[
    {
        "id": 411743,
        "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": 243,
        "title": "CO129-344 - Public Offices & Foreign Office - 1907",
        "content_text": "# AFFAIRS OF CHINA\n## CONFIDENTIAL\n\n242 \n21013 \n\nReceived Prď 13 JUN 07 [April 30.]\n\n### SECTION 1\n\n[13976] \n\nSir, \n\n**No. 1.** Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and Co. to Sir Edward Grey.~(Received April 30.) \n\nHead Office, Northwich, April 29, 1907. \nAT the request of our Chairman, Sir John Brunner, we beg leave to inclose you herewith extracts from letters from our General Manager in China, Mr. E. S. Little, of Shanghae, on the political situation in that country, which we have no doubt will be of interest to you. \n\nYours, &c. \n\nFor Brunner, Mond, and Co. (Limited), \n(Signed) \n**THOMAS H. FORGAN**, \nManaging Director. \n\n### Inclosure in No. 1.\n\nExtracts from Letters from Messrs. Brunner, Mond, and Co., Shanghae, China. \nJanuary 22, 1907. \n\nDR. TIMOTHY RICHARD informed a meeting of the Directors of the Diffusion Society, of which Mr. Hobson, Commissioner of Customs, is Chairman, and at which I was present, that the Provincial Treasurer of Shansi had informed him of a very serious plot being hatched in Peking. He had also received information from another high official, who stated that he could not return to Peking, as it was too dangerous for him to be there, and that the reactionaries were plotting some fearful outbreak similar to or worse than the Boxer disturbance of 1900. \n\nBearing in mind what I have already stated as to the extreme difficulty of forecasting the future in a country like China, I am still of opinion that Dr. Richard's views are extremist and alarmist. I recognize the fact that great changes are going on in this country, that there are strong anti-dynastic movements afoot, and that the Government seeks in every way possible to curtail the rights of foreigners and to deprive them of all privileges. \n\nThe Central Government is very much alarmed at the activity of revolutionary bands all along the Yang-tsze. North of the famine district also there is a turbulent section in revolt against the Government, and information arrived to-day shows that the missionaries are in considerable danger, owing to an outbreak of the people against the student class and the foreign model schools established by the Government. The people say that the foreign model schools run entirely by the Government are owing to the work of the missionaries, and in their attack on the Government schools they include also the missionaries. Tang Shao-yi informed me when I was in Peking that the Government was quite strong enough to hold all these and similar movements in check. Since that date, however, this statesman is in disgrace. \n\nI do not consider that any revolution has a ghost of a chance of being successful unless headed by the very highest mandarins with trained troops and sufficient financial resources in support. There is no such person in view along the political horizon. Sporadic outbreaks will occur in this huge Empire; and while there are symptoms of unrest, I do not think that the Government will be at all likely to sanction any such outbreak as that which occurred in 1900. All these disturbances, however, militate against trade. There is a feeling of unrest abroad throughout the Empire, but I believe that progress is being made along certain lines all the time. \n\nI regret to say that I do not see any sign of improvement in official and governing circles. The Chinese mandarin is the same to-day as he was fifty years ago. They know now very much more about foreigners and western methods, and have persuaded themselves, as I heard one of the leading return students state, that whatever a foreign man can do a Chinaman can do. Filled with this notion, they blunder into new and untrodden paths, and frequently come to grief. Many of their... \n\n[2450 gg-1]",
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    },
    {
        "id": 417566,
        "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": "CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "page_number": 278,
        "title": "CO129-353 - Public Offices - 1908",
        "content_text": "This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.\n\nAFFAIRS OF CHINA.\n\nCONFIDENTIAL.\n\n274\n\n42997\n\n[October 29.]\n\nSECTION 1.\n\n24 NOV 08\n\n[37632]\n\nSir,\n\nNo. 1.\n\nMessrs. Brunner, Mond, and Co. to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received October 29.)\n\nNorthwich, October 28, 1908.\n\nWE beg to inclose herewith an account drawn up by our representative, Mr. E. S. Little, of Shanghae, for publication, respecting his tour in Manchuria and North China, the contents of which will no doubt be of interest.\n\nYours, &c.\n\n(Signed)\n\nFor Brunner, Mond, and Co. (Limited),\n\nTHOMAS H. FORGAN,\n\nManaging Director.\n\nInclosure in No. 1.\n\nReport by Mr. E. S. Little respecting Manchuria and North China.\n\nConditions in Manchuria.\n\nMR. E. S. LITTLE, who has recently been on an extended tour in Manchuria and North China, gives the following account of his journey\n\nI started from Vladivostock and then came down by rail to Peking, and thence on to Hankow. In Vladivostock I found similar trading conditions to those that prevail over the Eastern part of Asia, and I was told by more than one responsible man that over 95 per cent. of the people and firms in the town had the greatest difficulty in meeting their obligations. I was taken by one Chinese merchant through street after street, in which he pointed out native hongs that owed sums ranging from 10,000 to 150,000 taels. Several foreign firms were reported to be in difficulties, with liabilities amounting in some cases to as much as 750,000 taels. Within the past few days the \"North China Daily News\" has reported the failure of the leading Japanese firm in Vladivostock.\n\nA Closed Port.\n\nThe one topic of interest amongst all the merchants in the port was the subject of the closing of Vladivostock as a free port. Various dates were set for the fulfilment of the prophecy, and rumours have also appeared in the Shanghae press.\n\nHotels.\n\nVladivostock has still a great deal to learn in the way of hotel accommodation for European travellers. The present hotels may be all right for Siberian Russians, but they certainly leave everything to be desired from the standpoint of a modern European hotel. The charges, too, are excessive.\n\nFrom Vladivostock to Harbin I was glad to notice considerable improvement in the cultivation of land along the line since my last visit two years ago. On that occasion I passed through a splendid country with immense possibilities, but entirely uncultivated. Now all along the line there are signs of an increased population, and that the natural advantages of the land are attracting the attention of a number of colonists, principally Koreans and Chinese. Russian soldiery were very much less in evidence than on my former visit, but on one of the stations on the Manchurian side of the frontier I was somewhat surprised to see a number of Yuan Shih-kai's foreign-drilled troops with their arms and well-filled bandoliers. A military Mandarin informed me that they had 5,000 of these troops in the neighbourhood, who were engaged in hunting down Hunghutze. This was the first sign I had seen of returning Chinese authority.\n\n[1982 ƒ-1]",
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        "rank": 0
    }
]