April 29, 1899.]
made. Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD replied that he would make enquiries, that the concession he had heard the Yamen mention was one for a railway from the French frontier to Yunnan city, and a Lungchow- Nanning railway concession was one of which he had never before heard, and that his telegram of the 12th was based on information given by a newspaper corres- pondent. On the 17th May he again wired stating that the Yamen denied having granted any concession for a railway be- tween Lungchow and Nanning. The next telegram is dated the 20th May, and in it | Sir CLAUDE says he would like to have Lord SALISBURY's views on a possible French railway from Pakhoi to the interior of the province of Kwangsi, that such concession might very likely be demanded by the French as compensation for the murder of a missionary, and that he himself thought that, in the event of its being constructed, it would not tend to
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harm our trade but rather to increase it. To this Lord SALISBURY replied:- "The more railways the better, from a "commercial point of view; but differential rates against British trade are feared. If "this concession is made to the French. "the opportunity appears favourable for 'insisting upon the opening of Nanning."
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CHINA OVERLAND TRALE REPORT.
British subjects. Sir CLAUDE put to them a concrete case, referred to him by the Go vernor of Hongkong, of an English syndicate desirous of working certain coal mines in Kwangsi. The Ministers gave him the most explicit assurances that they were under no engagement to France which would in any way interfere with such a project. With regard to the non-alienation of the provinces mentioned the Yamen said they had no great objection to giving England the same pledge, but that France would ask for a similar pledge as regards the Yangtsze. Sir CLAUDE said this would be un- reasonable, the cases being by means parallel; if France could prove that her interests in the Yangtsze Valley equalled ours in Kwantung and Kwangsi she might make such a claim, but not otherwise.
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there can be little doubt. As an offset to French penetration in that direction, the British have an equal right to construct a line from Burmah to Yuunan. That pro- ject is as yet somewhat nebulous, but the construction of a line from Hankew to Can- ton by au Anglo-American Syndicate and of a line from Canton to Kowloon by a British Syndicate are projects that may be looked upon as definitely launched. We can afford to regard the French concessions in Kwangsi with equanimity for the pre- sent, but there is the danger that in future, when extensions of the British or Anglo- American systems are required in that direc- tion, the French may make use of their unworked concessions for purposes of obs truction. It may also be anticipated that any demand for the cession to Great Britain of the territory between Kowloon and the East River would likewise be opposed by France and her friends.
Subsequent despatches report the grant- ing to France of a concession for a railway from Pakhoi to Nanning, to which it appears that no objection was made on the part of England, except that the Yamen were warned that differential rates would hand, showed herself obstructive, for on the not be tolerated. France, on the other 25th July Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD had to telegragh as follows: Messrs. JARDINE "MATHESON & Co.'s Syndicate have applied through SHENG, the Director-General of Railways, for the above Concession "(Hongkong-Canton Railway Concession.) "I am officially informed by the Chinese "Government that the French Minister has "warned them that French interests in “Southern China will be injuriously affected "if permission to construct the said line is granted to a British Syndicate. The "Chinese Government entirely recognise the extreme weakness of such a contention." The Concession was subsequently approved and the survey is now in progress. With regard to the French railways, the position is summarised by Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD in a letter to Lord CHARLES BERESFORD, dated 23rd November last, in which he says:-" The French possess the right to construct three lines, but beyond acquir- ing this right they have done nothing, "1.--From Tonkin up the Red River Valley to Yunnanfu, say 200 miles. The im- pression in French railway circles is that a railway through Yunnan will not pay expenses, and if any serious attempt is "made to carry out the extension of the Tonkin system, it will be merely as a stepping stone to Szechuen. Yet again, any pretensions that a railway from Yuunan to the Yangtzee may have to rank "commercial project have been pronounced against by every traveller in Central China. 2.-Langson-Lungchow-Nanning Railway length, about 100 miles. (There appears "to be an alternative open to the French of going to Posé instead of Nanning.) The right to build this line has been conceded, "but the idea is growing amongst the "French of Tonkin that instead of diverting "traffic from the West River, a line from Langson to Lungehow and Nanning would prove an additional feeder of the West River route. 3.-From Pakhoi inland, "presumably to Nanuing; length, say 120 "miles. The Tonkin Press have pointed out that this line will benefit English com- merce more than French. It will never, "in my opinion, be built-by the French." With respect to the last two lines, probably Sir CLAude MacDonald is right. With respect to the Yunnan line, we believe the French are determined to coustruct it; whatever may be thought of the pros pect of its at once paying its way; that such  line would ultimately pay
The next in the series is Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD'S written despatch of the 15th April, which gives in fuller detail the in- formation contained in the earlier of the telegrams given above, and reports his conversations with the Yamen. The Yamen said that the French argued that as China had given a pledge to Great Britain not to alienate any territory in the Yangtsze egion she should not refuse a similarr Fledge to France with regard to the south- ern and south-western provinces. Sir CLAUDE replied that the cases were totatly different, that our object in asking for a pledge as regarded the Yangtsze was to safeguard the commerce on that river. He also warned them that the lease of a coaling station would inevitably be followed by similar demands from other Powers, includ ing Great Britain, that we had so far re- frained from asking even for an extension of territory at Kowloon, which was urgently required, for fear of giving a pretext to other Powers, but if China showed that only the Powers which showed no regard for her in- tegrity obtained concessions, and that those which exhibited forbearance were left out in the cold, we should have to protect ourselves and demand our share In, a subsequent interview the Yamen endeavoured to obtain a promise that Great Britain would not make the lease of a coaling station to France a ground for further territorial demands on her own part. Sir CLAUDE again admonished the Yamen, and at a further interview told them that the iu- structions ho had received did not authorise him to iudicate any limits to the demands to which concessions to France might lead; he thought it possible that Her Majesty's Government in their extreme anxiety to preserve the integrity of China would re- frain from making any territorial demands beyond such an extension of the Hongkong boundaries as was required for the defence of the colony, but whether they would be able to confine their demands within those limits depended on the nature of the con- cessions to Frauce; apart from territorial acquisitions, the Chinese Government had had full warning, which he now repeated, as to the consequences of concessions of other kinds. Discussing the effect of the arrangement with France the Yamen said it in no way affected mining concessions to
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REPARATION FOR THE KOWLOON TREACHERY.
(Daily Press, 22nd April.)
It is satisfactory to learn that the dis- turbances in the Kowloon hinterland häve
already been made the subject of inquiry in the House of Commons. "No doubt the local Government have kept the Colonial Office well informed as to the position of affairs. They may not, perhaps, have dwelt- at any length on their own failure to issue- proclamations to the inhabitants of the ceded territory to counteract the egregious libels put into circulation among them by in- terested persons, or their want of foresight in not taking steps to prevent raids by banditti, which seem to have been made from Tungkun with the object of plunder and rapine. But the Government have probably acquainted Mr. CHAMBERLAIN with the neglect of the Kwangtung Gov- ernment to prepare the people of the hinterland for its transfer to British rule. They may also have communicated to the Secretary of State for the Colonies their well-founded belief that the armed rising against the British was organized with the knowledge if not with the avowed and ex- press sanction of the Viceroy, for Mr. CHAMBERLAIN, in his speech on the subject, said that the combatants included "uni- formed Chinese," and "it was doubtful "whether the attitude of the Chinese did
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not necessitate a careful reconsideration "of the position." We take this to mean that the right hon. gentleman is of opinion that the terms of the Kowloon Extension Agreement may now need some revision. We imagine that they will need such revision, When the Kowloon peninsula was first. ceded to Great Britain, it was on a lease; but this was subsequently, under the Peking, Convention, cancelled, and the territory ceded in perpetuity. This was in part reparation for the treachery shown in the attack in 1859 by the Taku forts on the British Fleet; and for another act of treachery, in the fomenting of armed resi tance to the British occupation of the hinterland, the extension of Kowloon should also be demanded as an absolute cession. The lense for ninety-nine years must in any case prove most uusatis- factory, as it is likely to unsettle the Chi- nese population by leading them to regard the British tenancy of the province as only a temporary arrangemeut, and to think that the laud really belongs to the ground land- lord, the Emperor KwANG Su, to also their allegiance is still due. These points that might not occúr to the British Minister when negotiating for the lease, or
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