wood and twigs of trees to prop it up. Under some of these ledges there are hundreds of such diminutive supports; the only explanation I could get was that if they helped the rock it would help them in return, and save them from aching feet and back.\n\nOn the 3rd December we reached Yünnan Fu, the capital of the province, a bright and clean city for China, evidently containing a well-to-do population. The straight broad streets, new p'ai-fangs blazing in gorgeous colours, and gaily dressed women, who affect light blue gowns with bright red linings to the sleeves, and a red band round the ankle, set off by the magnificent clear bright weather, were very striking after the narrow streets and sombre blue clothing of Ssu-ch'uan.\n\nAlthough the city has an altitude of 6,420 feet fever is not unknown, and several of our party suffered badly. The north of Yunnan has a climate probably as suited to Europeans as any in this part of the world. It should be noted that Yunnan Fu is situated on a lake which is at the bottom of a gentle but somewhat extensive depression. I was told that formerly there was no outlet for the water of this basin, and that only in the thirteenth century was the canal cut which now carries the water from the south-west side of the lake into a stream that flows north to the Yang-tzu, and is shown on Mr. Baber's chart west of Anning-chou.\n\nIt is impossible to convey a clear idea of the commercial capabilities of this city without giving a general sketch of the configuration of the great plateau on which it stands, and thus anticipating the latter portions of this Report. This plateau, if so it may be called, for it is everywhere broken by hills and cut through by rivers, and in some parts even traversed by mountain ranges, is on the eastern slope from the Himalayas to the China Sea, and is nearly conterminous with the Chinese Provinces of Yunnan and Kuei-chou. To show the nature of the ground, I cannot do better than make a circuit of the routes that lead to Yunnan Fu. Starting with the road we have followed, reference to Part I of this Report will show that navigation from the Yang-tzu ended at Yung-ning Hsien, 1,060 feet above the sea, and that in two stages the road reached an elevation of 4,340 feet, and touched 7,770 feet before Yünnan Fu was reached. Next to the west comes the route by Chao-t'ong Fu; here navigation from the Yang-tzu ceases before Lao-wa-t'an (Baber, 1,140) is reached; and the route passes Chao-t'ong Fu (Baber, 6,580) and Tung-ch'uan Fu (Baber, 7,190). West of this comes the neck of high land that connects the plateau with the Thibetan uplands traversed by the Hui-li Chou (Baber, 6,000) route, and by the Wei-hsi route. (See Gill's \"River of Golden Sand,\" vol. ii, p. 255.)\n\nFrom Bhamo (430), the terminus of the navigation of the Irrawaddy, the great Burmese trade route runs through Têng-vueh Chou (5,540), Yung-ch'ang Fu (5,880), and Ta-li Fu (6,550). The next route is that by the valley of the Shui-li, past Lung-ling Chou, by which there is said to have been once a considerable traffic, killed since the rebellion. Next comes the caravan route by way of the valley of the Mekong, to Ssu-mao (4,480), and on to Yunnan Fu by an extraordinarily difficult road (see Sketch 3). The next route is that by the Red River, through Lao-kai and Mêng-tzu Hsien. Mêng-tzu is on the southern edge of the plateau, with an elevation of 4,530 feet, from which to Lao-kai there must be a descent of something like 3,500 feet. Next comes the Canton West River, by Po-sé (530)--two days above which the navigation comes to an end--to Kuang-nan Fu (4,310). To the east again is the Kwang-si land route, which passes through Ch'ing-yuan Fu (490), and Tu-shan Chou (3,460), to Kuei-yang Fu, the capital of the Kuei-chou Province. Next comes the great western road from Hankow, traversed by Margary, which follows the Tung-ting Lake and the Yuan River to Chên-yuan Fu (altitude not known), where navigation ceases. From Chên-yuan Fu the traffic is by caravan to Kuei-yang Fu (3,530). Lastly, there is the route between Ssu-ch'uan and Kuei-yang Fu, by a tributary of the Yang-tzu to Chi-chiang Hsien (880), where navigation ceases, through Tung-tzu Hsien (3,020) to Kuei-yang Fu.\n\nIt appears, then, that Yunnan and Western Kuei-chou are very nearly conterminous.\n\n[496]\n405", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 335793, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887", "page_number": 409, "title": "CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887", "content_text": "## \nwith an elevated broken plateau having an average height of about 5,000 feet, and no communication by water with the plains that encompass it on the north, south, and east, and that this plateau breaks away precipitately to the valleys of the Yang-tzu on the north, and the Irrawaddy, Mekong, and Red River on the west and south, and somewhat more easily to the valley of the Canton West River and to the plains of Kwang-si and Hunan on the south and east. It should farther be noted that this elevated district, which projects for 10° of longitude between Indo-China and the Yang-tzu, has no level surface whatever except an occasional lake basin, and that on the west and south-west its rivers and streams have eaten out deep broad ravines that are often impassable and always difficult and dangerous, both from their steepness and from the poisoned air which they harbour. (See next Part-Yuan-chiang Chou-and Baber's account of the Salween, R. G. S. Supplementary Papers, p. 177.) \n\nTo return to Yünnan Fu, it will now appear clearly that this city is at the end of each of these routes, and occupies a central position admirable as a seat of Government, supplied as it is with abundant food from the drained part of the ancient lake. If there were water communication, or even fair roads across the plateau, there would doubtless be a great entrepôt at Yunnan Fu, but an inspection of the altitudes observed on this journey and by Mr. Baber must make an exchange of products across this district a priori very unlikely. Actually, I found that the different sides of this plateau are supplied from the nearest lowland. Thus, to take two examples, cotton and tobacco, both absolute necessities to Chinese existence, which the plateau does not produce: cotton is supplied to North Yünnan from Ssü-ch'uan, to West Yünnan as far east as Yünnan Fu from Burmah, to South-west Yünnan as far east as Mêng-tzu Hsien from the Shan States and Siam, to South-east Yünnan from Canton, and to Kuei-chou from Hankow by the Yuan River. Tobacco is supplied to the north of the province from Ssu-ch'uan and to the south from Canton. Salt, another necessary, of which the plateau does not afford a sufficient supply, enters the province from Ssu-ch'uan, Burmah, Tonquin (before the new Treaty), and the Kwang-si Province. \n\nBut there are adventitious circumstances which make Yünnan Fu more important as a trade centre than it deserves, or is likely to remain. The whole of the tea consumed in the province and a large share of the better quality of tea consumed in Ssu-ch'uan, together with a small quantity sent to Thibet, come from the Shan States outside Ssă-mao, and of this trade Yünnan Fu is the depôt. Excepting small quantities consumed locally and a few caravans that go direct to Western Yunnan and Thibet by the Ching-tung Valley, the whole out-turn of this tea-Pu-erh tea as it is called-goes to Yünnan Fu; this tea may be valued at about 50,000l. per annum. A great part goes to Western Yunnan, for the supply of which we may expect our Assam planters to provide in the future. \n\nAgain, the exhaustion caused by 20 years of indiscriminate slaughter and pillage, involving the destruction of the old industries of the province-mining, silk rearing, and manufacture, &c.—with which increased demand for opium in Ssú-ch'uan and the eastern provinces happened to coincide, led to the adoption of poppy cultivation as the great industry of the plateau. Yunnan and Kuei-chou now pay for the whole of their foreign imports in opium, the merchants of Nanning Fu and Hongkong having often to wait for their money until the Canton and Kwang-si Provinces have paid for the Yunnan and Kuei-chou opium crop. Yunnan Fu is a depôt of the opium trade of Eastern Yünnan and of the foreign and Canton goods that are received in exchange. \n\nExports from Yünnan Fu are opium, Pu-erh tea, drugs, and copper, and the imports are cotton, tobacco, and foreign goods. \n\nThe first thing to notice about foreign imports is that the description of piece-goods, much the most important item, differs greatly from that in vogue on the Yang-tzu, so that the reason for this is that, there being water communication to Chungking, a heavier description of goods is sent than to Yunnan, where pack animals and porters are the only means of carriage, so that every additional pound of weight per piece forms a serious addition to cost of transit. Prices for my samples would therefore have been delusive, but the conclusion seemed to be that prices were rather higher, and that for goods of lighter texture and inferior quality than at Ch'ungking. Foreign goods, almost without exception, come from Hong Kong by way of Pakhoi or Ch'in-chou to Nanning Fu, thence by boat to Po-sê T'ing and Po-ngai, and thence by caravan through Kwang-nan Fu. Suggestions as to improvements were, that aniline dyes should regain their former excellence; that long ells should be stouter, somewhat absurd considering that the same merchant had explained why they were so flimsy; and that piece-goods should be dyed a light blue, which was all the fashion, instead of the habitual indigo. \n\n## ROUTE SKETCH \nTO ILLUSTRATE REPORT BY \nF. S.A. BOURNE. \n\n## II. \nPI-CHIEH HSIEN \nΟΙ \nYUN NAN-FU. \n\n| Location | Altitude (English Feet) |\n|-----------------|-------------------------|\n| Kan-show-p | |\n| PI-CHIEH KSIEN | 4950 |\n| Piny shan pay | |\n| Lane Cha-hoing R.(not nav.) | 9180 |\n| WEI-NING CHOU | |\n| Chin-to | |\n| apr 5 Lion san p'u | 6430 |\n| | 3853 |\n| Ko tu B. (not nav.) | 5220 |\n| (Boundary between Yunnan and Kao-chou) | |\n| Gure man | |\n| T'ang tang | 5830 |\n| (not nav.) | |\n| HSUAN WEI CHOU | 6650 |\n| Pan ch tao | 6530 |\n| Ramy - ouye - Bway | +6740 |\n| 2 CHAN-) CHOU | +6350 |\n| | 6370 |\n| YUN-NAN FU | |\n| Yorry lin | |\n| MA LUNG CHOU____| 6930 |\n| | 6830 |\n| 1.1ung | (12 -8/97, 1331/8.0 486 |\n\nEnglish Miles \n10 5 0 \n\nSema að saga Jumam \nHarrison & Sons, Lith. S' Martien Lana.W.C", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-235 - Public Offices - 1887.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 365027, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-279 - Public Offices - 1897", "page_number": 274, "title": "CO129-279 - Public Offices - 1897", "content_text": "Exportation and importation of \n\nmunitions of war prohibited. \n\nSalt, cash, rice, \n\npulse, grains, \n\nopium, and spirituous liquors. \n\nMines. \n\nNavigation of the Irrawaddy. Railways. \n\nConsuls. \n\nPassports. \n\n4\n\nARTICLE X.\n\nThe following articles, being munitions of war, shall neither be exported from Burmah into China, nor imported from China into Burmah, save at the requisition of the Government desiring their importation; neither shall they be sold to parties other than those who have been duly authorized by their respective Governments to purchase them:--\n\nCannon, shot and shell, cartridges and ammunition of all kinds, fire-arms and weapons of war of every description. Saltpetre, sulphur, brimstone, gunpowder, dynamite, gun-cotton, or other explosives.\n\nARTICLE XI.\n\nThe exportation from Burmah into China of salt is prohibited.\n\nThe exportation from China into Burmah of cash, rice, pulse, and grains of every kind is prohibited.\n\nThe importation and exportation across the frontier of opium and spirituous liquors is prohibited, excepting in small quantities for the personal use of travellers. The amount to be permitted will be settled under Customs Regulations.\n\nInfractions of the conditions set forth in this and the preceding Article will be punishable by confiscation of all the goods concerned.\n\nARTICLE XII.\n\nThe British Government, wishing to promote frontier trade between the two countries by encouraging mining enterprise in Yunnan and in the new territorial acquisitions of China referred to in the present Convention, consent to allow Chinese vessels carrying merchandise, ores, and minerals of all kinds, and coming from or destined for China, freely to navigate the Irrawaddy on the same conditions as to dues and other matters as British vessels.\n\nThe Chinese Government agrees hereafter to consider whether the conditions of trade justify the construction of railways in Yunnan, and, in the event of their construction, agrees to connect them with the Burmah lines.\n\nARTICLE XIII.\n\nWhereas by the original Convention it was agreed that China might appoint a Consul in Burmah, to reside at Rangoon; and that Great Britain might appoint a Consul to reside at Manwyne; and that the Consuls of the two Governments should each within the territories of the other enjoy the same privileges and immunities as the Consuls of the most favoured nation, and, further, that, in proportion as the commerce between Burmah and China increased, additional Consuls might be appointed by mutual consent, to reside at such places in Burmah and Yunnan as the requirements of trade might seem to demand.\n\nIt has now been agreed that the Government of Great Britain may station a Consul at Momein or Shunning-fu, as the Government of Great Britain may prefer, instead of at Manwyne, as stipulated in the original Convention, and also to station a Consul at Ssumao.\n\nBritish subjects and persons under British protection may establish themselves, and trade at these places, under the same conditions as at the Treaty ports in China.\n\nThe Consuls appointed as above shall be on the same footing as regards correspondence and intercourse with Chinese officials as the British Consuls at the Treaty ports.\n\nARTICLE XIV.\n\nPassports, written in Chinese and English, and identical in terms to those issued to foreigners at the Treaty ports in China, shall, on the application of the proper\n\n5\n\nBritish authorities, be issued to British merchants and others wishing to proceed to China from Burmah by the Chinese Consul at Rangoon or by the Chinese authorities on the frontier; and Chinese subjects wishing to proceed to Burmah from China shall, on the application of any recognized Chinese official, be entitled to receive similar passports from Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Shunning or Momein or other convenient places in China where there may be a British Consular officer.\n\nARTICLE XV.\n\n270\n\nShould criminals, subjects of either country, take refuge in the territory of the other, they shall, on due requisition being made, be searched for, and, on reasonable presumption of their guilt being established, they shall be surrendered to the authorities demanding their extradition.\n\n\"Due requisition\" shall be held to mean the demand of any functionary of either Government possessing a seal of office, and the demand may be addressed to the nearest frontier officer of the country in which the fugitive has taken refuge.\n\nARTICLE XVI.\n\nWith a view to improving the intercourse between the two countries, and placing the Chinese Consul at Rangoon in communication with the high provincial authorities in Yünnan, the High Contracting Parties undertake to connect the telegraphic systems of the two countries with each other as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made; the line will, however, at first only be used for the transmission of official telegrams and of general messages for and from Burmah and the Province of Yunnan.\n\nARTICLE XVII.\n\nIt is agreed that subjects of the two Powers shall each within the territories of the other enjoy all the privileges, immunities, and advantages that may have been, or may hereafter be, accorded to the subjects of any other nation.\n\nARTICLE XVIII.\n\nIt is agreed that the commercial stipulations contained in the present Convention being of a special nature and the result of mutual concessions, consented to with a view to adapting them to local conditions and the peculiar necessities of the Burmah-China overland trade, the advantages accruing from them shall not be invoked by the subjects of either Power residing at other places where the two Empires are conterminous, excepting where the same conditions prevail, and then only in return for similar concessions.\n\nARTICLE XIX.\n\nThe arrangements with regard to trade and commerce contained in the present Convention being of a provisional and experimental character, it is agreed that should subsequent experience of their working, or a more intimate knowledge than is now possessed of the requirements of the trade, seem to require it, they may be revised at the demand of either party after a lapse of six years after the exchange of ratifications of the present Convention, or sooner should the two Governments desire it.\n\nFailing agreement as to the terms of revision, the present arrangements shall remain in force.\n\nSPECIAL ARTICLE.\n\nWhereas on the 20th day of January, 1896, the Tsung-li Yamen addressed an official despatch to Her Britannic Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking informing him that on the 30th day of December, 1895, they had submitted a Memorial respecting the opening of ports on the West River to foreign trade, and had received an Imperial Decree in approval, of which they officially communicated a copy.\n\n3", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-279 - Public Offices - 1897.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 365063, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-279 - Public Offices - 1897", "page_number": 310, "title": "CO129-279 - Public Offices - 1897", "content_text": "I exchanged calls with Mr. Hancock, Acting Commissioner of Customs, who stated that the custom-house will probably be placed on Lot A, and that the rock will be the eastern limit of the anchorage. Soundings showed a shallow patch in the position given by Mr. Ross' native informants.\n\nLot B is, so far as I can learn, still unsold, but the Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steam-beat Company have bought land on the bank between Kong-kun and Sun-hu.\n\nOn the 11th instant, at 10 A.M., we anchored off Chao-ch'ing city after spending the night opposite Kuang-li, a village about half-a-mile long, with few signs of trade. In the gorges leading to and from the city the current was moderate, and the only danger would be meeting rafts in the narrower places.\n\nChao-ch'ing, like Te-ch'ing, Feng-ch'uan, and Wuchou, is of very moderate size, and the space inclosed by the walls is not by any means crowded. Business is carried on in the suburbs, some 2 miles long, in front of which many junks were moored. The public buildings of the city and the temples, in one of which the telegraph office is located, are in good repair.\n\nDuring this afternoon we passed the town of Luk-po, a place of very considerable size and apparent traffic. We anchored a few miles short of Te-ch'ing (Takhing), which did not seem very busy.\n\nAt noon on the 12th May, Tu-cheng was reached. Many boats lay here, and there was a greater air of life and bustle than at any other place along the river.\n\nSome intricate navigation brought us about 4 P.M. to Feng-ch'uan, the great groves of bamboos opposite to which are noticeable, and we stopped at a salt station just within the Kuangtung boundary.\n\nThe channel thence to Wuchou showed unexpected depth, and was less tortuous than the chart indicated. The suburbs are as busy as reported, and many foreign sundries are for sale in the well-built shops. Half of the space within the city walls is taken up by a barren hill slope, and the streets of the lower portion, like the public offices, are mean and dirty.\n\nThe number of native craft met or passed on the way up was not so great as we expected. The chief cargoes seemed to be wood and grain, to which may be added cassia and some tobacco and medicines. The neighbourhood also produces a little silk and tea; but the city is in great measure simply a distributing centre, trade routes reaching to Yünnan, Kueichow, and Hunan. Most of the merchants are natives of Kuangtung, and many firms are branches of Canton houses.\n\nAt Wuchou, as at Samshui, all the foreshore sites are liable to flooding during the summer freshets (each of which, however, lasts but a few days), but Jardine, Matheson, and Co., Butterfield and Swire, and the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company have all bought land on the north bank below the city, and later purchasers will find it hard to acquire frontage. Go-downs, if built, must be raised on pillars, and, as in view of the rapidity of the current (even now 2½ knots), the crossing of the river must often be very difficult, residences will have to be placed some distance inland or else on the high ground across the Fu Ho or Little River.\n\nThe Commissioner of Customs is about to move from his boat into a temple outside the east gate. A piece of land has been bought at the east end of the suburb, but in all likelihood His Imperial Majesty's customs will have to follow the example of the li-kin and other Chinese collectorates, and make use of a hulk for examining goods. The Hong Kong, Canton, and Macao Steamboat Company have already placed two pontoons just below the native Customs hulk.\n\nSo conflicting are the local accounts of the rise and fall of the river, that any soundings taken now are of doubtful value. The northern side of the Wuchou reach from the Josshouse rocks to the Fu Ho at present offers an expanse of water, at least 10 feet deep and about one mile long by half-a-mile broad, which seems to be free from obstructions, but some say that the river is now 10 feet above winter level.\n\nThe conclusion to which I incline is, that only powerful steamers of 14 knots drawing 4 feet or less will be able to ply hither the whole year round, and it seems likely that such stern-wheel vessels as tow flats on the Upper Irrawaddy would best suit the conditions of the Upper West River.\n\nAt Samshui and this city I saw Proclamations posted notifying the people of the opening of those ports by Imperial Decree, and enjoining in very satisfactory terms the courteous treatment of foreigners. I am told that similar notices are displayed at the calling stations.\n\nCaptain Holland having expressed a desire that our flag should be shown at Wuchou as soon as possible, I did not pay or receive calls at any place on the way up, merely sending a messenger to tell the local officials that I was pressed for time, but would shortly return. Soon after our arrival here the Magistrate came on board and offered every possible assistance in a very cordial manner; while the Prefect, who sent an apologetic message yesterday, called with the Foreign Affairs Deputy this morning. These three officers give a dinner to the ship's officers, the Commissioner of Customs, and myself to-morrow.\n\nMr. Watts informs me that the kerosene oil trade has been checked by the impending establishment of a tso-li Company, which will levy 20 cents a case throughout Kuanghsi. I learn also that, so soon as the port is opened, a system of Syndicates, similar to those that hamper the trade at Canton, will be set up to levy additional duties on all articles of foreign trade at least. An emissary from the Kuangtung Li-kin Office is now here making the necessary arrangements.\n\nAt present both the Prefect and the Deputy for Foreign Affairs assure me there is neither li-shui nor tso-ku at Kuei-lin nor at Wuchou. Unless the question of additional taxation at open ports is taken up, there is serious danger of the benefit of the new Article being seriously impaired—and this, apart from the ever-present risk that, to counteract the use of transit passes, a heavy tso-li, tso-ku, or lo-ti terminal charges, not overtly differential in character, will be imposed throughout this province and the transit li-kin charges reduced.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed) E. H. FRASER.\n\nPage 306\n\n \nTRI-TJELTET", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-279 - Public Offices - 1897.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 368735, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12]", "page_number": 556, "title": "CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12]", "content_text": "# MEMORANDUM ON INDIAN TRADE WITH WESTERN CHINA, AND ON THE RESOURCES, TRADE, AND TRADE ROUTES OF YUNNAN AND ADJACENT PROVINCES.\n\nIndia Office, October 1898.\n\n(Based on Various Authorities.)\n\n## Indian Trade with Western China\n\nThe general interest that has been aroused in the last few years in Chinese affairs seems to render the present time opportune for investigating the special problems that arise out of the contiguity of Burma and Yunnan. It is proposed in this memorandum to trace the course of Burma-China overland trade since 1890-91, and then to consider, with some fullness of detail, the existing resources of Western China, and the ways of penetrating the land-locked provinces which it comprises, viz., Yunnan, Kueichou, and Ssuchuan (Szechuan). The subject will be treated in two sections:\n\nI. Burma-China Overland Trade.\n\nII. Yunnan. Its Resources, Trade, and Trade Routes, including (1) area, physical features, and population; (2) agriculture, mining, and manufactures; (3) trade; (4) trade routes; (5) rivalry with France; (6) conclusions. Kueichou and Ssuchuan will be considered mainly in their relation to Yunnan.\n\nThe facts and figures with regard to Burma and China trade are derived from the monthly reports on Indian overland trade, from Mr. O'Conor's annual reviews of Indian trade, from the reports on trade between Burma and the adjoining countries, and from the administration reports on the Shan States. In the section on Yunnan an endeavour has been made to survey, with tolerable exhaustiveness, the more recent works on the subject. Some of the authorities quoted in the following list do not appear to be accessible except at the British Museum, while a few articles could be found only in the library of the Royal Geographical Society. These authorities necessarily vary in importance, while their discrepant statements about facts and their conflicting opinions often render it difficult to determine how much value should be attached to their testimony, but the qualifications of the writers have been weighed as far as possible.\n\n## Authorities Consulted\n\n* Letter on the Provinces of Chili, Shansi, Shensi and Sz'chwan; with notes on Yunnan and Kweichau. Baron F. von Richthofen (Shanghai, 1872).\n* Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-Chine. Léon Garnier (1873).\n* La Province Chinoise du Yunnan. E. Rocher (1879).\n* Report by Mr. Davenport on the Trading Capabilities of the Country traversed by the Yunnan Mission. (`China Bluebook, No. 2 of 1877`).\n* Llankow to Tali Fu. A. R. Margary (`Royal Geographical Society's Journal`, 1876).\n* Nouvelle Géographie Universelle. E. Reclus (1882).\n* Across Chryse. A. R. Colquhoun (1883).\n* Die Chinesischen Zukunfts-Eisenbahnen. G. von Kreitner (`Revue Coloniale Internationale`, Amsterdam, 1887).\n* La Chine: Huit Ans au Yunnan. M. Pourias (1888).\n* Mes Premières Impressions dans le Yunnan. M. Boutmy (`Les Missions Catholiques`, 1889).\n* Les Routes Commerciales du Yunnan. Col. V. Hoskiær (`Geographisk Tidsskrift` of Danish Geographical Society, 1888).\n* Notes sur les Routes Commerciales vers les Frontières Chinoises. Capitaine R. (`Journal des Sciences Militaires`, 1884).\n* Chinese Province of Yunnan, and From the Irrawaddy to the Yangtze. Soltau and Stevenson (`R. G. S. Journal`, 1881).\n* A Journey through Western Ssuchuan, and Notes on Mr. Grosvenor's Mission. E. C. Baber (`R. G. S., Supplementary Proceedings`, 1886).\n* Report of a Journey in South-Western China. Consul F. S. A. Bourne (`Blue-book C. 5371/1888`).\n* River of Golden Sand. Captain W. J. Gill. Introduction by Yule (1883).\n* Exploration in South and South-West China. A. R. Colquhoun (`R. G. S. Supplementary Papers`, 1889).", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 368747, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12]", "page_number": 568, "title": "CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12]", "content_text": "832 \n\n10 \n\n\n11 \n\n550 \n\n561 \n\n**Chief articles of commerce**. \n\nEstimated total trade. \n\nImports living animals have largely increased, while there is a growing trade in fruits, paints, and provisions. In the import trade of the future, timber promises to hold an important place. \n\nThus, taking all the trade in the direction of the Chinese frontier, we find that the leading exports are raw cotton, cotton twist and yarn, cotton piece goods, provisions, salt, silk stuffs, woollen goods, jade, metals, and other merchandise consisting mainly of manufactured goods. Raw cotton and cotton goods, and in a less degree woollen goods, are among the chief wants of the Chinese. There is an apparently increasing demand in Yunnan for articles of pedlary, such as fans, glass tumblers, lamps, candles, and curios. These, together with aniline dyes, are mainly supplied from Germany, though France is also in the field with objets de Paris. With regard to imports from Yunnan, raw silk, orpiment, provisions, living animals, hides and horns, fibrous products, rice, tea, fruits, gold-leaf, and timber, together with miscellaneous unmanufactured goods, constitute the bulk of the trade. But the values of imports and exports alike show great fluctuations. \n\nIf we take the total direct trade with China at Rx. 375,000, and assume that indirect trade through the Shan States and by less important routes, together with the trade that escapes registration, amounts to one-third of this sum, we get a total import and export trade with Western China of Rx. 500,000, possibly an under estimate. The trade in silk, which comes partly from Ssuchuan through Yunnan, seems capable of expansion, as silk clothes are universally worn in Burma. There is said to be little prospect of growth in the imports of tea, though there will probably be a larger trade in ponies, mules, asses, goats, sheep, pigs, and poultry, and perhaps in cattle and buffaloes. It can hardly be doubted that the present trade is capable of considerable increase in staple articles, although, as the Chinese customers are for the most part poor, their mode of life primitive, their wants few, and their dealings chiefly by barter, trade must for a long time be of small extent and progress must be slow. Apart from railways, much might be done to improve the existing difficult means of communication, and so facilitate exchanges. Improvements of the roads in the Bhamo district and the bridging of the Taping river have produced excellent results by enabling caravans to make more frequent trips. Again, as the Chinese traders make enormous profits on the sale of European goods, a better commercial organisation might do much to extend the market. \n\nIt has been suggested by Messrs. Colquhoun and Hallett that this frontier trade, now comparatively insignificant, can be indefinitely expanded by the construction of a Burma-China railway. Mr. Holt Hallett has said that Western China is a field where manufacturers will find markets beyond even their utmost powers to overstock, and that railways will ensure customers for any amount of cotton manufactures. And again, he affirms that if the French anticipate the English in making a railway, the \"largest and richest undeveloped market in the world\" will pass to them. In the face of such assertions, which have been widely accepted in this country, it appears desirable to investigate somewhat fully the existing resources of Western China, the possibilities of their exploitation, and the prospects of constructing and working railways successfully on a commercial basis. \n\nAs Yunnan is the only Chinese province conterminous with Burma, it will be dealt with more minutely than Kueichou and Ssuchuan, the other two provinces of Western China. What little there is to say of Kueichou, which lies east of Yunnan, may be said in connection with the latter province. Ssuchuan, though far more important in itself than the other two provinces, is more remote from Burma, and will be most conveniently studied in connexion with the Yangtze routes to Yunnan. \n\n## II. YUNNAN. ITS RESOURCES, TRADE, AND TRADE ROUTES. \n\n### (1.) Area, Physical Features, and Population. \n\nThe mountain barriers that separate Western China from other parts of the Empire have given its provinces a special character, which has largely determined their commercial as well as their political relations. This remark especially applies to Yunnan, the comparative inaccessibility of which has rendered it more or less independent of India on the one hand and of China on the other. The sway of China over Yunnan has always been somewhat precarious, and has been frequently challenged in fierce rebellions. As a consequence the people have enjoyed a considerable measure of freedom. Richthofen says that the attention of foreigners has been attracted to Yunnan largely owing to its trade routes connecting distant and important countries, and to the rumoured existence of quantities of gold and precious stones. \n\nThe area of Yunnan is estimated at 100,000 square miles, but it is impossible to assign an exact area to the province, as its frontiers on the north-west and west are ill-defined. \n\nYunnan forms the lower terrace of the huge Tibetan plateau, and it has been described as an uneven tableland, or as an inclined plane trending from north-west to south-east, with a mean altitude of 6,000 to 7,000 feet. From this extensive plateau arise lofty mountain chains that separate from one another the plains in which lie the chief towns of the province. The plateau, nowhere really level, is intersected by deep defiles or cañons eroded by the great rivers which either rise in Yunnan, or traverse it on their way to the ocean, the Taping, Shweli, Salween, Mekong, Black River, Red River (Songkoi), West River (Sikiang), and Yangtze (Chinshakiang). These rivers are often impassable, and always difficult and dangerous owing to their precipitous gorges, and the poisonous air they harbour. None of them are navigable in Yunnan itself, because of their rapids and the rocks that bestrew their beds, but they become navigable beyond its borders. All travellers agree as to the broken and tortuous configuration of the country and the difficulties of traversing it. The south-east and south-west corners of the province are almost unexplored. In the north, the south, and the west, the country breaks away steeply to the Yangtze, the Mekong, and the Irrawaddy basins respectively, and more gently to the Red River in the south-east and the West River in the east. In the west the succession of lofty mountains with narrow intervening plains constitutes the formidable barrier which English commerce has to penetrate. \n\nThe population of Yunnan has been largely reduced by fever and plague, and especially by the Mohammedan rebellion which raged from 1856 to 1873 and caused a great destruction of people and property. Before the rebellion the population is said to have been 15,000,000. The official estimate of the population is 12,000,000, while one non-official estimate places it at only 1,000,000. Some writers affirm that the province has been recovering rapidly from the results of the rebellion, and that natural growth of population, combined with immigration from the provinces of Ssuchuan and Kwangsi, has largely restored the numbers of the people. But Mr. Bourne, in his recent report, says that recovery from the effects of the rebellion has been very slow, and that, excepting Yunnan-Fu, the towns on his route looked no better than they did ten years before. It is also said that though great inducements have been held out to immigrants, the people of other provinces dread Yunnan on account of the bad repute of the authorities, the supposed ferocity of the aboriginal tribes, and the alleged unhealthiness of the climate. Most of the people are found in the river valleys. The towns are not usually very populous, but they have large suburbs, and the plains containing towns generally contain also numerous villages, the people of which resort to the town fairs. Amid the conflicting assertions it is difficult to arrive at a conclusion as to the population of Yunnan. But, if one bears in mind the large area of thinly peopled mountainous country and the effects of rebellion and plague, it is impossible to adopt a high estimate of the population. Mr. Hosie and Mr. Turner give 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 and M. Brenier 8,000,000, and it would not be safe...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 368755, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12]", "page_number": 576, "title": "CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12]", "content_text": "## Tali-Fu to Yunnan-Fu\n\nTali-Fu to Yunnan-Fu is a significant route that passes through various towns and villages. 26 days are required to reach Menghua-Ting, a town of some importance in a large plain. The Nantien plain is prosperous and contains many villages. Chintong, halfway between Tali and Ssumao, is in a large and fertile plain, with iron mines. After passing Enlo, a busy village, and Mohci, the depot of a large salt trade, the road crosses a ridge of 6,215 feet to Puerh, a town of 15,000 people, situated in a closely cultivated valley in which are many villages. Its trade is not very important. From Puerh to Ssumao, over a pass of 6,350 feet, occupies two days. By this road, on which are found many caravans with salt, cotton, and general merchandise, Ssumao is reached from Tali in 20 days.\n\nContinuing the main route from Bhamo, the road to Yunnan-Fu is traversed in 12 days. M. Bonin, a recent traveller, describes this as one of the most difficult routes in the province, and says that, when he traversed it, the road was transformed into lakes of mud and cascades of disembedded paving stones. Years ago Margary spoke of the route as full of deserted villages and difficult passes, while Baber said that no one would attempt this wild route from Tali to Yunnan-Fu. Hosie says that Yunnan-Fu derives its requirements from Shanghai and Canton, and supplies the country E. of Tali. Under present conditions, indeed, it is difficult for merchandise to pass from Bhamo to the E. of Tali without meeting the competition of goods forwarded more cheaply by other routes. According to Lenz, the bulk of the comparatively small traffic is in Burma cotton, together with some tea, rhubarb, &c. The road crosses the high watershed separating the Yangtze from the West River and Red River basins. It involves many ascents and descents, and the traversing of much waste and of many hills that are either barren or covered with pine forests. Excepting Chennang, where Ssuchuanese cultivators are found, all the towns and villages show the ravages of the rebellion, while the people are very poor and almost without clothes. Chaochou appears to be the most thriving and promising of the places on the route. Others worth naming are Hungai, Chuhsiung, Lufeng Hsien, and Anningchow.\n\n## Tariffs, &c.\n\nFrom the above description it will be seen how unpromising are the commercial position and prospects of the route from Bhamo to Yunnan-Fu. The cost of transport is necessarily high, owing to the long distance to be traversed, the difficulties and fatigue, and the danger of disease; and Mr. Neville (of the Blackburn mission) says that there are seven likin or other dues payable on this route. Few goods can bear such heavy expenses in the way of transport and duties. The largest importing merchant in Yunnan-Fu said that he had tried to import yarn by the Bhamo route, but owing to the excessive taxation thus incurred, he now had to import everything via Tonkin and Mengtsz. Mr. Hebbert, late officiating manager of the Burma Railways, has called attention recently to the desirability of improving the caravan track up the Taping valley, which is, according to travellers, worse in British than in Chinese territory.\n\nIt should be mentioned that little Indian traffic passes over the telegraph lines between Burma and the Yangtze valley, though the wires are now maintained in much better order than at first.\n\nIn recent years political efforts have been made to promote frontier trade. By the Anglo-Chinese Agreement of 1st March 1894 (extended by that of 4th February 1897), the British Government allow Chinese produce and manufactures (except salt) to enter Burma by land duty free, and British and Indian products to be exported to China by land free of duty (except pulse, rice, and all grains). The duties on imports are less than the general tariff of the Imperial Maritime Customs and those on exports are less. Transit passes are to be in accord with the rules in force at the Treaty Ports. The importation and exportation of opium and spirituous liquors are prohibited. The British Government also consented, in order to encourage mining in Yunnan, to allow Chinese vessels carrying merchandise, minerals, and ores of all kinds to navigate the Irrawaddy on the same terms as British vessels. If Mr. Neville's statement as to duties is correct, it is clearly necessary that the Government should constrain the Chinese to enforce the transit pass system on this route, as the French have done on the Tonkin route to Yunnan-Fu. Our goods cannot well compete with the Tonkin route at Yunnan-Fu and in the country S. and E. of the capital, but under transit passes (which would reduce the duties from about 15 or 20 to 2-4 per cent. ad valorem) they might go to many of the chief places in Yunnan. Consul Jamieson considers that cotton yarn can be laid down on the Burma-Yunnan frontier at a fraction of the cost with which it is burdened in reaching Mengtsz through Tonkin. He believes that with lower freight, lower duties, and consequently a lower laying down cost on the frontier, combined with an emporium at Bhamo or elsewhere where the Chinese can purchase direct and so save commission and agency expenses, the Bhamo route may deprive the Red River route of a great deal of trade in yarn and other Indian or British goods.\n\n## Mandalay-Kunlon Ferry Route\n\nThe great difficulties of the Bhamo to Yunnan-Fu route have caused attention to be turned to other ways of penetrating China from Burma. Baber long ago suggested that an attempt should be made to reach some town of importance, such as Shunning-Fu, by ascending the river valleys. The ascent is considerable, but any line or route into Yunnan must rise from 2,000 up to 6,000 feet. For centuries the trade route passing from Mandalay via Maymyo and Thibaw (Hsipaw) to Thienni and the Kunlon Ferry on the Salween near the border of Yunnan has been recognised as a highway from China to Burma. Although a railway via Kunlon (now a collection of huts) to Shunning may revive this trade and will shorten the distance to Ssumao, it will not bring us nearer the present centres of trade in western Yunnan, as Momien, Tali, and Yungchang are about the same distance from Kunlon as from Bhamo, though Kunlon is much nearer to Kenghung and Monglem. The Mandalay-Kunlon line, now under construction, is being made, says Mr. Bagley, along the only practicable railway route into China.\n\nBeyond Kunlon the country is very mountainous, but, according to the report of Captain Davies, it appears possible to continue the line to various points in western Yunnan without encountering serious difficulties as hilly countries go, though he questions whether such a line would pay. The Chinese Government have agreed to the extension of the line into Yunnan. The possible extensions into China are: \n| Extension | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (1) From Kunlon to Yincho and Shunning (and perhaps Tali) | The Nam-ting valley would be followed for 50 miles to Mong Kyen, a practically level route; then, by an easy gradient of 50 miles, the road leads to Monglai, whence in 18 miles it crosses the watershed (5,600 feet) of the Salween and Mekong (rise of 2,400 feet-chief obstacle on the route), and down (1,800 feet) to Yincho, 12 miles. This line would, for the rest, follow fairly broad valleys. From Yincho to Shunning it could be continued along 25 miles of good road (ascent 1,600 feet). Mr. Bagley estimates the cost at 14 lakhs of rupees per mile. Under treaty a line may be made to Tali, and, according to Captain Davies, could possibly be carried out by ascending river valleys, though difficulties would arise from the precipitous river banks or the mountain barriers. Mr. J. G. Scott said it is practically certain a line can be carried along a stream to the Mekong and thence on to Tali. The line, however, from Yincho to Tali (150 miles) would be difficult and expensive. |\n| (2) A line from Kunlon to Yungchang (190 miles) | would meet with similar difficulties, though the gradients are practicable in the opinion of Captain Davies. The line would, however, pass through some rather poor country, and no extensions would be possible. This line would hardly be necessary, as Yungchang is only six days from Shunning. |\n\nThe line to Yincho and beyond would be useful, for, if only carried to Shunning, it would collect to itself the Yungchang and Tali trade, create a local trade, and open up all south-west Yunnan to the east of the Mekong. Supposing the Tonkin line not made, it might attract a great deal of the Yunnan-Fu trade also. There is strong evidence as to the importance of Yincho. Prince Henry, while disparaging Shunning as inferior to Ssumao, speaks of Yincho as a district fertile in sugar, maize, and rice, and he met in the vicinity numerous mules with iron and cotton. Captain Davies states that it has a trade with the Shan towns, and is larger and more prosperous than Shunning. Mr. Turner says Shunning-Fu is of no account for foreign trade and is off the main trade routes. But he states that, though the town has no industries, it stands in a large plain growing excellent rice, much opium and sugar, and some tea. Yincho, however, he considers more important. It has quite a large trade in foreign goods from Canton, and supplies Shunning-Fu. It has direct trade with Yunnan-Fu and Hsia-Kwan.\n\nPage 27 \nPage 558 \nPage 509", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-286 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black Governor Sir Blake & Public Offices - 1898 [11-12].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 368850, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-287 - Public Offices & Others - 1898", "page_number": 26, "title": "CO129-287 - Public Offices & Others - 1898", "content_text": "## Quite recently a man passed through from Kucilin...\n\nQuite recently a man passed through from Kucilin, on his way to Canton, with a sample of coal, on which he appeared unable to place any price. An offer of 2 dollars a ton was nevertheless smilingly rejected, and I daresay friends in Canton will enlighten him, and, if occasion arise, take due advantage of his ignorance.\n\n## The revival of the silk industry...\n\nThe revival of the silk industry in this province is of comparatively recent date, and was due to the interest taken therein by Ma Pei-rao, who some ten years ago was Provincial Treasurer for Kuanghsi. It cannot be said that his efforts, on the whole, were crowned with success, as the necessary energy and capital to carry on experiments were lacking. In its neighbourhood, however, the mulberry is very extensively grown, and samples of the silk spun locally have been sent to Europe and America, where it would find a market could the growers be brought to see that it is a suicidal policy to hold out for four or five times the real value of their produce, simply because a foreigner makes inquiry regarding the same.\n\n## The export of cassia...\n\nThe export of cassia in South China is almost entirely in the hands of German firms, and once all initial difficulties have been met and overcome, they will no doubt appear on the scene and, as has been the case all over China, take full advantage of our experience, reap the benefit of our efforts without having had in the least to put themselves about.\n\n## The amount of opium produced...\n\nThe amount of opium produced in this province is insignificant, and comes principally from Chen-an-fu. I have in vain been trying to get reliable particulars regarding the Yunnan opium, which passes through on its way to the coast, but have been promised accurate information from Kueilin later on. The taxation on native opium was last year farmed out to a son of the late Governor-General of Yünnan and Kueichou, Ts'ien Yü-ying, for a sum of 38,000 taels per annum, and the total quantity exported here is, I am told, 10,000 piculs representing about 80 per cent. of the import across the Yunnan frontier. Opium which has paid duty at Pose, on entering the province, and is provided with a certificate, pays 2 taels a picul, and again 14 taels (?) at Toucheng on entering Kuang-tung. Uncertificated opium pays 4 taels a picul. Its local value is 220 taels a picul for the best quality. Retail price of refined opium 2 t. 30 m. per ounce.\n\n## Almost every traveller on the West River...\n\nAlmost every traveller on the West River has made reference to the silver mine at Kuei-hsien, said to have been discovered by the Taipings, and as a cargo of coke was recently imported from Hong Kong for the use of that mine, it would appear that yet another attempt is going to be made to work it.\n\n## Wuchow is not without its local manufactures...\n\nWuchow is not without its local manufactures. Two small factories for making matches were started here a few days ago, but one was closed in consequence of a complaint by the Japanese authorities that it was counterfeiting Japanese trade-marks, and the other finds it practically impossible to compete with the imported article. Nearly every town in China has its own brand of matches. The matches in favour locally bear the \"hunter\" mark, and, although inferior to the \"monkey\" brand, which is in use throughout Kuangtung, possess the superior qualification of containing four matches per box more.\n\n## Note regarding Restrictions on Outward Transit Passes\n\nI have, at the moment of writing, received from His Excellency the Governor a despatch on the subject of the restrictions which the Governor-General proposed to place on outward transit passes.\n\nIt is therein stated that Sir Robert Hart, to whom the Tsung-li Yamên referred the Governor-General's suggestion, had pointed out that, except in the case of cereals, any prohibition of the nature indicated would be contrary to Treaty, and that the Yamên had accordingly requested His Excellency to place no obstacle in the way of applicants for outward transit passes, whether foreigners or Chinese, in order that the objectionable monopolizing practices of the former receive a check and the false representations of the latter be brought to an end.\n\nI question, however, if Chinese merchants will avail themselves to any large extent of this privilege. The risk of undue annoyance and interference is too great.\n\n## So long as the views of experts...\n\nSo long as the views of experts regarding the most suitable type of steamer for use on the West River are held in suspense, it would be presumptuous of me to put forward views of my own, more especially as nothing is accurately known regarding the actual conditions at low water. I venture to think, however, that a steamer about 170 feet long, with very great beam, which will be able to carry 500 tons of cargo on a 4 to 5 foot draught, would not prove unsuitable. Large carrying capacity is imperative, as otherwise expenses will never allow of reasonable rates of freight being charged, and junks will prove serious competitors. Should the building of such a steamer be found impracticable, the only other alternative is the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's system of large flats or lighters, towed by powerful light draught launches. The latter would be able to drop their tows as required at the various points en route and pick up fresh ones. Thus no time would be lost, the necessity for large go-downs less immediate, and the passengers not, as at present, be huddled together, to make room for cargo. Mr. Marty put in a transient appearance on the river at an early stage, and his large indemnity has doubtless placed an amount of spare capital at his disposal, sufficient to enable him to establish serious competition with existing lines should he feel so disposed. It is rumoured that he is negotiating for the purchase of some land near to that bought by Jardine, Matheson, and Co.\n\n## In addition to the \"pool's\" four steamers...\n\nIn addition to the \"pool's\" four steamers there are some six launches large and small, and a German lorcha, which is towed up and down, running regularly to Wuchow, and each gets a few packages of cargo and a certain proportion of passengers.\n\nOf passengers, the movements to and fro per diem amount on an average to 100 in and 90 out, and thus about 10 per cent. of the arrivals remain here. The complaints of the natives of Wuchow that the large influx of Cantonese has considerably raised the cost of living for them, without affording them any compensatory advantages, are not without justification.\n\n## From a carrier's point of view...\n\nFrom a carrier's point of view, it is a matter of great regret that it should not have been practicable to adopt the route, via Fatshan and Sainam, from Canton to Samshui. The latter port can be reached in six hours by the inland channels and small powered launches, whereas the steamers take from ten to twelve hours, the time occupied by a slipper boat in making the same journey. They are also thereby deprived of their share of the large trade which is carried on by junks between Fatshan, Sainam, and Wuchow. The local agent at Jardine, Matheson, and Co. has endeavoured slightly to remedy this state of things by running a stern wheel junk in connection with the steamers between Fatshan and Samshui, and the experiment is proving eminently successful. One reason for this is that the steamer's bulk is at present moored on the Sainam side of the Samshui li-kin station, and thus the junk's cargo escapes payment of the dues to which it would be subject had it to pass that barrier. It remains to be seen what will happen when the steamers can only come as far as Kongken or when the li-kin authorities discover this innocent evasion of their charges.\n\n## The Customs provisional Regulations...\n\nThe Customs provisional Regulations for trade on the West River having only been published on the 10th instant, sufficient time has not yet elapsed to show to what extent they will enable steamers to participate in the transport carried on by junk between the ports and stages, more especially between Kongmun and Hong Kong and Canton. Those interested may congratulate themselves on the total absence of any reference to supplementary payments of li-kin, as, had such been regulated on the Tariff in force on the Yang-tze, foreign vessels would not have secured a single package. To have made shippers pay duty on that basis would simply have been to mulet them one and a-half Tariff duty for shipping in foreign bottoms. On the Yang-tze, where the distances are great, it may prove advantageous, but certainly not on the short stretches of this river.\n\n## Almost every steamer leaving here...\n\nAlmost every steamer leaving here for Hong Kong takes with it sugar and rhea fibre for Kongmun, where the latter is made up into grass cloth. As I understand that, after many years of experiment, a process has been invented whereby this fibre can be successfully manipulated in Europe, a large export trade therein ought to spring up in the future.\n\n## The Canton steamers get a certain amount...\n\nThe Canton steamers get a certain amount of export cargo, chiefly indigo for Samshui, but practically no import cargo. This, I am told, is due to a practice that has for years been tolerated in Canton, in consequence of which a li-kin boat has been allowed to moor alongside of the Customs examination shed, and, whenever cargo has paid Tariff export duty, it is at once pounced upon and made to pay li-kin as well. Chinese shippers at least say such is, or rather will be the case, should they ship by steamer, and, although often urged to do so, no one has hitherto been bold enough to make a trial shipment.\n\n## I hear that Mr. Wang Ts'un-shan...\n\nI hear that Mr. Wang Ts'un-shan has a scheme whereby he hopes to divert all trade from the foreign customs and the steamers into his own hands by a lowering of native duties and li-kin, but as I am not in possession of the figures I am unable to furnish particulars.\n\n## In connection with what I have stated above...\n\nIn connection with what I have stated above regarding a regular transport service to Nanning, a further argument in its favour is that it would do away with the feeling of insecurity, which merchants at present experience owing to the rascality of the boatmen plying on that section of the river. It is by no means an uncommon occurrence for them to decamp with valuable cargoes intrusted to their care, leaving only the shell of their boats.\n\n[1107 p-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-287 - Public Offices & Others - 1898.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394712, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 49, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "3. A copy of this despatch, with inclosures, is under transmission to His Britannic Majesty's Minister at Peking.\n\nWe have, &c. (Signed)\n\nCURZON.\n\nT. RALEIGH. E. F.-G. LAW. E. R. ELLES, A. T. ARUNDEL. DENZIL IBBETSON.\n\nPage 3\n\n4. Viceroy Wei is a far more honest and straightforward man than his predecessor, so there is ground to hope that in future matters connected with the delimitation of the frontier will be easier to arrange.\n\nInclosure 4 in No. 1.\n\nInclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nDelhi, January 9, 1903. WITH reference to correspondence ending with your indorsement dated the 17th December, 1902, I am directed to submit a copy of a letter, dated the 14th November, 1902, from Mr. Litton, Consul-General at Yunnan-fu.\n\n2. The Lieutenant-Governor proposes to furnish Mr. Litton with copies of the Reports and papers referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of his letter, to inform him that paragraph 2 of his letter contains an accurate statement of facts regarding the incident referred to, and to intimate that there is no objection on the part of this Government to his addressing the Viceroy of Yunnan as proposed.\n\n3. With regard to paragraph 3 of Mr. Litton's letter the Lieutenant-Governor proposes to inform him of the views of the Government of India on the subject of the provisional boundary, as stated in their despatch dated the 14th June, 1900, and to intimate to him the present state of the negotiations.\n\n4. I am to solicit sanction to address Mr. Litton as proposed.\n\n(Telegraphic.)\n\nGovernment of India to Mr. Townley.\n\nFort William, January 17, 1903. PLEASE refer to your despatch of the 6th October, 1902, regarding the Burmah-China frontier. Litton, under date the 14th November, informs us, through Burmah, that Chinese officials at Yunnan-fu profess ignorance of any understanding as to provisional boundary. Litton himself appears to be unaware of recent negotiations, and Burmah Government wishes to supply him with complete papers as to past occurrences in Northern Irrawaddy basin, and arrangements now under consideration.\n\nIs there any objection to supplying these papers to Litton for use in discussions with Yunnan Viceroy?\n\n(Telegraphic.)\n\nInclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\nMr. Townley to Government of India.\n\nPeking, January 19, 1903. WITH reference to your telegram of the 17th instant, regarding the Burmah-China frontier, Litton is returning to Têngyueh. Wilkinson, newly appointed Consul-General for Yünnan, has left Ningpo for his new post. He travels via Burmah, and will put himself in communication with the officials of Mandalay. I think it highly desirable that he should be furnished with complete information as to the arrangements now under consideration and the past history of the Northern Irrawaddy basin.\n\nInclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nActing Consul-General Litton to Government of Burmah.\n\nYunnan-fu, November 14, 1902.\n\nI BEG to report that in recent official conversations which I have had with them, the provincial authorities here have constantly brought up the case of the fight at Hparé in February 1900, and have requested me to suggest a means of \"settling\" it. I have always replied that in my opinion the Government of Burmah was the aggrieved party, and that therefore there was nothing to settle; as, however, it is apparent that the Yunnan Viceroy has only a very incomplete and garbled account of what really took place, I have on several occasions promised to submit to his Excellency a true report. I have written to Tengyueh for the papers concerning the case, which I thought were on record in that office, but I have not received them, and therefore I presume that they are not there.\n\n2. Failure to fulfil my promise to the Viceroy may be misconstrued, and I would suggest for the consideration of your Government that I should be authorized by you to point out to the Yunnan Viceroy that the Government of Burmah was within its rights in sending such an expedition to explore, that due notice of its nature was given to the Têngyueh officials, that an attempt was made in country, which Burmah does not acknowledge as belonging to China, to cut off the members of the expedition, and that therefore your Government can accept no responsibility whatever for what occurred. I should also be greatly obliged if I could be supplied with a copy of the reports of Mr. Hertz and other papers relating to the case, to enable me to state to the Viceroy what actually occurred.\n\n3. I understand that your Government are inclined to regard the water-parting between the Irrawaddy and the Salween as the provisional boundary. If this is the case, and if it is not the intention of your Government to permit the Chinese to establish themselves along the east bank of the Irrawaddy, I would suggest that formal notice of your views should be given to the Chinese officials who, here at least, profess ignorance of understanding as to a provisional boundary.\n\nany\n\nInclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of India to Government of Burmah,\n\nFort William, January 21, 1903.\n\nI AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 9th instant, regarding a proposed communication to Mr. G. Litton, His Britannic Majesty's Acting Consul-General at Yunnan-fu, on the subject of the Burmah-China boundary in the Northern Irrawaddy Valley, and connected matters.\n\n2. I am to inclose copies of the marginally noted telegrams and to request that, with his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor's permission, Mr. Wilkinson may be supplied with full information on these subjects.\n\n(Confidential.) Sir,\n\nInclosure 7 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nRangoon, March 9, 1903. IN continuation of this office letter, dated the 9th January last, I am directed to submit a copy of letter dated the 1st ultimo from Mr. Litton, acting Consul at Yunnan-fu, concerning the demarcation of the Burmah-China frontier north of Manung Pum, the northernmost point of the boundary demarcated by the Burmah-China Boundary Commission.\n\nMr. Litton discusses various possible lines of boundary, and he states the line of boundary which he considers the most convenient, This boundary is the boundary marked on the map submitted with my letter dated the 30th January, 1901.\n\nPage 47", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394713, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 50, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "Lieutenant-Governor understands it is the boundary which the British Government has already decided to adopt, and which the Ambassador at Peking has been instructed to insist on. Under these circumstances it appears unnecessary for the Lieutenant-Governor to discuss Mr. Litton's observations on possible lines of frontier. It is sufficient to say that he advances new and cogent reasons for adhering to the line of frontier which the British Minister at Peking has been instructed to insist on.\n\n3. Mr. Litton goes on to point out the advisability of dealing with this question at an early date. The Lieutenant-Governor fully agrees with Mr. Litton that a settlement of the question is desirable.\n\nearly\n\n4. Mr. Litton represents further that it is undesirable that the demarcation of the boundary should be intrusted to a Commission of the same character as that which demarcated the frontier further south. His objections to the adoption of this procedure are that the country to be operated in is very inaccessible, and that the Chinese Commissioner would be obstructive. These objections carry great weight. The country is inaccessible, inhospitable, and unexplored, and is inhabited by wild tribes who would resist intrusion into their territory. Any Boundary Commission which operated in this country would need the protection of a large escort, and the work of demarcation would be very expensive. Mr. Litton's second objection has equal force. Our experience of the proceedings of the recent Boundary Commission is certainly not such as to afford encouragement to the appointment of a second. It will be within the recollection of the Government of India that on one section of the frontier the whole of the season 1897-98 was wasted by the obstruction of the Chinese Commissioner, and that in the season of 1899-1900 practically no work was done because the Chinese Commissioner insisted on basing his claims on a map which Mr. Litton correctly describes as a forgery. Under these circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor concurs with Mr. Litton that the demarcation of the boundary should not be intrusted to a Commission. His Honour advises that the Chinese Government should be pressed to execute an Agreement recognizing the provisional boundary as the permanent boundary. When this Agreement had been executed any local claims of the kind mentioned by Mr. Litton can be considered and dealt with locally.\n\n5. In the latter part of his letter Mr. Litton refers to certain claims of the Ming Kwang, Headman to country along the N'Maikha, and even to the west of the N'Maikha. It is no doubt in connection with these claims that the Chinese have made incursions from time to time into the N'Maikha tract. Particulars of these incursions are given in Chapter VI of Captain Holloway's \"Report on the Country East of the N'Maikha, &c., 1901.\" Mr. Litton suggests that these claims should be disposed of by a money payment, or by concessions in connection with the delimitation of the frontier. As the Lieutenant-Governor is aware, there are no valid grounds for admitting the claims referred to by Mr. Litton. In paragraph 3 of their despatch, dated the 14th June, 1900, to the Secretary of State, the Government of India pointed out that China had never exercised control in the valley of the N'Maikha, and they advised against the admission of such claims. In the Lieutenant-Governor's opinion this attitude should be adhered to.\n\nSo far\n\n6. If the Chinese claims to which Mr. Litton refers should be admitted, the Lieutenant-Governor advises that whatever concession may be made should take the form of a money payment. There would be little use in offering concessions in the Wa country, because the demarcation of the frontier in that locality has been suspended indefinitely, and, in view of the practical difficulties of the work, is not likely to be resumed at an early date. The Lieutenant-Governor is altogether opposed to Mr. Litton's second alternative. Such a line as he suggests would insert a wedge of China into British territory, and in view of the notorious inability of the Chinese to maintain order among the Kachins, would render any satisfactory administration of the country north of the N'Maikha a permanent impossibility. This country has not yet been brought under administration, but the necessity to administer it may arise at any time. The difficulties of administration would be immensely increased if a belt of territory belonging to China traversed the tract. This belt would certainly become an Alsatia in which lawless characters would take refuge, and from which they would raid into British territory on each side.\n\n7. At the end of his letter Mr. Litton makes suggestions regarding the constitution of a Boundary Commission in the event of such a Commission being appointed. As he is opposed to the appointment of a Boundary Commission, the Lieutenant-Governor considers it unnecessary to remark on this part of Mr. Litton's letter at present.\n\n8. Finally, Mr. Litton proposes that a small joint survey expedition should be dispatched to survey the country between the N'Maikha and the mountains on the east.\n\n5\n\nThis proposal is open to the same objection as the proposal to appoint a Boundary Commission—namely, that owing to the nature of the country and of its inhabitants, a survey could not be executed without the support of a large escort, nor otherwise than at great expense.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nC. G. BAYNE, Chief Secretary.\n\n(Signed)\n\nInclosure 8 in No. 1.\n\nActing Consul-General Litton to Government of Burmah.\n\nYünnan-fu, February 1, 1903.\n\nI HAVE the honour to submit a copy of a Memorandum on the undelimited frontier which I have prepared for His Majesty's Minister.\n\nDuring a recent journey from Chien Chuan to Têngyüeh by a direct route, I have had some special opportunities of conversing with the officials and people; respectfully urge upon your Government the advisability of taking up this question at as early a date as possible. Even now I anticipate that it will be a matter of serious difficulty to secure a satisfactory frontier by peaceful negotiations, and every season's delay will greatly increase that difficulty. I would also venture to call special attention to the improbability of a Boundary Commission, similar to those appointed in previous seasons, achieving any satisfactory result,\n\nInclosure 9 in No. 1.\n\nMemorandum by Acting Consul-General Litton on the Undelimited Frontier between Burmah and Yunnan.\n\nFROM the point of view of demarcation, the country to the north of Manung Pun, the most northerly point of the present delimited frontier, presents some obvious features of difference from the country to the south, which has been already demarcated. To the south, with the exception of the Wa hills, the ancient rights of China and Burmah were conterminous or overlapping; that the territories of certain Chiefs belonged either to China or Burmah was known, and the work of the Commissioners consisted in defining, field by field, or village by village, the limits of those territories. But to the north there is a wide tract of almost unknown country, which has never been brought under control either from the Indian or the Chinese side, and to which, on the ground of actual jurisdiction, Burmah can put forward no claims and China only very shadowy claims.\n\nSecondly, the geographical features of this northern undelimited region are of a very special character: four great rivers, the Irrawaddy (east or N'Maikha branch), the Salween, the Mekong, and the Yangtse, flow south parallel to each other. In the latitude of Wei Hsi (about 27° north) a line 100 miles long, or less than two degrees of longitude, would cover all four; great mountain ranges, rising to many thousands of feet above them, divide the narrow basins of these rivers, leaving very little open country.\n\nSo far as is known the Kachins do not appear to extend east into the Upper Salween basin, which, north of approximate latitude 26° 10′ north, is inhabited by Lisaws, who stretch across the Mekong basin and mingle with the Chinese, Semi-Thibetan, and Minchia population on the east of that river.\n\nTo the north of Tengyueh, and to the east of Manung Pun, the Chinese population is thick in the valleys of Ku Yung and Tienyang, which are subject to Tengyueh, though Tien-Tang also has a hereditary Headman or \"tu'ssu\" named Liu; further to the north-east is Ming Kwang with a \"tu'ssu\" named Tso, subject to Têngyüeh; the head of the family was killed in the Hparé affair. On the east of Ming Kwang Valley is the valley of Kai To'u, which extends as far north as Ta T'ang, one day's journey north of Kai To'u market, where there is a petty civil official subordinate to Têngyüeh, but no “tu'ssu.”\n\nTien Tang \"pa'tzu,\" or valley, is on the upper waters of the T'aiping, or Ta Ho River, as it is called, above Ku Yung. Ming Kwang and Kai To'u Valleys are each\n\nPage 48", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394714, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 51, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "6\n\nwatered by the two head branches of the Shweli or Lung Chiang, locally known as the Ming Kwang and Ta T'ang Rivers respectively. Further north, beyond the headwaters of the Shweli, the country is not under China, but is inhabited by independent Kachins and Lisaws. Ta T'ang is the furthest point of Chinese jurisdiction north of Kai Ton, though I was informed that Chinese traders are settled in the Lisaw tracts still further north, and especially at a place called Langsu, three days from Kai Ton.\n\nMoving east out of the Kai To'n Valley and the basin of the Shweli we pass the Ma Mien Kuan into the Salween system. Along this river the Chinese seem to be settled further north than was commonly supposed. They state that north of the great suspension bridge there is comparatively little malaria, and that Chinese can live near the river banks. The riparian population is, however, of a mixed character.\n\nAt the Salween we enter the country of the Tuan clan; this important Chinese family is descended from an ancestor who possessed himself of this part of the country, as I was informed, some seven or eight generations ago. It is now split into five branches; the head of each branch is a \"tu'ssu,\" with his Chinese title and his appropriate position in the Chinese hierarchy of officials; the following is a list of the places of residence of these five brothers:-\n\nTeng Keng, on the west bank of the Salween, about 30 miles, or two days' journey north of Meng-ku Ferry, .., in approximate latitude 25° 58′ north.\n\nMao Chao, on the west bank, two days further north, on about the same parallel as Tu Wo (see below).\n\nLu Ku, on the east bank, about 4 miles below Teng Keng.\n\nLao Wo, in the hills, a short day's journey to the north-east of Lu Ku.\n\nChiu Chou, on the west bank of the Mekong, 8 miles below Fei Lang Bridge, or approximate latitude 25° 45′ north.\n\nThe first two of the above five \"tu'ssu\" are subject to Yung Chang and the last three to the Sub-Prefect of Yun Lung and through him to Ta Li; Yun Lung City is one long stage east of the Mekong at Fei Lung Bridge.\n\nOther \"tu'ssu\" on the Salween are Lien Ti, on the west bank, some 12 miles north of Meng Ku Ferry; this is a Chinese \"tu'ssu\" named Yang and Lu Chang, a small district between Teng Keng and Mao Chao, with, I believe, a Shan \"tu'ssu\" named \"Cha.\" Lien Ti, Lu Chang, Teng Keng, and Mao Chao are all between the River Salween and east of the range on the west bank. This takes the Chinese up to about latitude 26° 10′ on the Salween, but north of that point the Salween Valley appears to be wholly out of control.\n\nOn the west bank of the Mekong, in about latitude 26° 10′, is an important \"tu'ssu\" named \"Lo;\" he is a Minchia and has an extensive strip of territory along both banks of the Mekong and over the hills to the east of it. He has also claims over the wild tribes of the Lou Tzu, who inhabit the great range between the Salween and the Mekong to the north of La ku, Lao Wo, and Tu Wo; but the Lou Tzu are far from recognizing his supremacy, and fighting of a kind is now proceeding.\n\nGoing north along the Mekong, beyond Su Wo, which is subject to Li Chiang, it appears that the whole of the east side of the river, but only the foot hills on the west bank, are under the ordinary jurisdiction of the Li Chiang Magistrate, or, further north, of the Wei Hsi Magistrate, but the upper slopes of the west bank range are under no sort of control; even on the east bank, near Wei Hsi itself, it is admitted that the control of the Mandarins over the Lamas and Thibetans is very slight. However, there is a small post of troops at Tse Ku, on the west bank near latitude 28° north, where there is a Catholic Mission, and the Wei Hsi Sub-Prefect has claims to the allegiance of several districts to the north and west of his city; as I did not visit Wei Hsi, but only heard of these claims from the Prefect of Li Chiang (Wei Hsi's official superior), I regret that I cannot give details.\n\nThus, Chinese jurisdiction may fairly be said to extend from Manung Pun in an easterly direction along the headwaters of the Shweli or Lung Chiang River; thence along the foot hills on the west bank of the Salween to about 26° 10° north latitude; thence east across the mountains by Lao Wo to Tu Wo, on the west bank of the Mekong, and thence north along the foot hills on the west bank of that river.\n\nThe disturbances which took place last year to the north of Tien Tang Kwan point to a pressure of Chinese population in a northerly direction beyond the headwaters of Shweli.\n\nFrom the above remarks on the present administrative frontier of China, I would\n\n7\n\nbeg permission to deduce the suggestion that a Boundary Commission of the same owing character as those which demarcated the south district would be out of place. Owing to the distance from the base, the extreme difficulty of the country, and the great likelihood of armed conflicts with Kachins and Lisaws, it will be hugely expensive, and, further, it is unlikely to be effective. On the other hand, I would point out that in the country to be dealt with there exists a series of boundaries, already marked out by Nature, and I would suggest that by negotiation one of these may be declared the boundary, and that then the question would be settled beyond the possibility of doubt, and without any expense at all.\n\nOf such natural boundaries only two need, I think, be here considered. The first would give all that Burma would require or could fairly claim, and, if attainable, would be a satisfactory solution of the question. It would read somewhat as follows: \"From Manung Pun, the most northerly point of the present frontier, the line will continue in a north-easterly direction, following the crest of the range forming the water-parting between the Taiping or Ta Ho and the Shweli or Lung Chiang on the Chinese side, and the Irrawaddy (N'Maikha branch) on the British side, until that range joins the main range forming the water-parting between the Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers. From this point the frontier will follow the crest of the latter range in a northerly direction to latitude ??\"\n\nThis is in effect what the Government of Burma, on the strength of an arrangement between Sir Claude MacDonald and the Tsung-li Yamên in July 1898, now regards as the provisional frontier, but I would remark that the Chinese officials in Yunnan by no means recognize it as such. It is violated every season by Chinese, whose proceedings, it is true, are not formally authorized by the Yunnan Government, but whose presence on N'Maikha, will, when it comes to demarcation, infallibly be put forward as giving China a claim to that region. I am doubtful if the Yunnan local officials have ever really been informed of what Burma regards as the provisional boundary, or that any protest against the presence and proceedings of Chinese in the undelimited tracts has ever been notified to the Chinese officials.\n\nThe second boundary is the utmost I suppose that Burma could under any circumstances yield, i.e., the N'Maikha or east branch of the Irrawaddy and the frontier line would descend from Manung Pun to that river at a point to be agreed upon. Either of the above frontiers might be laid down by Treaty in Peking or London and the necessity of a Commission be obviated. Burma would then be able to proceed at leisure to extend her administration up to the line laid down.\n\nUnless speedy and firm action is taken, serious difficulty is to be anticipated in securing Frontier No. 1, and it is to be expected that China will put forward claims far more than No. 2—in fact, that they will claim Kâhmti and want the boundary to be west of that valley.\n\nThere are, however, grave objections to granting the Chinese even as much as the N'Maikha (Frontier No. 2). The weight to be attached to these objections can be properly estimated only by the Burma officials, but I may point out that these objections are the following:---\n\n(1.) Frontier No. 1 would give Burma practically all the Kachin country; it would therefore be a good ethnological line, which is a matter of some importance.\n\n(2.) The Upper N'Maikha is not well known, and it might be hard to say which of many possible headwaters should be considered as the main river. Therefore Frontier No. 2 would leave the door open to future difficulties.\n\n(3.) It is highly unlikely that any of the country on the east bank of the N'Maikha is suited for permanent occupation by Chinese peasantry. If it were, much of the objection to Frontier No. 2 would be removed, as Chinese peasants are good and peaceable neighbours; but as it is, if this strip of country is given to China, it is likely to become a jumping-off ground for raiders, filibusters, and smugglers, both Kachins and Chinese, who will be beyond the control of Burma, and render the work of administering the Trans-N'Maikha very difficult. It is safe to say that the Yunnan Government is too feeble and corrupt to undertake the efficient control of so difficult and distant a country.\n\nFrontier No. 1 would do no real harm to China: no Chinese inhabited village would be given up—in fact, the less wild country is given to China the better, not only for her neighbours, but also for herself. The Chinese Government never really gets an administrative grip of any district where Chinese peasantry cannot settle. If, therefore, China is to come down to the N'Maikha, Burma must be prepared either to have her frontier repeatedly insulted, or to keep up an expensive line of posts along the N'Maikha. China, though diplomatically treated by us as a civilized Power, is not, in point of fact,\n\n49", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394716, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 53, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "any \n\nthe Yunnan Government per the Consul-General, setting forth what is regarded by India to be the frontier, and requesting to be informed if the Chinese have objections to raise. This would perhaps elicit from them a statement of what they really mean to claim.\n\nIf the Government of India decides in no case to give up the west or right bank of the N'Maikha, I would suggest the establishment of a post on that river at an early date. If the Government of India decides to maintain a claim to the frontier which I have styled No. 1 then such post should be on the left or east bank.\n\nFinally, I would venture to assert that China, or at least Yünnan, is showing no signs whatever of a genuine wish or power to reform; though now all is quiet, and seems likely to continue so for some time, it is also possible that a collapse may occur at any moment. In Yunnan the advance of the French railway, badly though that affair is being managed, may very likely lead to an acute crisis, and it is altogether to be deprecated that in such an event we should be found without even a frontier. The work of pacification and administration in Burmah has been such a splendid success that it would be a pity that any part of it should be endangered even in the remote future by an unscientific boundary. \"Frontier coronat opus.'\"\n\nInclosure 10 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\n(Telegraphic.)\n\nRangoon, July 24, 1903. REFERENCE my letter of 9th March last. Lieutenant-Governor has discussed the question with Sir Ernest Satow. They agree in suggesting that communication on the subject should be addressed simultaneously to Peking Government and Viceroy of Yunnan. This communication should make it perfectly clear that British Government intend to regard provisional boundary as actual boundary between China and Burmah, unless and until settlement is arrived at, and should warn Chinese that if this frontier is not respected and armed parties are sent across it, there will be a risk of their coming in contact with our forces. Lieutenant-Governor and Sir Ernest advise that communication should be made at Peking by British Legation and at Yünnan by Litton, and that it should clearly set out that provisional boundary is watershed between N'Maikha on one side and Shweli and Salween River on the other, and not merely watershed between N'Maikha and Salween River, as stated in Sir Ernest Satow's communication of the 18th September, 1902, to Prince Ching. If Government of India approve, is suggested that Foreign Office should be asked to instruct Peking Legation and Consul-General at Yünnan accordingly.\n\nInclosure 11 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nRangoon, August 10, 1903.\n\nIN continuation of my telegram dated the 23rd July last, I am directed to report briefly the grounds on which the Lieutenant-Governor has recommended that a communication should be addressed to the Chinese Government on the subject of the provisional boundary north of Manung Pun.\n\n2. The present position of affairs is that the British Government have declined to admit discussion of any proposals which would involve an extension of Chinese influence in the valley of the N'Maikha, and have so recently as September 1902 instructed His Britannic Majesty's Minister in Peking to insist on the acceptation of the boundary proposed by the Government of India, of which a detailed description was given by Mr. Hertz in December 1900. This boundary is the crest of the range forming the watershed between the stream flowing on the one side into the N'Maikha and on the other side into the Shweli and Salween.\n\n3. So far, however, this boundary has not been accepted by the Chinese Government. The Chinese local authorities still claim,* though so far as our information goes without any adequate grounds, that the boundary lies to the east of several Chinese villages, and from Mr. Litton's Memorandum of the 1st February, of which a copy was submitted with my letter dated the 9th March, 1903, it appears likely that the Chinese, unless checked, may continue to make incursions to the west of the boundary, as they have occasionally done in the past, and may at a later date point to these incursions and to any temporary settlements made in the course of them as proof of a claim which at present has no substantial foundation.\n\n* Telegram from the Foreign Department, dated June 11, 1903.\n\nAs we are not at present in a position to administer the region between the N'Maikha and the watershed which lies on our side of the boundary, and as we cannot, therefore, obtain always accurate information of what local parties of Chinese may be doing, or turn back Chinese incursions on the spot, it is desirable to reiterate as clearly as possible, both to the Government at Peking and also to the local authorities at Yunnan, that we intend the provisional boundary to be observed, and that we will not be responsible for the consequences if the boundary is violated. Plain language of this kind is likely to make the local officials exceedingly cautious, and, if it is used, the watchfulness of our Consular officers at Yunnan and Têngyüeh, through whom the communications to the local authorities will be made, and who are not likely to lose any suitable opportunity of reminding the Chinese officials of their purport, will probably suffice to keep our side of the border free from intrusions for a considerable time to come. Also by making it clear to the Chinese, as suggested in this Government's telegram, that the watershed, which we claim, is not merely the western watershed of the Salween, but also the watershed of the N'Maikha and the Shweli, we shall help to satisfy the Chinese local authorities on a point which probably is not fully understood by them at present, viz., that there is no desire on our part to claim the Chinese Settlements which are said to exist on the upper waters of the Shweli in the Mienkawang and Singan Valleys.\n\nInclosure 12 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of India to Lord G. Hamilton.\n\n(Secret.)\n\nMy Lord,\n\nFort William, March 14, 1901.\n\nYOUR Lordship's Secret despatch, dated the 3rd August, 1900, accepted our view that there should be no discussion with the Chinese Government of any proposals which would involve an extension of Chinese influence in the valley of the N'Maikha. We have now the honour to forward a copy of a letter from the Government of Burmah, giving cover to a Report (with map) by Mr. H. F. Hertz, C.I.E., which contains a description of the natural boundary to the north of the most northerly cairn on the demarcated portion of the Burmah-China frontier. The line indicated by Mr. Hertz may, in our opinion, be regarded as identical with that which was notified to the Tsung-li Yamên by the British Minister at Peking, on the 29th November, 1898, as being the provisional boundary. We have already recommended that the frontier on the east of the Irrawaddy, from the demarcated border northwards, should be fixed at the watershed of the streams which drain into the N'Maikha from the east.\n\n2. We take this opportunity of inclosing a copy of a letter recently received from the British Minister at Peking, to whom we are transmitting a copy of our present despatch, with copies of the inclosed papers (and map*) as received from the Government of Burmah.\n\nWe have, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nCURZON.\n\nE. H. H. COLLEN.\n\nA. C. TREVOR.\n\nC. M. RIVAZ.\n\nT. RALEIGH.\n\nE. F.-G. LAW.\n\n* Not printed.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394717, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 54, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "12\n\n13\n\nInclosure 13 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nRangoon, January 30, 1901. IN compliance with the orders contained in paragraph 3 of your letter, dated the 19th September, 1900, I am directed to submit a copy of a Report by Mr. Hertz, C.I.E., District Superintendent of Police, Myitkyina, with map in original, regarding the description of the Burmah-Chinese boundary north of the most northern boundary cairn, Mr. Hertz' Report on the boundary, to which he refers in this Report, was submitted with Mr. Gates' letter, dated the 3rd May, 1900.*\n\n2. I am to say that the Lieutenant-Governor agrees with Mr. Hertz that it would prevent future misunderstanding if the boundary north of the northernmost cairn were declared to be the watershed of all streams that drain into the N'Maikha from the east.\n\nInclosure 14 in No. 1.\n\nDistrict Superintendent of Police, Myitkyina, to Deputy Commissioner.\n\nMyitkyina, December 21, 1900. IN compliance with the instructions contained in the Confidential forwarded papers I have the honour to submit the following Report\n\nDescription of the Burmah-China Boundary north of the most northerly Boundary Cairn.\n\nThe northernmost boundary cairn was built under the joint supervision of British and Chinese officers in the 1897-98 season, and is situated at latitude 25° 33′ on a range of hills called Manaung-Bum, which forms the southern portion of the eastern watershed of the N'Maikha. North of the cairn the boundary continues along the eastern watershed of the N'Maikha, or, in other words, the watershed of the streams which drain into the N'Maikha from the east. Its general direction is north-east up to latitude 26° longitude 98° 45', near which point the eastern watershed of the N'Maikha connects with the Salween watershed. Between the northernmost boundary cairn and this point the hill range which forms the eastern N'Maikha watershed is drained on the west by streams flowing into the Shingaw Kha, Tammu Kha, Chipwi Kha, and Ngaw-chaung Kha (tributaries of the N'Maikha), and on the east by streams flowing into the Lawnma Tanza Khas (tributaries of the Taping, the Chinese Tahaw), and streams further north flowing into the Shweli (the Chinese Lung Chiang) through its tributaries in the Tintang (or Tinhtang), Mienkawng (or Minkwang), Tatang (or Tahtang), and Sanjang (or Sanchiang) valleys.\n\nFurther north the eastern watershed of the N'Maikha connects with the western watershed of the Salween.\n\nWith the materials at my command I do not think I can give any fuller description than is contained in the above Report and \"Report on the Boundary\" submitted previously. A skeleton map, similar to the one submitted before, is forwarded with this Report. The boundary line north of the most northerly cairn is marked by a red line, and some additions in red ink have been made by me on the map to illustrate the Report more fully.\n\nIn conclusion, I would respectfully suggest that, as the Chinese are a people who seemingly do not recognize latitudes and longitudes, and frequently will not identify hills and lesser streams by the names known to us, it would be convenient, and leave no excuse for misunderstanding on their part, if the boundary north of the most northerly cairn be described as the watershed of all streams that drain into the N'Maikha from the east.\n\nInclosure 15 in No. 1.\n\nSir E. Satow to Government of India.\n\nPeking, November 28, 1900.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's despatch of the 14th June last, received the 24th instant, inclosing copy of a Secret despatch to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, regarding the exploration conducted during the past season up the valley of the N'Maikha and the boundary between Burmah and China in that region.\n\nIn paragraph 4 of the Secret despatch a recommendation is made that the Tsung-li Yamên should be pressed to execute at an early date a formal Agreement recognizing as the frontier between Burmah and China on the east of the Irrawaddy, from the demarcated frontier northwards, the watershed of the streams which drain off into the N'Maikha from the east.\n\nNo instructions on this point have as yet reached this Legation, your Lordship's Secret despatch having arrived in London after communication with Peking was cut off. The only recent mention of the boundary question was in Lord Salisbury's telegram No. 120 of the 9th October, approving the proposal contained in Sir Claude MacDonald's telegram No. 89 of the 31st May, which was repeated to your Lordship.\n\nThe occupation of Peking by the allied forces and the flight of the Government have given rise to a situation in which it seems difficult to pursue the negotiation about the boundary for the moment. The only Representatives here of the Emperor of China are the two Plenipotentiaries, Prince Ching and the Viceroy Li Hung Chang, who have been appointed to negotiate with the Representatives of the Plenipotentiaries for a resumption of amicable relations.\n\nAs soon as this much-to-be-desired event takes place, and the Chinese Government is established here, I shall, in the absence of instructions to the contrary, proceed to act upon the suggestion contained in your Lordship's Secret despatch.\n\n0\n\nSee Inclosure 10 in Secret despatch to the Secretary of State for India, dated June 14, 1900,\n\n52", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394753, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 90, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "any territory on the west side of the watershed until twenty-one months after it had first been proposed to them as a boundary, and seventeen months after they had been distinctly warned of the danger of sending troops across it, thus by their silence leaving the Indian Government to infer that they accepted the proposal made in July 1898. The excuse that the 'maikha Valley is remote from Yunnan-fu, with which place Peking was in telegraphic communication, is without validity, as Mien-kawng-ai is only a week's journey from Teng-yüeh, and the latter also was connected with Yunnan-fu by telegraph.\n\nWith regard to the Hpare affair, our justification is complete, for the Sub-Prefect of Teng,yüeh had a full month's notice of the intended dispatch of the exploring party, and there cannot be much doubt that it was by instructions from him that the armed bodies of Chinese crossed the watershed and marched against the exploring party.\n\nI have the honour to inclose a Memorandum of the discussion which, in accordance with previous arrangement, I held on the 1st instant with his Excellency Na-t'ung on the question, in the course of which adduced reasons for which it was desirable that the Chinese Government should give an undertaking not to send troops across the watershed. I intimated also that if they declined, it would be my duty to make them an official declaration in the terms of my instructions.\n\nNa-t'ung replied that this was a question that could not be decided at Peking, and must be referred to the Governor-General of Yünnan. I said that I could not accept a reference to Yünnan, which would result in the same sort of delays of which His Majesty's Government had already had so much experience, and that I must either arrange the matter with the Foreign Board amicably or fall back upon my instructions, which were precise. I said that if the Chinese Government would give the desired undertaking in writing, I would move the Indian Government to consent to a Joint Commission for the purpose of inquiring into the alleged claim of China to Tzu-chu and Hpare, it being understood that an official from Peking would have to be deputed to act together with a Representative of the Yunnan Government. But I could not give an undertaking that British troops would not be sent into the N'maikha Valley, though I had good grounds for personally believing that the Indian Government had no such intention, It was agreed that he should acquaint Prince Ching with the conversation that had taken place, and that we should meet again in a few days.\n\nI had the honour to acquaint your Lordship briefly by telegraph on the 2nd instant with the step that I had taken and what I understood to be the Chinese view of the question.\n\nA copy of this despatch is being forwarded to the Government of India.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed) \n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\nInclosure in No. 1.\n\nMemorandum respecting the Burmah-Yünnan Boundary.\n\nSIR ERNEST SATOW, accompanied by Messrs. Cockburn and Wilkinson, called on his Excellency Na-t'ung at the Wai-wu Pu.\n\nMr. Ku was also present at the interview.\n\nSir Ernest said that his Excellency would recollect that at their last interview he had also referred to the Burmah-Yunnan Boundary question, and had asked his Excellency to look up the previous correspondence and the maps on the subject. He had brought a map with him which would make the position clear.\n\n(Sir Ernest here produced the map of \"Burmah and Adjacent Countries, 1901,\" with the watershed boundary marked in pencil.)\n\nThe history of the negotiations was as follows :-\n\nTwo Conventions, one in 1894 and one in 1897, had been made with special reference to the boundary question, and since then they had been trying to mark out the boundary. One portion had been delimited with the exception of a section south of Mengting. It was not, however, about this section that he wished to talk, but about the northern portion of the boundary, the demarcation of which was left in the Treaty for subsequent negotiation. Article IV of the Burmah Convention, 1894, read as follows:-\n\n\"It is agreed that the settlement and delimitation of that portion of the frontier which lies to the north of latitude 25° 35' north shall be reserved for a future understanding between the High Contracting Parties when the features and conditions of the country are more accurately known.\"\n\n(Sir Ernest then explained to his Excellency the position on the map, pointing out that the N'aikha is the main source of the Irrawaddy, and its valley a natural continuation of the province of Burmah.)\n\nNa-tung remarked that all the Chinese maps relating to the boundary question had been destroyed during the Boxer troubles.\n\nSir Ernest, continuing, said that it was implied in Article IV of the Boundary Convention that neither party was to take advantage of the other to strengthen its position, but in January 1898 a Chinese official with 200 troops had entered the territory north of the Myitkina district. Sir Claude asked, therefore, that orders should be sent to Yunnan to cease all attempts to exercise Chinese authority in the districts on the west of the range of mountains forming the watershed between the Salween and the N'maikha. This proposal was made over five years ago. Beyond acknowledging the note, the Yamên made no reply.\n\nIn November Sir Claude again addressed the Tsung-li Yamên, inquiring if orders had been sent to Yunnan, and pointing out the suitability, from every point of view, of the boundary suggested by him. He added that if Chinese troops crossed it they would come into collision with ours. As a mere acknowledgment of receipt was returned to this note, it was naturally assumed that China had no objection to the proposed frontier. In 1899 there was no correspondence on the subject.\n\nIn January 1900 notice was given to the Teng-yüeh Prefect by the Deputy Commissioner of Myitkina that an exploring party was to be sent from Burmah to visit the eastern portion of the N'maikha Valley, and asking that the people on the east side of the watershed might be told not to be alarmed,\n\nOn arrival, however, at Pailai (Hpare) the party found a detachment, several hundred strong, of Chinese troops intrenched who had been specially sent across the border to oppose them. A fight ensued, in which there were several casualties on both sides; the Chinese troops were driven back and their stockades burnt. Four days previously two members of the Boundary Commission who were engaged in demarcating the frontier further south had been killed, and a British Consular officer, Mr. Litton, seriously wounded.\n\nSir Claude at once protested against the action of the Chinese Government in sending troops to oppose the exploring party, although informed of its peaceable nature, and asked not to send troops across the boundary. Then, on the 25th March, 1900, some twenty months after Sir Claude's proposal that the watershed should be the provisional boundary, the Yamên replied, putting forward the pretension that China exercised control up to the bank of the Nimaikha River, and refusing to accept the frontier suggested by Sir Claude.\n\nNa-tung explained that Yünnan was a long way off, and no doubt the interval was spent in making inquiries.\n\nSir Ernest continued that, owing to the Boxer troubles and the pressure of other negotiations, it was only in September 1902 that he was able to return to the subject. He then wrote to the Wai-wu Pu again asking for the observance of the watershed as the boundary. As usual, the Yamen replied stating that they were calling for a report from Yunnan. Last March Mr. Townley also wrote to the Board pressing for an answer, for which His Majesty's Government was still waiting.\n\nNa-tung said that, with regard to the Pailai and Meng Tum incidents, as both sides had suffered, no more need be said about them. The important thing was to settle the question as the Treaty laid down, otherwise there would be further trouble. What had Sir Ernest to propose?\n\nSir Ernest replied that the geographical and natural boundary was as stated in his note, the range forming the watershed between the M'maikha stream and the Taping, Shweli, and Salween Rivers.\n\nNa-tung stated that the Yunnan Viceroy had reported that this range was 100 li within the present frontier. The country between the range and the N'maikha River was inhabited by native tribes whose Chiefs received their patents from China. It was impossible, therefore, for China to accept the range as the boundary, He would suggest, in view of the present friendly relations between the two countries, that both Governments depute thoroughly competent officers to delimit the frontier.\n\nSir Ernest feared that His Majesty's Government would not agree to this. Their other experience in this respect had been very unsatisfactory. Owing to the procrastination of the Chinese authorities, who refused to be bound by the wording of the\n\nPage 90\n\nPage 91", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394817, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 154, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "My Lord,\n\n2. The construction of railways in Szechuan and the adjoining territory to the south of the Yang-tsze is not a question in which Indian interests are directly concerned. I would, however, call the attention of your Excellency's Government to the risk that British rights may be jeopardized. The field left open to others may be monopolized to the detriment of the interests of Burmah, whether commercial or political. I need not remind your Excellency of the injury to the revenues of the ports in British Somaliland which has resulted from the exclusive privileges acquired by another nation for contracting railways into Abyssinia from the coast. To avoid a similar risk in Yunnan, the Chinese authorities have, I understand, accepted the services of a British officer for the purpose of constructing the extension of the cart and mule road, which you have made from Bhamo to the Chinese frontier, onwards to Momein. I suggest for your consideration the expediency of inducing them to continue the track to Tali, with such professional aid as you can give them. The railway surveys, which I have urged you to undertake from the Salween into Yunnan, may afford you an opportunity of improving in a similar manner the tracks followed by the trade in that direction.\n\nI anticipate that a well-organized party working for a single season, at the most two seasons, would obtain the required information at a comparatively small cost, and I request that you will supply me with an estimate as soon as possible.\n\n3. A copy of a letter to the Foreign Office on the subject is inclosed.*\n\nshall then be in a position to address the Foreign Office with a view to the necessary communications being addressed to the Chinese Government.\n\n(Signed) ST. JOHN BRODRICK\n\nI have, &c.\n\nInclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nMr. Brodrick to Government of India.\n\n4. As regards a line from Bhamo to Momein, I have no doubt that it would increase the traffic by this route very greatly, not only by cheapening freights, but by rendering it more difficult for the Chinese to levy illegal taxes on the traders, which they appear to have been doing up to a recent date, and even within the British boundary. It is possible that a railway from Bhamo to Momein may never be more than a local line, if it is the case that an advance beyond Momein is impracticable. I understand that the Government of Burmah has already constructed a cart road on this route within British territory, and has lent to the Chinese authorities at Momein an officer of the Public Works Department to make the section within Chinese territory.\n\nIndia Office, December 18, 1903.\n\nI HAVE considered in Council your Government's despatch dated the 19th March 1903, in which you reply to my letter dated the 16th January, 1903. I requested your Excellency to take the necessary steps for a more thorough survey of the districts lying between the country now traversed by railways in Burmah and the frontier of China.\n\nMy Lord,\n\n2. The Burmah railways may be held to terminate at present at three points: - (1.) Myit-Kyina on the right bank of the Upper Irrawaddy, near the northern frontier of Burmah; (2.) Lashio, in the Northern Shan States, distant about 80 miles from Kunlon, on the Salween; and (3.) Katha, about 70 miles south-west of Bhamo, on the right bank of the Irrawaddy, connected with Bhamo by the steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company.\n\nAs to (1), you explain that you are satisfied that the country between Myit-Kyina and the frontier to the east or south-east is of a nature that does not permit of railway construction. As to (2), Lashio, you remind me that I have agreed to stay any further advance of the line from that point to the Salween, and you assure me that the information already before your Government is sufficient to determine the best alignment, if it be decided to go forward. As to (3), you are of opinion that, if the line were made from Bhamo to Momein, an advance beyond Momein has been proved to be impracticable.\n\n3. It may be accepted, therefore, that the most probable terminus of a Burmese railway, to be extended into China, would be some station on the Salween near Kunlong. It appears that the alignment for the section from Lashio to that terminus can be settled by the plans already available. Further surveys are, accordingly, required only for the continuance of the line in Yunnan. The immediate question is whether a thoroughly competent party of British engineers should now be detailed to examine the country beyond the border, and so enable a judgment to be formed as to the best alignment.\n\nIn your letter dated the 19th March last, your Excellency in Council stated that you awaited a clearer indication of my wishes as to the nature and locality of the suggested survey. I do not at present contemplate the immediate construction of a line in Yunnan to connect with the Burmese system, nor do I contemplate the application of the revenues of India to such a project. But the Government is aware that French enterprise is taking an active part in preparing for the extension of French railways into that province of China, and the Chinese Government has recognized the principle that British enterprise should receive equal treatment in the matter of Concessions. It may be that fuller information will not induce British capital to avail itself of the privileges now reserved to it, but if the idea prevails that your Government and British capitalists are indifferent to their potential rights, those rights may be jeopardized.\n\nThe matter may be commended to the consideration of the Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah, for, apart from trade considerations, the reasons for establishing our influence as paramount at Momein are, in my opinion, not to be lightly set aside.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) ST. JOHN BRODRICK.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 394825, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "page_number": 162, "title": "CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904", "content_text": "This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\n2\n\nThe Viceroy further states that he has received a despatch from the British Consul-General to the effect that the latter is in receipt of a communication from the Governor (?) of Burmah, stating that under instructions from the Secretary of State for India, it is proposed that to the north of the high peak, the frontier between China and Burmah, should be the range of mountains forming the watershed between the Irawaddy, Great Gold Sand River, and the Lung and Lu Rivers, streams flowing into the Gold Sand River being assigned to Burmah and streams flowing into the Lung and Lu Rivers going to China.\n\nThe Consul-General does not mention the N'Maikha River.\n\nThe Viceroy has replied that the defining of this portion of the frontier must, in accordance with the Convention, wait until the two Powers have sent officers to make a joint delimitation.\n\nThe Board have the honour to observe that on the 10th May, 1900, the Tsung-li Yamen, in a note in reply to Sir C. MacDonald, stated that, as regarded the suggestion of a provisional frontier contained in his note and letter of 1898, the reason why the Yamen had raised no immediate objection was, firstly, that at the time the two Governments were engaged in arranging the delimitation of the frontier prescribed (by the Convention), and that there was naturally no leisure to discuss that part of the boundary for the delimitation of which the Convention did not provide. Secondly, full and accurate information was wanting as to the position of the watershed, and as to how far it coincided with the original boundary of Chinese territory, and so it was not possible to give a hasty answer. The Yamen felt confident that his Excellency the Viceroy of India would not treat a despatch to which China returned no answer as if it were proof of her definite agreement.\n\nIn the present note your Excellency states that the watershed of all streams that drain into the N'Maikha, or Little River, from the east, is the natural boundary, but, according to the Viceroy of Yunnan's account of the British Consul-General's despatch, the latter states that it is proposed that to the north of the high peak, the frontier between China and Burmah, should be the range of mountains forming the watershed between the Irrawaddy, or Great Gold Sand River, and the Lung and Lu Rivers, and he does not mention the N'Maikha River.\n\nThere are differences in the transliteration of sounds, and if the boundary were forthwith thus defined, it is to be apprehended that misunderstandings between the officials and people of both countries on the frontier could not be avoided.\n\nIt is, moreover, necessary to ascertain accurately the features of the country east and west of the watershed, and whether the latter coincides with the original boundary of Chinese territory. The IVth Article of the Burmah Convention provides, in fact, that the settlement of the frontier shall be reserved to be decided by the two Governments when the features and conditions of the country are more accurately known, and the statement of the Viceroy of Yunnan as to both Powers sending officers to make a joint delimitation before a settlement can be made, is in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Convention.\n\nBetween China and Great Britain there are friendly relations of long standing, and if this section of the frontier is settled by joint delimitation, there will be no room for complications between them.\n\nThe Board have the honour to request that this reply may be transmitted to His Majesty's Government for their consideration and answer, in order that officers may be appointed for joint delimitation.\n\nI avail, &c.\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\nSir,\n\nNo. 1.\n\nForeign Office to India Office.\n\n[May 16.] 160\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nForeign Office, May 16, 1904.\n\nWITH reference to your letter of the 13th ultimo, I am directed by the Marquess of Lansdowne to transmit to you, for any observations which the Secretary of State for India may have to offer, a copy of a despatch from His Majesty's Minister at Peking, inclosing a translation of a note which he has received from the Chinese Government in reply to that which he addressed to them on the 30th January last, on the subject of the proposed boundary between Burmah and China north of latitude 25° 35'.\n\nA copy of the latter note was sent to you on the 5th ultimo.\n\n[1980 q-1]\n\nI am,\n\n&c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nF. A. CAMPBELL.\n\n* Sir E. Satow, No. 86, March 14, 1904.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-326 - Foreign Office - 1904.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397851, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 341, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Inclosure 2 in No. 1\n### Liverpool Chamber of Commerce to India Office\nLiverpool, May 28, 1904\n\nI AM directed by the Committee of the East India and China Trade Section to refer to your letter of the 14th December, 1903, on the subject of the extension of the Mandalay Kunlon Railway, and to ask what has been the result of the consultation of the Secretary of State for India in Council with the Government of India respecting the whole question of railway communication between Burmah and China.\n\nThe Committee have had again under their consideration the subject of the construction of a light railway from Bhamo to Momein, recommended by them in their letter dated the 25th February, 1903, of which I inclose a copy.\n\nI am to express the hope of the Committee that steps have been taken in the direction desired.\n\nSir,\nI am, &c.\n(Signed) THOMAS W. BARKER, Secretary.\n\n## Inclosure 3 in No. 1\n### India Office to Liverpool Chamber of Commerce\nIndia Office, September 2, 1904\n\nI AM directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to refer to your letter of the 28th May last, the reply to which has been delayed pending the consideration of the views of the Government of India on the question of railway communication between Burmah and China.\n\nThe Government of India are still in consultation with the Burmah Government in regard to the project for a railway between Bhamo and Momein, and steps have, meanwhile, been taken to improve the roads between these places.\n\nIn regard to the larger schemes for a railway from Burmah through Yünnan to Szechuan, the Government of India have furnished an estimate of the cost of surveying the portion of the route between the Salween and the Mekong, and this estimate, which amounts to 1,50,000 rupees, has been communicated to the Foreign Office. The Government of India, however, are not willing to throw this expenditure on the Indian revenues, and the Secretary of State in Council, in these circumstances, cannot proceed with the survey.\n\nI am, &c.\n(Signed) HORACE WALPOLE\n\n## Inclosure 4 in No. 1\n### Government of India to Mr. Brodrick\nSimla, October 27, 1904\n\n334\n\nSir,\n\nIn your despatch dated the 18th December, 1903, we were asked to furnish an estimate of the cost of examining the country between the Salween and Mekong Rivers, in order that you might be prepared with information for any British Company or Syndicate that might desire to undertake the construction of a railway into Yünnan. At the same time the proposal to make a railway from Bhamo to Momein (Têngyüeh) was commended to the consideration of the Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah.\n\n2. With reference to the proposal to examine the country between the Salween and Mekong Rivers, we informed you in our telegram dated the 4th May, 1904, that a survey would cost at least 1,50,000 rupees, and that we deprecated the expenditure of this sum from Indian funds, as, from information already in our possession, the cost of construction is known to be prohibitive. For the sum named we believe that the country could be fairly well examined, but if a detailed location for the railway is required, the cost would be at least 3,00,000 rupees. The distance from the Salween to the Mekong by the Nam-Ting Valley, which we believe to be the only practicable route, is quite 160 miles; and the cost, based on the cost of surveys already made, and allowing for the necessary escorts and the carriage of stores, &c., would probably be about 2,000 rupees a mile.\n\n3. We note with satisfaction that it is not contemplated to apply the revenues of India to the construction of such a line, and therefore that we shall not be called upon to bear any portion of the cost of the survey, and we await further orders from you before taking any steps to put it in hand. We have, moreover, no staff available at present for undertaking it.\n\n4. The question of a railway from Bhamo to Momein (Têngyüeh) was referred to the Government of Burmah, and we inclose a copy of that Government's letter dated the 29th June, 1904, and inclosures. It will be noticed that neither Mr. Wilkinson, His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Yünnan-fu, nor Mr. Warry, the adviser on Chinese affairs to the Burmah Government, considers that a railway is required; while Mr. Litton, His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Momein (Têngyüeh), strongly advocates the construction of the line, and in this is supported by the Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah, who recommends that the survey should be undertaken as soon as possible.\n\n5. In paragraph 6 of the letter from the Government of Burmah it is estimated that the cost of the railway on the 2 ft. 6 in. gauge will be between 107 and 188 lakhs of rupees, and that the gross earnings, upon the information furnished by Mr. Litton, might at first amount to 5,35,000 rupees. This, with working expenses at 75 per cent., would return only 1.24 and 0.71 per cent., respectively on the estimated capital outlay. Even with the gross receipts ultimately enhanced to double the amount the railway would not prove remunerative, and it is therefore improbable that either the Burmah Railways Company or the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company could be induced to join in carrying out such a scheme without a guarantee from Government. Sir Hugh Barnes, however, suggests that, if the money is found by the Imperial Government, it is probable that the Burmah Railways Company would be willing to undertake to construct the line on terms which would involve them in no pecuniary responsibility.\n\n6. While, however, there are in India and in Burmah many productive projects which demand our attention, and which cannot be undertaken for want of funds, we trust you will agree that the question of the construction of the line from Bhamo to Momein, under any arrangement which would impose the entire pecuniary liability on the Government of India, should not in present circumstances be entertained. We therefore think it would be premature even to undertake its location at present.\n\nWe have, &c.\n(Signed) AMPTHILL\nKITCHENER\nE. F. G. LAW\nE. R. ELLES\nA. T. ARUNDEL\nH. ERLE RICHARDS\nJ. P. HEWETT", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397852, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 342, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# 335\n\nSir,\n\n## Inclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\n**Government of Burmah to Government of India**\n\nRangoon, June 29, 1904.\n\nI AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 16th March, 1904, in which the Government of India commend to the consideration of the Lieutenant-Governor the question of a light railway from Bhamo to Têngyüeh (Mumein) and ask for a further report on the proposal.\n\n2. As bearing upon this subject, I am to forward copies of inclosed papers. The first of these papers Mr. Litton, His Majesty's Consul for Têngyüeh, argues very strongly in favour of a railway line from Bhamo to Têngyüeh; in the second, Mr. Wilkinson, His Majesty's Consul-General for Yunnan, gives his reasons for advising that we should prefer to concentrate our energies on the continuation of the Mandalay-Lashio line via Kunlong to Talifu; and in the third paper, which was compiled under the orders of the Lieutenant-Governor in November last, before the other two papers were written, Mr. Warry, Adviser on Chinese Affairs to the Burmah Government, reviews the history of the surveys that have been undertaken for the purpose of railway extension from Burmah into Yunnan. Although in the reference under reply the Lieutenant-Governor's opinion is asked on the question of the Têngyüeh Railway only, it will be obvious from these papers that it will not be possible to deal satisfactorily with that question without a simultaneous consideration of the larger alternative also. The two initial propositions that may be regarded as established by these papers are, (i) that the line from Bhamo to Têngyüeh (with a possible extension to Yungchang) will be a local line only, and that it could not be carried beyond Têngyüeh or Yungchang except at prohibitive cost; and (ii) that the only practicable line that has so far been discovered for a through line from Burmah to China is from Kunlong up the Namting Valley and by Yunchou to Talifu, whence the line could be extended to Yünnan, or preferably and more profitably to Szechuan. The Lieutenant-Governor proposes to address himself in the first place to the consideration of the question whether the remote possibility of the construction of the latter line should influence in any way the decision as to the need for, and the usefulness of, the former.\n\n3. As the Bhamo-Têngyüeh line is admittedly a local one, and as at least half the trade, which would use this railway, comes from Hsia Kuan, the commercial emporium at the southern end of the Tali Lake, it would appear at first sight that Mr. Wilkinson is justified in urging that we should not dissipate our energies by building a railway from Bhamo to Têngyüeh, but should seek first to complete the line from Lashio to Kunlong, and to continue it to Talifu and thence to Yunnan-fu or to Szechuan. Such a line would obviously dominate and partially supersede the Têngyüeh line, and would deprive it of half its usefulness. But the value of this argument depends entirely upon the degree of the probability that, within any reasonable distance of time, the Talifu line will be constructed. If it is found that this line is too large, and too expensive, and too difficult a scheme for any prudent Company to undertake, the argument falls to the ground, and the important question to answer is whether such a line is financially practicable, and within a measurable distance of construction in the near future. After a careful examination of all the papers, in which he has been assisted by personal discussion with Mr. Litton, Sir Hugh Barnes has arrived at the conclusion that this question must be answered in the negative. A line from Kunlong to Talifu being a trunk line, and a continuation of the Burmah railways, would have to be built on the metre gauge, which is the standard gauge in Burmah. The distance for a railway from Lashio to Talifu would scarcely be less than 500 miles, and the cost, judging from the expenditure on the Mandalay-Lashio line, would certainly be at least 10 crores of rupees, or £7,500,000, a sum that, according to Mr. Litton, amounts to about three times the total annual value of the whole external trade of Yunnan, including opium. Until the line reaches the neighbourhood of Tali it would pass through a very barren and sparsely inhabited part of Yunnan. There would therefore be little local traffic. The trade available at Hsia Kuan alone would be insufficient to make so long and expensive a railway pay, and an extension of the line into the heart of Szechuan could only be achieved at enormous cost. Considering the difficulty which, the Lieutenant-Governor understands, has been experienced in raising money to work concessions for such very promising railways as Shanghai to Nanking and Hong Kong to Canton, it is in the highest degree improbable that British capital would be forthcoming for a line with such doubtful prospects as that to Talifu, and taking all the circumstances into consideration, the Lieutenant-Governor is constrained to agree with the view stated by the Government of India in their despatch dated the 21st August, 1902, that for the present this line is outside the pale of practical politics. It follows that to postpone for it the proposed line from Bhamo to Têngyüeh would be to postpone the latter indefinitely.\n\n4. On the other hand, the line from Bhamo to Têngyüeh, being a local line, might reasonably be constructed on the 2 ft. 6 in. gauge, and would therefore be comparatively cheap. As the line is not a very long one, the amount of capital to be raised would also be within manageable limits. There is already a considerable trade by this route, which a railway might reasonably be expected to increase, and if Mr. Litton's estimates are correct, the line would serve a population, including the Yungchang Valley, of some 500,000 souls. There would, therefore, of a certainty be considerable local as well as through traffic. There is also the obvious fact that the construction of a railway to Têngyüeh would establish British influence unassailably throughout West Yünnan, and could scarcely fail to secure to us the whole of the existing trade, and probably most of its future developments. Mr. Litton, it will be seen, goes further, and maintains that this line would be commercially a complete answer not only to a French railway to Mengtse, but even to a French railway to Yunnan-fu itself. His argument, which appears to the Lieutenant-Governor to be quite sound, is this: Hsia Kuan, on the Tali Lake, which is the meeting point of the great trade routes to Thibet, Szechuan, the Yangtse, Yunnan-fu, and Burmah, is the true commercial capital of Yunnan. In this view, it will be seen, Mr. Wilkinson agrees. At present the foreign trade of Hsia Kuan is mainly with Burmah through Têngyüeh, because Burmah and the Irrawaddy are at present the nearest and easiest channels of communication with the outer world. But this trade will be inevitably diverted to Yunnan-fu if the French railway reaches that city, and if nothing is done on our side to counteract its attraction. On the other hand, Hsia Kuan is approximately midway between Bhamo and Yunnan-fu, and it follows that if a railway is made to Têngyüeh the route through British territory must retain its superiority, since Têngyüeh is nearer to Hsia Kuan than to Yünnan-fu. Moreover, if our railway reaches Têngyüeh first, as it should be possible easily with energy to arrange, and if we also improve the road beyond, we shall probably succeed for all time in retaining the whole of the trade of West Yünnan. For these reasons, and for the reasons that are urged in the third paragraph of the Secretary of State's despatch, dated the 18th December, 1903, namely, that in the interests of Burmah, whether commercial or political, it is imperative to forestall the loss and injury that otherwise will certainly result from the completion of the French railway to Yunnan-fu, the Lieutenant-Governor is in favour of the completion of a railway from Bhamo to Têngyüeh as soon as possible, if it is found practicable on further examination to construct it at a reasonable cost. So far as our information goes at present, there are grounds for believing that this line can undoubtedly be made without much difficulty, and that it will, in comparison with any other line, be cheap. Mr. Litton's estimates are correct; its prospects are not unpromising, and it will certainly place us on more than an equality with the French in the struggle for the trade of the most important commercial town in Yünnan.\n\n5. In the next place, it is necessary to deal with the line from Bhamo to Têngyüeh on narrower and more technical grounds, and to clear the way it may be stated at the outset that, in the Lieutenant-Governor's opinion, it is not necessary to the commercial value of this line that it should be connected with the Burmah railways at Katha, which is situated 80 miles from Bhamo down the Irrawaddy and on the opposite bank. Such an extension would be very difficult and costly, and it is not needed, since the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's steamers could deal without difficulty with all the trade which the railway may bring to Bhamo. It may also be pointed out with reference to paragraph 4 of the Secretary of State's despatch, dated the 13th December, 1903, that there is no cart-road from Bhamo to Têngyüeh on which a railway could be constructed, nor any present intention of making one. The existing state of the road is described in the correspondence ending with this Government's letter, dated the 16th instant, to the Foreign Department of the Government of India. There is a cart-road for 17 miles from Bhamo, and thence a good mule road to the frontier at Kulikha. This mule road has lately been pushed on by arrangement with the Chinese through the Taiping Gorge to Mansien, a village opposite Manwyne, and it is under consideration whether the Chinese should not be asked to allow us to complete a similar road to Têngyüeh. The proposed railway to Têngyüeh will, therefore, not be helped by the existing road except so far as the road will be useful as a service road during railway construction.\n\n6. On the other hand, a further investigation of the country to be traversed by the line to Têngyüeh has shown that the line will certainly be much longer and more...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397855, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 345, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# 338 \n**(Confidential.)** \n\n## Inclosure 6 in No. 1. \n### Acting Consul Litton to Government of Burmah. \nTengyueh, February 12, 1904. \n\nI HAVE the honour to forward a **Confidential Memorandum** on the relations between Burmah and West Yunnan, containing certain suggestions for which I venture to claim the careful consideration of your Government. \n\nI am transmitting copies to the Foreign Office and to His Majesty's Minister, through the Consul-General. \n\n## Memorandum on Relations between Burmah and Yünnan with reference to Proposed Improvements of Communications. \n**(Confidential.)** \n\nThe Imperial custom-house has now been opened at Têngyüeh for nearly two years; Consulates have been established in Yunnan; British relations with Yünnan officials have much increased; the French have been spending large sums on railway operations and seem at last in a fair way to get their line started. I think it is time for the Government of Burmah to take stock of its general position and prospects with regard to Yünnan. \n\nAlthough the British Government is constantly advised to \"wake up and seek new markets, I am bound to say that, viewed in the most favourable light (and I have always thought that a very considerable development of our trans-frontier trade may and ought to be attained), the commercial value of West Yünnan is not so great that, merely on this score, any very vigorous or expensive action would seem to be imperatively called for. But, on the other hand, the position of the French on the south of the province and their action over its border, wholly alters the situation, and for us to say: \"It is not worth while spending `(a)` in order to secure a trade that at the most is only of value `(y)`\" by no means goes to the root of the matter.\n\nIt is, I think, clear that for the French to be in possession of Yunnan up to, or anywhere at all near to, the present frontier of Burmah would be a disaster of the first magnitude for India, entailing enormous expense and trouble. I do not for a moment suggest that the French, with the exception of a few Chauvinists and colonial journalists, at present entertain the ambition of annexing Yunnan, or any part of it. The French Government is probably strongly opposed to any such schemes of adventure, for the Republic would stand to lose far more than she could hope to gain. I feel little doubt that the French were rushed into their railway scheme by the energy and influence of M. Doumer, without knowing how much they were going to spend, or seeing clearly whither their course was tending; but, however this may be, there they are, and they have gone too far to retrace their steps. Then their Russian friends have been operating in a drastic fashion upon the northern limbs of the Chinese carcase, and it is quite likely that this may arouse dormant ambitions in Tonquin. True, Indo-China is not now in a position to undertake any big enterprise. The European troops in the country have, I believe, been considerably reduced; yet it has always seemed to me that circumstances may at any time prove too strong for the French Government, and that having put one foot over the border of Yunnan they may have to follow with the other. The chief danger is the condition of the Chinese Government itself, which, so far from showing the least symptom of reform, seems to me to be positively retrogressing. If last summer, after the capture by the rebels of Lin An-fü, the Yunnan Viceroy had bolted, as he was preparing to do, and Yunnan-fu had become the prey of an insurrection, it is more than possible that French troops would have come to Yunnan-fu. Where should we have been then? Should we have been ready to make the only effective reply, i.e., to send British troops to Ta Li? And if French troops ever reach Yünnan-fu, is it likely that they will leave it in a hurry? French public opinion would be stirred, and the demand would be for the \"rivière,\" which French writers are fond of talking about — i.e., the whole of Yunnan east of and including the Mekong Basin. The recognition of any such claim would be contrary to the vital interests of Burmah.\n\nThere is a Treaty by which, I believe, equal advantages are secured to the two Powers in Yunnan, but such documents are hardly of much practical value. \n\nIn South Yunnan the Frenchman is the man in possession, or rather in prospective possession, waiting for the tottering bankrupt to fall into his clutches. I submit that in West Yünnan the Government of India ought to, but does not, occupy a similar position. \n\nIf British influence could be strengthened and extended in West Yunnan, so that it could fairly be said that our Government had ear-marked the country, it might then be not impossible to come to some practical arrangement with the French by which they would agree in certain eventualities to leave our portion of Yunnan alone. As to what our portion would be, it has always seemed to me that, at any rate down as far south as the latitude of Pu Erh, the whole basin of the Mekong falls properly within the British sphere, as do those portions of the Ta Li Prefecture situated on the Burmah side of the Yangtse — i.e., Li Chiang, Ho Ching, Wei Hsi, &c. After the completion of the French railway to Yunnan-fu, it seems hardly probable that, unless active measures are speedily taken, the Burmah trade will to any considerable extent pass the Yangtse.\n\nThe question of what means can be employed to extend our influence in such a manner that, if any movement from the French side precipitates a crisis, the British Government will be in a position to act as the predominant Power in West Yunnan is not perhaps very easy to answer. \n\nAlthough the line is by no means a satisfactory one, to advance the present frontier east would be quite out of the question, and contrary to the general policy of the British Government in China, a measure only to be thought of if forced upon us by the action of the other Powers in other places, or by the total collapse of the Chinese Government. The constant occurrence of cattle thefts, &c., in British territory by trans-frontier Chinese subjects is a source of irritation, but not of serious danger, and ought to be arranged locally. Raids in force have ceased; if they are renewed they should be very severely dealt with. \n\nThe question of the undelimited frontier to the north is to be settled in the only way practicable if the interests of India are to be secured, namely, by informing the Chinese that the Irrawaddy-Salween water divide is the frontier, and that they must not trespass over it. It is earnestly to be hoped that the British Government will not retreat an inch from this position.\n\nI think that attention may be turned to the increase of influence likely to accrue to us through the development of communications and trade with West Yünnan. These two matters are of course closely connected. We already have one great advantage over our rivals in the fact that a number of Yunnanese merchants and labourers have been in Burmah; many of them proceed there for trade or work every season. The name of the British Government is known and esteemed all over the country, while in South Yunnan the people rarely or never go down into Tonquin; little is popularly known of the French, and what is known has certainly not awakened feelings of deep respect. I do not think that any well-considered scheme for improving communications with Burmah would meet with anything but support from the more influential classes in West Yunnan, and this is an important advantage — e.g., I think that a British railway operating in the Taiping Valley would have no difficulty in getting labour such as the French have had in South Yünnan.\n\nI now only wish to discuss the question of relations between Burmah and Yünnan; to do more than refer to the proposed railway extension via Kuulong, even if that scheme had not been ruled for the present out of practical politics, would appear to be irrelevant. If the Kuulong scheme is ever really taken up, it can only be when the British Government is prepared to go right through with it, and take the line to the centre of Szechuan. This is, in fact, an Imperial scheme, the object of which would be to plant British influence in the Upper Yangtse Valley, and must therefore be considered on totally different principles from a local scheme designed merely to extend the influence of the Government of India in West Yünnan. I still think that the way to approach Szechuan is by an all-British railway up the Yangtse from Hankow; if the \"trans-Yünnan\" ever materializes it ought at least to wait till we have got to Szechuan, coming from the east, the direction from which the Empire Province is naturally approached. To construct a line merely from Lashio to the Mekong without any immediate idea of proceeding further would, I venture to assert, be a great mistake. It would take us through a barren, difficult, and sparsely populated section of Yunnan, without any prospect of increasing the trade, for I doubt exceedingly whether either Ta Li or Yung Chang caravans would desert the present route to go to a railway on the west bank of the Mekong near Yun Chou. If such a railway were carried on to Ta Li, the expense would be enormous, and a good half of the present Têngyüeh-Bhamo trade would continue to pass by the present Taiping Valley route.\n\nIt seems to me, therefore, that to improve our communications we should, in the first instance, devote our attention to improving the present trans-frontier trade route along...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397859, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 349, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "18\n\nOf the best known of these—that through Siam and up the Mekong Valley—Captain Ryder, in the light of our fuller geographical knowledge, now simply remarks: \"It may at once be dismissed as impossible.\" Various other projects of the past can be similarly dismissed; and for those which may be put forward in the future there will be no excuse if they are not based on precise and perfectly reliable data.\n\n## The Yunnan Company (Limited), its Incorporation and Objects\n\n3. It is mainly to the Yunnan Company, Limited, that we owe our very complete knowledge of the physical features of Yunnan. The Company was registered in London on the 15th July, 1898. In a letter written to the Foreign Office that month, the Secretary says that it was formed for the purpose, among others, of surveying and, if found practicable, afterwards arranging for the construction of a road or railway and telegraph line from the terminus of the Burmah Railways at Kunlôn, or wherever on the frontier the terminus may be located, through Yunnan and Szechuan to the Yangtse.\" The Secretary then asks for \"assistance in getting a concession from the Chinese Government for this purpose, which should include a lease of the mining, forest, agricultural, and pastoral rights on the unoccupied land five miles on each side of the line, due regard being had to present rights of the population.\" The India Office were also asked \"in view of the responsibilities about to be undertaken by the Company to grant them a concession of mineral, forest (exclusive of teak), agricultural and pastoral rights in the portion of the Shan States between 97° east and the Chinese frontier and latitude 22-24 north; also for exclusive right of working and manufacturing fibre materials in above district and in the watershed of the Irrawaddy above Mandalay.\"\n\n## Personnel of Expedition of Yünnan Company\n\n4. In the autumn of 1898, the Company, with the support of Her Majesty's Government, organized an expedition into Yünnan. They obtained the services of Major Davies, O.L.I., Lieutenant Watts-Jones, R.E., Lieutenant Houter, R.E., Mr. Scott, Mr. Turner, Captain Pottinger, R.A., and several native Indian surveyors. Captain Ryder, R.E., was sent with the party by the Government of India, at their own expense, to carry on triangulation work. His reports were made to the Surveyor-General; the other members reported to the Company. Mr. Ker were deputed to examine the country from a commercial point of view.\n\n## Work accomplished by the Expedition\n\n5. The expedition started in November 1898, and its work in Yünnan extended over the whole of that season and the greater part of the next. Captain Pottinger and Lieutenant Hunter spent a considerable portion of their time in Szechuan; but the other members confined themselves almost entirely to the province of Yunnan. By judicious arrangement of tours, and by travelling singly as far as possible, they performed their task so thoroughly as to leave scarcely a nook or corner of the province unexplored. Captain Davies travelled about 4,000 miles, and he thinks that the other officers did about the same; their routes constantly crossed and recrossed; of the eighty-four official cities of Yunnan all but three were visited, and no important region escaped attention.\n\n## Results of Expedition\n\n6. The general results of the expedition may be briefly summarized thus:\n| Result | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a) | A map of Yunnan, prepared by the Survey of India on 1-inch scale, and described by the President of the Royal Geographical Society as \"of the greatest scientific value and importance.\" |\n| (b) | A preliminary railway survey from Kunlon to Tali-fu, and thence on to Yunnan-fu and the Yangtse at Sui-fu. |\n| (c) | A preliminary railway survey from Bhamo to Têngyüeh. |\n| (d) | A commercial report on the province, showing the results of three years' inquiries by Mr. Turner and other experts. |\n\n19\n\n## Conclusions arrived at\n\n7. Two important conclusions were established by the surveys. It was shown that there is one, and one only, practicable railway into Yunnan—that up the Namting Valley. \"This,\" writes Captain Ryder, \"which Captain Watts-Jones followed through up to Tali-fu and so on to Yünnau-fu, is the only through line into China from Burmah that can ever be constructed.\" In the second place, the popular opinion that a railway from Bhamo to Têngyüeh is comparatively easy and inexpensive was confirmed.\n\n## Possible through line to navigable part of the Yangtse\n\n8. An extension of the line from Yünnan-fu to the navigable part of the Yangtse at Sui-fu was also proved to be possible. For the present, however, this can scarcely be regarded as a practical project, and it is therefore outside the scope of this Memorandum. It may be briefly noted that the entire railway from Kunlon to Sui-fu would be nearly 1,000 miles long. The construction would be very costly, entailing 14 miles of tunnelling and some 63 miles of rack. Estimates for the completed line vary between £10,000,000 and £20,000,000, and the time required would be from 10 to 15 years. With regard to its commercial prospects the preponderance of expert opinion is unfavourable. But the Yunnan Company take a sanguine view, and are even now prepared to commence the construction of the line if their concessions are granted. So at least it would seem from a speech by Mr. John Halliday, one of the chief promoters of the Company, at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society held in November 1902. He said: \"The surveys which we have from Watts-Jones, in which he has delineated the superficial and horizontal outline of the country, show no very bad country whatever except a few miles between Yunnan-fu and the Yangtse Valley. It is not more difficult than the railways in the Rocky Mountains. There are no impracticable engineering problems. The biggest mountain which stands in our way is the Chinese Government, for they have never confirmed the concession which our Government imagined they had secured. I am afraid there is very little chance of the railway being made for many years. The trade, however, is increasing very largely, and if we could even get a cart track—a practicable road—the increase of trade would be enormous.\"\n\n## Railway Survey of Line from Kunlôn to Tali-fu\n\n9. The through line to Sui-fu being for the present out of the question, the possibilities of a shorter line from Kunlôn to Tali-fu may now be considered. This was surveyed throughout by Captain Watts-Jones with the exception of portions of the Mekong and Konglan gorges, which were subsequently \"partially surveyed\" by Major Davies. The total length of the line from Kunlon to Tali-fu is 320 miles. It is estimated to cost (for earthwork, bridging, and land) 1,68,74,000 rupees (£1,125,000), or an average of about 53,000 rupees a-mile. Seven miles of rack and 1 mile of tunnelling will be necessary. The first 54 miles and the last 109 (except for two short sections of 5 miles and 5¼ miles) are easy. The intermediate portion includes some very heavy work. The line will run from Kunlon up the valley of the Namting to where that river makes its great bend, then through Tou Tao Shui over the watershed to Yünchou, a town 24 miles south-east of Shunning. Shunning itself is a small and unimportant place, and it will not be worth while even to build a branch line there. From Yünchou the line will follow the Yünchou River (Nan Chiao Ho) to the Mekong, then along the Mekong to the mouth of the Konglan River, then up that river to Konglan and to the summit above Konglan. From this point the country begins to open up into a series of rich valleys separated from one another by short passes, and to the engineer who has successfully carried his alignment so far it is a simple task to continue it to Tali-fu. From the summit the trace runs down a tributary of the Upper Red River to Nanchien, and then up another branch of the Red River to Mi Tao, which lies just south of the Yunnan-fu-Tali-fu road. Thence it proceeds by Chiao Chou to Tali-fu. In an appendix to this note will be found fuller details of the line adopted by Captain Watts-Jones, and the estimated cost of the various sections. As to the time, Captain Watts-Jones thinks that the section Kunlon to Yünchou (143 miles) will take four, and possibly five, years to construct, and that \"all the line beyond the Konglan summit could be quickly built.\" No estimate is given of the time required to complete the section between Yünchou and Konglan summit (83 miles).", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397924, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 414, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "407 \n\n10 \n\narrangement would pay much less than it pays now, but the amount would be paid in duties to the Government, and not in squeezes, bribes, and blackmail. The advantages to be gained are---\n\n1. Security and cheapness of carriage; and \n2. That the exports of West Yünnan would flow out by the same channel along which the imports flow in.\n\nIn view of the appreciation of the rupee and the fluctuations of silver, this would be a very great advantage.\n\nFinally, even if any ill effects are likely to result to the Indian opium trade (which I do not admit), it must be remembered that precisely the same results would arise from the export of opium by another easy, safe, and cheap route over which India has no control, namely, the French Red River route, which will in a few years have the additional advantage of a railway.\n\nTherefore, as Burmah has no power to stop or even diminish the output of the Yünnan drug (for every pound of it that wants to go east goes even under present conditions), it would seem advisable to permit it to follow its natural route, and that by which it will be of the greatest use to our import trade. To prohibit it seems to be a policy which has all the disadvantages and none of the advantages of protection in its worst form.\n\nI would request you to regard this as confidential, except so far as the Government of Burmah is concerned.\n\n11 \n\nAt my last interview with the Viceroy, he intimated that he would be prepared to reopen the question in a year or so, when he will be better informed of the views of His Majesty's Minister and the Government of India.\n\nJune 5, 1902.\n\nIndorsement by Major J. J. Cronin, Deputy Commissioner, Bhamo.\n\nForwarded.\n\nJune 10, 1902.\n\nIndorsement by G. W. Shaw, Esq., I.C.S., Commissioner of the Mandalay Division.\n\nSubmitted.\n\nInclosure 10 in No. 1.\n\n**Note and Draft Rules** framed by H. L. Tilly, Esq., Collector of Customs, Rangoon, for Regulating the Transport in bond of Yunnan Opium from Tengyueh to Hong Kong and Shanghae.\n\nInclosure 9 in No. 1.\n\nConsul Litton to Government of Burmah.\n\nYunnan-fu, May 8, 1902.\n\nREFERRING to my despatch of February last, submitting for consideration a suggestion that West Yünnan opium might be permitted to pass through Burmah in bond en route to Canton or Shanghae, I have the honour to report that by request of the Tengyueh merchants, I addressed a despatch to the Viceroy of Yunnan on the matter, which I have also verbally discussed with the Treasurer of Yunnan. Unfortunately, there are difficulties which I could not foresee at Tengyueh, and even if your Government is inclined to regard the proposal with favour, it cannot be carried through without strong pressure from the Foreign Office and His Majesty's Minister.\n\nI am of opinion that until the Tengyueh Customs are in full working order, it will not be advisable to press the question.\n\nIn his reply to my despatch, the Viceroy states that he fully recognizes that my proposal is calculated to develop trade, but he cannot consent to it because-\n\n1. The Treaty forbids the export of opium to Burmah.\n2. The Customs would tax it as Indian opium.\n3. Other provinces besides Yünnan depend on the li-kin on passing Yunnan opium, which they would lose if the drug went round by sea.\n\nObjections (1) and (2) consist in begging the question, as the gist of my despatch was a request that his Excellency should co-operate in a proposal to modify the Treaty and Customs Regulations. As regards (3), the picture of the Yunnan officials refraining from adopting a measure which would benefit their own province out of an altruistic regard for the interests of another province, is in the best vein of Chinese comedy.\n\nThe real reasons for the provincial opposition to my proposal are--\n\n1. The gentry of Yunnan-fu, who are very powerful and corrupt, are against any measure which will tend to decrease the number of opium caravans passing through the capital, because they levy exactions on such caravans.\n2. Only about 250,000 taels of opium li-kin revenue are now accounted for in the Provincial Budget. A far larger amount must be received, and the difference goes into the officials' pockets. To put the trade under the supervision of the Tengyueh Customs would introduce a system of accounts, checks, and regularity, which the Mandarin abominates.\n\nI am still of opinion that my proposal, if it could be adopted, would be of very great benefit to the Burmah-China trade.\n\n**Note.**\n\nTHE object of the Rules is two-fold-first, the Officer of Chinese Customs at the eastern port must be satisfied of the identity of the opium with that passed out by the Chinese Customs at Tengyueh, and, secondly, there must be no leakage of Yunnan opium into Burmah.\n\nThe conditions of the route are—\n\n| Condition | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a) | A land journey of 180 miles (which will take fifteen days when the road is in good order) from Tengyueh to Bhamo. |\n| (b) | A bonded warehouse and Customs supervision at Bhamo. |\n| (c) | Transit by the steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company to Rangoon. |\n| (d) | A bonded warehouse and Customs supervision at Rangoon. |\n| (e) | Transit by steamer of the British India Steam Navigation Company to Hong Kong, and, if necessary, transhipment to Shanghae. |\n\n(It will be necessary to send the opium from Tengyueh to Bhamo under charge of a military police escort, which should start at regular intervals of, say, a fortnight or a month.)\n\n(If ordinary merchants are allowed to travel with the convoy, it will be an immense encouragement to trade along that route.)\n\nThe proposal of the Government of India to open a bonded warehouse at Bhamo, which would necessarily be in charge of a Customs officer, is, for the purpose of these Rules, treated as an accomplished fact.\n\nThe Manager of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company states that the Company is willing to give a receipt for the opium at Bhamo and to deliver it on the steamer at Rangoon, taking all the responsibility. It will be placed in the strong-room and treated in the same manner as treasure. The charge for freight should be paid by Government and recovered with all other Burmah charges at Rangoon before the opium is shipped for China.\n\nThe agent for the British India Steam Navigation Company states that they are willing to take the opium to Hong Kong and to assume responsibility for any loss—that is, to pay the value.\n\nTheir charge for freight is ad valorem, and they are accustomed to dealing with opium, so their proposals may be accepted. They do not call at Shanghae.\n\nA Syndicate of Chinese merchants has been formed for the purpose of exporting Yunnan opium to Hong Kong and Shanghae. I have shown the draft Rules to one of the leading members. He admits that they will meet the requirements. He states that if merchants are allowed to accompany the opium escort, the trade with Yunnan will at once double itself. He tried hard to persuade me to recommend the transport of...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397925, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 415, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "408 \n\n12 \n\nThe opium from Rangoon to Kong Kong and Shanghae by the regular Chinese steamers. \n\nI am unable to do so, because the supercargo on a Chinese steamer is practically independent of the captain and can make any arrangement he chooses about the disposal of the cargo. \n\nThe Chinese are quite clever enough, if they have plenty of time and space, to substitute Indian opium for that of Yunnan without in any way altering the gross weight of the box or touching the seals. \n\nThey might do this in order to escape the higher Chinese import duty on Indian opium, and they could bring back the abstracted Yunnan stuff for sale in Burmah. \n\nOpium for Shanghae. I find that the best plan will be to tranship this at Hong Kong, and I have asked the British India Steam Navigation Company to quote a through rate from Rangoon to Shanghae which I expect they will do. \n\n## Draft Rules \n\n### Rule 1\nThe opium shall be packed in cases or boxes of the pattern prescribed by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh.\n\n**Note**: It is of considerable importance that the boxes should all be of a uniform size and appearance. Of a uniform size, so that the rates of freight may be agreed upon with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and the British India Steam Navigation Company, and that these Companies may adapt or build strong-rooms to suit the size. The appearance of the box should be distinct from that used for Indian opium. The size will probably be such that two boxes will constitute a full load for a mule; this is also a convenient weight for handling by coolies.\n\n### Rule 2\nEach box is to contain the standard weight of opium prescribed by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh.\n\n**Note**: It is not necessary to point out the necessity for adopting a fixed weight as is done in India.\n\n### Rule 3\nEach box shall, after examination of its contents by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh, be closed in his presence and secured with wire and leaden seals, and be numbered on one end. The gross weight shall be painted in pounds and ounces. The figures to be 1.4 inches high.\n\n### Rule 4\nThe pattern of these seals shall be varied from year to year.\n\n### Rule 5\nThe particulars of each box shall be entered against its number in a register to be kept by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh in the form shown in `Appendix A`.\n\n### Rule 6\nThe name and address of the consignee shall be marked on the top or bottom of the box. The ends of the box shall be kept free for the Customs marks.\n\n### Rule 7\nOn dispatch of a consignment to Bhamo the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh shall forward a copy of the entries concerning it in his Register A to the Customs officers concerned, at (a) the ultimate port of destination, (b) Rangoon, (c) Bhamo.\n\n### Rule 8\nThree copies of a way-bill showing the total number of cases and the number of each case will be made out. One will be given to the officer of military police in charge of the convoy, who will deliver it with the opium at Bhamo where the Customs officer will, when satisfied that every box has arrived, write on it acquittance in full or in part, and return it to the officer in charge of the military police. A second copy will be sent by post to the Customs Officer at Bhamo for comparison with the copy handed to him by the officer of military police. The third copy will be signed at Tengyueh by the officer of military police and will be retained by the Customs there as the receipt of the officer of military police for the opium taken by convoy. The way-bill will be in the form shown in `Appendix B`.\n\n### Rule 9\nThe consignor and the headman of the mule caravan shall execute a bond with the Customs officer at Tengyueh in double the value of the opium, to deliver the same (in the original chests with all the seals and fastenings intact, and to be of the same gross weight as is recorded in Register A) to the Customs officer at Bhamo.\n\n**Note**: \"Headman of the mule caravan\" might be substituted for \"officer of military police in charge of convoy,\" draft Rule 8.\n\n13 \n\n### Rule 10\nOn receipt of an acknowledgment of the opium from the Customs officers at Bhamo, the Customs officer shall cancel the bond by defacing it, and shall return it to the consignor, if resident at Tengyueh; if he is not resident, the bond shall be destroyed.\n\n### Rule 11\nIf on arrival at Bhamo the full tale of chests of opium of correct weight is not delivered to the Customs officer, the latter shall at once report the matter to the senior Civil officer present, who will have power to detain the mules of the caravan until the head of the caravan clears himself of all blame.\n\n### Rule 12\nIf the head of the caravan is found responsible for the loss, he shall be fined by the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo a sum not exceeding twice the value of the missing opium, and his mules shall be detained until this fine is paid.\n\n### Rule 13\nIf the Deputy Commissioner is unable to obtain twice the amount of the missing opium from the head of the mule caravan, he shall inform the Customs officer at Tengyueh of the balance remaining due, which shall be recovered by the Customs officer from the consignor, and after it is recovered the bond may be cancelled.\n\n### Rule 14\nThe money so collected by the Deputy Commissioner and by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh shall be credited to excise receipts.\n\n**Note**: It is obvious that if the opium is lost by smuggling operations, the Excise Department should be compensated and not the Customs.\n\n### Procedure at Bhamo\n\n### Rule 15\nThe Customs officer at Bhamo, having received the full tale of correct weight of chests of opium, will file the page of Register A received from Tengyueh in a book-file and will give each case a serial number which he will mark against the entry in red ink, and he will also initial the last entry with the date.\n\n### Rule 16\nHe will then stencil on one end of the chest in red paint the letters B. H. O., followed by the serial number.\n\n### Rule 17\nWhen he forwards a consignment to Rangoon, he will prepare a way-bill in duplicate on the form shown in `Appendix C`.\n\n### Rule 18\nOne copy of this way-bill will be filed at Bhamo, and the other sent with the mate's receipt to the Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon.\n\n### Rule 19\nThe Manager of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company will give notice to the Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon, of the day and hour at which the opium may be expected, and an Inspector of Customs will, if the tale and weight of the boxes is correct, and the seals are intact, take delivery and place the chests in the bonded warehouse.\n\n### Procedure in Rangoon\n\n### Rule 20\nUpon receipt of a consignment in Rangoon the Chief Collector will inform the consignee and call upon him to pay the charges incurred, which will include the cost of handling at Bhamo and Rangoon, the freight charged by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, and a registration fee of 1 rupee a chest. It will include also the cost of putting the opium on board the British India Steam Navigation Company's steamer, under Customs supervision, and the freight to Hong Kong or to Shanghae.\n\n### Rule 21\nThe Customs authorities at Rangoon will stencil a consecutive number in blue paint after the letters R. G. N., which number will be entered in a register to be kept in the form shown in `Appendix D`, in which will be kept a complete record of each chest of opium which leaves Tengyueh.\n\n### Rule 22\nThe consolidated rate shown in the 13th column of `Appendix D` will be the total of all the charges mentioned in Rule 20, and will be calculated by the Chief Collector of Customs, and declared and published by him to be the rate for a fixed period, preferably for six months. The rates with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and British India Steam Navigation Company may, if necessary, be revised every six months.\n\n### Rule 23\nWhen all charges have been paid on a consignment, or part of a consignment, it will be shipped by the Chief Collector of Customs and the bill-of-lading handed to the consignor at Rangoon. At the same time a copy of the entries in `Appendix D` relating to that consignment will be sent to the chief officer of Chinese Customs at the port of destination.\n\n[1844 -1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397926, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 416, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Appendix (C)\n\n| Serial No. | Gross Weight | Marks | Name and Address of Consignee | Despatched by Convoy of |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 1 | 2 | | 3 | 4 | 5 |\n\nNOTE. In writing the name of the consignor right across the book will keep each transaction separate, and will save space and enable the book to be used upright. The serial No. will follow on from one consignment to another, and serve as an index for future reference.\n\n## Appendix (B)\nWay-bill of Yunnan opium sent from Tengyueh to Bhamo-\n\n| Total number of chests | Serial number on each chest |\n| --- | --- |\n\nReceived the above \nCaptain, \nIrrawaddy Flotilla Company's Steamer \nBhumo, the \n190\n\n## Appendix (D)\nRegister of Yunnan Opium transported in Bond to Hong Kong.\n\n| Number | Date | Serial No. | Gross Weight | Consignor's Name | Date of Despatch | Serial No. | Date of Arrival | Name of Steamer | Mate's Receipt |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | | |\n| 721 | Jan. 20, 1905 | 934 | 42 lbs 3 oz | | Jan. 25, 1905 | | | Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's steam-ship \"Attarau\" | 106 |\n| 722 | | 935 | 43 lbs 1 oz | | | | 25 | Ditto | |\n| 723 | | 936 | 42 lbs 7 oz | Li Ah Fat | | | 25 | Ditto | |\n| 724 | Jan. 11, 1905 | 937 | 41 lbs 6 oz | | Jan. 25, 1905 | | | Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's steam-ship \"Attaran\" | 106 |\n| 726 | January 3, 1905 | 938 | 41 lbs 2 oz | | | | 25 | Ditto | |\n| 727 | | 939 | 42 lbs 6 oz | | | | 25 | Ditto | |\n| 728 | | 940 | 42 lbs 5 oz | | | | 25 | Ditto | |\n| 729 | | 941 | 42 lbs 3 oz | | | | 25 | Ditto | |\n| 780 | | | 42 lbs 7 oz | | | | | | |\n\n| Number | Date of Despatch | Name of Steamer | Serial No. | Name of Consignee | Date of Arrival | Headman of Mule Caravan | Officer in charge of Escort | Charges | Remarks |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | | | Rate | Total |\n| 983 | February 10, 1905 | | 986 | Keng Moh and Company | Feb. 15, 1905 | | | | |\n| 984 | | British India Steam Navigation Company's steam-ship \"Tura\" | 987 | | | | | | |\n| 985 | | | 988 | | | | | | |\n| 989 | | | | Dropped overboard at Mandalay. Lost from convoy. | | | | | |\n\n* Score out one or the other.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397927, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 417, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# Inclosure 11 in No. 1.\n\n## Government of India to Government of Burmah.\n\nMay 5, 1904.\n\nI AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 25th March, 1904, in which you communicate the views of the Government of Burmah regarding Mr. Litton's proposal to permit the transit of Yunnan opium through Burmah in bond. Sir Hugh Barnes is of opinion that, if proper precautions be taken, the stimulus to trade by the Bhamo-Tengyueh route which will result from the adoption of the suggestion will considerably outweigh any objections which can be urged against the proposal.\n\n2. The Government of India are not satisfied that the importance of the various objections to this scheme has been fully appreciated. Before forwarding copies of the correspondence to the Secretary of State, and before arriving at any definite decision on the question at issue, they desire to explain, in some detail, the reasons which appear to them to militate against the adoption of Mr. Litton's suggestion.\n\n3. In the first place, it may be observed that no direct and calculable advantages will accrue to India as a result of this concession. India will only benefit in the event of trade by the Bhamo-Tengyueh route expanding in consequence of the permission to export opium through Burmah; and this expansion, and its extent, are entirely problematical. If, as appears probable, the natural trade outlet of Yunnan is the Red River Valley, it is doubtful whether the adoption of Mr. Litton's suggestion would give a permanent stimulus to the Bhamo-Tengyueh trade; and it is questionable whether the maximum ultimate expansion of that trade would be sufficient to compensate for the disadvantages attendant on the acceptance of the scheme.\n\n4. The Government of India are not disposed to accept the arguments which have been adduced in favour of the contention that the export of opium from Yunnan via Burmah will not affect the Chinese demand for the Indian drug. It is urged that all opium produced in Yunnan, and destined for the markets of Eastern China, already finds its way there; and it is stated that the total production cannot be increased, as all land which is suitable for opium cultivation is at present under the poppy. If, however, Yunnan opium can, in the future, be laid down at Canton or Shanghae at a considerably lower price than at present, and by a safer, cheaper, and more expeditious route, a result which is the object of Mr. Litton's scheme to effect, it is clear that the Chinese demand would receive a substantial stimulus, and this, it is thought, must in the end bring about an increase in the supply.\n\n5. Besides this primary objection, there are other difficulties in the way of adopting the proposal. It is necessary for the success of the scheme that the Chinese Government should agree to admit opium imported from Yunnan via Burmah at a more favourable rate than Indian opium; and it appears certain that the Chinese authorities will raise objection to the course. The existing prohibition against the import of opium into Burmah rests upon a Treaty basis; and it would be necessary for His Majesty's Government to approach the Chinese authorities with the object of removing this prohibition, and of obtaining more favourable terms for Yunnan opium than are accorded to opium produced in India. Not only would this place the Government of India in a false position, but such action would also lend itself to misconstruction by those who are opposed to the trade in opium altogether.\n\n6. The Government of India are also disposed to think that the danger of smuggling across the frontier, and while the drug is in transit through Burmah, has not been fully realized. In this connection, I am to point out that an examination of the contents of the packages in which the opium is imported from Tengyueh would in any case be necessary both at Bhamo and at Rangoon. If the Government of Burmah are still of opinion that Mr. Litton's suggestion should be accepted, the draft rules framed by the Collector of Customs should be revised so as to provide for this.\n\n7. I am to request that, with the permission of his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor, the proposal may be again considered by the Government of Burmah in the light of these remarks, and that a reply to this letter may be forwarded at an early date. The Government of India will then be in a position to pronounce definitely as to the advisability of accepting Mr. Litton's suggestion.\n\n# Inclosure 12 in No. 1.\n\n## Government of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nJuly 6, 1904.\n\nI AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 5th May, regarding the proposal to permit the transit of opium through Burmah in bond.\n\n2. I am, in the first place, to forward a copy of a note written by Mr. Litton, His Majesty's Consul at Tengyueh, upon the draft Rules prepared by the Chief Collector of Customs, which were forwarded with my letter dated the 25th March last. Mr. Litton, it will be seen, agrees with the Lieutenant-Governor that it is unnecessary and impracticable to provide the opium with a military police escort between Tengyueh and Bhamo. Otherwise, he approves generally of the Rules, but makes the following suggestions:\n\n| Suggestion | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (i) | That the weight of the opium should be shown on the box and on the forms in catties and taels instead of in pounds and ounces. It appears to the Lieutenant-Governor that it will be useful if both the Chinese weights and the English equivalents are painted on each box. |\n| (ii) | That in Rule 9, the bond shall be for treble instead of double the value of the opium, and that the security shall be some firm known in Burmah. There is no objection to this proposal. |\n\nIt is also necessary, as suggested in the sixth paragraph of your letter under reply, that a rule should be added giving the Customs officers at Bhamo and Rangoon power to open and examine any box if this is considered necessary. If the weights are correct and the seals intact, it does not appear to the Lieutenant-Governor to be necessary that every package should be examined on its way through Burmah. Only Yunnan opium can be packed in the box at Tengyueh, for there is no other opium available. Therefore, there can be no substitution of Indian opium on the other side of the frontier. On this side of the border, from Bhamo until the opium leaves Rangoon, the boxes will be in the custody of the Customs Department, and it is difficult to see how they can be tampered with inside British limits. Moreover, if a case has once been opened by the Customs Department, obviously it will be easier to open it again for illegitimate purposes. A revised copy of the Rules is inclosed embodying the changes suggested.\n\n3. I am now to reply to the various objections to the scheme which are stated in your letter under reply. As to the first of these, I am to say that it is not admitted by the British Consular officers in Yunnan that the natural trade outlet of West Yunnan is the Red River Valley. In a recent letter addressed to the Government of India in the Public Works Department on the subject of the construction of a railway from Bhamo to Tengyueh, it has been pointed out that the commercial capital of Yunnan is not Yunnan-fu, but Hsia Kuan on the Tali Lake. This point is the meeting place of the great trade routes to Thibet, Szechuan, the Yang-tsze, Yunnan-fu, and Burmah. It is situated approximately half-way between Bhamo and Yunnan-fu, and at present, the bulk of its foreign trade is via Burmah. The distance to the Irrawaddy is less than the distance to the navigable part of the Red River, and the Irrawaddy is the easier and the better-equipped waterway of the two. Mr. Litton holds that the larger figures of the French trade through Mengtse afford no proof to the contrary. He considers that the wealth and population of the districts that ought to be supplied from Tengyueh are superior to those which would naturally draw their supplies from Mengtse, and that the greater volume at present of the French trade is owing to the facts:\n\n| Reason | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (i) | That the French have had a long start of us, the Imperial Customs Office having been opened at Mengtse many years before the corresponding office at Tengyueh. Consequently, trade with French territory was subject to a regular Tariff, while trade with Burmah was still harassed by li-kin and the exactions of the Mandarins. The serious effect of these exactions can be measured by the rapidity with which the Bhamo trade with Tengyueh has increased since the Customs Office at the latter place was opened. |\n| (ii) | That by the French route, there are no restrictions on the export of opium, the one important export product that Yunnan has to offer. Some 3,000 to 6,000 mule-loads of opium are said to go to Tonquin every year. |", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397929, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 419, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "20 \n\nThe Flotilla Company will take it down the Irrawaddy to Rangoon, where again it would be put in a bonded warehouse and shipped, also by the Customs, on boats of a specially selected line (British India); bound for Hong Kong; from Bhamo to Hong Kong the responsibility would rest with the Customs and the Steamer Companies.\n\nAt Tengyueh, the opium would be packed in specially prescribed boxes and sealed, leaded, and numbered in a specially prescribed way, and notice would be given by the Customs here to Bhamo and to the Customs at Canton or Shanghae (port of destination) of each consignment.\n\nMr. Tilly knows so much more about the matter, so far as Burmah is concerned, than I do, that I feel it would be impertinent on my part to make many remarks on his proposals, but I have shown them to the Commissioner of Customs here, Mr. Napier, who writes that: \"**So far as we (the Chinese Customs) are concerned, the rules are simple and natural.**\" I also talked the matter over with some of the Chinese merchants, and I think, so far as they are concerned, that there would be no difficulty in carrying out these rules. The Burmah Customs and the Flotilla Company are well known to, and trusted by, the Tengyueh firms. I would, however, express a hope that, to begin with, at any rate, the Flotilla and the British India will quote a strictly moderate rate of freight; so far as the Rangoon-Hong Kong run is concerned, I would venture to suggest that if later on the other shipping Companies make arrangements, satisfactory to the Collector, for safe carriage of the Yunnan opium, that they may be allowed to participate in it. A monopoly is always to be deprecated.\n\nAs regards possible substitution en route of Indian opium, as the opium from Bhamo to Hong Kong will be locked up out of reach of the Chinese, I do not see how such substitution is to be effected. Besides, the boxes could be leaded at Tengyueh with four pieces of wire, two lengthways and two crossways, and special marks could be written across the joints of the case, so that I really do not see how the box could be opened and Indian opium substituted without instant detection on arrival at the Canton or Shanghae Customs.\n\n6. The merchants here could make up their opium in balls of any weight which the Burmah Customs prescribe. The weight and wrapping should be different from that of Indian opium. It is suggested that on the printed forms employed, for the convenience of the Chinese Customs, catties and taels should be used under the head \"**Weight**,\" and not lbs. and ozs., which latter, not being a decimal and not being a Chinese system, will give much needless trouble.\n\n7. Given the consent of the Indian Government, we should have to negotiate an arrangement with China which would include: (1) Arrangements with the Imperial Customs, i.e., Sir R. Hart; (2) with the Peking Government; (3) with the Yunnan Provincial Government and li-kin authorities; (4) with the Canton and Liang Kiang (Nanking) Viceroys and their li-kin and Provincial Government.\n\nNow all this will take some time, and will require vigorous backing from His Majesty's Government. But as the result to our trade in Yünnan would be so very beneficial, and as this is the only means we have of extending our commercial influence in Yunnan, without unprofitably spending large sums of money, it is well worth the trouble. It cannot be too frequently repeated that our frontier trade, though showing signs of development, so far as foreign imports to China are concerned, is still only one-fourth of the Mengtse trade; yet in population and wealth the districts which ought to be supplied from Tengyueh are superior to those which would naturally draw their supplies from Mengtse; foreign goods, especially yarn, sent in by the French route and Nankeens, &c., imported via Szechuan, are sold far into West Yünnan. The reason of this tendency is that where freight is such an important item, that imports (i.e., cotton) are bound to follow the line of exports (i.e., opium), and Tengyueh, with no exports, cannot hope to compete with Mengtse, which sends out opium and tin. Meanwhile, we are subjecting our trade to this crushing restriction; and what corresponding gain do we get? None; absolutely none. Indeed, it is obvious that the restriction must encourage what really is noxious, i.e., an illicit trade in the drug for consumption in Burmah. The restriction is utterly and notoriously useless to prevent the cultivation and export of Yünnan opium and its competition, if it does compete, with the Indian drug. Nor have I ever been able to see what force there is in the so-called \"**sentimental**\" argument.\n\n| Unit | Equivalent |\n| --- | --- |\n| 10 fen or ceudareens | 1 mace |\n| 10 mace | 1 tael, Liang or Chinese oz. |\n| 16 taels | 1 catty or chin |\n| 100 catties | 1 picul or tan, which is 133.4 lbs. avoirdupois |\n\n21 \n\nTo the opium now, which leaves Yünnan destined for Canton or Shanghae? It goes to Chunking, in Szechuan, or Wuchan, in Kwangsi, and is there put on a boat which, in three cases out of four, flies the British flag, and finally arrives at its destination in a British steamer. Why does \"**sentiment**\" permit this, but take offence at the drug being shipped from Rangoon to Canton or Shanghae? Surely the morals of Rangoon are robust enough not to be corrupted by the presence of Yunnan opium in transit to China, any more than the morals of Calcutta are corrupted by the presence of Indian opium in transit to China.\n\nThus it seems to me that a very strong case can be made out for asking His Majesty's Government to press this matter through in spite of the troublesome negotiations which it may involve.\n\nAs to the system which we ought to endeavour to induce the Chinese to adopt, more especially as regards taxation, the Legation authorities at Peking and the Consulate authorities at Shanghae and Canton are more competent to speak than I am. But I would submit that, in order to disarm Chinese obstruction, it will be advisable, as far as possible, not to interfere with the present system and rates of native taxation, and to arrange that the Imperial Customs, always regarded with jealousy by the provincial Mandarins, should appear in the matter as little as possible, and on their own account should only collect at Tengyueh and at the port of re-entry to China a small duty enough to cover the expenses and trouble to which they may be put.\n\nProvided always that adequate means are adopted to prevent substitution and fraud, I fail to see why, on principle, and in the nature of things, opium grown in one part of China for consumption in another part of China should be subject to special penalties and difficulties, merely because in transit to its market it crosses foreign waters.\n\n(1.) I would suggest that no opium should be allowed to pass the Customs at Tengyueh for export to Burmah until it had paid full provincial li-kin, and regular official receipts for the same had been produced for the inspection of the Customs. The rates of li-kin for opium thus exported should be the ordinary provincial rate (which in Yunnan is paid in one lump sum) and no more or less.\n\n(2.) No opium should be released by the Customs at Canton or Shanghae until it had paid the same provincial li-kin which it would have paid to the Canton or Liang Chiang Government had it arrived through native sources. Here again regular official receipts would have to be produced at the Customs, and it would be advisable that one lump sum should free the drug in its province of consumption.\n\nThus the two Departments who might be chiefly expected to obstruct, i.e., the Yünnan li-kin and the li-kin in the province of consumption, would only suffer no loss, but, on the contrary, would gain heavily; for, as things are now, a large proportion of the opium gets through without paying anything at all to the Chinese Government, but by paying instead bribes, squeezes, and blackmail to official underlings and bandits. The Yunnan provincial opium revenue is only about a quarter what it would be under an honest administration. I should think that the present Viceroy of Canton would be glad to see such an addition to his revenue as the adoption of some such proposal as the present would produce. No doubt Viceroy Ting of Yunnan will oppose the scheme merely on the ground that it will encourage foreign relations and increase foreign trade. A number of the underlings and gentry, especially at Yunnan-fu, whose speculations and perquisites will be curtailed, would also oppose; but I think these difficulties may be overborne, if the matter is really taken up in earnest.\n\nThe total taxes paid for Yünnan opium sent across Burmah should, in short, be the same, or possibly a trifle more than what is now paid. Taxation being equal or nearly so, Burmah would then secure the trade on account of the speed, security, and cheapness of the Rangoon transit route.\n\nIn Yunnan, provincial li-kin has been raised from 1.50 taels (3 rupees) per 100 taels or ounce of opium to 2.10 taels (rupees 4.2.0) since last year. This comes to 33.60 taels, or say 67 rupees the picul of 100 catties or 133 lbs. As regards present rates in Canton or Shanghae, the Consulate there could give details.\n\nG. J. L. LITTON, \nHis Majesty's Acting Consul, Tengyueh.\n\nApril 26, 1904.\n\n(Signed)\n\nPage 21 \n\n[1844 - -1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397930, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 420, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# Inclosure 14 in No. 1.\n\n## Revised Draft Rules for regulating the Transport in Bond of Yünnan Opium from Tengyueh to Hong Kong and Shanghae.\n\n### Rule 1. \nThe opium shall be packed in cases or boxes of the pattern prescribed by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh.\n\n**Note.** It is of considerable importance that the boxes should all be of a uniform size and appearance. Of a uniform size, so that the rates of freight may be agreed upon with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and the British India Steam Navigation Company, and that these Companies may adopt or build strong-rooms to suit the size. The appearance of the box should be distinct from that used for Indian opium. The size will probably be such that two boxes will constitute a full load for a mule; this is also a convenient weight for handling by coolies.\n\n### Rule 2. \nEach box is to contain the standard weight of opium prescribed by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh.\n\n**Note.** It is not necessary to point out the necessity for adopting a fixed weight as is done in India.\n\n### Rule 3. \nEach box shall, after examination of its contents by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh, be closed in his presence and secured with wire and leaden seals and be numbered on one end. The figures to be 1 1/2 inches high. The gross weight shall be painted on the box in catties and taels and also pounds and ounces.\n\n### Rule 4. \nThe pattern of these seals shall be varied from year to year.\n\n### Rule 5. \nThe particulars of each box shall be entered against its number in a register to be kept by the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh in the form shown in `Appendix (A)`.\n\n### Rule 6. \nThe name and address of the consignee shall be marked on the top or bottom of the box. The ends of the box shall be kept free for Customs marks.\n\n### Rule 7. \nOn dispatch of a consignment to Bhamo the Collector of Customs at Tengyueh shall forward a copy of the entries concerning it in his Register A, to the Customs officers concerned at (a) the ultimate port of destination, (b) Rangoon, (c) Bhamo.\n\n### Rule 8. \nThree copies of a way-bill showing the total number of cases and the number of each case will be made out. One will be given to the headman of the mule caravan, who will deliver it with the opium at Bhamo, where the Customs officers will, when satisfied that every box has arrived, write on its acquittance in full or in part, and return it to the headman of the mule caravan. A second copy will be sent by post to the Customs officer at Bhamo for comparison with the copy handed to him by the headman of the mule caravan. The third copy will be signed at Tengyueh by the headman of the mule caravan, and will be retained by the Customs there as the receipt of the headman of the mule caravan for the opium taken. The way-bill will be in the form shown in `Appendix (B)`.\n\n### Rule 9. \nThe consignor and the headman of the mule caravan shall execute a bond with the Customs officer at Tengyueh, in treble the value of the opium, to deliver the same (in the original chests, with all the seals and fastenings intact, and to be of the same gross weight as is recorded in Register A) to the Customs officer at Bhamo within a period to be named in the bond. A joint bond to the same effect shall also be executed by one or more firms well known in Burmah as sureties for the consignor.\n\n### Rule 10. \nOn receipt of an acknowledgment of the opium from the Customs officers at Bhamo the Customs officer shall cancel the bonds by defacing them, and shall return them to the consignor if resident at Tengyueh; if he is not resident the bonds shall be destroyed.\n\n### Rule 11. \nIf on arrival at Bhamo the full tale of chests of opium of correct weight is not delivered to the Customs officer, the latter shall at once report the matter to the senior Civil officer present, who will have power to detain the mules of the caravan until the head of the caravan clears himself of all blame. The Customs officer at Bhamo shall have power to open and examine any box if he considers this necessary.\n\n### Rule 12. \nIf the head of the caravan is found responsible for the loss he shall be fined by the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo a sum not exceeding three times the value of the missing opium, and his mules shall be detained until this fine is paid.\n\n### Rule 13. \nIf the Deputy Commissioner is unable to obtain three times the amount of the missing opium from the head of the mule caravan, he shall inform the Customs officer at Tengyueh of the balance remaining due, which shall be recovered by the Customs officer from the consignor and his sureties, and after it is recovered the bonds may be cancelled.\n\n### Rule 14. \nThe money so collected by the Deputy Commissioner and by the Collector of the Customs at Tengyueh shall be credited to Excise receipts.\n\n## Procedure at Bhamo.\n\n### Rule 15. \nThe Customs officer at Bhamo, having received the full tale of correct weights of chests of opium, will file the page of Register A received from Tengyueh in a book-file, and will give each case a serial number, which he will mark against the entry in red ink, and he will also initial the last entry with the date.\n\n### Rule 16. \nHe will then stencil on one end of the chest, in red paint, the letters \"B. H. Q.,\" followed by the serial number.\n\n### Rule 17. \nWhen he forwards a consignment to Rangoon he will prepare a way-bill in duplicate, in the form shown in `Appendix (C)`.\n\n### Rule 18. \nOne copy of this way-bill will be filed at Bhamo, and the other sent, with the mate's receipt, to the Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon.\n\n## Procedure in Rangoon.\n\n### Rule 19. \nThe Manager of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company will give notice to the Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon, of the day and hour at which the opium may be expected, and an Inspector of Customs will, if the tale and weight of the boxes is correct and the seals are intact, take delivery and place the chests in the bonded warehouse. The Chief Collector of Customs shall have power to open and examine any box if he considers this necessary.\n\n### Rule 20. \nUpon receipt of a consignment in Rangoon the Chief Collector will inform the consignee and call upon him to pay the charges incurred, which will include the cost of handling at Bhamo and Rangoon, the freight charged by the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, and a registration fee of 1 rupee a chest. It will include also the cost of putting the opium on board the British India Steam Navigation Company's steamer, under Customs supervision, and the freight to Hong Kong or to Shanghae.\n\n### Rule 21. \nThe Customs authorities at Rangoon will stencil a consecutive number in blue paint after the letters \"R. G. N.,\" which number will be entered in a register, to be kept in the form shown in `Appendix (D)`, in which will be kept a complete record of each chest of opium which leaves Tengyueh.\n\n### Rule 22. \nThe consolidated rates shown in the thirteenth column of `Appendix (D)` will be the total of all the charges mentioned in Rule 20, and will be calculated by the Chief Collector of Customs and declared and published by him to be the rate for a fixed period—preferably for six months. The rates with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and British India Steam Navigation Company may, if necessary, be revised every six months.\n\n### Rule 23. \nWhen all charges have been paid on a consignment, or part of a consignment, it will be shipped by the Chief Collector of Customs and the bill of lading handed to the consignor at Rangoon. At the same time a copy of the entries in `Appendix (D)` relating to that consignment will be sent to the Chief Officer of Chinese Customs at the port of destination.\n\n[For Appendices, see Inclosure 10.]\n\nPage 420\nPage 421", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397932, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 422, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# 4-15 \n\n26 \n\nthat the Government of India may be informed of the rates of import and transit duty which the Government of Burmah consider suitable.\n\nCopy, with a copy of the letter to which it is a reply, and of its inclosures, forwarded to the Foreign Department, for information, in continuation of the communication from this Department, dated the 27th May, 1964.\n\n## Inclosure 16 in No. 1.\n\n**Government of Burmah to Government of India.**\n\nNovember 30, 1904.\n\nI am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 11th October, 1904, in which certain further inquiries are made in connection with the proposal for the transport of Yunnan opium in bond through Burmah.\n\n2. In reply, I am to submit, for the information of the Government of India, a copy of a note dated the 4th November, 1904, by Mr. Tilly, Chief Collector of Customs, Rangoon, and of a Memorandum, dated the 16th November, by Mr. Litton, Consul at Tengyueh, in which these officers give, in so far as they are able, the information required by the Government of India.\n\n3. With reference to paragraphs 4 and 5 of your letter it will be seen that Mr. Tilly and Mr. Litton are both of opinion that a mere waiver of the prohibition against the import of Chinese opium into Burmah will not in itself be sufficient to divert the trade in Yunnan opium to the Bhamo-Tengyueh route. Mr. Litton points out, in the first place, that so long as Article XI of the Burmah-China Convention of 1894 continues unmodified the Chinese authorities in Yunnan will be entitled to prevent the exportation of Yunnan opium to Burmah, notwithstanding the withdrawal on our part of the prohibition, and he is of opinion that the Yünnan officials will endeavour to seize such opium unless arrangements are first made as to conditions of export and payment of duty. And again, if no special privileges are secured, the Yunnan opium will be required to pay the provincial dues both in Yünnan and probably in the province to which it is shipped, and as it has left Chinese territory in the course of transit it will, for Customs purposes, be treated as foreign opium, and will be assessed to the heavy import duty which is levied on such opium. Mr. Litton shows that this accumulative assessment of Provincial and Imperial dues will be prohibitive, and that it is a condition of the trade by the Burmah route that the Chinese Government should treat Yünnan opium imported through Burmah as Chinese, not as foreign opium, and should remit the Customs tax payable in the case of foreign opium. Mr. Tilly also notes that the Syndicate of Chinese merchants in Rangoon are not prepared to commence negotiations for a trade through Burmah until the import duty on re-entry into China has been removed.\n\n4. As to the arrangements to be made with China and the different concessions to be secured, I am to say that the Lieutenant-Governor supports generally Mr. Litton's detailed proposals. The first step is to secure the acceptance by the Chinese Government of a modification of Article XI of the Convention of 1894 so as to permit of the exportation of Yunnan opium in bond through Burmah. His Honour thinks that advantage might be taken of this opportunity to secure as a further provision that opium may be imported from Yunnan by the Government of Burmah for sale and consumption in Burmah. In certain of the more remote parts of Upper Burmah, Yünnanese opium is preferred to Government Indian opium by the opium-consuming population. Hitherto it has been possible to meet the requirements of the licensed shops in these localities from the supplies of confiscated Yunnan opium in the Treasury. The recent reorganization of Excise Preventive Staff has, however, tended to the suppression of the contraband trade. Smaller and less important seizures only are being made, and difficulty is now being experienced in securing the quantity of opium needed for supply to licensed shops. The amount required is comparatively small, but it would be convenient to regularize the purchase by this Government in Yünnan in case the drug is not seized in sufficient quantities on this side of the frontier.\n\n5. His Honour agrees with Mr. Litton that, in order to secure the good-will of the Chinese provincial authorities and their acceptance of the new route, it will be desirable that the opium to be sent by the Tengyueh-Bhamo route should pay the provincial li-kin or dues both in Yünnan and in the province to which it is taken after leaving Rangoon by sea. And it would undoubtedly be a great advantage and convenience if, as Mr. Litton proposes, these dues could be assessed and collected by the Imperial Customs both on export from Yunnan and reimportation into China.\n\n6. In addition to these provincial dues, Mr. Litton suggests a light duty on export and import to be credited to the Chinese Imperial Customs as well as the transit duty to be levied by the Government of India, as indicated in your letter, on the opium in transit through Burmah. On such information as he possesses, Mr. Litton estimates that the cost of transport of Yunnan opium by inland routes to the Canton Province amounts, with the various dues levied in transit, to not less than 200 rupees per picul of 1334 lbs. From his note, and from the figures given by the Chief Collector of Customs, it would seem that the cost by the Tengyueh-Bhamo route, including the provincial dues levied in Yunnan and Canton, but not the proposed Chinese Imperial Customs duties nor the transit duty, will amount approximately to 130 rupees per picul. Whilst, therefore, the opium by the latter route could not compete with that sent inland if an additional duty were levied in any way approaching the high rate of 220 rupees per picul levied by China on foreign opium, the Lieutenant-Governor agrees with Mr. Litton that a light duty of 20 rupees per picul, including both export and reimport duties, might suitably be imposed by the Chinese Maritime Customs, in addition to the transit duty to be imposed in Burmah.\n\n7. The transit duty proposed by Mr. Litton is a duty of 10 rupees per picul, or 200 lbs. in the first instance, to be increased later if found desirable. Mr. Tilly suggests a duty of 2 per cent. ad valorem, which at his valuation of 554 rupees per 200 lbs. would amount to some 14 rupees per 200 lbs. At Mr. Litton's valuation of 700 rupees to 900 rupees the duty at Mr. Tilly's rate would be from rupees 17:8 to rupees 22:8 per 200 lbs.\n\nCertain of the figures included in the total cost of transport by the inland route and by the Tengyueh-Bhamo route are admittedly not too reliable, and are largely of the nature of rough estimates. In so far as can be ascertained, however, the total cost of transport via Bhamo, including the li-kin duties in Yunnan and Canton and the proposed Maritime Custom duty of 20 rupees per picul, will amount, as shown above, to not more than 150 rupees per picul, whereas the cost by the inland route is believed to be not less than 200 rupees per picul. A transit duty of 10 rupees per picul or 15 rupees per 200 lbs., would therefore still leave a sufficient margin of profit by the Burmah route, and the Lieutenant-Governor considers that this duty might suitably be imposed in the first instance. It should be clearly understood that the duty may be varied from time to time, and his Honour does not think that our present information is sufficiently complete and accurate to permit of any declaration as to the maximum rate above which the transit duty will not be increased. More accurate information can be obtained in time as to the provincial taxes levied in China on opium proceeding by the inland route beyond Yunnan-fu, but as from your telegram of the 11th November, 1904, it is understood that the Secretary of State is pressing for an early Report, Sir Hugh Barnes has not thought it desirable to delay this reply until further inquiries could be made.\n\n## Note by the Chief Collector of Customs, Burmah, Rangoon.\n\nI have again consulted the Syndicate of Chinese Merchants. They are prepared within one month of receiving notice, to begin trading in Yunnan opium when the prohibition against transit throughout Burmah is cancelled, provided that Government will at the same time commence negotiations for removal of all the Chinese duties except the li-kin fees. I understand they have powerful friends at the ports of destination who will be able to further their interests.\n\nI have also inquired of the Irrawaddy Flotilla and the British India Steam Navigation Line, and learn that at present their freight charges for opium are as follows:\n\n| Route | Rupees per 100 viss | Other rates |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Bhamo to Rangoon | 14:0:3 | |\n| Rangoon to Hong Kong | | 40 rupees per ton (or 20 hundredweights or 50 cubic feet) |\n| Rangoon to Amoy | 12 | |\n| Rangoon to Shaoghne(?) | 60 | |\n| | 65 | |\n| | 51 | |\n| | 23 | |\n| | 17 | 31 |", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397933, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 423, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Memorandum on Opium Transit Trade via Burmah\n\nThe rate of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company is one agreed upon between them and Government; it would no doubt affect the Railway, and might be reduced by mutual consent. The Agents for the British India Steam Navigation also implied that the rates might be reduced, if necessary; that is, rather than allow the trade to go to a rival line.\n\nOne hundred catties of opium, when packed in two boxes, will weigh nearly two hundred pounds, which is a mule load. It weighs about 36 viss net in Burmese weight, and costs 554 rupees. The freight to Rangoon would be about 5 rupees, and to Hong Kong a little more than rupees 2:12 if paid by value. The two boxes would measure about 8 cubic feet. The handling in Rangoon would cost nearly 5 rupees if freight is paid by measurement. Rangoon would cost less than 1 rupee, and I propose to charge a transit duty of 2 per cent, ad valorem.\n\nThe value of opium which would be brought through in a year is estimated at seven and a-half lakhs of rupees, and 18,750 rupees would more than cover the expenses which might fairly be debited against the work of the Customs. This charge on one mule load would amount to, say, rupees 13:13:8. The total cost on a mule load from Bhamo to Hong Kong would therefore be:\n\n| Cost Component | Rs. | a. | P. |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| To Rangoon | 5 | 0 | 0 |\n| Handling, say | 0 | 14 | 4 |\n| Transit | 13 | 13 | 8 |\n| To Hong Kong | 2 | 12 | 0 |\n| Total | 22 | 4 | 0 |\n\nIt must be mentioned that a mule load of opium is now 125 catties of opium and not 100 catties as assumed by me. The method of packing in boxes is much heavier than that now employed, but as the mule can only carry 200 lbs., the weight of the opium has been reduced.\n\n(Signed) HARRY L. TILLY, \nChief Collector of Customs, Burmah. \nNovember 4, 1904.\n\n## Memorandum by Mr. Litton on the Government of India's letter, dated October 11, 1904, on Opium Transit\n\n1. It is asked whether an opium transit trade via Burmah may be expected to develop at once if Burmah merely withdraws the restriction on importation via Tengyueh, or whether arrangements with China, including reduction of the rate of duty on Yünnan opium which would now be charged on re-entry as foreign (i.e., Indian) opium at the Eastern Coast ports would be a necessary preliminary.\n\nThis question is asked with special reference to the possible operations of a Syndicate of Chinese merchants in Rangoon, formed with a view to export Yunnan opium via Burmah. Mr. Campbell puts the question in a sentence (paragraph 4); \"Will mere waiver (i.e., by India) of the prohibition be sufficient to divert the Yunnan opium traffic to the Bhamo-Tengyueh trade route?\"\n\nAfter full consideration, I think the reply must be \"No.\" If the scheme is to be a success, a full understanding must also be come to with the (1) Central, (2) Customs, and (3) Provincial Chinese Administrations.\n\n(a) The Syndicate referred to is, I think, composed of the same gentlemen who presented me with a long \"petition\" when I was at Bhamo in June last. They appear to be mostly Cantonese resident in Rangoon, who have little knowledge of the actual working in China of either the Customs, the li-kin, or the Yunnan opium trade. Their \"petition\" contained several errors. Their idea was, so far as I could gather, to undertake a species of farm by which they would guarantee to pay so much to Yünnan for the sole legal right to export Yunnan opium via Burmah, and so much to Burmah for permission to let their cargo through. I much doubt if this scheme would be approved either by Burmah or by the Yunnan Government. But this Syndicate is important as showing how awake the Chinese are to the trade advantages to be gained by the removal of existing restrictions.\n\n(b) The view of the Chinese Imperial Customs authorities is that Article XI of the Burmah-China Convention of 1894 cuts both ways - i.e., it gives Burmah a right to stop importation of opium into Burmah from Yunnan, and it gives China a right to stop its exportation in like manner, in both cases under pain of confiscation.\n\nNo doubt in point of fact, Article XI was put in by India to protect her opium administration, but the text of the Article, \"the importation and exportation of opium across the frontier,\" is clearly in favour of the Customs interpretation.\n\nTherefore, if Burmah were simply to publicly renounce her right to prohibit the transit of opium across Burmah under Article XI, and Chinese traders were in consequence to endeavour to export, their opium might be seized by the Customs or the Taotai here as contraband under Article XI. And the Chinese authorities would endeavour so to seize it unless a full preliminary arrangement had been come to as to conditions of export and payment of duty. Therefore, I submit that \"mere waiver\" would not only not have the desired effect, but would involve the inconveniences suggested by Mr. Campbell at the end of paragraph 4 of his letter to Burmah.\n\nAt present, in the case of seizure of Yunnan opium by the Chinese officials at Tengyueh, the Consul can hardly interfere; for either the opium is destined for consumption in China, in which case it is no concern of the Consul, or it is for export to Burmah, in which case China has a Treaty right to confiscate under Article XI.\n\nNevertheless, I am inclined to think that the best form to commence negotiations with China would be for India to offer to waive her right to prohibit Yünnan opium crossing Burmah, if China will waive her right to prohibit it leaving Yunnan, in both cases under certain conditions which will be mutually advantageous.\n\n2. It is asked: \"Is the prohibitive nature of the duty levied by China on the 'foreign' drug the reason for which opium is not at present being sent by sea from Yunnan to Canton via Tonquin?\"\n\nThe present rule is that native opium, by entering on a foreign territory at once, assumes a \"foreign\" character for the purpose of payment of duty at the port of re-entry on the East Coast.\n\nMy general reply to the question put above must be \"Yes.\" Native, chiefly Szechuan opium, which passes Ichang and proceeds to the East Coast by river and ocean steamers, only pays, under special regulations, at a very reduced rate; but Yunnan opium, proceeding to the same ports by Burmah or Tonquin and the sea, would be differentiated against and, under existing regulations, treated as \"foreign.\" Thus the duty comes to be prohibitive; but\n\n(a) I believe that a good deal of Yunnan opium does go to Canton province via Tonquin; it is sent to the French \"leased\" territory of Kwang Chon Wan, where there is no Chinese Customs station, and there are very unusual facilities for smuggling in the surrounding country.\n\n(b) Opium arriving by sea from Tonquin at an East Coast port would, to begin with, be charged as \"foreign\" opium at the rate of 110 taels, or, say, 220 rupees a picul of 133.33 lbs. But, further, this opium would have paid previously the Yunnan provincial li-kin, and after passing the Canton Customs, might have to pay Canton provincial dues; for, being in fact native opium, it is doubtful if Consular protection could be given. Further, the transport across South Yunnan to get to French territory is often unsafe. The cumulative effects of the above would be prohibitive, except possibly at rare intervals, when all routes overland were closed by rebels at the same time.\n\n3. It is asked that detailed information be furnished as to the privilege which it would be necessary to secure from China, and the reasons which render them indispensable to the success of the scheme.\n\nWe should ask (1) that the somewhat arbitrary rule under which native opium which crosses Burmah becomes foreign opium for purposes of duty on re-entering on the East Coast of China be rescinded; this rule is harmful alike to Burmah and to Chinese trade; (2) we should also ask that Yünnan opium going across Burmah to the East Coast should not receive less favourable treatment than Szechuan or other native opium which goes to the East Coast by Yang-tsze steamer and the sea.\n\nNeither of these demands are really of the nature of a concession or privilege to be granted by China.\n\n(3) Further, we should ask for a clear and precise agreement as to what is to be paid and on what account, and to whom and where and when in respect of Yunnan opium transported across Burmah to the East Coast ports. Security will further be necessary that such an agreement will be duly observed; this security will be afforded if...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397938, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 428, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n## No. 1.\n\n[March 4.]\n\n### SECTION 1.\n\n**Acting Consul Litton to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received March 4)**\n\nTengyueh, January 30, 1905.\n\n**(No. 1.) My Lord,**\n\nI HAVE the honour to submit (1) duplicate of a despatch addressed to His Majesty's Minister on the subject of the Chinese Shan States near the Burmah frontier, and (2) extract from my last Intelligence Report dealing with the state of the frontier, a subject closely connected with the condition of the Chinese Shan States.\n\nAs the places referred to are unfamiliar, I attach a rough sketch-map.\n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) \n**G. LITTON**\n\n### Inclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\n**Acting Consul Litton to Sir E. Satow.**\n\n**(No. 1.) Sir,**\n\nTengyueh, January 30, 1905.\n\nI HAVE the honour to address you on the subject of the Chinese Shan States near the Burmese frontier, and their relations with the Chinese officials and this Consulate.\n\nTo the west and south-west of the Chinese sub-Prefectural cities of Tengyueh and Lung Ling, both of which are subject to the Prefect of Yung Chang, the country falls away towards the Burmah frontier in a series of valleys, roughly parallel to each other; these \"pa tzu,\" as they are locally known, have an altitude of 2,000-3,000 feet, Tengyueh City being 5,500 feet and Lung Ling 5,000 feet; each \"pa tzu\" was probably formed and is now watered by an affluent of the Irrawaddy.\n\nIn these low-lying valleys the ground, though highly fertile, is swampy, and during six months of the year the climate is so malarious and unhealthy that the Yunnan Chinaman, who is an inhabitant of high lands, cannot cultivate. Consequently, with the exception of one or two trading centres, the great bulk of the population still consists of Shans, who owe allegiance to various native Chiefs (\"Sawbwa\" in Burmese, \"Tu ssu\" in Chinese). These Chiefs, in their turn, are dependent on the two sub-Prefects, and enjoy Chinese titles and official rank. They are all professing Buddhists, and some of them superstitious Buddhists.\n\nEach of these valleys is separated from its neighbour by a range of mountains; these ranges are generally regular in their formation, and rise to an altitude of 3,000 feet or more above their valleys. They are inhabited by a considerable and increasing population of Kachin tribes, whose original seat was probably to the north, about the headwaters of the Irrawaddy, but who during the past two centuries have permanently established themselves in these hills. They are a fighting race, as distinguished from the Shans, who are timid and peaceable. The Kachins are nominally subject to the Sawbwas within whose territories they have settled.\n\nStarting from the north, the following is a list of the Shan States on or near our frontier with whom we have dealings:\n\n**(A.)-Taping River Valley States.**\n\n1. **Nan Tien**.-The border of this State is crossed about 18 miles south-west of Tengyueh City by the main Burmah road. The Sawbwa (whose name is Tao) is the most Chinese of all the Shan Princes. He is a man of about 40. His rule over his own people is oppressive, but he is a man of considerable intelligence and diplomatic skill. He is often employed by the Chinese officials as a go-between in matters affecting their relations with the other Shan Chiefs. He has few Kachins but...\n\nPage 421", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397939, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 429, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Shan States under Chinese Rule\n\nThe many Chinese settlers in his territory. This State, with the exception of the outlying town of Manwyne, which came into the family by marriage, is poor. The main valley is only 9 miles by 2-3 miles, but the side valley of Man Tung, situated beyond the hills to the east, is larger and richer.\n\nThe Nan Tien Sawbwa is thought to be at the bottom of the intrigues which the Chinese have started against his neighbour of Kangai.\n\nKangai, which includes the richest part of the Taping Valley, is situated between Nan Tien and the frontier. The clan name is also Tao. The old Sawbwa, who is about 55 years of age, is supposed to have abdicated according to Shan custom in favour of his son, a man of about 30, who represents the twenty-eighth generation in a direct line from the first Sawbwa. Both father and son are men of intelligent and benevolent disposition, who, considering the circumstances, govern their State well. They are both, but especially the father, devout Buddhists. The State is rich, but is sometimes subject to destructive inundations.\n\nThe main Tengyueh-Bhamo trade route passes straight through Kangai and Nan Tien. There are not many Kachins in this State, and those few give but little trouble. The main Kangai Valley is about 35 miles long by 4-5 miles broad.\n\n### 3. Chanta, or Santa\n\nThis includes a small portion of the Taping Valley on the right bank and a section of hill country behind it to the north. The Sawbwa is a child. His father was robbed and then executed some years ago by the Tengyueh official on a false charge of treason with the British. The government of the State has since been in disorder. The Kachins in the Santa Hills are under no sort of control.\n\n### 1. Laksa and Hosa\n\nThese are two small States in an upland valley at an altitude of 4,000-5,000 feet, along and above the east side of the Taping Valley; the beautiful Lahsa-Hosa Valley is watered by the Nau Sa, a small tributary of the Taping. The inhabitants are not Shan; they have a language of their own, and are known as Ashang. They are probably of Maru Kachin origin, with an admixture of Chinese and possibly of Burmese blood. They have attained a considerable standard of civilization, and are both industrious and peaceable; they have a great reputation as blacksmiths, and go down to Burmah to seek work. The Hosa Sawbwa is a minor; the Lahsa is an old man who has four sons, the eldest of whom manages his affairs; the administration is not bad, but the Sawbwa has little authority, and both ends of the valley are subject to Kachin raids. There is a fair path down the valley and through to Burmah, but it is only used by local traffic. The valley is some 30 miles long by 2-3 miles broad.\n\n## (B) Shan States in the Shweli or Lung Chiang Valley, on the right bank\n\nThe Shweli is an important affluent of the Irrawaddy; it rises to the north of Tengyueh, and joins the main river from the left side, near Ratha, in Burmah.\n\n### 5. Meng Wan\n\nThis is the basin of the Nam Wan, a small tributary of the Shweli. The valley is over 30 miles long and 5-6 miles broad at the broadest part; it is very fertile, but malarious; the administration was for years in the hands of the mother of the present Sawbwa, a young man of 23, who took over the Government four years ago. Since then the condition of the State has been going from bad to worse. The young Sawbwa is drunken, licentious, violent, and superstitious. He harbours quacks, gamblers, and criminals from Burmah and other places, while the numerous Kachins on both sides of his valley are under no sort of control. They are constantly thieving and cattle-lifting on the British side. Several large Kachin villages above the north-east of the valley have openly revolted and expelled the lawful Shan owners from the rice fields, which they are now cultivating themselves, without paying any taxes. In 1903 the Chinese Commandant of the frontier regiment, Ma Wu Hsiang, a Panthay, was stationed at the Sawbwa's residence for some time, and composed matters; but this season I find that the young Sawbwa has again begun his reckless courses, he has been taking medicines which are supposed to render him bullet-proof, he has shot several persons in a drunken fit, and he has taken to seizing Kachin maidens and confining them in his harem for some time, a proceeding which demonstrates both his imprudence and his bad taste. Further disorders may be expected, and the Tengyueh officials do nothing to restore order. This State is consequently poor. A secondary trade route from Burmah to Tengyueh runs the length of the valley. The Meng Wan Sawbwa's principal wife is a daughter of Nan Tien.\n\n### 6. Meng Mao\n\nThis State is situated along the right bank of the Shweli above the confluence of the Nara Wan. It consists of some hill-land and a rich valley, some 27 miles by 5 miles, a large part of which is uncultivated. The hills at the back of the town between the State and Meng Wan are thickly populated by Kachins, who are under no sort of control, and levy blackmail or pillage in the valley. The Sawbwa, a man of about 30, is weak but not vicious; he cannot make much headway against his Kachins, and he has scanty resources in the way of money, but he has recently shown some activity in his administration. This State is off the main route; the town of Meng Mao (about 250 houses) has an old wall, and in the Burmah wars of the middle ages is said to have been the headquarters of a Taotai.\n\n## (C) Shan States in the Shweli Valley, on the left bank\n\n### 7. Chefang or Sefang\n\nThis State is limitrophe with the British Northern Shan States; it consists of the lower part of the basin of the Meng Kwan River, a tributary of the Shweli and of the surrounding hills, which are inhabited by very unruly Kachins. Even the main valley (20 miles by 4) is poor and thinly populated as it is subject to had inundations, and, even in the dry season, consists mainly of a reed-covered swamp. The Sawbwa is a man about 30, of the same original stock as the princely families of Meng Mao and Meng Wan; the administration of the State is fairly good; none of the Chinese Sawbwas has worse Kachins or makes such serious efforts to control them. The late father of the present Sawbwa was a believer in drastic measures, and it is said that he used to boil his Kachins in oil, or roast them over slow fires, in order to persuade them to better courses. An important trade route from Burmah, the Ruby Mines, and the Shan States to West Yünnan leads straight through the Chefang Valley. The road is well maintained, and, in spite of the Kachins, serious robberies hardly ever take place along it.\n\n### 8. Meng Kwan\n\nMeng Kwan, or, in Chinese, Mang Shih, situated north of Chefang, comprises the valley of the Upper Nam Kwan River and the hills surrounding it. The main valley of this State, which on the east is limitrophe with the Chinese sub-Prefecture of Lung Ling, is some 16 miles by & in extent, and is both fertile and densely populated. With the possible exception of Kangai, the State is considered to be the richest near the border. Near the Sawbwa's residence there is a considerable bazaar resorted to by numerous Chinese caravans in the cold weather. The main Burmah Chefang-Lung Ling road goes through the State. The town, like all Shan towns (which are merely large villages), has a dilapidated appearance; lean pigs, ruined pagodas, heaps of cow-dung, majestic pipul trees, mean mud or bamboo wattle huts, lofty bamboo groves, and slatternly women exuding betel chew from their dirty mouths. This valley is very feverish; the hills round it, however, have been settled by Chinese from West Yunnan, and there are but few Kachins. The Sawbwa (clan name Fang) is a young man, weak and superstitious Buddhist, but his rule is not oppressive. The Sawbwa and the State have recently been brought to the brink of ruin by the \"squeezing\" operations of the Chinese Mandarins, of which I shall speak later at length.\n\n### 9. Meng Ting\n\nMeng Ting is another State further to the south, to which I may refer, though it does not otherwise come within the purview of this report. Meng Ting comprises the low-lying valley of the Nam Ting River which joins the Salwen from the east at Kunlong ferry. The State is a small one and is in a condition of disorder owing to the neglect of the Chinese, the incompetence of the Sawbwa, and the influence of the bad counsellors by whom he is surrounded. Notorious dacoits are constantly harboured in this State, and the Sawbwa is always quarrelling with his neighbours. Representations concerning Meng Ting have been made at Yunnan-fu, and a Chinese Deputy has been sent, who will meet the British Superintendent of the Northern Shan States, and endeavour to settle outstanding cases, and to suggest some means for the better government of the State in the future. If the Kunlong Railway ever materializes, it will run along this valley which is marshy, tropical, and malarious.\n\nThe population of the Shan States under China can only be given in the form of a rough approximation to the number of families who pay taxes and are supposed to ...\n\nPage 422", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397943, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 433, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n### CONFIDENTIAL\n\nNo. 1 \n426 \n[March 11]\n\n## SECTION 2\n\n### Sir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne.--Received March 11.\n\n**(No. 33. Confidential.)** \nMy Lord, \nPeking, January 23, 1905,\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit to your Lordship herewith copy of a despatch which I have received from His Majesty's Consul-General at Chengtu, on the subject of the state of the country and people between Ta-chien-lu and the Thibetan frontier.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\n### (No. 31. Confidential.)\n\nSir,\n\n**(Signed)**\n\n#### Inclosure in No. 1.\n#### Consul-General Hosie to Sir E. Satow.\n\nChengtu, December 21, 1904.\n\nI HAVE the honour to report that during my recent journey to the Thibetan frontier, I became cognizant of several things which appear to me deserving of notice in a separate despatch.\n\nThe most important of these, and one which is particularly obnoxious to the Thibetan inhabitants of Ssuchuan, is the system of Ula or corvée transport which prevails to the west and north of Ta-chien-lu. Along and within a certain distance of the high-roads all Thibetan families are compelled, on the requisition of the Chinese authorities presented through their chief, to supply, in turn, official and other travellers with transport animals, either without any payment whatever or for very inadequate remuneration. It is true that the obligation relieves them from payment of rent, and that the feeding of the animals en route costs nothing, but the owners or others deputed by them to accompany the caravans as drivers are withdrawn, it may be for many days, from their homes and their work, whether pastoral or agricultural. The Imperial and Assistant Imperial Residents for Thibet, for example, pay nothing for transport, contenting themselves with presenting gratuities, which by the time they reach the hands of the drivers are ludicrously inadequate, and lamas are entitled to transport at merely nominal rates, altogether insufficient to meet the expenses of the owners. The result is that the Thibetan inhabitants on and in the neighbourhood of the high-roads are deserting their homes; ruined houses are everywhere common, and land is going out of cultivation.\n\nThe Ming Chêng Ssă or native Chief of Chala, with whom I exchanged friendly visits at Ta-chien-lu, complained to me bitterly of the treatment which he and his people received at the hands of the Chinese authorities. He told me that he is frequently called upon to order his people to provide larger numbers of animals than they can possibly supply; that on such occasions they have to hire from others, with the result that they are always on the verge of poverty; and that he has annually to distribute relief among the more necessitous. I may mention that the Chief of Chala, in spite of valuable presents which I saw made to him by the French Bishop for Thibet, whose head-quarters are at Ta-chien-lu, is on exceedingly friendly terms with British missionaries, with some of whom he has actually sworn brotherhood, explaining that he, like themselves, is a foreigner in China. He has great influence with the Chiefs of Litang and Batang, and was on by no means friendly terms with the ex-Dalai Lama of Thibet, who had even threatened to attack him.\n\nThe power of the lamaseries is far too great. This was especially evident in the State of Litang, where the lamas practically dictate their terms to the Chinese authorities. Some years ago two members of the China Inland Mission travelled as far west as Litang, and on arrival they were told by the lamas that their stay must not exceed two days. They had to go. At the present day the French Catholic...\n\n10\n\n(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)\n\nFurther south beyond the range of Consular tours, there are no doubt many more similar independent hill tracts.\n\nAfter over three years' experience, I can assert that while international relations have improved, i.e., while Chinese Kachins have been largely restrained from committing offences against our subjects, the internal condition of the Tengyueh frontier districts has deteriorated rather than improved. The Chinese Kachins have been and are increasing both in numbers and disorderliness. The Shans in the plains at least of Meng Wan and Meng Mao are, on the contrary, decreasing; part of the main Shan Valley of Meng Wan has recently fallen into the hands of the Kachins, who have turned out the Shan cultivators.\n\nThe Yunnan Government seems to be getting feebler and feebler, and what little the Chinese have done on the frontier has not been done proprio motu, but under strong and constant Consular pressure. Not the least attempt has been made to grasp the problem of Kachin administration, nor do the officials appear even to understand my representation that it is a shameful thing that hundreds of square miles of China should be wholly independent of the Chinese Government. \"What can you expect? They are only wild men;\" is the stereotyped reply of the Mandarins. Now, if this is the state of affairs in districts easy of access to Tengyueh and traversed by several frequented trade routes, what in the future is likely to be the condition of those remote districts on the banks of the Irrawaddy (N'Maikha branch) if the shadowy claims of China to any part of them are admitted? I would wish to draw the special attention of His Majesty's Government to the extreme unwisdom of admitting Chinese claims to any territory on our borders, which is inhabited by wild tribes, as proved by our actual experience on the Bhamo frontier.\n\nI doubt, however, if it would be wise to press the Chinese Government to undertake operations to subdue their nominal Kachin subjects. I gather that British officers estimate that a force of 400-500 Ghurkas and a battery of mountain guns would be required. It is out of the question for the West Yunnan officials to put in the field a force anything like equivalent to that. The force would have to be supplied by special arrangements from Yünnan-fu, and the Yünnan-fu Government would oppose a stubborn resistance to anything of the kind. Yet it would be inadvisable for us to make a demand if we were not prepared to insist upon compliance.\n\nIf a Chinese force did get under weigh, it would be in the last degree badly organised and inefficient. The work of subjugating the Kachins would therefore take a long time, during which the whole of the frontier might be in a disturbed condition, which would be contrary to the political and commercial interests of Burmah. During the course of such operations, too, a number of undesirable Kachins might take refuge over the border in British territory, and cause trouble to our officers.\n\nLast, I think it is evident that the Chinese Government is sinking more and more into its dotage. Eventually and gradually, these frontier districts must in the course of nature fall under British control. This process will be made easier if the Chinese are not encouraged to attempt to subdue the Kachins and establish military posts in these hills.\n\nFor these reasons, I am of opinion that so long as we continue to obtain such satisfaction as we have received during the past two seasons, it would be prudent to leave matters as they are, while fully recognising that the present state of things is not wholly satisfactory. I am addressing the Taotai, pointing out in general terms that in no case has punishment been administered in a frontier case to the offenders, and that large tracts continue to be merely nominally part of the Chinese Empire; but I refrain from suggesting any remedy.\n\n#### Inclosure 3 in No. 1.\n#### Rough Sketch of Bhamo-Yunnan Frontier.\n\n[Not printed.]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397945, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 435, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n### No. 1.\n\n[March 18.]\n\n## SECTION 1.\n\n428\n\n**Acting Consul Litton to the Marquess of Lansdowne.-(Received March 18.)**\n\n(No. 2.) My Lord,\n\nTengyuch, February 4, 1905.\n\nIN accordance with instructions received from Sir Ernest Satow, arrangements have been made with the local Chinese officials, by which they agree to afford assistance on their side of the frontier to a British officer deputed to make a light railway survey from Bhamo to Tengyueh. It is understood that the cost of the survey is not to be borne by the Chinese, and that the mere permission to survey must not be taken to bind either Government as to future action in the matter of the railway.\n\nIn my conversations with the Taotai, I thought it best not at present to divulge that the question had been taken up by your Lordship, but said that various persons in Burmah were discussing the possibility of constructing this railway (which is perfectly true), and that it was proposed to send a surveyor to form an estimate of the cost.\n\nI anticipate no difficulty, as the local people constantly go down to Burmah for trade or work, especially road-making, and their prejudices have thus been rubbed down. They are also perfectly aware of the profit which would accrue to them on the completion of such a railway as is now proposed.\n\nI now have the honour to submit some suggestions for the guidance of the gentlemen who may be intrusted from home with the survey.\n\nAs I am in camp, I have to trust to memory for heights and distances, but, as now given, they are approximately correct.\n\nThe distance from Bhamo to Tengyueh is 150 miles, of which by the new and direct road, 52 miles are in British territory. There is a good graded mule-road made by the Burmah Public Works for these 52 miles, and for 17 miles further into China. This latter may probably be prolonged for 12 miles further during the spring. Most of the remainder of the road to Tengyueh is so bad that words suitable to an official report would fail to describe it.\n\nThe height of Bhamo, by the bank of the Irrawaddy, is only 380 feet; Tengyueh is 5,500 feet. The line would run along the Taping River, which joins the Irrawaddy just north of Bhamo, as far as a point near the junction of the Taping and Taying or Tengyueh River, about 100 miles from Bhamo. Then the railway would follow generally the line of the latter stream to Tengyueh.\n\nThe rise, though considerable, is fairly gradual and continuous the whole way. The first 25 miles are over a level plain; then the hills begin to close in on the Taping River, and from about mile 40 to mile 60 there will be some very heavy work in the Taping gorges. The frontier is passed at the Kalikha stream, 52 miles. After mile 60 the country begins to open out into the Valley of Manwyne, subject to the Shan Chiefs of Kangal and Nantien, both of whom are well disposed towards the scheme. From mile 63 to about mile 105 all is plain sailing along the edge of a level padi-plain. At about mile 105, near the boundary of Kangai and Nantien, the Nantien Gorge of the Taying River is reached. Here there will be some 5 to 10 miles of very difficult work, owing to the \"rotten\" condition of the hills which close down on both sides of the shifting sandy bed of the river. At 115 miles the Nantien Plain, which seems to present no special difficulty, is reached. At 130 miles a stream called the Lang Sung is passed. In the winter almost dry, in the rains this is a rushing torrent in a wide (150 yards) shifting sandy bed, and will cost a good sum to get over. At Hsiao Ho Ti, 4,500 feet, 138 miles, the present road goes up on to high downs by rather a stiff ascent, which the line would have to avoid, probably keeping near the Taying stream to Tengyueh.\n\nThe conditions prevailing in the Taping Valley during the rains are so difficult and so different from the dry weather, that it would probably be necessary for a surveyor to see the country during the rains before he could form a reliable estimate.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 397951, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 441, "title": "CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Government of Burmah to Government of India\n\n### Letter\n\nSir,\n\nThe Government of India, a copy of a letter, dated the 10th February last, which has been addressed to Mr. H. G. A. Leveson, Deputy Commissioner, Bhamo, regarding his deputation as British Representative of the Anglo-Chinese party for the examination of the undelimited frontier between China and Burmah north of latitude 25° 35'. Sir Hugh Barnes believes that the instructions contained in paragraph 3 of this letter are in accordance with the views of the Government of India, and trusts that they will be approved.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) \n**F. C. GATES**\n\n### Inclosure 5 in No. 1\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Deputy Commissioner, Bhamo.\n\nRangoon, February 10, 1905.\n\nWITH reference to the correspondence ending with your telegram dated the 6th February last, I am directed to forward, for your information, a selection of papers, cited in the annexed list, regarding the proposed expedition for the examination of the Burmah-China frontier north of latitude 25° 35′, of which you have been selected to be a member.\n\n2. Mr. Litton, His Majesty's Consul, Tengyueh, will be the British Representative. It will be your duty to afford him all the assistance you can in attaining the objects of the expedition. The Taotai of Tengyueh will be the Representative of the Chinese Government. The meeting-place will be Kuyung, which is three and a-half days' journey from Sadun. The combined party will proceed northwards along the undelimited frontier, observing and surveying the country. They will go as far as possible subject to the necessity of returning before the rains break, that is, by the 1st June. The party will be accompanied by a military police escort of forty Ghurka sepoys under a selected native officer, and the Inspector-General of Police and the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals have been requested to make the necessary arrangements for the police and medical requirements as early as possible. The Surveyor-General has also been asked to place three additional surveyors at the disposal of the party.\n\n3. You will understand that the duty laid down upon the party to which you belong is not that of delimiting the frontier, but of ascertaining the actual position of the watershed and of pointing it out on the spot to your Chinese colleague. You should also endeavour to demonstrate to the Chinese Representative that the Chinese officials exercise no authority whatever on the west of the watershed. I am to explain that the present position in regard to the boundary in this region between Burmah and China is that the British Government have declined to admit the discussion of any proposals which would involve the extension of Chinese influence into the valley of the N'maikla, and that in September 1902 they instructed His Britannic Majesty's Minister in Peking to insist on the boundary proposed by the Government of India, of which a detailed description was given by Mr. Hertz in 1900. This boundary is the crest of the range forming the watershed between the streams flowing on the one side into the 'maikha, and on the other into the Shweli and Salween. There is no intention, so the Lieutenant-Governor believes, of departing in any way from this position, and the chief object of the present informal investigation is to induce the Chinese Government to acquiesce in it. The reluctance of the Chinese to accept it hitherto is believed to be due to the ignorance of their local officials both as to the position of the watershed, and as to the state of affairs which this Government believes to exist on the British side of it. It is hoped that this ignorance will be dispelled by the joint examination of the country that is about to be undertaken, and that it will be found possible to reassure the Chinese officials as to the nature of our demands, to convince them of the accuracy of our conclusions, and to persuade them to acquiesce in that geographical definition of the spheres of influence of the two Governments, which this Government believes to be the only one possible and consistent with facts. I am to invite your special attention to the letter from this Government to the Government of India in the Foreign Department, dated the 4th June, 1904. You will see that if the local Chinese Headmen can establish any claims to petty dues or presents from some of the small frontier villages on the British side of the border, it is desired to deal with them liberally, and you are authorized, if the watershed boundary is accepted, to offer to extinguish them by small money payments.\n\n4. You should communicate to this Government your own and Mr. Litton's suggestions on this point as early as possible. Your party will be accompanied by surveyors who should map the line of the watershed so as to ascertain it with reasonable accuracy.\n\n4. The first section of the survey work is from Manangpum to the head of the Tientang Valley, including the hills north of the Chinese Valleys of Lunma and Tantsa. The survey work may be difficult here, but political questions are less likely to arise on this section, and it may be done by a branch survey party, while the principal members of the party are encamped at the head of the Tientang Valley. From this camp, the watershed between the head of the Tientang branch of the Shweli River and the head of the Chipwe Kha can be examined, and a visit can be paid to the Lisaw villages at the head of the Chipwe. When this has been done, the party can move to the Upper Mien Kawng Valley, whence paths lead to the upper tributaries of the Irrawaddy via Hpare, Tzuchu, and Pien Ma. All these villages should be visited, and the country around there should be mapped. This can be done by sending out branch survey parties, while the principals remain encamped at Mien Kawng.\n\nIf possible, you should penetrate to the north along the western slope of the mountain range on the west of the Salween River, cross that range into the Salween Basin and return along the Salween. Information of much geographical interest may thus be obtained.\n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) \n**F. C. GATES**\n\n### Inclosure 6 in No. 1\n\nGovernment of India to Government of Burmah.\n\nFort William, March 18, 1905.\n\nI AM directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th ultimo, forwarding a copy of a letter to Mr. H. G. A. Leveson, Deputy Commissioner at Bhamo, regarding his deputation as British Representative of the Anglo-Chinese Commission for the examination of the undelimited frontier between China and Burmah north of latitude 25° 35'.\n\n2. The Government of India approve the instructions to Mr. Leveson contained in paragraph 3 of the letter.\n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) \n**C. SOMERS COCKS**", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-330 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403153, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 62, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n### No. 1.\n\n[June 5]\n\n**(No. 128.) My Lord,**\n\nSir E. Satow to the Marquess of Lansdowne, -(Received June 5.)\n\nPeking, April 17, 1905.\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit to your Lordship herewith extracts from an Intelligence Report which I have received from His Majesty's Acting Consul at Tengyueh, regarding a proposed light railway to Tengyueh and the reported presence of gold in the upper waters of the Irrawaddy.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) \n**ERNEST SATOW.**\n\n### Inclosure in No. 1.\n\nExtracts from Tengyueh Intelligence Report, January 30, 1905.\n\nLight Railway-A naturalized British subject, German by birth, now a resident merchant in Bhamo, is, I learn, anxious to take up a railway concession to Tengyueh to be worked by electricity. I have advised him-\n1. That he should get the support of the Government of Burma;\n2. Draw up a precise statement of what he proposes and how to do it, after a careful inspection of the whole ground;\n3. Apply for a concession through the Government of Burma and His Majesty's Minister at Peking direct, not going in the first instance to the Yunnan Viceroy; and\n4. That for a narrow gauge line he would have to see his way to nearly 1,000,000L before he could hope to see trains actually running.\n\nAs the Government seems anxious to press for a railway to Tengyueh this scheme of Mr. Koha might be worth considering, if Burma views it with favour.\n\nIt has been suggested that a line might ultimately be continued from Tengyueh to the Shweli and down that river to fertile districts near the frontier; in view of a possible survey between Bhamo and Tengyueh, I examined the valley of the Shweli from a point some miles north of Tengyueh down to the point where the main Tali road crosses it, one stage east of Tengyueh. I found the country exceedingly difficult; on both banks a series of precipitous spurs come down from high ranges straight to the river. There are a number of violent water-courses which would present great difficulties in the rains. In fact, nearly all of a railway line would have to be cut out of the hill-side or consist of bridges. Owing to the great fertility of the soil along the gorges of the Upper Shweli the terraces and folds in the hills are densely cultivated, and there is a considerable though scattered population of Chinese farmers.\n\nGold in the Irrawaddy.-Referring to my Report on the presence of gold in the Chin River or upper waters of the Irrawaddy, I may mention that a company of New Zealand dredgers have been granted a large concession on the Irrawaddy between Myitkina and Bhamo; the first operations with a small dredging machine have given most encouraging results and heavier machines have been sent for. It is quite possible that the partial administration of the Upper Irrawaddy would soon pay its way in licences for winning the precious metal.\n\nPage 1 \n[2050 -1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403363, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 272, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# 267\n\n**C.O.**\n\n## SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL.**\n\n31967\n\n[August 28.]\n\n**REC**\n\nRect 6 SEP 05 SECTION 1.\n\nNo. 1.\n\n### Consul-General Wilkinson to the Marquess of Lansdowne.—(Received August 28.)\n\n**(No. 17.)**\nMy Lord,\n\nYunnan-fu, July 9, 1905.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inclose copy of a report which I have addressed to His Majesty's Minister submitting translation of a despatch from Ting, Governor-General of the Yun-Kuei, to the Wai-wu Pu, covering the report of Shih Taotai on the recent joint investigation of the Burmah-Yünnan borderland north of Tengyueh.\n\nI have, &c.\n(Signed) \nW. H. WILKINSON.\n\n### (No. 27.)\nSir,\n\n#### Inclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nConsul-General Wilkinson to Sir E. Satow,\n\nYunnan-fu, July 8, 1905.\n\nTWO days ago Ting Chiht'ai courteously sent me, informally, copy of his despatch to the Wai-wu Pu, covering the report of Shih Taotai on the results of the recent joint inquiry into the features and conditions of the borderland between Burmah and Yunnan north of Manung Pum. Of this despatch I have the honour to inclose copy and translation.\n\nThe Governor-General had earlier informed me that he did not propose to comment on the report, but to leave the conclusions to be drawn from it to be discussed between yourself and the Wai-wu Pu. This resolution, as you will see, his Excellency adheres to in his present despatch, and I cannot learn that he has sent any other communication, even privately or confidentially, to the Government at Peking.\n\nMr. Litton has supplied me with the Chinese text, and in some cases with the English version, of his correspondence with Shih Taotai; but as I understand that he has also forwarded copies to the Legation, I do not append these papers. From this correspondence you will have learnt that Shih Taotai claims as Chinese territory the whole country lying between the Nmaikha-Salwen watershed to the east and the Ngaw-chang (Siao-chiang) and Kansheng Rivers to the west, together with a few villages on the headwaters of the Chipway. The only portion of this country directly referred to in Ting Chiht'ai's covering despatch is the central district, which includes the chai (stockades or defensible villages) of Tzu-chu and Hparé. This district his Excellency claims for the two Fu-yi or native Chiefs of Mingkuang, a valley to the east of the watershed. The claim really rests on certain certificates of succession granted to the predecessors of these Chiefs by the Board of War in 1839 and 1841, and it will be noticed that the Governor-General is careful to attach copies of these documents to his despatch. Since in that despatch his Excellency speaks of a time when \"British troops crossed the frontier and created disturbance,\" it is permissible to believe that his object in laying stress on this part of the Chinese claim is due to a desire to vindicate his attitude in the matter of the \"Hparé incident,\" and even to reopen that question. He has, however, said nothing to me, so far, on this subject.\n\nYou will notice that Shih Taotai appears to have regarded the late inquiry as limited to the frontier of the Tengyueh Sub-Prefecture (or of the Yungch'ang Prefecture), for he speaks of the Mission as surveying successively northwards till the confines of the jurisdiction of the Li-chiang Prefect were reached, in latitude 26° 30′.\n\nOn the other hand, Mr. Litton regarded his own informal offer of 4,000 rupees for entertainment of Chinese Headmen, as conditional on the recognition of the N'maikha-Salwen divide as the frontier \"up to the confines of Thibet\"—some 2 degrees further north. In this region, however, as Mr. Litton pointed out in his Memorandum of last August, certain Chiu-t'zü Chiefs from the headwaters of the Irrawaddy pay annually at Yedru a tribute that is remitted to Li-chiang. It would seem likely, therefore, that the Chinese would insist on a further mission of inquiry for...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403494, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 403, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# CONFIDENTIAL\n\n## SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n\nNo. 1.\n\n396\n\n14\n\n[September 30, 1905]\n\n**(No. 219.)**\n\nSir,\n\nThe Marquess of Lansdowne to Sir E. Satow.\n\nForeign Office, September 30, 1905.\n\nWITH reference to my despatch No. 172 of the 4th August last respecting the joint survey by British and Chinese officials of the Burmah-China frontier north of Manangpum, I transmit to you the accompanying copy of a letter from the India Office, together with a copy of a letter from the Government of India,* in which they support certain recommendations of the Government of Burmah for the settlement of the question with the Chinese Government.\n\nThe Secretary of State for India suggests that you should endeavour, in the first instance, to induce the Chinese Government to agree to accept without further discussion the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween Basins as the boundary up to the confines of Thibet, on the understanding that the Government of India will agree to pay an annual sum not exceeding, say, 1,500 rupees as compensation for the extinction of all Chinese claims of whatsoever nature on the British side of the boundary. You will, however, observe that the Government of Burmah deprecate any precise statement as to where China ends and Thibet begins, and that they do not desire, should difficulties be raised by the Chinese Government, to press for the watershed boundary beyond latitude 26° 30′.\n\nUp to that point they recommend that the Chinese Government should, in the last resort, be made clearly to understand that His Majesty's Government intend to regard the watershed as the frontier; and that, failing its acceptance by China on the terms now offered, the Government of Burmah will be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiations.\n\nIn the opinion of His Majesty's Government, the proposal submitted by the Government of India for a settlement of this long outstanding question is a reasonable one. In such cases as this, particularly when the country in dispute is sparsely inhabited, the watershed is the only possible frontier.\n\nI accordingly request you to submit to the Chinese Government the proposals on the subject recommended by the Government of India.\n\nI am, &c.\n\n(Signed) **LANSDOWNE**\n\n*India Office, September 20, 1905.\n\n`[2167 gg-1]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403530, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 439, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\n# SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\nNo. 1.\n\n432 [September 26.]\n\nSECTION 4. O.\n\n37741\n\n**RES**\n\nMemorandum for French Embassy respecting Burmah-Yunnan Boundary \ndated September 26, 1905.\n\nTWO Conventions, one in 1894 and one in 1897, have been concluded between the British and Chinese Governments for the settlement of the boundary question.\n\nSince then negotiations have taken place between the two Governments on the subject, and the frontier has been delimited in accordance with the provisions of these conventions, with the exception of (a) the Namting-Nalawt section; (b) the section north of Manung Pun, or the N'Maikha section.\n\n(a) In accordance with the terms of our Agreement with China of 1897, a Joint Commission was appointed, which proceeded to trace this section. During the proceedings of this Delimitation Commission the Chinese Commissioners produced a bogus map, by which they insisted upon being guided.\n\nAfter much discussion Sir G. Scott, the British Commissioner, intimated that, if the Chinese Commissioners refused to be guided by the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1897, he must complete the demarcation alone. This was done, and a description and map, showing the exact course of the line, was communicated to the Chinese Commissioners.\n\nSubsequently His Majesty's Minister at Peking explained the matter fully to the Chinese Government, who, however, replied that, as the British and Chinese Commissioners had each marked out a different line of frontier, officers should be appointed to effect a joint demarcation, with a view to a satisfactory agreement. In reply, Sir E. Satow informed the Chinese Government that His Majesty's Government would continue to regard as the provisional boundary the line laid down by Sir G. Scott in 1900, and he intimated, at the same time, that Chinese officials and troops would not be allowed to transgress it.\n\n(b) The N'Maikha, or northern, section, on the other hand, the demarcation of which was left, in the Treaty of 1894, for subsequent negotiation, has not yet been properly delimited.\n\nArticle IV of the 1894 Convention states: \"It is agreed that the settlement and delimitation of that portion of the frontier which lies to the north of latitude 25° 35′ north shall be reserved for a future understanding between the High Contracting Parties when the features and conditions of the country are more exactly known.\"\n\nOwing to the persistent refusal of the Chinese Government to take our proposals to their consideration, Sir E. Satow informed them in January last that we intended to regard as the actual boundary, unless and until a settlement is reached, the boundary which has hitherto been treated as a provisional boundary, and that, if this frontier is not respected, and armed forces are sent across it from the Yunnan side, there will be risk of their coming into collision with British troops.\n\nThe Chinese Government then proposed that this section of the frontier should be settled by joint delimitation as provided in Article IV of the 1897 Convention. To this we replied that, in the meantime, an exploration had been carried out by British officials, which confirmed the view that Chinese officials had never exercised authority west of the watershed,* which has served as the provisional boundary, and that delimitation was impossible until there was agreement as to the general line the frontier was to follow. In order, however, to secure a friendly settlement, we were willing to send officers to accompany Representatives of the Chinese Government from the Chinese side of the watershed, and point out to them the true state of affairs in that region.\n\nThis proposal was accepted by the Chinese Government appointing the Acting Totaì of Tengyueh to make the joint survey in concert with Mr. Litton, the British Commissioner.\n\nThe latter's Report has been received, and we are about to make further proposals to the Chinese Government which are founded on Mr. Litton's recommendations.\n\nSeptember 26, 1905.\n\n* i.e. the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins.\n\nW. T.\n\n`[2167 cc)` \n`-1]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403531, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 440, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# [This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government\n\n433 \n37741 \n\n## SOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL.**\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[September 21.]\n\n(RE 23 00 5\n\n### SECTION 1.\n\nSir,\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office.--Received September 21.)\n\nIndia Office, September 20, 1905. WITH reference to Sir E. Gorst's letter of the 10th August regarding the joint examination by British and Chinese officials of the Burmah-China frontier north of Manangpum, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Brodrick to request that you will lay before the Marquess of Lansdowne the accompanying copy of a letter from the Government of India, in which they support certain recommendations of the Government of Burmah for the settlement of the question with the Chinese Government.\n\nMr. Brodrick would suggest, for Lord Lansdowne's consideration, that Sir E. Satow should be instructed to endeavour, in the first instance, to induce the Chinese Government to agree to accept, without further discussion, the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins as their boundary up to the confines of Thibet, on the understanding that the Indian Government will agree to pay an annual sum not exceeding, say, 1,500 rupees as compensation for the extinction of all Chinese claims of whatsoever nature on the British side of the boundary.\n\nLord Lansdowne will, however, observe that the Government of Burmah deprecate any precise statement as to where China ends and Thibet begins, and that they do not desire, should difficulties be raised by the Chinese, to press for the watershed boundary beyond latitude 26° 30′. Up to that point they recommend that the Chinese Government should, in the last resort, be made clearly to understand that His Majesty's Government intend to regard the watershed as the frontier; and that, failing its acceptance by the Chinese on the terms now offered, the Government of Burmah will be instructed to administer the country without further negotiations.\n\nIt will be seen that the Government of Burmah attach importance to the avoidance, in negotiations on this subject with China, of all terms of local jurisdiction, and prefer the use, as far as possible, of geographical definitions.\n\nI am, &c.\n\n(Signed) \n**HORACE WALPOLE**\n\n### Inclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of India to Mr. Brodrick, \n**(Secret.)** \nSimla, August 17, 1905.\n\nSir,\n\nWE have the honour to refer to our Secret despatch, dated the 30th June, 1904, regarding the joint examination by British and Chinese officials of the Burmah-Chinese frontier north of Manangpum, and to the papers on the subject which have subsequently been transmitted to the Secretary in the Political Department of the India Office for your information.\n\n2. We now have the honour to forward copies of the communications from the Burmah Government, in which they have reported the results achieved by the expedition, and have offered their opinion with regard to the action which should now be taken.\n\n3. We concur in the views expressed by the Lieutenant-Governor in his letter of the 19th June last, as subsequently modified by his letter dated the 24th June last, and support the recommendations made by him. We would therefore suggest that His Majesty's Minister at Peking should be instructed to address the Chinese Government in the sense proposed by Sir Herbert White.\n\n[2167 2 1] \nB", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403532, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 441, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 2 \n\n4. A copy of this despatch, with inclosures, has been forwarded to Sir E. Satow direct.\n\n**(Confidential.)**\n\nWe have, &c. \n(Signed) \n**CURZON. KITCHENER.** \n**E. R. ELLES.** \n**A. T. ARUNDEL.** \n**H. ERLE RICHARDS,** \n**E. N. BAKER.** \n**C. L. TUPPER.**\n\n## Inclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nRangoon, June 19, 1905.\n\nI am directed to solicit a reference to the correspondence ending with my letter dated the 7th June, 1905, concerning the joint visit of British and Chinese Representatives to the northern part of the watershed between the Irrawaddy and the Salween.\n\n2. I am now to submit the Report of Mr. Litton, His Majesty's Consul at Tengyueh, on the joint examination. Mr. Litton performed the task allotted to him with his customary zeal and ability. He was ably assisted by Mr. Leveson, who was deputed from Burmah. Subject to the observations which follow, his Honour the Lieutenant-Governor accepts and supports the recommendations of Mr. Litton, in which Mr. Leveson concurs.\n\n3. In Part VII of his Report, and again in Part VIII, Mr. Litton dwells on the fact that the adoption of the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed as a boundary will give the Kachins to Burmah and the Lisus to Yunnan. This, as a general statement, is correct. But there are Lisu or Yawyin villages in the Bhamo and Myitkyina districts. Therefore, in dealing with the Chinese Imperial and Provincial Governments, the British Representatives should be careful, it is suggested, not to use absolute and unqualified language. Moreover, it seems to be not impossible that the tribes living high up in the Salween and Mekong Valleys may be more akin to the Kachins (which term includes the Chingpaws, Lashis, and Kauris and is sometimes extended to include the Marus) than to the Lisus or Yawyins. Mr. Litton states in Part VI that the Lu Tzu on the Upper Salween are probably allied to the Chingpaw.\n\nWe have had many instances of the ingenuity displayed by the Chinese in stretching the meaning of terms of local jurisdiction loosely employed. In Sir Herbert White's opinion, it behoves us to adhere closely to geographical definitions in negotiations with the Chinese Government.\n\n4. The Lieutenant-Governor is of opinion that the British Government should not claim the watershed as a boundary up to latitude 28°. In the first place, it is known that Chamutong, which is below latitude 28°, is in Thibet, and the Inland Mission's map of China (dated 1903) shows a wedge of Thibetan territory stretching between Burmah and Yünnan down to below 27°. It might therefore be inconvenient to say or imply that our boundary with China reaches to latitude 28°. Secondly, the basis of the arguments now to be addressed to the Chinese Government is that our Representatives have visited the locality and that all Chinese claims have been examined. The British Representative, however, did not go above Paipa, in latitude 26° 15′, and the Chinese Representative did not go above Mao Chao, in about latitude 26° 7′. Mr. Litton believes his inquiries to have reached to latitude 26° 50′, and that is the highest limit to which the argument based on local investigation can extend. Thirdly, it is not certain that above latitude 27° the eastern watershed of the Irrawaddy is the divide between it and the Salween. It is possible that some of the streams which rise on the east of that range of mountains may flow into the Brahmaputra.\n\n5. It is suggested by Mr. Litton that while the British Government should demand recognition of the watershed as the boundary up to latitude 28°, it might announce its readiness to pay compensation for such claims to tribal tributes as may hereafter be substantiated. Sir Herbert White is not disposed to regard this course as expedient. Such an announcement would be a direct encouragement to the Chinese to acquire influence in the country of the Marus and Chius. The Government of India will remember the manner in which the Chinese sought to extend the jurisdiction of the Chenpien district mentioned in Article II of the Convention of 1894. That the Chinese have already some claims, reaching even to the Malikha, may be seen from your indorsement, dated the 3rd January, 1905, concerning the Chief of Yedru, on the Upper Mekong.\n\n6. It seems to the Lieutenant-Governor that the British Government should not in any way renounce or weaken its claim for Burmah to the whole basin of the Irrawaddy, but that as regards the actual boundary, if the Chinese are prepared to recognize the line shown on Mr. Litton's map only up to latitude 26° 30', or even up to latitude 26°15', the British Government, for the present, may be satisfied.\n\n7. The Lieutenant-Governor sees no objection to, and several possible advantages in, the payment of an annual rent as compensation for the extinction of tribal tribute to Headmen on the Chinese side. It will be noticed, however, that the rent proposed by Mr. Litton (1,000 rupees or a few hundreds more) is considerably more than the annual amount (300 rupees) at which the substantiated claims were valued. It is understood that the object of this recommendation is to allow enough money for satisfying all the claims, while officially recognizing only those substantiated to Mr. Litton's satisfaction. It appears to his Honour that it may be better to face the situation and to say that we are ready to pay a generous rent so as to cover even the shadowy claims which we do not admit to be real.\n\n8. A copy of a telegram, dated the 3rd June, 1905, from Mr. Litton to His Majesty's Minister in Peking, is submitted for information in continuation of Mr. Litton's Report.\n\n**(Telegraphic.)**\n\n## Inclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nActing Consul Litton to Sir E. Satow.\n\nTengyueh, June 3, 1905. \nNORTH frontier. Taotai's official reply to me maintains the formal claim to about twenty villages beyond the watershed, but notes in terms of strong approval my proposal for perpetual lease, as to which, however, he as yet has no power to negotiate. His report to Yunnan merely forwards the map and correspondence between him and me, records offer of rent, and asks for instructions. This is fairly satisfactory. I have conveyed to him that a present will be forthcoming for him, but he and I are much embarrassed by his sudden transfer, which he rightly regards as a mark of disfavour for friendly conduct on the Frontier Commission.\n\nAs India cannot consent to any frontier but the water-divide, prolonged discussions at Yunnan would be useless.\n\nSupplementary report follows.\n\n## Inclosure 4 in No. 1.\n\nDeputy Commissioner Leveson to Government of Burmah.\n\n**(Confidential)**\n\nBhamo, May 29, 1905. \nWith reference to your Political Department's despatch, dated the 10th February, 1905, I have the honour to transmit herewith Mr. Consul Litton's Report on the subject of the undelimited northern frontier.\n\n2. As my views coincide entirely with Mr. Litton's, I have not thought it necessary to submit any separate suggestions as directed in paragraph 3 of your above-quoted letter.\n\n8. It will be seen that in Inclosure 9 (Mr. Litton's despatch to the Taotai) the words \"perpetual lease\" are used, whereas in the body of the Report Mr. Litton notes that he avoided all reference to a lease. In explanation of this apparent inconsistency Mr. Litton writes, dated Tengyueh, 19th May, as follows:----\n\n\"At the last moment the Taotai asked me to put in my despatch a proposal to rent the land on a 'lease for ever' (using these words). This surprised me, but I did it. Will you kindly make a marginal note in my Report to this effect.\"", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403533, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 442, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Inclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\n**Acting Consul Litton to Government of Burwah.**\n\nTengyueh, May 20, 1905.\n\nI HAVE the honour to forward, through Mr. Leveson, copy of my Report on the undelimited northern frontier.\n\nThe original is going to Sir Ernest Satow, while the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Consul-General at Yünnan-fu will shortly receive copies.\n\nA list of inclosures is attached.\n\nI shall again address you when I am able to state exactly what the Taotai proposes to report to his Government.\n\n## Inclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\n**Report on a Joint Survey of the Burmah-Yünnan Boundary, north of latitude 25° 35′ north, by British and Chinese Officials, March to May, 1905.**\n\n**(Confidential.)**\n\n### 1. Composition and Duties of the Party.\n\nIN February 1905, I received instructions from the British Minister at Peking to proceed as British Representative on an expedition for the joint examination by British and Chinese officers of the Burmah-Yunnan border, north of latitude 25° 35′ north, the farthest point of previous demarcation. The party, which it was agreed should start from Kuyung, in Chinese territory, 27 miles north of Tengyueh, about the 3rd March, was composed as follows:-\n\n1. Burmah party, in charge of Mr. Leveson, LC.S., Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo, consisting of a survey party of three subordinate surveyors under Munshi Abdul Kahim, who was detailed by the Survey of India for this service; an escort of forty military police, of whom thirty were Gurkhas and the rest Kachin or Lisu sepoys from the Bhamo hills; and of several native followers of Mr. Leveson.\n\nLieutenant Lakin, 92nd Punjabis, who was on leave, accompanied Mr. Leveson, and very kindly placed at my disposal his knowledge of Hindustani and Kachin.\n\n2. The Chinese party, under Shih Hung Chao, Taotai of West Yünnan. This consisted of a personal guard of twelve men and an escort of forty \"braves,\" but half of these gallant fellows ran away from Kuyung when they heard that the Taotai had forbidden looting, and intended to be obeyed, and then there were only twenty; of several deputies, of whom the senior was the expectant District Magistrate, Tai Wei Hsiang; of three \"surveyors\" from Yunnan-fu, so-called on the lucus a non lucendo principle, for, with perhaps one exception, none of them had the least notion of surveying; and an \"interpreter\" so dubbed on the same principle, but he was ejected from the camp at an early stage of the proceedings for attempting to \"squeeze\" villagers.\n\n3. Mr. Litton, Acting Consul at Tengyueh, was on duty as British Representative. The Consulate writer, Han Wei Tsu, accompanied the party.\n\nThe instructions issued to me by Sir Ernest Satow, and to Mr. Leveson by the Government of Burmah, were to the effect that the party was to examine, but not to delimit, the frontier. We were to explain to the Chinese, on the spot, precisely what His Majesty's Government meant by the N'Maikha watershed, to discover if the Chinese had any authority beyond that watershed, and, if not, to impress the fact upon the Taotai. The Government of Burmah's instructions also contemplated arrangements being made for the extinction, by payments on a liberal scale, of any rights to petty dues or otherwise which Chinese Headmen might be found to possess on the west side of the watershed. The instructions plainly stated that the Government of India had no intention of abandoning the position; that the water-divide was the only acceptable division of the spheres of influence of the two Governments.\n\nWe were also to collect as much geographical information as we could about an almost unknown country.\n\nThe instructions which the Taotai received from Yünnan-fu were to the effect that he was to examine the country in co-operation with us, and to report what territories were governed by the various Chinese Headmen. The term used (and this is important) was \"chih-li,\" which, I submit, implies more than vague claims of suzerainty, and signifies rather actual administrative control.\n\nArticle V of the Burmah-China Convention of 1897 contemplates the demarcation of this northern section of the frontier, when both parties had acquired further information. Since the date of the Treaty various inquiries by British officers, notably by Mr. Hertz, C.LE., had greatly added to our knowledge of the country. We made it a chief object of the present expedition so to supplement the information already acquired, especially by mapping, that His Majesty's Government should be in a position to clearly demonstrate to the Chinese the reasonableness of the position which has been taken up as to this section of the frontier, and to refuse to consent to the expense and trouble of further Boundary Commission in respect of it. I hope that this Report, and the map which accompanies it, will enable a Boundary Treaty to be concluded at London or Peking without any further joint inquiries on the spot, which, indeed, we would strongly deprecate.\n\nIt is hardly necessary to add that, until the date of the Taotai's departure for Kuyung, when I explained to him the general geography of the country, the Chinese officials had remained in a state of Cimmerian darkness as to the physical conditions of the country which they claimed. They had not advanced beyond the statements of the Yunnan Government, addressed to His Majesty's Minister through the Peking Foreign Office in 1904, to the effect that-\n\n1. There was no such river as the N'Maikha;\n2. That the divide in the locality in question was at the foot of the mountains (in spite of the suggestive Chinese saying that water does not flow up);\n3. That the small river, i.e., the Ngaw Chang, does not flow into the Lu Chiang or Salween.\n\nAs regards geographical information, I regret that we were not able to do as much as we had hoped. The fact is that the orders were issued much too late in the season. The experience of Captain Pottinger in 1897, of Mr. Hertz in 1900, and of myself in 1904 all go to prove that heavy snow and rain may be expected during the spring in these hills, which seem to be the abode of all the thunder and wild demons in the country. As no supplies are to be got near or beyond the watershed, even a small party such as Mr. Leveson's must have a train of some 150 mules. Towards the end of the open season, and at such short notice, good transport in a condition for hill work is not to be obtained. We began operations with a downpour of snow, hail, rain, and sleet, which continued for thirteen days and practically closed all passes over 9,800 feet for mule traffic, while tracks which were practicable were none the less turned into quagmires. Mr. Leveson lost thirty mules dead crossing the first pass on the frontier, and all of us, including the Taotai, incurred heavy extra expense for the hire of porters to enable us to get along. I calculate that we were delayed quite three weeks by weather alone.\n\nAfter inquiries at Kuyung, we proceeded north one day's march, 13 miles, and entered the Tan Tsa Valley, the heart of which is a paddy plain, about 2 miles by 1 mile, at an elevation of 6,500 feet. It contains six villages with some 200 families in all, half of which are Lisu (in Burmese Yaw Yin) and half Chinese, the whole subject to a petty Headman of Lisu extraction, who is under the jurisdiction of Tengyueh. To the north of the main valley of Tan Tsa a number of spurs run up northwards towards the watershed range which stretches round Tan Tsa in the shape of a huge bow, drawn towards the north; from this range spring the numerous sources of the Ta-ping River, of which the three most important are the Ta Cha, the Tan Tsa, and the Lun Ma Streams, which join at San Chao Ho (Tripod River), 4 miles west of Tan Tsu, to form the Upper Taping, which finally joins the Irrawaddy near Bhamo.\n\nThe whole of the hilly country north of the Tan Tsa Valley up to the bow of mountains which forms the watershed is entirely uninhabited, while there is also a wide uninhabited strip beyond the watershed on the N'Maikha side. The west end of the bow is Manung Pum, 10,000 feet, the \"high conical peak\" of the Convention, and the most northerly point of the demarcated frontier. Under this peak there is a track, impassable for mules, leading from Jan Tsa to Maiku, a Kachin village on the Upper Shi-Ngaw River in British territory, in two days some 20 miles. The east end of the bow, bearing north-east from Tan Tsa, is a conspicuous jagged peak (12,000 feet) known as Laug Ya, or Wolf's Tooth Mountain. The Lang Ya peak is astride of the...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403534, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 443, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# \n\n6 \n\nThe water-divide between the Ta-ping and the Shweli Rivers is located close to the point where this minor divide joins the main N'Maikha watershed. Under the Lang Ya peak, there is a track leading from Tan Tsa to Ma Li Pa at the head of the Tien Tan Valley (see below) by a pass often closed by snow (10,800 feet) and so over to the headwaters of the Chi Pwi River. \n\nBetween the Manung Pum and the Lang Ya tracks, there is no recognized path over the hills. \n\nNo claims were seriously put forward to any territorial or other rights beyond the watershed on behalf of the Tien Tan Headman. \n\n## II. Tien Tun and the Chi Pwi River. \n\nA surveyor having been detailed to map in the Tan Tsa Valley, our party proceeded in sections, and by various routes, eastwards to the Tien Tan Valley, which is watered by the most westerly of the three main sources of the Shweli or Lung Chiang, the other two being the Ming Kwang (the middle or main source) and the Ta Tang or eastern source. The Ming Kwang and the Tien Tan join near Ku Tung bazaar, 22 miles north of Tengyueh, and the river so formed joins the Ta Tang Stream near Chuchih bazaar, 16 miles east of Tengyueh, from which point the joint river is known as the Lung Chiang to the Chinese. \n\nThe Upper Tien Tan, the Ming Kwang, and the Ta Tang are little more than mountain streams; except after heavy rain, they are everywhere fordable, and nowhere more than 50 yards broad. \n\nThe Tien Tan Valley is under Headman Tsai, who represents the eighth generation of his dynasty. He has no sort of administrative force or machinery except that he has a few village Headmen under him; his feebleness and incompetence even in such matters as levying his subjects to repair the roads excited the Taotai's bile, and Tsai came to me, as an old friend, to ask how he had best deprecate the great man's wrath. \n\nOur camp was formed at Ma Li Pa (6,500 feet), the last village on the track to the Chi Pwi, situated in a very beautiful valley surrounded by hills and under the east flank of the Lang Ya Mountain. Just below Ma Li Pa, the three brooks which form the Tien Tan Stream join: \n\n1. To the west, issuing from the east of the Lang Ya Mountain, is the Mo Shih (\"Stone-grinding\") Brook. I ascended this through dense jungle to the crest of the N'Maikha watershed, 7 miles from Ma Li Pa. On the pass, I met three Lisu, who said that proceeding by this track to the N'Maikha, theirs would be the first village reached, and it was three days' march for a laden coolie. \n\n2. To the east, the Main or Hei Tao Yuan source of the Tien Tan, which springs from a hill on the watershed known as the Sisters Hill, and flows through a romantic gorge past several small villages subject to Tien Tan to Ma Li Pa. \n\n3. Between these two, the Pau Wa Brook, which flows from the pass leading from the Tien to the Chi Pwi Valley in the N'Maikha basin. \n\nThe Headman Tsai made the same statement to me as he had made the year before, namely, that he claimed a kind of overlordship over a few villages of Lisu along the headwaters of the Chi Pwi, based apparently on the occasional exchange of presents and on the fact that Chinese incursions over the watershed had occasionally taken place. He admitted, however, that since the disturbances caused by the Panthay rebellion fifty years ago, no such exchange of presents had taken place, and that most of the Lisu on the Upper Chi Pwi had dispersed. The number of 100 Lisu families subject to him, which he had given me last year, included all those who had moved over from the Chi Pwi to the Tien Tan side. \n\nThe following day, however, the Taotai gave me a \"map\" of Tien Tan, which professed to have been drawn up by Tsai. It was a work which possessed the merit, if not of accuracy, at least of imagination, and went to prove that the Taotai's geography, like Dogberry's reading and writing, comes by nature. With the exception of a part which had been \"cribbed\" from me, the map was totally inaccurate, but it showed the whole of the valleys of the Shi-Ngaw, Tumi-maw, and Chi Pwi Rivers as subject to Tien Tan. This includes part of the ordinary jurisdiction of the Myitkyina district. The Taotai further informed me that the Mali-kha was the true Irrawaddy and the proper frontier. This was so contrary to Tsai's statement to me the day before that I inquired what had happened, when it appeared that the map and the claim was the work \n\n7 \n\nof Mr. Chu, the Taotai's interpreter, who had been on the Southern Boundary Commission with General Liu and had given much trouble by his obstructiveness and impertinence. Shortly after, however, this young gentleman was discovered by the Taotai to be levying a private contribution in the neighbouring bazaar, as was the custom in the good old days of General Liu. The Taotai ordered him out of the camp in disgrace, and we heard no more of him. \n\nI told the Taotai that these so-called claims of Tien Tan were entirely beyond discussion, and that I must refuse to talk about them. The Taotai acknowledged that Tsai had no sort of control over the country in question and no documentary evidence to support his map, that Tsai was hopelessly incompetent, and that the claims might be considered as withdrawn. I therefore hope that no more will be heard of them or of the Mali-kha frontier. \n\nThe claims of Tien Tan to the headwaters of the Chi Pwi seemed to call for examination on the spot. So, accompanied by Mr. Lakin, one of the surveyors, and a Chinese deputy, I went over the Pau Wa Pass towards the N'Maikha. This pass is the easiest of all those which cross the divide, being only 7,800 feet and approached by a broad track ascending across downs. The crest is only 7 miles from Ma Li Pa, and after a short descent on the other side, we struck one of the headwaters of the Chi Pwi. The country is very wild and grand; precipitous mountains covered with patches of dense forest and bamboo brake descended to the narrow broken valley of the river. A lofty snow-capped ridge which forms the divide on the right bank of the Chi Pwi was a conspicuous object. It is known locally as the Kao Liang Kung, a common name for a high peak in this country. The first village passed on the N'Maikha side was Chang Yin Kon, 6 miles from the Pau Wa Pass. It consisted of three small wretched huts, inhabited by Lisu. Five miles further on, we passed Chung Shan, which used to give its name to the whole district, but now consists of only four huts and some deserted gardens. Descending along the Chi Pwi for 4 miles further, we passed Lu Pi, where we found extensive remains of orchards and paddy-fields, a fact which seems to support the statement that formerly the valley was cultivated by a considerable population of Lisu. \n\nThree miles beyond Lu Pi is, or rather was, Shi Pao; this was the last Lisu settlement down the Chi Pwi. We found that the only inhabitants were a cock pheasant and a covey of partridges, the villagers having all dispersed. Doubtless much of this desolation was the work of the Chinese, who came over and ravaged this country in 1902. \n\nFrom Shi Pao, the surveyor ascended the Kao Liang ridge to a pass 9,000 feet, whence he was able to connect his work with the first Kachin (Maru) village of Lachang, the position of which had already been fixed by Mr. Hertz's party in 1900. We then returned to Ma Li Pa after a pleasant excursion of five days; on the way, we met a party of Marus from the Lower Chi Pwi, who had been across to the Tien Tan Valley to trade. \n\nNone of these Lisu hamlets on the Chi Pwi now give anything to Tien Tan, for various reasons, of which the principal is that they have nothing to give. There are no permanent Chinese residents in the Chi Pwi Valley, but in the open season, some wood-cutters go over from Tien Tan. \n\n## III. Ming Kwang Valley, Hparè, and Teu Chu. \n\nFrom Ma Li Pa, the main camp was then moved east across the hills into the Ming Kwang Valley, where the Taotai took up his abode at the official residence of Tso, the Fu Yi or Chief of Upper Ming Kwang, while Mr. Leveson and I formed camp about 14 miles higher up in the Valley of Cha Shan Ho, a brook which runs down from the pass leading from Ming Kwang over the watershed to Hparè. \n\n| Event | Location | Description |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Taotai's abode | Official residence of Tso, Upper Ming Kwang | Fu Yi or Chief of Upper Ming Kwang |\n| Mr. Leveson and I formed camp | Valley of Cha Shan Ho | 14 miles higher up, brook runs down to Hparè |\n\nThe arrangements which the Regent of Ming Kwang (the Fu Yi being a minor) made for the Taotai were no better than Tsai's in Tien Tan, and the Regent felt a good deal of the rough side of the Taotai's tongue. Neither he nor the young Fu Yi came to see us, though I understand that this omission was by order of the Taotai; but several Lashi Kachins from Hparè, who had been to the Ming Kwang bazaar, came into Mr. Leveson's camp, including one of the Headman's sons. They gave valuable information, which persuaded Mr. Leveson that we should meet with a friendly reception at Hparè, if the Chinese could be kept from insulting or molesting the natives. \n\nA survey party having been despatched to map in the watershed along the west of \n\n436 \n\n31", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403535, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 444, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# Upper Ming Kwang Valley\n\nMr. Leveson and myself, accompanied by a surveyor, and encumbered by two Chinese deputies, proceeded to Hparè to fix the spot where the N'Maikha-Shweli divide joins the main Salween-Irrawaddy divide. Marching up the valley of the Chan Shan Brook, we passed the last Lisu hamlet, some 3 miles from camp, and, ascending a double pass through dense forest, camped on the N'Maikha side, 4 miles from the divide, and near the scene of Mr. Hertz's encounter in February 1900 with the army of Ming Kwang. I found the remains of some of the log stockades from which the Chinese had been expelled. Soon after passing this spot, we were met by the Hparè people, who had come to clear the pass for us. At 9 miles from the pass, we reached the main or upper village of Hparè, delightfully situated above the Hparè Stream, and overshadowed behind and in front by lofty mountains. We camped below the upper and above the lower or smaller village, the two comprising some forty families, living in unusually clean and neat houses; to avoid the trouble which might have arisen from the insolence of the Chinese in the village, we persuaded them to camp close to us. The villagers soon crowded round our tents in a perfectly friendly manner, but they left the Chinese severely alone.\n\nIn the afternoon, the two Headmen came to camp to see Mr. Leveson. They were brothers, both very old men, and the elder was blind. As they approached the camp, the Chinese deputy commenced behaving in the usual bullying fashion of Mandarins dealing with what they consider to be inferior races. He bawled at the Headmen, ordering them not to go to our tents and to do this and not to do that in a style which, if we had not been present, would very soon have brought out the Kachins' swords, as the Headmen were attended by their sons and the villagers. Then, no doubt, if the worthy deputy had escaped with a whole skin, he would have run away back to China and reported that the barbarians had made a humble submission, offering tribute.\n\nHaving suppressed the insolence of the deputy, we made him sit down at Mr. Leveson's tent to hear the Hparè Headman's statements; it was to the same effect as that which his people had already made to Mr. Leveson. They denied in toto that they were, or ever had been, in any sense tributary to the Ming Kwang Chiefs, or that any Chinese officials ever exercised any sort of control over them. Their boundary, they stated, was the watershed over which we had come, and beyond that they never went to cultivate; down country, their villages extended along the Kan Sheng River (Kun Ma in Chinese) to its junction with the Ngaw Chang, but not farther. Their people went to Ming Kwang for the five-day bazaar, and Chinese pedlars passed through Hparè. They were as a rule on good terms with the Chinese, except that after Mr. Hertz's affair, some Chinese, whose names they gave, and who are believed to be Headman Tso's people from Ming Kwang, had come in the night and burnt twelve houses in Hparè and carried off thirty head of cattle, of which eight had never been returned. They dwelt on the fact that this case had not been settled, and it appears to constitute what the Kachins call a \"ka,\" or feud, with the Ming Kwang Fu Yi.\n\nThe Hparè Headmen further stated that formerly the Fu Yi of Lower Ming Kwang used to pay them 25 rupees a-year and some gunpowder, in return for which they guaranteed to traders the safety of the road along the Kun Ma River, but that these payments had ceased for the last thirty years. On festive occasions, such as the building of a new house or a marriage, the Hparè people had been wont to make presents to the Lower Ming Kwang Sawbwa, and he had made return presents to Hparè on similar occasions, but no such exchange of gifts had taken place for five years past. The Ming Kwang Fu Yi, some weeks before our arrival, had sent to \"order\" them to come out to meet the Taotai and mend the road; they had refused to leave their village, and as regards the road, had, in fact, told Ming Kwang to mind his own business.\n\nThese statements were confirmed by the bystanders, and made both in the Lashi and Chinese languages. The Chinese deputy refused to cross-examine or even to listen to them, and got up and went away; so much for joint examination. The Headman's son had already suggested to Mr. Leveson that if the Chinese frontier was to be defined, it should not include Hparè. It is perfectly clear that Chinese suzerainty, much more control, over Hparè and Kun Ma Valley is an entire myth. Nor, though I pressed him, could the Taotai induce his two Ming Kwang Headmen to point out any single fact which would go to prove that they were exercising, or ever, in the memory of man, had exercised, any sort of overlordship or control in the Kan Sheng Valley.\n\nSince the incursion of the Chinese who were expelled by Mr. Hertz, no Chinese officials or soldiers appear to have visited Hparè, except on the occasion of the above-mentioned raid.\n\nIf this is their country, why did neither of the Ming Kwang Chiefs come with us personally or send representatives to Hparè? To me, the reason is easy; it was a prudent regard for their own skins and a natural aversion to inconvenient conversations about the twelve houses and eight head of cattle. I believe that any attempt on the part of the Ming Kwang Chiefs to assert their imaginary authority would be forcibly resisted by the Hparè people.\n\n## Journey to Tzu Chu\n\nOn the 7th April, Mr. Leveson and the surveyor left Hparè to proceed to Tzu Chu, a small upland valley to the north-east of Hparè, and divided from it by a steep razor-like spur. The Tzu Chu River is known to the Lashis as the Mang Sheng Kha. It joins the Hparè River a few miles below Lower Hparè, and their junction forms the Kun Ma or Kan Sheng River, which flows straight into the Ngaw Chang, or, in Chinese, Hsiao Chiang (Little River), the junction being 16 miles from Upper Hparè.\n\nThe Ngaw Chang is an important tributary of the N'Maikha, which takes a peculiar semi-circular course through very mountainous country. Rising from the west of the great Salween-Irrawaddy divide in north latitude 26° 18', it flows swiftly over a rocky bed in a southerly direction for about 20 miles; then it turns west and flows at the south foot of a conspicuous range covered with snow in April, for about 20 miles to a point near the junction of the Kan Sheng, where is situated the considerable Lashi village of Taw Gaw (forty houses); then the Ngaw Chang turns north, and, after flowing roughly parallel to the N'Maikha for some distance, finally joins it in north latitude 26° 30′.\n\nMr. Leveson reached the Tzu Chu Valley from Hparè in one day after a stiff climb over a spur. He found only one village, Lagwi, and the remains of the deserted hamlet of Mang Sheng. The Lagwi people were found to be Lashi Kachins related to the Hparè people. Two of the Hparè Headmen's sons accompanied Mr. Leveson to Tzu Chu; thence, one of them returned home, but the other attached himself to Mr. Leveson and remained, making himself generally useful for all the rest of the time during which we were exploring the valley of the Ngaw Chang. Both these youths seemed to be peaceable, decent fellows enough, though they apparently fail to appreciate the benefits of Celestial government. I feel sure that neither of them would have any difficulty in answering the question, \"Under which King, Bezonian? Speak or die!\"\n\nMr. Leveson examined the Lagwi villagers. It appears that Tzu Chu is only the Chinese name of the place, derived, it is said, from the dwarf bamboos with which the sides of the valley are clad. The Tzu Chu people's statement, made in the presence of the Chinese deputy, was the same as that of the Hparè Headman, except that they had no case or feud with Ming Kwang. They are on good terms with the Chinese, and go over the watershed to do their marketing, but there is not, and never has been, in the memory of man, any payment of tribute or taxes to the Chinese, nor has any Chinese official ever visited Tzu Chu or sent orders to the Tzu Chu people, or attempted to exercise any authority or control over them, nor do they consider themselves at all subject to China.\n\nThere is no Chinese resident either in Hparè or Tzu Chu.\n\nWe are of opinion that nothing can be clearer than that there is no Chinese control either in Hparè or Tzu Chu.\n\n## Return to Ming Kwang and Conference with the Taotai\n\nWhile Mr. Leveson was at Tzu Chu, I had returned from Hparè to our former camp near Ming Kwang in order to confer with the Taotai, who had meanwhile delivered to me (1) a map setting forth the claims of Ming Kwang Headmen to various territories beyond the watershed, from which it will be seen that these claims are much as I reported last year; (2) two documents, dated in the 21st year of Tao Kwang (1842), purporting to be certificates issued by the Ping Pu or Board of War in Peking on the application of the Yunnan Government, recognizing the succession of the Chief or Fu Yi Yang of \"Hparè in Ming Kwang,\" and of the Chief or Fu Yi Tso of “Tzu Chu in Ming Kwang,\" though, in point of fact, neither Hparè nor Tzu Chu are situated in Ming Kwang, but are divided from it by a broad uninhabited mountain range. Both these Chiefs are referred to in the certificates as \"hereditary sergeants in the army.\" When I reported last year that the Hparè and Tzu Chu Headmen had hereditary Chinese titles, I was misled. These titles belong not to the real Lashi Headmen of those places, but to the Chinese Chiefs of Ming Kwang in virtue of an imaginary suzerainty...\n\n437\n\nD [2167 x-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403537, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 446, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 12\n\nThe Regent of the petty State of Teng Keng, situated on the right bank of the Salween, latitude 26° north, had come over to Pien Ma to meet the Taotai and come to see me.\n\nThe claims of Teng Keng were investigated.\n\nAt Tsui Ho the Lisu inhabitants told us that they had originally come over from the Salween side of the great Irrawaddy divide, and therefore considered themselves as Teng Keng's men. They paid a small tax in kind, of the value of about 12 annas per house, and if the Teng Keng Chief came to visit them they made a contribution to his travelling expenses. They stated that there were several Lisu hamlets scattered about the hill-sides who were in the same position towards the Teng Keng Chief. These hamlets are hardly to be considered permanent, as after taking a crop or two off the hill-side the Lisu will often remove their bamboo wattle huts to some other fold in the mountains. The Lashi Headman of the Pien Ma, an old man, who began by stating his desire to make submission to the British, the Regent of Teng Keng, and several other natives made statements on the subject of the payment of tribute, which, though they were not in precise agreement with each other, were enough to prove that no one really knows what amount is paid per annum, and also that it differs considerably from year to year. The financial arrangements of Teng Keng are, in short, not such as would meet the approval of the Revenue Secretary to the Government of India. The Regent's statement to me was the vaguest of all, and it is clear that he knows very little of the country which is supposed to belong to him.\n\nIt appears that Pien Ma, U Tung, Kang Fang, Ku Lan, P'a Ti, and some other hamlets, all of which are Lashi or Lisu villages near the headwaters of the Ngaw Chang, and comprise in all a little over 200 families, were supposed to have been assigned by the Chinese Government to Teng Keng after the famous campaign in Chia Ching's reign (see above). These villages had previously been, and continued for some time after to be, subject to Lung Pang, on the right bank, further down the Ngaw Chang; but some years after the Chinese campaign a feud broke out between the Pien Ma group of villages and Chi Kaw, near Lung Pang, on account of a cattle theft. Chi Kaw raided and burnt Pien Ma, and Pien Ma replied by engaging the assistance of the Chinese from Teng Keng. They then burnt and looted Chi Kaw, and in compensation for Teng Keng's help, and in satisfaction for the previous murder of two members of the Teng Keng Headman's family, they agreed to pay him tribute. Present this tribute is paid mostly in kind. The Pien Ma Headman stated that, including scattered households of Lisu immigrants from the Salween, there are now nearly 350 families in this tribute-paying tract, of whom one-half are Lashi and one-half Lisu, but I believe this number to be beyond the mark.\n\nThe forty households of Pien Ma pay to the annual value of about 10 taels. Besides this a toll on coffin wood brought up from the Ngaw Chang by the Chinese firm mentioned above is levied at Kang Fang, near the left bank of the Upper Ngaw Chang, by Teng Keng. The produce of this toll is never more, and often less, than 100 taels a-year. On the whole, I think we may say that the annual sum which Teng Keng derives from the Upper Ngaw Chang is probably 300 rupees a-year at the outside.\n\nIt is to be noted that, apart from the collection of this uncertain sum, there is no regular administration of Pien Ma or the adjacent villages by Teng Keng. He has no power or machinery to undertake anything of the kind. The country is very poor, and much disturbed by feuds, which, I expect, if the truth were known, often prevent Teng Keng from \"touching\" his revenue. The Lung Pang \"Duwa\" has a vendetta with the Chinese, and shortly before our arrival it appears that he distinctly intimated to Teng Keng that neither Teng Keng nor any other Chinese would be allowed to cross the Ngaw Chang, and it was probably this threat which induced the Taotai to withdraw the claims of Ming Kwang to the Lang Pang group.\n\nThen Pien Ma has a vendetta with Shang Lou, a village of fifty families of Lashi, situated to the west of Pien Ma. It is reported that disorders have recently taken place at U Tung, and it is clear that there is practically no such thing as government in the country.\n\nOn the other hand, it must be admitted that Teng Keng has more substantial claims to the consideration of the British Government than Ming Kwang; he has a scintilla juris, and the levy of uncertain sums at irregular intervals is as far as the Chinese have ever gone anywhere in Yunnan towards the administration of frontier tribes.\n\nBefore reaching Pien Ma the Taotai had delivered to me further documentary evidence regarding his claims in the shape of a Memorial to the Throne from the Viceroy of Yünnan in the eighteenth century, together with an Instruction issued by the Tengyueh officials, undated, but probably of the same date as the Memorial.\n\n## 13\n\nPage 439\n\nThese documents profess to assign a number of \"barbarian\" villages, of which the names are given, among the respective jurisdictions of Tengyueh, Pao Shan, Yün Lung, and Li Chiang, all in West Yünnan. Most of these villages are in the Salween Valley, and therefore not now in question; but Pien Ma, U Tung, Tzu Chu, Hparè, &c., are mentioned in the list as being subject to Tengyueh and Pao Shan. As I have already pointed out, there is no evidence that the arrangements set forth in these documents ever represented the real state of affairs. I fail to see that the Government of India is compelled to pay any more attention to these papers than the President of the United States would pay to the Papal Bulls of the sixteenth century, which assigned the whole of the New World to Spain and Portugal. If you accept the premises that the New World belonged to the Pope to assign, the Bulls are excellent titles; so if we follow the Taotai, and accept as true beyond contradiction any statement set down in a document sealed by the Chinese Government, then the Memorial would be a good title to the villages in question. But as in fact the premises are absurd, the conclusion cannot be supported.\n\nOn the 19th April we broke up our camp at Pien Ma, and, in view of the lateness of the season and the continued bad weather, divided our forces; while the Taotai and myself proceeded east to the Salween, Mr. Leveson and Surveyor Natha Singh proceeded down to the Ngaw Chang. A Chinese deputy was detailed to go with them, but he thought that discretion was the better part of valour, and returned to Ming Kwang.\n\nMr. Leveson gives the following particulars, which fully confirm our previous information respecting the condition of the Kachins on the Ngaw Chang, and his visit to them:---\n\n\"I spent three days on the Upper Ngaw Chang, and most of the Headmen came to see me, including Gaw Yawm (in Chinese, Shang Lon), and Shi Jang (in Chinese, Hsieh Chiang), Chi Kaw, and others. They were all friendly and accepted presents. The surveyors fixed all the villages, and went down the other side (right bank) of the Ngaw Chang as far as Pa Le, below Lung Pang. I then returned to Pien Ma.\n\n\"Teng Keng left a nasty reputation behind him at Pien Ma by beating a Lashi Headman for not providing supplies for the Chinese.\n\n\"The statement of the Headman from the Lower Kau Shang is to the same effect as that of Hparè----namely, that they are in no way subordinate to any Chinese, and have never paid tribute.\n\n\"The Shi Jang (Hsieh Chiang) Headman makes the same statement, but adds that he occasionally exchanges presents of 'huang lien' (a medicine) for salt with the Ming Kwang Fu Yi.\n\n\"The trans-Ngaw Chang, or Lung Pang, group of villages comprises some 120 families at Lang Pang, Pa Le, Kan Kawn (Kan K'un), Hpien Law (Kwan Chai), &c. Their Headmen have no dealings whatever with the Chinese Chiefs, and, in fact, threatened this year to do for them if they crossed the Ngaw Chang.\n\n(This is the group of villages to which the Taotai has withdrawn his claims.)\n\n\"The Gaw Yawm (Chinese, Shang Lon) group on the Shang Tawn River, which joins the Ngaw Chang between the Pien Ma and Kan Sheng Rivers, has some forty or fifty households of Lashi.\n\n\"They state that they are in subordinate alliance with Ta Tang; every third year he gives them a buffalo, and they give him 50 viss of 'huang lien' (165 lb.). He exercises no jurisdiction beyond this, but he did actually visit Gaw Yawm while we were at Pien Ma.\n\n\"The Upper Ngaw Chang, or Pien Ma, group includes five villages of over 25 households and some nine hamlets, in all probably 240 households, of which some 180 are Lisu, mostly immigrants from the Salween, and the rest Lashi.\n\n\"The Lashi are supposed to pay about one-tenth of a tael per house per year to Teng Keng. The total tribute thus collected is not over 25 taels a-year, and is paid in kind, usually very miscellaneous kind. These villages describe themselves as in subordinate alliance with Teng Keng.\n\n\"The hamlet of Kang Fang (house of toll) is primarily the head-quarters of the Chinese coffin-wood firm. It used to be further down the Ngaw Chang, near the junction of the Pien Ma affluent. It was moved further up when wood became scarce in that locality. Tang Tung, or U Tung, is the first stage of the wood coolies en route to Ming Kwang; hence the two Chinese houses there.\n\nPage 54\n\nKang Fang is, secondarily, Teng Keng's toll and tribute collecting centre. Lisu, who extract coffin-wood on their own account apart from the Chinese firm, pay one set of boards in twenty-five.\" \n\n`[2167 -1]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403538, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 447, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "440 \n\n14 \n\n[The Chinese firm pay one in ten—at least, so they told me—but I expect that they and the Lisu often evade payment.—G. L.] \n\n\"Beyond collecting toll and tribute Teng Keng never exercises any authority on the N'Maikha side of the watershed beyond the Salween divide. \n\nThe Upper Ngaw Chang Valley consists of steep grassy slopes, with pines and chestnuts, and very little cultivation. Mules from Ming Kwang are sometimes sent here to graze, and I met a few Szechuanese peddlers with their trade loads. Below Kang Fang there are some narrow strips of paddy-land on both sides of the river.\" \n\n## VI. The Lisu Country on the Upper Salween. \n\nI was accompanied from Pien Ma to the Salween by Surveyor Lachman Jadu; my object was to collect such further information about the main Salween-Irrawaddy divide as would enable His Majesty's Government to press for the definition of the frontier north of the point (about latitude 25° 50′) where this main divide is joined by the minor divide between the Ming Kwang and Ngaw Chang Rivers, or, what is the same, the divide between the Shweli and the N'Maikha. \n\nFrom Pien Ma the track ascended steeply in an easterly direction across open grassy hills. At 8,500 feet a magnificent view was unfolded. East of us the lofty snow-clad range between the Salween and the N'Maikha stretched away towards the north; to the south of us the crest of the divide between the Ngaw Chang and the Ming Kwang Rivers stood clearly out against the sky for many miles. Nothing could have shown more clearly than this view the fitness and convenience of the frontier which we claim. \n\nBelow us lay the scattered village of Pien Ma with its narrow valley of paddy-fields stretching down to the dark gorge in which flows the Ngaw Chang. Beyond, and hanging over the right bank of the Ngaw Chang, was another majestic range of snow-clad peaks forming a barrier between the Lashi (Chinese, Cha Shau) country, which we had been exploring, and Lang-su, as it is known to the Chinese. \n\nLang-su is a general term indicating all the wild Maru country beyond the Ngaw Chang and west of the great Salween divide. It appears to be generally recognized by the Chinese as not being under their control, and no claims were put forward in respect of it. The N'Maikha above the junction of the Ngaw Chang is known to the very few Chinese who have been there as the Laug-su River. \n\nWe crossed into the Salween basin by the Pien Ma Pass at 10,500 feet. This pass is usually practicable for mules, but we found the narrow path along the hill-side leading down from the summit deep in loose wet snow, across which it was impossible for animals to proceed. We were accordingly compelled to send the mules round by the Ma Mien Pass, a détour of twelve days, and do as best we could with coolie porters. The descent on the Salween side was very steep along the gorge of the Ku Tan Stream, which joins the Salween just north of the village of Teng Keng, after a rapid course of 12 miles. After camping in the jungle some 4 miles above the scattered village of Ku T'an, we climbed up a very steep spur on the left of the stream till we reached 6,500 feet, or 3,500 feet above the Salween, whence a long half-day's march of 8 miles northwards along steep bare hill-sides with several steep ascents and descents brought us to the Lisu village of La Chang (thirty houses), situated at 6,000 feet on a wooded terrace high above the Salween. \n\nHere we reached the fatherland of the Lisu tribe, for the Lisu villages scattered about the hills further south are all emigrations from the Upper Salween. Very few of the inhabitants of La Chang can speak more than a few sentences of Chinese. At Mao Chao, the next village to the north, only the attendants of the semi-Chinese Headman can speak the language of Han. Beyond Mao Chao there are no Chinese at all except two families resident at Cheng Ka, by the banks of Salween, latitude 26°, a small village with some paddy-fields, where there is a rope sling-bridge and a ferry-raft for crossing the river in low water. \n\nWe advanced three marches north of Lu Chang, camping at the villages of Mao Chao, Shih Pai Lai Ti, and Pai Pa; fortunately, lucid moments between the perpetual thunderstorms which swept down the valley in quick succession enabled the surveyor, by advancing above and beyond Pai Pa, to map the river and the high snow-clad divide between it and the Irrawaddy as far as latitude 26° 30′. \n\nI may therefore here put together in brief the information which I have collected on this and other journeys concerning the Upper Salween—i.e., above the iron suspension bridge on the main Burmah-Ta Li road. \n\n15 \n\nFrom the bridge northwards as far as Teng Keng, latitude 26°, the river, though its basin is only some 20 miles across, flows through comparatively open country, the great mountains on both sides breaking down to the banks in open rolling downs with ample room for rice cultivation, but, owing to the extreme unhealthiness of the valley, only a small part of it is cultivated by a mixed population of Shans and Chinese. There are, however, numerous Chinese villages along the upper slopes. The principal ferry in this section is at Meng Ku, latitude 25° 36', near the market of Man Yin, on the right or west bank, which is the last bazaar on the Upper Salween, and is situated in a broad paddy-valley at the foot of the Ma Mien Pass over to the valley of Ta Tang (Upper Shweli). \n\nFrom Teng Keng, in latitude 26° northwards, to about 27° 40', the river, which maintains an equal breadth of 100 yards for a great distance, is enclosed in a gorge as precipitous as the cañon of the Mekong. From about latitude 26° the range on the west bank forms the main divide between the Salween and the Irrawaddy, and its array of peaks is covered with snow for at least eight months of the year. This range is also an important ethnographical boundary, forming a barrier between the Maru country along the east of N'Maikha and the Lisu country along the west bank of the Salween. The Salween Lisu seem to regard this range as the frontier, and speak of their own Liso country—i.e., the Salween Valley—in contradistinction to Langsu, the Kachin country on the other side of the range. \n\nThe gorge section of the Salween appears to be entirely inhabited by Lisu, a tribe closely allied to the Lolo, and probably of Thibetan origin. They are well aware of the unhealthiness of the river banks, and nearly all their villages are 3,000 feet above the bottom of the gorge, even though the paddy-fields have to be squeezed into the few gaps in the cliffs by the river banks. \n\nThe characteristic of this gorge of the Salween is the tremendous series of sharp steep spurs which come straight down from the snows to the river in an endless succession of parallels. It must be remembered that while the river itself here flows at 3,000 feet, and the mountains between it and the Irrawaddy basin on the west, or the basin of the Mekong on the east, rise to heights from 10,000 feet to 13,000 feet, the whole width of the valley from crest to crest of the two ranges is only some 18 miles in an air-line; from native information it appears that the spurs which descend to the N'Maikha on the west side of the great divide are quite as numerous and difficult as those which we negotiated on our journey northwards from Lu Chang. \n\nFrom about latitude 27° 40′ northwards to the confines of Thibet the valley of the Salween is again somewhat more open. Wide stretches of country are covered with tall grass, and the bulk of the population in this section consists of Lu Tzu, a tribe in a very backward condition and probably closely allied to the Ching-paw or Kachins. \n\nThe French `Missions Étrangères` have recently sent a priest to work among these people, and he has established himself at Chongra on the left bank at about latitude 28°. He has seen and even ascended the Salween-Irrawaddy divide, which is here the boundary between the Lu and the Chiu tribes, who inhabit the eastern sources of the Irrawaddy. This same divide was crossed by Prince Henri of Orleans at an altitude of 12,800 feet, in latitude approximately 27° 40'. \n\nIt is therefore submitted that it may be regarded as established that a high regular range divides the Salween from the Irrawaddy basin as far as the sources of the latter river, and that north of the point (about latitude 25° 52′) where the Ming Kwang-N'Maikha divide joins it, this main range is not only the most convenient frontier, but also the only frontier which His Majesty's Government can accept, and that the sooner the Government of Peking can be brought to comprehend this the better. \n\nTravelling in the Lisu country is a series of steep climbs up the almost perpendicular sides of spurs, followed by break-neck descents on the other side. The scattered villages of rude log or bamboo huts with grass thatching are generally situated near the ridges of the spurs. The streams between the spurs are violent mountain torrents crossed by rickety plank bridges, and the bottom of each little valley is occupied by a hot and steamy jungle, whence the perspiring traveller climbs painfully up to the breezy ridges. The Taotai with much difficulty got a small mountain chair as far as Mao Chao, but there had to call a halt while I and the surveyor proceeded `pedibus cum jambis`. \n\nCultivation on the steep hill slopes along the river is extensive but precarious, as the fields are liable to be swept bodily away into the Salween; paddy-fields are few, and are...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403539, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 448, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# \n募 \n\n16 \n\nconfined to the lower slopes. Half-way up the hills where our road lay opium was the most important crop, followed by a summer sowing of maize, but we also saw some patches of wheat and beans.\n\nThe Lisu are stay-at-home people, which is not surprising in view of the difficulty of getting about. Few of them can give any information about country more than three days' march from their own village, and fewer still have ever seen a town of 1,000 inhabitants or a square mile of flat country. These hills are so cut off from all relief by the outer world, and the villagers are so poor, that the problem of how to get enough to eat is the burning question of the day. There are no free-traders here. In none of the villages beyond Lu Chang could we buy a pound of rice or other cereals, though fowls and an occasional goat were forthcoming. Even paterfamilias practises high protection. He tries to get enough grain to feed himself and his family till the next harvest, and will not let a spoonful go out of the house.\n\nThe Chinese lower down the Salween regard all the country above Mao Chao as \"black\" or wild Lisu territory, utterly beyond the pale of civilization. There are no Chinese residents on the Salween north of Cheng Ka. No doubt the Lisu often raid in various directions, hunger being the chief incentive, though sometimes the object is to make slaves, or, in the case of forays towards the north, to cut off the Chinese gold-workers. The slave traffic seems fairly brisk. At Pai Pa the price of a male or female child of 8 to 10 years was about 20 rupees, but some of our porters told us that if we could come on to their village some distance further north we should find a larger selection and at easier rates. The slavery is of the domestic type, but the slave has also to work in the fields.\n\nAt Pai Pa, while I was sitting in my tent, I was surprised by a very dirty old man with remarkably brilliant black eyes, who threw himself down on the ground at the door of my tent and began a chant in a high, loud voice. I thought that he was a beggar, and asked the by-standers what his song was all about. They said in a rather awe-struck manner that they did not understand it. On inquiry I then discovered that I was in the presence of the local soothsayer, or medicine man.\n\nRealizing that he might be a person of some importance, I at once gave him a necklace of red beads and a rupee, whereupon he declared, in language which could be understood of the people, that my goings and comings in the Lisu country would be most prosperous--an announcement which had an impressive effect on the by-standers.\n\nThese \"tien ssu,\" or prophets, as the Chinese call them, are to be found in many Lisu villages. They deal in charms, medicines, funeral rites, omens, incantations, and in the knowledge of all things which, for the ordinary mortal, are hidden in the womb of time. No doubt among the ignorant villagers they have considerable influence, and could, if they wished, raise disturbances. The language of their trade is probably an archaic form of Lisu, and the various chants and invocations which they use have been handed down for generations and from times of old.\n\nI cannot confirm the reports of the savage and barbarous habits of these Lisu. I was entirely in their hands for two weeks, and I found that their good-will was very easy to win.\n\nPorters were always forthcoming so long as there was a ration of rice to give them, and I never had the least trouble. They are a hardy race, and though their manners are rough, they did not appear to be given to quarrelling among themselves like the Kachins, and the European traveller can march with them without feeling that uncontrollable desire to assault them which he nearly always feels in the case of Chinese coolies. Given the absence of Chinese soldiers and officials, and a carefully arranged supply of food, the complete exploration of the Lisu country on the Upper Salween would, for a good walker, be no difficult task, provided that he went in the autumn, when the weather is fine, when there is the minimum of snow on the passes, and local supplies of cereal food for a small party could be purchased.\n\nFrom the village of Pai Pa there is a pass via the village of Chi Me Le westwards over the great Salween divide to Langsu or the Maru country along the N Maikha, while Kang Fang on the Upper Ngaw Chang River can also be reached by this pass in four days from Pai Pa. There is said to be another route over this range some three days north of Pai Pa, but the communication between the Salween and the N'Maikha is difficult and unfrequent, as the Marus and Lisu have very little to do with each other. We had hoped to explore the Chi Me Le Pass, but the deep snows and continuous rain rendered the track quite impassable.\n\n17\n\n## Chinese Expedition to the Maru Country\n\n441\n\nThe Chinese Headman of Ku T'an, a village near Teng Keng, came into camp at Lu Chang and told me all about an attempt which had been made in the 16th year of Kwang Hsü (1890) to establish Chinese influence on the Upper N'Maikha. He had taken charge of the expedition, which consisted of fifty persons, nearly all Chinese. The venture was financed by the Teng Keng, Ta Tang, and Ming Kwang Headmen to the extent of 3,000 taels. It had two objects--firstly, to check the advance of British control from Myitkyina; and, secondly, to work the brine wells on the N'Maikha at about latitude 26° 30′.\n\nThe venture proved a failure owing to the extreme difficulty of the country, the absence of proper arrangements to bring up supplies, and the deadly climate. The Headman told me that he could speak some Maru, and had remained on the Upper N'Maikha for about seven months. The Maru villages he described as being constantly at feud with one another, and endeavouring to enlist his assistance in their quarrels.\n\nThe brine wells proved to be rich, but the expense and difficulty of transport to China rendered it impossible to make any profit, and the attempt to establish a Chinese colony had to be abandoned. This Ku Tan Headman was a particularly intelligent man, and told me that the Chinese, with their methods, would never be able to open up the country, and that they have no funds to make what was absolutely essential, namely, a passable track. He asked me to mention that he would like to serve under any British officer who might be conducting an expedition into the Maru country. His route had been via Kang Fang, then across the Ngaw Chang, and up into the mountains beyond.\n\nTo describe the government of the Lisu on the Upper Salween would be like describing the snakes of Iceland. North of latitude 26° there is practically none, except in so far as the \"prophets\" and old men of each village look after the affairs of that village. The jurisdiction of the Teng Keng Fu Yi (residing on the right bank of the Salween, latitude 26°), extends along the right bank only as far as the Ku Tan. Many of Teng Keng's villages are Chinese, or half-caste Lisu. The Teng Keng Fu Yi is a boy of about 16. Proceeding north, the next Fu Yi is at Lu Chang, to the north of the Ku Tan Stream, and situated at 6,000 feet high above the right bank of the Salween. This Fu Yi is an intelligent child of 9; he is of Lisu extraction, and the clan name is Cha. His affairs are managed by his mother and their villagers. Practically all Lisu seem to be in a prosperous and happy condition. The Lu Chang territory is about 10 miles from south to north. Next comes the Mao Chao Fu Yi. His village, like Lu Chang, is perched on a terrace 3,000 feet above the right bank of the river, and backed by the snowy Irrawaddy divide. This Fu Yi is about 35 years of age; his territory is some 14 miles from north to south, and entirely inhabited by Lisu. His rule is wholly confined to attempts, sometimes successful, sometimes otherwise, to levy money or goods from his villages. Pai Pa is the last Mao Chao village proceeding north.\n\nBeyond Pai Pa for three days the country nominally belongs to the Lao Wo Fu Yi, who resides in the hills between the Salween and the Mekong at about latitude 26°. The village of Cheng-ka, on the right bank of the Salween, below Pai Pa, and its ferry belongs to him, and his agent resides at Cheng-ka. Lao Wo's efforts at government appear to be less successful than those of Mao Chao, but they go further, for he does not confine himself to trying to levy money; he also endeavours from time to time to raid his subjects and carry off the fairest of their damsels.\n\nAgain, north of the territory claimed by Lao Wo, the Fu Yi of Chou, known as \"Lo Tu Kuan,\" i.e., the native official Lo, who has his residence on the Mekong, is supposed to be the overlord of the Lisu on both banks of the Salween; but his control, even on the left bank, and in the hills between the Salween and the Mekong, is of so shadowy a description that it may be said not to exist at all.\n\nNone of these Fu Yi appear to claim, and most certainly none of them control, any territory to the west of the great divide in the Irrawaddy basin.\n\nNorth of about latitude 27° 40′ the La Tzu tribe along the banks of the Salween are supposed to be tributary to the Moso, Thibetan Chief of Yetche, on the left bank of the Mekong. North, again, of the Lu Tzu country, i.e., from about latitude 28° 20′, the Salween Valley is, it is believed, wholly inhabited by Thibetans of the Tsarong Province.\n\n[2167 x-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403541, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 450, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 20\n\nThe area is uninhabitable for an average distance of 6 to 8 miles from the crest. This range divides all the Kachins (on the Burmah side) from all the Chinese (on the Yunnon side). Further, all the Lisu, with the exception of a few scattered hamlets, and all the Lu Tzu would be on the Chinese side. Moreover, the frontier proposed is already recognized as such by the natives all along the line, even in the case of the Pien Ma people, who, while recognizing themselves as tributary to Teng Keng, still regard the watershed as the frontier between them and China proper.\n\n3. We find that the adoption of any other frontier would be highly detrimental to the interests of Burmah and in the long run scarcely less injurious to China. Chinese territorial claims on the N'Maikha side could not be recognized without forming an enclave where all the discontented, restless, or criminal spirits could find a safe refuge beyond the reach of the British Government. This would greatly increase the expense and difficulty of even a partial administration. Such an enclave would have to be surrounded by a line of forts, maintained at heavy cost. That the Yunnan Government will not, indeed cannot, reduce its tribes to order is not a matter of speculation, but of actual experience, witness the Blamo frontier, where considerable tracts on the China side are under no sort of control and Burmah has to maintain a military police force to an extent which, so far as the British Kachins are concerned, would be wholly unnecessary.\n\nIf Yunnan cannot control these Kachins, who are close to the main trade routes and adjacent to Tengyueh, what likelihood is there that any serious steps would be taken by the Mandarins to establish order in the distant N'Maikha basin, especially when even the pretence of a military force in West Yunnan has been abandoned? This being the case, to recognize their claims would be to involve them in constant difficulties with regard to frontier disputes. What the Chinese really want is precisely what we ought not to concede, namely, that we should save their face by recognizing their claims and they should nevertheless not be put to any expense or trouble in order to control or to police the country claimed; in other words, that we should admit their full rights of sovereignty without expecting them to fulfil any of its duties. The Taotai assures me that the Fu Yi will guarantee the good behaviour of the tribes and that he will guarantee the good behaviour of the Fu Yi; but this does not improve matters; it is simply Bardolph going bail for Falstaff. I should, like the tailor, want better assurance.\n\n4. We suggest that there is now quite sufficient information to enable a frontier to be laid down at Peking or London, and therefore recommend that His Majesty's Government should not consent to dispatch any further parties for inquiry or delimitation, except possibly to lay down boundary pillars when the frontier has been accepted by China. We further recommend that no further discussion with the Chinese as to what the boundary is to be should be entertained after the results of the present inquiry, with the map, have been laid before them. The negotiations, if any, should be confined to the presentation of a draft Convention in which the only matter for discussion is the amount and mode of payment of the compensation to be made by Burmah for Teng Keng's claims; or, in the alternative, if the Chinese refuse to sign such a Convention, to a declaration that the water-divide is the line which we intend to regard as the frontier in future.\n\n5. As regards payment, we suggest that not only the revenue actually obtained by Teng Keng should be considered, but also the value to the Government of Burmah of a speedy settlement. A payment of 500 rupees per annum will, in fact, more than compensate for the discontinuance of present actual receipts, but it will be well worth while to pay 1,000 rupees, or even a few hundreds more, to obtain an immediate acceptance of the line proposed.\n\nWhile the convenience of paying a lump sum to extinguish the claims once and for all may be admitted, it will probably on the whole be preferable to pay an annuity to the Chinese Headmen, which they would receive quamdiu se bene gesserint. If after a settlement had been reached they molested or caused disorder among the people on the N'Maikha side, payment could be withheld, whereas if a lump sum had been paid we should have no further hold over them. Moreover, the Chinese are more likely to be willing to accept an annual payment than a lump sum, as the latter might be regarded as a transaction for the sale of Celestial land. The money could be paid via the Consul and the Taotai to the Chinese Headmen in such proportions as the Taotai might direct, though, as a fact, Teng Keng is the only man who has any claims to a single rupee.\n\n6. We recommend that every effort, by simultaneous and continuous pressure both at Peking and Yunnan, should be made to induce the Chinese Government to accept the watershed frontier.\n\n## 21\n\n7. If they consent to this, there seem no reasons why the Government of Burmah should be in any hurry to administer the country, but it might possibly be advisable to send a small expedition to establish friendly relations with the Lashi Headmen along the Ngaw Chang, Kan Sheng, and Pien Ma Rivers, and to explain to them that henceforth they are not subject to China, and that the Chinese Headmen have no right to molest them.\n\n8. If the Chinese still refuse to abandon their pretensions, then it will be for the Government of Burmah to consider whether the advance of British administration, or at least of control, along the N'Maikha should not be accelerated. The only argument against this (but it is a weighty one) is the expense; on the other hand, it is clear that sooner or later this expense will have to be undertaken. The people at present seem friendly to us on the N'Maikha side, and there appears for the moment to be little danger of Chinese intrigues. It is therefore probable that the sooner the task is taken up, the less expensive it will be. Further, the sooner the country comes under British control, the sooner the question of the frontier will be finally settled and the danger of friction with the Chinese avoided. It may be argued and admitted that the territory in dispute is of no immediate or intrinsic value, and that there is no necessity to take immediate action, or even that graceful concessions may be made to the Chinese in respect of it; it is—\n\n\"a little patch of ground \nThat hath in it no profit but the name. \nTo pay \nfive ducats, five, I would not farm it; \nNor will it yield to Norway or the Pole \nA ranker rate should it be sold in fee.\"\n\nThe reply is that, in considering a frontier, attention has to be paid to the possibilities of the distant future, and not merely to the political convenience of the moment. While the territory is intrinsically worthless, it is of much importance in matters of this kind. Graceful concessions in relation to the future administration of a vast tract of country have never helped us with the Chinese; besides, to yield on this point would be to confer on our Celestial friends a damnosa hereditas.\n\nOn the whole, we submit that no time should be lost in taking such action as will place beyond all doubt or possibility of future question the principle that the whole of the basin of the Irrawaddy up to the Salween divide is within the sphere of Indian influence. To secure this, it will not be necessary to touch any of the country west of the N'Maikha, nor on the east of that river, to set up an administration so precise as that which now exists in the Kachin Hills near Bhamo. All that seems to be called for is some improvement of the principal line of communication from the Shi Ngaw River, first to the Chi Pwi, then to the line of the Kan Sheng-Ngaw Chang, and then along the Ngaw Chang, all this country being gradually brought within the sphere of the Civil Officer's tour, and special attention being paid to establishing good relations with the Hparè, Lung Pang, and Pien Ma Headmen, who are nearest to China.\n\nIf these ends could be attained without fighting, there would, perhaps, be no present necessity for establishing a military post, which could not be done without great expense, especially for rationing. The country beyond and to the north of Ngaw Chang, which is inhabited by wild Marus, is so far from any Chinese influences that its administration may probably in any case be indefinitely postponed.\n\nIt is true that past experience among other Kachins goes to show that this tract could not be brought under control without military operations. But I may observe that most of the serious collisions which have occurred in the Kachin country, such as at Sima, Sadôn, and Matang in the early '90's, or at Hparè in 1900, were the immediate outcome of intrigues directed from the Tengyueh yamêns by Chinese officials. Now that so responsible an official as a Taotai is at Tengyueh in charge of frontier affairs, it is less likely that we shall have to anticipate difficulties of that kind; at least the Consular officers now established in Yünnan would probably be able to detect any such conspiracy. For the present, I anticipate nothing of the kind, and that is another reason why the opportunity seems favourable for an advance of British control up the N'Maikha; later on, the Mandarins may begin their old tricks again, for their real character remains ever the same, Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret. Further, the Kachins now understand better what British control means, and are less likely to resent it, and less likely to listen to the Chinese.\n\n9. If the limit of our control is pushed north, it may be advisable to remember that the upper waters of the N'Maikha are auriferous, perhaps highly auriferous. Until expert opinion has been obtained on the point, it would be well to abstain from granting any extensive concessions in this country.\n\nPage 443 \nPage 450 \nPage 451", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403542, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 451, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 10\n\nNo reference was made by us to that upper eastern branch of the Irrawaddy known to the Chinese as the Chiu River (probably the Aklying of Pottinger), whose basin is inhabited by the little-known tribe of Chiu Tzu. From inquiries made on the Upper Mekong, it seems that the Chiu Tzu are partly tributary to the Chief of Yetche, on the Mekong (left bank), who in his turn is subject to China. The Chinese officials have little or no notion of where the Chiu River is or who the Chiu Tzu are. I therefore thought that it would only confuse matters to raise the question of so distant and difficult a country. It is, I think, out of the question for the Chinese ever to send a military expedition to so remote and inaccessible a locality, except possibly in the wake of the French missionaries, but I hope to gather some more information concerning the Chin next autumn. It is submitted, however, that any claims to the Chiu district could be dealt with in the same way as the Teng Keng claims, and that our present knowledge of the general geography of the country is sufficient to justify His Majesty's Government in pressing for a recognition of the Salween-Irrawaddy divide as the frontier as far at least as latitude 28°. If the Chinese reply by raising the question of Chin, then the present delimitation might be confined to latitude 26° 30′, which is the limit of the Lao Wo Chief on the Salween; or, better still, it might be provided that the divide should be the frontier up to latitude 28°, but that His Majesty's Government would compensate on a liberal scale any Chiefs on the Chinese side who might subsequently be found to have customary rights to dues from tribes in the Irrawaddy basin. The suggestion in paragraph 4 above, that no further joint parties of inquiry should be sent (a demand which the Chinese are very likely to put forward), applies especially to the Chin district, whence the Irrawaddy has its eastern sources. This is probably about the least known and most difficult country in the world. No supplies, even for a small party of, say, twenty-five, would be procured nearer than Atentse or Yetche on the Upper Mekong, both of which are at least fifteen marches from the Chiu district, crossing two great rivers—the Mekong and the Salween—by rope bridges, and two passes of 11,000 to 13,000 feet. Mule transport is out of the question, and a coolie can only carry as much as will feed himself for twenty-four days. Supplies, even from Atentse or Yetche, could be cut off by hostile lamaseries, who are under no sort of control. The Chinese accompanying such an expedition would certainly be insolent and violent to the tribes, and no results could be expected at all commensurate with the expense and danger which such a wild-goose chase would involve. From Barmah or Assam, the Chiu country is equally inaccessible. It is desirable that more exact geographical and general information than is now available should be obtained, but if the Chiu country is ever to be explored, a Chinese official or soldier is the very last person in the world who ought to be allowed to join the party. Indeed, no Mandarin of any position or influence could ever reach the Chiu, because he would have to walk; but if he could walk, he would not be a man of position or influence.\n\n## 11\n\nA translation of the despatch which I have addressed to the Taotai is attached. The map of the country examined, with the names in English and Chinese—the latter having been settled by the Taotai—is submitted.\n\nConsiderable difficulty was experienced in fixing the Chinese names, for the same place is often differently designated by different tribes and again differently by the Chinese; often there is no recognized Chinese character for a place; it is therefore suggested that the characters given with the present map should be finally adopted. Further, different reaches of the same river are differently named by the same tribe. Take, for instance, the N'Maikha. Last year I wrongly reported that this was known to the Chinese as the Maiku River, but I now find that the Maiku River is the Shi Ngaw, tributary of the N'Maika, so called from a Kachin village on its bank. The name N'Maikha is unknown to the Chinese except to one or two officials, who have got it from our maps. N'Maikha is the name given to the river by the Ching Paw Kachins near the confluence, who are known to the Chinese as Pu Man. The Lashis call it La Pie, which simply means \"the river.\" Some of the Chinese regard it as simply part of the Ngaw Chang or Hsiao Chiang (Little River). Others regard it as part of the Irrawaddy, and accordingly call it Chin Sha Chiang, or Golden Sand River. On several occasions I heard it called simply Chiang, or river, which is an adoption of the Lashi word La Pie.\n\nThe Upper N'Maikha above the junction of the Ngaw Chang was referred to by the few Chinese I met who knew of its existence as the Langsu (or Maru) River. After discussion with the Taotai, we have adopted the somewhat barbarous \"Ngen Mai Ka,\" or \"Ngen Mai Kei,\" failing any recognized official version.\n\n## 12\n\nThe following is submitted as a suggestion for a draft of the text of a Convention which could be accepted by the Government of Burmah:\n\n### Draft Convention\n\n**(a.)** From Manung Pum, the high, conical peak in latitude 25° 33′ N., the frontier will follow the crest of the watershed range between the N'Maikha River with its tributaries to the north, and the Ta Ping and Shweli (Lung Chiang) Rivers with their tributaries to the south, until it reaches the watershed between the Salween and the Irrawaddy Rivers.\n\nThe following are the names by which certain points on this crest are known: the Pan Wa Ya Kou Pass, the Tzu Mei (sister) Peak, the Ta Ya Kou Pass, the Tzu Chu Ya Kou Pass, the Fen Shui Ling Pass, the Ta Ho Tou Ridge.\n\n| Localities and Natural Features | Belong to |\n| --- | --- |\n| Valleys (Pa-tzu) of Luu Ma and Tan Tsa, the Lang Ya Shan Peak, the Tien Tan Valley, the Ming Kwang Valley, the Ta Tang Valley | China |\n| Valleys of the Shi Ngaw, Tun Maw, and Chi Pwi Rivers; the Hparè Valley, the Tzu Chu Valley; the Valleys of the Shi Jang and Kan Sheng Streams, the Pien Ma Valley; and the valley of the Ngaw Chang, otherwise known as the Hsiao Chiang Stream | Burmah |\n\nThence the frontier will follow the crest of the lofty and conspicuous range known locally as the Kao Li Kung, which forms the watershed between the Salween and the Irrawaddy as far as latitude (?), passing through the crest of the Pien Ma Ya Kou Pass.\n\nThe whole of the basin of the Salween (Lu Chiang) thus belongs to China, and the whole of the basin of the Irrawaddy River to Burmah.\n\n**(b.)** As the frontier now laid down follows conspicuous ranges of hills and is locally well known, no further demarcation on the spot will be necessary, but it is agreed that officers will be dispatched by both Governments to erect boundary pillars at the principal passes over the ranges which form the frontier. Any difficulty in recognizing the places mentioned will be settled by reference to the map which is attached to the English and Chinese versions of this Convention, and which is hereby recognized by both Governments as authoritative.\n\n**(c.)** It is understood that this Convention does not affect the frontier of the various Thibetan districts, which will be reserved for future discussion.\n\n**(d.)** The Yunnan Government having reported that certain Headmen (`Fu Yi`) on the Chinese side of the frontier claim customary presents or pecuniary dues from villages situated on the Burmah side thereof, the British Government agrees to pay to the Chinese Government an annual sum of ... rupees in full compensation for the extinction of such claims. All jurisdiction and sovereignty over such villages shall henceforth reside in His Britannic Majesty for ever. It is agreed that this sum of rupees shall be paid annually commencing from the ... by His Britannic Majesty's Consul at Tengyueh, through the Taotai of West Yunnan, to be distributed to the said Headmen (`Fu Yi`) in such proportions as the Chinese Government may direct. (And any customary rights to similar presents or dues which the Chinese Headmen in the Salween or Mekong Valleys north of Teng Keng may be subsequently found to possess will be considered by His Majesty's Government, and, if substantiated, dealt with in a liberal spirit.)\n\nI have avoided all reference to a lease in the above draft, as the Chinese Government may be averse to the use of such a term, but the same result will be attained if certain territory be formally admitted to be Chinese and a lease in perpetuity granted for the same at a rent of the same amount as the proposed compensation. In this case, the Convention might read: \"The boundary-line between the territory to be administered by the Provincial Governments of Burmah and Yunnan shall be,\" &c. (as above), and clause (d) will read \"as rent for such villages and their lands,\" instead of \"in full compensation for such rights.\"\n\nIt is important that in the Chinese text, such terms as \"the Ming Kwang Valley\" (Pa-tzu), or the \"Tien Tan River,\" should be used, not merely \"Ming Kwang\" or \"Tien Tan,\" otherwise the Chinese will raise difficulties on the ground that villages on the N'Maikha side are an integral part of Ming Kwang or Tien Tan. It also seems very desirable that His Majesty's Minister should insist that a copy of the map, with names of places marked in Chinese, be attached to the Chinese as well as the English version of the Convention.\n\nI have drafted this Report in consultation with my colleague, Mr. Leveson. I am indebted to him for all the information concerning local Kachin polities which it contains.\n\nPage 23 \nPage 444", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403544, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 453, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "446 \n\nslightest evidence that either of Lashi villagers positively deny it. two Fu Yi as their Suzerain.] \n\n26 \n\nthe Fu Yi ever lived beyond the watershed, and the These villagers also deny that they ever accepted the \n\n27 \n\n[Note. There seems no reason to believe that the villages on the NMaikha side took any more cognizance of the above official arrangements than they did of the distribution of them among the Chinese Fu Yi, which seems to have been made after the disturbances in Chia Ching's reign.] \n\n## Inclosure 10 in No. 1. \n\n**Précis of a Memorial by Shè, Governor-General of Yunnan and Kwei-Chou, together with a Receipt by the Board of Civil Office at Peking, making arrangements for the redistribution and definition of various Frontier Jurisdictions in West Yunnan, dated probably in the 15th year of Chein Lung, because a local instruction to the Chinese \"Tu-ssu\" or Headmen, based on this Memorial, is dated the year after.** \n\nTHE Governor-General observes that the boundaries of the Sub-Prefecture of Tengyueh, the hsien district of Pao Shan (Yung Chang), and the hsien district of Li Chiang are ill-defined towards the west; in the case of many scattered villages there are doubts as to what jurisdiction they belong to a state of affairs which is contrary to the requirements of good administration. \n\nThe following redistribution of the various frontier villages is therefore approved: The notes as to locality are added by His Majesty's Consul, Tengyueh. In the case of Pien Ma and U Tung, which are transferred from the jurisdiction of Yün Lung to that of Pao Shan, it is stated that the tax which the Yun Lang official formerly received and accounted for will henceforth be handed over to Pao Shan. The amount is about 320 lb. of rice. \n\n1. To the jurisdiction of Tengyueh are assigned: \n| Village | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| Shang Lou | (in Lasbi, \"Gaw Yawn,\" on the left bank of the Ngaw Chang) |\n| Chi Ka | (Lashi village on the right bank of the Ngaw Chang, opposite Shang Lou) |\n| Pa Yang | (in Lashi, \"Pa Myaw,\" on the Lower Kansheng or Kun Ma River) |\n| Ta Tang | |\n| Ming Kwang | (about the Upper Shweli or Lung Chiang) |\n| Hparè Tan Chu | (Lashi villages at the headwaters of the Kansheng or Kun Ma) |\n| Hsien Chiang | (in Lashi, \"Shi Jang,\" on a small tributary, left bank Ngaw Chang) |\n| Kun Yung | (in China, 24 miles north of Tengyueh) |\n| Lu Yung | (not identified) |\n| Tien Tán | (Upper Shweli, west branch) |\n\n2. To the jurisdiction of Pao Shan the following are assigned: \n| Village |\n| --- |\n| Sun Chu |\n| Su Chai Pa |\n| Meng Ku |\n| Lu Chang |\n| Pú Ka |\n| Lung Sai |\n| Teng Lang |\n| Ting Ming |\n| Teng Keng |\n| Pa Chu |\n| Man Pang |\n| Sung Po |\n| Pai Lou |\n| Mao Chao |\n| A La Wa Ti |\n| Pai Pa |\n| Pa Chu Ho |\n| Pa Chung Lo |\n| Pien Ma |\n| U Tung |\n\n(All the above are situated along the Salween or in the Ngaw Chang Valley.) \n\n3. To the jurisdiction of Yün Lung the following are assigned: \n| Village |\n| --- |\n| Ch'eng Ka |\n| La Pai |\n| U Pie |\n| Hsiang Hsieh |\n| Tè U Ti |\n| Hsi Wa Lo |\n| Ku Mi Teng |\n| Ta Chu Ti |\n| Ta Chu Lo |\n| Lu Ku ferry |\n| Kan Ma Sa |\n| Lu Wei |\n| Hu Mu Lang |\n| Lao Wo |\n| Chi Tsu |\n| Wo Mao Ting |\n| Lu Tsu |\n| Lu Tsang Wang Ti |\n| Shil Ti |\n| Kui Wu |\n| Tu Pan Chang |\n| Tsao Chien |\n| Shui Tsing |\n\n(Most of these are known, and all are believed to be situated along the Salween, or between that river and the Mekong.) \n\n4. To Li Chiang Prefecture are assigned the following: \n| Village |\n| --- |\n| Pie Pie Lo |\n| Mao Chu Chai |\n| Ta Mi Lai |\n| Ta Pien |\n| Hei Tao |\n| Teng Kwa |\n| Tsa Hui Jen |\n| Chi Wa Tsa |\n| La Tsa |\n\n(Not identified; believed to be all along the Upper Salween or Mekong.) \n\n(Translation.) \n\n## Inclosure 11 in No. 1. \n\n**Acting Consul Litton to Taotai Shih, Tengyueh, May 20, 1905.**\n\nTHE 4th Article of the Agreement relative to Burmah and China provided that the boundary north of latitude 25° 35′ should be settled when the conditions of the country had been more fully inquired into. This Agreement is dated in 1897, and since its signature, the Government of Burmah has on several occasions dispatched officers to proceed to the N'Maikha with a view to ascertaining the conditions of the country and of pacifying the tribes. \n\nLast year, your Government also dispatched two military officials to Ming Kwang to make inquiries, but though the Representatives of both Governments had thus inspected the country, there had hitherto been no joint examination, and consequently, it has not been possible to conclude a further Treaty. \n\nIn February of this year, the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo, together with myself, received instructions from our Government to serve on a joint inquiry regarding the frontier, and your Honour received a similar Commission, and we fixed a date for proceeding on this service. \n\nOn this occasion, the instructions to your Honour and to myself were to the effect that we were only to make a joint examination of the country and present a map to our superiors, and then to await their settlement of the demarcation question; we had no authority to proceed to delimitation on our own account. \n\nI was directed by my Government to point out the watershed between the N'Maikha River on the one hand and the Shweli and Salween Rivers on the other, while your Honour was instructed to inquire precisely what are territories administered by your Sawbwas. \n\nWe have now to communicate to each other the results of our joint inquiry. Having met at Ku Yung on the 7th March, 1905, we together proceeded to Ta Chai, in Tan Tsa, where we commenced our work. The previous demarcation had not gone beyond the high conical peak known to the Kachins as Manung Pum; the two small valleys of Lun Ma and Tan Tsa are situated to the east of this peak, while to the north-east of Tan Tsa, there is a lofty mountain known as Lang Ya (\"Wolf's Tooth\") Hill; between these two peaks rise the streams known as the Hsiao Cha, Ta Cha, and Chan Hsi Rivers; and the Chan Hsi River is the headwater of the Ta Ping. \n\nBeyond the range to the north of Chansi River are the Shi Ngaw and Tum Maw Rivers, both of which flow into the N'Maikha, and so to the Irrawaddy. These two rivers are under the jurisdiction of Myitkyina. \n\nUnder these conditions, all Lun Ma and Tan Tsa, which are within (i.e., on the Chinese side) of their watershed, should belong to Yunnan, while all the valleys of the Shi Ngaw and Tum Maw Rivers, which are beyond this watershed, should belong to Burmah. \n\nTo the east of the Lang Ya Shan is the village of Ma Li Pa. This village is situated in the north of the Tien Tan Valley, which belongs to Tengyueh Sub-Prefecture and is under Tsai Fu Yi (Headman). In this valley flows the Tien Tan River in a southerly direction to Ku Tung bazaar, where it joins the Ming Kwang River, being, in fact, one of the headwaters of the Shweli. \n\nSome 30 li to the north of Ma Li Pa, the watershed is crossed to the Chi Pwi River, which flows into the N'Maikha, and so to the Irrawaddy. \n\nThe Tien Tan River has three sources: the Mo Shih Stream, the Pan Wa Stream, and the true source, which issues from the Sisters Hill to the north of the village of Hei Tafo Yuan. Here, the boundary should assign the valley of the Tien Tan to Yunnan and the valley of the Chi Pwi to Burmah. \n\nBut your Honour told me that several villages about the headwaters of the Chi Pwi were included in the territory of Tsai Fu Yi of Tien Tan. Officers were accordingly sent over to Chang Yin Kou, Chung Shan, Lu Pi, and Shih Pao to inquire.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403545, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 454, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## Page 29\n\nThe route was a mere track over unusually mountainous and difficult country with a very sparse population: only ten families of Lisu, in a very poor condition, were found (in the villages mentioned). For many years past they have neither paid tribute nor made presents.\n\nOn leaving Ma Li Pa we proceeded on the 31st March to Ta Chai, in the Ming Kwang Valley, to the east of Tien Tan. This valley is in the Tengyueh Sub-Prefecture and under the jurisdiction of the two Fu Yi, Tso and Yang. For a distance of nearly 100 li from Ku Tung bazaar northwards to the head of the Ming Kwang River the valley is inhabited by a mixed population of Chinese and Lisu, but most of the latter can speak Chinese and in every way resemble Chinamen. The Ming Kwang River rises to the north of Ta Chu Pa and flows down to Ku Tung bazaar, being the true source of the Shweli; along the north-west of the Upper Ming Kwang Valley there is a lofty range of mountains connecting with the Sisters Hill and the Pan Wa Pass, and forming the divide between the N'Maikha and Shweli Rivers. All the streams on the east side of this ridge belong to the Ming Kwang-Shweli system; all the streams to the west of it flow into the N'Maikha and Irrawaddy.\n\nTo take this range as the frontier would be to adopt the true natural line. But your Government stated that Hparè, Tzu Chu, Pien Ma, and other places situated to the west of the watershed belonged by rights to the Fu Yi Yang and Tso of Ming Kwang; these Fu Yi also presented two certificates and a copy of a Memorial bearing on this question to your Honour for my inspection.\n\nUnder these circumstances the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo, together with your Deputy, Mr. Tai, proceeded from Ming Kwang to Hparè in order to make a careful investigation on the spot.\n\nThe distance proved to be nearly 80 li, and the track was through mountainous and uninhabited country for the whole way. In the two villages of Upper and Lower Hparè there are only some thirty odd households, all of them Lashi Kachius; just below the village the Hparè and Tzu Chu Streams join to form the Kun Ma (Khansheng) River, which flows into the Ngaw Chang, and so into the Irrawaddy.\n\nThe village of Tzu Chu also contains some thirty families of Lashi and is only separated from Hparè by a minor ridge of hills.\n\nMr. Leveson, in concert with Mr. Tai, examined the Headmen of these villages. Their statement was in effect as follows:\n\n\"We are not subject to the Fu Yi, nor do we pay taxes to him; but formerly when festivities took place at the Fu Yi's we offered presents, and when we had any festivities the Fu Yi made return presents to us. Since the Fu Yi raided our village and robbed us of our ploughing oven we have had a feud with the Fu Yi and hold no communication with him. Formerly the Fu Yi engaged us to protect the road (along the Kun Ma) and gave us 25 rupees and some gunpowder for doing so, but of recent years this payment has not been made.\n\n\"We are in the habit of going backwards and forwards over the frontier for the purpose of trading with the Chinese, and they do the like, but we never go over the frontier to cultivate. We know nothing about the certificate investing Yang Fu Yi with the title of Hereditary Sergeant of Hparè or how he came by it, but we do know that we have never been subject to him.”\n\nThese statements agree with my own observations. Not only does not the Fu Yi control this district, but he does not even dare to go there; so it is perfectly clear that he cannot control it; nor can I understand how the certificates come to speak of the \"Fu Yi Yang of Hparè in Ming Kwang\" and the \"Fu Yi Tso of Tzu Chu in Ming Kwang,\" seeing that Ming Kwang is distant from Hparè and Tzu Chu nearly 100 li. To insist that they are in the same district is as though we were to talk of Mandalay in the district of Yung Chang, or Yung Chang in the district of Mandalay.\n\nUnder these circumstances, I would invite your Honour to point out in what possible sense these Fu Yi can be said to govern these villages.\n\nMr. Leveson and myself further inquired into the conditions and history of Pien Ma, the Kun Ma River, and the Hsiao Chiang or Ngaw Chang. The Headmen stated that some generations ago the Chinese and the Kachins had fallen out, the Chinese Chiefs of Ming Kwang, Ta Tang, and Teng Keng had united their forces and made an incursion beyond the watershed and beyond the Ngaw Chang, raiding the village of Lan Pang and killing many persons, whereby the Kachins suffered heavy damage. The Lashi Headmen then collected their people and made a counter-raid over the divide.\n\n## Page 447\n\nThey burnt Teng Keng and killed two of the Chinese Fu Yi's family; they then looted the Ming Kwang Valley as far as Ku Tung bazaar.\n\nAfter this the various parties negotiated a peace, and it was agreed that they should mutually exchange presents of local produce, as a pledge of amity, Ming Kwang every three years exchanged presents with the villages of Hparè, Lung Pung, and those along the Kun Ma and Ngaw Chang Rivers; Teng Keng exchanged them with Pien Ma and U Tung; Ta Tang with Shang Lon and Chih Ka.\n\nSubsequently the Pien Ma people looted some cattle belonging to Lung Pang and Chih Ka, whereupon these villages looted and burnt Pien Ma. The Pien Ma people, being few and weak, then voluntarily invited the Chinese of Teng Keng to come to their assistance in order to have their revenge. The Teng Keng people consented and burnt the two villages of Lung Pang and Chih Ka. This is the reason why to this day Pien Ma makes a small annual payment of tribute to Teng Keng. In the case of Ta Tang, the villages of Shang Lou and Chih Ka commonly present \"huang lien\" and receive in exchange a plough ox.\n\nBut these various Headmen are not under any administrative control by the Chinese officials.\n\nNow these statements agree in the main with what your Honour told me, namely, that in the reign of Chia Ching (early nineteenth century) the Chinese Fu Yi had made a warlike expedition to the Ngaw Chang. No doubt we must not believe all that we are told by the Kachin Headmen, but neither can I believe the statement of the Chinese Fu Yi to the effect that they subjected this country to regular control.\n\nThe questions concerning Pien Ma and the Hsiao Chiang (Ngaw Chang) being of much importance in regard to the frontier, we determined personally to proceed from Ming Kwang to Pien Ma to make inquiries. The way leads over the Fen Shui Ling Pass, and so to the head of the Pien Ma River, a distance of over 80 li, all of which is uninhabited, while progress is exceedingly difficult on account of the mountainous character of the country. This pass, the Fen Shui Ling, is close to the head of the Ming Kwang River, which is the true source of the Shweli. The hills at the back of this river-source form the water-divide between the Hsiao Chiang or Little River and the Ming Kwang, and this water-divide is connected with the main water-divide between the Salween and the Irrawaddy; this main divide stretches northwards as far as the confines of Thibet, and is a snow-blocked range almost impossible to cross, and is locally known by the Teng Keng and Ming Kwang people as the Kao Li Kung snow mountains.\n\nOn account of the difficulty of travelling, Mr. Leveson and myself only reached Pien Ma and met your Honour on the 16th April, when we proceeded to our investigations. It appears that there are only some 200 odd families of Kachins and Lisu at Pien Ma, who pay a house tax amounting to about 50 taels a-year to Teng Keng, who also levies a toll on coffin wood to the amount of some 100 taels a-year, or, in all, 150 taels (about) per year; but Pien Ma has a feud with Shang Lon, and Lung Pang has a feud with Teng Keng, and there is no communication between these villages. Chinese traders proceeding to these places suffer loss, but the Chinese Fu Yi do nothing whatever to administer the country beyond levying their revenue.\n\nAs to the villages beyond the Ngaw Chang, their condition has been truly described in your Honour's letter to me: they are beyond the pale of government.\n\nIt may be said of the whole of this country that it is clear that neither the Chinese officials nor the Fu Yi can control it. It is to be feared that the Kachins in Barmah territory may subsequently suffer from the raids of these people.\n\nAfter your Honour and myself had crossed the mountains to Lu Chang by the Salween, Mr. Leveson proceeded to both banks of the Ngaw Chang to make inquiries, and the local Headmen all came to see him; the surveyor also proceeded some distance beyond Lung Pang. Nowhere did the Kachins cause any trouble, and it appears from this that they are not naturally savage, but have simply never been subject to Chinese jurisdiction.\n\nOn the banks of the Salween we found that the three Chiefs of Teng Keng, Lu Chang, and Mao Chao are all subject to Yung Chang's jurisdiction. North of Mao Chao the country is entirely populated by Lisu, nominally subject to La Wo. North of the Lisu country are the Nu Tzu, and north of the Nu Tzu (or Lu Tzu) is Thibetan territory. This is a general survey of the condition of the banks of the Salween.\n\nThe west bank of the Salween is entirely populated by Lisu; the country west, again, of the great Salween-Irrawaddy divide is entirely populated by Marus (Lang Su), who are under no Government, and have little or no communication with the Lisu.\n\n[2167-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403546, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 455, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 30\n\nWe proceeded northwards, and surveyed as far as the boundary of Li Chiang territory; we thence returned to Tengyueh on account of the heavy rains which had commenced.\n\nThe Upper Salween country is of great importance to West Yunnan, and though it has not yet been opened up, it will in future naturally fall within the sphere of Yunnan control. Burma will raise no objection to this; but the upper waters of the Irrawaddy are of the utmost importance to Burma, and though the country has not yet been developed, it must ultimately belong to Burma.\n\nTo sum up, commencing from the source of the Ming Kwang River, and thence proceeding straight up to the crest of the Kao Li Kung snow range, and then proceeding north along this crest to Tibet, all country which is in the basins of the Shweli or the Salween should belong to Yunnan, and all country which is in the basin of the Irrawaddy should belong to Burma. According to this division, all the Lisu and Lu Tzu of the Salween will be in Yunnan, and all the Kachins and Marus will be in Burma, and there will be a definite boundary in the shape of a great snow-clad range.\n\nAs for the presents and tolls now taken from the Kachins by the Teng Keng and other Chinese Headmen, the Government of Burma is willing to make liberal compensation so as to avoid the least loss falling upon your Fu Yi; but not only is my Government unable at the present moment to recognize any of the country on the west of the watershed as Chinese territory, but they cannot contemplate that in the future any part of it can be assigned to Yunnan. I will now proceed to explain to your Honour the reasons for this, which I hope you will take into consideration:\n\n1. At present, none of the villages in the Ngaw Chang basin are in point of fact controlled by your Fu Yi. I think that your Honour is very well aware of the feeble and vicious character of these Fu Yi; but the Government of Burma already controls the Shi Ngaw and Tun Maw Valleys. The inhabitants are of the same tribe as those of the Ngaw Chang, and will therefore easily be brought under control.\n\n2. As the Fu Yi are unable to control this tract, still less will the Chinese officials of Tengyueh be able to control it, in view of the distance, the mountains, and the difficulty of procuring supplies. Thus, the Burma Government would have to establish military posts all along their frontier. This could not be done under an annual cost of several tens of thousands of taels. If posts are not established, then Burma will constantly be suffering damage, as may be seen from what has happened in Meng Mao and Meng Wan (Bhamo frontier).\n\nIt follows the crest. The boundary which I have now suggested is the natural one.\n\n3. It assigns all the Kachin villages to Burma, assigns all the Chinese-inhabited villages to China; it gives all the Upper Salween and Upper Shweli to China, and all the Irrawaddy to Burma; further, both sides of the watershed are uninhabited, and covered with dense forest for a distance of over 10 li from the crest, and this divide has always been regarded by the local people as a frontier. Thus, the line suggested is not only in accordance with the geography of the place, but is suitable as an ethnographical frontier.\n\n4. On the west of the divide, the whole country consists of a complicated mass of cliffs and numerous rivers; in fact, no frontier can be found except the watershed. If this is not accepted, serious calamities will supervene along the border.\n\n5. The \"Tengyueh Gazetteer\" gives the three \"ai\" or narrow passes (Ming Kwang, Ta Tang, Tien Tan) as the frontier; the \"Yung Chang Gazetteer\" gives the Kachin Hills as the frontier; the official general map of Yunnan gives the watershed as the frontier; last year, the Chinese Foreign Office, in a despatch addressed to His Majesty's Minister, declared that, after repeated inquiries, no such river as the N'Maikha could be found. These points clearly show how the matter really stands.\n\n6. The country to the west of the watershed is quite valueless to China, but on account of its geographical situation is of much importance to Burma. If it is not assigned to Burma, the control of a large stretch of country will be rendered difficult to that Government.\n\nThese are the reasons why the watershed forms the most suitable frontier. When the frontier between Meng Mao and Bhamo was being delimited, it was found that a district known as the triangle, and nominally under the Meng Mao jurisdiction, was inhabited by Kachins addicted to raiding. Its possession by Meng Mao was useless to Meng Mao and injurious to Burma. It was therefore agreed that the district should be placed under the jurisdiction of Burma, and that Burma should pay 1,000 rupees per annum as compensation; thus, Meng Mao receives a larger revenue than formerly, and the country has been reduced to peace and order, to the mutual benefit of both parties.\n\nIn the present instance, as loss might be incurred by the Chinese Headmen, the two Governments might act in accordance with the precedent of the Meng Mao triangle, and a perpetual lease might be granted to Burma. The rent would be paid over to the Chinese officials for distribution at their discretion among their various Headmen, the proportions in which the money would be distributed being no concern of the Government of Burma.\n\nBurma would willingly pay this sum by way of compensation, and would on no account permit any loss to fall upon your Headmen.\n\nWe have made the joint inquiry into the frontier according to our instructions, but as we have no authority to delimit, I would request your Honour now to report to your Government, while I will submit to His Majesty's Minister a report in terms similar to this despatch. We must then await further orders from our Governments, on the receipt of which we can proceed to an amicable settlement. Any slight differences of opinion which we may have will, I think, be easily settled by negotiation.\n\n**(Confidential.)**\n\n## Inclosure 12 in No. 1.\n\n**Government of Burma to Government of India.**\n\nMaymyo, June 24, 1905. IN continuation of my letter dated the 19th June, 1905, I am directed to submit, for the information of the Government of India, copies of papers which relate to the frontier between Burma and Yunnan, north of Manangpum.\n\n2. The papers show that Mr. Litton has made a definite claim to fix the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed as the boundary up to the confines of Tibet. In my letter above cited, the Lieutenant-Governor has shown cause for not pressing our claims to a fixed boundary higher than latitude 20° 30′ and for not basing any argument on tribal distribution. If, however, the Chinese Government can be brought to agree to the watershed as a frontier up to the confines of Tibet on payment of a fixed sum, there is no objection. His Honour would, however, deprecate any precise statement as to where China ends and Tibet begins, and would also prefer not to agree to pay rent or compensation to an amount to be fixed by subsequent inquiry.\n\n3. Sir Herbert White concurs in Mr. Litton's suggestion that the Imperial and Provincial Governments of China and Yunnan should be clearly made to understand that the British Government is determined to have the watershed frontier, and that, if China is not willing to forego shadowy claims in return for a cash payment, the Government of Burma will be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiation. For reasons stated by Mr. Litton in his letter dated the 7th June to Sir E. Satow, it appears likely that this argument will exercise considerable influence upon the Government of Yunnan.\n\nI am to submit a copy of Mr. Litton's map with the boundary suggested by Taotai Shih and that suggested by Mr. Litton, marked with red and blue lines respectively. The Ngaw Chang would be a very bad boundary, as there are villages on both sides near to each other, and there might be frequent disputes. The boundary suggested by Mr. Litton is clearly the most suitable in every respect.\n\n**(Confidential.)**\n\n## Inclosure 13 in No. 1.\n\n**Acting Consul Litton to Government of Burma.**\n\nTengyueh, June 8, 1905. IN continuation of my Report on the joint examination of the northern undelimited frontier, I have the honour to transmit a copy of a despatch which... \n\n## 31\n\n448", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403548, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 457, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "# 34\n\nI have already explained the reason why I did not pay any present direct to the Taotai. He appears to have thought that as the payment was to be postponed till the frontier was settled he personally would never \"touch\" it, and that it would therefore be more advantageous for him to report it as an offer of a public contribution which the British authorities have made under the influence of his, the Taotai's, skilful diplomacy. I see no objection to this, and, indeed, I think we should do all we can to support the Taotai.\n\n(Translation.)\n\n## Inclosure 15 in No. 1.\n\nI have, &c. \n(Signed) \n**G. LITTON**.\n\n### Taolai Shih to Acting Consul Litton.\n\nTengyuch, May 28, 1905. \nHAVING received through his Excellency the Governor-General Ting the telegraphic instructions of the Wai-wu Pu to proceed on a joint survey of the Northern Burmah-Yunnan frontier, and you, the Consul, having been commissioned by your Government on the same service, we proceeded to the border, and on the 2nd March met at Ku Yung, whence we examined the frontier, section by section, and concluded our work in the early part of May.\n\nI have now the honour to reply to your despatch which I have received and which deals with the whole subject of the frontier, and in which you describe the geography of the districts visited.\n\n[Here the Taotai quotes at length all the passages in my despatch under reply which deal with geography, names of villages, numbers of households, &c., which I need not repeat.-G. L]\n\nYour remarks concerning the physical features of the mountains, the rivers and their sources, the various tribes and their villages are perfectly correct and entirely agree with my own observation; on these points I have nothing to add. But it appears to be inconsistent with the scope of our work that you should lay down that various places along the frontier should belong to Yunnan or to Burmah as the case may be. My duty was merely that of a joint examination; I have no authority to delimit the boundary; thus I need not argue the matter at great length.\n\nBut since you have stated that your Government instructed you to point out the water-divide between the N'Maikha on the one hand and the Salween and the Shweli on the other, and have further mentioned that my instructions were to inquire what were the territories governed by our Chinese Chiefs, I must reply to you in detail on some points.\n\nNow when we have to examine what are the respective boundaries of any given territories we should, by rights, proceed according to the original jurisdictions of the Governments concerned; we cannot define the frontier merely according to the courses of the rivers and such-like considerations. Thus on this occasion I, on proceeding to the frontier, in the first instance ordered the various Fu Yi (Headmen) to prepare and submit maps, for the purpose of affording evidence for our inquiry; these districts are the hereditary Governments of our Fu Yi, so there can be no mistake about their extent.\n\nIt appears from an examination of the maps submitted that the jurisdiction of Ku Yung extends to and includes Lun Ma and Tan Tsa, the Ta Cha Ho and the Lang Ya Shan; Tien Tan extends to and includes the villages of Chang Yin Kou, Chung Shan, and La Pi on the Upper Chipway; Ming Kwang extends to and includes Shih-jang, Pa Yang, Taw Gaw, To Yo, Tsaw Lang Na Ching, the Khan Sheng River, Tzu Chu, and Hparè; Ta Tang extends to and includes Chih Kaw and Shang Lou (Gaw Yawm).\n\nThese maps have already been forwarded for your inspection and that of the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo (Mr. Leveson), and no doubt you are clear as to their contents.\n\n* This Headman is usually known as the Tan Tea Fu Yi.-G. L.\n+ These are villages on the left bank of the Ngaw Chang.-G. L.\n§ So are these two.-G. L.\n\n# 35\n\nAgain, according to my examination of his map, Teng Keng should by rights control up to and including Kang Fang, U Tung, and Pien Ma.\n\nNow we may first exclude the villages beyond, i.e., on the right bank of the Ngaw Chang, which I have already informed you are beyond the pale of civilized government, and also the villages of Ma Chang, Huang Te, Ma Kung, &c., where your Government has already taken action in various cases, and where we do not further exercise control; with these exceptions it appears that, according to the Fu Yi's maps, the correct boundary is in fact as follows: from the sharp conical peak (Manung Pum) to the head of the Mo Shih Stream; then straight up to the Wei Ton (or \"Crooked Head Mountain\"); then across the Upper Chipway and along the Chang Chia Ridge, and so ascending the Kao Liang Kung Mountain, and descending to the Chiu Ko Taug or Khetmaw River; thence the line would follow up the Ngaw Chang or Hsiao Chiang (\"Little River\") to its source in the Pan Chang Mountains.\n\nWhile you speak of the various streams which flow into the N'Maikha River, it must be remembered that the N'Maikha River itself is not under the control of Myit-kyina in Burmah. The Ngaw Chang is a tributary of the N'Maikha, and all the country within, i.e., on the left bank of the Ngaw Chang, is, as the records show, under the government of our Chinese Fu Yi. This affords clear proof that we must not merely go by the geographical features.\n\nYou state that Lun Ma and Tan Tsa, being within, i.e., on the Chinese side, of the watershed, should by rights belong to Yunnan, while all the valleys of the Tammaw and the Shih-ngaw should belong to Burmah. With respect to this section of the frontier I am in agreement with you.\n\nYou state that the whole of the valley of the Tien Tan River should belong to Yünnan. This is correct, but I cannot wholly agree that all the Chipway Valley should belong to Burmah.\n\nYou state that the lofty range on the north-west side of Upper Ming Kwang Valley is connected with the Sisters Hill and the Pan Wa Pass, and that this is the water-parting between the Shweli and the N'Maikha; that all the streams on the east of this range flow to the Ming Kwang, and so to the Shweli River, while all the streams on the west of it flow into the N'Maikha, and so to the Irrawaddy. You state that this, if taken as the boundary, will be the true natural frontier.\n\nI agree that your geographical description is correct; but if this line is to be taken as the frontier there are serious objections to it, having regard to the territories which by rights should be controlled by our Chinese Fu Yi. It appears, therefore, that this section must be reserved for future consideration and separate action.\n\nThen, again, you state that Mr. Leveson, in concert with my deputy, Mr. Tai, made inquiries at Hparè, and that the Headmen of the village stated that they were not subject to China, and paid no taxes, and regarded the watershed as the frontier [here quoting in full my report of the evidence of the Hparè people; see my despatch]. You go on to say that the evidence of the Hparè Headman is in accordance with your own observations, and that not only is the Fu Yi unable to control these villages, but is afraid even to visit them; that it is thus perfectly clear that the Fu Yi have never in fact administered them. You observed that the certificates of succession speak of the Fu Yi of \"Hparè in Ming Kwang\" and of \"Tzu Chu in Ming Kwang,\" which is inexplicable, as Tzu Chu and Hparè are more than 100 li distant from Ming Kwang; so, you ask, how can they be forced, so to say, into one and the same place? It is, you add, as though one were to speak of Yung Chang in Mandalay, or Mandalay in Yung Chang. Under these circumstances you request me to point out in what manner these Fu Yi do, in point of fact, control these villages.\n\nWhen Mr. Leveson examined these people, Mr. Tai no doubt was present; but when Mr. Tai returned to my camp he reported that he did not understand the language of the tribes; that he, in fact, did not know what evidence the Headman had given, nor had he made any inquiries on the point.\n\nI, too, summoned and examined the Headmen of Tzu Chu and other villages.\n\n* The Teng Kong map was never produced.-G. L.\n† Villages between the Chipway and Tummaw Rivers.-G. L.\n‡ Mo Shih is the west source of the Tien Tan or west branch of the Shweli.-G. L.\n§ Chang Chia Ridge is on the right bank of the Upper Chipway, just below Shik Pan.-G. L.\n¶ Pan Chang Mountain is a snow-clad ridge running east and west above the source of the Ngaw Chang.-G. L.\n** See my note to Taotai of June 2.-G. L.\n†† The records may show this, the facts do not.-G. L.\n‡‡ The Taotai never really answers this question.-G. L.\n§§ See my note to Taotai, June 2.-G. L.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 403549, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "page_number": 458, "title": "CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905", "content_text": "## 36\n\nbefore me, and they stated in evidence to me: \"Hparè, Tzu Chu, Shih Jang, To Yo, Pa Yang, Tu Mu, had been previously subject to the control of the Fu Yi Yung and Tso. Formerly the Fu Yi presented us with oxen, wine, and ornaments, and on another occasion with spades, ploughs, and axes, ordering the villages to commence cultivation, but, as they had not yet succeeded in doing so, no report had been made of the acreage or of the crops produced. The official residences of the Fu Yi used to be in Hparè and Tzu Chu; later, on account of disturbances, they moved over into Chinese territory. Since then, although the Fu Yi never come in person, the villagers, every three or five years, get presents of oxen, wine, &c., and their relations with the Chinese are amicable, nor are there any feuds between them. The villagers had resided there all their lives, but had never stated that the pass was the frontier, or that they were not subject to the Fu Yi.\" \n\nThis was their evidence, and they executed a voluntary bond to this effect, signing the same by finger-marks. Thus, if we are to take the evidence given to the Deputy Commissioner as a proof of the facts, the evidence and the bond submitted to me must be equally good proof.\n\nThe certificates of succession which are in the hands of the Fu Yi have been examined by me, and really bear the seals of the Board; they are not forgeries. Nor are the certificates themselves the only proof, for the fact of their issue may also be found set forth in the provincial \"Gazetteer.\" These certificates are the title-deeds of succession, and they are not issued without definite and recorded proof of the genealogical descent; besides, these certificates go back to an old date, before Burmah was subject to your Government. Now how can you, in these latter days, when the question of the frontier has arisen, claim to occupy further territory on such grounds as these?\n\nIt is the fact that Hparè and Tzu Chu are distant about 100 li from Ming Kwang, but in Yünnan the country is extensive and the population scanty. When the natives once shift their place of residence, it is quite usual that they should move to a distance of several hundred li. Thus we must not, on the mere ground that these Fu Yi have moved to a comparatively distant place, doubt that these villages were their ancient inheritance. Again, the villages controlled by Tso Fu Yi have a mixed population of Chinese and barbarians, but Yang Fu Yi, having removed his residence to Chung Tan (in Lower Ming Kwang), is surrounded by villages wholly inhabited by Chinese, without any barbarians; thus he has none of the tribesmen under his immediate control, and his may be considered a title borrowed from former times. His name of Fu Yi does not agree with the facts, but that Tzu Chu and Hparè were formerly governed by these Fu Yi is a matter which admits of no doubt, therefore it cannot be said that I have, so to say, forced these villages into a position in Ming Kwang.\n\nThen, again, you describe the results of Mr. Leveson's and your investigations as to the history and conditions of Pieu Ma, and the Ngaw Chang and Khan Sheng Rivers as given by the Headman, who stated that they have never been subject to China. You remark that, while the statements of the Headmen cannot be altogether accepted, the statements of the Fu Yi to the effect that they reduced this country to subjection are still less to be credited.\n\nBut I find that the story of the expedition by the Fu Yi to the Ngaw Chang does not merely rest on the personal statement of those Chiefs, but in a joint Memorial by the Boards of Civil Office and of Revenue in the days of Chia Ching, it is set forth that a Chinese General, Hsieh, led troops in a punitive expedition against the rebels of Chen Ka, that subsequently the Fu Yi joined the expedition and gained credit by subduing the country, and finally that the country was divided up among them. The Chiefs also have sealed documents which are evidence of this division.\n\n* Villages on the Khan Sheng and Ngaw Chang Rivers.\n† This is all nonsense; these villages have numerous ricefields, though they were not started through the Fu Yi's orders.\n‡ There is no evidence whatever that the Fu Yi ever lived over the watershed; if they had they would have left some traces. The natives, too, deny it.\n§ This interview appears to be a fabrication; at any rate we heard nothing of it till this despatch. See my note to the Taotai.\n¶ See my note to the Taotai.\n|| Lit. \"Cherisher of barbarians.\"\n** The Taotai does not assert that there is now any effective control.\n†† Early nineteenth century.\n‡‡ Upper Salween.\n§§ Veracity is not a leading characteristic of Chinese Generals or of Chinese documents.\n\n## 37\n\nThe statements made by the Headmen in response to your inquiries, namely, that it was simply a case of feuds and fights between the Chinese and the tribes and that then presents were exchanged in order to make peace, but that the country was never under the government of Chinese officials—these statements, I say, seem to rest on traditions which in the course of long years have departed from the real facts; we cannot put our faith in such traditions in preference to the proofs afforded by official documents. Besides, the Teng Keng Headman even now collects a house tax and a \"kang\" or toll; I need hardly point out at length that this affords precise evidence that he administers the country.\n\nThen you state that all along the west bank of the Lu-Chiang or Salween the inhabitants are Lisu, and that to the west of the great snowy range, between the Salween and the Irrawaddy, are the Langsu (Marus); these latter, you say, have hitherto been independent and have no intercourse with the Lisu. I would remark that the Kachins and other tribes have their seats in the remote hills and valleys. Their manners are rude and barbarous. Not only is it the case that when divided by rivers and ranges they have no communication with each other, but even households situated within sight of each other have no intercourse. The Lisu and Langsu are two different tribes; that they should have no intercourse is therefore to be expected, and it would seem that this circumstance is not to be taken as a proof in itself that these people are under no control.\n\nThen you state that the Gazetteers of Yung Chang and Tengyueh, together with the provincial map and provincial Gazetteer, all give the Kachin Hills or the water-parting as the boundary, and you quote the despatch of my Foreign Office which states that there is no such river as the Naikha.\n\nBut these wild frontier districts are rarely visited by man, and the Gazetteers do not contain full details about them. Thus, for instance, the Nampaung Stream, the western boundary of Tengyueh, and the Nam Yang River, the south boundary of Tengyueh, are not mentioned in the Gazetteers; it cannot be said, therefore, that they are not in China. Further, when the Gazetteer states that the north-west frontier (of Tengyueh) reaches to the boundary of the Lashi (Cha Shan) Kachins, it implies that such part of the Lashi country as is under the jurisdiction of our titled Chiefs is excluded (from the independent country). Now Hparè and Tzu Chu are situated in the Lashi country, but they are also our chieftainships. Tengyueh is given by the Gazetteer as Nan Tien, and the south-west as Kangai; yet Kangai and Nan Tien are none the less Chinese dependencies. When I suggest that the Ngaw Chang is the boundary of the jurisdictions of our Chiefs, I mean the same as when it is said that the Nampaung and Nam Yang Rivers are the frontiers of our Sawbwas.\n\nAgain, in Yunnan there are numerous mountains, and water-divides consequently occur in every direction. Thus, along the borders of the Tengyueh and Yung Chang districts, and in the Yung Lung territory, there are numerous water-partings. It seems, therefore, that we cannot insist that a particular watershed is the boundary of civilized and uncivilized country.\n\nThen you go on to remark that possession of both banks of the Lu Chiang (Upper Salween) is a matter of the greatest importance to West Yunnan, and that though at present this country has not been developed, it should, in the future, be subject to the control of Yunnan, and that the Government of Burmah would have no objection to this. I must express my sincere gratification that your inquiries have led you to so clear and just a conclusion. But you proceed to state that from the source of the Ming Kwang River the frontier-line should directly ascend to the crest of the snowy range known as the Kao Li Kung, and follow this range north to Thibet; that all the country in the basin of the Shweli and the Lu Chiang (or Upper Salween) should be controlled by Yunnan, and all the country in the basin of the Irrawaddy by Burmah; and that no other suitable frontier can be delimited except along the line of this watershed.\n\nBut if we accept the frontier you propose, our Chiefs will lose a large tract of the country which they control. Now the Ngaw Chang has already been recognized by the Chinese Fu Yi as the limit of civilized (i.e., of Chinese government). If we take the Ngaw Chang as the frontier, that will be as natural a boundary and as easy to distinguish as the line which you claim.\n\n* But he does not administer it.\n† The relevancy of this is not clear.\n‡ I added that full possession of the Irrawaddy basin was equally important to Burmah.\n§ This is a possible line, but not a natural one, in the same sense as the main divide; further, its acceptance would cause much expense and inconvenience to Burmah and to Yunnan.\n\nPage 451 \n\n[2167-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-331 - Public Offices - 1905.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 406840, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 136, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "2\n\ntroops across to his side of the Yang-tsze, Chung Tien and its powerful monasteries have remained quiet.\n\nThe Wei Hsi Sub-Prefect Li, whose extortions were the causa causans of all the trouble, has been dismissed. His successor, Mr. Jao, is, however, a notoriously corrupt and avaricious mandarin of the old type.\n\nI am not accurately informed of the demands made on behalf of the French Mission, but they have taken the form of claims for a heavy money indemnity and for lands.\n\nThe question is being discussed between the ex-Prefect and Père Genestier, now senior missionary and a man of character and ambition. It would have been more to the general interests of the public, both Chinese and foreign, of Yünnan if the French had pressed for a radical change in the personnel of the Yunnan-fu Government; but no doubt from their own point of view the missionaries are right. The possession of a large capital of ready money will give them very great power in the country much the same sort of power, in fact, which the lamas formerly enjoyed. In a few years we may expect to see the French Mission thoroughly established on the Upper Salween, and very possibly also spreading west over to the Chiu River in the Upper Irrawaddy basin. Wherever the French fathers lead the Chinese Government is likely to follow. It may therefore be anticipated that one result of the present disorders will be that the influence of the French Mission on the Upper Salween and Mekong Rivers, and possibly in the Upper Irrawaddy, will be widely extended.\n\nI feel the strongest doubts as to whether the Government of Yunnan has either the capacity, the honesty, or the men necessary to permanently establish an effective Chinese Administration in these Thibetan districts. This could probably only be effected by destroying the lamaseries and confiscating their lands (a course which I believe the ex-Prefect advocates but the Yünnan Government does not approve) and by introducing Chinese peasant colonists. Just and firm government, of which Yünnan mandarins are wholly incapable, would have to follow.\n\nI think it is more probable that the Chinese officials and troops in the district will soon return to their customary \"squeezing\" and opium-smoking, that the lamas who have now fled to Thibet will reappear, and that within a generation the power of the Chinese Government in these districts will be at as low an ebb as it was before the present disturbances galvanized them into temporary vigour and activity.\n\nFor the present, no doubt, the terror of the severe punishment which the lamas have received will spread as far as Lhassa and greatly increase Chinese influence and prestige at that capital. Regardless of their boasted sanctity and of their political pretensions, the Chinese have slaughtered the holy men wholesale, have pillaged their monasteries, and have sat down to occupy a large section of what is practically part of Thibet.\n\nThis sort of thing will, for the time, have a stronger, if less lasting, effect than the proceedings of Sir F. Younghusband's Mission. I would venture further to forecast that whatever influence the Chinese may acquire in Thibet proper will be used adversely to British trade and British interests.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed) G. LITTON.\n\n133\n\nThe Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs presents his compliments to the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies and is directed by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to transmit, to be laid before the Secretary of State for the Colonies, a further section of confidential correspondence, as marked in the margin.\n\nFeb. 24-§23\n\nForeign Office,\n\nMarch 16, 1906.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 406841, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 137, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n(7199)\n\nNo. 1.\n\n134\n\n(February 28.\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office.-(Received February 28.)\n\nTHE Under-Secretary of State for India presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, by direction of Mr. Secretary Morley, forwards herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, copy of inclosures in a letter from the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, dated the 18th January, relative to recent explorations on the Upper Salween.\n\nSir,\n\nIndia Office, February 27, 1906,\n\nInclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of Burma to Government of India.\n\nRangoon, January 2, 1906.\n\nI AM directed to solicit a reference to the correspondence ending with Foreign Department letter dated the 27th November, 1905, on the subject of the Burma-China frontier north of latitude 25° 33'. I am now to submit, for the information of the Government of India, a copy of a telegram, dated the 5th December, 1905, addressed by Mr. G. J. L. Litton, His Britannic Majesty's Acting Consul, Tengyueh, to His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General for Yünnan and Kueichow. In the Lieutenant-Governor's opinion, the geographical information gathered by Mr. Litton does not at present render necessary or expedient any revision of the views stated in my letter dated the 19th June, 1905.\n\nI have, &c. (Signed)\n\nS. A. SMYTH,\n\nFor Chief Secretary.\n\n(Telegraphic.)\n\nInclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nActing Consul Litton to Consul-General Wilkinson.\n\nDecember 5, 1905.\n\nI REACHED a point on the Salween eight marches further than the highest point last spring. I also explored two new passes on the Mekong-Salween divide and one on the Salween-Irrawaddy divide. We were able to trace the course of the Salween up to north latitude 27° 20', up to which point the Salween is confined between a series of ridges; the country is very difficult. Up to 27° 20' there are some traces of Chinese jurisdiction, but the country is much disturbed by the bad conduct of the Chinese Sawbwas.\n\nFurther north, there is no trace of Chinese authority up to latitude 27° 35', where Yetche territories begin. The independent tract is inhabited by Lissu under conditions of utter savagery.\n\nExamination showed that the divide between the Salween and Irrawaddy continues to be a conspicuous range of 12,000 to 13,000 feet up to about latitude 28° 30', where it is merged in a vast snowy range trending east and west, which we saw at a distance.\n\nPlease communicate the substance of this telegram to His Majesty's Minister at Peking.\n\n$1890 ee-1\n\nPage 134\n\n...\n\nPage 135\n\n...\n\n \nhas been removed as it is not clear whether it belongs to the original text or not. The text has been formatted according to the given instructions. The initial jumbled text at the beginning has been removed as it does not seem to be a part of the main document. The rest of the text has been formatted into proper paragraphs and the required corrections have been made.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407059, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 355, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\n18675\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[May 5]\nSECTION\nBEG 26 MAY 06,\n\n349\n\n[15208]\n\n(No. 113.) Sir,\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir E. Satow to Sir Edward Grey,-(Received May 5.)\n\nPeking, March 13, 1906.\n\nLORD LANSDOWNE'S despatch No. 219 of the 30th September, conveying to me instructions with regard to the proposed settlement of the frontier between Burmah and China north of Manung-Pum, reached me on the 19th November; but as it seemed to me to be desirable, if possible, to get the Thibet negotiations out of the way—or, at least, to make some progress towards their conclusion—before proceeding to enter upon this frontier question, I delayed for some time taking any steps towards carrying out his Lordship's instructions. By the 20th January, however, the other and more important question having made considerable progress in consequence of the Chinese Government having themselves come forward with proposals for adhering to the Lhassa Convention, I addressed the inclosed note to Prince Ching, proposing that a date should be fixed for discussing the Reports of Mr. Litton and the Taotai Shih, who examined a part of the proposed frontier last spring. To this I received a reply—copy of which is also inclosed—the object of which was evidently solely to create delay, and I again renewed my request in a further note—likewise inclosed. Mr. Campbell also spoke to Mr. Tang Shao-Yi, pointing out the unreasonableness of the Board's attitude; and, finally, having been asked to fix a day for the meeting, I named the 9th March.\n\nI was accompanied by the Honourable L. D. Carnegie and Mr. C. W. Campbell, while of the members of the Foreign Board there were present Na Chung-T'ang, Ch'ü Chung Tang, and Mr. Tang Shao-Yi.\n\nHaving ascertained that the correspondence between the late Mr. Litton and Taotai Shih of the 20th May, the 28th May, and the 3rd June, 1905, had reached the Board, and that they were acquainted with its contents, I suggested that we need not read it again, and that the only thing necessary at the present stage was to place before their Excellencies the proposals of His Majesty's Government. Briefly stated these were—\n\n1. That the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed should be recognized as the common frontier up to the confines of Thibet, and\n\n2. That the claims of the native Chieftains in the Salween valley to certain dues from villagers living on the west of the watershed should be liberally dealt with by the payment of an annual sum, the amount of which remained to be fixed.\n\nThe officials of the Board had prepared a map of their own, drawn in the Chinese fashion, with a great show of exactness in regard to latitude and longitude, but otherwise of an entirely fanciful character. This was, however, discarded in favour of the maps prepared by the surveyors attached to the Joint Commission, and authenticated by the seals of His Majesty's Consulate at Tengyueh and the Taotai, of which I received one copy from Mr. Litton in his despatch No. 8 of the 20th May, 1905, the other having been transmitted to Peking along with Taotai Shih's Report. At the request of Mr. Tang I traced the watershed on our copy in pencil, and he similarly marked it on the Board's copy.\n\nCh'ü Chung Tang having remarked that boundary questions dealing with the apportionment of territory were of very great importance, and required careful consideration, I replied that I had no wish to ask them to agree to the proposals of His Majesty's Government without due deliberation. I would content myself therefore for the present with submitting draft of a single article dealing with the boundary, and the manner in which the rights of the native Chieftains should be dealt with would, I thought, be more appropriately made the subject of an exchange of notes.\n\nI then handed to their Excellencies first a Chinese version and then the English text of the proposed Article, and a copy of the latter is inclosed.\n\nIt will be observed that it contains no recital of the steps taken last spring to obtain a more accurate knowledge of the features and condition of the country north of latitude 25° 35′. The reason for this omission is that the recent joint survey does\n\n[1993 e-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407060, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 356, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "350\n\n2\n\nnot go further than latitude 26° 30′, and if any reference had been inserted it would probably have provoked an immediate observation from the side of the Chinese negotiators that under the circumstances it would be impossible for them to agree to the watershed boundary beyond that point up to the confines of Thibet. In the Chinese text, however, the lacuna is not so apparent.\n\nI added that, if they would consider my draft and the proposal in regard to indemnification of the native Chiefs, of whom the principal person entitled is the Fayi of Teng-keng, I should be happy to have another interview with their Excellencies whenever it suited their convenience.\n\nCh' Chung Tang gave me a Memorandum proposing a boundary which, as far as I can gather (some of the places mentioned in it do not appear in the jointly authenticated map), approximates to the red line on the map attached as Inclosure 1 to Mr. Litton's Report, which was inclosed in Lord Lansdowne's despatch No. 219 of the 30th September, 1905. After the interview, he sent me another Memorandum containing remarks on Mr. Litton's statements and geographical observations, some of which are absurd. For instance, he asserts that the Salween flows into the Irrawaddy, and generally appears to have no conception of a water-parting or river basin in a wide sense. I shall, of course, reply to these Memoranda in due course, but I think it is scarcely necessary to trouble you with their contents.\n\nI add copy of a telegram of the 9th December from Mr. Litton to Mr. W. H. Wilkinson, giving further information as to the country further north than latitude 26° 30'. From this it appears likely that the Salween-Irrawaddy watershed continues up to a point estimated at latitude 28° 30', where it becomes merged in a snow range lying east and west. In the Lieutenant-Governor's letter of the 19th June, 1905, to the Government of India, a statement is made that the China Inland Mission's Map shows a wedge of Thibetan territory stretching between Burmah and Yunnan down to below latitude 27°. I can hardly suppose that the map in question, which is simply a reproduction of that of Dr. Bretschneider with a changed orthography, can be regarded as an authority with regard to the geography of a region that has never been explored. However that may be, the difficulty is avoided in the draft by omitting all reference to latitude, and speaking of \"the confines of Thibet\" as the ultimate limit of the boundary.\n\nI observe that in paragraph 3 of Mr. Brodrick's letter to the Foreign Office of the 20th September, 1905, it is stated that the Government of Burmah do not desire, should difficulties be raised by China, to press for the watershed boundary beyond latitude 26° 30'. It is, in all probability, unlikely that the Chinese Government will make any difficulties about the boundary beyond that point if they accept the proposals of His Majesty's Government up to it, which to their mind will have the appearance of depriving them of jurisdiction over a considerable tract of territory to which they have hitherto laid claim. Should, however, the objection be made which the Government of Burmah appear to anticipate, I venture to think it would be better for His Majesty's Representative at Peking to say that he must refer the point to His Majesty's Government, as to my mind it is not desirable to leave anything open for a renewal of the boundary discussion later on when the administrative authority of the Burmah Government shall have reached latitude 26° 30′ on their side of the watershed, but to give the notice foreshadowed in the latter part of paragraph 4 of the same letter. As the point can be referred by telegram no great delay will be involved, and it seems to me desirable to leave nothing open for future dispute, if that can be avoided.\n\nI am communicating copies of this despatch to the Governments of India and Burmah.\n\nYour Highness,\n\nI have, &c. (Signed)\n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\nInclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nSir E. Satow to Prince Ch'ing.\n\nPeking, January 20, 1906. ON the 30th January, 1904, I had the honour to address your Highness a note on the subject of the portion of the frontier lying to the north of latitude 25° 35' north, which by Article IV of the Burmah Convention of 1894 was reserved for a future understanding, when the features and conditions of the country were more accurately known. In this note I summarized previous correspondence, and mentioned certain\n\n3\n\noccurrences to illustrate the danger of collision where there is no frontier recognized by both sides, which danger the British Government, animated by friendly feelings towards China, were desirous to avoid. I also stated that the region in question having been more carefully examined since 1900 than was previously possible, it was found that northward, from latitude 25° 35′ north, the watershed of all streams draining into the N Maikha from the east was the most satisfactory and easily recognizable natural boundary; and that I was instructed to inform the Chinese Government that His Majesty's Government intended henceforth to regard this as the actual boundary between China and Burmah, unless and until a settlement was reached, and that if this frontier was not respected by China, and armed forces were sent across it from the Yunnan side, there would be a risk of collision with British troops.\n\nIn a reply dated the 10th March, 1904, your Highness stated that it was necessary to ascertain accurately the features of the country east and west of the watershed, and whether the latter coincided with the original boundary of Chinese territory; and you pointed out that it would be in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Convention if both Powers sent officers to make a joint delimitation,\n\nOn the 27th October, 1905, I answered your Highness to the effect that a delimitation was impossible unless there was a preliminary agreement as to the general line which the boundary was to follow, but that in order to secure a friendly settlement of the question His Majesty's Government were willing to send officers who would accompany Representatives of the Chinese Government to point out the true position of affairs; and on the 16th November your Highness informed me that it was proposed to appoint the Acting Tuotai of Tengyueh, Shih Nung-shao, to make a survey in co-operation with the officers appointed by the British Government, In my reply of the 24th January, 1905, I notified the appointment of Mr. Litton, His Majesty's Consul at Tengyueh, to co-operate with Taotai Shih; and in a letter of the 30th January, 1905, I made it clear that these two officers were not to delimit the frontier, but were to furnish Reports for the information of their respective Governments. Your Highness informed me on the 3rd March, 1905, that instructions in this sense had been sent to the Viceroy of Yunnan.\n\nIn March 1905 Consul Litton and Taotai Shih proceeded together to the frontier, and made an inspection of a portion of it to the north of latitude 25° 35′ north, during the months of March, April, and May. Afterwards Mr. Litton submitted a detailed Report, which has been considered by His Majesty's Government, and I am informed that the Report of Taotai Shih has also been communicated to the Chinese Government by the Viceroy of Yünnan.\n\nI have the honour, accordingly, to request that the Wai-wu Pu will appoint a day for a meeting, in order to arrive at an amicable settlement of this matter.\n\nI avail, &c. (Signed)\n\n(Translation.)\n\nSir,\n\nInclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nPrince Ching to Sir E. Satow,\n\nERNEST SATOW,\n\nPeking, February 1, 1906.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Excellency's note respecting the Burmah frontier north of latitude 25° 35' north.\n\n[Note of the 20th January quoted at length.]\n\nThe Board had already addressed a despatch to the Governor-General of the Yun-Kuei Provinces calling upon him to investigate this question carefully, and we have just received a telegram from his Excellency stating that Mr. Consul Litton was dead, and requesting us to ask your Excellency to send another officer to Yunnan to go into the question and deal with it.\n\nThe Governor-General having thus asked that another officer may be sent to Yunnan to deal with the question, it becomes my duty to request your Excellency to communicate in this sense with His Majesty's Government, that another officer may be appointed to deal with the question.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407061, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 357, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "C.C.\n\nry of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\nYour Highness,\n\nInclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nSir E. Satow to Prince Ching.\n\nPeking, February 3, 1906.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Highness' note of the 1st February with reference to the Burmah-Yunnan frontier north of latitude 25° 35' north, informing me of a telegram received from the Viceroy of Yunnan, in accordance with which I am requested to move His Majesty's Government to appoint another officer to take the place of Mr. Litton, lately deceased.\n\nIf your Highness will examine my note of the 20th January you will observe that I mentioned that both Consul Litton and Taotai Shih were not to delimit the frontier, but were to furnish Reports for the information of their respective Governments.\n\nI also said that Mr. Litton had submitted a detailed Report, which has been considered by His Majesty's Government, and that means that before his death he furnished His Majesty's Government with all the information required. It is therefore unnecessary to appoint another officer to deal with the question, as suggested by the Viceroy of Yunnan.\n\nI have again the honour to request that the Wai-wu Pu will appoint a day for a meeting, in order to arrive at an amicable settlement of the question.\n\nI avail, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\nInclosure 4 in No. 1.\n\nDraft Article.\n\nWHEREAS, by the terms of Article IV of the Convention between Great Britain and China of the 1st March, 1894, it was agreed that the settlement and delimitation of that portion of the Burmah-China frontier which lies to the north of latitude 25° 35′ north should be reserved for a future understanding between the High Contracting Parties when the features and condition of the country were more accurately known, it is now agreed between the Governments of Great Britain and China that the boundary of the two Empires in the territory lying to the north of latitude 25° 35' north shall follow the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins up to the confines of Thibet.\n\nInclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\nConsul Litton to Consul-General Wilkinson.\n\nTengyueh, December 9, 1905.\n\n(Telegraphic.)\n\nI REACHED point on the Salween eight marches further than the highest point reached last spring. Also explored two new passes on the Salween-Mekong divide, and also one on the Salween-Irrawaddy divide. We were able to trace the course of the Salween up to latitude 27° 20′ north, up to which point the Salween is confined in a series of ridges and the country is very difficult. [At] 26° 20′ there is some Chinese authority, but this country is much disturbed by the bad conduct of the Tu Ssu. Further north there is no trace of Chinese authority up to 27° 35', where Yetche territory begins. Independent tract is inhabited by Lissu, under conditions of utter savagery. Examination shows that the Salween-Irrawaddy divide continues to be a conspicuous range, 12,000 feet to 13,000 feet, up to about latitude 28° 30′ north, where it is merged in a vast snow range trending east and west, which I saw at a distance. No trouble with tribes, but great hardships. Please communicate substance of my telegram to British Minister.\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[15301]\n\n(No. 8.)\n\nSir,\n\nNo. 1.\n\n351\n\nMay 5.\n\nSECTION 2.\n\nThe one\n\nConsul-General Wilkinson to Sir Edward Grey.--(Received May 5.)\n\nYunnan-fu, March 10, 1906.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inclose copy of a despatch to His Majesty's Minister reporting certain recent official appointments in this Province of Yunnan. that most concerns British interests is the retention at his acting post of Intendant of the Southern Circuit (the Pu-erh and Ssumao Taotai-ship) of Shih Hung-shan, the official who was (as Acting Taotai at Tengyueh) engaged last spring with Messrs. Litton and Loveson in examining the conditions of the undelimited border districts east of Myitkyina. Shih Taotai's retention at Pu-erh will enable him to complete his report on the other stretch of undelimited frontier, the hundred miles or so along \"Scott's line,\" between the Namting and Na Lawt.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) W. H. WILKINSON.\n\nInclosure in No. 1.\n\nConsul-General Wilkinson to Sir E. Satow.\n\n(No. 10.) Sir,\n\nYunnan-fu, March 10, 1906.\n\nWITH reference to the possible substitution of Li Shou-t'ien for Wei Ching-tung in the post of Intendant of the Lin-an-k'ai-kuang Circuit (Taotai at Mengtzu), as mentioned in my immediately preceding despatch, the following appointments have been actually gazetted:-\n\nHsing-lu, substantive Intendant of the Eastern Circuit (I-tung Tao), is to act as Superintendent of the Salt Gabelle (Yen-fa Tao). Chang Hsing-chi, titular Intendant of the Southern Circuit (I-nan Tao), who has never proceeded from Yunnan-fu to take up his post, becomes officiating Intendant of the Eastern Circuit. This enables Shih Hung-shao to retain his acting post at Pu-erh, and to complete at his leisure his inquiry and report on the conditions of the undelimited frontier south of Kunlong Ferry (\"Scott's line\"). Shih Taotai's substantive post is still that of Prefect of Yungchang. His late gerant there, Lang Cheng-hsien, an able and popular man, is to be replaced by Hsieh Yu-chun. I may add that, as far as I can learn, Shih Taotai has not yet sent in his report on the Wa frontier, of which a copy has more than once been promised to me.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed) W. H. WILKINSON.\n\nP.S.-Chang Taotai is a Shantung man, a Hanlin, and, as I have earlier reported, has been serving as Intendant of the Right River (Yu-chiang Tao) in Kuangsi. Hsieh Yü-chun comes from Kueichow, and has served as Home Magistrate (K'un-ming Hsien) at Yunnan-fu, and as Sub-Prefect at Ssŭmao.\n\n[1993 e--2]\n\nW. H. W.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407145, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 441, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "Co.\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government]\n\n434\n\n0.\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[12399]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n22642\n\n[April 10]\n\nSECTION\n\nREG! 23 JUN 06\n\nt\n\nSir E. Satow to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received April 10.)\n\n(No. 75.) (Telegraphic.) P.\n\nBURMAH-YUNNAN frontier, north.\n\nPeking, April 10, 1906.\n\nAt an interview which I had with the Wai-wu Pu on the 9th March, I submitted to them the draft of an Article for our joint signature, which should fix the watershed between the basins of the Irrawaddy and Salween Rivers as the boundary. I also communicated the offer to compensate China for the extinction of all claims on our side of the boundary (which was to be embodied in an exchange of notes) by the payment of an annual sum.\n\nI had another discussion with the Chinese Ministers yesterday, which resulted in our proposals being refused,\n\nDo you approve of my now addressing a note to the Chinese Government in accordance with paragraph 4 of Lord Lansdowne's despatch No. 219 of the 30th September, 1905?\n\n[1963 k-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407199, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 495, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "70 oguly Co.\n\nThis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[20640]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n487\n\n[June 18.]\n\nSECTION 1. C. O.\n\n24601\n\nREC REC 7 JUL 06.\n\nSir E. Satow to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 18.)\n\n(No. 202.) Sir,\n\nWITH reference to my despatch No. 113 of the 13th March and telegram No. 75 Peking, May 1, 1906, of the 10th April, I have the honour to inclose copy of a note which I addressed to-day to Prince Ching, in accordance with the instructions conveyed in your telegram No. 86 of the 28th April, on the subject of the Burmah frontier north of latitude 25° 35′.\n\nAs reported in my telegram No. 75 of the 10th April, I again discussed the subject at the Wai-wu Pu on the 9th April with the Grand Secretaries Na-t'ung and Ch'i Hung-chi and his Excellency Lien-fang. I made some geographical explanations of an elementary character to Ch'ü Chung-tang, who was under the impression that the \"Salween flowed south into the Irrawaddy,\" and substituted another draft Article for that submitted in my interview of the 9th March in order to define the boundary more clearly. In the earlier draft I adopted the wording contained in Lord Lansdowne's despatch No. 219 of the 30th September, 1905-\"The watershed between the Irrawaddy and the Salween basins up to the confines of Thibet\"--but as the Shweli belongs to the Irrawaddy system and the starting point at Manung Pum is some distance from the Salween divide, I thought a more extended statement necessary to prevent misunderstanding.\n\nTheir Excellencies said that after consultation with the Viceroy of Yunnan they had come to the conclusion that my proposals were not acceptable. They involved a concession of a large portion of territory which was under Chinese jurisdiction, and this was not a thing which the Viceroy or themselves could lightly agree to.\n\nI argued that the watershed was the natural boundary, and that the claims of the Chinese Government over any territory west of it were of a doubtful character. There were some customary presents or dues which the native Chiefs (“tu-yi\") of Ming-Kuang and Teng-Keng occasionally received, and for these the Indian Government would make suitable monetary compensation.\n\nTheir Excellencies still objected, and made it evident that they had no intention of treating our proposals in a reasonable and practical way. In reply to a categorical question, Chü Chung-tang finally declared that they could not be accepted. I therefore brought the discussion to a close by saying that I should address them a note on the subject.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\nInclosure in No. 1.\n\nSir E. Satow to Prince Ch'ing.\n\nYour Highness,\n\nWITH reference to the correspondence which took place between us at the May 1, 1906. beginning of this year, in which I proposed that the Board of Foreign Affairs should appoint a day for the discussion of the reports furnished by the late Mr. Litton, His Majesty's Acting Consul at Tengyueh, and Taotai Shih on their joint examination of the watershed to the north of Manang Pum, your Highness is aware that, with the object of arriving at an amicable settlement in regard to the frontier between the British and Chinese possessions northwards from that point on the 9th March, and again on the 9th April, I discussed this matter with their Excellencies Na Chung-tang, Ch'a Chung-tang, and Lien-fang. On the latter occasion I submitted to them the draft of a proposed Article in the following form :----\n\nWhereas by the terms of Article IV of the Convention between Great Britain and China of the 1st March, 1894, it was agreed that the settlement and delimitation\n\n[2048 - ·1]\n\n--,- -༥་ --", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407200, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 496, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "2\n\nof that portion of the Burmah-China frontier which lies to the north of latitude 25° 35′ North should be reserved for a future understanding between the High Contracting Parties when the features and conditions of the country were more accurately known, it is now agreed between the Governments of Great Britain and China that the boundary of the two Empires in the territory lying to the north of latitude 25° 35′ North shall follow the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers until the head waters of the Shweli are passed, and from thence it shall follow along the water-shed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins up to the confines of Thibet.\n\nI further made an offer on behalf of the Indian Government to compensate the native Chiefs (\"fu-yi\") of Teng-keng and Ming-kwang for the customary presents and dues which they have been in the habit of receiving from certain villages on the western side of the proposed boundary, which arrangement I proposed should be placed on record in an exchange of notes.\n\nI regret that I found no disposition on the part of their Excellencies to accept this very liberal offer for the settlement of this long-pending question, and, in reply to my inquiry, I was categorically informed by his Excellency Ch'ü Chung-tang that the Chinese Government would not entertain my proposals.\n\nHaving reported to His Majesty's Government the result of these two interviews, I am now instructed by His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to state to the Chinese Government that His Majesty's Government intend to regard the watershed described in the draft Article above quoted as the frontier, and that, failing its acceptance on the terms which have been offered, the Government of Burmah will be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiations.\n\nI avail, &c. (Signed)\n\nERNEST SATOW.\n\n488\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nSOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[21175]\n\n(No. 118.)\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir Edward Grey to Mr. Carnegie.\n\n[June 26.]\n\nSHOTION 1\n\n24601\n\nRECE\n\nREG 7 JUL 06\n\nL\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nrelative to the Burmah-China frontier.\n\nAPPROVE suggestion contained in your telegram No. 121 of the 14th June Foreign Office, June 26, 1906.\n\n[2048 cc-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 407227, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "page_number": 523, "title": "CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906", "content_text": "C.O.\n\n(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)\n\n2\n\nIn reply to my question why the \"shao-kuan\" should have put the man to death instead of handing him over to the Prefect, Père Vignal said they had pillaged the accused's house, and to kill him would be the easiest way of covering their proceeding.\n\nOn his arrival in Szechuan he had written to his Bishop, but, as it turned out, in so ambiguous a way that the Bishop had been led to believe that the accused had been executed by his (Père Vignal's) order. He had been exceedingly surprised to hear some two months later from M. Giraudeau that he had been accused of putting a man to death; that he had been suspended from the exercise of his priestly functions; and that he was to proceed to Mengtse to stand his trial.\n\nHe had explained matters to the Bishop, who had removed the suspension, but he was himself only too glad to take the opportunity of exonerating himself before a French Consul. He accordingly left for Mengtse, following on his way south the same route he had followed when going to Yarkalo. At Nati he had slept in the same house as before, and neither there nor elsewhere along the road had he been met with any sign of enmity. He believed that the French Legation, equally with his Bishop, was now convinced of his innocence.\n\nAt the request of Père Monbeig I have telegraphed to you the substance of Père Vignal's story.\n\nYesterday morning Hsing Ta-jen, Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs here, mentioned this case in the course of conversation with me. He said that the authorities had been careful to see that nothing untoward happened during the journey of Père Vignal to Mengtse. As regarded the latter's asseveration that he was innocent, there was proof to the contrary. I did not ask what proof, as I did not wish to discuss the matter until I had heard Père Vignal's story. If the \"proof\" is the letter written on Père Vignal's card, the missionary should have little difficulty in rebutting it. At the same time, even on Père Vignal's own showing, the death of the old Tibetan was due to his (the Père's) own denouncement; and if he did not approve the man's execution on the spot, he at all events declined to intervene.\n\nIt was natural, perhaps, that he should decline to intervene, if he was convinced that the man's name figured on Père Genestier's list of rioters, as he affirms and the Prefect denies. This point, like the other of the letter, should be easily settled; but Père Vignal is taking no witnesses with him to Mengtse, confident that his word will be accepted by his Consul. What evidence will be produced on the other side I do not know. The Chinese authorities probably are only pushing the charge as a possible set off against the claims for indemnity of the French Mission, or in the hope of postponing a settlement.\n\nI have, &c.\n(Signed) W. H. WILKINSON.\n\nP.S.--With regard to the story of the mutilation of a woman, Père Monbeig writes to me:-\n\nL'incident de la femme mutilée est réel. C'est aussi le fait des chefs de l'escorte du Père, qui ne connaît la chose que lorsqu'on lui présenta le morceau de l'oreille de cette femme, d'ailleurs coupable aussi. Le mobile de cet acte de cruauté a été de la part des Chinois le désir du pillage. Ils ont eu ainsi deux familles à piller.\n\nSO-WEST CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[24074]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[July 16.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\n514\n\nMr. Carnegie to Sir Edward Grey.~(Received July 16.) (No. 245.) Sir,\n\nPeking, May 26, 1906.\n\nWITH reference to Sir E. Satow's despatch No.202 of the first instant, inclosing copy of a note addressed to Prince Ch'ing on the subject of the Burmah frontier north of latitude 25° 35', I have the honour to transmit translation of the reply which I have received from his Highness, the substance of which I have already communicated to you in my telegram No.98 of the 10th May.\n\nIt will be observed that Prince Ch'ing regards the proposed boundary as very unsatisfactory. He points out that, as His Majesty's Government are well aware that the native Chiefs of Teng-Kong and Ming-Kwang are in the habit of receiving presents and dues from certain villages to the west of the watershed, it is evident that these latter places are under Chinese jurisdiction, which it is undesirable to terminate by a payment of compensation.\n\nHis Highness goes on to say that the Board of Foreign Affairs were in telegraphic consultation with the Viceroy of Yunnan on the subject when they were confronted with the statement, contained in Sir E. Satow's note, that His Majesty's Government intended to instruct the Government of Burmah to occupy the country in dispute failing an acceptance by the Chinese Government of the terms offered. The Board considered such action unjustifiable, and I am therefore requested to inform His Majesty's Government that the terms of the IVth Article of the Burmah Convention should be conformed to, that a further examination of country should be made, and that negotiations should be carried on with a view to arriving at an early settlement of the question.\n\n(Translation.) Sir,\n\nI have, &c.\n(Signed) LANCELOT D. CARNEGIE.\n\nInclosure 1 in No.1.\n\nPrince Ch'ing to Mr. Carnegie.\n\nPeking, May 9, 1906.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Sir E. Satow's note of the 1st May, on the subject of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier north of 25° 35′ north, in which he stated that he was instructed by His Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to inform the Chinese Government that the British Government intend to regard the watershed described in the draft Article submitted to their Excellencies Na chung-tang, Ch'ü-chung-tang and Lien Fang on the 9th April as the frontier, and that, failing its acceptance on the terms which had been offered, the Government of Burmah will be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiations.\n\nWith regard to this section of the frontier, the British Government merely takes the region watered by certain rivers as the extent to which the boundary reaches, and accordingly makes the watershed between the Shueli-Salwen Rivers and the Irrawaddy the frontier-line, thus including outposts such as Tzu-chu and Pai-lai, which are administered by Chinese native tribal authorities. The proposed boundary-line is therefore still very unsatisfactory. Since the British Government is well aware that the native Chiefs of Teng-Keng and Ming-Kwang are in the habit of receiving presents and dues from certain villages, it is evident that there is trustworthy proof that those places are under the jurisdiction of Chinese tribal authorities, and it is undesirable to terminate that jurisdiction by a payment of compensation. In order that the boundary-line may be laid down, it is obvious that the spheres of jurisdiction should be clearly defined.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-337 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1906.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411595, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 95, "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "## SOUTH-WEST CHINA\n### CONFIDENTIAL\n\n[14866]\n\n**No. 1.**\n\n## India Office to Foreign Office.-(Received May 7.)\n\n### SECTION 1.\n\nTHE Under-Secretary of State for India presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, by direction of Mr. Secretary Morley, forwards herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, copy of inclosures in a letter from the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, dated the 21st March, relative to affairs of the Burmah-China frontier in the Nmai-ka region.\n\nIndia Office, May 6, 1907.\n\n### Inclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nSir,\n\nGovernment of Burmah to Government of India.\n\nRangoon, February 18, 1907.\n\nI AM directed to solicit a reference to the correspondence ending with your endorsement dated the 24th December, 1906, and to submit, for the information of the Government of India, a copy of a letter, dated the 19th January, 1907, from Mr. H. A. Ottewill, Acting British Consul, Tengyueh, on the subject of the increase in taxes imposed by the Tengkeng Sawbwa on coffin-wood coming from Pien-ma.\n\n2. The Lieutenant-Governor concurs with Mr. Ottewill in regarding this incident as an indication of the expediency of effecting an early settlement of the boundary between Burmah and China north of latitude 25° 35'.*\n\nI have, &c.\n(Signed) A. LEEDS.\n\n### Inclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nSir,\n\nActing Consul Ottewill to Government of Burmah.\n\nTengyueh, January 19, 1907.\n\nI HAVE the honour to inclose to you herewith copy of a despatch which I have addressed to His Majesty's Minister at Peking on the subject of the increase in taxes by the Tengkeng Sawbwa on coffin-wood coming from Pien-ma, west of the Salween-Irrawaddy Divide.\n\nI have, &c.\n(Signed) H. A. OTTEWILL.\n\n### Inclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\n(No. 4.)\n\nSir,\n\nActing Consul Ottewill to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nTengyueh, January 19, 1907.\n\nI HAVE the honour to report that in November 1906 some Tengyueh merchants handed me a Petition complaining of new taxes imposed by the Tu Ssu (Sawbwa) of Tengkeng (in the Salween Valley, latitude 26°) on their trade in coffin-boards and \"huang lien\" in the Pien-ma (Hpimaw) district on the Nmai-Hka side of the Salween-Irrawaddy Divide.\n\nAs you are aware, the relations between the Pien-ma villages and the Tengkeng Tu Ssu were detailed at length in the late Mr. Litton's Report on the undelimited \n* s., north of Manung Pum.\n\n(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)\n\nhowever, not object to the adoption of a compromise on Namting-Nalawt section if, in return for a concession there, His Majesty's Government can secure Chinese Government's full consent to the Salween-Shweli-Irrawaddy divide as the boundary further north, with possibly a more satisfactory attitude in respect of other outstanding questions. Following might, we consider, be ceded to China, if latter is prepared to accept such a solution:-\n\nCountry east of Namkha River, i.e., Mong Hka estuary, where Chinese posts are in occupation.\n\nBoundary from head of the Namkha River might follow either of three following lines, whichever may be found most convenient in dealing with Chinese Government. Least demarcation would be involved by third line, which would also, apparently, best comply with wording of Convention:-\n\n1. Line suggested by Burmah Government; see map inclosed with their letter of the 19th October, 1906.\n2. Line proposed by Shih Taotai.\n3. Shih Taotai's line as far as about 23° latitude and 99° 40′ longitude. Thenceforward Scott's line northwards.\n\n(Repeated to Peking.) \n## Page 2\n## Page 94", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 411598, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "page_number": 98, "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907", "content_text": "# (This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government\n\n## SOUTH-WEST CHINA.\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL.**\n\n[14251]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n97\n\n(May 21.)\n\n## SECTION 1.\n\n(No. 208.)\n\nSir,\n\n### Sir Edward Grey to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nForeign Office, May 21, 1907.\n\nI HAVE received your despatch No. 554 of the 27th December last, inclosing a translation of a note from Prince Ch'ing on the subject of the Namting-Nalawl section of the Burma-China boundary.\n\nI now transmit to you a copy of a letter from the India Office, forwarding a proposal from the Government of India for the adoption of a compromise in regard to that portion of the boundary in return for the full acceptance by the Chinese Government of the Salween Shweli-Irrawaddy watershed as the boundary further north.\n\nA clear idea of the nature of the Government of India's proposals will be obtained by an examination of the maps, of which copies are inclosed herewith, and especially of that marked `(C)`. It has been ascertained that by \"Scott's line\" it is intended to indicate the red line on map `(C)`.\n\nI shall be glad if you will report to me whether you consider that the Chinese Government are likely to entertain favourably a proposal for the settlement of the whole frontier on the terms suggested, hearing in mind the observations made in the last two paragraphs of the India Office letter.\n\nI am, &c. (Signed) **E. GREY**.\n\n* India Office, May 1, 1907.\n\nIn India Office, March 2, 1907.\n\n[2506 z-] \n-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428636, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 561, "title": "CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "The autumn of 1905, Mr. Litton wrote from the Upper Salween in latitude 26° 40′: whole of the great Irrawady-Salween Divide was spread out before us... the range could be followed to the north as far as the eye could reach until at a distance of some 100 miles from where we stood and in an approximate latitude 28° 10′ (i.e., west of Chamutong) it was merged in a huge range of dazzling snow-peaks trending westward. This snow-range is doubtless the last source of the Irrawady and forms the divide between it and the Zayul or Brahmaputra system, which would carry it, as the Government of India has claimed, to the point where India meets Tibet.\n\nThis then is the boundary which has been chosen by His Majesty's Government as the only one which can properly be accepted, and the expedition of 1905 found no reason to modify the line, the only Chinese claims beyond the border consisting of certain family rather than Imperial rights alleged to be held by hereditary chiefs of Lisu districts on the Chinese side, including an irregular house and timber tax collected by Tengkeng, whilst it was clearly proved that no administrative control by Chinese officers existed to the west of the great range. In the course of my recent frontier tour constant rumours reached me of Chinese activity along the undelimited frontier, and it appears that the provincial Government evinced their interest in the question by sending deputies from the capital both in 1908 and 1909 to visit the tribal chiefs and to report on general conditions on the northern border line. I gathered from these chiefs that the Chinese had recently urged them to hold themselves in readiness for any trouble which might occur, threatening the loss of their hereditary rank if they proved themselves unable to maintain a force sufficient to safeguard their frontier regions. Such tactics cannot fail to unsettle the semi-barbarous chiefs, who have learned in the experience of centuries to place entire confidence in the prestige of China, the Empire which represents to these tribesmen all of power and wealth and dignity and which has marked a slow but certain line of progress to the limits of the wild country to the extreme west of Yunnan. It can scarcely be expected that Lisu or Kachin tribesmen will have much understanding of or regard for the intangible idea of an unmarked international frontier and, so long as they are convinced of the support of the Chinese authorities, they will not hesitate to undertake adventures such as have resulted in the Sima troubles of 1890, the Hpare affair of 1900 or this last raid at the close of 1900.\n\nThere can be little doubt that the recent establishment of a modern-drilled and well-equipped army in Yunnan has stirred provincial ambitions, and that a forward and even aggressive policy may be expected along the frontier unless some check is given to the irresponsible petty officials who have little to lose and all to gain by any successful move against their little-known neighbour of Burma. Such an incident as the destruction of the British boundary pillar reported in my despatch No. 2 of the 15th February, although of little moment in itself, cannot fail to illustrate the spirit which is inclined to actuate the minor officials of the frontier districts and will be unlikely to receive a check unless pressure is brought to bear on the more responsible authorities of the province.\n\nIn these circumstances I trust that you will see your way to advocating some action which will mark a definite disapproval of the Pien-ma raid, and which will ensure such punishment for the guilty chief as will prove a warning both to him and to his neighbours that the boundary cannot be violated with impunity. If once the Chinese were able to establish themselves in the broken and isolated regions on the western slope of the Irrawady-Salween Divide, it would necessitate prolonged and difficult operations to displace them and to regain the position which has been clearly defined by His Majesty's Ministers to the Government at Peking as marking the limits of our territory and influence on India's north-eastern frontier.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nEnclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nARCHIBALD ROSE,\n\n3\n\nNgawchang Kha. The letter purports to be a petition addressed to you from the inhabitants of five villages on the above-named stream, complaining that the headman of Tengkeng, situated on the Salween, in China, has burnt the village of Upper Hpimaw and threatens to destroy their villages. I am also to forward a copy of a letter from the commissioner of the Mandalay division, dated the 24th January, 1910, with its enclosures, on the same subject.\n\n2. It appears that a raid has been committed by the chief of Tengkeng and his followers on the village of Hpimaw and certain neighbouring villages situated on the British side of the watershed claimed as the Burma-China frontier.\n\nThe villages mentioned are all in the unadministered tract on the north-east of the Myitkyina district, which was shown in the map forwarded to you with my letter, dated the 17th September, 1908. Tengkeng is on the Chinese side of the border, and with regard to it I am to invite a reference to the report by the late Mr. G. J. L. Litton on a joint survey of the Burma-Yunnan boundary by British and Chinese officials in 1905. Tengkeng is shown on the map which formed Enclosure No. 1 of Mr. Litton's report, and the claim of the chief of Tengkeng to exercise jurisdiction over Hpimaw and the neighbouring villages on the Ngawchang stream was described on pp. 8 and 11 of that report.\n\n3. It is not known whether any of the followers of the chief of Tengkeng are still in British territory, but in any case it is not possible to take immediate and effective steps from this side to eject them. For this purpose it would be necessary to dispatch an expedition on the scale and of the nature described in my letter dated the 17th September, 1908, and the present season is now too far advanced for this to be undertaken before November 1910. In the meantime, the lieutenant-governor thinks that the raid should be immediately brought to the notice of the Chinese authorities in order that, if possible, reparation may be exacted and the raiders punished. I am accordingly to suggest that, if you see no objection, you should bring the facts to the notice of the taotai at Tengyueh, and request him to take immediate steps to procure the withdrawal from British territory of the raiders from Tengkeng, if any of them are still remaining there, to punish the chief of Tengkeng for his action, and to require the chief to compensate the inhabitants of Hpimaw and the other raided villages for the injuries inflicted on them.\n\n4. A copy of this letter has been furnished to the consul-general at Yunnan-fu, in order that he may, if he thinks fit, place the facts before the Governor-General of Yunnan and Kueichow and move him to issue the necessary instructions to the taotai at Tengyueh.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nEnclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nW. F. RICE, Chief Secretary.\n\nMr. Carey to Government of Burma.\n\nJanuary 24, 1910.\n\nI AM very unwell at the moment with neuralgia and complications, and send this on without retaining it until I am better, as it is urgent. I do not think that we should immediately send a column to turn out the Chinese, as Hertz suggests. I think we should address Rose and attempt to procure the withdrawal of the Chinese (if they are found to be still there), in the first instance, through him.\n\nAs you know, it is late to send out columns; it is also inadvisable in the face of the policy, which is defined clearly, to send expeditions into this country. I think that we shall not prejudice our claim by trying—anyhow, for this year—to get the Chinese to withdraw through the representations of the consul.\n\nAs regards the villagers who petitioned, Hertz might be instructed to inform them that the matter is being attended to with the view of the withdrawal of the Chinese and the payment to them of such compensation for the raid as may appear to be warranted after enquiry.\n\nSir,\n\nGovernment of Burma to Acting Consul Rose.\n\nRangoon, February 7, 1910.\n\nI AM directed to forward, in original, a letter (written in Chinese on a piece of board) which was brought to the assistant superintendent at Sadon in the Myitkyina district by a Lanshi named Chawn Tang Bawm, of Luagbaug, on the Upper\n\n[2729 b-1]\n\nB 2\n\n558", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428637, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 562, "title": "CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "Enclosure 4 in No. 1.\n\nMr. Herts to Mr. Carey.\n\nJanuary 17, 1910.\n\nPLEASE refer to my demi-official letter dated the 28th August, 1909. Wilson has sent a Lashi named Chawm Tung Bawm, of Lungbang, on the Upper Ngawchang Kha, with a letter addressed to Rose, which I am forwarding to you original under a separate registered cover. The letter is written in Chinese on a piece of board, and purports to be a petition from the inhabitants of five villages on the above-named stream, complaining that the headman of Tengkeng, situated on the Salween in China, has burnt the village of Upper (or West) Hpimaw and threatens to destroy their villages. The names in Lashi of the five villages are Hpimaw (East), Kalam (East and West), Htantung and Lamyaw. As is not usual the Chinese names of the villages are different from the local Yawyin or Lashi names.\n\nA copy of the statement made by the messenger to Mr. Wilson, which is substantially the same as he has stated to me here, is also forwarded.\n\nThe elders of the five villages are said to have met at the village of Iltumshing and there to have got two Chinese traders, Ton San Ye and Chu Laopan, to write the letter.\n\nThe burning of Hpimaw appears to have taken place more than a month ago. After the destruction of the village the headman (or chief) of Tengkeng returned to China, but his men, some hundreds of them in all, it is said, are still in Lower Hpimaw and Hpawdi. The messenger took nine days to come here.\n\nIt is evident, if the above is true (and I have no doubt that it is substantially so), that we cannot permit the Chinese to remain in occupation of the Ngawchang Valley, for if we do, we shall not be able to make good our claim to the Irrawady-Salween Divide as the boundary between the two Empires. I can see no course open to us, therefore, but to dispatch a column without delay to compel the Chinese to return to their country, and to place beyond possibility of future question that the whole of the basin of the Irrawady belongs to us.\n\nI leave it to you to communicate with Rose on the subject of this letter, if you consider it necessary to do so.\n\nThe villages of Tengkeng, Tangtung, Lungpang (Langbang) and Hpimaw are shown in the map attached to the red book on the joint survey of the Burmah-Yunnan boundary by British and Chinese officials in 1905, in which book the claim of the Tengkeng headman to the Upper Ngawchang Valley and the advantages of the above-named boundary are discussed at length. From the opinion of the British officials who took part in the joint survey that the adoption of any other frontier will be highly detrimental to the interests of Burmah, I do not think that anyone will dissent.\n\nA translation of the Chinese letter is attached.\n\nEnclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\nTranslation of Chinese letter addressed to Acting Consul Rose.\n\nTHE humble petition of the elders of villages situated on the upper waters of the Hsiao Chiang (small river, i.e., the Ngawchang Kha) addressed to the British consul at Tengyuch.\n\nAbout the 15th day of the 9th month the headman of Tengkeng, named Twanhwe, collecting a force of 300 Yawyins and 200 of his own people, came and attacked our villages, He set fire to and entirely destroyed one village which consists of houses with thatch roofs. We are in great danger and our people have been scattered by this inroad into our country. He has also killed all our domestic animals such as pigs, fowls, and dogs, and taken our provisions. We therefore petition to your Honour to pity us, and to restore peace and order in our unhappy valley. Our villages lie within British territory and we humbly request that you will be kind enough to pay them a visit. We do not know why the Tengkeng headman is oppressing us by raiding our villages. We have no intercourse with his villages nor is there any feud between us. Our territory lies within the Kaoliang Pass Pillar and is watered by the Hsiao Chiang (Ngawchang Kha). We are unable to resist his attacks, so we petition your Honour to be kind enough to visit our country, which is in a very disturbed state, and to help us.\n\nThe headman in question is also said to have threatened the people living on the other side of the river (Ngawchang Kha). Our country does not belong to him, so we request you to come to us.\n\nWe are the elders and villagers of Tumaw, Kwankwan, Shanglaw, Kachi, and Shijang.\n\nDated the 1st year, 10th month, 26th day of the reign of Sein Ton.\n\nEnclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\nStatement made to Mr. Wilson, Assistant Superintendent, Sadon, by Chawm Tung Baum, of Lungbang.\n\nLABAU NU, Duwa of Lajawng, has brought in a Lashi named Chawm Tung Bawm, of Lungbang, a village near Hpimaw, to the British consul at Tengyuch. I have questioned Labau Nu and Chawm Tung Bawn carefully, and they furnish the following information:\n\n\"As the Lashis of Hpimaw and some fourteen or fifteen villages have not paid tribute for the last three or four years the Tengkeng fuyi about two months ago got together 500 men (Chinese, Black Lisu, Maru, and Lashi) and threatened to burn down the villages which refused to pay tribute. The Lashis on our side of the frontier got information of the fuyi's intentions from their friends and relations who live on the Chinese side, and some fifty or sixty of them, armed with guns and bows and arrows, awaited the approach of the fuyi and his following. A fight took place on the frontier and the Hpimaw men and their friends are said to have killed seven of the fuyi's men, and to have wounded a few more. The Hpimaw men had no casualties, but, as they were outnumbered, they retreated, and the fuyi and his men then sacked and burnt Upper Hpimaw.\n\n\"The fuyi is said to have stationed at the present time 300 men at Lower Hpimaw and 200 at the Lisu village of Hpawte. The detachment at Hpimaw is composed of transfrontier Chinese, Black Lisus, Marus, and Lashis, and the men are quartered in four or five Chinese houses which are built of sun-dried bricks. The men who are stationed at Hpawte are mostly from the Chinese side, but several Black Lisus who belong to Hpawte took part in the sacking and burning of Upper Hpimaw.\n\n\"No Chinese soldiers or men from the frontier levy are said to have been engaged, and the fuyi's followers are armed with cap-guns, flint-locks, and Kachin check guns.\"\n\nThe following information obtained from the messenger may also be of interest:\n\n\"There is a tree which grows on both banks of the Ngawchang Kha, the timber of which is much prized by the Chinese for making coffins. The Chingpaw name for the tree is 'shau hipun,' the Lashi name 'shau sik,' and the Chinese name 'sha mu.' The Tengkeng fuyi formerly levied a tax of 1 rupee to 1 rupee 8a. on every four planks extracted from the forests near Hpimaw, but during the last three years he has taken two planks out of every four in lieu of the money tax. Two well-to-do Chinese traders, named Chu Lauban, of Mingkuang, and Ton Sanye, of Kutung Pa, who deal largely in these planks, are said to have complained to the Chinese official at Yung-chang Fu about the Tengkeng fuyi's conduct. They were informed that Hpimaw was in the British sphere of influence, and were referred to the Tengyuch ting, who is said to have warned the Tengkeng fuyi to discontinue levying taxes, as Hpimaw was not in Chinese territory.\n\n\"Some three years ago a Yawyin (Black Lisu) discovered a couple of salt springs near two streams which flow into the Ngawchang Kha. He took samples from each spring to the Tengkeng fuyi, who boiled them down, and found that one produced excellent salt, while the other produced inferior stuff. The fuyi is said thereupon to have declared that both springs are in his jurisdiction, and to have prohibited their being worked without his permission.\n\n\"The writer of this letter is Ton Sanye, one of the Chinese traders referred to.”\n\nPage 559", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-371 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428727, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 68, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[9088]\n\nNo. 1.\n\nO\n\n66\n\n15575\n\n[March 18th]\n\nRide 23 MAY 10,\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nMr. Mar Müller to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received March 15.)\n\n(No. 50.) (Telegraphic.) P.\n\nBURMAH frontier.\n\nPeking, March 15, 1930.\n\nAn urgent petition has been sent through Burmah Government to His Majesty's consul at Tengyueh from Langpung and neighbouring villages, complaining that the chief of Tengkeng, in China, had burnt Pienma, and threatened their villages, and that 500 of his men still remained in territory claimed by us.\n\nWhen His Majesty's consul, acting on my instructions in accordance with the suggestions of the Government of Burmah, made representations to the taotai with a view to securing the punishment of the chief, the payment of compensation, and the withdrawal of the men, the taotai replied that there had been no violation of the frontier, as Pienma was in Chinese territory.\n\nIn order to ascertain the facts, Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah suggests that His Majesty's consul should proceed to Tengkeng. I am informed by latter that he is of opinion that the journey could be undertaken without trouble or danger, and would last thirty days. I am in favour of authorising proposed journey in view of the nature of the taotai's reply, but before doing so I should be glad to have your instructions. I think representations to the central Government may well be postponed until we know the facts.\n\nPienma is west of the Salween-Irrawaddy watershed, which was the frontier claimed by His Majesty's Government in 1906, but refused by the Chinese Government. As will be seen by reference to your despatches No.458 of the 14th November, 1907, and No.402 of the 15th November, 1906, the question was then left in abeyance.\n\n[2675 p-1]\n\nPage 1\n\n[end of page]\n\n[beginning of page]\n\nPage 2\n\n[there is no text on this page]\n\n[end of page]\n\nhas been rewritten to meet the requirements as follows:\n\nThe original response already follows most of the instructions. However, some minor adjustments can be made for better compliance.\n\n```html\nThis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[9088]\n\nNo. 1.\n\nO 66 15575\n\n[March 18th]\n\nRide 23 MAY 10,\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nMr. Mar Müller to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received March 15.)\n\n(No. 50.) (Telegraphic.) P.\n\nBURMAH frontier.\n\nPeking, March 15, 1930.\n\nAn urgent petition has been sent through Burmah Government to His Majesty's consul at Tengyueh from Langpung and neighbouring villages, complaining that the chief of Tengkeng, in China, had burnt Pienma, and threatened their villages, and that 500 of his men still remained in territory claimed by us.\n\nWhen His Majesty's consul, acting on my instructions in accordance with the suggestions of the Government of Burmah, made representations to the taotai with a view to securing the punishment of the chief, the payment of compensation, and the withdrawal of the men, the taotai replied that there had been no violation of the frontier, as Pienma was in Chinese territory.\n\nIn order to ascertain the facts, Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah suggests that His Majesty's consul should proceed to Tengkeng. I am informed by latter that he is of opinion that the journey could be undertaken without trouble or danger, and would last thirty days. I am in favour of authorising proposed journey in view of the nature of the taotai's reply, but before doing so I should be glad to have your instructions. I think representations to the central Government may well be postponed until we know the facts.\n\nPienma is west of the Salween-Irrawaddy watershed, which was the frontier claimed by His Majesty's Government in 1906, but refused by the Chinese Government. As will be seen by reference to your despatches No.458 of the 14th November, 1907, and No.402 of the 15th November, 1906, the question was then left in abeyance.\n\n[2675 p-1]\n\n```\nChanges made include:\n1. Corrected \"Ride 23 MAY 10,\" to be left as is because it's part of the original text.\n2. Ensured that the original text's formatting and content are preserved as much as possible.\n3. The page numbering lines are kept as is because they are part of the original scan.\n\nThe response is already in HTML format using `` for paragraphs. The content is preserved with minimal changes, adhering to the instructions provided.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428756, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 97, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "C\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government 6664\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nRECO\n\n[April 182 JUN 10)\n\n(\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[12958]\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nActing Consul Rose to Sir Edward Grey-(Received April 16.)\n\n(No. 3. Confidential.) Sir,\n\nTengyueh, March 12, 1910.\n\nIN continuation of my despatch No. 1 of the 24th February on the subject of an armed raid across the north-east frontier of India, I have the honour to enclose duplicate of a despatch which I have to-day addressed to His Majesty's Minister at Peking, reporting that the Chinese authorities deny that Pien-ma is in British territory.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nARCHIBALD ROSE.\n\n(No. 7. Confidential.) Sir,\n\nEnclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nActing Consul Rose to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nTengyueh, March 12, 1910. IN continuation of my despatch No. 3 of the 24th February on the subject of armed raid by the Tengkeng sawbwa across the undelimited north-eastern frontier of India, I have the honour to enclose translation of a despatch which has been addressed to me to-day by the taotai, admitting that trouble has occurred in the neighbourhood of Tengkeng, but stating that Pien-ma (Hpimaw) is undoubtedly in Chinese territory, and that the affair therefore raises no international question.\n\nAt the request of the Lieutenant-Governor of Burma, I have to-day telegraphed to you requesting permission to proceed to Tengkeng in order to ascertain as far as possible the actual facts of the raid. Should you sanction this journey, I propose to travel entirely under Chinese auspices, requesting the taotai to furnish a small escort, and it will therefore be necessary to conduct all enquiries from the Chinese side of the Irrawady-Salween watershed, though this should create little difficulty, as Pien-ma lies but a few miles to the west of the Divide. With a small and lightly equipped party it should be possible to complete the journey in from twenty to thirty days, and, if the Chinese soldiers can be kept in order, I should anticipate neither trouble nor danger in the Salween Valley from the Lisus and Lashis, many of whom are personally known to me.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nARCHIBALD ROSE.\n\n(Translation.) Sir,\n\nEnclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nLiu Yuan-pi to Acting Consul Rose.\n\nMarch 12, 1910 (H. T., 2nd of 2nd moon). I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 24th February on the subject of a raid by the Tengkeng sawbwa.\n\nI find that the five villages known as \"Pien-ma\" (Hpimaw) and Cha-shan are undoubtedly in the district of the Pao-shan Hsien, that they were formerly the seat of a sawbwa, traces of whose residence are still clearly visible, and that there is no question of their being in Burmah territory.\n\nDuring the 9th moon of last year some lawless headmen in Tengkeng's jurisdiction had trouble with the sawbwa, and there was some fighting, but no houses were burned or property looted. The trouble, moreover, occurred in territory which belongs to China, there was no violation of the Burma frontier, and the Pao-shan magistrate will of course be instructed to deal with the case. As you have written to me with regard to this affair, I send this despatch for your information.\n\nCompliments and card of--\n\nLIU YUAN-PI, Taotai.\n\n[2729 q-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428943, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 284, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "The definite information that there were, when he left A-tun-tze in March, 1,200 Chinese soldiers in the Zayul country, which lies to the west of the Irawaddy-Salween watershed and in the neighbourhood of the Burmese Shan State of Khamti, troops belonging to the Szechuan army, and are armed with modern rifles; they descended from Batang to Ye-ka-lo, and are reported to have crossed the Salween at Chamutong.\n\nShortly after the flight of the Dalai Lama, despatches reached the officer at A-tun-tze from Batang reporting that 3,000 Russian troops had entered Thibet, and were camped at some distance to the north of Lhassa, but I am unable to offer any opinion as to the accuracy of this information. I learn from other sources that deputies sent out by the Sub-Prefect of Wei-hsi crossed to the Chiu country on the west bank of the Salween, where they collected tribute, during the autumn of 1909; also that two companies of Likiang troops are under orders for the Wei-hsi district. I have sent messengers, one to be stationed on the Salween, the other at A-tun-tze, to the French Fathers along the Mekong to obtain confirmation of the above reports, and I shall not fail to keep you in touch with any further information which may reach me from the direction of the northern frontier.\n\nAs you are aware, the country in the neighbourhood of latitude 28, round the upper waters of the Salween and Mekong, was visited by the late Mr. Litton in September and October of 1904, but no journey in these districts has since been made by a British officer, and I am generally dependent for information on the Fathers of the \"Missions étrangères,\" to whom I am occasionally able to render small services, and who write to me from time to time. They have penetrated into regions which were previously closed to the Chinese, and they find, with little satisfaction, that they are allowed to play the pioneer for the Yunnan authorities. In the event of such incidents as the burning of Tzeku and the murder of the Fathers, the Lamas are declared responsible, and the missions are reported beyond the pale of civilisation. Should their enterprises prove successful, however, the Fathers are speedily followed by the officials and soldiers of Yunnan, who are unequalled in the art of peaceful penetration.\n\nIf we may be guided by the opinion of M. Peronne, there can be no doubt that the Chinese have advanced yet another step in an ambitious policy on their north-western frontier, and it would appear advisable that such steps be taken at the close of the rainy season as will place accurate information at the disposal of His Majesty's Government, and will form a bar to the further advance and establishment of the Chinese in the basin of the Irawaddy.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nARCHIBALD ROSE.\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\nC O\n\n20141\n\nRECO\n\n282\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[20826]\n\n(Secret.)\n\nNo. 1.\n\nRegd 1 JUL 10\n\n(June 11.)\n\nSECTION 2.\n\nWar Office to Foreign Office.--(Received June 11.)\n\nSir,\n\nWar Office, June 10, 1910.\n\nI am commanded by the Army Council to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th ultimo relative to the maintenance of British troops and a legation guard in North China, and to state, for the information of Sir Edward Grey, that, in deference to the strong opinion expressed by His Majesty's Minister at Peking, they are prepared to accept the view that the garrison cannot at present be withdrawn.\n\n2. As, however, the weakness in numbers of the troops renders their position insecure from a military point of view, the council doubt the advisability of reducing the force, as proposed in your letter, by 500 men. It is thought that, for political reasons, a British detachment has to be quartered in a foreign country, it should be strong enough, in the event of its being attacked, to hold out with some chance of success until it could be withdrawn or reinforced.\n\n3. I am to add that the council would be glad to be informed whether it is considered feasible to make the arrangements which were suggested in paragraph 7 of War Office letter of the 27th April for the prompt succour of the garrison by the Japanese Government should emergency arise.\n\nI\n\n&c. R. H. BRADE.\n\n[2788 1-2]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428985, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 326, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[19942]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n323\n\n[June 4.]\n\nSECTION 2,\n\n220858\n\nRECEIVED June 4, 1910,\n\nActing Consul Rose to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received June 4.)\n\n(No. 7. Confidential.) Sir,\n\nTengyueh, April 30, 1910.\n\nI HAVE the honour to forward duplicate of a report, which I have to-day addressed to His Majesty's chargé d'affaires at Peking, on the subject of a journey undertaken for purposes of enquiry into the recent armed raid by the Chinese Sawbwa of Tengkeng, on the Upper Salween, into the unadministered territory lying to the west of the undelimited north-eastern frontier of India.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nARCHIBALD ROSE.\n\nEnclosure 1 in No. 1.\n\nReport by Acting Consul Rose on the Undelimited North-East Frontier.\n\nConsul's Tour of Enquiry into facts of Armed Raid by the Chief of Tengkeng into the Unadministered Territory West of the Salween.\n\nHistory of Undelimited Frontier.-During the month of January 1910 news was received at the most northerly outpost in Burma of an armed raid made from China by the Lisu Chief of Tengkeng, on the Upper Salween, into the unadministered territory to the west of the Irrawady-Salween watershed, which has been claimed by Great Britain in various despatches addressed by His Majesty's Ministers to the Wai-wu Pu at Peking. A column of exploration under Mr. H. F. Hertz, C.I.E., penetrated into this country during the open season of 1899-1900, and, although met by a Chinese force from the Lisu district of Mingkuang, they succeeded in obtaining information that a continuous range of mountains stretched from Manung Pum, the northernmost point of the delimited Burma-China frontier, eastwards to the main range forming the Irrawady-Salween watershed. In the spring of 1905, the late Mr. Litton and the Taotai Shih Hung-tao, as representatives of Great Britain and China, made a further examination of this country, and it was found that the Government of China exercised no administrative control west of the great Divide, though the Tengkeng chief claimed certain tolls as a family right from the five Fashi villages in the neighbourhood of Pienma (Hpimaw). It was then proposed by the Government of India to extinguish the claims of Tengkeng, which were purely financial in character, by a fixed annual payment, in order to secure the acceptance as a frontier line of such a range of mountains as would obviate the danger of constant international disputes and raids in a country which is inhabited by lawless tribesmen, where geographical and ethnographical features render a zig-zag frontier impossible, and where the unchecked advance of the Chinese would entail a heavy military expenditure in defending the upper sources of the Irrawady. The Wai-wu Pu was therefore informed \"that the British Government intended to regard the watershed as the frontier, and that, failing the acceptance of their terms, the Government of Burma would be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiations.\" (Ref. Sir Ernest Satow to the Wai-wu Pu of the 1st May, 1906.)\n\nFor nearly four years after the joint examination of the country by Mr. Litton and Shih Taotai the question remained in abeyance, and neither country made any attempt to advance their line of administrative control into the N'Maikha Valley. During the summer and autumn of 1909, however, the Provincial Government of Yunnan suddenly evinced an active interest in all questions affecting the British frontier line, and, possibly considering that the vigilance of Great Britain had somewhat relaxed in regard to this outlying region, they devised plans for establishing\n\n[2788 d-2]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428986, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 327, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "2\n\nan effective control across the watershed from the direction of the Salween, as the first step in which they authorised the Tengkeng Sawbwa to advance into the country and take vigorous measures to exact obedience, at the same time laying plans for a After some definite administrative effort before the close of the winter season. opposition the Sawbwa, with from 400 to 500 men, succeeded in reaching the group of Lashi villages lying nearest the frontier, Upper Pienma (Hpimaw) was burned, the submission of the four other villages was ensured, and representatives were left to enforce the payment of all outstanding tolls. In order to ascertain the facts of this raid and the actual conditions prevailing in this inaccessible territory I was instructed by His Majesty's Minister to proceed to Tengkeng on a tour of enquiry, and with this object I left my post at Tengyueh on the 7th April, 1910, accompanied by an escort of ten soldiers from the regular Chinese army which was considered necessary for my safety by the Taotai, as the route ran through the ill-reputed country of the Lisu tribesmen. It may be presumed that the Taotai had reported to the Viceroy at Yünnan-fu the representations which had been made through me regarding the raid, and his refusal to consider the request of the Government of Burmah for the punishment of Tengkeng and the payment of compensation to the villages; in notifying my departure he ventured the suggestion that, although my journey might have been planned merely for purposes of mahseer fishing, he had shrewd suspicions of ulterior motives, as the Salween Valley could scarcely be regarded as a pleasure resort at this season of the year.\n\nJourney through Mingkuang.-On leaving Tengyueh a series of long and narrow valleys, divided by steep and well-defined ranges, and watered by branches of the Taping and Shweli Rivers, run in a due northerly direction till they are blocked at their ends by the range, which strikes east from Manung Pum till it joins the main Irrawady-Salween Divide, and which itself forms the watershed between the N'Maikha and Shweli systems. After reaching Kutung Kai I advanced along the route through the Mingkuang Valley, which rises in a chain of cultivated and well-watered \"patzu\" or plains of gradually increasing altitude till it meets the cross range at its northern extremity. The consulate writer, who accompanied Mr. Litton in 1905, did not cease to exclaim at the progress made by the Chinese settlers since his previous journey; flourishing markets have sprung up along the route, every available acre is under cultivation, and there remain but a few miles to the extreme north where the original Lisu population retain possession of the land, and where grazing grounds are still available for the wandering herds of cattle, sheep, and ponies. The remaining four valleys to the north of Tengyueh are thickly populated and cultivated to the limit of the frontier line, but, although Mingkuang is advancing more slowly in agricultural development, it is undoubtedly the richest of the five belts, and the recent journeys of Mr. Coggin Brown of the Geological Survey of India prove that it is an intensely mineralised area, rich deposits of gold, silver, iron, and copper lying in close proximity to the frontier range, and in many places these are now being worked with Chinese labour and native methods. At the head of this valley one passes from the zone of bare, treeless hills and intense cultivation to a country in which the masses of limestone cliff rise from the pines and evergreens of forest-clad slopes, the foaming torrent of the Mingkuang stream winds a white course through the bracken, the calls of pheasant, sambur, and barking deer break the silence of the morning, and rhododendrons of rich red and white, briar roses, and pyrus japonica, gleam out with a wonderful brilliancy of colour from the grey mists that herald the coming rains, whilst in the forest clearings the ground is carpeted with a purple glow of dainty primulas and ground orchids, raising their heads above the tawny masses of last year's bracken. Even the Chinese were moved to wonder at the beauty of the land, and they twined garlands of flowers in the bridles and packs of the mules, or round the muzzles of their Mauser rifles, which have fallen sadly from their high estate since they were issued new and bright in the year of our Lord 1871.\n\nTa Chu Pa. The fifth day's march brought us to the end of the valley at Ta Chu Pa, where a scattered population of eighty Lisu families eke out a scanty subsistence, and five strongly stockaded Chinese houses form the head-quarters of a thriving trade in coffin planks, which are brought from the forests beyond the range. Here we halted for a day in the hope of getting some information regarding the recent raid, and Hsü Linhsiang, one of the Chinese timber merchants, informed me that he was in part responsible for the petition for assistance, reported in my despatch of the 24th February, but that he could add nothing to his original information as the Tengkeng Sawbwa had threatened to behead him, and that he was therefore banished from his home in the N'Maikha Valley. On the following day the son of the Pienma headman arrived at Ta Chu Pa, and sent a message that spies of Tongkeng and the Pao-shan magistrate were in the village, and had threatened his life if he had any dealings with me; during the night the Chinaman Hsü was kidnapped by these men, and hurried away to Yungchang-fu, and I realised that, as the Chinese had taken such precautions to block my enquiries in Ta Chu Pa, it would be of little use to proceed to Tengkeng. I decided therefore that my only hope of ascertaining the true facts of the case would be to make a forced march across the passes to Pienma, and see for myself what had actually happened. It appeared unwise to proceed into the unadministered territory with a Chinese escort, and in view of the fact that the expedition of 1905 had lost thirty mules on the first day's march, the road was proved impossible for a heavily equipped party. The escort was therefore dispatched in charge of all heavy baggage by the road running through Chinese territory to Tengkeng, and I managed to engage a number of Lisu porters to carry sufficient kit for a week for myself and my personal servants; there was little enthusiasm for the journey, and it was difficult to decide who felt the more aggrieved, the escort who were \"being deserted,\" and left to face the terrors of the road alone, or the men who were to penetrate the \"inner land,\" relying on the protection of a shot-gun, and an assortment of various medicines, the latter of which I have found an unfailing passport to the affections of the frontier tribesmen, the application of salts and embrocations ensuring perennial mental gratification even if their virtues were somewhat misapplied for purposes of physical relief.\n\n3\n\nJourney to Pienma.-On the seventh day we commenced the ascent of the range, the track lying through miles of tangled bamboo brake and dense forest jungle, through which an advance guard of Lashi Kachins hewed a way with their dhas, whilst the ponies struggled and slipped on the steep mountain paths, scrambling over the trunks of great fallen trees, and wading through the rocky torrents. This track is regularly used for a few months of the year by Lisu and Lashi porters, carrying coffin planks from Kangfang down to Mingkuang, but their path was scarcely discernible in the jungle, and the heavy rains which had fallen for several weeks had made of the low-lying portions a hopeless morass. After a long climb we reached the Pass of Ten Shui-ling, and here I was somewhat surprised to find that the tribesmen had a very clear and definite idea of the principle of the frontier. Pointing to the two streams which trickled in opposite directions down the mountain sides they explained that the parting formed the border line between Great Britain and China, and gave me such an insight into the practical meaning of a Divide, as would have proved a liberal education to those distinguished officers of the Chinese Government who in 1904 committed themselves to the statement that in this district the watershed lay at the foot of the mountains. Then with a certain courtesy that went to the heart of the situation, the Lisus handed me over to the Lashis as their guest, and we continued our journey down into the valley of the Ngawchang Kha (known by the Chinese as the Hsiao Chiang). On arrival at the first camp the weather broke, and for five days and nights the rain poured down in ceaseless torrents. The little single-fly tents could not resist the storm, clothes and bedding were sodden, the weight of the porters' loads was greatly increased, and the poor fellows spent their nights in the open, with no protection from the wet ground, or from the beating rain, save a layer of palm fibre. After seeing the hard lives that these tribesmen lead, and the triumph of the elements in their mountain homes, one wonders little at the animism forming the basis of all their faith, or at the fact that the rain and thunder, the lightning, the wind, the forest, and the mountains are all held by demons of malice, whose wrath can only be appeased by offerings and sacrifice. On one day we were obliged to march from dawn till dark without a halt for rest or food, as we found no clearing in the jungle, and the country was reported by the natives to be full of poisonous herbs which the ponies would eat if they halted, with fatal results, and it was therefore with intense relief that we at last saw the Pienma villages on a distant hillside, and felt that the worst of the journey was past. For one brief moment a glimpse of a magnificent snowy range to the north-west marked the division of the Lashi country from that of the Wild Marus, and shortly afterwards we were met by a number of headmen and villagers from Pienma (Hpimaw), who had come out in spite of the storm to offer a welcome.\n\nThe headmen had heard of my approach and evidently believed that Litton had come back, for they said they had waited five years for my return, and there was evident disappointment when they found that there was no army of occupation at my back. They poured forth their grievances at once, however, stating that there were twenty Chinese soldiers in Pienma, that two deputies of the Yungchang prefect were ...\n\n324", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428988, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 329, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "bought across the Maru range at one ounce for three ounces of silver. There is one point of considerable interest in connection with these mineral deposits. In the autumn of last year the Chinese trader Li Lao-pan applied for and obtained through the Tengyuch Taotai a written permit to work the silver and salt of the Pienma district. He proposed to bring over men from the Mingkuang mines, but the excitement following the raid was so great that none dared to enter the country, and it is not improbable that the information supplied to the Taotai on this occasion may have proved an added incentive to the Chinese in their resolve to make a final bid for the possession of the unadministered territory.\n\nThe Chinese Li Fo-ming. It may be of interest to give some account of the Chinese trader Li Fa-ming or Li Lao-pan (known by the tribesmen as Li San-pao), who might be one of our necessary acquisitions should the Government of Burmah decide to undertake the immediate administration of this territory. He speaks Kachin and Maru, and evidently carries on a thriving trade throughout these districts, where he has considerable influence with the people, who travel little beyond their homes and depend on him for the news and the products of the outside world. He brings into the country Chinese cotton-cloth, opium, beads, buttons, needles and oxen, and sends out gold, musk, bears'-galls, huang-lien (a drug), beeswax, and coffin planks. He was very anxious that I should expel Tengkeng's tax-collectors from Kang-fang, visit the twenty-six villages, and appoint headmen both in them and in the Pienma group. He also urged me to go with him on a journey of three days to the country of the wild Maru, where he assured me of a warm welcome. I did not, however, feel justified in accepting any of these offers. He reports thirteen salt springs at O-mi-o-tze, in the Maru country, and evidently has great faith in the potentialities of that land. He was of great assistance to me on my journey, and, although I have no doubt that he manages to keep well with the Chinese authorities, I think he might prove useful, as he is one of the many Yunnanese traders who know Burmah well, and who welcome British rule with its open roads, its security for property, and encouragement of trade. He did not hesitate to press for a ratification of the mines concession granted by the Taotai, but I explained that I could offer him no assistance in this direction, and that I was merely on a tour of enquiry.\n\nJourney to Tengkeng. On the 18th April the weather showed signs of clearing, and we said good-bye to Pienma, whilst the whole population turned out to speed us on our way and to urge an early and a permanent return. The top of the pass (10,500 feet) was covered with whirling mist-wreaths, and at intervals could be seen miles of snow-peaks stretching far away in a long unbroken line, as the great mass of the Irrawady-Salween watershed vanished into the white clouds towards the north. All round the pass were masses of primulas, great blooms of a brilliant azure blue, and to the east the Valley of the Ku-tan Ho ran steeply down in sunshine to Tengkeng and the Salween, backed by the great range dividing it from the Mekong, which is almost as perfect and symmetrical as the peaks on its western bank. Along the track were gangs of men \"making a road for the Paoshan magistrate,\" and at the little homestead where we stayed the night an intimation had been received that supplies would be required in the course of the next few days. On arrival at Tengkeng the magistrate appeared in person, a heavy, genial officer, who leapt into the midst of affairs without introduction or warning. He had been sent by the Yungchang Prefect, his superior, to look after his subordinate Tengkeng; the Prefect feared I should require information which the Sawbwa could scarcely be trusted to give; it was very hard on a man of his weight this journey into the Salween Valley at this season of the year, and his chair-bearers had given out already; he was leaving for Pienma at once, but suggested that I should stay a few days and rest; did I need any information? He unfortunately recovered his breath before I had time to speak, and I left him the next day, having only been able to tell him that he would be ill-advised to cross the range at the present juncture; that the question of the frontier in this district was under the consideration of our two Governments; that I was telegraphing to Yunnan-fu to the effect that I had requested him to await further orders before proceeding, and that, if he persisted in crossing without further instructions, he might embarrass his Government. With some reluctance he promised to communicate with the Yungchang Prefect, who was believed to be awaiting my return in Tengyuel, and he undertook to delay his departure until a reply had been received, explanations and ejaculations being shouted at me across the hills long after they had ceased to be intelligible. A secretary who accompanied this active officer informed my writer that the magistrate had been instructed to hurry up to Pienma to establish a school and to appoint headmen, and that there had been great trouble about the destruction of the frontier pillar in Lungchuan, but that the Viceroy had telegraphed from Yunnan-fu that he had received assurances that the Government of Burmah did not propose to make an incident of the matter, and that the magistrate had been ordered to leave the next day; the Viceroy's message had concluded with an injunction to lay aside all fear of the foreigner. This information was almost as breathless and inarticulate as the magistrate himself, but it appears to throw some light on the fact that the Tengkeng raid and the activity of the Prefect in regard to the southern frontier are all part of one scheme resulting from a sudden access of frontier activity; that the action of the Prefect in destroying the pillar (reported in my despatch of the 15th February) caused a certain disquiet lest it had carried things too far, but that some assurance had been received which had allayed their uneasiness, and on the strength of which they were losing no time in laying the foundations of administrative control beyond the disputed line of the north-eastern frontier. At the same time, it confirms the reports which reach me on all sides that the destruction of the Lungchuan pillar was regarded by the Chinese as a matter of considerable importance, and that they anticipated a rebuff from the Government of Burmah with some anxiety.\n\nFrontier Chiefs. The Tengkeng Chief (Sawbwa, Fu-yi or Tussu) called to see me in company with his superintending officer, but he was so much overwhelmed by the presence of the magistrate that he was unable to speak, except to mention that he was Chinese by descent, and of the name of Tuan. He is a slight, nervous-looking lad of about 20, and by no means the blustering desperado I had expected to find, locally known as a fool, and there seems little doubt that in the matter of the raid he was merely a tool of the Paoshan magistrate and his energetic superior, the Prefect Peng. Five chiefs of the same Tuan family hold the neighbouring Lisu posts, and none of them appear to have the personality or power to band men together on their own initiative, though they form a powerful combination, and could doubtless raise a considerable force and prove very troublesome if once convinced of the backing of the Chinese officials, of whom they have a wholesome dread. The last I saw of the neighbouring Sawbwa Tuan of Lao-wo was a crouching, sobbing figure in the consulate gatehouse, clad in a highly-decorated Japanese uniform and a pair of ladies' brown boots, who had been \"beaten to death\" by Colonel Chiang for daring to claim a tiny share in the credit of avenging last year's German murder. The two Mingkuang Sawbwaships from whose districts came the opposition to Mr. Hertz's column in 1900 are now represented by very feeble rulers, and I think that little trouble need be feared from their direction, as the Chinese have ousted or absorbed the Lisu population in their districts, and their titles are little but a name. The advance of the Chinese farmers northwards along the Salween has also had serious effects for the Sawbwa of Tengkeng, who is obliged to walk warily in taxing the pure Chinese, lest he be called to book in the magistrate's yamen; his poppy cultivation has also been stopped—meaning a loss of from 16 to 20 ounces of opium from each house—and his total annual income on the Chinese side of the frontier is believed to have been reduced to about 2,000 rupees, a fact which is well borne out by the poverty and squalor of his capital and his yamen, qualities in which those of his neighbours enter into active competition. With the reduction of their revenues they are year by year less able to meet the demands of the magistrate for his annual perquisites, and there is no doubt that the chiefs have felt tentatively, and the magistrate has indicated actively the necessity for some new resources if they are to retain their posts.\n\nThe Salween Valley. On learning of the object of the Paoshan magistrate's proposed visit to Pienma, I was much tempted to return across the pass and await there an assurance from His Majesty's Consul-General at Yunnan-fu that the magistrate would be deterred from crossing, as it appeared important that he should be prevented from taking any steps towards the administrative control of the country at the present juncture. I felt unable to do this, however, as my little party had been severely tried by the hardships of the journey, and a return of the rains would possibly have delayed my return to my post for an indefinite period, a risk which appeared inadvisable at the present time. I therefore took the road by the banks of the river, which reaches Tengyuch in seven marches after leaving Tengkeng. The weather was fortunately bright and clear during the march along the Salween, which was in its full glory of early summer, and, although intensely hot, a pleasant change after the hard journey in the mountains. The river still ran green and clear, flecked with foam as it formed in eddying rapids or rushed over its hidden rocks. On either side rose the forest-clad mountains, their luxuriant tropical green sprinkled with brilliant flowering shrubs and trees, whilst the whole was crowned by the snow-clad peaks stretching up to the...\n\n[2788 d-2]\n\nD\n\n326", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428989, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 330, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "The few travellers who have made a rapid crossing of the Salween during the dry and bright winter months have been inclined to ridicule the native traditions, which regard the river with a superstitious horror. Various colours are reported to rise in the rains, bringing death and destruction to all who are caught; monsters are believed to lurk in the waters for the unwary boatmen; and there are few who will venture near the banks when once the summer rains are set.\n\nOne needs only to see the men who pass their lives in the valley to realise that there is something in this deep, hemmed-in valley which is inimical to human life and health; their enlarged spleens, their pinched and discoloured faces, and their lifeless manner all bear traces of a constant malaria, and their report that the demon of the mists first strikes men dumb, then dooms them to a lingering death, seems a probable sign of a virulent malaria which affects the brain, and from which, in its advanced stages, there is no hope of recovery. In talking to an old Lisu, to whom I had entrusted some quinine, I ventured to suggest the theory of mosquitoes in relation to malaria, and the prophylactic properties of the tabloids of quinine; he shook his head, paid a compliment to the wisdom of the West, promised to dose himself and his people as directed, and remarked sadly that he feared those words could scarcely be relied on, that he was an old man, and that the vapours were an explanation sufficient for him.\n\n## Conclusion\n\nIn conclusion, I can only add that my visit to Pienma (Hpimaw) removes all doubt as to the reality of the raid by Tengkeng, and to the extent of the damage inflicted on the people. I trust that my action in crossing the range will not be considered in excess of my instructions, as I was faced by unexpected conditions and decided on the course which appeared to give the best hope of obtaining accurate information for His Majesty's Government without prejudice to the Chinese under whose auspices my journey was undertaken, whilst I am convinced that no information would have been available at Tengkeng. I was careful to explain to the villagers in the unadministered territory that I had no power to settle cases or to appoint headmen, and that my visit was merely for purposes of enquiry into the raid. After careful consideration, I am convinced that the Chinese exercise no sort of administrative control beyond the watershed, and that their hold over the people has considerably weakened since the report of Mr. Litton, dated the 20th May, 1905. For the past two years, there has been no payment even of the petty tolls claimed by Tengkeng, and, in the words of the villagers, the administrative efforts of his representatives have been confined to \"eating the people,\" a duty which they perform with some enthusiasm if one may judge from the list of pigs, wine, and grain entered to the account of the raiding levies, or to the official requisitions foreshadowing the advent of the magistrate of Paoshan.\n\nAt the same time, there is conclusive proof that the Chinese authorities have determined to make a last bid for control of this area, as evidenced by the visits of deputies of the Yungchang Prefect in the autumn of 1908 and during the present month; by the proclamations regarding the establishment of schools; and by the proposal to appoint headmen, for which the way was paved by the raid of the Tengkeng Sawba after his return from a visit to Yungchang; whilst additional evidence is provided by the grant of a concession in the autumn of 1909 to the Chinese trader Li Fa-ming to work salt and silver in the neighbourhood. The reasons for this sudden access of activity may, I think, be traced in part to the failing revenues of Tengkeng consequent on the prohibition of opium cultivation and their indirect effect on the income of the Paoshan magistrate and the Yungchang Prefect, but more directly to a general aggressive spirit in regard to frontier policy which owes its inception to Chin Shu-sheng, ex-Taotai of Tengyueh, and now provincial judge, and to Peng Chi-chih, the ex-Frontier commissioner, who is now Prefect of Yungchang. The effect of Tengkeng's raid has been very definite; the Pienma villagers, and in all probability those also in other parts of the unadministered territory, evidently believe that their homes are in British territory; they have resisted Tengkeng and his claims with some spirit, but they feel that he is too strong for them, and they have bowed to his present authority, as they have for the moment ceased to hope for relief from the direction of Burma.\n\nThe departure of the Paoshan magistrate, who has never before visited Tengkeng, at a time when the prefect also was absent from Yungchang, is an event of so exceptional a character that there can be no doubt of the intention of the Chinese to push the advantage by every means in their power, and I submit that there is no alternative for the Government of Burma but to arrange an administrative expedition in the early autumn, if they intend to assert their claim to the watershed boundary without an appeal to arms. I am of opinion also that, if the Chinese should successfully establish themselves in the Pienma district, they will not rest until they have pushed their outposts to the N'Maikha, or even beyond that line, and His Majesty's Government is in possession of the facts which render such a frontier undesirable. In a recent conversation, the Taotai formulated to me the belief that Great Britain had stolen from China the whole of the country of Burma, a superstition which is widely current in Yunnan, and he also spoke of the frontier as 70 or 80 miles east of the Salween-Irrawaddy watershed, which would carry back the boundary to the limits of the Irrawaddy itself, as was claimed by Sir Lo Feng Lu. In recent despatches (of the 3rd March and the 5th April, 1910) I have had the honour to bring to your attention the vigorous efforts which are being made by the Yunnanese authorities to extend their administrative border, and the claims which they have brought forward in regard to other sections of the Burma-China boundary; the line to the east of the Wa country is still unaccepted. Representatives of the Wei-hsi Ting are reported to make frequent visits to the Chiu-tzu country west of the watershed (in latitude 27-28); a number of British boundary pillars on the section between the Taping and Namting Rivers are called in question, and I respectfully submit that some action for the definite establishment of the entire frontier line will be necessary in the near future, unless the Government of Burma is willing to reopen the whole threadbare question. By the institution of a series of petty intrigues, the Chinese evidently hope for an eventual revision of the years of laborious work spent by successive frontier commissions, maintaining as their objective the acquisition of territory and outlets, which are obviously desirable for the landlocked province of Yunnan, which formed the motive and incentive of every Chinese war with the old Burmese kings, but for the attainment of which their military expeditions struggled for centuries in vain.\n\nIn Camp, April 25, 1910,\n\nARCHIBALD ROSE.\n\nTengyueh, April 30, 1910.—Since my return, I learn that the Paoshan magistrate with the Tengkeng Sawbwa and a party of about 100 men has crossed to the Pienma villages, where he has appointed headmen and distributed badges of office. Two Chinese officers with a party of twenty soldiers also left the city this morning in the direction of Mingkuang, and I understand that they have been instructed to proceed by Hparé and Lagwé to the N'Maikha River, and to enforce the submission of local headmen whenever possible.\n\n## Upper Pienma (Hpimaw)—\n\n### Enclosure 2 in No. 1\n\n## LIST of Claims against Tengkeng.\n\n \n \n Claimant\n Description\n Taels\n \n \n \n \n Tung La-sao and Teng Chung-tou (Headmen of Twenty houses)\n Tengkeng and his levies\n \n \n \n 1. Tung Sao-pa\n Six houses were burned by fire. Houses, furniture, stockades, and all movable property destroyed.\n 200\n \n \n 2. Tung Li-sao (the headman)\n Elis harvests had not been reaped; they were gathered and eaten by raiders. 7 pigs, a large number of chickens, and a quantity of grain.\n 10\n \n \n 3. Tung Pen-tang (a very old man)\n House and furniture, sow, chickens\n 30\n \n \n 4. Tung So-lang (youth)\n House and furniture, pig, 15 chickens\n 20\n \n \n 5. Tung Lang-tsung\n Small house, little furniture\n 80\n \n \n 6. Thng Trang-sao (a woman)\n House and furniture, 1 sow, 12 pigs\n 40\n \n \n \n House and furniture, pigs, grain\n 380\n \n \n \n \n 327\n \n \n\nPage 330\n\nPage 331", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 428994, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 335, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "The villages of Pienma are at some distance from the Pa La Ta mountain, and are quite close to the Kao Li Kung mountain. There is plenty of evidence to show, for instance, that this territory is governed by the native Chief of Tengkeng. Sir Ernest Satow, in his note of the 1st May, 1906, made an offer on behalf of the Indian Government with regard to the customary presents and dues which the native chiefs of Tengkeng and other places had been in the habit of receiving from certain villages. It is thus evident that the villages in question are under Chinese jurisdiction, nor can there be any doubt on this point. Since the present case has arisen, the duty of the local officials is to settle it, and the consul must not interfere merely on the evidence of a charge fabricated by unprincipled people.\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nC O\n\n20858\n\nRECO JRech18 JUL 10)\n\n332\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL\n\n[21649]\n\nI have the honour to request that you will instruct the consul not to interfere in this case, and I also invite your attention to a former note* from the Board suggesting that both sides should appoint officers to make a joint delimitation of the boundary lines. Awaiting the favour of a reply, I avail, &c.\n\nYour Highness,\n\nEnclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nMr. Max Müller to Wai-wu Pu.\n\nPeking, June 3, 1910.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Highness's note of the 10th May, enclosing the text of a telegram from the Viceroy of Yunnan with reference to Pienma and the undelimited portion of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier north of latitude 25° 35′ north.\n\nIn February last, information reached the Government of Burmah that the Chief of Tengkeng had burnt Pienma and threatened Langpung and other villages, and His Majesty's consul at Tengyueh was instructed to make representations to the Toatai on the subject. Later, in April, under orders from His Majesty's Government, Mr. Consul Rose proceeded to the places mentioned to ascertain the facts, and I am now instructed to state that His Majesty's Government must await the full report of that officer before replying to your Highness's note under acknowledgment.\n\nIn the meantime, I am to invite the attention of the Chinese Government to Sir E. Satow's note of the 30th January, 1904, in which reference was made to a conflict which arose early in 1900 between British and Chinese troops in the neighbourhood in question. In that note it is explicitly stated that His Majesty's Government, for reasons given, intended thenceforth to regard the watershed of all streams that drain into the N'Maikha from the east as the actual boundary between China and Burmah unless and until a settlement of the question was reached; and the Chinese Government were informed that, if this frontier were not respected and armed forces were sent across it from the Yunnan side, there would be risk of their coming into collision with British troops.\n\nI am also to point out that in the note of the 1st May, 1906, from Sir E. Satow, which is mentioned in your Highness's note under acknowledgment, the Chinese Government were also informed that it was the intention of His Majesty's Government to regard as the frontier the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Shueli Rivers until the head-waters of the Shueli are passed, and from thence to the confines of Thibet, the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Shueli basins, and that failing the acceptance of this frontier on the terms offered, the Government of Burmah would be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiations.\n\nI avail, &c.\n\nW. G. MAX MÜLLER.\n\n(No. 91.)\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir Edward Grey to Mr. Max Müller.\n\nSECTION 1.\n\n(Telegraphic.) R.\n\nForeign Office, June 21, 1910. MY telegram No. 81 of 31st May: Burmah-Yünnan frontier. Despatch No. 7, Confidential, from His Majesty's consul, Tengyueh, appears to remove all doubt as to the reality of the raid by the Chief of Tengkeng.\n\nI should now be glad of your views as to the advisability on the facts as now reported of making immediate representations to the Chinese Government, as suggested in India Office letter of 11th May, urging withdrawal of all Chinese officials and troops to east side of watershed.\n\n(2768 a)\n\n* Wai-wu Pu to Mr. Carnegie, August 30, 1906.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429134, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 475, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nC O\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\n24838\n\n[June 27.]\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\nRECR\n\nSECTION 3.\n\nREGP 12 AUG 10\n\n[23159]\n\nNo. 1.\n\nMemorandum on Military Affairs on the Chinese Frontier of Burmah, with Available Forces and Possible Lines of Advance, supplementary to Mr. Rose's despatch from Tengyuch of April 30, 1910.—(Received June 27.)\n\nIN the event of a British administrative expedition entering the territory to the west of the Irrawaddy-Salween divide, there would be a possibility of resistance from four directions, namely:-\n\n1. From the natives of the country, who are mainly Lashi-Kachins;\n\n2. From the Lisu and Lisu-Chinese retainers of the various chiefs, or \"fu-yis,\" on whose behalf claims to villages in the unadministered territory have been put forward by the Chinese authorities;\n\n3. From the \"Green Banner\" troops stationed in and around Tengyueh; and 4. From the newly-raised and foreign-drilled troops quartered at Talifu.\n\n1. In regard to the first, the records of Mr. H. F. Hertz, C.I.E., of the late Mr. Litton, and Mr. Leveson (see printed copy of \"Report on Joint Survey of Yunnan Boundary, 1905\"), and the information gathered during my recent journey to Pienma, bear strong evidence that any such obstruction would be unlikely. The people in the unadministered territory do not conceal their conviction that they are in no sense subject to China; they have expressed an earnest desire for British administration, and there is undoubtedly a widespread resentment against the Chinese in consequence of the recent raid.\n\n2. From the second group there is a possibility of resistance, and it is against this that the greatest precautions appear necessary. When passing through Mingkuang in April last the people spoke openly of the attack on Mr. Hertz's expedition in 1899–1900, stating that they had been ordered by the Tengyueh authorities to \"harry and oppose\" the British, but that they had received no assistance from the Chinese, either in the way of funds or arms, and evidently considered that they had been badly treated. It is probable that, under the leadership of the energetic chief Tso Ehr-kuan, they had then anticipated a campaign of plunder and material benefits, but it is unlikely that they will be anxious to repeat the experiences of 1900. The present chiefs are all weak and opium-sodden, and there is no one in the Lisu ranks with the personality of Tso Ehr-kuan.\n\nThe Tengkeng chief, on the other hand, has at his call a wilder and more formidable force, which could be raised from among the Black Lisu cross-bowmen of the Upper Salween. He was able to collect about 500 men for his recent raid on Hpimaw (Pienma), and his followers have returned home full of victory and plunder, so that they would probably join willingly in another expedition. The Têngkeng \"fu-yi\" is supported by his relatives and neighbours of Lu-ku, Lao-wo, and Mao-chao, who might together raise a considerable force if ordered to do so by the Chinese. They would be armed with cross-bows and poisoned arrows, dhas and spears, with a few cheek-guns, if powder was forthcoming from the Chinese. They have a great reputation as warriors, and many of them show fine marksmanship with their cross-bows, but they take cover at the least sign of trouble, and, from my experience of them, they have neither the courage nor the spirit of the Kachin.\n\nThe \"Fu-yis\" Tsai of Tien-tang, Yang of Lower Mingkuang, Tso of Upper Mingkuang, and the headmen of Tatang, might combine to form an expedition if severe pressure were applied by the Chinese, but they are weak and poverty-stricken, with but a shadow of power in their own districts, and they would be incapable of acting except under direct Chinese organisation. The Lisu population in their valleys has, moreover, been absorbed to a great extent during the past ten years, and the border inhabitants are now mainly pure or half-bred Chinese farmers, who would be very unwilling to adventure their bodies in a vain search for honourable advancement.\n\nIt is impossible to estimate the numbers which could be put into the field by\n\n[2788 dd--3]\n\n472", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429163, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 504, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "I am sources. It is clear that the fields cannot lie fallow for ever, as there is a steady increase of population by immigration from the crowded districts on the borders, and it is clear also that the people must be clothed, though all attempts to produce cotton have in the past resulted in failure. The officials and people have as yet advanced little beyond the stage of bandying the question, \"What is to be done?\" A few of the more vigorous leaders have been busily engaged in planting mulberry trees and breeding silk-worms, and I have been able to send to the Indian markets samples of the first year's produce, which give hope of some success. I am also obtaining from India some seed of the shrub cotton Bombax malabaricum L which may thrive at this altitude and would help to stimulate local industry and provide employment for the empty fields. In the Kachin hills and the tribal country generally, however, the abolition of the crop will cause a more serious loss than even in the Chinese zone, for the tribesmen are generally unable to produce on their steep mountain-sides sufficient crops of cereals or of hemp to provide them with the barest necessaries of life, and at present no remedy has been foreseen for this part of the district.\n\nDuring my frontier tour I crossed at one point a route which had been followed by the taotai on his annual tour of border inspection. After the misfortunes of the sub-prefect last year he had taken the precaution to travel with a large armed escort, and he had boldly attacked the opium farmers along his route. For a day's march we had followed an unusually good track, and it was therefore with some surprise that we found the way suddenly barred, the road cut away in front, and the sheer precipice barring further progress. We were obliged therefore to turn off on to another road, and by the camp fire at night the reason of the obstacle was explained by one of the angry tribesmen. It appeared that the villagers along the road had worked for ten days and had made the excellent track which we had crossed. Unmoved by this service the taotai had turned out his escort, and at the bayonet's point the farmers had been made to uproot their poppy crop, which was then a span high. The old man who told the tale burst into tears as he recounted the loss.\n\n\"It is all that we have, this opium, we eat it and drink it, it makes our clothes and builds our houses; no other crop will grow, no rice, no millet, no hemp; for our opium crop we should have had silver for our food and our clothes, and now we are left to a barren and hungry year.\" But the Kachin is a man of spirit: the men of the next village had continued the road through their country, but the news spreads fast, and, when the taotai arrived at the point where the two districts met, the narrow path vanished over the precipice, and there was neither explanation nor expedient, save to take another road as we had done. He retired into the valleys below, leaving one tract of poppy at least unmolested, nor was he able to punish those who had defied him, and it is unlikely that his action has increased the prestige of Chinese officialdom in that outpost of empire.\n\nThere is one other point at which the loss of the poppy crop cuts deeply at the institutions of the tribesmen. Many of the sawbwas and minor chiefs are in the habit of collecting the greater part, or even the whole, of their revenues from their people by means of opium; each house contributing a given quantity of the drug, which can be readily transported and converted by the over-lord. It can be imagined, therefore, with what consternation the chiefs have watched the vigorous measures of their intending Chinese officers, and there is no doubt that they will stand by their people in any effort to conceal the cultivation or to encourage the smuggling traffic to those centres which still contrive a flourishing though illicit trade.\n\nIn the meanwhile, a small proportion of the more level lands have been put under winter crops of wheat, beans, peas, or maize, and a considerable number of the farmers have sought employment, during the dry season when their rice-fields need no attention, by taking service on the road works in the Shan States and in Burma, or in the silver and lead mines of Baudwin, and in the ruby mines or other centres of industry beyond the border. There seems, indeed a probability that the most pressing needs of the farmers will be met during the opium crisis, not by the introduction of some new crop, the development of which will need time and capital, but by an influx of money from British territory, brought into the province by the migration of labour during the winter season from the overcrowded plains of Yunnan to the mining and industrial centres of Burma—a consummation which is certainly to be desired for the mutual advantage of the two countries.\n\nProducing Centres.\n\nSpeaking generally, the purely Chinese zone of Western Yunnan has produced little opium during the past season, and the poppy has been entirely absent from the level and accessible areas; the only instances of cultivation which have been reported by reliable witnesses are in the remote regions of the Irrawaddy-Salween divide and in the hills between the Chinese and tribal zones, districts which are inhabited by lawless Chinese, many of them fugitives from justice. The fact that a harvest has been reaped from a few fields actually adjoining one of the main roads between Tengyueh and Yungchang, however, is evidence that the Chinese contention that the poppy has entirely disappeared is not strictly correct. A small amount of the drug has also been gathered in the Chinese district of Lungling, though the district official has since been removed, nominally as a punishment for his laxity in this respect. In the districts of Shunning-fu, Menghua Ting, Talifu, and Likiang-fu the prohibition measures were strictly enforced. Pu-ehr-fu and Ssumao Ting, in the south-west, were also well controlled.\n\nIn the tribal zone it is not possible to give such an encouraging account. In the hills surrounding the Shan States of Nantien, Changta, Kangai, Lungchuan, Mengmao, Ta Meng-tung, and Hsiao Meng-tung and in the territories of the Kachins, Lahu, and Wa there has been extensive cultivation, though there is no doubt of the marked decrease in the acreage since the inauguration of the measures of prohibition.\n\nEstimates of Acreage and Amount of Opium Produced.\n\nIt is difficult to estimate the exact acreage under poppy cultivation in Western Yunnan, as the mou or other generally recognised land measure is unknown in the district, and both rice and poppy lands are calculated on the basis of the \"measure of seed\" required to secure a full crop. After careful enquiry, however, I think that 50 ounces (Chinese) of opium may be expected as an average return from a mou of land in the hilly districts. From my own observation, from information gathered from various reliable sources, and from a strict watch on the markets and prices, I estimate the yield of the past season for the entire district (including the tribal territory) at 5,000 piculs, and on the above average this would account for 27,000 acres (English) under the poppy crop, figures which appear to me to give a very fair idea of the extent of the present cultivation.\n\nSupplies.\n\nLarge supplies of opium are still available at all the big centres, notably Tengyueh, Talifu, Lungling, and Shunning-fu, and it is estimated that the stocks would hold out for from four to five years, even if they were not supplemented by illicit means. In some of the cities these stocks are held by men who cannot easily be reached by the district officials, and at Lungling the holders resort to the expedient of stocking part of their supplies at inaccessible villages on the frontier line, thus ensuring greater freedom and security for distribution. The smuggling operations in this direction appear to have been so successful that there has been a steady movement of stocks to the Lungling base during the past few months.\n\nConsumption.\n\nA few years ago it was estimated that 80 per cent of the population of the district was addicted to opium, though, as stated above, the people are well-fed and show no physical defects as the result of the consumption. The vigorous action of the past two years has had the effect of stimulating prices, and holders of stocks now find a very favourable market, the price of the drug having risen within the last three years to three or four times its former standard. In 1908 crude opium could be brought in Tengyueh for 12 tael cents an ounce, whereas it cannot be obtained for less than 35 cents now; the prepared drug has risen from 18 cents to 50 or 60 cents; and old opium, which has matured and mellowed, commands as much as 2 taels an ounce (1 tael equals approximately 2 rupees). Whilst the wages of the coolie class stand at 12 cents a-day, and of artisans at about 20 cents a-day, it will be seen that it must be difficult for them to obtain the drug, provided that they are dependent on the ordinary channels, and there can be no doubt that larger numbers of the poorer classes are gradually reducing their daily allowance, and that many have abandoned the habit entirely. The fact that many of the Yamén runners and the \"Old\" or \"Green Banner\" troops continue to smoke regularly would appear to give evidence of some source of supply which is at present free from official vigilance. The soldiers of the \"New\" army at Talifu do not smoke, but a considerable percentage of them swallow opium pills, a practice which is becoming very general; whilst it is noticeable amongst the local Chinese who have given up the drug, that they have acquired a quite extraordinary ...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429208, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 549, "title": "CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "C\n\n545\n\nMINUTES.\n\nThe Government of India were of opinion that the Commercial privileges conceded to the French would act prejudicially upon the development of the Trade with Yünnan via Bhamo and the Irrawady River, which would be diverted from that river to the Red River route; but, at the same time, the chief obstacle lay in the interposition of the independent kingdom of Burmah between British Burmah and Yünnan, and the then pending arrangements might tend to remove the disadvantage, when the consequences of the French Treaty might not prove so serious as was anticipated. (India Office February 3rd 1866).\n\nOn the 26th April 1886 a Commercial Convention in pursuance of Article VI of the Treaty of Peace &c of the 9th June 1885, was concluded between France and China.\n\nIt did not specify the spots where the Frontier-Trade should be carried on, because the frontier was not then settled, but it declared what duties should be levied on the merchandize crossing the frontier.\n\nThese were:-\n\n \n For the Import Transit Trade (in accordance with existing Regulations at the Treaty Ports)\n on payment of half the Maritime tariff duty.\n \n \n Import Duties:\n one fifth less than the Maritime Tariff. In the case of goods not enumerated in the Tariff, 5% ad valorem (as in the Treaty Ports)\n \n \n Export Transit Duties:\n the same as on goods exported from the Maritime ports.\n \n \n Export Duty from the Frontier Ports:\n two-thirds of the Maritime export duty.\n \n\nMost Favoured Nation Treatment was also accorded to France in case of a Frontier Trade Convention being concluded between China and England for the Burmah Frontier (Article VII).\n\nThe right of France to impose a Protective Tariff on imports crossing the frontier into Tonkin was recognised (Article IX).\n\nArticle III of the Convention gave to the French and Annamese at the Frontier Ports the same privileges as in Articles VIII, IX, XI and XII of the French Treaty with China of 1858.\n\nThese had reference to passports, houses, burial grounds, employment of interpreters, teaching foreign languages, sale and purchase of books, inviolability of property of French citizens, prohibition of embargoes on French vessels &c.\n\nOn Monsieur Constans afterwards proceeding to China as French Minister, this Convention was revised, and an Additional Convention was signed on June 26th 1887 modifying its terms.\n\nIt specified the places open to French Trade in the Provinces of Kwang-si and Yunnan. (Article II).\n\nThe import and export duties were further reduced. Goods passing from Tonkin to China were to pay less than Treaty port rates and goods...\n\n(10,100). Wt. 5683-41, 3000. 5/09. A. & E.W.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-372 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429269, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 6, "title": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "(Translation.) Sir,\n\nEnclosure in No. 1.\n\nWai-wu Pu to Mr. Mar Müller.\n\nJune 10, 1910.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 3rd June, in which you state that you had been instructed to notify that His Majesty's Government must await Mr. Consul Rose's full report before replying to the Board's note of the 10th May with reference to Pienma. At the same time, you added that you were instructed to invite attention to Sir E. Satow's note of the 30th January, 1904, in which reference was made to a conflict which arose in 1900 between British and Chinese troops in the neighbourhood in question. Further, that the intentions of His Majesty's Government had already been communicated to the Chinese Government in Sir E. Satow's note of the 1st May, 1906.\n\nI have the honour to observe that as regards the boundary of the Tengyueh northern section, Sir E. Satow stated in his note above referred to that His Majesty's Government would regard as the frontier the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Shuili Rivers until the head-waters of the Shuili are passed, and from thence to the confines of Tibet the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins. Now it is inevitable that, if the frontier is taken to be wherever these rivers flow to, the area included will be very extensive. The Board were therefore unable to agree to this.\n\nWith regard to this matter, the Board has received a reply from the Viceroy of Yunnan which contains a statement that the upper water of the Irrawaddy is the N'Maikha River, which is on the Tengyueh boundary. This happens to agree with the statement made by Sir E. Satow in his note when he pointed out that the watershed to the east of the N'Maikha was the most satisfactory and easily recognisable natural boundary.\n\nThe Board had already requested Mr. Carnegie, His Majesty's chargé d'affaires, that a careful examination should be made and the matter negotiated, but at present nothing has been settled. I have now received your despatch ignoring the request to appoint officers for a joint delimitation, and merely stating that it was the intention of His Majesty's Government to instruct the Government of Burma to occupy and administer the territory in question. How can such a procedure be compatible with the principles of right? The former case of the raid by the Government of Burma's troops when they crossed the frontier still remains unsettled, and has caused great resentment among the native tribes. If another unexpected collision takes place, the Yunnan provincial authorities will be unable to accept any responsibility in the matter. This is a matter affecting the frontier affairs of our two countries, and we ought carefully to examine the conditions and negotiate in a friendly manner. A joint delimitation should be made in accordance with the dictates of justice.\n\nAs regards Pienma, that place is under Chinese jurisdiction, and any cases that occur must be dealt with by the officials in charge, and the British consul should not interfere.\n\nI have the honour to communicate this reply for transmission to His Majesty's Government, and suggest that the Board's frequent despatches may be noted, and that the two countries should appoint officers to hold a joint delimitation, in order that the question may be settled at an early date.\n\nI have further the honour to request that His Majesty's consul may be instructed not to interfere.\n\nAwaiting the favour of a reply, I avail, &c.\n\nPrince CHING.\n\n(This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.)\n\nCO 2/913\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n(25781)\n\n(No. 37.)\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir E. Goschen to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received July 17.)\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nGERMAN military mission to China.\n\nBerlin, July 17, 1910.\n\nI learn from a fairly reliable source that arrangements were made with the German Government for the dispatch of a military mission to give instruction to the Chinese army by Yin Chang, formerly Chinese Minister here and at present Minister for War, before he left his post in Berlin.\n\nPage", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429313, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 50, "title": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\nC O\n\n# AFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[27649]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n20847\n\n[July 30 Ec\n\nRe 16 SEP 10\n\nSECTION\n\nSir,\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office~(Received July 30.)\n\nIndia Office, July 30, 1910.\n\nI AM directed by the Secretary of State for India to forward, for the consideration of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, copy of a telegram from the Government of India regarding the visit of a Chinese official to the Hkamti-Löng country, which formed the subject of Mr. Consul Rose's despatch of the 11th May last, enclosed in your letter of the 25th June.\n\nAlthough this subject is not immediately connected with the frontier dispute in the neighbourhood of the 26th parallel, it cannot be altogether separated from it. As Sir E. Grey is aware, the Burmah-China frontier has been demarcated up to (approximately) 25° 35', and it has never been thought necessary to investigate its exact course further north than 26° 15', though in the draft article placed before the Wai-wu P'u on the 9th March, 1906, it is described as following \"along the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins up to the confines of Thibet.' The Chinese appear now to have crossed the watershed at about 28°, and a serious position would be created if they were to assert and maintain claims which would bring them into the neighbourhood of the border of Assam and admit them to the upper valleys of the Chindwin and the Irrawaddy, from which it is the object of our policy to keep them out.\n\nThe Hkamti-Löng were subject to the former Kingdom of Burmah, and their most powerful sawbwa has at least once sent down a representative to do homage to the British Government.\n\nIn these circumstances Viscount Morley would propose to agree in principle to the Government of India's proposal, but to ask for further details regarding the scale of the expedition and the exact procedure contemplated. He trusts that Sir E. Grey will agree that no reference to the Chinese Government is necessary.\n\nI am to enclose draft of a telegram which, with Sir E. Grey's concurrence, Lord Morley accordingly proposes to send.\n\nI am, &c.\n\nR. RITCHIE.\n\nEnclosure in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of India to Viscount Morley.\n\nJuly 25, 1910.\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nSEE my telegram of the 29th May, as to Burmah-China frontier. Detailed report has now been sent in by Government of Burmah, by which previous information as to visit to Hkamti of Chinese official with military escort is confirmed. Some discrepancy exists as to actual date on which visit took place, and as to whether the Chinese officer professed that he had come to assert a claim to a portion at least of the State of Hkamti, in the N'Maikha Valley, or merely to arrange matters of trade. Main facts, however, tally with information furnished to His Majesty's consul at Tengyueh by M. Peronne (see correspondence forwarded with letter dated the 14th instant, from Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department).\n\nThis is in direct defiance of British Government's formal claim to regard Irrawaddy-Salween watershed as frontier between Burmah and China up to confines of Thibet, and, taken in conjunction with similar activity by Chinese in Yunnan, places in jeopardy the entire frontier north of administered portion of Myitkyina district. So far as we know, no formal claims to Hkamti, which ever since annexation of Upper Burmah has been regarded as subordinate to British Government, have been asserted by Chinese. Allegiance to British Government has been acknowledged by the principal sawbwa, who has sent tributary offerings to Burmah on several occasions.\n\nIn order to forestall designs of Chinese, lieutenant-governor recommends that a\n\n[2827 gg-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 429613, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "page_number": 350, "title": "CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910", "content_text": "[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]\n\n349\n\nC O\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA,\n\n34588\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\nREC\n\n[38764]\n\nREG 11 NOV 10\n\nNo. 1.\n\n[October 24.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office~(Received October 24.)\n\nTHE Under-Secretary of State for India presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, by direction of Viscount Morley, forwards herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, copy of a telegram from the Viceroy, dated the 23rd October, 1910, relative to the north-east frontier.\n\nIndia Office, October 24, 1910.\n\nEnclosure in No. 1,\n\nGovernment of India to Viscount Morley.\n\nOctober 23, 1910.\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nREFERENCE is invited to letter, dated the 26th May, from Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam, enclosed in letter of 14th July from Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department. Anxiety is being caused locally in consequence of Chinese proceedings at Rima, and in vicinity of tribal tracts on north-east frontier by question of our future relations with those tribes. Military authorities are of opinion, with reference to Chinese advance, that position at present is unsound strategically, and they consider that the approximate extent of our influence should be as follows:-\n\nStarting from the east of that portion of Thibetan territory of Tawang district, which runs down like a wedge to the frontier of British territory north of Odalguri, it should run north-east to longitude 94, latitude 29, and thence eastwards to longitude 96, along latitude 29. From longitude 96 it should run south-east to a point, as far east and as near Rima as possible, on the Zayul Chu, after which it should cross the valley of that river to the watershed between the Irawaddy and Zayul, which it should follow until that watershed joins the divide between the Salween and Irawaddy.\n\nIt is believed that the tribes in this area, some of whom are already under our influence, are for the most part independent.\n\nThe best policy to pursue would, we are inclined to think, be to extend the \"outer line\" as far as may be necessary, by arranging that there shall be no relations or intercourse between tribes within or beyond line with any foreign Power other than ourselves, by which means we should secure a buffer. But more complete information than is available is required on the following points:-\n\n1. Nature and extent of each tribe's territory.\n\n2. The extent, if any, to which China or Thibet recognises [...] the tribes.\n\n3. Whether it is possible, and if so at what probable cost, to execute agreements on the lines indicated.\n\nInformation as to how far we can collect required data or get into relation with the tribes concerned is being awaited from Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam before we address you on the whole question.\n\nIn the meantime, on the authority of certain Mishmis who have come into Sadiya, Lieutenant-Governor has reported that all trade between Miju Mishmis and Thibet has been prohibited by the Chinese. It is essential, in his Honour's opinion, that we should be in a position to inform the tribe, who, he states, will probably come into British territory before the close of the present month, to what extent we are prepared to give them recognition. These Mishmis are accustomed to regard us as the dominant Power on that frontier, and the political officer, Sadiya, considers that tribe will be estranged, and that Chinese may succeed in imposing their authority\n\n[2958 na-]\n\n-1]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-373 - Public Offices - 1910.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434252, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 253, "title": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# \n2 \n\npress the matter should naturally expect redress. He deemed it undesirable to further, or to give the impression that he was throwing impediments in the way of the negotiations (22nd May, 1885). \n\nOn the 23rd May, 1885, Lord Granville addressed a despatch to Mr. O'Conor, drawing his attention to the most-favoured-nation article of the British Treaty of Tien-tsin of 1858. His Lordship stated that, although existing treaties had reference only to trade by sea with certain specified ports, and gave this country no rights of trade across the land frontiers of China, our treaty, nevertheless, guaranteed equal participation in all privileges, &c., which might be granted to any other nation. If, therefore, the above-mentioned treaty between France and China admitted French goods into China by land at a lower duty than was paid by the same British goods when introduced by sea, or would confer on French citizens or commerce greater privileges than were enjoyed by British subjects, Her Majesty's Government would claim most-favoured-nation treatment under the treaty of 1858. \n\nThe Board of Trade on the 5th August, 1885, commented on the Franco-Chinese Treaty, pointing out that the privilege granted to French citizens of crossing the frontier could not be extended to British subjects unless British consuls could be appointed with a view to the issue of the necessary passports, and remarking that the intention of the treaty was to establish inequality, and that its provisions were inconsistent with the British treaties with China. They suggested that Mr. O'Conor's attention should be drawn to articles 4 and 6 (above quoted), and at the same time they concurred in the instructions given to him on the 23rd May already alluded to. \n\nThe Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce expressed the opinion that the right to appoint consuls in Yunnan and Kwangsi granted by the treaty could be claimed by Powers having most-favoured-nation clauses in their treaties with China, but that the differential duties would hardly become applicable under those clauses unless the Chinese opened up the water communication of Kwantung into Western China, when directly conveyed merchandise should become subject to no greater duty than was borne by goods crossing the frontier by land (Colonial Office, 31st August, 1885). \n\nThe Government of India were of opinion that the commercial privileges conceded to the French would act prejudicially upon the development of the trade with Yunnan via Bhamo and the Irrawaddy River, which would be diverted from that river to the Red River route; but, at the same time, the chief obstacle lay in the interposition of the independent Kingdom of Burmah between British Burmah and Yunnan, and the then pending arrangements might tend to remove the disadvantage, when the consequences of the French treaty might not prove so serious as was anticipated (India Office, 3rd February, 1886). \n\nOn the 26th April, 1886, a commercial convention, in pursuance of article 6 of the treaty of peace, &c., of the 9th June, 1885, was concluded between France and China. \n\nIt did not specify the spots where the frontier trade should be carried on because the frontier was not then settled, but it declared what duties should be levied on the merchandise crossing the frontier. \n\nThese were- \n| Category | Duty |\n| --- | --- |\n| Import Transit trade | half the maritime tariff duty (in accordance with existing regulations at the treaty ports) |\n| Import Duties | One-fifth less than the maritime tariff. In the case of goods not enumerated in the tariff, 5 per cent. ad valorem (as in the treaty ports (article 6)) |\n| Export Transit Duties | The same as on goods exported from the maritime ports |\n| Export Duty from the Frontier Ports | Two-thirds of the maritime export duty |\n\nMost-favoured-nation treatment was also accorded to France in case of a frontier trade convention being concluded between China and England for the Burmah frontier (article 7). \n\nThe right of France to impose a protective tariff on imports crossing the frontier into Tonquin was recognised (article 9). \n\nArticle 3 of the convention gave to the French and Annamese at the frontier ports the same privileges as in articles 8, 9, 11, and 12 of the French treaty with China of 1858. \n\nThese had reference to passports, houses, burial grounds, employment of interpreters, teaching foreign languages, sale and purchase of books, inviolability of property of French citizens, prohibition of embargoes on French vessels, &c. \n\n3 \n\nOn M. Constans afterwards proceeding to China as French Minister, this convention was revised, and an additional convention was signed on the 26th June, 1887, modifying its terms. \n\nIt specified the places open to French trade in the provinces of Kwang-si and Yunnan (article 2). \n\nGoods passing from Tonquin to China were to pay three-tenths less than treaty port rates and goods from China to Tonquin four-tenths less than at treaty ports (article 3). \n\nAn export duty was authorised on Chinese goods which had paid an import duty on entering Tonquin, and had passed through Tonquin for conveyance to a third country (article 4). \n\nThe most-favoured-nation clause was extended so as to govern future political and commercial relations between China and the countries situated to the south and south-west of the Chinese Empire (article 7). \n\nWhile the negotiation of this additional convention was in progress, Sir J. Walsham intimated that, in the event of advantages being given thereby to France over other countries, he should take steps to protect British interests and treaty privileges, to which the Chinese Government replied that the existing treaties referred solely to the ports and could not be made available in connection with overland intercourse (Conf 5789, p. 9). \n\nAfter communication with the India Office, Lord Salisbury instructed Sir J. Walsham to protest against this limitation of the scope of the most-favoured-nation articles of our treaties with China (28th June, 1888). \n\nLord Salisbury further observed that it would be useless to press for a reduction of the tariff at the ports corresponding with that granted to the French frontier trade, and that it would be better policy to take advantage of it in order to obtain concessions in regard to Burmah. Sir J. Walsham was accordingly instructed to inform the Chinese Government that the question of treaty rights at the ports would not be further pressed if they would give a written statement that they accepted the explicit reservation of the right of this country to most-favoured-nation treatment elsewhere than in Burmah as a basis for the abstention of His Majesty's Government from raising the question of their rights in the present instance, and further agreeing that in the commercial arrangements respecting Burmah they would give to this country similar advantages and an identical most-favoured-nation clause which should apply to the French convention. \n\nThey should also, his Lordship added, agree that such facilities would be granted for the navigation of the Canton River and other waterways of Southern China as would place British trade on fairly equal terms with the trade opened to France across the frontier of Tonquin. (To Sir J. Walsham, 28th June, 1888.) \n\nSir J. Walsham does not appear to have reported whether he obtained this assurance from the Chinese Government. \n\nIn the meantime, however, a convention was signed between this country and China on the 24th July, 1886, relating to Burmah and Thibet, in which it was stipulated (article 3) that the conditions of the frontier trade between Burmah and China were to be settled by a frontier trade convention, both countries agreeing to protect and encourage trade between China and Burmah. \n\nIt was not until the 1st March, 1894, that a convention was concluded between Great Britain and China to give effect to this stipulation. \n\nArticle 8 of this convention laid down that, \"subject to the conditions mentioned hereafter in articles 10 and 11 (relating to prohibited goods, munitions of war, opium, spirituous liquors, &c.), the British Government, wishing to encourage and develop the land trade of China with Burmah as much as possible, consent for a period of six years from the ratification of the present convention to allow Chinese produce and manufactures, with the exception of salt, to enter Burmah by land duty free, and to allow British manufactures and Burmese produce, with the exception of rice, to be exported to China by land free of duty.\" \n\nArticle 9 of this convention laid down that \"goods imported from Burmah into China or exported from China into Burmah shall be permitted to cross the frontier by Manwyne and by Sansi,\" and that \"the Chinese Government consent that for six years from the ratification of the present convention the duties levied on goods imported into China by these routes shall be those specified in the general tariff of the Maritime Customs diminished by three-tenths, and that the duties on goods exported from China by the same routes shall be those specified in the same tariff diminished by four-tenths.\" \n\n17 \n251", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434259, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 260, "title": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## 9. Every bank or firm issuing notes must fill in, on a form prepared by the board, the correct number of notes they have in circulation. The correct amount in circulation is to be calculated as the greatest amount in circulation on any day of the month following the publication of these regulations in each place.\n\n## 10. Every bank, whether official or mercantile, shall have a reserve fund to the full amount of the notes issued. Such reserve shall consist of 40 per cent. of ready money and 60 per cent. of Government bonds, reliable shares, scrip, or deposit notes. In order to facilitate inspection, this reserve fund must be kept separately in the treasury, and the accounts must not be mixed up with the ordinary business of the bank.\n\n## 11. All banks shall, beginning from next year, withdraw 20 per cent. of their notes from circulation every year, and within five years from that date, all the notes must have been called in.\n\n## 12. Should any bank wish to call in its notes at once without waiting for the time limit to expire, such bank can arrange with the Ta Ch'ing Bank to deposit satisfactory securities and borrow a sum of money which can be repaid in annual instalments at a low rate of interest.\n\n## 13. In the districts where a new coinage may hereafter be adopted, if there should be any issue of notes injurious to the subsidiary coinage (such, for instance, as cash notes of different sorts and notes in dollar cents), then the board, when the time comes, will make special arrangements to deal with this question.\n\n## 14. From next year, every bank must each month report to the board, on a form supplied by the board, the amount of notes issued that month and the amount of reserve held.\n\n## 15. The board shall send officials to the official banks to make investigation from time to time, and in the event of their reserve funds not corresponding to the amount of notes issued by them, or their having made untrue reports, or otherwise broken these regulations, they shall be punished by the board.\n\n## 16. Mercantile banks will be periodically inspected by representatives of the local officials and of the chamber of commerce. If the reserve is insufficient, or the returns inaccurate, or other abuses are disclosed, then the matter will be reported for enquiry by the board.\n\n## 17. The regulations for periodical inspection will be carefully considered and drawn up by the board for the guidance of all parties.\n\n## 18. Any slight breach of these regulations will be punished by the local officials by a fine of not less than 100 dollars and not more than 500 dollars. Any serious breach will be reported by the local officials to the board.\n\n## 19. These regulations are for safeguarding the coinage and protecting commercial interests. If anyone should take advantage of them to extort, then the bank can directly petition the board or the high provincial authorities, who, after a careful examination of the facts, should severely deal with the offender. The banks are also at liberty to petition the local officials to punish severely people who spread rumours and stir up trouble.\n\n## 20. In the event of any amendments having to be made to these regulations or if they should be suspended or abolished, then the board will consider and deal with the matter.\n\nThis Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\n**AFFAIRS OF CHINA.**\n**CONFIDENTIAL.**\n\n`[46006]`\n\nNo. 1,\n[December 20.]\n\nSECTION 10 O\n\n3447\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office.-(Received December 20.) \nTHE Under-Secretary of State for India presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, by direction of the Earl of Crewe, forwards herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, copy of a telegram from the Viceroy, dated the 18th December, 1910, relative to the Pien-ma expedition.\n\nIndia Office, December 20, 1910.\n\n**(Telegraphic.) P.**\n\n## Enclosure in No. 1.\n\nGovernment of India to the Earl of Crewe.\n\nI REPEAT for your information the following telegrams:\n\n1. From Government of Burmah, dated the 16th December:\n\n44\nDecember 18, 1910.\n\nPienma expedition. Please refer to your telegrams of the 9th and 13th December, communicating the decision that the proposal for police posts cannot at present be approved by the Secretary of State, that our future policy on the frontier must be influenced largely by the attitude of China, and that Hertz should be ordered not to collect tribute at present, nor to give to villagers in debatable territory any assurance that British protection will be extended to them. In reply to your enquiry whether this decision necessitates any modification of the instructions issued to Hertz, the object of his expedition, as sanctioned, was to give effect to the announcement which His Majesty's Minister at Peking made to China in 1906, viz., that it was the intention of His Majesty's Government to regard the watershed as the frontier, and that if this were not accepted, instructions to occupy and administer the territory without further negotiations would be issued to the Burmah Government. It was to carry out this intention that the instructions to Hertz were framed; except the description of the force in the third paragraph, they are the same as those enclosed in Burmah letter of the 17th October last. If the new decision summarised above stands, it renders futile the whole object of the tour, and it is not apparent to the lieutenant-governor what suitable instructions it is possible to substitute, or how a tour in force in this tract, followed immediately by retirement without having placed it under British protection, can serve any useful purpose. Apart from the obvious futility of the course, it would be unfair to the inhabitants, whom the Chinese will call to account, as soon as we have withdrawn, for any assistance rendered to us by them. Rather than send an expedition on such terms, it would, the lieutenant-governor considers, have been better to send none at all. It is impossible, however, without great loss of prestige and of money, to stop the expedition, which is now well on its way.\n\nWith regard to the objections to the establishment of a post in the tract, there is no danger of attack during the rains upon one of the strength contemplated, and during the dry season reinforcements can readily be sent on the appearance of symptoms of danger. On the other hand, considering the benefits to be derived from the possession of a frontier including the whole drainage of the Irrawaddy, the cost is trifling. With regard to the attitude of the Chinese, the danger of active opposition is now slight; and, as stated in your telegram No. 773, it is practically certain that their efforts will be concentrated on securing a joint delimitation commission, which, so far back as 1900, was shown to the satisfaction of His Majesty's Government to be a futile course.\n\nThat the *fait accompli* is the only effective reply to China is the conviction of the lieutenant-governor, and this accords with the advice that His Majesty's representatives at Tengyueh have often tendered. He ventures, therefore, to protest strongly against any modification of the orders given to Hertz, and against a change, in any respect, of the objects of the expedition. Pending a reply to this... \n\n`[1810 u-1]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434339, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 340, "title": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# May 2\n\n2 \n\nbelieves that in the present unsettled condition of western Yünnan, the Chinese will be unable to send troops from Tengyueh across the frontier, and this view finds some support from the recent report (in my telegram dated the 10th October, 1910) that it had been found necessary to send troops from Tengyueh and Talifu to oppose Szechuan army deserters, who were invading Yünnan from the north. Although the Lieutenant-Governor is disposed to think it probable that Mr. Rose's anticipation of a peaceful issue to Mr. Hertz's expedition will be realised, his honour cannot disregard the possibility of the other alternative. Mr. Rose has recently reported the preparation by the Chinese at Tengyueh of a large-scale map including the unadministered territory in question. The object of this map may be merely in connection with the ordinary administration of the tract by Chinese officials, which is known to be imminent, and which Mr. Hertz's expedition is intended to forestall. But on the other hand, the preparation of a map is consistent with an intention to move troops, and it is not more difficult for troops to enter the unadministered territory from Tengyueh than from Myitkyina. It must be noted that Mr. Rose's memorandum indicated several possible routes from Tengyueh into that territory, any one of which might bring a Chinese force directly on to the flank of Mr. Hertz's march. Having regard to this possibility, the Lieutenant-Governor thinks that it is no longer wise to adhere to the original arrangement by which Mr. Hertz's escort, exclusive of the rationing base, was to be split up into two small parties; and his honour is not satisfied that the total strength originally proposed would be sufficient to ensure a peaceful or even a successful issue. Small isolated parties might invite opposition or attack, whereas by a substantial show of force we should be more likely to avoid all risk of hostilities. The sanctioned arrangements, moreover, include no provision for the dispatch of a relieving force, in case Mr. Hertz's escort found itself in a difficult position. No effective relief could be afforded by the military police even if sufficient men could be furnished, because magazine rifles and ammunition have not been provided except for the escort itself. If Mr. Hertz were forced to retire or if a portion of his escort were cut off, there would be the most serious loss of prestige; and on the other hand, if the expedition does not proceed this year, the almost certain loss of the entire territory and the establishment of the Chinese on the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy must be accepted. In these circumstances, the Lieutenant-Governor is strongly of opinion that the expedition ought to proceed; but his honour recommends that the original arrangements should be modified so as to make a greater show of force, (1) by rendering Mr. Hertz's escort stronger and more compact, and (2) by stationing a force of regular troops in readiness in the neighbourhood of Myitkyina, in case it should become necessary to extricate or support Mr. Hertz's party.\n\n4. As already reported by telegram, the Lieutenant-Governor now recommends that the proposed expedition of a civil officer to the Shan State of Hkamti should be postponed for one year, his escort of 125 rifles being added to the escort originally proposed for Mr. Hertz. Mr. Hertz's escort will then consist of eleven British officers (including a medical officer) and 607 native ranks (including thirty-two signallers). A rationing base of 100 rifles will be established at Makawng, leaving a force of 475 rifles to accompany Mr. Hertz as his escort. A compact force of this strength is less likely to be attacked or to meet with resistance, but as an additional precaution the Lieutenant-Governor recommends that one native infantry battalion shall be stationed temporarily in the Myitkyina district, one-half of the battalion being kept at Myitkyina as a garrison, and the other half provided with transport and moved out to Seniku in readiness to follow Mr. Hertz into the unadministered territory and relieve him if required. The Lieutenant-Governor has already requested the Major-General commanding the Burmah division to be so good as to obtain sanction to the dispatch of a wing of a native regiment to garrison Myitkyina during the absence of the military police; his honour's present proposal is that a whole battalion should be sent, one-half being mobilized and pushed forward to Seniku. This movement of regular troops into the Myitkyina district will doubtless impress the Chinese and render them less disposed to interfere. The Lieutenant-Governor has discussed the matter with the Inspector-General of Police and the Major-General commanding the division. His honour's present proposals have been framed not only with a view to ensure the safety of Mr. Hertz's party, but also to avoid hostilities by removing from the Chinese all temptation to attack. As the proposals are more likely to lead to a peaceful solution, his honour hopes that they may be approved. They will entail some alteration of the instructions which formed Enclosure 2 of my letter of the 10th May, 1910, and I am accordingly to submit a revised set of instructions for the approval of the Government of India. There is one other suggestion which has not yet been mentioned, and which was made to the Lieutenant-Governor by the Major-General commanding the division, namely that the military authorities should furnish a Maxim gun section of ten men, under a junior British officer, to accompany Mr. Hertz's escort. This arrangement seems to the Lieutenant-Governor to be highly desirable as an additional measure of precaution, and I am to recommend that the Government of India may be pleased to issue the necessary orders for its adoption.\n\n5. I am now to describe the arrangements proposed for the establishment of a military police post in the unadministered tract, so as to ensure the permanency of our occupation. The country is at present almost unknown, and the location of the post cannot therefore be definitely settled until after actual inspection. But it is probable that the post will be established at or near Atawgaw, and it will also be necessary to establish a small connecting post at Makawng. The Lieutenant-Governor proposes that Mr. Hertz should leave a civil officer, two British officers of military police, and 175 rifles to garrison the post at Atawgaw, and 50 rifles under a native officer to occupy the post at Makawng. If the Chinese do not interfere with Mr. Hertz's operations, these posts can be withdrawn at the commencement of the rains and sent out again in the following open season. Otherwise, it will probably be necessary to leave them out throughout the rains. In order to ensure a sufficient supply of ammunition, the Lieutenant-Governor has already asked for 500 rounds for each of the magazine rifles lent to the military police, in addition to the 400 rounds of ball ammunition already supplied, and his honour hopes that this request will be granted. The estimated cost of establishing posts at Htawgaw and Makawng, and the total estimated cost of Mr. Hertz's expedition are now being calculated, and will form the subject of a separate report.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n## Enclosure 2 in No. 1\n\n**W. F. RICE, Chief Secretary**\n\n### Instructions concerning the Tour to be made for the purpose of bringing under Administration the Unadministered Country East of the 'Nmaikha\n\nMR. HERTZ, Deputy Commissioner, Myitkyina, with Mr. Scott, Assistant Superintendent, as his assistant, will proceed with an escort of military police to visit the unadministered country east of the 'Nmaikha, including Pienma and villages within easy march of that village. Mr. Hertz will be in exclusive civil and political charge, and will decide all administrative questions on his own responsibility, subject to such references to the Commissioner as he may consider necessary.\n\n2. The object of the tour is to bring under direct administration the country between the 'Nmaikha and the watershed between that river and the Shweli and Salween as far as latitude 26° 15' or thereabouts, including the villages on both sides of and in the valley of the Ngaw Kha and its junction with the 'Nmaikha, to nullify the recent attempts by the chief of Teng Keng to establish his authority over villages in British territory, and to effect the removal from the tract in question of all traces of occupation on behalf of China.\n\nTo effect this, Mr. Hertz will visit as many villages as possible, issue appointment orders to headmen, settle any disputes which may be brought before him between villages in the aforementioned tract, levy a nominal tribute, the amount of which will be left to his discretion, but should not exceed 1 rupee per household, destroy any boundary pillars which may have been erected by the Chinese within that area, and generally collect all available information, and explain to the villagers that they will henceforth be under British rule, and that they are entitled to British protection and will pay tribute.\n\n3. The force will be furnished by the military police and will consist of—\n\n| Category | Strength |\n| --- | --- |\n| Escort | 475 rifles and 20 signallers |\n| Ration base | 100 rifles and 12 signallers |\n\nIt will start from Myitkyina as early as possible in November or December 1910.\n\n4. Major ffrench-Mullen will be in command of the escort; Captain Moule will be second in command; Captain Gilchrist will be in command of the rationing base, with Lieutenant Pickthall attached to it as assistant commandant. They also will be ...\n\nPage 338", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434362, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 363, "title": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL.\n\n[January 30.]\n\n### SECTION 1.\n\n#### No. 1.\n**Memorandum communicated to Mr. Lew Yuk Lin, January 30, 1911.**\n\n## Burmah-Yunnan Frontier\n\n**CONVENTIONS** were concluded in 1894 and 1897 between the British and Chinese Governments for the settlement of this question, and the frontier has been delimited in accordance with the provisions of these conventions with the exception of two sections: (a) the Namting-Nalawt section; and (b) the section north of Manang Pum, or the N'Maikha section.\n\nAs regards the latter, which forms the subject of the note of the 24th instant from the Chinese Minister, owing to the difficulties and delays on their part, the Chinese Government were informed in May 1906 that His Majesty's Government, in the absence of any evidence of effective Chinese administration west of the watershed between the Irrawaddy and the Shweli Rivers, intended to regard that watershed as the boundary of the two empires in the territory north of latitude 25° 35′ north, until the head waters of the Shweli were passed, and that from thence the frontier should follow the watershed between the Irrawaddy and Salween basins up to the confines of Thibet. His Majesty's Government further offered, on behalf of the Government of India, to compensate the native chiefs of Teng-Keng and Ming-Kwang for the customary presents and dues which they had been in the habit of receiving from certain villages on the western side of the proposed boundary. Failing the acceptance of these terms, the Government of Burmah were to be instructed to occupy and administer the country without further negotiations.\n\nNotwithstanding this intimation, the frontier claimed by His Majesty's Government has been violated by Chinese authorities on more than one occasion since 1906, and the recent action of the Teng-Keng chief in raiding a village to the west of the watershed has forced His Majesty's Government to the conclusion that the time has come to carry out the warning conveyed to the Chinese Government in 1906.\n\nThe present tour of a British civil officer with an escort for his personal protection has for its sole object to give effect to the decision intimated to the Chinese Government in 1906.\n\nIn these circumstances His Majesty's Minister at Peking has been instructed to reply to the representations of the Chinese Government to the following effect:\n\nThe country in question was jointly examined by Mr. Litton and Mr. Shih in 1905, and examination revealed nothing to modify the views which had previously been communicated by His Majesty's Government to the Chinese Government, and which were accordingly reaffirmed in Sir E. Satow's note of the 1st May, 1906. The Chinese Government having in four years found nothing more effective to propose than further examination of country already examined, His Majesty's Government have now acted on the intimation made in Sir E. Satow's note. An expedition has gone to Pienma, and the country up to the watershed is now being peaceably administered. It appears to His Majesty's Government to be for the Chinese Government to show cause why this should not be done, and His Majesty's Government are prepared to examine with them at Peking any evidence they may wish to produce in substantiation of claims to dues from particular villages west of the watershed.\n\nForeign Office, January 30, 1911.\n\nPage 361\n12 \n`[1850 gg-1]`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434436, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 437, "title": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n[4276]\n\nNo. 1.\n\n813435\n\n[February 6 14 MAR]\n\n## SECTION 2\n\n### Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received February 6.)\n\n**(No. 27.)**\n\nPeking, January 17, 1911. WITH reference to my despatch No. 473 of the 29th December relative to the northern section of the Burmah-Yünnan frontier, I have the honour to transmit herewith the translation of a note which I have received from the Chinese Government, explaining that they have never accepted the line notified to them in Sir Ernest Satow's note of the 1st May, 1906, and that they cannot assent to a one-sided decision of the matter by His Majesty's Government. They state that if the Burmah troops proceed to the Nmai Kha watershed they will be crossing the frontier, and the Chinese Government can under no circumstances accept any responsibility for a collision. The Chinese text of the following sentence is somewhat ambiguous, but there can be little doubt that the line which they request may be provisionally observed is the course of the Hsiao Chiang where it flows northwards, in other words, the Nmai Kha-Hsiao Chiang watershed, which a glance at the map will show lies a long way to the west of Pien-ma and the Irrawaddy-Salween divide.\n\nThe note adds that, if it be desired to come to a general agreement as to the basis to be taken for the frontier line before proceeding to the appointment of officers for the purpose of delimitation, there can be no objection to that course, and that the Chinese Minister in London has been instructed to assist in negotiating an equitable settlement.\n\nI had the honour of telegraphing the above to you in substance on the 15th instant in my telegram No. 11.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nJ. N. JORDAN\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\n#### Prince Ching to Sir J. Jordan.\n\n**(Translation.)**\n\nPeking, January 14, 1911. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's note of the 17th December last on the subject of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier, in which it was stated that so long as the Chinese Government refuse to discuss any settlement of the frontier on the basis of the boundary as notified in Sir E. Satow's note of the 1st May, 1906, His Majesty's Government would not be able to consider any question of joint delimitation.\n\nThe Chinese Government have never expressed their agreement with the basis referred to, as the correspondence shows, and if it is proposed to come to a one-sided decision in the matter China cannot but refuse to consent to such a course, which seemed an improper one for His Majesty's Government to take.\n\nYour Excellency's note above referred to further states that there is no intention to dispatch troops to cross the declared frontier on the watershed.\n\nThe watershed frontier declared in Sir Ernest Satow's note of 1906 includes too wide an area, and the country it embraces is all under the rule of Chinese native chieftains. If the Burmah troops proceed to the Ngmaika River watershed they will be crossing the frontier, and should a collision occur in consequence the Chinese Government can under no circumstances accept responsibility.\n\nUntil the frontier question has been definitely decided, we must request His Majesty's Government to give strict orders to the frontier officials to still adhere to the northern course of the Hsiao Chiang as the frontier at present observed, and on no account to cross it in order to avoid any untoward occurrence and preserve the good relations between our two countries.\n\n[1909 ƒ-2]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434551, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 552, "title": "CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n\nCO [March 6.]\n\n### (No. 69.) Sir,\n\n#### No. 1.\n**Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey.**~(Received March 6.)\n\nPeking, February 15, 1911.\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit herewith the translation of a note in which the Wai-wu Pu reply to the contents of the communication addressed to them on the 30th January, copy of which was enclosed in my despatch No. 44 of the 31st January. The Chinese Government maintain their attitude of protest against the Burmah expedition, and adduce arguments in support of their claim to territory which the adoption of the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed as the frontier would place under British dominion.\n\nI telegraphed the full contents of this note to you yesterday in my telegram No. 39.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\nI have, &c.\n**J. N. JORDAN.**\n\n#### Sir,\n**Prince Ching to Sir J. Jordan,**\n\nPeking, February 13, 1911.\n\nI HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's note of the 30th ultimo on the subject of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier.\n\n[Quotes note of the 30th January from \"The Chinese Government having\" to \"the Ngawchaung line.\"]\n\nI would observe that the question of this frontier has been in a state of confusion for many years; both sides have maintained a different line as the boundary, and the map of the frontier made by Shih Taotai and Consul Litton certainly cannot be taken as proof of an agreement on this point. Moreover, the watershed indicated by Sir Ernest Satow was merely an ex parte pronouncement by one side, and never received the assent of the Chinese Government. Seeing then that the boundary line had not been clearly marked out, there was no other means of arriving at a definite conclusion except by appointing officers to make a fresh delimitation, and my Board repeatedly asked that this should be done. The action of His Majesty's Government, on the other hand, in dispatching troops to Pien-ma without waiting for a joint delimitation and administering the country through British officers is certainly not in keeping with amicable relations between our two countries.\n\nAs regards the Pien-ma native villages being subject to the Teng Keng chieftain, Consul Litton's original proposal for a lease in perpetuity on the precedent of the Meng Mao triangle was in itself a clear recognition of Chinese overlordship; moreover, there are records from the Tao Kuang period of the payment of taxes and duties, and to this day those tribes when they go to law bring their plaints to the district magistrate of Pao Shan.\n\nAgain, Sir Ernest Satow and your Excellency have repeatedly stated in your notes that His Majesty's Government were willing to pay compensation in lieu of the presents and dues hitherto received from the native headmen by Teng Keng, which is a further undoubted admission that these native villages are subject to China.\n\nMoreover, the villages of Tzu Chu and Hpare have from of old been ruled by the two Fuyi, Yang and Tso, of Ming Kwang, and the certificates of hereditary rank issued to them by the Board of War in the Tao Kuang period still exist.\n\nThe above constitute the most conclusive arguments and the clearest proof, as His Majesty's Government must themselves fully appreciate.\n\nPage 550", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-382 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434675, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 89, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n\n[6654]\n\n## SECTION 4\n\n### No. 1\nIndia Office to Foreign Office.~(Received February 22.)\n\nTHE Under-Secretary of State for India presents his compliments to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, by direction of the Earl of Crewe, forwards herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, copy of a telegram from Viceroy, dated the 21st February, 1911, relative to Pien-ma.\n\nIndia Office, February 22, 1911.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1\n**Government of India to the Earl of Crewe.**\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nPIEN-MAW expedition (see your telegram of yesterday). We repeated to you on the 14th instant the telegram dated the 11th February from consul at Tengyueh. The following is the telegram from the consul, dated the 14th and not the 11th February, to which we intended to refer. It was repeated to Peking :-\n\n\"Please refer to my telegram dated the 11th instant. Taotai informs me that his agreement has been unreservedly accepted by the Viceroy, and that an earnest desire for a speedy and amicable settlement of whole question of frontier has been expressed by the latter. Immediate steps have been taken by Taotai for the loyal execution of his obligations here. This attitude appears significant after persistent hostility of past year. We are in an unusually strong position, and the opinion is respectfully submitted that a favourable opportunity for pressing for a final settlement of entire frontier line has occurred. Following points, which appear most important from local point of view, are presented for your consideration: That Chinese request for joint inspection and addition of the Chinese inscriptions to boundary pillars should be agreed to, subject to the following conditions: \n| Condition | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (1) | Chinese Government first to accept the entire Burmah-Yunnan frontier line, including section north of Manang Pum following watershed between Irrawaddy and Salween as far as latitude 28° approximately, and section east of Wa country, generally known as Scott's line; |\n| (2) | draft agreement attached to Litton's report of the 20th May, 1905, to be signed by Chinese; |\n| (3) | China to appoint competent survey officers, or to agree to accept British officers' evidence as conclusive; |\n| (4) | party, as it proceeds along unmarked sections, to erect pillars; |\n| (5) | immediate recall to office of Shih Hung Chao; |\n| (6) | release of Li San Pao; |\n| (7) | His Majesty's Government to agree to the cession to China of such territory, if any, west of Scott's line as Chinese may, since the Boundary Commission, have brought under effective administration.\" \n\n[1909 y-4]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434691, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 105, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n## No. 85. Sir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey\n\nPeking, February 24, 1911.\n\nON the 14th instant you were good enough to instruct me by telegram to open negotiations with the Chinese Government with a view to arriving at a general agreement for determining the line of frontier where it has not yet been delimited on the borders of Burmah and Yünnan, from 25° 35′ to its northern extremity.\n\nI accordingly called by appointment on the grand councillor, Na Tung, on the 18th instant, and after mentioning the case of Li San-kuei, which forms the subject of my immediately preceding despatch, I went on to say that this incident was typical of the continual friction occurring owing to the absence of a definite boundary line. There was only one possible line, and that was the natural boundary formed by the Irrawaddy-Salween divide. The Chinese proposal for the Hsiao-Chiang line was unacceptable, not only because it included territory never administered by China, but because it was only a small stream, and the villages in many cases owned property on both banks. The whole question had been carefully gone into by Mr. Litton and Taotai Shih in 1905, but the only action taken by the Chinese Government on this had been to degrade Shih. His Majesty's Government had therefore been driven to send an expedition to Pien-ma and administer the country up to the watershed. They were however now, as at all times, prepared to examine any Chinese claims to dues from particular villages west of the divide, with a view to compensation by exchange of territories or otherwise.\n\nHis Excellency replied that the dispatch of British troops to Pien-ma and the neighbourhood had aroused great excitement and feeling among the populace in Yunnan, and the Viceroy had continually urged the board to secure their withdrawal. The Chinese Government were quite willing to negotiate for a joint delimitation of the frontier, but the troops ought to be first withdrawn.\n\nI pointed out that to attempt delimitation without first agreeing on a basis for the frontier was merely waste of time. If the Chinese Government would agree to a basis for the frontier on the understanding that Chinese claims to dues from land included would be subject to examination and, if necessary, to compensation, I should be willing to move His Majesty's Government to withdraw the expeditionary force before the actual delimitation began.\n\nOn Na Tung objecting that China would have the appearance of being forced into accepting a frontier, I reminded his Excellency of the Wai-wu Pu's note of the 14th January, in which they had expressed their willingness to agree to a basis before delimitation. If China would accept the principle of the watershed up to its northern extremity all possibility of future friction would be removed. Demarcation could follow under the conditions I had mentioned, and there could then be no suggestion that China was acting under compulsion.\n\nThe grand councillor again urged that the troops should retire, but I said that such a step could not possibly be considered until a basis for the frontier had been accepted, and I added that it was unfortunate that the board's knowledge of the geography of those parts was imperfect, and that they disregarded the reports of the men on the spot in favour of ancient documents, which had no more meaning at the present day than had formerly the title of \"King of France\" so long retained by the Kings of England. The arguments in support of the watershed frontier were convincingly set forth in Mr. Litton's despatch to Taotai Shih of the 20th May, 1905, which I commended to his Excellency's attention.\n\nNa Tung finally said that he would consider the proposal and return an answer in due course.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nJ. N. JORDAN.\n\nPage 103\n## AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n\n### SECTION 4\n\nNo. 1.\n\nMarch 20.\n\nReceived March 20.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434749, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 163, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n\nNo. 1.\n\nSir J. Jordan to Sir Edward Grey,--(Received April 3.)\n\n**(No. 117.)**\nSir,\n\nPeking, March 14, 1911.\n\nI HAVE the honour to transmit herewith the translation of the note from the Chinese Government, the substance of which I communicated to you in my telegram No. 73 of the 12th instant, in which they reject the proposal to recognise the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed as the general line of the undelimited frontier between Burmah and Yünnan.\n\nIn my above-mentioned telegram, I have already offered my observations on the alternative proposals now put forward by the Chinese Government.\n\nI have, &c.\n\nJ. N. JORDAN.\n\n### Enclosure in No. 1.\n\nWai-wu Pu to Sir J. Jordan.\n\nSir,\n\nMarch 11, 1911.\n\nAT an interview on the 18th ultimo on the subject of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier, your Excellency stated that the watershed was really the natural frontier line, and that if China would accept this as a basis for a frontier, then the withdrawal of the troops could be considered, after which officials could be sent to delimitate. You further stated that England was quite prepared to consider the payment of compensation for the properties within the jurisdiction of native chieftains to the west of the watershed, or to grant an equivalent in other portions of the frontier.\n\nIn previous communications, my Board has already explained our reasons for insisting that His Majesty's Government should withdraw its troops and the proofs on which we base our claim that the native villages in that district are under Chinese jurisdiction, and we need not repeat them.\n\nYour Excellency's present proposal is no doubt prompted by the idea of mutual concession, but the Chinese Government, as a result of their investigations in the district in question, consider that the Kao Liang Kung range is really the natural frontier; all the native chieftainates which it comprises have always been under Chinese jurisdiction, and so in accordance with law and justice, they should remain in the area subject to China, and this will avoid the necessity for giving territorial compensation elsewhere, which could not but give rise to most serious difficulties.\n\nIn the view of the Chinese Government, therefore, any reference to a watershed must, without the slightest doubt, mean the Kao Liang Kung range. But if His Majesty's Government insist on their view, the only way of finding a way to reconcile our conflicting views or an alternative means of avoiding injury to both countries is for both Governments to appoint special officers to investigate and decide on a basis for a frontier. In view of the present action of His Majesty's Government in stationing troops of their own accord in territory which China has not yet agreed to cede, even if the Chinese Government were willing to make an exceptional compromise, in accordance with strict justice, it would be extremely difficult to do so.\n\nI must therefore continue to insist that His Majesty's Government should consent to the withdrawal of the troops and to the appointment by each country of high officials to proceed to examine carefully on the spot the contentions of both sides, and draw up a report on which the two Governments can decide on a basis for the frontier, which it is hoped will satisfy both countries.\n\nThe unexplored country to the north could also be examined at the same time in order to provide material for a future delimitation.\n\nThe above would provide a satisfactory way of settling this boundary question.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434752, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 166, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## Enclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\n**Note by the Military Attaché, Peking, dated March 7, 1911, on Despatch No. 7, dated January 31, 1911, from His Britannic Majesty's Consul-General, Yünnan-fu, forwarding a Despatch (regarding the line of the frontier) from the Administrator of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, Yünnan-fu.**\n\nThe little map showing the line claimed by China (which accompanies Mr. O'Brien-Butler's despatch), the outcome of his investigation of maps with Mr. Hsia, shows the line, in the main, as claimed by the Wai-wu Pu, except that it concedes as British territory the whole of the basin of the Chipway Kha, whereas the line claimed in Prince Ch'ing's despatch of the 30th August, 1906, as well as the line proposed by Taotai Shih crossed that river instead of skirting its basin. The several lines proposed are shown on the sketch map which I attach to this note.\n\nIt must be noted that the map now sent by the consul-general was made by him, and is not signed or in any way vouched for by Mr. Hsia.\n\n## Enclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\n**Memorandum by Lieutenant-Colonel Willoughby.**\n\nA point worthy of note is that the maps produced by Mr. Hsia were the War Office map of Yunnan of 1906 (compiled by Major Davies) as well as a Chinese map; from which it is evident that the Yunnan authorities were well aware of Pienma being within the boundary claimed by Great Britain.\n\nAnother point, however (and perhaps a somewhat unfortunate one), is that the War Office map in question shows (and I think fairly and with reason) a very considerable stretch of the Irrawaddy basin, further north, viz., some 55 miles of the head waters of the N'mai Kha itself (latitude from about 27° 38′ to 28° 23′ north) in the neighbourhood of Chamutong, as well as the sources of the Meh Kha, its eastern large affluent, in the Chiutzu country (Khanung), as being within Yunnan, i.e., on the Yunnan side of the as yet undelimited frontier (marked only by a dotted line). I think it will be found that the Chinese claims to this Chiutzu region will, later on, when the question comes up for discussion, be found to be at least as strong as those put forward with regard to Pienma. In this connection, I would draw attention to the report of M. Gaston Péronne, mentioned in consul Rose's despatch No. 15, dated Tengyueh the 11th May, 1910. M. Péronne's head-quarters had been for the past year at Atuntzu, \"which is now the centre of activity for the Chinese along the north section of the Yunnan border.\" One of His Excellency Chao Erh Feng's agents was then at Atuntzu on special duty; said to be a man of considerable intelligence and activity and believed to be pioneering the proposed \"Third Province\" (comprising parts of Szechuan, Yunnan and Thibet) in an endeavour to include territory as far south as the Atuntzu district, which would strengthen the hold of the Chinese on the tribal lands dividing China from the sphere of British administrative control.\n\nHe went with a considerable escort into the \"inner country\" in the autumn of 1909 and remained three months. \"There seems little doubt that he penetrated at least as far as the Hkamti Shans.\" Since his return, he had been busy making the Atuntzu-Chamutong road, and there were many evidences of the intention of the Chinese to push forward their influence in these regions, which until the last few years were entirely beyond their control. They were sparing no pains to restrict lama influence: establishing schools at the larger centres, and insisting on a regular return of presents from the tribespeople, who include \"black Lisu,\" Lutzu and Chiutzu, in addition to the Thibetan groups. From other sources Mr. Rose learnt that deputies sent out by the sub-prefect of Wei Hsi crossed to the Chiutzu country on the west bank of the Salween and collected tribute during the autumn of 1909; also that two companies of Likiang troops were under orders for the Wei Hsi district (one to be stationed on the Salween and one at Atuntzu).\n\nIt is satisfactory to know that Mr. Barnard's expedition to Hkamti (at the head-waters of the Mali Kha) started from Kamaing on the 10th December, to confer a \"sanad\" (patent of rulership) on the present Sawbwa of that State. Here, at any rate, we are on quite firm ground, as there is ample documentary evidence in support of British suzerainty over Hkamti. As far back as 1892, the then chief was in possession of a document from the deputy commissioner of Bhamo acknowledging his right to the protection of the British Government, and proclaiming his territory to be part of the district controlled by the deputy commissioner of Bhamo.\n\nA point of considerable importance in connection with the question of the upper waters of the Irrawaddy is brought out by a journey made by Mr. E. C. Young from Yünnan through Pienma and Hkamti to Assam in the winter of 1905-6 (vide \"Geographical Journal\" for August 1907). According to his diagrams, the volume of the N'mai Kha considerably exceeds that of the Salween, in about the same latitude, and both are much bigger than the Mali Kha. The measurements are so remarkable that they leave room for doubt as to the sources of the N'mai Kha being within such reasonable distance as to admit of our claiming the whole of the head-waters of the Irrawaddy basin as being in Burmah, and so in British territory. Unfortunately, our knowledge of the geography of the upper waters of the N'mai Kha is very limited, but, at any rate, it would seem to be impossible that its source can be north of a point somewhere in the latitude of Mekong, as the Indian explorer Krishna (A. K.), in crossing to Rima from the Salween, not far north of Mekong, seems to have found no other large stream in his path, but \"proceeded up a small affluent of the Salween, over a 'divide by the Ti La pass (16,100'), and finally down an affluent of the Zayul or Lohit till he reached Rima without much difficulty. We thus possess certain information that between the head of the Assam valley and the Salween, there is but one pass.\"-(Sir Thomas Holdich's \"Thibet the Mysterious,\" p. 213.) No such doubt exists with regard to the head-waters of the Mali Kha, the high snowy barrier of the Nam Kiu mountains, which separates them from the Lohit basin, precluding any possibility of any of them taking their rise farther north. This snowy range seems obviously indicated as the boundary line between Upper Burmah and Thibet along the north of the Hkamti State.\n\nTo revert to the question of the delimitation of the boundary from the southern end of the undelimited portion: I anticipate the most strenuous resistance on the part of the Wai-wu Pu to admitting the Irrawaddy-Salween divide as the boundary northward--at any rate, of the southern confines of the Chiutzu country, about latitude 27° 35' north (for the reasons I have given above, and other reasons set forth below); and it is possible that they may even be able to put forward reasonable claims (that we as yet know nothing of) to some measure of control over portions of the intervening Mara country between the Khanung and Pienma.\n\nThe eastern branch of the head-waters of the N'mai Kha (the Chiu-chiang) appears, as I have mentioned above, to rise in the Tsarong district of Thibet, somewhere near Mekong (on the Salween, in latitude 28° 35′ north), and for three marches up-river from Tulong, the inhabitants of the valley (Chiutzu) pay tribute to the Yei-chih \"mokua\" (in the Wei Hsi sub-prefecture of Yunnan), and northward of that point, they are tributary to Tsarong (Thibet). (See \"From Tonkin to India,\" by Prince Henri d'Orleans, pp. 413, 414.)\n\nI think, therefore, it must be recognised that we may be unable to claim the whole of the waters of the Irrawaddy basin--in fact, that it may be necessary to recognise the \"southern confines of Thibet (mentioned in Sir F. Satow's despatch of the 1st May, 1906, to the Wai-wu Pu) as being somewhere about the latitude of Chamutong, i.e., approximately latitude 28 north (so far as the head-waters of the N'mai Kha are concerned). Furthermore, as below that point proceeding down-river to at least the Chiu Chiang Telo confluence, the inhabitants are tributary to Yei-chih and Wei-Hsi; at Tulong, in 1895, Prince Henri d'Orleans found a deputy from the Wei-Hsi sub-prefect), it would seem, perhaps, the simplest plan to consider that point, viz., the confluence, as a suitable point of departure of the frontier line west-wards from the river N'mai Kha.\n\nDuma on the Reun-nam (which is apparently the most easterly affluent of the Mali Kha) also appears from Prince Henri's narrative to be tributary to a Lisu chieftain subject to Yunnan, but this claim, at this rate, ought, I think, to be contested or compounded for by a payment or some compensation elsewhere. The Reun-nam (affluent of the Mali Kha (?)) is separated from the Telo (affluent of the N'mai Kha) by a very few miles only, and by a single mountain ridge, and it is along this ridge that a suitable frontier line might perhaps be found. From the top of this ridge, Prince Henri remarks \"in the west, a high white range running north-east and south-west was identified by us as the alps of Zayul, on the other side of which lies the basin of the upper Brahmaputra in Thibet. This high white range,\" the Nan Kiu mountains is not more than about 50 miles distant, in a straight line, from the Chiu chiang (N'mai Kha)-Telo confluence.\n\nPage 5\nPage 164", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434753, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 167, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## The Unadministered Tribal Country Between Burmah, Assam, Thibet, and Yunnan\n\nThe unadministered tribal country lying between Burmah, Assam, Thibet, and Yunnan covers an area of some 15,000 or more square miles of jungle-clad and mountainous territory, imperfectly known and peopled sparsely by some of the most primitive savages to be found, at the present day, anywhere on the face of the globe. Up till recently, lack of enterprise on the part of our eastern neighbour has left this region to its primitive seclusion and barbarism, and it has formed, as it were, an impenetrable buffer state for Burmah.\n\nThe new era of energy and activity on her frontiers that has started of late in China, however, makes the question of a defined frontier line between the British dominions and those of the Chinese Empire a matter of ever-increasing urgency, and delay in setting about it will not tend to make the solution easier.\n\nThe matter seems to resolve itself into a question of whether the expediency of a well-defined geographical and ethnographical boundary and consideration of the eventual welfare of the populations of the region are sufficient to justify Great Britain in resorting to force to obtain the best line possible, and the easiest to define, namely, the watersheds bounding the whole of the waters of the Irrawaddy basin, in face of certain definite evidences of Chinese control or suzerainty over portions of the territories enclosed therein (notably the part at present in dispute, near Pienma, and that which certainly will be claimed later, viz., the Chiutzu country, astride the upper waters of the N'mai Kha). A point to be recognised is that if we do insist on this best possible line, we must be prepared to make good our claim to it, either by actual administration or well-defined suzerainty, involving recognition of responsibility for the good behaviour of the wild Kachins, Maru, and Lutzu, etc., situated within it. If the game is not considered worth the candle, then it is for consideration what definite points should form a basis for negotiation before actually embarking on delimitation of some other frontier-line. I think our geographical knowledge is sufficient to warrant, at any rate, the following demands:\n\n1. That the whole of the head-waters of the Mali Kha right up to the Nam Kiu mountains must be considered as British territory. (Consequent on this, an agreement would have to be arrived at as to the point in the Lohit valley, on the other side of those Nam Kiu Mountains, where British territory ends and Chinese begins, and I think it might be taken that Sati - latitude 28° 1′ 3′′ north, and longitude 96° 54′ 2′′ east - is British and Walung, a few miles further up-stream is Thibetan, and that the frontier-line should cross the river at some convenient point, to be mutually agreed on, by boundary commissioners on the spot, between those two places. As regards this part of the border, vide *Geographical Journal* of October 1909, p. 373).\n\n2. That, unless China can adduce proof to the contrary, the Maru country, between the Lashi territory of Pienma and the Chiutzu country on the Upper N'mai Kha at its great westerly bend, west of Yei-chih (on the Mekong in latitude 27° 41′ north) must be reckoned as in British territory.\n\n3. That in default of any satisfactory proof of Chinese control on the north bank of the Hsiao Chiang (it will be remembered that Taotai Shih admitted to Mr. Litton, in 1905, that the tribesmen beyond, i.e., on the right bank of, this stream were \"beyond the pale of civilised government\"), the Chinese claim to territory on that bank cannot be admitted. Should it, however, be considered desirable to admit the Chinese claim to the actual Pienma group of villages, under the Teng-keng \"fu-yu,\" the joint examination by Messrs. Litton and Shih in 1905, justify us, at any rate, I think, in refusing to acknowledge the hold of the Minkuang \"fu-yu\" over the valley of the Kansheng Kha. A compromise might, therefore, be made by drawing the line of demarcation between the Pienma group and the Kausheng Kha valley and the geographical features appear to lend themselves fairly well to such a division.\n\nThe modified frontier line might then run roughly as follows:\n\nFrom Manung Pum (present northern-most point of the demarcated line) along the Irrawaddy-Shweli divide to the peak marked 12,800′ (6 miles east of Lagwi, on the War Office map of 1906); thence down the spur shown as running nearly due north to the westerly bend of the Hsiao Chiang; across latter and north-west up spur to the peak marked 13,600′; and thence along the crest of the watershed enclosing the head-waters of the Hsiao Chiang till the main Irrawaddy-Salween divide is reached; then northward along that divide to the point where the Chinese-controlled Chintzu country begins, and perhaps the most convenient line of demarcation from this point would be the crest of the spur which forms the great westerly loop of the N'mai Kha (in latitude 27° 40′); the frontier line crossing the...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434754, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 168, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# SKETCH MAP \nto show \n## SUGGESTED LINES OF DEMARCATION \nof the \n### BURMA-CHINA BORDER.\n\nT IBET \n28°N \n\nBrahmakund \nLobit R \n15220' \nSati \nWalung \nRima \nShirong \n“Nam Kiu“ Mts \n2 \nDaphapan \nR.. \nDapha Bum \n-227° \n26 \nDihing R. \nHukong Valley \nManse \nH \na \nx \nPatau \nTalo R \n. Intaw \n.Kachala \n98 \n\nam Kiu or Malihka \n+ \nChiama Ngu Chu \nSor Salween R, \n-Chin Chiang \nU t.z \nkhanung \nNmai Hka \nButang \nNakalo \nDa Chu or Mekong R. \n\nDOKERLA \nChamutong \nMeh Hka \n1360 \nTowgaw \n12800 \nMakuan \n-25 \n\n| Description | Line |\n| --- | --- |\n| Frontier line already demarcated. | va vam van man van. |\n| Ideal line onwards (taking in all the upper basin of the Irrawady). | |\n| This is the line laid down by Sir E. Satow. \"As far as the confines of Tibet\" | |\n| Suggested modified line. | Ditto. |\n| Line claimed by Wai Wu Pa | RL 'LT FROM |\n| Line suggested by Tavtai Shih. in 1905. | |\n| Line said to be now claimed by Mr. Hsia. | (Foreign Affairs Bureau, Yünnanfu.) |\n| Limit of British “administered territory,\" | |\n\nIRRAWA \nTAPINGA \nKa \n*Laika \nMYITKYINA \nSima \nManyun. \nTaping \nSadon \nn \nNai \nKha \nWanghte \nManung Pum \nChan-baity \nΚαι \nMe Sih Ho \nMien Chin Meng Peng \nTENG YUEK Ting \nMONG HUM \nMONG YANG \n(100.4111.1380)F0.1974 63 China \n\nOBHAMO \nAtuntzu \nnma) \nTêng \nKAO LI \nLu Chiang or Salweed R. \nh \nu \na \nYangtse \nYei Chih \nWEI-HSI-TING \n\n# \nn \n100° \n165 \nN \nYangtse R \nN \nCHIEN CHUAN CHOU \n\nப \n29 \n\n28 \n27 \nLI-CHIANG \nล \nHO CHING CHOU \n虫 \n269 \nTeng Chuan u \nYUN LUNG CHOU \nTALIFU l \nKai t'ou \nK \n20 \nScale of miles. \nHKWAN \nLung Chuan \nChế tạng \nMONG \nMeng-ka \nNASANJA & Dand, 1,19 as MAPPING LAYEW,C \n\nen R \nLung-Ling-Ting, \nYUNG-CHANG FU \nm \n• Yao Kuan \nYu-tien \nHAI \nHsia kuan \nChao Chou \nTameng-tung SHUN NING FU \nEYUN CHOU \n\n(Signed) **M. E. Willoughby, Lt.-Colonel, Military Attaché, Peking- 8th March, 1911.** \n25", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434755, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 169, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## \n\n7 \n\nN'mai Kha at its confluence with the Telo, and thence westerly to the crest of the \"divide\" between the Nimai Kha and Mali Kha basins, and up along that water parting till the main ridge of the Nam Kiu mountains are reached; then south-west along the summit of that range and down any convenient northerly spur of it to the Lohit-Brahmaputra in the neighbourhood of Sati.\n\nOwing to the wildness of the country and the people it cannot be denied that the demarcation of the line between the N'mai Kha-Telo confluence, and the crest of the Nam Kiu mountains would present considerable difficulty, but the distance, in an air line, is only some 50 miles and heliographic communication should be a fairly simple matter. The whole length of frontier line to be demarcated would, on the above basis, be about 300 miles, and it would, perhaps, be convenient to divide it into two sections, the southern from Manung Pum to the N'mai Kha-Telo confluence, and the northern from the Lohit Valley to the same point. On the southern section, all along the great Irrawaddy-Salween divide, very few boundary marks would be necessary owing to the naturally impassable character of the range. (see *\"Geographical Journal,\"* September 1908, pp. 257, 258). A pillar at each of the rare passes would suffice.\n\nSeeing that the Pienma region is the point where China is, for the moment particularly concerned, in the matter of \"saving face,\" it is possible that by conceding to her the whole of the basin of the Hsiao Chiang as far down as its junction with the Khetmaw-kha and making the boundary run up the spur opposite the mouth of that stream to the peak before-mentioned marked 13,600 (west of Kangfang) and thence, as above described, to the main Irrawaddy-Salween divide, &c., and possibly also some territorial compensation in the \"wild Wa\" country south of the Nam-ting she might be induced to do \"a deal\" as regards the Chiutzu country and agree to the whole of the head-waters of the Irrawaddy being included in British territory. This would, perhaps, be the fairest and most satisfactory solution if it could be arranged, and would greatly facilitate the work of demarcation. The slight concession of territory on the right bank of the Hsiao Chiang would, in point of fact, provide us with a better frontier than the valley line up the course of the stream, suggested by Taotai Shih.\n\nI attach a cutting from the *\"Peking and Tien-tsin Times,\"* of the 6th March, 1911, containing an article by Mr. E. C. Young (above mentioned) which makes out a fairly good case for Great Britain, even as regards the actual Pienma valley.\n\nI attach also a tracing of a part of the War Office map of Yunnan, of 1906, wherein I have added the Lohit valley, so as to show the whole border-land between Manung Pum and the point where British administered territory in Assam begins (viz., at Brahmakund on the Lohit). On this map I have shown the frontier-line as far as at present demarcated, the various proposed Chinese lines a short distance beyond that point, and the lines I have suggested in the foregoing note to mark the boundary right up to the borders of Assam.\n\nI would also draw attention to the following works which throw light on the subject under consideration, viz.:\n\n*\"Tonquin to India,\"* by Prince Henri d'Orléans, pp. 245, 269, 271, 273, 294, 319, 337, 396, 397, 398.\n*\"Thibet, the Mysterious,\"* by Sir Thomas Holdich, pp. 30, 211, 213, &c.\nThe *\"Geographical Journals,\"* of August 1907, p. 152; September 1908, p. 239; October 1909, p. 363; December 1909, p. 608.\n\nIn conclusion, to revert to the particular point on which this note was based, the reference by Mr. Hsia (the administrator of the Foreign Affairs Bureau at Yunnan-fu) to Sir E. Satow's despatch of the 30th January, 1904, is not, in point of fact, worthy of much consideration seeing that the conditions laid down in that despatch related to a state of things prior to a further joint examination of the frontier. That examination was carried out in 1905 and, consequent thereon, Sir E. Satow wrote a subsequent despatch (1st May, 1906), defining more clearly the line that Great Britain had decided to consider as the frontier, viz., the Irrawaddy-Shweli watershed to its junction with the main Irrawaddy-Salween watershed, and the latter thence northwards up to the confines of Thibet.\n\n*Not printed.\n\nM. E. WILLOUGHBY, \nMilitary Attaché, Peking.\n\n166", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434816, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 230, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n\n227 \n14858 \n\n### SECTION 1.\n\n(No. 66.) \n(Telegraphic.) R. \nNo. 1. \n\n**Sir Edward Grey to Sir J. Jordan** \nForeign Office, April 4, 1911. \n\nYOUR telegram No. 73 of 13th March: Pienma. We are satisfied that the Chinese claims to all villages to the west of the Irawaddy-Salween watershed other than Pienma, Kangfang, and Gawlam groups are wholly inadmissible, and you should inform the Chinese Government, in reply to their note of the 11th ultimo, that there can be no question of His Majesty's Government accepting the Kaoliang-Kung range, viz., the range forming the watershed between the Chipwi and Hpare Rivers, which amounts to a renewal of the line proposed by Taotai Shih in 1905.\n\nAs regards the proposal to appoint a joint delimitation commission, the experience of 1905 shows that unless at least the basis is settled between the two Governments beforehand no practical result is likely to be obtained by subordinate officers on the spot, and we could only agree if a clear understanding as to what this basis should be is first reached.\n\nAs regards the line to be adopted as the basis, you should state that the officer deputed by His Majesty's Government to visit and administer the country up to the watershed has confirmed the view consistently urged in the communications which have passed with the Wai-wu Pu that this line not only affords the most suitable frontier on geographical and administrative grounds, but is in fact, the only line offering any hope of a final settlement, and that, in the circumstances, His Majesty's Government must continue to press for its acceptance as the general basis of the frontier, subject to the understanding that any claims which China may be able to substantiate west of the said line will be dealt with in an equitable spirit.\n\nYou should at the same time renew formally the offer made in `1906` to compensate China by a money payment for the extinction of the personal claims of the Tengkeug chief west of the watershed. You may, however, in the event of China again declining to accept an arrangement on these lines, admit her claims to the groups of villages mentioned in the first paragraph of this telegram, on the understanding that China is prepared to lease the territory in question to His Majesty's Government.\n\nIt is to be hoped that if the above terms are put to the Chinese Government with sufficient firmness we shall not have to consider the question of offering an alternative line, but in any case you should not offer the one indicated in the Viceroy's telegram of 26th March without first referring home for instructions.\n\nAs regards the proposed withdrawal of our troops on climatic grounds from Htawgaw, you should make it quite clear that the retirement is not necessarily permanent, and that His Majesty's Government reserve to themselves entire freedom to move their officers into or out of the country at their discretion.\n\nAs this instruction offers basis for negotiation it seems unnecessary to refer to suggestion of arbitration, especially in view of Chinese refusal to entertain previous requests of this character from us.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434858, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 272, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n### [11831]\n#### CO 10371\n##### No. 1.\n###### SECTION 3.\n\nSir,\n\nIndia Office to Foreign Office.--(Received March 31.)\n\nIndia Office, March 30, 1911. WITH reference to correspondence ending with your letter dated the 25th March, 1911, as to the undemarcated section of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier north of latitude 25° 35', I am directed to enclose copy of telegraphic correspondence with the Government of India on the subject. Copy of papers relating to Mr. Hertz's expedition to the frontier, which have been received by mail from the Government of India, is also enclosed for your information.\n\nViscount Morley is satisfied, on a consideration of the Burmah Government's reports, that the Chinese claim to all villages on the west of the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed, other than the Hpimaw, Kangfang, and Gawlam groups, are wholly inadmissible.\n\nHe would accordingly suggest, for Sir E. Grey's consideration, that the Chinese Government should be informed, in reply to their note of the 11th March, reported in Sir J. Jordan's telegram No. 73, dated the 13th March, 1911, that there can be no question of our accepting the line of the Kaoliang Kung range proposed by them. There is some room for doubt as to what range the Chinese Government intend to indicate by the above name; but it seems certain that the interpretation given in the Viceroy's telegram of the 27th March, viz., that the range forming the watershed between the Chipwi and Kansheng (or Hpare) Rivers is meant, is correct. In other words, the effect of the Chinese proposal is practically to renew the offer of the line proposed by Taotai Shih in 1905, a line which would assign to China territory over which she has never exercised any shadow of authority; such authority, so far as there is any trace of it, being limited to the three groups of villages mentioned above. As regards the proposal \"to appoint special officers to investigate and decide on a basis for a frontier,\" the experience of 1905, when such a joint commission failed to arrive at any agreement, shows that, unless at least the basis is settled between the two Governments beforehand, no practical result is likely to be attained by subordinate officers on the spot. The appointment, therefore, of a joint delimitation commission could only be agreed to if preceded by a clear understanding as to what this basis should be.\n\nAs regards the line to be adopted as the basis of the frontier, Viscount Morley adheres to the views expressed in my letter of the 23rd February, 1911. The Chinese Government might, he thinks, be informed that the investigations of Mr. Hertz, who has been deputed by His Majesty's Government to visit and administer the country up to the watershed, have confirmed the view consistently urged in our communications with the Wai-wu Pu, that the watershed line not only affords the most suitable frontier on geographical and administrative grounds, but is in fact the only line offering any hope of a final settlement. In these circumstances, His Majesty's Government must press for its acceptance as the general basis of the frontier, subject to the understanding that any claims which China may be able to substantiate west of the line in question will be dealt with in an equitable spirit.\n\nSir J. Jordan might be instructed at the same time to renew formally the offer made in 1906 to compensate China by a money payment for the extinction of the personal claims of the Tengkung Chief west of the watershed; but he might be authorised, in the event of the Chinese Government again declining to accept an arrangement on these lines, to admit the Chinese claims to the Hpimaw, Kangfang, and Gawlam groups of villages, as suggested by the Burmah Government, on the understanding that China is prepared to lease the territory in question to His Majesty's Government.\n\nLord Morley is not prepared at present to consider the question of offering an alternative line, and he is of opinion that, if the above terms are put to the Chinese Government with sufficient firmness, it will not be necessary to do so; but he would...\n\n*Not printed.*\n\nPage 268", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434859, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 273, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## 269 \n\n2 \n\nbe content on this point to defer to the views of Sir J. Jordan, whose communication to the Wai-wu Pu, as reported in his despatch No. 85, dated the 24th February, 1911, has his Lordship's entire approval. In any case, Lord Morley would suggest that, before proceeding to offer to the Chinese Government the alternative frontier indicated in the Viceroy's telegram of the 26th March, Sir J. Jordan should refer the matter to His Majesty's Government for further instructions.\n\nAs regards the Chinese request for the withdrawal of our troops, it will be seen from the Viceroy's telegrams of the 19th and 29th March, 1911, that it is impracticable, for climatic reasons, for Mr. Hertz's party to remain at Htawgaw later than the middle of April. In the circumstances, it seems very undesirable that the news of the retirement of the party should reach the Chinese Government in a form that can lead them to interpret it as a disposition on our part to comply with their demands, since this would inevitably make them more difficult to deal with. I am therefore to suggest that they should be informed that His Majesty's Government reserve to themselves entire freedom to move their officers into and out of the country at their discretion. The draft of a telegram which Lord Morley proposes to address to the Government of India is enclosed herewith, for Sir E. Grey's concurrence.*\n\nAs regards the suggestion of the Chinese Government that the question should, as a last resort, be referred to arbitration, Lord Morley is not in a position to offer any opinion as to the precedents quoted in the final paragraph of Sir J. Jordan's telegram of the 13th March. But he would strongly deprecate the proposal on general grounds, both as undesirable in itself and as impracticable, regard being had to the nature of the evidence on which the respective claims are based.\n\nI am, &c.\n\n(Telegraphic.) P. R. RITCHIE.\n\n## Enclosure 1 in No. 1\n\n**Government of India to Viscount Morley**\n\nMarch 16, 1911. Government regarding\n\nFOLLOWING telegram received from Burmah Hpimaw ---- \n\n\"We are submitting by this mail to Government of India full report by Mr. Hertz as to Chinese claims in unadministered territory and as to terms on which negotiations for frontier line might be conducted. Mr. Hertz proposes that rights of Chinese in Gawlam, Kangfang, and Hpimaw groups of villages should be purchased, or that tract of country in which these villages are situated should be leased from China. He suggests as a third alternative that watershed boundary should be so modified as to leave these villages to China. Modified line proposed by Hertz follows a high range of mountains (through which the River Ngawchang flows in a narrow defile) from the point where it diverges from the main watershed to the point where it again merges in the main watershed, north of Kangfang. If arrangements cannot be made to lease the tract, this modified line would, in Lieutenant-Governor's opinion, be a suitable boundary. Hertz's report makes it clear that, apart from above-mentioned groups of villages, Chinese have no claim to any areas west of watershed.\"\n\nOn receipt of Hertz's report we will furnish our views on Burmah Government's telegram, as well as upon telegram dated the 13th instant from His Majesty's Minister at Peking.\n\n(Telegraphic.)\n\nP.\n\n## Enclosure 2 in No. 1\n\n**Government of India to Viscount Morley**\n\nMarch 19, 1911.\n\nHPIMAW expedition: See my telegram dated the 16th instant. Telegram from Government of Burmah states that it is advisable that Hertz's party should leave Htawgaw not later than the 10th proximo, and that it is impossible for them, owing to weather conditions, to stay there after the 20th idem at the latest. Lieutenant-Governor considers that Hertz and military police should return early in April to Nangu, and that wing of 89th Punjabis, who are road-making between Chiglai and Htawgaw, should withdraw to the same place at end of present month.\n\nI propose in the circumstances to authorise carrying out of movements.\n\n## Enclosure 3 in No. 1\n\n**Viscount Morley to Government of India**\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nIndia Office, March 21, 1911. PLEASE refer to your telegram dated 19th instant as to Hpimaw expedition. I propose to await views as to boundary question, promised in your telegram dated 16th instant, before considering question of future movements of Hertz. He should remain at Htawgaw in the meantime.\n\n## Enclosure 4 in No. 1\n\n**Government of India to Viscount Morley**\n\n(Telegraphic.) P.\n\nMarch 26, 1911. PLEASE refer to my telegram dated the 16th instant. It appears from report by Mr. Hertz to hand that, apart from Hpimaw, Gawlam, and Kangfang groups, Chinese have no claim to villages west of watershed; and definite and final repudiation of contention of Chinese should, in opinion of Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah, now be made. Hertz states, with regard to Gawlam, Hpimaw, and other villages on upper waters of Ngawchang River, that Chief of Lungpang at one time exercised authority over these villages, but that villagers have for many years paid tribute to Chief of Tengkeng, since the time when they invoked the latter's assistance as result of quarrel with Lungpang. Villagers have also adopted habits and customs of Chinese to some extent. Lieutenant-Governor is disposed to accept view of Mr. Hertz that we should accept claim of Chinese to these villages. Monetary compensation for surrender of their rights in tract is not likely, his Lordship understands from Peking telegram dated the 14th ultimo, to be agreed to by Chinese Government. Advantage of a lease, he points out, would be that measures already taken towards administration of tract would not have to be rescinded, and that the main watershed could be followed as the boundary line throughout. Lieutenant-Governor suggests, however, that modified boundary suggested by Hertz, excluding villages under discussion from our side, should be accepted without hesitation, if the Chinese do not agree to a lease. Following is modified boundary proposed:---\n\n| Detail | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| Starting point | Manang Bum in latitude 25° 33′ north |\n| Initial direction | Crest of watershed range between the Taping and Shweli (Lu Chiang) Rivers with their tributaries, to the south, and the N'Maikha River, with its tributaries, to the north |\n| First landmark | Peak marked Hsi Chiang Ho Shan 12,000 feet on the Survey of India map, east of the village of Upper Hpare, and near the sources of the Mangshang Kha |\n| Direction change | Northward to another peak, by name Sanhko Bum, 12,800 feet, east of Lagwi (Tzu Chu) village |\n| Further direction | Northward, crossing the river Ngawchang at gorge between junction of Hiangjam (Hpimaw) and Ngawchang (Hsiao Chiang) streams and village of Chikgaw (Chi-ka) |\n| Landmark | Range which separates the drainage of the Hpienlaw Kha on the west from that of river Ngawchang and its tributaries on the east |\n| Further direction | Along watershed dividing streams flowing westwards into country of Mars from those flowing eastwards into the Ngawchang River |\n| Further direction | Along range above the Yawyen village of Wulaw (Lao-wu-lu) forming northern watershed of river Ngawchang, and eastward by Wulaw pass until, at about latitude 26° 18', the great divide between the Salween and Irrawaddy is reached |\n\nIt is suggested by Hertz that His Majesty's Government should move the Chinese Government to agree to the main watershed as boundary beyond this point as ... \n\n* Printed in `[12691]`. \n\n3 \n\n## B 2", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 434860, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 274, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# Enclosure 5 in No. 1.\n\n## Government of India to Viscount Morley.\n\n**(Telegraphic.) P.**\n\nMarch 27, 1911.\n\nWE repeat following telegram, dated the 19th instant, from Burmah Government :-\n\n\"Map attached to Litton's report of 1905, and maps attached to report by Consul Rose, submitted with Burmah Government's letter of the 14th May last, show position of Kao-liang-Kung range. Leaving main watershed between Irrawaddy and Shweli Rivers near Hpare pass, the range runs north-westwards, separating the valleys of the Rivers Kansheng and Chipwi. Range towards its western extremity joins that of Wumaw Bum. It would appear from 4th paragraph of recent note by Mr. Hertz, copy of which was submitted with letter of the 13th instant from Burmah Government, that main Irrawaddy-Salween watershed in disputed area is also given the name of Kao-liang-Kung or Kao-li-Kung; and the Chinese map which formed enclosure 3 to Litton's report gives name of Kao-li-Kung to main watershed. Kao-liang-Kung mountain, which was proposed as boundary by Taotai Shih in his note dated the 28th May, 1905, to Mr. Litton, is the southern range forming watershed between Kanshong and Chipwi Rivers; and it is doubtless to this range that Chinese Government now refer. Whole valley of Kansheng or Hpare River, and either whole or part of valley of Ngawchang, would be given to China if this range was accepted as boundary. Chinese Government have no claim whatever to greater part of this area, and final and definite repudiation of the Chinese claim, as proposed in my letter of the 13th March, paragraph 2, is strongly recommended by the lieutenant-governor. Chinese Government should, his Honour recommends, be informed that, if China will accept main watershed as the general boundary, we are prepared to enter into negotiations respecting Hpimay, Kangtang and Gawlam groups of villages on the Upper Ngawchang River; and that we intend to occupy and administer Hpimaw and all the other territory to the west of watershed, unless they at once negotiate on these terms.\"\n\n**(Repeated to His Majesty's Minister, Peking.)**\n\n## Enclosure 6 in No. 1.\n\n## Government of India to Viscount Morley.\n\n**(Telegraphic.) P.**\n\nMarch 29, 1911.\n\nMY telegram dated the 26th, and yours dated the 21st instant. It is desirable, with reference to your decision that Hertz should remain for the present at Htawgaw, that military situation there should be fully placed before you. During rains it will not be possible to supply more than a small force at Htawgaw. It will be very difficult, without loss of stores or baggage, to withdraw expedition after rains break, if it is not withdrawn before. In these circumstances, I would venture to urge that wing of 89th Punjabis should at any rate be withdrawn to Nangu, Hertz and military police being left at Htawgaw, if decision to keep him there is adhered to by your Lordship. Large numbers of Panthay mule drivers will probably desert, taking as many mules as possible with them, if they see no chance of being able to return to China before breaking of rains. Effect of this would probably be that, should we wish to hire any Panthay mules next winter, we should be unable to do so, and difficulties of transport in connection with any boundary commission or demonstration on this frontier would be very greatly increased. Very early orders on my telegram dated the 19th instant as to withdrawal are solicited.\n\n**(Repeated to His Majesty's Minister, Peking.)**\n\n## Enclosure 7 in No. 1.\n\n## Government of India to Chief of the General Staff.\n\nArmy Department, Fort William, March 6, 1911.\n\nI AM directed to forward herewith copy of a telegram from the Chief Secretary to the Government of Burmah, dated the 28th February, recommending that the Burmah Company sappers and miners, with the assistance of the `89th Punjabis`, be instructed at once to undertake the construction of the Wanghte-Htawgaw section of the road required in connection with the Pienma Expedition, and leaving it to the Government of India to decide the terms on which the troops should be employed.\n\n2. I am to request that, under the orders of his Excellency the Commander-in-chief, the necessary steps may now be taken to give effect to the wishes of the Burmah Government.\n\n3. It is understood that his Excellency the Commander-in-chief considers that the troops should be employed on the following terms:-\n\n| Term | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a) | The Burmah Company sappers and miners to be ordered up under field service conditions, and the officer commanding appointed field engineer in charge of the road. |\n| (b) | The field engineer to be authorised to give lump sum contracts to his company, in lieu of working pay, for different sections of the road, from time to time. |\n| (c) | The field engineer to be authorised to employ the `89th Punjabis` on road-making, giving them lump contracts for bits of road and free tools, which should be sent up at once from Rangoon. |\n\nThese terms are approved, and I am to request that a statement of the cost involved, which will be borne by the local Government, may be submitted as soon as possible.\n\nI am, &c.\n\nM. H. S. GROVER, Major-General, \nSecretary to the Government of India. \nPage 270", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435025, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 439, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# \ncrossed, and news has recently been received that an outpost has been established as far west as Rima, the actual limit of that shadowy border-land which has been dimly outlined as the possible boundary which shall eventually divide Thibet and China from the British outposts of Assam and Upper Burmah. In the course of this advance the sovereignty of China was so definitely asserted in Thibet, that the Dalai Lama abandoned his capital early in the year, and an immediate attempt was made to pursue a similar policy along the whole frontier to the very southern limit of Keng-Hung. Two active and capable young lieutenants of the brothers Chao were then ordered to Yunnan, one Keng Pao-kuei as tuotai of the western marchies at Tengyueli and one to the little town of A-tun-tze, in that corner of the province of Kam, now generally known as Thibetan Yunnan, whilst a third was sent from Yunnan-fu to the Sipsong Panna or Southern Shan States of China, thus completing the chain of officers who could be trusted to pursue a forward and consecutive policy in all matters which affected China's western frontier.\n\nIt will be remembered that, as Szechuan was divided from Thibet by a series of semi-independent States under their own kings, princes, or \"tussu,\" so Yunnan is flanked by a band of tribal States inhabited by Lisus, Kachins, Was and Shans, the last of whom are numerically most important, and, although in a degenerate condition, are the relics of the old and powerful Nanchao Kingdom still holding a chain of fertile and prosperous valleys adjoining the Shan States of Burmah now under British rule. It will be remembered also that, of the 600 miles of actual frontier between Burmah and Yunnan, little more than half has actually been accepted by the Chinese Government, about 150 miles of still undelimited boundary lying to the north of Manung Pum along the clearly-marked though partially unexplored range of mountains known as the Irrawady-Salween divide, whilst the southern unrecognised tract lies to the east of the Wa country from Nalawt-Pangsang to the Namting River. After a joint examination of the northern undelimited stretch by the late Consul Litton and the Taotai Shih Hung-shao, in which it was found that the Chinese had not at any time carried their administration to the west of the great range, Sir Ernest Satow informed the Wai-wu Pu that His Majesty's Government would consider the Irrawady-Salween divide as our actual and natural frontier, though they were willing to compensate two Chinese families which claimed certain small tolls on the coffin-wood brought from the country to the west of the divide. The wisdom of this decision has been proved by the events of subsequent years, for it is now clear that the Chinese idea of peaceful penetration and purely money-making administrative efforts are a real menace to our Burmah subjects on the northern stretch, whilst their endless quibbles in regard to the arbitrary frontier in the Shan States have caused much unnecessary expense and an infinity of trouble to the Government of Burmah.\n\nOn the southern section Sir George Scott, finding his Chinese colleagues on the boundary commission of 1899-1900 unwilling to reach any finality in the delimitation of the border, proceeded to demarcate the frontier alone in accordance with the terms of the convention of 1897, the result of his work being known and generally accepted as \"Scott's Line,\" though to this day the Chinese Government has withheld its acceptance of the line laid down.\n\nFor some years the frontier as thus delimited has proved satisfactory in its practical working, but at the commencement of the present year the new activity of the Chinese precipitated events which threatened the tranquillity of the whole border-land. Under instructions from Tengyueh, the Chief of Tengkeng, on the Upper Salween, raided and burned the village of Hpimaw (\"Pien-ma\") to the west of the divide; information was received shortly afterwards that the officer on special duty at A-tun-tze had penetrated to and received tribute from the Khamti Long, a Shan State well within the Burmah frontier, whilst the Chinese deputy from Yünnan-fu entered the southern Shan States known as the Sip Song Panna, and, after killing the Shan chief or \"Sawbwa\" of Mong Se and a considerable number of people in this and the neighbouring States, firmly established the nucleus of direct Chinese administration in that district, which was, undoubtedly, one of the most lawless and dangerous in Yünnan. Nearer to Tengyueh the taotai has pursued with energy a similar policy in the northern group of Shan States. Chenkaug, the most unruly centre, has been definitely placed under the rule of a Chinese sub-prefect. Frontier deputies have been installed and have made considerable progress in the direction of Lisu and Shan affairs in the districts immediately adjoining the frontier, regular troops (under the old banner and known as Tsun Fang Tui) have recently arrived to garrison the Shan States of Nantien, Changta, and Kangai, further reinforcements have left within the last few days for the border States of Lungchuan and Mengmao, five forts have recently been constructed along that section of the frontier adjoining the Burmah district of Myitkyina, and 1,000 men of the modern-drilled army, which had previously advanced no further west than Talifu, have just arrived to strengthen the garrisons at Tengyueh and Yung-chang Fu.\n\nOn general principles there would appear to be every advantage to us in this westward advance of Chinese administration, for the direct responsibility of Chinese officers and of the Yunnanese provincial Government is certainly preferable to that of a horde of dissipated and degenerate Shan Sawbwas, who have little realisation of their neighbourly duties and no power to enforce their orders, even though their intentions may be of the best, and there can be little doubt that Chinese administrative aspirations would meet with the most sympathetic response from the Government and the frontier officers of Burmah as long as they were conducted on friendly lines. It is to be regretted, however, that there has been an apparent lack of any desire for friendly understandings and an inclination to disregard the most obvious duties of neighbourly intercourse with their British colleagues on the part of some of the officers who have been chosen as instruments in the Chinese scheme of administrative expansion, nor have they confined their efforts to that territory and to those affairs which fall legitimately within their sphere of influence. Reference to the Tengkeng raid and the Khamti incident have already been made, and the Taotai Kong has adopted throughout the year a most unfriendly and unconciliatory attitude at Tengyueh. The year commenced with the destruction of a British supplementary boundary pillar; a regular frontier pillar (No. 38), on the section already definitely accepted by the Chinese, was at a later date defaced by his orders, and would have been destroyed but for the action of his delegates; the position of a number of British pillars on the middle and accepted section has been called in question; the interpreter who accompanied me into the unadministered territory in the spring has been thrown into prison by him; the attempts of the Burmah Government to define the rights of transfrontier cultivators—a task undertaken at the direct request of the Yunnan Government and carried out at considerable expense—were hedged throughout the year by persistent difficulties, and the efforts of the British frontier officers and of this consulate to settle cases of murder and robbery between the frontier subjects of Burmah and Yunnan were constantly met by him in a discourteous and obstructive spirit.\n\nAs the year drew to a close there still remained the hope of effecting settlements of outstanding cases and disputes at the annual frontier meetings, and I shall submit a report of these functions in a subsequent paragraph. In the meanwhile, various expeditions set out from the British side of the frontier to extend the administrative sphere of the Burmah Government, and to gather further information in regard to the little known tracts lying to the extreme north and east of Upper Burmah. A column under Mr. W. A. Hertz, deputy commissioner of Myitkyina, has visited the unadministered territory, and advanced as far east as the Irrawady-Salween divide in the neighbourhood of Hpinaw (\"Pien-ma\"); a small party has also visited the Khamti Long, whilst an expedition from Assam has advanced eastward from the Naga hills and entered some of the unexplored tracts lying to the extreme north of Burmah. These parties have not yet returned, but the results of their journeys will be of the deepest interest, as they will throw fresh light on that mysterious corner of our great north-eastern frontier which has been but dimly outlined by the travels of the late Consul Litton, of Mr. Errol Grey, and Mr. Noel Williamson. Mr. Litton believed that he saw the main range of the Irrawady-Salween divide sweep round to the west in a line of snow-clad peaks at about latitude 28°, near Chamutong on the Salween River, and his observations would appear to substantiate the theory of those Indian geologists and explorers who believe that the central axis of the Himalaya extends towards this point. If these facts could once be definitely established, we should have the satisfaction of knowing that the whole of the north-east frontier is circled by a mountain belt at once clearly defined and difficult of passage, for our experiences along the middle section of the Burmah-Yunnan frontier, where the boundary follows an imaginary line through irrigation channels and changing paddy-fields, and recent events in the unadministered territory indicate that on every ground, political, administrative, and commercial, it is in the highest degree inadvisable that we should be dependent on a zigzag and indefinite line marked only by shifting river beds and artificial boundary pillars. I hope to deal with the question of the existing frontier under a separate heading, but, in view of the recent Chinese objections to our standing pillars and of their general activity along this border line, it ...\n\nPage 434", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435031, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 445, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## The Future of the Frontier\n\nIn the first paragraph of this report, I have endeavoured to outline the present situation on the Burmah-China frontier, and in closing it, I would submit a brief summary of the points which still appear to merit consideration and to call for action in the future. My plea on behalf of the Bhamo-Tongyueh Railway was presented in the Tengyueh Trade Report for 1909 (issued as a **Confidential** paper No. `9700`), and to that, I have nothing to add. There remains only the completion of the frontier line.\n\nFrom 1897 until 1900, boundary commissions were at work, endeavouring to delimit the Burmah-China frontier on the broad lines laid down by the conventions of 1894 and 1897, and, although a long stretch was definitely settled, much remains to be done. In the ten years which have followed, much new information has been gathered, and many new factors have intervened, the most important of which appears to be the activity of the Chinese, who have installed themselves as our neighbours along the whole of the north-east frontier of India, and who are endeavouring to press their administrative machinery and their military forces to the very limit of the political border line. In approaching this question, I am anxious to avoid any suggestion of alarm, for there does not appear to me any probability that even the modern-drilled troops of Szechuan or Yünnan will be anxious to try conclusions with the forces of India. The conditions of local activity, however, do appear to indicate that the Chinese belief in their widespread supremacy, their modern cries of \"Rights' Recovery\" and \"China's Sovereignty,\" and their genius for intrigue and peaceful expansion, may prove factors of grave difficulty unless the border line is completed and a halt is called before they have over-stepped that line which has been realised by His Majesty's Government as our real political frontier, and beyond which the Chinese have been unable in the past to substantiate any claim.\n\nThe difficulty of gathering reliable information as to many of the more remote sections of the border makes me diffident in advancing sweeping assertions of their progress, but there appears little doubt that they have at least reached the limit of their rights in the unaccepted stretch to the east of the Wa country, that they have overstepped that limit in the direction of Hpimaw (Pien-ma) and Khamti, and that they have ventured very near to the Indian borderland in the advance from the Yünnanese post A-tun-tze to Rima (latitude 28° 10', longitude 97° 10'), which lies 160 miles south-west of Batang and 120 miles east of Sudiya. Our present information appears to indicate the construction of a military road from Batang towards Rima, probably in the hope of reaching Lhassa without traversing the turbulent Thibetan province of Kam. The Chinese attitude towards the undelimited frontier is graphically sketched in a letter from Yunnan-fu of the 9th February, 1911, in which Mr. O'Brien-Butler writes:\n\n\"I noticed with great interest on the Chinese map produced by the Administrator of Foreign Affairs that the whole country above this point—the junction of the Ngaw-chang Kha and the 'Nmai Kha—was labelled Hsi-tsang—Thibet! The map was long and narrow and only represented the country to the west about as far as the Mali Kha,\n\nThe events of the past season, and more especially the advance of the administrative expedition into the country north of Myitkyina, have had the anticipated effect of placing us in an unusually good position on the frontier. The Chinese have not departed from their usual attitude of yielding rapidly to fear when all reason has failed, and local conditions appear to me to indicate their readiness to accept the accomplished fact. It is significant that in response to the repeated and excited telegrams to the Viceroy at Yünnan-fu in regard to the menace of British troops on the frontier and the activity which was necessary in order to expel them from Hpimaw, his Excellency vouchsafed only the laconic reply to the taotai: \"What proof have you that Pien-ma belongs to China?\"\n\nI gather that the taotai is anxious that the broad question of the frontier line and all outstanding difficulties should be settled locally, though I am unable to ascertain how far this idea has been inspired by higher authorities. Should the Chinese Government show any desire for a local settlement, the proposal would, I think, be worthy of consideration, for all opposition comes primarily from local sources, discussion on the spot would focus difficulties, our local position is favourable, and such an arrangement would secure for us a strong reserve of moral backing and support at Peking. We have waited for ten years to try and settle this question, and it seems clear that the activity and forward advance of the Chinese now calls for action on our part, whilst we cannot tell when so favourable an opportunity will occur again.\n\nI have had the honour to submit by telegram the points which appear to call most urgently for settlement as seen from the local point of view, and I would now summarise them in clearer and fuller form for your consideration.\n\nThe Chinese Government has approached us with a request for a joint inspection of, and the addition of Chinese inscriptions to, the existing boundary pillars. As far as I can ascertain, they were not notified of the erection of these pillars, and though they have no valid reason for raising objections at this late date, it might be desirable to secure their acceptance by the Yunnan Government, and to close the endless quibbles which now exist, by proving to the Chinese that we have not tried to encroach upon their territory. I would suggest, therefore, that this joint inspection should be conceded provided:\n\n| Condition | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| 1 | That the Chinese were willing to accept the entire frontier line, including that section to the east of the Wa country generally known as \"Scott's Line,\" and lying between Nalawt-Fangsang (latitude 22° 10' north, longitude 99° 10' east), and the Nauting River (latitude 23° 28' north, longitude 95° 52' east); and also that section to the north of Manang Pum (latitude 25° 33' north) as far as that point approximately at 28° north latitude, where the Salween-Irrawady watershed is believed to sweep round in a westerly direction or to be joined at right angles by a lofty and definitely marked range, which has long proved the actual and natural boundary on geographical and ethnographical grounds between the outlying and hitherto unadministered portions of India, Yunnan, and Thibet. |\n| 2 | That China would sign an agreement similar to that draft which is attached to Mr. Litton's report on the undelimited north-east frontier, dated the 20th May, 1905. |\n| 3 | That competent surveyors were appointed by China to accompany the party, or that they agreed beforehand to accept as conclusive the evidence of the British survey officers. |\n| 4 | That pillars were erected by the party as they proceeded along the unmarked sections. |\n\nPage 440", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435032, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 446, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## Military Affairs\n\nThe general military situation on the Yunnan border has been outlined in the body of this report, and, in view of the recent and detailed description which has been given by Captain B. E. A. Pritchard both of the modern troops and of the old army in Yunnan, there remains little for me to add, save a general summary of the present distribution which has been affected by the recent situation on the frontier. The transfer of a body of new troops to Tengyueh has been foreseen for some months, and, although they have been hurried towards the frontier districts at a somewhat earlier date than was expected or was convenient for the Chinese, there seems no reason to believe that any material change has taken place in the general plan of action. The frontier garrisons in the districts to which my sources of information extend are given in a separate note attached to this report as `Enclosure 5`, and I have added also a short description of the new forts on the frontier as `Enclosure 6`.*\n\n### Mobility of New Troops\n\nOne of the strongest criticisms which has been levelled at the modern-drilled troops of China has been their need of an undue amount of transport—a point on which they generally compare unfavourably with the old troops, who move quickly and are practically self-supporting. It may be of interest, therefore, to give a brief account of the march of the 500 men who have recently arrived at Tengyueh from Talifu. The distance is 240 miles, and this was covered in twelve days, giving daily marches of 20 miles, a creditable performance, as the road is mountainous and steep. They were preceded by a small advance guard, all of whom were mounted and who travelled a day ahead, making a survey as they went and selecting sites for camps. The main body proceeded always in marching order, by twos or fours as the width of the road permitted, each man carrying his rifle, bayonet, and a small quantity of ...\n\n* Not printed.\n\nPage 16 \n\n5. That Tantai Shih Hung-shao were immediately recalled to office. This officer lost his post and was cashiered, in spite of the protests of His Majesty's Minister and of the Government of India, as a punishment for his friendly attitude in attempting to arrange a settlement of the northern frontier with Mr. Litton and Mr. Leveson in 1905. His recall to office before any further negotiations commenced would greatly strengthen the hand of those Chinese officers who might be appointed to settle the question now.\n\n6. That Li San-pao, the interpreter who accompanied me to the unadministered territory in the spring, and who was therefore imprisoned by the taotai, were immediately released.\n\nIn the above points I have outlined what would appear to be the extreme limit of the favourable terms which could be granted by us, and, in view of the duplicity of the original Chinese negotiators in certain instances and of the unfailing Chinese obstruction along this frontier, I do not know that the Government of Burma would consider those suggestions under paragraph (1) to be admissible. I do not know, too, if such an arrangement as the above could be carried through in the ordinary way of business by the consul and the taotai, or whether it would be necessary for them to receive special powers. In any case it would, I think, be desirable that an officer of the Burma Government should act with the consul and the Chinese representatives, and that this officer and the consul should have an opportunity of meeting Mr. Stirling, of the Southern Shan States, Mr. Thornton, the Deputy Commissioner of Bhamo, and Mr. Hertz at a conference with the Chief Secretary to the Government, in order that the British position might be thoroughly clear to them before work commenced. Amongst those Chinese officers who would be suitable for the work are the Taotai Keng Pao-kuei of Tengyueh, Peng Chi-chih, at one time assistant boundary commissioner, lately Prefect of Yungchang and now Special Salt Commissioner for the Frontier districts; and Chao-kai-hsuan, the Frontier Deputy for Foreign Affairs. Work could not commence before the 1st October of this year, owing to the incidence of the rains, but much might be accomplished in one open season if the issues were clear and the question were pushed to a conclusion now that the Chinese are convinced that the Government of Burma is in earnest, and that it is to their interest to effect a speedy settlement of the entire north-eastern frontier.\n\n## SKETCH MAP OF BURMA-CHINA FRONTIER\n\n| Location | \n| --------------- | \n| 94 E of GREENWICH | \n| Rima | \n| MAPUTRA | \n| Jo Sadiya | \n| JH KAMTI | \n| SAM | \n| CHIRGWIN | \n| KATHA | \n| R.MALI KHA | \n| AMAI KHA | \n| MYITKYINA | \n| TAPING RIVER | \n| BHAMO | \n| Apima | \n| MANANG PUM | \n| Sadan | \n| Simao | \n| Kangai | \n| TÉNG YUEM | \n| Sintan/Lungchuge | \n| UNGLING | \n| R.SHWELI | \n| SALWEEN | \n| Mongman | \n| NAMKHAM | \n| bkut Koi Kuninga | \n| YMYO | \n| TAUNGGYI | \n| RANGOUN | \n| MOUTHS OF IRRAWADY | \n| BAY OF BENGAL | \n| SALWEEN | \n| WILD | \n| LASHID | \n| WAS | \n| Pang Sung | \n| Nnicat | \n| Batang | \n| Wei-hsi | \n| Litang | \n| S SÚ CHUAN | \n| Changtie | \n| Yungning | \n| Alsi Ferry | \n| LIKIANG | \n| YANGTSE | \n| Chao-Chou | \n| GYUNG-CHANG | \n| NAKTING RIVE | \n| Cher-pien-Ting | \n| JaMenglem | \n| SONG PANNA | \n| KENG TUNG | \n| không hại | \n| Hồng Sẽ | \n| TONKIN | \n| YUNNANFU | \n| RIVER MEKONG | \n| Sau mau | \n| RED RIVER | \n\n2B \n96 \nOB \n301 \n¤Åturize \nA \n$ \n100 \n150 \n200 MILES \n100 \n(36.31.1423) FO (1974 -2)", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435035, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 449, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## Enclosure 2 in No. 1\n### Note on the Undelimited Portion of the North-Eastern Frontier of Burmah\n**(Confidential.)**\n\n1. The proposed Frontier.-The local Government has been compelled by force of events to take up the question of this frontier. If it had moved in the matter ten years ago a satisfactory settlement would probably have been obtained at trifling cost. Ten years hence it may be impossible to secure a safe frontier without recourse to the arbitrament of war.\n\nThe frontier claimed by us follows the 'Nmaikha-Taping, 'Nmaikha-Shweli, and 'Nmaikha-Salween watersheds. It is an ideal one in every way, and will set a definite physical limit to further intrigue by the Chinese in the valley of the Irrawaddy.\n\nStarting from Manangpum, the most northerly point of the demarcated frontier, in latitude 25° 33′ north, it follows the crest of a high range of mountains trending north-eastward and separating the headwaters of the Taping and Shweli Rivers from those of the Chipwi and Ngawehang. Near the sources of the Changzaw (Pi Ho) stream, a tributary of the last-named river, it links on to the Irrawaddy-Salween divide, the point of contact being a high peak of 11,500 feet marked Shangpei-ho-t'ao in our maps.\n\nNorth of this it follows the above-mentioned divide as far as the confines of Thibet.\n\nThe Tientan, Mingkwang, and Tatang valleys, to which frequent reference is made in reports on this frontier, are in the Shweli drainage and the Tantsa valley in that of the Taping River. All these valleys are in China. The streams on the Burmah side are, beginning from the south, the Shingaw, Tamu, Chipwi, and the Ngawchang, the streams on which the Hpare and Hpimaw groups of villages are situated being tributaries of the last-named river. All these streams belong to the Irrawaddy system. The peaks on the connecting mountain-chain vary in height from 10,300 to 12,300 feet, while those on the Irrawaddy-Salween divide run up to 15,500 feet. From the point where the two mountain-chains meet until the Irrawaddy-Salween divide is merged in the eastern ramparts of the Himalayan range, whence spring the first sources of the parent rivers of the Irrawaddy, the 'Nmaikha, and Malikha, the divide forms an almost direct north and south line.\n\nSouth of latitude 26° 30′ north the passes in this range are the Chimili (13,000 feet) above Kangfang and the Hpimaw pass (11,000 feet) near the village of that name. Both these passes are often snowed up for weeks, and the former is always impassable for mules, and is very little used even by pedestrians. South of this there is the Feng Shui Ling pass, through which lies the high road from Tengyueh to Hpimaw, two passes into the Hpare valley, two into the Chipwi, and one into the Shingaw. Except in the villages of Hpimaw, Tangtung, and Kangfang, where there are Chinese traders who return to their native land in the rainy season, there are no Chinese residents, permanent or temporary, in the villages on this side of the proposed frontier. The inhabitants are all Marus and Lashis, except near the headwaters of the Ngawchang River above Kangfang and in the hills near Hpimaw, where there are scattered hamlets of Yawyins or Lisus, whose real habitat is the Salween valley. The proposed line of division is thus also an ethnological boundary. It possesses great geographical independence, being the watershed between two large river-systems, the villages on each side of it are a day's march apart, and there are only a few narrow ways across it. A better frontier in every respect, therefore, could not be found, and we shall be fortunate if we can secure its acceptance by the Chinese Government.\n\n2. The Chinese Claims.--I have now visited nearly all the villages to which the Chinese can reasonably lay claim, except those in the Tamu and Chipwi valleys, which will be visited later on. The claims to villages in those valleys may be rejected in limine on the authority of the late Mr. Litton's report on the \"Joint Survey of the Burmah-Yunnan Boundary by British and Chinese officials in 1905.\" The Shingaw valley has been under our direct administration for twelve or more years, and so any claim to it cannot be entertained; and no claims were made to the Tamu valley. With reference to the Tientan fuyi's claim to a few Lisu hamlets in the Upper Chipwi valley, Mr. Litton says in the above-mentioned report: \"I told the taotai that these so-called claims were entirely beyond discussion, and that I must refuse to talk about them,\" and the taotai decided \"that the claims might be considered as withdrawn.\"\n\nThe next valley is the one in which the Hpare group of villages is situated. The stream is known to the inhabitants as the Hkansheng Kha, and it is an affluent of the Ngawchang, the largest river in these parts. The Mingkwang fuyi claims this valley, but the villagers deny his claim in toto, or that they are, or ever have been, in any sense tributary to him, or that any Chinese officials have ever exercised any sort of control over them. When I visited the village the headman of Upper Hpare sought permission to raid Mingkwang, because the fuyi had burnt his village after the Chinese were expelled from the valley in 1900 by the exploration column under my brother. On a tributary stream are the two Lashi villages of Lagwi (Chinese, Tzu Chu), the inhabitants of which also maintain that they have never paid tribute to the Chinese, and that they are not tributary to China. But they admit that once in \"six to ten years\" they exchange presents of salt and \"huanglien,\" a medicinal root that grows in these hills, with the Mingkwang fuyi. As is to be expected, the inhabitants of the villages lower down the Hkansheng valley also deny entirely that they are in any way subordinate to China. They are unanimous on this point.\n\nI will now deal with the villages on the Ngawchang River between its junction with the Hkansheng (Hpare) and the Htangjam (Hpimaw) streams. The villages of Bale, Lungpang, Kamkawn, Htawmsbing and Ngazung on the far or north bank, commonly known as the Lungpang group, were admitted by Taotai Shih, who was associated with...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435036, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 450, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## \n\nMessrs. Leveson and Litton in the joint survey of 1905, to be beyond the pale of civilisation (“hua wai\") and to be independent of China, and therefore \"no objections would be raised by him to Burmah taking them over.\" These villages are antagonistic to the Chinese and do not fear to say so. On this section of the river, there are two villages, the large one of Gawyawn (Chinese, Shang Lou) and Chikgaw (Chinese, Chika), which exchange presents with the Tatang fuyi. In a former quarrel between the Chinese and the Lungpang group of villages, to which they then belonged, the inhabitants sought and obtained peace by agreeing to exchange presents, as a sign of friendship. Both villages deny that they are in any way subordinate to Tatang. \"Being friends we exchange presents once in three, four or five years\" is what the Gawyawm headman said when I recorded his statement. The inhabitants of Shijang (Chinese, Hsieh Chiang), a group of Lashi villages situated up a small side valley, also deny the Chinese claims.\n\nWe come now to the Hpimaw (Chinese, Pien-ma) group of villages. The stream that flows near these villages is the Tangjam Hka. The people say that they have paid tribute to the Chief of Tengkeng for several generations, at first at long intervals and then with more regularity. These villages and Tangtung and Gawlam on the left bank of the Upper Ngawchang River were formerly under the Lungpang chief, but after a quarrel many years ago the inhabitants appealed to the Tengkeng fuyi for protection and help, which he gave them, and thereafter made them pay tribute. The inhabitants of all these places are Lashis; they all speak Chinese, and there is a school maintained by the Chinese Government at Hpimaw. The few Lisu hamlets in the mountains south of Hpimaw also claim to be under China as the inhabitants came originally from the Salween side of the divide, and there are other Lisu hamlets in the headwaters of the Ngawchang River which also pay tribute once in three years to the Chief of Tengkeng. In some villages, the people state that disputes are referred to that functionary for settlement, while in others they say that they never do so. Beyond collecting tribute, the fuyi does not appear to exercise any real control over these villages, or to actively administer them. Kangfang (house of toll) is a purely Chinese hamlet, where a few Chinese traders in coffin-wood congregate during the open season. The Tengkeng fuyi has a toll-collector there, who takes one plank in twenty for his master.\n\nThe claims of the Chinese are thus:-\n\n**(a)** The claim of the Tientan headman to the Chipwi valley, which it has been decided cannot be considered.\n\n**(b)** The Tenkeng fuyi's claim to the Hpimaw group of villages to Tantung and Gawlam and to the Lisu hamlets near Hpimaw and about the headwaters of the Ngawchang River.\n\n**(c)** The Tatang fuyi's claim to Gawyawm and Chikgaw in the middle Ngawchang valley, both of which are based on a periodical exchange of valueless presents.\n\n**(d)** The Mingkwang fuyi's claim to the two villages of Lagwi on the Mangshang Kha, a tributary of the Hparè stream, the ground for this claim being also an exchange of presents once in \"six to ten years.\"\n\n**(e)** The same fuyi's claim to the villages of Hparè and to those lower down the Hkansheng valley as far as the Kyetmaw Kha west of Htawgaw village.\n\nClaim **(a)** has already been rejected, and I do not think the Chinese can substantiate claims **(c)**, **(d)**, and **(e)**. The claim to Hparè is as much a fiction as the Chinese claim of suzerainty over Burmah in 1886.\n\nThe Tengkeng chief's claim **(b)** is the only one that deserves consideration. As regards **(d)** and **(e)** the joint report says: \"We are of opinion that nothing can be clearer than that there is no Chinese control either in Hparè or Tzu Chu,\" the latter being the Chinese name for Lagwi. With this, I entirely agree. As regards Hparè, the report is emphatic: \"It is perfectly clear that the Chinese suzerainty, much more control, over Hpare and the Kun Ma (Hkansheng) valley is an entire myth.\" At the enquiry, \"the Chinese deputy refused to cross-examine or even to listen and got up and went away.\"\n\nThe claims of the Chinese are thus reduced to very small proportions, viz., that of the tribal chief of Tengkeng. With respect to this claim, we cannot blink the fact that he has right on his side. Although his claim is not a very strong one, yet it is stronger than ours, for we have none, except perhaps the right of every country to obtain a frontier that will secure it from military and political aggression.\n\n## 3. Terms on which we may negotiate with the Chinese.--I have been directed to give my opinion regarding the terms on which we may suitably negotiate with the Chinese Government for the delimitation of the frontier.\n\nAs it would help to increase our prestige, I recommend that a serious effort should be made to retain the watershed boundary either by-\n\n**(a)** Leasing from the Chinese Government the tract of country claimed by the Tengkeng chief, in perpetuity, as was done in the case of the Mong Wan assigned tract (triangle) in the Bhamo district;\n\n**(b)** By leasing it, also in perpetuity, from the chief himself, with the aid of the good offices of the Chinese Government; or\n\n**(c)** By compensating the fuyi liberally for its loss by paying him a lump sum of money.\n\n**(b)** Would, perhaps, be the best course, as it would be less likely to wound the amour-propre of the Chinese Government and the fuyi, it being an established fact that for sentimental reasons the Chinese have the greatest aversion to surrendering any territory, however small and valueless it may be.\n\nThe Chinese claim to the Hpimaw group of villages may honestly be considered to be more a family than an Imperial one, and a sum of 1,000 rupees a-year might, consequently, be offered for the total extinction or the transfer of the fuyi's rights to us on a lease. The above sum would err on the side of liberality, but in order to secure a speedy settlement, the amount might be increased to 1,500 rupees or even 2,000 rupees. If a lump sum would be acceptable, 15,000 rupees might be offered.\n\nWe should lay stress on the fact that there has been no actual administration on the part of the fuyi; that when Hpimaw village was burnt last year by him the people came to us for help; that the tract is valueless from a revenue point of view to both countries; that the fuyi will get more money from us than he can ever hope to collect; that the villages being on this side of the divide, there will be constant feuds and disputes between the inhabitants and our people, as there always have been in the past, which will lead to friction between the two countries; that the inhabitants are only barbarians (for whom it is known the Chinese have the greatest contempt); that the boundary is both a natural and ethnological one, as it separates the Lashis and Marus, who come from the same stock as the Burmans, from the Chinese and Lisus; and, lastly, that the boundary is, undoubtedly, the best one for both countries. If there are places on our frontier where the Chinese have entered upon debatable ground, as I hear they have done at Tawnyo, east of Lashio, in the Shan States, and may have done elsewhere, it might be used as a lever to induce them to accede to our demand respecting Hpimaw. If, in the course of negotiations, the Chinese should bring forward complaints as to our action in tearing up their appointment orders and confiscating their gifts and tokens to headmen, our reply is that they were guilty of sending emissaries into British territory, viz., the Chipwi and 'Nmaikha valleys, who forged petitions from the illiterate \"barbarians\" therein to the Chinese Government praying to be taken over by it, when they have no such desire, thereby perpetrating an extraordinary breach of international etiquette. No course was, therefore, open to me but to obtain possession of all these tokens, official caps, &c., and to forbid our subjects to accept any further orders and gifts from any Chinaman. Had I taken these things from some of the headmen and let others retain them, it would have been accepted by the latter as a sign that I recognised the Chinese claims to their villages.\n\nIf these arguments should fail and the Chinese still cling to their petty claims on this side of the great natural line, I propose an alternative boundary which is equally as good and will exclude the Hpimaw tract from the territory to be taken over by us. The line I recommend follows the crest of the range of hills (marked A, B, C on the annexed map*) which lies parallel to and west of the Salween divide. It starts from the high peak called Hsi-Chiang ho Shan (12,000 feet) and separates the basins of the Mangshang (Lagwi or Tzu Chu) and the Shangtawa streams on one side from that of the Changzaw Kha (? Pi Ho) on the other. Further north, it forms the watershed between the Hpienlaw Kha on the west and the Ngawchang River and its tributaries on the east. It here attains its maximum elevation, the highest point being a peak of 13,600 feet known to the Marus as Chiyen Bum. From here northward, the frontier follows the top of the water-parting of the Ngawchang Kha, which finally sweeps eastward in the shape of a bow and joins the Irrawaddy-Salween divide north-east of the Lisu village of Hpawtè. The Ngawchang Kha, which is a very swift stream...\n\nPage 450\nPage 451", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435037, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 451, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## \nis unafordable from Tangtung village downwards, flows in a deep gorge through this mountain-chain. Navigation is unthinkable in connection with this river, and it is only in a few places that a raft or boat could live on it.\n\nThe height of the Wulaw pass through which the proposed line passes is estimated at 9,000 feet, and as this apparently is the lowest point in the whole chain, the range is nearly as high as the main divide. There are no roads of any sort across it except a very difficult one going westward from somewhere below the village of Wulu (Lao Wulu) and the one that leads over the Wulaw pass. The only vulnerable point, therefore, is the above-mentioned gorge, which Major #french-Mullen, who is commanding my escort, thinks it would be more difficult to force if held in strength than any of the passes over the Salween watershed. The range is thus a very formidable barrier. That officer also agrees with me that it would be just as easy to defend this line as the other, perhaps easier, and it will give us a boundary that will preclude the possibility of further dispute with the Chinese. On the other hand, if the divide is the frontier, we should possess two lines of defence at this point instead of one.\n\n## \n\nIt would doubtless add somewhat to our prestige if we could retain Hpimaw, as we have claimed it, and it might detract from our prestige slightly if we gave it up. But I think the latter difficulty could be got over by arranging a friendly meeting between the local officials when the boundary is finally accepted by the two Governments, at which the local people would be informed that each side is making concessions to the other; the Chinese are giving up their claim to Hparè, Lagwi, Gawyawn, and Chikgaw, and we, on the other hand, are surrendering ours to Hpimaw, Tangtung, Gawlam, Kangfang, and the Lisu villages north of Kangfang, together with the forests of shamu trees from which the coffin-wood, which the Chinese value so much, is obtained. If this is done, it will also help to save the \"face\" of the Chinese, and would no doubt be a most acceptable arrangement to them. The frontier could be demarcated at the same time.\n\nUntil it is settled where the frontier is to be, we must prevent the Chinese from stepping across the divide after our departure and interfering with the people. In order to put a stop to this, the country up to the crest of the watershed must be administered, and the cheapest way to do so, as I have already reported, is to appoint a “taungok,” or superior headman, as was done in the Shingaw valley, who will live in the Lungpang group of villages, and stop any attempt on the part of the local fuyi to cross the frontier or send his retainers across it. My best Lashi headman, Labao Nu, of Lajawng village, is available for this purpose.\n\nHe is related to the headmen of the Lungpang group of villages, is influential and trustworthy, has been rewarded by the Viceroy and the Lieutenant-Governor of Burmah for good work, and is willing to accept the post on a salary of 50 rupees a-month. With such an official on the spot, and a civil officer at Wanghte to support him, we should be able to keep officious Chinese underlings out of the country until the question of the frontier is finally decided.\n\nAs regards the Hpimaw tract, I suggest that the Chinese Government should be asked not to permit the Tengkeng fuyi or his agents or servants to visit or administer it until the negotiations in connection with the frontier are concluded. This would not be an unreasonable request to make and might be acceded to.\n\nIf the Chinese agree to accept the proposed boundary up to the confines of Thibet, well and good. If not, we should be content to have it as far as latitude 27° north, beyond which nothing is known of the country except that it is perhaps the most difficult in the world, and is inhabited by Black Marus and other tribes of intractable savages, with whom the Chinese have little or no dealings. The country has never been explored, and is a blank on the map. Prince Henri of Orleans made a perilous journey across it from east to west in latitude 27° 40′ north, but has added little to our geographical knowledge of the region. The settlement of this portion of the frontier may therefore be postponed indefinitely.\n\nAs regards the branch of the 'Nmaikha near latitude 28° north, known as the Chin River to the Chinese, the basin of which is inhabited by the little-known tribe of Chiu-Tzu, who are supposed to be tributary to the Chinese Chief of Yetche (Yei Chil) on the Mekong, I agree with the late Mr. Litton that it would only confuse matters to raise the question of so distant and difficult a country about which both the Chinese and ourselves know so little.\n\nA boundary commission is a thing to be avoided. It is very expensive, and as the Chinese officers are afraid to accept responsibility, and rue it if they do, it usually ends in an impasse, or if a settlement is arrived at the Celestial Government will refuse to ratify it. No Chinese official could venture to give up a yard of Chinese soil, or supposed Chinese soil, without running the risk of losing his position and perhaps also his life. Their attitude is consequently always one of passive resistance. If possible, therefore, the frontier should be laid down in London or Peking, preferably the former, as the Chinese officials there will probably understand a map better than those in Peking. The whole thing, as Mr. Litton says, could be settled amicably in ten minutes if we had a civilised Government to deal with.\n\nI can find nothing in any document in my possession, or in any paper to which I have had access, regarding the frontier proposed by Taotai Shih Huang Chao. If it includes in China the upper portions of the Chipwi, Hparè, and Lagwi valleys, it is quite useless to us as a line of partition between the two countries, for it would be naked to attack and indefensible; each of these valleys would furnish a pied-à-terre to a hostile force or a site for a future fort, and form an enclave where our bad characters and discontented spirits would congregate. In fact, it would be out of the question for us to accept such a boundary.\n\nThere can be no doubt that the people will welcome us with open arms everywhere, even at Hpimaw, for they know that we will bring peace and money into the country, which at present is steeped in poverty and a prey to chronic disorder.\n\n### 4. Text of proposed Convention\n\nIf the boundary as originally proposed is accepted by the Chinese Government in its entirety, the following draft of the text of a convention, taken from Mr. Litton's report, could be accepted by the Government of Burmah :--\n\n\"(a.) From Manang Bam,* in latitude 25° 33′ north, the frontier will follow the crest of the watershed range between the Nmaikha River with its tributaries to the north, and the Taping and Shweli (Lung Chiang) Rivers with their tributaries to the south, until it reaches the watershed between the Salween and the Irrawaddy Rivers.\n\n| Localities/Natural Features | Belong to |\n| --- | --- |\n| Pan Wa Kou pass, the Tsu Mei (Sisters) peak, the Ta Ya Kou pass, the Tzu Chu Ya You (Lagwi) pass, the Feng Shui Ling pass, the Ta Ho Tou ridge | |\n| the valleys (pa-tzu) of Lunma and Tan Tsa, the Lang Ya Shan peak, the Tientan valley, the Mingkwang valley, the Tatang valley | China |\n| the valleys of the Shingaw, Tamu (Tun Maw) and Chipwi Rivers, the parè or Hkansheng valley, the Lagwi, Tzu Chu or Mangshang valley, and the Shijang (Hsieh Chiang) valley; the Hpimaw valley, comprising the drainage of the Htangjam, Changzaw (Pi Ho) and Muku streams; the whole of the drainage of the Ngawehang (Hsiao Chiang) River | Burmah |\n\n\"Thence the frontier will follow the crest of the lofty and conspicuous range known locally as the Kao Liang Kung or Kao Li Kung, which forms the watershed between the Salween and the Irrawaddy Rivers as far as latitude passing through the crest of the Pien-ma (Hpimaw) Ya Kou pass.\n\n\"The whole of the basin of the Salween (Lu Chiang) thus belongs to China and the whole basin of the Irrawaddy to Burmah.\n\n* (b.) As the frontier now laid down follows conspicuous ranges of hills and is well known no further demarcation on the spot will be necessary, but it is agreed that officers will be dispatched by both Governments to erect boundary pillars at the principal passes over the ranges which form the frontier. Any difficulty in recognising the places mentioned will be settled by reference to the map which is attached to the English and Chinese versions of the convention, and which is recognised by both Governments as authoritative.\n\n\"(c.) It is understood that this convention does not affect the frontier of the various Thibetan districts, which will be reserved for future discussion.\n\n\"(d.) The Yunnan Government having reported that certain headmen (fuyi') on the Chinese side of the frontier claim customary presents or pecuniary dues from villages situated on the Burmah side thereof, the British Government agrees to pay to the Chinese Government an annual sum of ... rupees in full compensation for the extinction of such claims. All jurisdiction and sovereignty over such villages shall thenceforth reside in His Britannic Majesty for ever. It is agreed that this sum ... rupees shall be paid annually, commencing from the ... by His Britannic Majesty's consul at Tengyueh, through the Taotai of West Yunnan, to be distributed to the said headmen (fuyi') in such proportions as the Chinese Government may determine.\n\n* I have omitted the words \"the high conical peak\" because they are not a correct description of the hill on which the northernmost boundary pillar of the convention has been erected.\n\nPage 446", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435038, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 452, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## \n\nment may direct (and any customary rights to similar presents or dues which the Chinese headmen in the Salween or Mekong valleys north of Tengkeng may subsequently be bound to possess will be considered by His Majesty's Government, and, if substantiated, dealt with in a liberal spirit).\" \n\nIf the lease is agreed to by the Chinese Government, the convention might read: \"The boundary line between the territory to be administered by the Provincial Governments of Burmah and Yünnan shall be,\" &c., and clause (d) will read \"as rent for such villages and their lands,\" instead of \"in full compensation for the extinction of such claims,\" the rest of the clause remaining unaltered. \n\nIn the event of the tract being leased from the Tengkeng fuyi, a slight alteration would be necessary in clause (d). \n\nIf the alternative boundary proposed by me is chosen, the text of the convention would be as follows:- \n\n\"(a) From Manang Bum, in latitude 25° 33′ north, the frontier will follow the crest of the watershed range between the Nmaikha River with its tributaries to the north and the Taping and Shweli (Lu Chiang) Rivers with their tributaries to the south, until it reaches the peak east of Upper Hparè village and near the sources of the Mangshang Kha, marked Hsi Chiang Ho Shan, 12,000 feet, on the Survey of India maps; thence northward to another peak called Sanliko Bun, 12,800 feet, east of the village of Lagwi (Tzu Chu) and on the range of mountains which separates the drainages of the Mangshang (Lagwi or Tzu Chu) stream and the Shingtawn stream, which falls into the Ngawchang River at Gawyawm (Shang Lou) village, from those of the Changzaw and Muku streams which flow northward from the Feng Shui Ling pass and join the Htangjam (Hpimaw) stream near the villages of Hpimaw; thence northward, crossing the Ngawchang River at the gorge between Chikgaw (Chi Ka) village and the junction of the Ngawchang (Hsiao Chiang) and the Htangjam (Hpimaw) streams, along the range which separates the drainage of the Ngawchang River and its tributaries on the east from that of the Hpienlaw Kha on the west, leaving the village of that name also on the west, to a high peak called Chiyen Bu (13,600 feet) bearing west by north of the village of Kangfang, and so northward along the watershed which divides the streams flowing eastward into the Ngawchang River from those flowing westward to the Maru country, and thence along the crest of the northern watershed of the Ngawchang River above the Yawyin village of Wulaw (Lao-wu-lu) and by the pass of that name eastward until the great Irrawaddy-Salween divide is reached. \n\n\"The following are the names by which certain points on these ranges are known: The Pan wa Ya Kou pass, the Tsu Mei (Sisters) peak, the Taya Kou pass, the Tzu Chu Ya Kou (Lagwi) pass, the Hsi Chiang Ho Shan peak, the Sanhko Bum peak, the Chiyen Pum peak. \n\nThe following localities and natural features belong to China: The valleys (pa-tzu) of Lunma and Tantsa, the Langya Shan peak, the Ticutan valley, the Mingkwang valley, the Tatang valley, the Changzaw and Muku valleys, the Hangjam (Hpimaw or Pien-ma) valley and the Ngawchang valley north of the above-mentioned gorge or defile, including the villages of Tangtung (U Tung), Gawlam and Kangfang. \n\n\"The following localities and natural features belong to Burmah: The valleys of the Shingaw, Tamu (Tun Maw) and Chipwi Rivers; the Hparè valley, the Lagwi (Tzu Chu) valley, the Shijang (Hsieh Chiang) or Mun Lang valley, and the whole of the valley of the Ngawchang (Hsiao Chiang) River below the above-mentioned gorge. \n\n\"The whole of the basin of the Salween (Lu Chiang) thus belongs to China as well as a portion of the basin of the Upper Ngawchang stream, which is a tributary of the Irrawaddy River. With this exception, the whole of the basin of the Irrawaddy River belongs to Burmah.\" \n\nThere will be no changes in clauses (b) and (c), and clause (d) will be omitted. I quote the following from the \"Joint Report\" in order to draw attention to it :---- \n\n\"It is important that in the Chinese text such terms as the Mingkwang valley (*pa-tzu)* or 'the Tientan River' should be used, not merely 'Mingkwang or Tientan, otherwise the Chinese will raise difficulties on the ground that the villages on the Nmaikha side are an integral part of Mingkwang or Tientan. It seems also very desirable that His Majesty's Minister should insist that a copy of the map, with \n\n## \n6 \n## \n9 \n\nnames of places marked in Chinese, be attached to the Chinese as well as the English version of the convention.\" \n\nA map is attached showing (a) the watershed frontier and (b) the proposed alternative frontier. \n\nThe following maps should be consulted:- \n\n1. Survey of India, North-Eastern Frontier Sheets, Nos. `22 S.E.` and `23 N.E.` (second edition). \n2. The map in Major Davies' book, “Yünnan.” \n3. The map attached to the \"Report on a Joint Survey of the Burmah-Yünnan Boundary by British and Chinese officials in 1905.” \n\nW. A. HERTZ, Deputy Commissioner, in charge \nof the Hpimaw Expedition. \n\nCamp Bamyaw, February 24, 1911. \n\nPage 447", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435054, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 468, "title": "CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## Sir J. Jordan to Prince Ch'ing\n\nI have, &c.\n\nJ. N. JORDAN.\n\nYour Highness,\n\nPeking, April 10, 1911.\n\nThe contents of your Highness's note of the 11th March last regarding the Burmah-Yünnan frontier question were duly telegraphed to His Majesty's Government, whose reply I have now the honour to communicate to your Highness.\n\nHis Majesty's Government are fully satisfied that Chinese claims to all villages west of the Salween-Irrawaddy watershed, with exception of Pien-ma, K'ang Fang, and Gawlam groups, are quite inadmissible, and I am instructed to inform your Highness's board that there can be no question of accepting the Kao Liang Kung range as the basis of the frontier. That range forms the watershed between the rivers Chipwtwi and Hpare, and the claim to regard it as the frontier is tantamount to a renewal of the proposal made by Taotai Shih in the year 1905.\n\nAs regards the proposal in your Highness's note for the appointment of a joint commission to examine the country and decide upon a basis for a frontier, I am to point out that the experience of 1905 shows clearly that, unless such a basis is settled upon by the two Governments beforehand, no practical solution is at all likely to be attained. Unless there is a clear understanding as to what this basis should be, there is no possibility of officials on the spot arriving at any agreement, and the 1905 experience should serve as a warning against such a step.\n\nWith regard to the line which should be adopted as the basis, His Majesty's Government instruct me to state that the investigations of the officer whom they recently deputed to visit and administer the country up to the watershed have confirmed the view consistently urged in previous communications with the Wai-wu Pu that the line of the watershed forms not only the natural frontier and the most suitable one on geographical and administrative grounds, but is in reality the only line which affords any hope of a final settlement of this question.\n\nIn these circumstances, His Majesty's Government must continue to press for its acceptance as the general basis of the frontier, subject to an understanding that due consideration will be given to the equitable adjustment of any claims which China may be able to substantiate to the west of the watershed.\n\nHis Majesty's Government still consider, as they have always done since 1906, that those claims would be fairly and justly met by payment of monetary compensation to the native chiefs of Teng Keng for the customary presents and dues which they have been in the habit of receiving from certain villages on the western side of the proposed boundary, and I am instructed to renew to your Highness the formal offer which has already been made to the Chinese Government for a settlement on these terms.\n\nI avail, &c.\n\nJ. N. JORDAN.\n\n463", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-383 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435275, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 55, "title": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "## Enclosure 2 in No. 1.\n\nExtract from the Report on the Administration of the Excise Department in Burmah for the year 1909–10.\n\n43. Cocaine.-Thirty-six licences were issued during the year for the sale of cocaine and novocain by chemists on medical prescription, as against thirty-one licences in 1908-9. Licences were issued for the first time in the Hanthawaddy, Henzada, Toungoo, and Meiktila districts. The restrictions imposed in 1905 on the possession and sale of cocaine have not had the desired effect, a large illicit trade in the drug has grown up, and the cocaine habit is spreading rapidly in the province. The total seizures of contraband cocaine during the year of report amounted to no less than 939,685 grains or nearly 2,000 ounces, as compared with 389,636 grains in 1908-9. In Rangoon town seizures have increased from 313,191 grains to 778,281 grains, and some 400 persons were convicted in the town for offences relating to this drug during the year.\n\nThe collector, Rangoon, writes:-\n\nThe illicit trade is in the hands of Indians and Chinese, and the largest consignments are brought in by the crews of Chinese steamers plying between Rangoon and the Straits Settlements and ports in China. A small quantity is brought in by the native crews of the steamers of the Patrick Henderson and Bibby lines.\n\nThe continued and persistent raiding of dens in Rangoon has had the effect of reducing the number of them. The drug continues, however, to pour in and is no doubt speedily disposed of in the districts. The habit has taken a firm hold of the people which it will take years to eradicate. At present it can only be said that some slight check to consumption in Rangoon has been given. Till there is a larger staff in Rangoon we cannot expect more satisfactory results.\n\nIn the Hanthawaddy district, in which the seizures have risen from 4,617 grains to 5,648 grains, the deputy commissioner states that the taste for the drug is spreading amongst the lowest classes all over the district, and till the present staff is increased there is not likely to be any severe check put upon it. In the Pegu district seizures amounted to 43,200 grains as against 5,675 grains in 1908-9. The cocaine habit is reported to have spread there with alarming rapidity. An organised gang of smugglers which came to the district from Rangoon was broken up, the principals being convicted and imprisoned. Special efforts were made by the superintendent of excise to cope with the evil. Dens were constantly raided, and persons found resorting thereto were listed and kept under observation. In the Tharrawaddy district seizures increased from 39,230 grains to 64,708 grains. The taste is said to be certainly on the increase, and enormous quantities of the drug are believed to be imported into the district. The deputy commissioner states that the spread of the habit is so serious and so difficult to cope with that a change in the laws is imperatively needed. In the Prome district seizures have increased from 3,333 grains to 18,963 grains, and the habit is said to have taken quite a hold on Prome, Paungde, and a good many villages along the railway line, and villages adjoining the Tharrawaddy border. In the Irrawaddy division the habit was little known two or three years ago. In the Bassein district 255 grains were seized in the year of report, and the cocaine habit said to have come to stay. Small quantities were seized in the Myaungmya and Maubin districts, and the taste for the drug is said to be firmly established in the Yandoon and Danubyu townships of the latter district. In the Pyapon district, with seizures of 4,594 grains, the combined efforts of the excise and police have checked the habit in Kyaiklat town for the time, but attempts are being made to introduce the drug into other parts of the district. Seizures in the Henzada district have risen from 7,528 grains to 11,532 grains, the taste for the drug is said to be on the increase, and the habit is spreading to places outside Henzada. In the Toungoo district seizures have risen from 8,275 grains to 8,441 grains. Offenders were arrested in all the railway towns, but the drug is not yet known in the interior townships of the district. In the Yamethin district fifteen cases were detected during the year, and seizures have increased from 2,103 grains to 3,733 grains. The largest seizures were made in Pyinmana town, and the habit has not yet spread far north of Pyinmana. Vigorous and sustained efforts are being made by the excise staff in all the districts in which cocaine is found to prevent the smuggling of this drug and to stop the spread of the habit. So far the habit is said to be confined to the Pegu and Irrawaddy divisions and to the Toungoo and Yamethin districts on the line of railway, but there is a very real danger of further growth if additional preventive measures are not taken at once.\n\nAs stated in last year's report, more excise officers are urgently needed in Rangoon town and the adjoining districts, and provision for heavier punishments is required in the penal sections of the Excise Act relating to intoxicating drugs. No sanction has yet been received to the proposals made to these ends. Burmah is not the only country in which the abuse of cocaine has arisen, and the possibility of control over the centres in which the drug is manufactured seems worth consideration. Many of the cocaine consumers are people of the lowest classes who have hitherto been addicted to opium, but it is doubtful whether the restrictions on opium consumption have any close connection with the growth in the taste for cocaine. As pointed out by the deputy commissioner, Henzada district, with cocaine at such a high illicit price as 120 rupees per ounce, the ordinary 2-grain dose of cocaine costs 2 annas only, whereas little effect is to be derived from 2 annas-worth of illicit opium. If opium is to compete successfully with cocaine in the illicit market, the present restrictive policy must be abandoned, and even if such a course were practicable, it is doubtful whether there would be any real or permanent reduction in cocaine consumption. An expenditure of 2,344 rupees was incurred from secret service funds on the detection of cocaine smuggling, chiefly in the Rangoon town, Pegu, Tharrawaddy, and Henzada districts.\n\n## Enclosure 3 in No. 1.\n\nExtract from a Letter from the Financial Commissioner, Burmah, to the Government of Burmah, dated August 15, 1910.\n\n6. Paragraphs 42 to 44.--The growth of the consumption of cocaine gives rise to much apprehension. In proportion of value to bulk and in portability it is superior to opium. It has no strong smell which needs to be disguised. The habit of consuming and the excise it is undoubtedly spreading. The drug is comparatively new, \n\n4. So far as our information goes, the chief firms exporting cocaine to this country are Messrs. E. Merck and Co., of Darmstadt; Messrs. John Dieder Bieber and Co., of Berlin; Messrs. Egmont Heydorn and Co., and Edward Bruckner and Co., of Hamburg; and Messrs. Burroughs, Wellcome, and Co., Burgoyne, Burbidges, and Co., and Lorimer and Co., of London. Nearly all the drug imported into Rangoon is manufactured by the firm first named. Formerly cocaine used to be brought into Rangoon by steamer, via Calcutta and Bombay; but the traffic appears to have since been partially diverted to the Singapore-Penang route, and consignments of cocaine are said to have come also from China and Japan, and by direct vessels from England. Packets are hidden in fruit baskets, cases of matches, and other cargo, and in the coal bunkers, holds, and other parts of the vessels. The drug is most commonly smuggled ashore by lascars and firemen, but European members of the crews have also been detected in the act of smuggling and prosecuted to conviction.\n\n5. These facts fully illustrate the difficulties of the situation in Burmah, and that the position in other parts of India is more or less similar will be seen from the extracts from the last excise administration reports from Bengal and Bombay which are also enclosed. In these circumstances we are convinced that our efforts towards the suppression of the cocaine habit in this country will be infructuous unless something is done to restrict the export of the drug and its congeners from the chief manufacturing countries (viz., Germany and the United Kingdom). We are aware that His Majesty's Government propose to bring the matter before the forthcoming Opium Conference at The Hague; but in view of the emergent and exceptional situation which has arisen in India, we consider it desirable that your Lordship should be placed in possession of the above information, in case any opportunity for taking action should occur in advance of that conference.\n\nWe have, &c.\n\nHARDINGE OF PENSHURST, O'M. CREAGH. \nJ. L. JENKINS. \nR. W. CARLYLE. \nS. H. BUTLER. \nSEYYID-ALI-IMAM. \nW. H. CLARK.\n\nPage 3 \nPage 64 \nPage 54", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 435444, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "page_number": 224, "title": "CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911", "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n\n**CONFIDENTIAL**\n\n[25903]\n\n## No. 1\n\n221\n\n[July 3]\n\n### SECTION 5\n\n24603 \n27.11\n\n**Acting Consul Rose to Foreign Office.-(Received July 3.) (Separate. Confidential.)**\n\nDear Sir,\n\nRangoon, June 8, 1911.\n\nI am sending you a copy of a semi-official letter, which I am addressing to Sir John Jordan, giving him all possible information which I have been able to gather in regard to recent developments on the Burmah-China frontier, after consultation with the Burmah officials. I attach also a copy of a letter from Mr. Perronne* which may be of interest to you in relation to events in Yünnanese Thibet. I am leaving this morning for India on my way home, travelling through Kashmir and Kashgaria.\n\nYours very truly,\n**ARCHIBALD ROSE**\n\n## Enclosure in No. 1\n\n**Acting Consul Rose to Sir J. Jordan**\n\nDear Sir John,\n\nRangoon, June 5, 1911.\n\nI have spent a fortnight in Burmah settling up a few outstanding questions at Myitkyina and taking the opportunity to discuss our frontier problems with the lieutenant-governor and Thompson, the chief secretary, as well as with Hertz, who has just returned from his visit to the unadministered territory. Before starting on my journey home, I should like to give you a brief résumé of affairs, and to place you in as good a position as possible in regard to local information. I believe that the lieutenant-governor concurs in my views on the general frontier situation, but I must submit them to you on my own responsibility, as some of the events are too recent to have received full consideration, and the Government of Burmah will probably await further information before committing themselves to any definite policy.\n\n### Undelimited Frontier North of Myitkyina\n\n2. The first and most important question is naturally that of the unadministered territory and the section of the undelimited frontier lying to the north of Myitkyina. Hertz's column appears to have done excellent work, and you will doubtless receive a copy of the report which has just been submitted. I enclose a map which will give a rough idea of the work accomplished and the general conclusions in regard to the future of the frontier. The whole of the red area has now been taken under a provisional administration, and a post has been established at Lau-Khaung with a civil officer and 125 military police under two military officers, whilst a good road has been pushed up as far as the post. It is under consideration to continue this road from Lau-Khaung to the neighbourhood of Htawgaw during the next open season.\n\n3. You will notice that Pienma (Hpimaw) and Kangfang are excluded from the administered area. Hertz has found a well-defined and lofty range dividing this tract from the newly administered area, and linking up on the north with the Irrawaddy-Salween watershed. He considers that this would form a satisfactory and defensible frontier if necessary, and seems inclined to think that, in view of well-substantiated Chinese claims, no further effort should be made to absorb the Pienma tract. I gather that the Government of Burmah might be willing to consider this recommendation if all attempts to arrange a lease should fail, though the tract has recently gained a new significance from the fact that it commands the best route into the country lying to the north of it.\n\n4. North of this Pienma tract there lies the territory of the Black Marus, and, as no claim has yet been advanced to their country by the Chinese, and as the Lisus of... \n\n*Not printed*\n\n[2103 C-5]", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-384 - Public Offices - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 436183, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-386 - Public Offices & Others - 1911", "page_number": 15, "title": "CO129-386 - Public Offices & Others - 1911", "content_text": "4\n\n14\n\n10\n\nR&S\n\n·382\n\n1911.\n\nGOVERNMENT OF INDIA.\n\nDEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY.\n\nEnclosure No. 1.]\n\nEnclosures to despatch No. 26 of 1911.\n\nExtract paragraph 43 of the Report on the Administration of the Excise Department in Burma for the year 1909-1910.\n\nCocaine,\n\n43. Thirty-six licenses were issued during the year for the sale of cocaine and novocain by chemists on medical prescription, as against 31 licenses in 1908-09. Licenses were issued for the first time in the Hanthawaddy, Henzada, Toungoo and Meiktila districts. The restrictions imposed in 1905 on the possession and sale of cocaine have not had the desired effect, a large illicit trade in the drug has grown up, and the cocaine habit is spreading rapidly in the province. The total seizures of contraband cocaine during the year of report amounted to no less than 939,685 grains or nearly 2,000 ounces, as compared with 389,636 grains in 1908-09. In Rangoon Town seizures have increased from 313,191 grains to 778,281 grains and some 400 persons were convicted in the town for offences relating to this drug during the year. The Collector, Rangoon, writes :—\n\n\"The illicit trade is in the hands of Indians and Chinese and the largest consignments are brought in by the crews of Chinese steamers plying between Rangoon and the Straits Settlements and ports in China. A small quantity is brought in by the native crews of the steamers of the Patrick Henderson and Bibby Lines.\n\n\"The continued and persistent raiding of dens in Rangoon has had the effect of reducing the number of them. The drug continues however to pour in and is no doubt speedily disposed of in the districts. The habit has taken a firm hold of the people which it will take years to eradicate. At present it can only be said that some slight check to consumption in Rangoon has been given. Till there is a larger staff in Rangoon we cannot expect more satisfactory results.\"\n\nIn the Hanthawaddy district, in which the seizures have risen from 4,617 grains to 5,648 grains, the Deputy Commissioner states that the taste for the drug is spreading amongst the lowest classes all over the district and till the present staff is increased there is not likely to be any severe check put upon it. In the Pegu district seizures amounted to 43,200 grains as against 5,675 grains in 1908-09. The cocaine habit is reported to have spread there with alarming rapidity. An organized gang of smugglers which came to the district from Rangoon was broken up, the principals being convicted and imprisoned. Special efforts were made by the Superintendent of Excise to cope with the evil. Dens were constantly raided, and persons found resorting thereto were listed and kept under observation. In the Tharrawaddy district seizures increased from 39,230 grains to 64,708 grains. The taste is said to be certainly on the increase and enormous quantities of the drug are believed to be imported into the district. The Deputy Commissioner states that the spread of the habit is so serious and so difficult to cope with that a change in the laws is imperatively needed. In the Prome district seizures have increased from 3,333 grains to 18,963 grains, and the habit is said to have taken quite a hold on Prome, Paungde and a good many villages along the railway line, and villages adjoining the Tharrawaddy border. In the Irrawaddy division the habit was little known two or three years ago. In the Bassein district 255 grains were", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-386 - Public Offices & Others - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 436184, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-386 - Public Offices & Others - 1911", "page_number": 16, "title": "CO129-386 - Public Offices & Others - 1911", "content_text": "15\n\n2\n\nseized in the year of report, and the cocaine habit is said to have come to stay. Small quantities were seized in the Myaungmya and Ma-ubin Districts, and the taste for the drug is said to be firmly established in the Yandoon and Danubyu townships of the latter district. In the Prapon district with seizures of 4,594 grains the combined efforts of the Excise and Police have checked the habit in Kyaiklat town for the time, but attempts are being made to introduce the drug into other parts of the district. Seizures in the Henzada district have risen from 7,528 grains to 11,532 grains, the taste for the drug is said to be on the increase and the habit is spreading to places outside Henzada. In the Toungoo district seizures have risen from 8,275 grains to 8,441 grains. Offenders were arrested in all the railway towns, but the drug is not yet known in the interior townships of the district. In the Yamethin district 15 cases were detected during the year and seizures have increased from 2,103 grains to 3,733 grains. The largest seizures were made in Pyinmana town, and the habit has not yet spread far north of Pyinmana. Vigorous and sustained efforts are being made by the Excise staff in all the districts in which cocaine is found to prevent the smuggling of this drug and to stop the spread of the habit. So far the habit is said to be confined to the Pegu and Irrawaddy divisions and to the Toungoo and Yamethin districts on the line of railway, but there is a very real danger of further growth if additional preventive measures are not taken at once. As stated in last year's Report more Excise officers are urgently needed in Rangoon Town and the adjoining districts, and provision for heavier punishments is required in the penal sections of the Excise Act relating to intoxicating drugs. No sanction has yet been received to the proposals made to these ends. Burma is not the only country in which the abuse of cocaine has arisen and the possibility of control over the centres in which the drug is manufactured seems worth consideration. Many of the cocaine-consumers are people of the lowest classes who have hitherto been addicted to opium, but it is doubtful whether the restrictions on opium consumption have any close connection with the growth in the taste for cocaine. As pointed out by the Deputy Commissioner, Henzada district, with cocaine at such a high illicit price as Rs. 120 per ounce, the ordinary half-grain dose of cocaine costs 2 annas only, whereas little effect is to be derived from 2 annas worth of illicit opium. If opium is to compete successfully with cocaine in the illicit market the present restrictive policy must be abandoned, and even if such a course were practicable it is doubtful whether there would be any real or permanent reduction in cocaine consumption. An expenditure of Rs. 2,344 was incurred from secret service funds on the detection of cocaine-smuggling, chiefly in the Rangoon Town, Pegu, Tharrawaddy and Henzada Districts.\n\nEnclosure No. 2.]\n\nExtract paragraph 6 of a letter from the Financial Commissioner, Burma, to the Government of Burma, No. 603-5R-95, dated the 15th August 1910.\n\n6. Paragraphs 42 to 44.-The growth of the consumption of cocaine gives rise to much apprehension. In proportion of value to bulk and in portability it is superior to opium. It has no strong smell which needs to be disguised. The habit of consuming it is undoubtedly spreading. The drug is comparatively new, and the Excise Commissioner's proposal to procure control of its manufacture is worthy of support. The early enactment of the new Excise Act is also to be desired so as to provide heavier penalties for the illicit sale of cocaine. The morphia habit seems to have received a check.\n\nEnclosure No. 3.]\n\nExtract paragraph 5 of the Resolution by the Government of Burma, No. 1-0-8, dated the 25th September 1910.\n\nCocaine.\n\n5. Although opium and liquor occupy 36 paragraphs of the Report and only one is devoted to cocaine it is evident special prominence. The Lieutenant Governor regards with the utmost concern that this problem is speedily assuming\n\n3\n\nthe growing consumption of this drug, the effects of which are most pernicious. It is admitted that the consumption, which is wholly illicit, is spreading fast. New districts were invaded by the drug and its use became confirmed in other places where hitherto it had been only sporadic. Seizures of contraband cocaine in Rangoon Town rose from 313,191 grains in 1908-09 to 778,281 grains in 1909-10, and for the rest of the province from 76,445 to 161,404 grains. These figures illustrate the spread of the drug outside of Rangoon. The same is shown by the greatly increased seizures reported in the Pegu, Tharrawaddy, Prome and in less degree the Pyapon and Henzada districts. The difficulties in the detection of smuggling of the drug are, as the Financial Commissioner remarks, much greater than in the case of opium. The profit to be made is as yet larger. There is no competition from licit supply. Furthermore cocaine costs relatively less to the consumer. The Excise Commissioner does not think that the reduction of the supply of opium has stimulated the use of cocaine, but the Lieutenant Governor doubts whether this opinion is correct. Although it cannot be inferred with certainty that the simultaneous decrease in the consumption of opium and increase in the consumption of cocaine are related as cause and effect it is significant that many of the consumers of cocaine were previously opium consumers and that opium dens are said to have become places in which cocaine is now also supplied. It is further a well-known fact that persons addicted to the taking of stimulants if deprived of one kind will have recourse to another, a fact which has been amply demonstrated in Burma by the introduction of fresh varieties of intoxicating drugs to replace others prohibited by law. His Honour therefore fears that there is ground for the opinions expressed by the Commissioner of the Pegu division and the Deputy Commissioners of the Tharrawaddy and Prome districts that the check in opium consumption has led to an increase in the cocaine habit and he cannot disguise from himself the serious character of this result. On the other hand the use of morphia does not seem to have increased; but the seizures of ganja imported into Rangoon rose from 10,855 tolas to 35,143 tolas and throughout the province from 77,247 tolas to 83,533 tolas. The revised Excise Act will probably provide enhanced penalties for possession and will enable den-keepers and habitual traffickers in all such drugs to be dealt with. The main resistance, however, must come from the preventive action of the Excise Department; but it is evident that the present establishment is unequal to additional burdens.\n\nEnclosure No. 4.]\n\nExtract paragraph 87 of the Bengal Excise Administration Report for the year 1909-10.\n\n87.\n\nIn Calcutta the quantity of cocaine seized was 452 oz., against 723 oz. in the previous year. Of this quantity 343 oz. were in their original phials and found pure, the remainder was in retail packets, more or less adulterated and was destroyed as unfit for medical use. In regard to the large number of cases detected and the quantity of cocaine seized, the Superintendent of Excise Revenue, Calcutta, Mr. Baboneau, makes the following remarks:-\n\n\"If the number of cases detected and the quantity of the illicit drug seized are any index to the volume of the illicit trade, I am afraid the above figures must be interpreted as a great expansion in the illicit trade and consumption of the drug. Some allowance may be made for zeal and success of detective officers, but that alone cannot be taken as a sufficient explanation for the enormous increase shown by the above figures. The only conclusion I can come to is that those desirous of obtaining the drug have now devised and developed other means for obtaining their supplies. Chief amongst these are the employés on board the vessels that trade between Calcutta and Europe. It is an unfortunate circumstance, greatly to be regretted, that certain Europeans have been found to be engaged in this nefarious traffic which cannot be too strongly condemned.\"", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-386 - Public Offices & Others - 1911.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 465246, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-438 - Public Offices - 1916", "page_number": 45, "title": "CO129-438 - Public Offices - 1916", "content_text": "## Extract paragraph 42 of the Report on the Administration of the Excise Department in Burma for the year 1914-15\n\n### Cocaine. Forms III VIII and IX\n\n42. Cocaine licenses rose by 1 to 40 as in 1912-13. Convictions fell by 129 to 1,319 of which 11 were for unlicensed sale and the rest for illicit possession. The quantity seized fell from 3,573 to 2,124 ounces avoirdupois. Convictions however only declined by 129 to 1,319. Some eight cocaine consumers from Lower Burma migrated to Mandalay and brought the habit with them, but there was no appreciable spread. Isolated cases, in which travellers with small quantities of cocaine in their possession were arrested, occurred in the Akyab, Myingyan and Pakokku Districts, which however remained otherwise clear of cocaine. The habit is confined to the following 18 districts; Lower Burma. Pegu Division - Rangoon Town, Insein, Hanthawaddy, Pegu, Tharrawaddy and Prome, Irrawaddy Division - Bassein, Myaungmya, Ma-ubin, Pyapon and Henzada; Tenasserim Division - Toungoo, Thaton and Amherst. Upper Burma.- Mandalay Division- Mandalay; Magwe Division - Thayetmyo and Magwe; Meiktila Division - Yamethin.\n\nThe outbreak of war early in August completely changed the course of events, so far as cocaine consumption is concerned, by cutting off the source of main supply, Merck's brand of cocaine made in Germany. The illicit traffic was not however immediately affected to the extent anticipated owing to large reserve stocks, licit and illicit, believed to have been held in India and the Far East. Stocks of German cocaine were held also in the United Kingdom, for it has since continued to come in in British steamers from England. Everywhere, however, stocks continued to run down and at Rangoon prices of illicit cocaine are believed to have risen from Rs.32 at the beginning to Rs.90.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-438 - Public Offices - 1916.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 468463, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9]", "page_number": 226, "title": "CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9]", "content_text": "Page 215\n\n13 SEP 17\n\nHongkong, 24th November, 1916.\n\nI have the honour to apply for permission to go to Mesopotamia to run light draught steamers on the river there. I have had good river experience on the Irrawaddy river with practically the same kind of work.\n\nI was eight years there, five of which was in command which my papers will show, and as it is really the kind of work which I have specialised in, I feel it my duty to try and get there to do something for my country.\n\nI therefore beg to tender my resignation from the Government service pending my getting a Commission in Mesopotamia.\n\nI trust that my petition may meet with your approval and that you will forward same to His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government with a recommendation.\n\nI have &c.,\n\n(Sd.) A. W. Daily,\n\nActing First Boarding Officer.\n\nCommander C. W. Beckwith, R. N.,\n\nHarbour Master, &c., &c..\n\nPage 216", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-443 - Governor Sir May - 1917 [7-9].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 492644, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-475 - Governor Sir Stubbs & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1922 [5-7]", "page_number": 574, "title": "CO129-475 - Governor Sir Stubbs & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1922 [5-7]", "content_text": "7. Employment or experience from completion of education to present time.\n\nMention each position held by you, the dates between which you held it, and the cause of leaving.\n\nAffentias Britend Barque William. I. Lewis 1910 to 191...\n\nDumplichi Jan 310\n\nOffices \"I's Glen Logan 1915 to 1914\n\nof Gave\n\nState present employment and salary you are now receiving.\n\n8. Professional qualifications.\n\nJan to June 19. About how soon would you be available to proceed overseas if selected.\n\nYour if sea cancer owing to inability to pass H1. Destimonials.\n\nO.T. colour vision test (Lantern only). Joined the Irrawaddy Flotilla Co., Burma July 19...\n\nAgain failing to pass the B.O.T. Colour test, returned to England June 1919.\n\nRept: 920 Joined neagle Harn.com Graphised as Plant And 1921 Gave it Planting owing to stamp.\n\nSeht 1921 to July 1922 am leaved as clerk by great Hand Hand Langhoa Dock Co., Salary $350\n\nDesigning to better my position\n\nthe date at which Service in mercantile marine each was obtained.\n\nGive here full details of your service in H.M. Forces, giving rank held.\n\nShips Affier 191th to 1914. Loredoed in British Barque Dumfrica\n\nces, giving regiment, promotions, and any decorations, mentions in despatches, and certificates, etc., obtained. Any special appointments, ... Staff Officer or Adjutant to be mentioned with dates. Periods of service Overseas to be clearly given, stating country and nature of appointment held.\n\nI was unable to pass the B.O.T. Colour test\n\n528\n\nGive the name, address, and occupation of the writer of each of your testimonials. The period of your career for which he can speak and the capacity in which he speaks, e.g., (Col. A.B., my CO., January, 1915-March, 1918). Not more than six should be submitted, and they should as far as possible cover your education and each subsequent stage of your career. The original testimonials and copies thereof should be sent. The former will be returned after inspection. Copies may be in MS., in print, or typewritten; and it is desirable that they should be on foolscap paper not larger than this form. Should the writer of a testimonial prefer to send it direct to the Assistant Private Secretary (Appointments), there is no objection, but in such a case you should state hereon that he is doing so. The names, etc., of other persons to whom reference can be made may be added if desired.\n\n9. Personal References.\n\nGive the names and addresses of two referees. They should be responsible persons who know you well, either in private life or in business; and one at least should be well acquainted with you in private life. The names of distinguished persons should not be given unless they really know you well; and the names of relatives or of those from whom you send testimonials should not be given.\n\n1. Name: Commander # In Willy.\n\nAddress: 0 Lost In Grove Your Car L East Judia Avenue. London\n\nOccupation: Laine Suft. (The Live Shamero\n\nthe has known you Since leaving school\n\n2. Name: Mr. B. Sutherland.\n\nAddress: Incorporated Jardine Matheson Floor L\n\nOccupation: Shipping manager.\n\nPeriod during which he has known you: Since 1920", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-475 - Governor Sir Stubbs & Acting Governor Claud Severn - 1922 [5-7].txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 532845, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-538-1 Hong Kong University 31-12-1931 - 6-8-1932", "page_number": 85, "title": "CO129-538-1 Hong Kong University 31-12-1931 - 6-8-1932", "content_text": "Maps of Hong Kong\n\n117\n\ntaxation. The detail field work was done by Indian Surveyors under the guidance of two European officers, supplied by the Survey of India. When this Cadastral survey was completed it was thought that a topographical map should also be made. The proportion of cultivated land in the Territory (about one-sixth of the total area) was so small that the cadastral maps showed large blank spaces between small patches of surveyed land. These blank spaces however were to some extent occupied by trig. stations, and with their help the intervening hills were sketched in. The map produced was on the scale of 2 inches to the mile. The hills were shown by contours 100 feet apart.\n\nThese contours were sketched in between the few trig. stations on the hill tops and the patches of cultivated land in the valleys. The result was a map of varying degrees of accuracy. In places where the valleys were straight and the slopes uniform the work was easy. But in the jumble of hills and valleys (pays accidenté is the very expressive French term), which makes up the greater part of the Territory the work was difficult and the map produced was in places so inaccurate that when the Geological Survey was undertaken a few years ago, the Canadian geologists in charge of that work were often unable to fit the geological features onto the topographical map. As an instance of this inaccuracy, it may be mentioned that the island of Chu lu kok (Chik lap kok) north of Lantao, is shown by the contours as 1,000 feet high. It should be 500 feet.\n\nThe Military Authorities found this map inadequate and commenced a survey of the southern part of the Territory and issued a contoured map on the scale of 2 1/2 inches to the mile. This map was first published in pre-war days. Its later editions included Hong Kong Island, most of Lamma Island, and the mainland as far east as Port Shelter and as far north as Tai Po and ended westward a few miles beyond Tsun Wan (Tsung Wan). A marginal note on this map tells us that the contours on the mainland are surveyed, those on the islands approximate only.\" Hong Kong is an island and a patch of about half a square mile to the south of Butterfields reservoir is certainly a good example of this \"approximate\" work. Neither the hills nor the valleys can be identified on the ground. The mainland part of the map appears good work. It is a curious anomaly that Hong Kong Island, the most important part of the colony, should be the worst mapped.\n\nPage 44\n\nThe great war stopped this work but brought out the method of aerial surveying and in 1924-1925 aeroplanes were at work taking the necessary photographs for a new map. The result of this work is a map of Hong Kong and the leased Territory on the ample scale of 1/20,000, nearly 3 inches to the mile with contours at 10 metres apart.\n\nSurveys by photos from the air have been found of great value in places which are difficult of access e.g. The Amazon forests (1) and the Irrawaddy Delta (2). These however are flat districts and it is not clear how the system will serve for the survey of South China hills where the contours are the main topographical feature. Only an examination on the ground would show to what degree of accuracy, in this respect, the system has worked out. The air map would no doubt be of great help to the contour drawer in showing all the little gullies or water courses which in the old 2 inch map were sketched on, often very inaccurately.\n\nMay 1932.\n\n136", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-538-1 Hong Kong University 31-12-1931 - 6-8-1932.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 561364, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-571-15 Sino-Japanese War- manufacture and import of aircraft to China 18-1-1938 - 5-1-1939", "page_number": 66, "title": "CO129-571-15 Sino-Japanese War- manufacture and import of aircraft to China 18-1-1938 - 5-1-1939", "content_text": "## 2. \n\n66 \n\nThe security of the French Railway line from Haiphong to Yunnanfu was not absolute. Furthermore, although there is a comparatively good road from Hanoi up to Lookay near the Indo-China frontier, there is at present no road from Lookay up to Yunnanfu. The Chinese are said at present to be busy constructing this road, but it is not likely to be suitable for heavy transport for some considerable time.\n\n4. Mr. Gourlie was sent to examine the possibilities of the re-erection of his factory near the Burma frontier, since it is thought that a factory in such a position would be completely free from the attention of Japanese aeroplanes for the reasons already mentioned in item (3) of my note of 10th November, 1938. Mr. Gourlie apparently arrived in Rangoon on the 29th October and was given a letter of introduction through the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company via Mr. Wise to me at Maymyo. He did not, however, stop at Maymyo but went on to Lashio where he saw Mr. Shaw and subsequently to Bhamo where he saw Mr. Kingsley. He got into touch with the Chinese Sawbwa of Mengmao at Muse and with his assistance bicycled over a considerable area on the Chinese side of the frontier looking for a site. He eventually picked on a site, which he considered to be suitable, slightly west of Loiwing, which will be seen on sheet 93 Square B 2 of the Survey of India map of the Bhamo District 1909-1910. This site is about 22 miles east of the Frontier Force military post at Panghkam in the Bhamo District. Panghkam is itself about 4 miles from Manwing, which is on the Bhamo-Shweli Bridge road, and Panghkam and Manwing are connected by a road which is usable by motor traffic. Mr. Gourlie, if his scheme develops, is prepared to contribute to the upkeep of this road, which connects Manwing with the Frontier Force post, to enable it to carry the material which is likely to be required.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-571-15 Sino-Japanese War- manufacture and import of aircraft to China 18-1-1938 - 5-1-1939.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 561957, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-571-7 Sino-Japanese War- bombardment of road from Anglo-Chinese border to Canton 9-1-1938 - 28-1-1938", "page_number": 6, "title": "CO129-571-7 Sino-Japanese War- bombardment of road from Anglo-Chinese border to Canton 9-1-1938 - 28-1-1938", "content_text": "that it is \n\nthe 7.0 \n\n7.0. do \n\nEnd to (3) anything \n\nJ \n\nto object. It is unfeasible to add \n\nthe lives of the Tokyo let, \n\nis the effect that the Japanese Govt still \n\nhave general responsibility for ensuring \n\nR \n\nagait attack \n\nDe \n\nBritish subjects \n\no the river \n\nI all \n\nno objection to \n\n4 which will \n\n6 \n\nthat I think \n\nbe referred to Hong Kong \n\nthe terms of the draft letter grant \n\nW \n\nexcept \n\nfor \"must\" \n\nm \n\nmay line 3 \n\nshould be substituted \n\nhave 3. They \n\nwhich could \n\nshould surely \n\ncause confusion for \n\nexactly that British subjects traverse my \n\nthe Irrawaddy \n\nthere are a \n\nGovt want to inform H.M.'s representatives of their \n\nGe \n\nno \n\nintention \n\n16 do not \n\nsay \n\nthat the S.S. \n\nControl let. co \n\nin the proposal to send the draft- \n\n4.9. eftator Chargé d'affaires \n\nat Shanghai \n\nconsidered \n\nthat at \n\nAs a matter of official procedure \n\nHe notes that the proposal \n\nis not to be objectionable \n\nin principle, \n\nthough not withstanding to \n\nadd anything \n\na \n\nEarl to (3). Tokyo till he 29. \n\nThe \n\nthe line suggested \n\n7 \n\nEtc \n\nconcurs in the terms \n\ndraft let, except that he ventures to \n\nsuggest that \"may\" for \"must\" in \n\nline 3 of form 3 \n\nas it appears to be \n\nundesirable that British subjects should be compelled \n\nto inform either the Colonial auth", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-571-7 Sino-Japanese War- bombardment of road from Anglo-Chinese border to Canton 9-1-1938 - 28-1-1938.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 563794, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-575-15 Traffic of arms to China 24-1-1939 - 4-12-1939", "page_number": 85, "title": "CO129-575-15 Traffic of arms to China 24-1-1939 - 4-12-1939", "content_text": "82 \n\nFurther, although the number of mules stated to be required is 1,200, many of which are on their way down to Bhamo, the balance of some 800 being considered sufficient for ordinary trade needs for the next four months, it has been proposed that all mules shall come under official control. This may not materialise, but in any case, the fixing of a moderate rate for munitions should have the effect of stabilising commercial freights. So far, the agreement is said to be merely verbal, and mule freights are soaring not only because of the fear of commandeering which these activities first inspired, but also because of increased demand for cotton yarn. I have been in touch with the head of the Tengyueh Bureau and urged him not to lose sight of the needs of ordinary Burma-China trade. He and the Chairman of the local Chamber of Commerce both assure me that trade will not be unduly affected. They tell me the Myitkyina-Tengyueh route is also being considered for the transport of munitions. I have brought all these matters to the notice of the Burma authorities.\n\n50 The buildings and landing ground of the Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company's establishment at Loiwing were reported at the beginning of this month as practically completed. The great bulk of the equipment for this concern has been imported by the Irrawaddy and the Bhamo-Namhkam road. I am informed that the factory will require more than 5,000 tons of additional equipment, already ordered, during the rains, and the American management, which has done much to improve this road, is doubtful whether a large section of it will be usable after June.\n\nI have the honour to be, etc., \n**(Signed) G.E. STOCKLEY,** \nConsul.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-575-15 Traffic of arms to China 24-1-1939 - 4-12-1939.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 563923, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-575-15 Traffic of arms to China 24-1-1939 - 4-12-1939", "page_number": 214, "title": "CO129-575-15 Traffic of arms to China 24-1-1939 - 4-12-1939", "content_text": "No. 30 \n(and 3 copies)\n\nCopies to: \nF. O. No. 18 \n(2 copies) \nYunnanfu No. 19.\n\nSir,\n\nBritish Consulate, \nTengyueh. \n17th April, 1939. \n211\n\nWith reference to my despatch No. 21 of 27th March, I have the honour to transmit herewith two lists of the arms and ammunition received in Lashio by rail for onward transportation to China by lorry over the Burma-Yunnan motor road by the South West Transportation Company, between 18th February (the date of receipt of the first consignment) and 30th March inclusive. These lists have been abstracted from details kindly supplied at my request by the Superintendent, Northern Shan States, Lashio.\n\nThey supersede the list enclosed with my despatch under reference.\n\nIn reply to an enquiry regarding their freight prospects in munitions, Messrs. the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company Limited inform me that the only additional cargo for China that has come their way has been on account of the Intercontinental Corporation, for whom their vessels have carried some 1,500 tons of factory material.\n\nHis Excellency, \nSir Archibald Clark Kerr, K.C.M.G., \netc., \nBritish Embassy, \netc., \nSHANGHAI. \netc.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-575-15 Traffic of arms to China 24-1-1939 - 4-12-1939.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 567762, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-580-4 Proposed aircraft factories in Hong Kong 21-12-1938 - 2-1-1940", "page_number": 77, "title": "CO129-580-4 Proposed aircraft factories in Hong Kong 21-12-1938 - 2-1-1940", "content_text": "NO DISTRIBUTION.\n\nSir A. Clark Kerr (Shanghai).\n\n10th January, 1939.\n\nDo\n\n(Via W/T.) 10th January, 1939.\n\nR.\n\n2.25 p.m., 10th January, 1939.\n\nNo. 18.\n\nAddressed to Mission Chungking telegram No. 24\n\nJanuary 9th.\n\nYour telegram No. 735.\n\nPawley's scheme for assembling aircraft in Hongkong is now dead and has been replaced by plan for a factory just on Chinese side of Burmese frontier, at a point close to Namhkam in Shweli Valley. Namhkam is joined by road to railhead at Lashio and also to Bhamo which has steamer connexion with Rangoon and also railway connexion from Katha on Irrawaddi a short distance below Bhamo.\n\nScheme referred to in Rangoon telegram No. 7 which I am repeating to you. So far as I am aware Pawley has now dropped his plans for building a factory in Kunming.\n\nSince I have no information about \"Chen's proposals of last July\" referred to by Rangoon nor any details of present proposals mentioned in my telegram No. 1820 to Foreign Office, I am unable to assess Government of Burma's objections to present scheme. Please try to obtain particulars, explaining that T.L. Soong is apparently at present out of touch with Rangoon.\n\nRepeated to Foreign Office No. 18, Rangoon No. 2 and Saving to Tokyo.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-580-4 Proposed aircraft factories in Hong Kong 21-12-1938 - 2-1-1940.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 568637, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "page_number": 22, "title": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "content_text": "29\n\n20\n\n26\n\nI discussed the question of the construction of this railway with the British Ambassador in Tokyo, and, after I had explained the situation to him, he said that he would not offer any objection to the construction of the railway, though no doubt the Japanese would object, but that he thought that their objection would before long be forgotten.\n\n73. I understand from the Minister of Communications at Chungking that the agreement has been signed with the French for the new railway from Yunnan to Indo-China, and that the French would be prepared to allow British participation in this line, if the British would give them participation in the Burma-Yunnan line. This arrangement could not, of course, be carried through unless the latter line were to be built right through to Lashio. From this point of view also I think that it is important that the work should be undertaken, as it is not desirable to have a French monopoly of railway transport in Yunnan.\n\n74. Of all the single acts that could be done, at this time, to improve Sino-British relations, a decision to go forward with the construction of the railway in Burma would, I believe, be the most effective, and would be repaid a hundredfold in the subsequent development of Sino-British trade. From the Chinese point of view we hold it in our power to grant or withhold this absolutely vital facility, and if we withhold it they will think that we are not interested in the rightness of their cause or in the maintenance of their independence, and in the future they will have no particular regard for British interests.\n\n(3) Water.\n\n75. The main arteries of trade in China have always been the rivers, particularly the Yangtze, which is still largely used for traffic from the east up to Chungking and beyond. Regular steamer services are still in operation, when there is sufficient water in the river, from Ichang to Chungking, and a great deal of material comes through by this route from the eastern provinces, particularly raw cotton, though precisely how it gets through to Ichang it is difficult to say. There is also a great deal of local transport upon the upper sections of the Yangtze and other rivers, such as the Yellow River, by junks and sampans. A good deal of coal, sugar, molasses and similar goods are so transported, but the areas in Western China which can be served by such transport are limited, and in the most westerly and northerly regions water transport is of no account.\n\n(4) Motor Trucks.\n\n76. These have perforce become the substitute for railway transport in the west, and this fact creates great difficulty in gasoline supplies. The distances are so great and the roads so mountainous in many areas that a truck will use up a considerable portion of its capacity in transporting enough gasoline for its own use. For instance, on the north-west highway from the Russian rail-head to Lanchow and back a motor truck will use more than its own load of gasoline, and consequently such through traffic is a practical impossibility as a regular feature. Appendix 15 deals with this matter to some extent.\n\n77. The two main highways are the Yunnan-Burma and the north-west, a portion of which is in Sinkiang, and this section is dealt with in the Sinkiang section of this report. In addition there is a highway from Kunming to Chungking, and from the latter town to Chengtu and on to Lanchow through Paoki, with auxiliary roads to Sian and Ningsia. The road to Indo-China has now been cut by the Japanese at Nanning and so is no longer available beyond that point, but a new road, avoiding Nanning and Pinyang, is being put through and will be completed about the beginning of May. I attach a map(*) which is the most up-to-date I could get of the road system.\n\n78. An immense volume of traffic is carried over these highways, of which at present the Burma-Yunnan is the most important, as it provides the only effective source of external supplies for South-West China apart from the Indo-China Railway. On this highway, owing to steep gradients and high altitudes, the average load of a truck is between 1 and 2 tons. Transhipment is necessary in almost every case at a point about 30 miles within the Chinese border, since neither the Burmese nor Chinese lorries run through over the whole route. This leads to a good deal of unnecessary handling of goods and a certain amount of irritation and delay. Negotiations have been proceeding between the Chinese and Burmese Governments with regard to the granting of reciprocal permission for the lorries of the two nationalities to run over each other's roads, I do not know whether these have yet been concluded, but the difficulty that stood in the way was created by the firms who had sold lorries to the Burmese on hire-purchase terms and were afraid that they might not see their money back unless a monopoly of transport on the Burmese side was granted to their customers. This difficulty certainly ought to be overcome as it is creating quite unnecessarily a handicap for the Chinese. The other road inside Burma which might be of considerable use to the Chinese is that which runs from Bhamo, past Lowing, joining the Burma-Yunnan highway at the 105th mile-post east of Lashio. Bhamo is the head of the main Irrawaddy navigation, and transport by river from Rangoon to Bhamo is very much cheaper than by railway to Lashio. At the present time the Lowing factory obtains its material and supplies, including gasoline, by river to Bhamo and thence by road. This road is about 70 miles long and the present junction with the Burma-Yunnan highway is about 40 miles from Lowing. The latter section, over which we drove to Lowing, has good bridges, but in parts is not in good condition for heavy traffic, while the former section is narrow and contains many sharp bends, which make it difficult for heavy traffic, though a considerable amount has, in fact, been passed over it. It is stated that this road is kept in a bad condition so as to force the traffic over the railway to Lashio, which is more remunerative for the Burmese Government. Whether this is so or not, it would seem most desirable to improve this road so that the alternative route from Rangoon by river to Bhamo is available to the Chinese Government. A new road is now under construction from Lowing direct to the Burma-Yunnan highway, entirely inside Chinese territory, and if the Bhamo road were improved to Lowing this would enable the traffic to pass along that route and direct on into China. The river at Lowing is not bridged except temporarily in dry weather, but there is an adequate ferry service, and, if necessary, an international bridge could be constructed at this point. I deal with the problem of gasoline supply at the end of this section.\n\n(5) Hand Trucks.\n\n79. This is a recent development so far as large-scale transport is concerned. No trucks are allowed on the main Central Government highways unless they have pneumatic tyres, though this does not apply to the portion of the north-west road that is in Sinkiang. As a result a number of trucks have been built with old motor-wheels which are capable of carrying up to a ton or slightly more, and are drawn by man-power. This is a slow form of transport but has the great advantage of not requiring gasoline supplies. I attach a copy of a note(*) on this subject which I submitted to the Generalissimo dealing with the possibilities of this form of transport. The Government are already constructing in Kunming steel-frame trucks with pneumatic tyres for utilisation on the Burma road. It would be of great assistance if facilities could be given at Lashio or some other point in Burma for the construction of such trucks, and if arrangements could be made for sending second-hand or cheap new axles, motor-wheels and tyres to Rangoon for use on these trucks. If the system suggested in my note could be organised and developed a great saving could be effected in gasoline, and if truck construction were to be started in Burma it would establish a useful industry which would be likely to continue for a long time. This form of transport, once it is regularly established, is likely to persist for many years to come in Western China, since, compared with carriage by individual coolies, it effects a considerable economy in man-power and enables large and heavy packages to be transported in a much more convenient way. It would, at best, be a very long time before it could be substituted by motor transport methods, especially in the more remote districts.\n\n(6), (7), (8). Pony- and Bullock-Drawn Carts, Pack Trains and Camel Caravans, Coolie Carriers.\n\n80. These are the traditional methods of transport in China. In Yunnan practically only coolie transport is in evidence, though there are occasional pack trains of ponies or bullocks in the west. In Szechuan there are more ponies, but\n\n(*) Not printed.\n\n30", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 568654, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "page_number": 39, "title": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "content_text": "57\n\n48\n\nof directness of the help suggested. Their relative importance can be judged from what is said about them in the preceding pages of this report. They are as follows:-\n\nRecommendations.\n\n(1) A much closer relationship should be established between the Governments of India and Burma and that of China, both as a method of ensuring future relations of friendship, and with the object of giving present help to China (paragraphs 7 and 124).\n\n(2) The outstanding boundary questions between Burma and China should be disposed of so as to facilitate railway construction and to avoid future friction (paragraph 7).\n\n(3) As far as possible British influence should be used in Chungking towards a reorganisation of the Chinese Government personnel upon the lines of getting rid of the old-fashioned, corrupt and inefficient members of the Government (paragraph 48).\n\n(4) An immediate cash loan should be granted to support the stabilisation fund and so avoid the collapse of the Chinese dollar (paragraph 60).\n\n(5) Consent should be given to the setting up of a joint Sino-British aviation factory so as to enable British civil aircraft to find an outlet in the Far Eastern markets after the war, and also to give assistance to the Chinese (paragraph 64).\n\n(6) Immediate arrangements should be made for the construction of the Burma section of the Yunnan-Burma railway. From the many points of view above explained, this is both urgent and important (paragraphs 74, 85).\n\n(7) If an arrangement has not already been arrived at, immediate steps should be taken to permit lorries of both Burmese and Chinese nationality to make the through journey from Lashio to Kunming (paragraph 78).\n\n(8) The Bhamo-Lashio road should be improved so as to permit and encourage the use of the Irrawaddy River for traffic through to China (paragraph 78).\n\n(9) Facilities should be given for the Chinese Government to set up a hand truck factory at Lashio, or near the Burma border. Alternatively it might be organised by the Burmese Government with facilities for the Chinese to avail themselves of it (paragraph 79).\n\n(10) A few highly qualified British advisers should be made available to assist the Chinese Government (paragraphs 93, 104, 125).\n\n(11) Export certificates should be granted especially for goods ordered by the Chinese Government for the political reasons stated (paragraph 93).\n\n(12) Encouragement and assistance should be given to Chinese students to acquire technical education and experience in Great Britain (paragraph 97).\n\n(13) Encouragement and assistance should be given in the setting up of a voluntary British organisation to assist the Chinese Industrial Co-operatives (paragraph 100).\n\n(14) Assistance in animal husbandry should be given to China, especially by the sending of a few good breeding males of various kinds of stock (paragraph 104).\n\n(15) Closer relations should be maintained between Empire Agricultural research stations, especially in India and Burma, and their counterparts in China (paragraph 104).\n\n(16) Technical and financial assistance should be provided for the malaria research proceeding in West Yunnan (paragraph 117).\n\n(17) Efforts should be made to bring about a more understanding attitude towards the Central Government in China among British nationals on the eastern seaboard and Hong Kong, with a view to assisting future trade relations (paragraphs 112, 128).\n\n(18) Everything possible should be done to co-ordinate British and American policy in the Far East (paragraph 132).\n\n(19) It is advisable that if possible the British Ambassador to China should visit Sinkiang (paragraph 147).\n\n(20) An offer should be made to the Government of Sinkiang to assist in their educational problems by giving facilities for technical university education to their young men in Indian universities (paragraph 153).\n\nX\n\n*\n•\n1", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 568668, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "page_number": 53, "title": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "content_text": "78\n\n20\n\nI discussed the question of the construction of this railway with the British Ambassador in Tokyo, and, after I had explained the situation to him, he said that he would not offer any objection to the construction of the railway, though no doubt the Japanese would object, but that he thought that their objection would before long be forgotten.\n\n73. I understand from the Minister of Communications at Chungking that the agreement has been signed with the French for the new railway from Yunnan to Indo-China, and that the French would be prepared to allow British participation in this line, if the British would give them participation in the Burma-Yunnan line. This arrangement could not, of course, be carried through unless the latter line were to be built right through to Lashio. From this point of view also I think that it is important that the work should be undertaken, as it is not desirable to have a French monopoly of railway transport in Yunnan.\n\n74. Of all the single acts that could be done, at this time, to improve Sino-British relations, a decision to go forward with the construction of the railway in Burma would, I believe, be the most effective, and would be repaid a hundredfold in the subsequent development of Sino-British trade. From the Chinese point of view we hold it in our power to grant or withhold this absolutely vital facility, and if we withhold it they will think that we are not interested in the rightness of their cause or in the maintenance of their independence, and in the future they will have no particular regard for British interests.\n\n(3) Water.\n\n75. The main arteries of trade in China have always been the rivers, particularly the Yangtze, which is still largely used for traffic from the east up to Chungking and beyond. Regular steamer services are still in operation, when there is sufficient water in the river, from Ichang to Chungking, and a great deal of material comes through by this route from the eastern provinces, particularly raw cotton, though precisely how it gets through to Ichang it is difficult to say. There is also a great deal of local transport upon the upper sections of the Yangtze and other rivers, such as the Yellow River, by junks and sampans. A good deal of coal, sugar, molasses and similar goods are so transported, but the areas in Western China which can be served by such transport are limited, and in the most westerly and northerly regions water transport is of no account.\n\n(4) Motor Trucks.\n\n76. These have perforce become the substitute for railway transport in the west, and this fact creates great difficulty in gasoline supplies. The distances are so great and the roads so mountainous in many areas that a truck will use up a considerable portion of its capacity in transporting enough gasoline for its own use. For instance, on the north-west highway from the Russian rail-head to Lanchow and back a motor truck will use more than its own load of gasoline, and consequently such through traffic is a practical impossibility as a regular feature. Appendix 15 deals with this matter to some extent.\n\n77. The two main highways are the Yunnan-Burma and the north-west, a portion of which is in Sinkiang, and this section is dealt with in the Sinkiang section of this report. In addition there is a highway from Kunming to Chungking, and from the latter town to Chengtu and on to Lanchow through Paoki, with auxiliary roads to Sian and Ningsia. The road to Indo-China has now been cut by the Japanese at Nanning and so is no longer available beyond that point, but a new road, avoiding Nanning and Pinyang, is being put through and will be completed about the beginning of May. I attach a map(*) which is the most up-to-date I could get of the road system.\n\n78. An immense volume of traffic is carried over these highways, of which at present the Burma-Yunnan is the most important, as it provides the only effective source of external supplies for South-West China apart from the Indo-China Railway. On this highway, owing to steep gradients and high altitudes, the average load of a truck is between 1 and 2 tons. Transhipment is necessary in almost every case at a point about 30 miles within the Chinese border, since neither the Burmese nor Chinese lorries run through over the whole route. This leads to a good deal of unnecessary handling of goods and a certain amount of irritation and delay. Negotiations have been proceeding between the Chinese and Burmese Governments with regard to the granting of reciprocal permission for the lorries of the two nationalities to run over each other's roads. I do not know whether these have yet been concluded, but the difficulty that stood in the way was created by the firms who had sold lorries to the Burmese on hire-purchase terms and were afraid that they might not see their money back unless a monopoly of transport on the Burmese side was granted to their customers. This difficulty certainly ought to be overcome as it is creating quite unnecessarily a handicap for the Chinese.\n\nThe other road inside Burma which might be of considerable use to the Chinese is that which runs from Bhamo, past Lowing, joining the Burma-Yunnan highway at the 105th mile-post east of Lashio. Bhamo is the head of the main Irrawaddy navigation, and transport by river from Rangoon to Bhamo is very much cheaper than by railway to Lashio. At the present time the Lowing factory obtains its material and supplies, including gasoline, by river to Bhamo and thence by road. This road is about 70 miles long and the present junction with the Burma-Yunnan highway is about 40 miles from Lowing. The latter section, over which we drove to Lowing, has good bridges, but in parts is not in good condition for heavy traffic, while the former section is narrow and contains many sharp bends, which make it difficult for heavy traffic, though a considerable amount has, in fact, been passed over it. It is stated that this road is kept in a bad condition so as to force the traffic over the railway to Lashio, which is more remunerative for the Burmese Government. Whether this is so or not, it would seem most desirable to improve this road so that the alternative route from Rangoon by river to Bhamo is available to the Chinese Government. A new road is now under construction from Lowing direct to the Burma-Yunnan highway, entirely inside Chinese territory, and if the Bhamo road were improved to Lowing this would enable the traffic to pass along that route and direct on into China. The river at Lowing is not bridged except temporarily in dry weather, but there is an adequate ferry service, and, if necessary, an international bridge could be constructed at this point. I deal with the problem of gasoline supply at the end of this section.\n\n(5) Hand Trucks.\n\n79. This is a recent development so far as large-scale transport is concerned. No trucks are allowed on the main Central Government highways unless they have pneumatic tyres, though this does not apply to the portion of the north-west road that is in Sinkiang. As a result a number of trucks have been built with old motor-wheels which are capable of carrying up to a ton or slightly more, and are drawn by man-power. This is a slow form of transport but has the great advantage of not requiring gasoline supplies. I attach a copy of a note(*) on this subject which I submitted to the Generalissimo dealing with the possibilities of this form of transport. The Government are already constructing in Kunming steel-frame trucks with pneumatic tyres for utilisation on the Burma road. It would be of great assistance if facilities could be given at Lashio or some other point in Burma for the construction of such trucks, and if arrangements could be made for sending second-hand or cheap new axles, motor-wheels and tyres to Rangoon for use on these trucks. If the system suggested in my note could be organised and developed a great saving could be effected in gasoline, and if truck construction were to be started in Burma it would establish a useful industry which would be likely to continue for a long time. This form of transport, once it is regularly established, is likely to persist for many years to come in Western China, since, compared with carriage by individual coolies, it effects a considerable economy in man-power and enables large and heavy packages to be transported in a much more convenient way. It would, at best, be a very long time before it could be substituted by motor transport methods, especially in the more remote districts.\n\n(6), (7), (8). Pony and Bullock-Drawn Carts, Pack Trains and Camel Caravans, Coolie Carriers.\n\n80. These are the traditional methods of transport in China. In Yunnan practically only coolie transport is in evidence, though there are occasional pack trains of ponies or bullocks in the west. In Szechuan there are more ponies, but\n\n(*) Not printed.\n\n21\n\n79", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 568685, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "page_number": 70, "title": "CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940", "content_text": "106\n\n48\n\nof directness of the help suggested. Their relative importance can be judged from what is said about them in the preceding pages of this report. They are as follows:\n\nRecommendations.\n\n(1) A much closer relationship should be established between the Governments of India and Burma and that of China, both as a method of ensuring future relations of friendship, and with the object of giving present help to China (paragraphs 7 and 124).\n\n(2) The outstanding boundary questions between Burma and China should be disposed of so as to facilitate railway construction and to avoid future friction (paragraph 7).\n\n(3) As far as possible British influence should be used in Chungking towards a reorganisation of the Chinese Government personnel upon the lines of getting rid of the old-fashioned, corrupt and inefficient members of the Government (paragraph 48).\n\n(4) An immediate cash loan should be granted to support the stabilisation fund and so avoid the collapse of the Chinese dollar (paragraph 60).\n\n(5) Consent should be given to the setting up of a joint Sino-British aviation factory so as to enable British civil aircraft to find an outlet in the Far Eastern markets after the war, and also to give assistance to the Chinese (paragraph 64).\n\n(6) Immediate arrangements should be made for the construction of the Burma section of the Yunnan-Burma railway. From the many points of view above explained, this is both urgent and important (paragraphs 74, 85).\n\n(7) If an arrangement has not already been arrived at, immediate steps should be taken to permit lorries of both Burmese and Chinese nationality to make the through journey from Lashio to Kunming (paragraph 78).\n\n(8) The Bhamo-Lashio road should be improved so as to permit and encourage the use of the Irrawaddy River for traffic through to China (paragraph 78).\n\n(9) Facilities should be given for the Chinese Government to set up a hand truck factory at Lashio, or near the Burma border. Alternatively it might be organised by the Burmese Government with facilities for the Chinese to avail themselves of it (paragraph 79).\n\n(10) A few highly qualified British advisers should be made available to assist the Chinese Government (paragraphs 93, 104, 125).\n\n(11) Export certificates should be granted especially for goods ordered by the Chinese Government for the political reasons stated (paragraph 93).\n\n(12) Encouragement and assistance should be given to Chinese students to acquire technical education and experience in Great Britain (paragraph 97).\n\n(13) Encouragement and assistance should be given in the setting up of a voluntary British organisation to assist the Chinese Industrial Co-operatives (paragraph 100).\n\n(14) Assistance in animal husbandry should be given to China, especially by the sending of a few good breeding males of various kinds of stock (paragraph 104).\n\n(15) Closer relations should be maintained between Empire Agricultural research stations, especially in India and Burma, and their counterparts in China (paragraph 104).\n\n(16) Technical and financial assistance should be provided for the malaria research proceeding in West Yunnan (paragraph 117).\n\n(17) Efforts should be made to bring about a more understanding attitude towards the Central Government in China among British nationals on the eastern seaboard and Hong Kong, with a view to assisting future trade relations (paragraphs 112, 128).\n\n(18) Everything possible should be done to co-ordinate British and American policy in the Far East (paragraph 132).\n\n(19) It is advisable that if possible the British Ambassador to China should visit Sinkiang (paragraph 147).\n\n(20) An offer should be made to the Government of Sinkiang to assist in their educational problems by giving facilities for technical university education to their young men in Indian universities (paragraph 153).\n\nPage 70\n\nPage 71", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-582-22 Visit of Sir Stafford Cripps to China 13-12-1939 - 4-7-1940.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572449, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-22 China- British territorial rights; negotiations with China 28-12-1942 - 10-11-1943", "page_number": 30, "title": "CO129-588-22 China- British territorial rights; negotiations with China 28-12-1942 - 10-11-1943", "content_text": "# ARTICLE 9.\n\nThe present Treaty shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged at Chungking as soon as possible. The Treaty shall come into force on the day of the exchange of ratifications.\n\nIn witness whereof the above-mentioned Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty and affixed thereto their seals.\n\nDone at Chungking this 11th day of January, 1943, corresponding to the 11th day of the first month of the thirty-second year of the Republic of China, in duplicate in English and Chinese, both texts being equally authentic.\n\n(L.S.) H. J. SEYMOUR.\n(L.S.) H. E. RICHARDSON.\n(L.S.) TSE VUNG SOONG.\n\n## EXCHANGE OF NOTES.(2)\n\n### A.\n\nNote from Dr. Tse Vung Soong, Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Sir Horace James Seymour.\n\nSir,\n\nChungking, January 11, 1943.\n\nDURING the negotiations for the Treaty signed to-day between His Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China and His Majesty The King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and India, a number of questions have been discussed upon which agreement has been reached. The understandings reached with regard to these points are recorded in the annex to the present Note, which annex shall be considered as an integral part of the Treaty signed to-day and shall be considered as effective upon the date of the entrance into force of that Treaty. I should be glad if Your Excellency would confirm these understandings on behalf of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.\n\nI avail, &c.\n\nTSE VUNG SOONG.\n\nHis Excellency Sir Horace James Seymour, K.C.M.G., C.V.O.,\nHis Majesty's Ambassador, Chungking.\n\n### ANNEX.\n\n1. With reference to Article 2 and Article 8 (ii) of the Treaty, it is understood that—\n| Clause | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing treaty rights relating to the system of Treaty Ports in China. His Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China and His Majesty The King mutually agree that the merchant vessels of the one High Contracting Party shall be permitted freely to come to ports, places and waters in the territories of the other High Contracting Party which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that the treatment accorded to such vessels in such ports, places and waters shall be no less favourable than that accorded to national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. The term \"vessels of a High Contracting Party\" means all vessels registered under the law of any of the territories of that High Contracting Party to which the Treaty signed this day applies. |\n| (b) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing treaty rights relating to the special courts in the International Settlements at Shanghai and Amoy. |\n| (c) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing rights with regard to the employment of foreign pilots in the ports of the territories of the Republic of China. |\n| (d) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing treaty rights relating to the entry of his naval vessels into the waters of the Republic of China; and the Government of the Republic of China and His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom shall extend to each other in connexion with the visits of the warships of the one High Contracting Party to the ports of the other High Contracting Party mutual courtesy in accordance with ordinary international usage. |\n| (e) | His Majesty The King relinquishes any right to claim the appointment of a British subject as Inspector-General of the Chinese Customs. |\n| (f) | All the courts of His Majesty The King which have hitherto been sitting in the territories of the Republic of China having been closed down in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty signed this day, the orders, decrees, judgments and other acts of any of His Majesty's courts in China shall be considered as res judicata and shall when necessary be enforced by the Chinese authorities; further, any cases pending before any of His Majesty's courts in China at the time of the coming into effect of the Treaty shall if the plaintiff or the petitioner so desires be remitted to the appropriate courts of the Government of the Republic of China, which shall proceed to dispose of them as expeditiously as possible and in so doing shall so far as practicable apply the law which the court of His Majesty would have applied. |\n| (g) | His Majesty The King relinquishes the special rights which his vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in the waters of the Republic of China, and the Government of the Republic of China are prepared to take over any properties of His Majesty's nationals or companies which have been used for the purposes of these trades and which the owners may wish to dispose of, and to pay adequate compensation therefor. The Government of the Republic of China relinquish the special rights which have been accorded to Chinese vessels in respect of navigation on the River Irrawaddy under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on the 1st March, 1894.(3) Should one High Contracting Party accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to the vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to the vessels of the other High Contracting Party provided that the latter High Contracting Party permits the vessels of the former High Contracting Party to engage the coasting trade or inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each High Contracting Party in relation thereto. It is agreed, however, that the vessels of either High Contracting Party shall enjoy within the territories of the other High Contracting Party with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation treatment as favourable as that accorded to the vessels of any third country subject to the above-mentioned proviso. |\n\n2. With reference to the last sentence of Article 5 (i) of the Treaty, the Government of the Republic of China declare that the restriction on the right of alienation of existing rights and titles to real property referred to in that Article will be applied by the Chinese authorities in an equitable manner and that, if and when the Chinese Government decline to assent to a proposed transfer, the Chinese Government will, in a spirit of justice and ...\n\n(3) \"Treaty Series No. 19 (1894),\" C. 7547.\n\nPage 31\nPage 30\nPage 32", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-22 China- British territorial rights; negotiations with China 28-12-1942 - 10-11-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572504, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-22 China- British territorial rights; negotiations with China 28-12-1942 - 10-11-1943", "page_number": 85, "title": "CO129-588-22 China- British territorial rights; negotiations with China 28-12-1942 - 10-11-1943", "content_text": "# ARTICLE 9.\n\nThe present Treaty shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged at Chungking as soon as possible. The Treaty shall come into force on the day of the exchange of ratifications.\n\nIn witness whereof the above-mentioned plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty and affixed thereto their seals.\n\nDone at Chungking this 11th day of January, 1943, corresponding to the 11th day of the first month of the thirty-second year of the Republic of China, in duplicate in English and Chinese, both texts being equally authentic.\n\n**H. J. SEYMOUR.**\n**(L.S.)**\n**(L.S.)**\n**(L.S.)**\n**H. E. RICHARDSON.** **TSE VUNG SOONG.**\n\n## EXCHANGE OF NOTES.(*)\n### A.\n\nNote from Dr. Tse Vung Soong, Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Sir Horace James Seymour.\n\nSir,\n\nDURING the negotiations for the Treaty signed to-day between His Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China and His Majesty The King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and India, a number of questions have been discussed upon which agreement has been reached. The understandings reached with regard to these points are recorded in the Annex to the present note, which annex shall be considered as an integral part of the Treaty signed to-day and shall be considered effective upon the date of entrance into force of that Treaty. I should be glad if Your Excellency would confirm these understandings on behalf of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.\n\nI have, &c.\n\n**TSE VUNG SOONG.**\n\nHis Excellency Sir H. J. Seymour, K.C.M.G., C.V.O., His Majesty's Ambassador at Chungking.\n\n### ANNEX.\n\n1. With reference to Article 2 and Article 8 (ii) of the Treaty, it is understood that-\n\n| Clause | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing treaty rights relating to the system of treaty ports in China. His Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China and His Majesty The King mutually agree that merchant vessels of one High Contracting Party shall be permitted freely to come to ports, places and waters in the territories of the other High Contracting Party which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that treatment accorded to such vessels in such ports, places and waters shall be no less favourable than that accorded to national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. The term \"vessels of a High Contracting Party\" means all vessels registered under the law of any of the territories of that High Contracting Party to which the Treaty signed this day applies. |\n| (b) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing treaty rights relating to the special courts in the International Settlements at Shanghai and Amoy. |\n| (c) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing rights with regard to the employment of foreign pilots in the ports of the territories of the Republic of China. |\n| (d) | His Majesty The King relinquishes all existing treaty rights relating to the entry of his naval vessels into the waters of the Republic of China, and the Government of the Republic of China and His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom shall extend to each other in connexion with the visits of warships of one High Contracting Party to the ports of the other High Contracting Party mutual courtesy in accordance with ordinary international usage. |\n| (e) | His Majesty The King relinquishes any right to claim the appointment of a British subject as Inspector-General of the Chinese Customs. |\n| (f) | All the courts of His Majesty The King which have hitherto been sitting in the territories of the Republic of China having been closed down in accordance with Article 2 of the Treaty signed this day, the orders, decrees, judgments and other acts of any of His Majesty's courts in China shall be considered as res judicata, and shall when necessary be enforced by the Chinese authorities: further, any cases pending before any of His Majesty's courts in China at the time of the coming into effect of the Treaty shall, if the plaintiff or petitioner so desires, be remitted to the appropriate courts of the Government of the Republic of China, which shall proceed to dispose of them as expeditiously as possible and in so doing shall, so far as practicable, apply the law which the court of His Majesty would have applied. |\n| (g) | His Majesty The King relinquishes the special rights which his vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in the waters of the Republic of China, and the Government of the Republic of China are prepared to take over any properties of His Majesty's nationals or companies which have been used for the purposes of these trades and which the owners may wish to dispose of, and to pay adequate compensation therefor. The Government of the Republic of China relinquish the special rights which have been accorded to Chinese vessels in respect of navigation on the River Irrawaddy under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on the 1st March, 1894.(*). Should one High Contracting Party accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of the other High Contracting Party provided that the latter High Contracting Party permits vessels of the former High Contracting Party to engage in the coasting trade or inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each High Contracting Party in relation thereto. It is agreed, however, that vessels of either High Contracting Party shall enjoy within the territories of the other High Contracting Party with respect to coasting trade and inland navigation treatment as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country subject to the above-mentioned proviso. |\n\n2. With reference to the last sentence of Article 5 (i) of the Treaty, the Government of the Republic of China declare that the restriction on the right of alienation of existing rights and titles to real property referred to in that Article will be applied by the Chinese authorities in an equitable manner and that if and when the Chinese Government decline to assent to a proposed transfer, the Chinese Government will, in a spirit of justice...\n\n(2) A similar exchange of notes took place between the Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Plenipotentiary for India.\n(3) `Treaty Series No. 19 (1894), \"C. 7547\".`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-22 China- British territorial rights; negotiations with China 28-12-1942 - 10-11-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572868, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 3, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## engaging in their trades with pertainken to Chinese treaty rights to navigate the Irrawaddy river as the British vessels are invested including how the Chinese wharf navigation & the customs trade in the present arrangements, they would be reforming muddled rights enjoyed by British shipping in this respect.\n\nThe Amarin's have been told of the Korswoon proposal to exchange notes regarding the proposed exchange of notes which has been troublesome in the past.\n\n### 105.\n\nThe Burma Office are also getting alarmed about real property, having heard of speculative buying of property. Legislation has been aware of the Burma Office's concerns for the future. Mr. Johnston had not expressed fears of the Chinese regarding the proposed exchange of notes to intilgs \"expammest potens for the future\". Like Malaya, they were relying on the quota system for migration to control Chinese hold in Reservations system country.\n\n106 - 101. The case of Rangoon problem had predominantly Chinese urban areas. A minute tot is 20% enclosed in Ill of importance from the Colonial Office pamint have in making it clear that art. 6 leaves the Treaty free to impose restrelas in trual, residence.\n\n### 104(1) above \nHis Majesty's Government are applied ale to naturals others no comments (112 in cuped summary of front peschin.) \n\n`? 10347mmit 28'`", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572937, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 72, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "Ext.6972/42.\n\nX X X\n\nCypher telegram from Secretary of State for India to Government of India, External Affairs Department, dated 22nd December, 1942.\n\n**SECRET**\n\n221 72\n\n22057. His Majesty The King and the President of the Republic of China mutually agree that merchant vessels of one High Contracting Party shall be permitted freely to come to ports, places and waters in the territories of the other High Contracting Party which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that treatment accorded to such vessels in such ports, places and waters shall be no less favourable than that accorded to national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. The term 'vessels' of a High Contracting Party means all vessels registered under the law of any of the territories of that High Contracting Party to which the treaty signed this day applies.\n\n\"His Majesty The King relinquishes the special rights which his vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in the waters of the Republic of China. The President of the Republic of China relinquishes the special rights which have been accorded to Chinese vessels in respect of navigation on the river Irrawaddy under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on the 1st March, 1894. Should one High Contracting Party accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of the other High Contracting Party provided that the latter High Contracting Party permits vessels of the former High Contracting Party to engage in the coasting trade or inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each High Contracting Party in relation thereto. It is agreed, however, that vessels of either High Contracting Party shall enjoy within the territories of the other High Contracting Party with respect to coasting trade and inland navigation treatment as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country subject to the above-mentioned proviso.\"\n\nO.T.F.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572949, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 84, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## \n(e) His Majesty the King relinquishes any right to claim the appointment of a British subject as Inspector-General of the Chinese Customs.\n\n(f) All courts of His Majesty the King which have hitherto been sitting in the territories of the Republic of China having been closed down in accordance with Article 2 of the treaty signed this day, the orders, decrees, judgments, and other acts of any of His Majesty's courts in China shall be considered as res judicata, and shall, when necessary, be enforced by the Chinese authorities: further, any cases pending before any of His Majesty's courts in China at the time of the coming into effect of the treaty shall, if the plaintiff or petitioner so desires, be remitted to the appropriate courts of the Government of the Republic of China, which shall proceed to dispose of them as expeditiously as possible and, in so doing, shall, as far as practicable, apply the law which the court of His Majesty would have applied.\n\n(g) His Majesty the King relinquishes the special rights which his vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in the waters of the Republic of China, and the Government of the Republic of China are prepared to take over any properties of His Majesty's nationals or companies which have been used for the purposes of these trades and which the owners may wish to dispose of and to pay adequate compensation therefor.\n\nHis Excellency the President of the National Government of the Republic of China relinquishes the special rights which have been accorded to Chinese vessels in respect of navigation on the river Irrawaddy under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on the 1st March, 1894. Should one High Contracting Party accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of the other High Contracting Party, provided that the latter High Contracting Party permits vessels of the former High Contracting Party to engage in the coasting trade or inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each High Contracting Party in relation thereto. It is agreed, however, that vessels of either High Contracting Party shall enjoy within the territories of the other High Contracting Party, with respect to coasting trade and inland navigation, treatment as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country, subject to the above-mentioned proviso.\n\nWith reference to the last sentence of Article 5(i) of the treaty, the Government of the Republic of China declare that the restriction on the right of alienation of existing rights and titles to real property referred to in that Article will be applied by the Chinese authorities in an equitable manner, and that, if and when the Chinese Government decline to assent to a proposed transfer, the Chinese Government will, in a spirit of justice and with a view to precluding loss on the part of nationals or companies of His Majesty the King whose interests are affected, undertake, if so requested by the national or company of His Majesty to whom permission to alienate has been refused, to take over the rights and title in question and pay adequate compensation therefor.\n\n3./", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572965, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 100, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "**WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION**\n\nFROM: CHINA \nFROM CHUNGKING TO FOREIGN OFFICE \n25th December, 1942.\n\n**IMMEDIATE**\n\nD. 4.40 p.m. 25th December, 1942. R. 5.10 p.m. 26th December, 1942.\n\nMy telegram No.1677.\n\nFollowing is report on further meeting on December 25th.\n\n2. Kowloon. See my immediately following telegram.\n\n3. Article 6. Carrying on of commerce. Chinese point out that as the Americans have agreed to drop these words for which they had strongly pressed, it is impossible for the Chinese Government to agree to their insertion in our treaty. As it was evident your proposal I finally agreed to drop it provided the Chinese would give us land formula. I pressed the agreed minute on point of principle but Minister for Foreign Affairs said that statement reported in paragraph 5 of my telegram No.1677 which I read to him represented only his personal view of Chinese policy and that he was unable to commit himself in writing. I do not think we can pursue the matter in these negotiations (see my telegram No.1721).\n\n4. Overseas shipping Chinese accept text contained in paragraph of your telegram No.1602. They wished to insert the sentence regarding coastal ports as in paragraph 9 of my telegram No.1699. After full discussion it appeared that they had become alarmed at the possible implications of the words \"are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping\" in their text which they thought might be held permanently to prevent their closing any port hitherto open to overseas shipping. We agreed to recommend the adoption of the following solution to our respective Governments: the sentence about coastal shipping not to be inserted and the point now made by the Chinese to be covered by the agreed minute \"both high contracting parties reserve the right to close any port to overseas merchant shipping for reasons of national security\".\n\n5. Coastal trade and inland navigation. Our text (see paragraph 2 of your telegram No.1602) as amended by your telegram No.1616 is accepted. Chinese have not pursued the argument about Irrawaddy and were informed of and will accept the Agreed minute referred to in paragraph 3 of your telegram No.1601.\n\n6.\n\nPage 100 \nPage 101", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572970, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 105, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "B.4293/42.\n\nImmediato. By Hand.\n\nDear Ashley Clarke,\n\nI have seen Chungking telegram No.1699 of 4th December about extraterritoriality. In our view the Chinese suggestion that the Irrawaddy is an international river should be strongly resisted. The northern boundary of Burma is of course undemarcated, but according to our ideas of where the boundary should lie it would be out of the question to admit any suggestion that the Irrawaddy flows through anything but Burmese territory, though it is true that some streams which feed it rise outside Burma. We think it is important to refute this false argument of the Chinese for two reasons, firstly because as we have previously stated, we think it only right that the Chinese should give up their rights on the Irrawaddy if we are surrendering similar rights in respect of inland navigation in China, and, in the second place, because the Chinese suggestion that the Irrawaddy is an international river is probably based on the assumption that the undemarcated northern boundary of Burma lies much further to the south and west than we maintain, and to admit the Chinese thesis might be a disadvantage later on when the question of demarcating the boundary comes to be considered.\n\nI am sending copies of this to the usual people.\n\n(Sgd.) W. JOHNSTON.\n\nH. Ashley Clarke, Esq.,\nForeign Office, S.W.1.\n\nBurma Office,\nWhitehall,\n21st December, 1942.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572973, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 108, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "# OUTWARD TELEGRAM\n**Colonial Office.** (W.B. L. Monson, Esq.)\n\n[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be kept under Lock and Key.]\n\nWith the Compliments of the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs\n\n**DISTRIBUTION 108**\n\n[This telegram is of particular secrecy and should be retained by the authorised recipient and not passed on]\n\n**[CYPHER]**\n\nNo. 1816.\n\n**WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION**\n\nTO: CHINA \nFROM: FOREIGN OFFICE TO CHUNGKING \nDecember 22nd, 1942. \nD. 4.05 p.m. December 22nd, 1942.\n\n180-183\n\n**IMMEDIATE.**\n\n193 Your telegram No. 1699 [of 20th December: extraterritoriality] has crossed my telegrams Nos. 1601, 1602, and 1603, which cover most of the points which you raise. Following are additional comments.\n\nInland navigation and coastal trade. In order to keep in line with the United States, who have inserted similar wording in their exchange of notes, you should request the insertion after the first sentence of the second paragraph in the text contained in my telegram No. 1602 [of the 18th December] of the following words: \"...and the Government of the Republic of China are prepared to take over any properties of His Majesty's nationals or companies which have been used for the purposes of these trades and which the owners may wish to dispose of and to pay adequate compensation therefor.\"\n\nIrrawaddy is not a waterway of international concern because it is not navigable in the territories of two different States. See Barcelona Convention on Waterways of 1921, to which China is a party, and Article 1 of which contains a definition on which this statement is based. Therefore, China cannot claim right of navigation on the Irrawaddy on the ground set out in paragraph 6 of your telegram under reference.\n\n2. Your paragraph 6.\n\n3. Your paragraph 8: dual nationality. If Chinese Government refuse to accept our proposal, you should place on record that statement contained in my telegram No. 1572 represents our view of the law.\n\n4. Your paragraphs 9 and 10: overseas merchant shipping. We reluctantly agree to the addition of the word \"coastal\" to the first paragraph of our text as given in my telegram No. 1602, but we cannot accept the Chinese wording contained in your paragraph 9, implications of which are in fact not clear.\n\nO.T.F.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572981, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 116, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "18385/828/10\n\nWith the Compliments\nof the\nUnder Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs\n\n215 18:42\ncolonial Office 193\nWW.B. L. Monson. Esq\n\n**MOST SECRET**\n**USUAL DISTRIBUTION**\n\n4\n116\n\n[This telegram is of particular secrecy and should be retained by the authorised recipient and not passed on]\n\n**[CYPHER]**\n**WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION**\n\nFrom: CHINA\nFROM CHUNGKING TO FOREIGN OFFICE\nSir H. Seymour\nNo. 1699\nD. 20th December, 1942\nR. 4.40 p.m. 5.45 p.m.\n20th December, 1942 20th December, 1942\n\n**IMMEDIATE**\n\n173 My telegram No. 1677. Following are the principal points of the reply received from the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs to a communication which we addressed to him recording results of the meeting of December 14th.\n\n2. Preamble. The Chinese Government accepts the text of our original draft.\n\n3. Article 6. The Chinese Government remains of the opinion that the question of treatment of each other's nationals in matters relating to \"carrying on of commerce\" should be more properly dealt with in the subsequent commercial treaty.\n\n4. Pilots. The Ministry of Finance will instruct Customs to employ adequate number of qualified pilots irrespective of nationality and all Chargé des Affaires referred to will be unofficially so informed.\n\n5. Inland Navigation and Coast Trade. It is hoped that revised draft, (see my telegram No. 1679) which was submitted in order to meet as far as possible the views of the British Government, will be acceptable.\n\n6. It is suggested that since the Irrawaddy is an international river over which the upper riparian state enjoys a right of access to the sea, Burmese right of navigation thereon is not a special right but a common right based on general international practice. It is hoped that we will submit our observations on this view.\n\n7. Our...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572982, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 117, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## \n2. \n7. Our proposed texts concerning the personal status, real property and dual nationality are being considered.\n\n8. Reply goes on to say however as regards dual nationality that the Chinese Government, in ratifying the convention on conflicting nationality laws in 1934, made a special reservation to Article 4.\n\n9. In conclusion the letter calls attention to \"two important possibilities\". Firstly, as regards the Kowloon Leased Territory, Chinese Government earnestly hope that the British Government will reconsider their attitude. Secondly, as regards ports opened to overseas merchant shipping, the Chinese Government are of the opinion that all coastal ports in territorial China which are normally opened to British and overseas merchant shipping will remain open to such shipping after coming into effect of treaty and accompanying exchange of notes.\n\n10. It is not clear whether, if we accept text quoted in my telegram No. 1679, the Chinese will want to add the words quoted in the preceding paragraph or whether they merely wish to place their attitude as therein defined on record. Presumably they will want to include this formula.\n\n11. As regards the Irrawaddy argument, which is presumably based on the theory that headwaters of the river may be in Tibet, appears to us absurd and unlikely to be serious. [grp. omitted: ? from telegram] any special instructions.\n\nOTP.\n\n4\n\nHave you:", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572989, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 124, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## OUTWARD TELEGRAM \n187 \n125 \n\n**F. 7/34. CYPHER (TYPEX)** \n\n**FROM:** \nD.O. \n\n**TO:** \nCANADA \nAUSTRALIA \nNEW ZEALAND \nSOUTH AFRICA. \n\n(Sent 5.5.p.m. 19th Dec., 1942.) \n\n**SECRET.** \n\nMy telegram D.No. 559 of 17th December. Extra-territoriality. Chinese \n\nHis Majesty's Ambassador, Chungking, has now been sent further instructions of which the following are principal points. \n\n(1) My telegram D.No. 559, paragraph 1(C), His Majesty's Ambassador has been instructed to continue to press for national treatment for the carrying on of commerce. He will point out (a) United Kingdom Government, though preferring to defer navigation questions to the later treaty, have met Chinese desire to deal with them now (see paragraph (2) below); (b) our proposal exactly carries out the Chinese idea of stating the principle of national treatment while reserving elaboration for the commercial treaty.\n\n(2) Coastal trade and inland Navigation. Subject to certain amendments, we are accepting the Chinese counter-draft which covered, besides the question of coastal trade and inland navigation, the question of overseas merchant shipping (see (g) and (a) respectively of paragraph 1(D) of my telegram D.No. 509 of 4th December). The latest revised draft proposed by us in accordance with the decision to meet Chinese wishes in this matter is to the following effect:- \n\nBoth H.C.P. agree that merchant vessels of one H.C.P. may freely come to ports, places, and waters of other H.C.P. which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that treatment accorded to such vessels shall be no less favourable than that accorded to national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. Vessels defined as all vessels registered under the law of any of the territories of H.C.P. to which the treaty applies, \n\nWe relinquish special rights which our vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in China. China relinquishes special rights accorded to Chinese vessels on the Irrawaddy in the 1894 Convention. Should one H.C.P. accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of other H.C.P. provided the latter permits vessels of the former H.C.P. to engage in coasting trade and inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each H.C.P. in relation thereto. However, vessels of either H.C.P. shall enjoy within the territories of other H.C.P. with respect to coasting trade and inland navigation treatment as favourable as that accorded to...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 572997, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 132, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "(8313/828/10)\n\n133\n\n**Extraterritoriality treaty**\n**Navigation questions**\n\n(Comment upon the message from the Department of State dated 14th December).\n\nThe Chinese Government have offered to us the same wording concerning navigation questions for inclusion in the exchange of notes as that given in the message from the Department of State of the 14th December. They have also agreed to the insertion of a sentence providing for the relinquishment by China of her rights of navigation on the Irrawaddy.\n\nWe have decided to accept this wording subject to the insertion of a phrase at two points in the second paragraph designed to ensure that we shall not be obliged under the most-favoured-nation provision to grant China the right to engage in the coastal trade and inland navigation of British territories unless the Chinese permit British ships to participate in the coastal trade or inland navigation of China. Having regard to adjustments of form, the appropriate passage in our exchange of notes will thus read as follows:\n\n\"His Majesty The King and the President of the Republic of China mutually agree that merchant vessels of one High Contracting Party shall be permitted freely to come to ports, places and waters in the territories of the other High Contracting Party which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that treatment accorded to such vessels in such ports, places and waters shall be no less favourable than that accorded to national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. The term 'vessels' of a High Contracting Party means all vessels registered under the law of any of the territories of that High Contracting Party to which the treaty signed this day applies.\n\n\"His Majesty The King relinquishes the special rights which his vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in the waters of the Republic of China. The President of the Republic of China relinquishes the special rights which have been accorded to Chinese vessels in respect of navigation on the river Irrawaddy under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on the 1st March, 1894. Should one High Contracting Party accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of the other High Contracting Party provided that the latter High Contracting Party permits vessels of the former High Contracting Party to engage in the coasting trade or inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirements of national treatment.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573000, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 135, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "# OUTWARD TELEGRAM\n\n**[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government, and should be kept under Lock and Key.]**\n\nirl \n136 \n\n**[This telegram is of particular secrecy and should be retained by the authorised recipient and not passed on].** \n\n`(F 8299/828/10)` \n\n**[CYPHER]** \n\n## WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION\n\nTO: CHINA \nFROM: FOREIGN OFFICE TO CHUNGKING \nNo: 1602 \nDecember 18th, 1942. \nD. 6.35 p.m. December 18th, 1942. \n\nRepeated to Washington No.559 SAVING. \n**IMMEDIATE** \n\n189 My immediately preceding telegram [extraterritoriality] paragraph 2. \nFollowing is text referred to:- \n\n\"His Majesty The King and the President of the Republic of China mutually agree that merchant vessels of one High Contracting Party shall be permitted freely to come to ports, places and waters in the territories of the other High Contracting Party which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that treatment accorded to such vessels in such ports, places and waters shall be no less favourable than that accorded to national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. The term 'vessels' of a High Contracting Party means all vessels registered under the law of any of the territories of that High Contracting Party to which the treaty signed this day applies. \n\n2. \"His Majesty The King relinquishes the special rights which his vessels have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in the waters of the Republic of China. The President of the Republic of China relinquishes the special rights which have been accorded to Chinese vessels in respect of navigation on the river Irrawaddy under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on the 1st March, 1894. Should one High Contracting Party accord in any of his territories the right of coasting trade or inland navigation to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of the other High Contracting Party provided that the latter High Contracting Party permits vessels of the former High Contracting Party to engage in the coasting trade or inland navigation of his territories. Coasting trade and inland navigation are excepted from the requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each High Contracting Party in relation thereto. It is agreed, however, that vessels of either High Contracting Party shall enjoy within the territories of the other High Contracting Party with respect to coasting trade and inland navigation treatment as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country subject to the above-mentioned proviso\". \n\n**O.T.P.**", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573004, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 139, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## \ntelegram D. No. 522 of 8th December, paragraph 4 and have submitted counter draft. They have however agreed to addition sentence providing for relinquishment of Chinese rights on Irrawaddy.\n\n2. Chinese replies on above and other relatively minor points are now under consideration here and further telegram will be sent in due course as to progress made.\n\n3. United States Government have agreed to give up national treatment for their commerce in China (see my telegram D. No. 509 paragraph 1(c)) and are not of course concerned with the Kowloon leased territories. They are still in negotiation with the Chinese as regards coastal trade and inland navigation, but will probably accept Chinese counter draft. Apart from this they have virtually concluded their negotiations with the Chinese and are proposing signature of their Treaty on 1st January. They point to the fact that besides being New Year's Day this is the first anniversary of the declaration by the United Nations. It may be that this date will be inconvenient to the Chinese, since it is a national holiday. We also should like to sign our Treaty with the Chinese on that day, provided we can conclude our negotiations by then.\n\nCopy to:-\nV.C.O. F.O.\nSir E. Bridges\nSir Basil Newton\nMr. H. Ashley-Clarke\n\nI.O.\nB.O.\nC.O.\nTreasury D.O.T. B/T\nMr. R.K. Sloan\nMr. H.A.F. Rumbold\nMr. V.T. Annan\nMr. Monson\nMr. N.E. Young\nMr. J.W. Golsby\nMr. A.R. Fraser", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573007, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 142, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "**EXT.6847/42**\n\nWITH THE COMPLIMENTS\nOF THE\nUNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA.\n\nPrev Ref: Int. Letter of 4.12.42.\n\nNo.6630/42 \n16 DEC 1942\n\n**Cipher Telegram from Secretary of State for India to Government of India, External Affairs Department, dated 15th December, 1942**\n\n177 143 \nXXX **SECRET** \n151 21471\n\nMy telegram No.20903 of 5th December, China Treaty. His Majesty's Ambassador, Chungking, has been instructed to negotiate on the basis of amended version of paragraph 2(b). The second half of the paragraph after the words \"coastal trade and inland navigation of the Republic of China\" should read \"and the Republic of China relinquishes its rights under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on 1st March, 1894, relating to navigation on the river Irrawaddy; the Government of the Republic of China on the one hand, and the Governments of the United Kingdom and of India on the other hand, while reserving the right to restrict the coasting trade and inland navigation to vessels flying their own flags, declare that they do not contemplate introducing restrictions which will prevent the participation by merchant vessels of His Majesty in these trades in China or the participation of Chinese merchant vessels in these trades in the territories of His Majesty to which the treaty applies, pending the making of further arrangements between them or the conclusion of the comprehensive treaty referred to in Article 8\".\n\nCopy to:-\n- F.O.\n- D.O.\n- C.O.\n- Board of Trade\n- Ministry of War Transport\n- B.O.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573010, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 145, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "# \n\nWith the Compliment \nof the \nUnder Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs \n`(F8288/828/10)` \n\n1 \n\n6 DEC 1942 \n\nColonial Office \n\nW. B.L. Monson Esq) \n\n175 \n\nThis telegram is of particular secrecy and should be retained by the authorised recipient and not passed on \n\nCypher \n\nSir H. Seymour. No.1679. \n\n**WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION** \n\nFROM CHINA \n\n**MOST SECRET** \n\nUSUAL DISTRIBUTION \n\nFROM CHUNGKING TO FOREIGN OFFICE. \n\n15th December, 1942. \n\nD. 4.50 p.m. 15th December, 1942. \n\nR. 6.25 p.m. 15th December, 1942. \n\n146 \n\n173. \n\n17 \n\n**IMMEDIATE** \n\nMy telegram No.1677 paragraph 9. \n\nFollowing is navigation formula as communicated to us on 14th December: \n\n*His Majesty's Government and Government of Republic of China mutually agree that merchant vessels of each country shall be permitted freely to come to ports, places, and waters of other countries which are or may be opened to overseas merchant shipping and that treatment accorded to such vessels in such ports, places, and waters shall be no less favourable than that accorded national vessels and shall be as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country. \n\nHis Majesty's Government relinquish the special rights which vessels of the United Kingdom and India have been accorded with regard to coasting trade and inland navigation in waters of Republic of China. Should either country accord right of inland navigation or coasting trade to vessels of any third country, such rights would similarly be accorded to vessels of other country. The coasting trade and inland navigation of each country are excepted from requirement of national treatment and are to be regulated according to the laws of each country in relation thereto. It is agreed however that vessels of either country shall enjoy within the territory of other country, with respect to coasting trade and inland navigation, treatment as favourable as that accorded to vessels of any third country\". \n\n2. I request your authority to accept first paragraph in place of our l(a) in the hope that we may thus avoid further consideration of Chinese text referred to in paragraph 1 of your telegram No.1587. We see however little objection and some advantage in accepting latter text also seeing opening of ports to overseas shipping is in any case at discretion of Chinese Government. \n\nO.T.P. \n\n3. I request your authority to accept second paragraph subject to \n| Condition | Description |\n| --- | --- |\n| (a) | insertion of sentence providing for corresponding relinquishment by China of her Irrawaddy rights under convention of 1894. |\n| (b) | Addition of words \"subject to reciprocal treatment\" after the words \"of other countries\" at the end of second sentence, and addition of following sentence at the end: \"and that these and other matters connected with navigation of waters of the two countries will be discussed and dealt with on a basis of equality and reciprocity in comprehensive Treaty of Commerce and Navigation referred to in grp. undec.? Anglo-Chinese Treaty signed to-day.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573014, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 149, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## 150\n\n\n\n2. \n\n7. Exchange of notes. As regards 1(a) the Chinese stated that our text was acceptable in principle but that they wished to introduce a different wording referring to coastal ports (see your telegram No. 1587). But they were confused and the point is still under discussion [grp. omitted]; see paragraph 9 below.\n\n8. 1(b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) are agreed, with first sentence only of (c) regarding pilots. The rest of that clause will be covered by instructions to customs authorities which will be later communicated to me by letter.\n\n9. Coastal trade and inland navigation. The Chinese communicated texts contained in my telegram No. 1679. It will be noted that the first paragraph includes the substance of our 1(a). The Minister for Foreign Affairs insisted that the Chinese Government were absolutely determined not to commit themselves further and it is clear he cannot be induced to consider a clause agreeing with the draft contained in your telegram No. 1552 which I had sent him in advance. He said, however, that future co-operation with British shipping interests would be considered and appeared to have some form of [grp. undec: ? joint] enterprise in mind. Ho agreed to an additional sentence providing for relinquishment of Chinese rights on Irrawaddy. We might try also for the addition contained in my telegram No. 1679 with a view to emphasising that the door is kept open for future negotiations.\n\n10. Clause 2 is agreed. As regards clause 3, restrictions on travel and residence, the Chinese Government are unable to guarantee national treatment in peace time. They prefer to omit the clause altogether on the understanding that the right of both parties to impose restrictions for reasons of national security goes without saying. The subject has now been well aired and we can either agree to drop it or press for agreed minutes, in which case we must be satisfied with most favoured nation treatment as regards restrictions both in peace and war. I recommend the former course and request instructions.\n\n11. Personal status. The Chinese Government will consider a simple formula stating the matter as an [grp. undec. ? accepted] principle of international law. We are offering them ad referendum the text contained in my telegram No. 1680.\n\n12. Real property. We were informed that the Chinese Government are proposing to revise agreements on this head concluded with other Powers in 1928. We handed in formulae contained in paragraph 2 of your telegram No. 1573 and will press for something on these lines.\n\n13. Dual...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573047, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 182, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "# Colonial Office \n(F8099/828/10)\n\n## CYPHER\nCopies Aduati 20 TS-BIT MIOT\n\n**MOST SECRET**\n\nWith Compliments \nSudden Ses \nSta 183 \n7 DEC 42\n\nThis telegram is of particular secrecy and should be retained by the authorised recipient and not passed on.\n\n## No. 1552. WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION\nTO: CHINA \nFROM: FOREIGN OFFICE TO CHUNGKING \n5th December, 1942. \nD. 10.40 p.m. 5th December, 1942. \nRepeated to: Washington No. 555 Saving.\n\n**IMMEDIATE**\n\nMy telegram No.1538 of 30th November: extra-territoriality paragraph 8.\n\nIn order to make the position clearer, paragraph 1(g) of the draft note in my telegram No.1538 should be amended as follows. The second half of the paragraph after the words \"coastal trade and inland navigation of the Republic of China\" should read:\n\n\"and the Republic of China relinquishes its rights under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on 1st March, 1894, relating to navigation on the river Irrawaddy: the Government of the Republic of China on the one hand, and the Governments of the United Kingdom and of India on the other hand, while reserving the right to restrict the coasting trade and inland navigation to vessels flying their own flags, declare that they do not contemplate introducing restrictions which will prevent the participation by merchant vessels of His Majesty in these trades in China or the participation of Chinese merchant vessels in these trades in the territories of His Majesty to which the treaty applies, pending the making of further arrangements between them or the conclusion of the comprehensive treaty referred to in Article 8.\"\n\n2. The effect of the above amendment would be that Chinese give up their treaty right under Article 12 of the 1894 Convention, at the same time as we give up our treaty rights in China. Equally, each party promises to allow participation of merchant vessels of the other in coastal trade and inland navigation throughout all the territories to which the treaty applies pending further arrangements or the comprehensive treaty.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573055, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 190, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## 10 A\n\nrelinquishes its rights under Article 12 of the Convention signed at London on 1st March 1894 relating to navigation on the river Irrawaddy. The Chinese, United Kingdom and Indian Governments, while reserving the right to restrict coasting trade and inland navigation to vessels flying their own flags, declare that they do not contemplate introducing restrictions which will prevent the participation by merchant vessels of His Majesty in these trades in China or the participation of Chinese merchant vessels in these trades in the territories of His Majesty to which the Treaty applies, pending the making of further arrangements between them or the conclusion of the comprehensive treaty.\n\nCopy to:-\nW.C.O. F.O.\nSir J. Bridges\nMr. L.B. O. C.C.\nMr. Sir B. Newton\nMr. Ashley Clark\nMr. Sloan\nRumbold\nMr. Annan\nJanson\nTreasury\nMr. Young\nD.O.T.\nMr. Golsby\nB/Trade\nMr. Fraser.\n\n1\n\nPage 190\nPage 191", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573057, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 192, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## \n192 \n\nLate March, 1894, relating to navigation on the River \nIrrawaddy: the Government of the Republic of China on the \none hand, and the Governments of the United Kingdom and of \nIndia on the other hand, while reserving the right to \nrestrict the coasting trade and inland navigation to \nvessels flying their own flags, declare that they do not \ncontemplate introducing restrictions which will prevent \nthe participation by merchant vessels of His Majesty in \nthese trades in China or the participation of Chinese \nmerchant vessels in these trades in the territories of \nHis Majesty to which the treaty applies, pending the \nmaking of further arrangements between them or the \nconclusion of the comprehensive treaty referred to in \nArticle 8.* \n\nThe effect of this amendment would be that the Chinese \ngive up their treaty right to navigate the Irrawaddy River \n(Article 12 of the Gure Convention of 1894), at the same \ntime as we give up our treaty rights in China. \nSqually \nEach party would promise to allow the participation of \nthe merchant vessels of the other in coastal trade and inland \nnavigation", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573160, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 295, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## 3. \n\n## 87 \n\nNevertheless, we appreciate that the application in detail of this principle will be for consideration in the later comprehensive treaty, and we would be willing to begin the second sentence of this article with the words \"Pending the conclusion of the comprehensive treaty mentioned in Article 8\" provided the words \"and the carrying on of commerce\" are retained.\n\n12. We agree to the proposed change in the first sentence of Article 7. This will avoid necessity for reservation in respect of Chinese consuls in India.\n\nWe see no reason for the omission of the words \"and companies\" in the second sentence, or for the omission of the words \"any of\" in the fourth sentence unless it is to serve a restrictive purpose with which we could not agree. Please enquire what the purpose of these proposed amendments is.\n\n13. We have no objection to the proposed addition in clause 2 of Article 8 or to an exchange of notes subject to the following observations on the matters for inclusion therein.\n\n14. Since the Chinese Government are agreeing in Article 6 of the treaty to open all parts of the country to nationals of His Majesty for residence and commerce, we welcome the proposal to declare the abrogation of the \"treaty port system\" which confined foreigners for these purposes to certain cities. You should so inform the Chinese Government in these terms with a view to eliciting whether they have some ulterior purpose in raising this point of which we are not aware.\n\n15. We agree to the abolition of the special courts in the international settlements.\n\n16. As regards coastal trade and inland navigation, you should in the first instance speak to the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the lines of paragraph 3 of my telegram No. 1485 [of November 17th]. In India as well as in the United Kingdom and the Colonies, Chinese shipping is permitted to engage in these trades; and in further support of our contention that our rights in China have not in the past been unilateral, you can quote Article 12 of the Burma Convention 1894, granting to Chinese shipping rights on the Irrawaddy. If, however, the Chinese Government insist on the inclusion of this subject in an exchange of notes, we would be willing to comply on the following lines. We would state that we do not reserve any unilateral treaty rights which we possess in respect of coastal trade and inland navigation. In return for this, the Chinese Government would make a statement to the effect that, while reserving the right to limit these trades to the Chinese flag, they would permit the existing practice to continue pending further arrangements. For your own information, we should be prepared in the last resort to accept the latter undertaking in respect of coastal trade only.\n\n## 17.\n\n## 195", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573178, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 313, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "313 \n\n(78) \n\n_nisi_ has already been granted to arrange for the decree to be made absolute, but it is hoped that this could be done without any explicit provision being required.\n\n3. Points (1) and (3) in this section of the Department of State's message have already been dealt with above (under 1 (1) and (4)). This leaves outstanding point (2) - inland and coastal navigation.\n\nAs regards His Majesty's Ships, see under 1 (6) above. As regards coastal trade and inland navigation by merchant vessels, the Foreign Office think it greatly preferable to adhere, at least in the first instance, to the attitude set out in the memorandum sent to His Excellency the American Ambassador on November 12th. In doing so they do not consider that they are attempting to preserve unilateral and unequal privileges in China because in the United Kingdom, the Colonies and in India, Chinese shipping is in practice permitted to engage in these trades. The Foreign Office would for instance call the attention of the Department of State to the Burma Convention concluded between Great Britain and China in 1894 of which Article XII reads as follows:- \n\n| Text |\n| --- |\n| \"The British Government, wishing to promote frontier trade between the two countries by encouraging mining enterprise in Yunnan and in the new territorial acquisitions of China referred to in the present Convention, consent to allow Chinese vessels carrying merchandise, ores, and minerals of all kinds, and coming from or destined for China, freely to navigate the Irrawaddy on the same conditions as to dues and other matters as British vessels.\" |\n\nThe Foreign Office propose that the above should be pointed out to the Chinese Government. If, however, the Chinese Government insist on their request to have the subject of coastal trade and inland navigation included in the proposed exchange of notes, His Majesty's Government would be prepared to comply on the following lines. His Majesty's Government would state that they do not reserve any unilateral treaty rights which they possess in respect of coastal trade and inland navigation, in return for which the Chinese Government would state in effect that while reserving the right to limit these trades to the Chinese flag, they would permit the existing practice to continue pending further arrangements.\n\nHis Majesty's Government have now received proposals similar to the above from the Chinese Government for the amendment of the British draft treaty and for an exchange of notes. In the Sino-British exchange of notes the Chinese Government wish, however, to add to the matters for abrogation already mentioned to the United States Government \"the employment of a foreign national as Inspector General of the Chinese Maritime Customs\". Since the United States Government are also interested in the Chinese Customs and the financial obligations secured thereon, His Majesty's Government would be glad to learn their views on this last mentioned request. They for their part are prepared to agree to the inclusion of this point in the exchange of notes, but they would propose to express the hope that the Chinese Government will continue to maintain the administration of the Customs service as at present constituted both in China's own interest and those of the holders of Chinese bonds secured on the Customs revenue.\n\nThe...", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573180, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 315, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "# MOST SECRET\n## USUAL DISTRIBUTION\n### WAR CABINET DISTRIBUTION\n\nFROM CHINA \nFROM CHUNGKING TO FOREIGN OFFICE \n\nSir H. Seymour No.1699 \n20th December, 1942 \n\n**IMMEDIATE**\n\nMy telegram No.1677 \nD. 4.40 p.m. 20th December, 1942. R. 5.45 p.m. 20th December, 1942 \n\nFollowing are the principal points of the reply received from the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs to a communication which we addressed to him recording results of the meeting of December 14th.\n\n2. \n**Preamble**. The Chinese Government accepts the text of our original draft.\n\n3. \n**Article 6**. The Chinese Government remains of the opinion that the question of treatment of each other's nationals in matters relating to \"carrying on of commerce\" should be more properly dealt with in the subsequent commercial treaty.\n\n4. \n**Pilots**. The Ministry of Finance will instruct Customs to employ an adequate number of qualified pilots irrespective of nationality and all friendly Governments will be unofficially so informed.\n\n5. \n**Inland Navigation and Coast Trade**. It is hoped that revised draft (see my telegram No.1679) which was submitted in order to meet as far as possible the views of the British Government, will be acceptable.\n\n6. \nIt is suggested that since the Irrawaddy is an international river over which the upper riparian state enjoys a right of access to the sea, Burmese right of navigation thereon is not a special right but a common right based on general international practice. It is hoped that we will submit our observations on this view.\n\n7. \nOur proposed texts concerning the personal status, real property and dual nationality are being considered.", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 573181, "series_id": 27, "series_slug": "histsyn-co129-engine", "series_title": "CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "page_number": 316, "title": "CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943", "content_text": "## 8.\n\nReply goes on to say however as regards quality that the Chinese Government, in ratifying the version on conflicting nationality laws in 1954 made a special reservation to Article 4.\n\nIn conclusion the letter calls attention to \"two important possibilities\". Firstly as regards the Kowloon leased Territory Chinese government earnestly hope that the British government will reconsider their attitude. Secondly as regards ports opened to overseas merchant shipping the Chinese Government are of the opinion that \"all coastal ports in territorial China which are normally opened to British and overseas merchant shipping will remain open to such shipping after coming into effect of treaty and accompanying exchange of notes\".\n\n## 10.\n\nIt is not clear whether, if we accept text quoted in my telegram No.1679, the Chinese will want to add the words quoted in the preceding paragraph or whether they merely wish to place their attitude as therein defined on record. Presumably they will want to include this formula.\n\n## 11.\n\nAs regards the Irrawaddy, argument, which is presumably based on the theory that headquarters of the river may be Tibet, appears to us absurd and unlikely to be serious. Have you any special instructions...\n\nPage 316 \n\nEND", "txt_file_path": "txt/2diw2n4r2/CO129-588-24 China- British extra-territorial rights- negotiations with China 23-11-1942 - 1-1-1943.txt", "external_url": "", "rank": 0 } ]