The Fight for the Republic in China (2024)

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THE FIGHT FOR THE REPUBLIC IN CHINA

BY B. L. PUTNAM WEALE

This volume tells everything that the student or the casual readerneeds to know about the Chinese Question. It is sufficientlyexhaustive to show very clearly the new forces at work, and tobring some realisation of the great gulf which separates thethinking classes of to-day from the men of a few years ago;whilst, at the same time, it is sufficiently condensed not tooverwhelm the reader with too great a multitude of facts.

Particular attention may be devoted to an unique feature—namely,the Chinese and Japanese documentation which affords a sharpcontrast between varying types of Eastern brains. Thus, in theMemorandum of the Black Dragon Society (Chapter VII) we have avery clear and illuminating revelation of the Japanese politicalmind which has been trained to consider problems in the modernWestern way, but which remains saturated with theocratic ideals inthe sharpest conflict with the Twentieth Century. In the pamphletof Yang Tu (Chapter VIII) which launched the ill-fated MonarchyScheme and contributed so largely to the dramatic death of YuanShih-kai, we have an essentially Chinese mentality of thereactionary or corrupt type which expresses itself both on homeand foreign issues in a naively dishonest way, helpful to futurediplomacy. In the Letter of Protest (Chapter X) against therevival of Imperialism written by Liang Ch'i-chao—the mostbrilliant scholar living—we have a Chinese of the New or LiberalChina, who in spite of a complete ignorance of foreign languagesshows a marvellous grasp of political absolutes, and is aharbinger of the great days which must come again to Cathay. Inother chapters dealing with the monarchist plot we see theofficial mind at work, the telegraphic despatches exchangedbetween Peking and the provinces being of the highest diplomaticinterest. These documents prove conclusively that although theJapanese is more practical than the Chinese—and more concise—there can be no question as to which brain is the more fruitful.

Coupled with this discussion there is much matter giving aninsight into the extraordinary and calamitous foreign ignoranceabout present-day China, an ignorance which is just as markedamong those resident in the country as among those who have nevervisited it. The whole of the material grouped in this novelfashion should not fail to bring conviction that the Far East,with its 500 millions of people, is destined to play an importantrole in post-bellum history because of the new type of modernspirit which is being there evolved. The influence of the ChineseRepublic, in the opinion of the writer, cannot fail to beultimately world-wide in view of the practically unlimitedresources in man-power which it disposes of.

In the Appendices will be found every document of importance forthe period of under examination,—1911 to 1917. The writer desiresto record his indebtedness to the columns of The Peking Gazette, anewspaper which under the brilliant editorship of Eugene Ch'en—apure Chinese born and educated under the British flag—has foughtconsistently and victoriously for Liberalism and Justice and hasmade the Republic a reality to countless thousands who otherwisewould have refused to believe in it.

PUTNAM WEALE. PEKING, June, 1917.

I. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

II. THE ENIGMA OF YUAN SHIH-KA

III. THE DREAM REPUBLIC (From the Manchu Abdication to thedissolution of Parliament)

IV. THE DICTATOR AT WORK (From the Coup d'etat of the 4th. Nov.1913 to the outbreak of the World-war, 1. August, 1914)

V. THE FACTOR OF JAPAN

VI. THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS

VII. THE ORIGIN OF THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS

VIII. THE MONARCHIST PLOT 1 DEGREE The Pamphlet of Yang Tu

IX. THE MONARCHY PLOT 2 DEGREES Dr. Goodnow's Memorandum

X. THE MONARCHY MOVEMENT Is OPPOSED The Appeal of the Scholar
Liang Chi-chao

XI. THE DREAM EMPIRE ("The People's Voice" and the action of the
Powers)

XII. "THE THIRD REVOLUTION" The Revolt of Yunnan

XIII. "THE THIRD REVOLUTION'" (CONTINUED) Downfall and Death of
Yuan Shih-kai

XIV. THE NEW REGIME—FROM 1916 TO 1917

XV. THE REPUBLIC IN COLLISION WITH REALITY: Two TYPICAL INSTANCES
OF "FOREIGN AGGRESSION"

XVI. CHINA AND THE WAR

XVII. THE FINAL PROBLEM:—REMODELLING THE POLITICO-ECONOMICRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHINA AND THE WORLD

APPENDICES—DOCUMENTS AND MEMORANDA

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The revolution which broke out in China on the 10th October, 1911,and which was completed with the abdication of the Manchu Dynastyon the 12th February, 1912, though acclaimed as highly successful,was in its practical aspects something very different. With theproclamation of the Republic, the fiction of autocratic rule hadtruly enough vanished; yet the tradition survived and with itsufficient of the essential machinery of Imperialism to defeat thenominal victors until the death of Yuan Shih-kai.

The movement to expel the Manchus, who had seized the DragonThrone in 1644 from the expiring Ming Dynasty, was an old one.Historians are silent on the subject of the various secret plotswhich were always being hatched to achieve that end, their silencebeing due to a lack of proper records and to the difficulty ofestablishing the simple truth in a country where rumour reignssupreme. But there is little doubt that the famous Ko-lao-hui, aSecret Society with its headquarters in the remote province ofSzechuan, owed its origin to the last of the Ming adherents, whoafter waging a desperate guerilla warfare from the date of theirexpulsion from Peking, finally fell to the low level of incitingassassinations and general unrest in the vain hope that they mightsome day regain their heritage. At least, we know one thingdefinitely: that the attempt on the life of the Emperor Chia Chingin the Peking streets at the beginning of the Nineteenth Centurywas a Secret Society plot, and brought to an abrupt end thepleasant habit of travelling among their subjects which the greatManchu Emperors K'anghsi and Ch'ien Lung had inaugurated andalways pursued and which had so largely encouraged the growth ofpersonal loyalty to a foreign House.

From that day onwards for over a century no Emperor ventured outfrom behind the frowning Walls of the Forbidden City save forbrief annual ceremonies such as the Worship of Heaven on theoccasion of the Winter Solstice, and during the two "flights"—first, in 1860 when Peking was occupied by an Anglo-Frenchexpedition and the Court incontinently sought sanctuary in themountain Palaces of Jehol; and, again, in 1900, when with thepricking of the Boxer bubble and the arrival of the Internationalrelief armies, the Imperial Household was forced along the stonyroad to faroff Hsianfu.

The effect of this immurement was soon visible; the Manchu rule,which was emphatically a rule of the sword, was rapidly soweakened that the emperors became no more than rois faineants atthe mercy of their ministers.

[Footnote: As there is a good deal of misunderstanding on thesubject of the Manchus an explanatory note is useful.

The Manchu people, who belong to the Mongol or Turanian Group,number at the maximum five million souls. Their distribution atthe time of the revolution of 1911 was roughly as follows: In andaround Peking say two millions, in posts through China say one-half million,—or possibly three-quarters of a million; inManchuria Proper—the home of the race—say two or two and a halfmillions. The fighting force was composed in this fashion: WhenPeking fell into their hands in 1644 as a result of a stratagemcombined with dissensions among the Chinese themselves, the entirearmed strength was re-organized in Eight Banners or Army Corps,each corps being composed of three racial divisions, (1) pureManchus, (2) Mongols who had assisted in the conquest and (3)Nothern Chinese who had gone over to the conquerors. These EightBanners, each commanded by an "iron-capped" Prince, representedthe authority of the Throne and had their headquarters in Pekingwith small garrisons throughout the provinces at various strategiccentres. These garrisons had entirely ceased to have any valuebefore the 18th Century had closed and were therefore pureceremonial and symbolic, all the fighting being done by specialChinese corps which were raised as neccessity arose.]

The history of the Nineteenth Century is thus logically enough thehistory of successive collapses. Not only did overseas foreignersopenly thunder at the gateways of the empire and force an ingress,but native rebellions were constant and common. Leaving minordisturbances out of account, there were during this period twohuge Mahommedan rebellions, besides the cataclysmic Taiping risingwhich lasted ten years and is supposed to have destroyed theunbelievable total of one hundred million persons. The empire,torn by internecine warfare, surrendered many of its essentialprerogatives to foreigners, and by accepting the principle ofextraterritoriality prepared the road to ultimate collapse.

How in such circ*mstances was it possible to keep aliveabsolutism? The answer is so curious that we must be explicit andexhaustive.

The simple truth is that save during the period of vigourimmediately following each foreign conquest (such as the Mongolconquest in the Thirteenth Century and the Manchu in theSeventeenth) not only has there never been any absolutism properlyso-called in China, but that apart from the most meagre andinefficient tax-collecting and some rough-and-ready policing inand around the cities there has never been any true governing atall save what the people did for themselves or what they demandedof the officials as a protection against one another. Any one whodoubts these statements has no inkling of those facts which arethe crown as well as the foundation of the Chinese group-system,and which must be patiently studied in the village-life of thecountry to be fitly appreciated. To be quite frank, absolutism isa myth coming down from the days of Kublai Khan when he so proudlybuilt his Khan-baligh (the Cambaluc of Marco Polo and the forebearof modern Peking) and filled it with his troops who so soonvanished like the snows of winter. An elaborate pretence, adeliberate policy of make-believe, ever since those days investedImperial Edicts with a majesty which they have never reallypossessed, the effacement of the sovereign during the NineteenthCentury contributing to the legend that there existed in thecapital a Grand and Fearful Panjandrum for whom no miracle was toogreat and to whom people and officials owed trembling obedience.

In reality, the office of emperor was never more than a politico-religious concept, translated for the benefit of the masses intosocio-economic ordinances. These pronouncements, cast in the formof periodic homilies called Edicts, were the ritual of government;their purpose was instructional rather than mandatory; they weredesigned to teach and keep alive the State-theory that the Emperorwas the High Priest of the Nation and that obedience to themorality of the Golden Age, which had been inculcated by all thephilosophers since Confucius and Mencius flourished twenty-fivecenturies ago, would not only secure universal happiness butcontribute to national greatness.

The office of Emperor was thus heavenly rather than terrestrial,and suasion, not arms, was the most potent argument used ineveryday life. The amazing reply (i.e., amazing to foreigners)made by the great Emperor K'ang-hsi in the tremendous EighteenthCentury controversy between the Jesuit and the Dominicanmissionaries, which ruined the prospects of China's ever becomingRoman Catholic and which the Pope refused to accept—that thecustom of ancestor-worship was political and not religious—wasabsolutely correct, POLITICS IN CHINA UNDER THE EMPIRE BEING ONLYA SYSTEM OF NATIONAL CONTROL EXERCISED BY INCULCATING OBEDIENCE TOFOREBEARS. The great efforts which the Manchus made from the endof the Sixteenth Century (when they were still a small ManchurianPrincipality striving for the succession to the Dragon Throne andlaunching desperate attacks on the Great Wall of China) to receivefrom the Dalai Lama, as well as from the lesser Pontiffs of Tibetand Mongolia, high-sounding religious titles, prove conclusivelythat dignities other than mere possession of the Throne were heldnecessary to give solidity to a reign which began in militarismand which would collapse as the Mongol rule had collapsed by amere Palace revolution unless an effective MORAL title weresomehow won.

Nor was the Manchu military Conquest, even after they had enteredPeking, so complete as has been represented by historians. TheManchus were too small a handful, even with their Mongol andChinese auxiliaries, to do more than defeat the Ming armies andobtain the submission of the chief cities of China. It is well-known to students of their administrative methods, that whilstthey reigned over China they RULED only in company with theChinese, the system in force being a dual control which, beginningon the Grand Council and in the various great Boards andDepartments in the capital, proceeded as far as the provincialchief cities, but stopped short there so completely and absolutelythat the huge chains of villages and burgs had their historicautonomy virtually untouched and lived on as they had alwayslived. The elaborate system of examinations, with the splendidofficial honours reserved for successful students which wasadopted by the Dynasty, not only conciliated Chinese society butprovided a vast body of men whose interest lay in maintaining thenew conquest; and thus Literature, which had always been the doorto preferment, became not only one of the instruments ofgovernment, but actually the advocate of an alien rule. With theirpersons and properties safe, and their women-folk protected by anelaborate set of capitulations from being requisitioned for theharems of the invaders, small wonder if the mass of Chinesewelcomed a firm administration after the frightful disorders whichhad torn the country during the last days of the Mings. [Footnote:This most interesting point—the immunity of Chinese women fromforced marriage with Manchus—has been far too little noticed byhistorians though it throws a flood of light on the sociologicalaspects of the Manchu conquest. Had that conquest been absolute itwould have been impossible for the Chinese people to haveprotected their womenfolk in such a significant way.]

It was the foreigner, arriving in force in China after the captureof Peking and the ratification of the Tientsin Treaties in 1860,who so greatly contributed to making the false idea of Manchuabsolutism current throughout the world; and in this work it wasthe foreign diplomat, coming to the capital saturated with thetradition of European absolutism, who played a not unimportantpart. Investing the Emperors with an authority with which theywere never really clothed save for ceremonial purposes(principally perhaps because the Court was entirely withdrawn fromview and very insolent in its foreign intercourse) a conception ofHigh Mightiness was spread abroad reminiscent of the awe in whichEighteenth Century nabobs spoke of the Great Mogul of India.Chinese officials, quickly discovering that their easiest means ofdefence against an irresistible pressure was to take refuge behindthe august name of the sovereign, played their role sosuccessfully that until 1900 it was generally believed byEuropeans that no other form of government than a despotism sansphrase could be dreamed of. Finding that on the surface anImperial Decree enjoyed the majesty of an Ukaze of the Czar,Europeans were ready enough to interpret as best suited theirenterprises something which they entirely failed to construe interms expressive of the negative nature of Chinese civilization;and so it happened that though the government of China had becomeno government at all from the moment that extraterritorialitydestroyed the theory of Imperial inviolability and infallibility,the miracle of turning state negativism into an active governingelement continued to work after a fashion because of the disguisewhich the immense distances afforded.

Adequately to explain the philosophy of distance in China, andwhat it has meant historically, would require a whole volume toitself; but it is sufficient for our purpose to indicate herecertain prime essentials. The old Chinese were so entrenched intheir vastnesses that without the play of forces which weresupernatural to them, i.e., the steam-engine, the telegraph, thearmoured war-vessel, etc., their daily lives could not beaffected. Left to themselves, and assisted by their own methods,they knew that blows struck across the immense roadless spaceswere so diminished in strength, by the time they reached the spotaimed at, that they became a mere mockery of force; and, justbecause they were so valueless, paved the way to effectivecompromises. Being adepts in the art which modern surgeons haveadopted, of leaving wounds as far as possible to heal themselves,they trusted to time and to nature to solve political differenceswhich western countries boldly attacked on very differentprinciples. Nor were they wrong in their view. From the capital tothe Yangtsze Valley (which is the heart of the country), is 800miles, that is far more than the mileage between Paris and Berlin.From Peking to Canton is 1,400 miles along a hard and difficultroute; the journey to Yunnan by the Yangtsze river is upwards of2,000 miles, a distance greater than the greatest march everundertaken by Napoleon. And when one speaks of the OuterDominions—Mongolia, Tibet, Turkestan—for these hundreds ofmiles it is necessary to substitute thousands, and add there todifficulties of terrain which would have disheartened even RomanGenerals.

Now the old Chinese, accepting distance as the supreme thing, hadmade it the starting-point as well as the end of their government.In the perfected viceregal system which grew up under the MingDynasty, and which was taken over by the Manchus as a sound andadmirable governing principle, though they superimposed their ownmilitary system of Tartar Generals, we have the plan thatnullified the great obstacle. Authority of every kind wasdelegated by the Throne to various distant governing centuries ina most complete and sweeping manner, each group of provinces,united under a viceroy, being in everything but name so manyindependent linked commonwealths, called upon for matricularcontributions in money and grain but otherwise left severelyalone. [Footnote: A very interesting proof—and one that has neverbeen properly exposed—of the astoundingly rationalisticprinciples on which the Chinese polity is founded is to be seen inthe position of priesthoods in China. Unlike every othercivilization in the world, at no stage of the development of theState has it been necessary for religion in China to intervenebetween the rulers and the ruled, saving the people fromoppression. In Europe without the supernatural barrier of theChurch, the position of the common people in the Middle Ages wouldhave been intolerable, and life, and virtue totally unprotected.Buckle, in his "History of Civilization," like other extremeradicals, has failed to understand that established religions haveparadoxically been most valuable because of their vast secularpowers, exercised under the mask of spiritual authority. Withoutthis ghostly restraint rulers would have been so oppressive as tohave destroyed their peoples. The two greatest monuments toChinese civilization, then consist of these twin facts; first,that the Chinese have never had the need for such supernaturalrestraints exercised by a privileged body, and secondly, that theyare absolutely without any feeling of class or caste—prince andpauper meeting on terms of frank and humorous equality—the racethus being the only pure and untinctured democracy the world hasever known.] The chain which bound provincial China to themetropolitan government was therefore in the last analysis financeand nothing but finance; and if the system broke down in 1911 itwas because financial reform—to discount the new forces of whichthe steam engine was the symbol—had been attempted, like militaryreform, both too late and in the wrong way, and instead ofstrengthening, had vastly weakened the authority of the Throne.

In pursuance of the reform-plan which became popular after theBoxer Settlement had allowed the court to return to Peking fromHsianfu, the viceroys found their most essential prerogative,which was the control of the provincial purse, largely taken fromthem and handed over to Financial Commissioners who were directlyresponsible to the Peking Ministry of Finance, a Department whichwas attempting to replace the loose system of matricularcontributions by the European system of a directly controlledtaxation every penny of which would be shown in an annual Budget.No doubt had time been vouchsafed, and had European help beenenlisted on a large scale, this change could ultimately have beenmade successful. But it was precisely time which was lacking; andthe Manchus consequently paid the penalty which is always paid bythose who delay until it is too late. The old theories having beenopenly abandoned, it needed only the promise of a Parliamentcompletely to destroy the dignity of the Son of Heaven, and toleave the viceroys as mere hostages in the hands of rebels. A fewshort weeks of rebellion was sufficient in 1911 to cause theprovinces to revert to their condition of the earlier centurieswhen they had been vast unfettered agricultural communities. Andonce they had tasted the joys of this new independence, it wasimpossible to conceive of their becoming "obedient" again.

Here another word of explanation is necessary to show clearly theprecise meaning of regionalism in China.

What had originally created each province was the chief city ineach region, such cities necessarily being the walled repositoriesof all increment. Greedy of territory to enhance their wealth, andjealous of their power, these provincial capitals throughout theages had left no stone unturned to extend their influence in everypossible direction and bring under their economic control as muchland as possible, a fact which is abundantly proved by the highlydiversified system of weights and measures throughout the landdeliberately drawn-up to serve as economic barriers. River-courses, mountain-ranges, climate and soil, no doubt assisted ingoverning this expansion, but commercial and financial greed wasthe principal force. Of this we have an exceedingly interestingand conclusive illustration in the struggle still proceedingbetween the three Manchurian provinces, Fengtien, Kirin andHeilungchiang, to seize the lion's share of the virgin land ofEastern Inner Mongolia which has an "open frontier" of rollingprairies. Having the strongest provincial capital—Moukden—ithas been Fengtien province which has encroached on the Mongoliangrasslands to such an extent that its jurisdiction to-day envelopsthe entire western flank of Kirin province (as can be seen in thelatest Chinese maps) in the form of a salamander, effectivelypreventing the latter province from controlling territory thatgeographically belongs to it. In the same way in the land-settlement which is still going on the Mongolian plateauimmediately above Peking, much of what should be Shansi territoryhas been added to the metropolitan province of Chihli. Thoughadjustments of provincial boundaries have been summarily made intimes past, in the main the considerations we have indicated havebeen the dominant factors in determining the area of each unit.

Now in many provinces where settlement is age-old, the regionalismwhich results from great distances and bad communications has beengreatly increased by race-admixture. Canton province, which waslargely settled by Chinese adventurers sailing down the coast fromthe Yangtsze and intermarrying with Annamese and the olderautochthonous races, has a population-mass possessing verydistinct characteristics, which sharply conflict with Northerntraits. Fuhkien province is not only as diversified but speaks adialect which is virtually a foreign language. And so on North andWest of the Yangtsze it is the same story, temperamentaldifferences of the highest political importance being everywherein evidence and leading to perpetual bickerings and jealousies.For although Chinese civilization resembles in one greatparticular the Mahommedan religion, in that it accepts withoutquestion all adherents irrespective of racial origin, POLITICALLYthe effect of this regionalism has been such that up to veryrecent times the Central Government has been almost as much aforeign government in the eyes of many provinces as the governmentof Japan. Money alone formed the bond of union; so long asquestions of taxation were not involved, Peking was as far removedfrom daily life as the planet Mars.

As we are now able to see very clearly, fifty years ago—that isat the time of the Taiping Rebellion—the old power and spell ofthe National Capital as a military centre had really vanished.Though in ancient days horsem*n armed with bows and lances couldsweep like a tornado over the land, levelling everything save thewalled cities, in the Nineteenth Century such methods had becomeimpossible. Mongolia and Manchuria had also ceased to beinexhaustible reservoirs of warlike men; the more adjacentportions had become commercialized; whilst the outer regions hadsunk to depopulated graziers' lands. The Government, after thecollapse of the Rebellion, being greatly impoverished, had openlyfallen to balancing province against province and personalityagainst personality, hoping that by some means it would be able toregain its prestige and a portion of its former wealth. Takingdown the ledgers containing the lists of provincial contributions,the mandarins of Peking completely revised every schedule,redistributed every weight, and saw to it that the matricularlevies should fall in such a way as to be crushing. The newtaxation, likin, which, like the income-tax in England, is inorigin purely a war-tax, by gripping inter-provincial commerce bythe throat and rudely controlling it by the barrier-system, wassuddenly disclosed as a new and excellent way of making felt themenaced sovereignty of the Manchus; and though the system wasplainly a two-edged weapon, the first edge to cut was the Imperialedge; that is largely why for several decades after the TaipingsChina was relatively quiet.

Time was also giving birth to another important development—important in the sense that it was to prove finally decisive. Itwould have been impossible for Peking, unless men of outstandinggenius had been living, to have foreseen that not only had thereal bases of government now become entirely economic control, butthat the very moment that control faltered the central governmentof China would openly and absolutely cease to be any government atall. Modern commercialism, already invading China at many pointsthrough the medium of the treaty-ports, was a force which in thelong run could not be denied. Every year that passed tended toemphasize the fact that modern conditions were cutting Peking moreand more adrift from the real centres of power—the economiccentres which, with the single exception of Tientsin, lie from 800to 1,500 miles away. It was these centres that were developingrevolutionary ideas—i. e., ideas at variance with the Socio-economic principles on which the old Chinese commonwealth had beenslowly built up, and which foreign dynasties such as the Mongoland the Manchu had never touched. The Government of the post-Taiping period still imagined that by making their hands lie moreheavily than ever on the people and by tightening the taxationcontrol—not by true creative work—they could rehabilitatethemselves.

It would take too long, and would weary the indulgence of thereader to establish in a conclusive manner this thesis which hadlong been a subject of inquiry on the part of political students.Chinese society, being essentially a society organized on acredit-co-operative system, so nicely adjusted that money, eithercoined or fiduciary, was not wanted save for the petty dailypurchases of the people, any system which boldly clutched at thefinancial establishments undertaking the movement of sycee(silver) from province to province for the settlement of trade-balances, was bound to be effective so long as those financialestablishments remained unshaken.

The best known establishments, united in the great group known asthe Shansi Bankers, being the government bankers, undertook notonly all the remittances of surpluses to Peking, but controlled byan intricate pass-book system the perquisites of almost everyoffice-holder in the empire. No sooner did an official, under thesystem which had grown up, receive a provincial appointment thanthere hastened to him a confidential clerk of one of theseaccommodating houses, who in the name of his employers advancedall the sums necessary for the payment of the official's post, andthen proceeded with him to his province so that moiety by moiety,as taxation flowed in, advances could be paid off and theequilibrium re-established. A very intimate and far-reachingconnection thus existed between provincial money-interests and theofficial classes. The practical work of governing China was thebalancing of tax-books and native bankers' accounts. Even the"melting-houses," where sycee was "standardized" for provincialuse, were the joint enterprises of officials and merchants;bargaining governing every transaction; and only when a violentbreak occurred in the machinery, owing to famine or rebellion, didany other force than money intervene.

There was nothing exceptional in these practices, in the use ofwhich the old Chinese empire was merely following the precedent ofthe Roman Empire. The vast polity that was formed before the timeof Christ by the military and commercial expansion of Rome in theMediterranean Basin, and among the wild tribes of Northern Europe,depended very largely on the genius of Italian financiers and tax-collectors to whom the revenues were either directly "farmed," orwho "assisted" precisely after the Chinese method in financingofficials and local administrations, and in replenishing a centraltreasury which no wealth could satisfy. The Chinese phenomenon wastherefore in no sense new; the dearth of coined money and thevariety of local standards made the methods used economicnecessities. The system was not in itself a bad system: its fatalquality lay in its woodenness, its lack of adaptability, and inits growing weakness in the face of foreign competition which itcould never understand. Foreign competition—that was the enemydestined to achieve an overwhelming triumph and dash to ruins ahoary survival.

War with Japan sounded the first trumpet-blast which should havebeen heeded. In the year 1894, being faced with the necessity offinding immediately a large sum of specie for purpose of war, thenative bankers proclaimed their total inability to do so, and thefirst great foreign loan contract was signed.

[Footnote: (a) This loan was the so-called 7 per cent Silver loanof 1894 for Shanghai Taels 10,000,000 negotiated by the Hongkong &Shanghai Bank. It was followed in 1895 by a 3,000,000 pounds Gold6 per cent Loan, then by two more 6 per cent loans for a millioneach in the same year, making a total of 6,635,000 pounds sterlingfor the bare war-expenses. The Japanese war indemnity raised inthree successive issues—from 1895 to 1898—of 16,000,000 poundseach, added 48,000,000 pounds. Thus the Korean imbroglio costChina nearly 55 millions sterling. As the purchasing power of thesovereign is eight times larger in China than in Europe, this debteconomically would mean 440 millions in England—say nearly doublewhat the ruinous South African war cost. It is by such methods ofcomparison that the vital nature of the economic factor in recentChinese history is made clear.]

Little attention was attracted to what is a turning-point inChinese history. There cannot be the slightest doubt that in 1894the Manchus wrote the first sentences of an abdication which wasonly formally pronounced in 1912: they had inaugurated thefinancial thraldom under which China still languishes. Within aperiod of forty months, in order to settle the disastrous Japanesewar, foreign loans amounting to nearly fifty-five million poundswere completed. This indebtedness, amounting to nearly three timesthe "visible" annual revenues of the country—that is, therevenues actually accounted for to Peking—was unparalleled inChinese history. It was a gold indebtedness subject to all sortsof manipulations which no Chinese properly understood. It hadspecial political meaning and special political consequencesbecause the loans were virtually guaranteed by the Powers. It wasa long-drawn coup d'etat of a nature that all foreignersunderstood because it forged external chains.

The internal significance was even greater than the external. Theloans were secured on the most important "direct" revenuesreaching Peking—the Customs receipts, which were concerned withthe most vital function in the new economic life springing up, thesteam-borne coasting and river-trade as well as the purelyforeign trade. That most vital function tended consequently tobecome more and more hall-marked as foreign; it no longer dependedin any direct sense on Peking for protection. The hypothecation ofthese revenues to foreigners for periods running into decades—coupled with their administration by foreigners—was such adistinct restriction of the rights of eminent domain as to amountto a partial abrogation of sovereignty.

That this was vaguely understood by the masses is now quitecertain. The Boxer movement of 1900, like the great proletarianrisings which occurred in Italy in the pre-Christian era as aresult of the impoverishment and moral disorder brought about byRoman misgovernment, was simply a socio-economic catastropheexhibiting itself in an unexpected form. The dying Manchu dynasty,at last in open despair, turned the revolt, insanely enough,against the foreigner—that is against those who already held thereally vital portion of their sovereignty. So far from savingitself by this act, the dynasty wrote another sentence in itsdeath-warrant. Economically the Manchus had been for years almostlost; the Boxer indemnities were the last straw. By more thandoubling the burden of foreign commitments, and by placing theoperation of the indemnities directly in the hands of foreignbankers by the method of monthly quotas, payable in Shanghai, THEPEKING GOVERNMENT AS FAR BACK AS FIFTEEN YEARS AGO WAS REDUCED TOBEING A GOVERNMENT AT THIRTY DAYS' SIGHT, AT THE MERCY OF ANYSHOCK OF EVENTS WHICH COULD BE PROTRACTED OVER A FEW MONTHLYSETTLEMENTS. There is no denying this signal fact, which isprobably the most remarkable illustration of the restrictive powerof money which has ever been afforded in the history of Asia.

The phenomenon, however, was complex and we must be careful tounderstand its workings. A mercantile curiosity, to find theparallel for which we must go back to the Middle Ages in Europe,when "free cities" such as those of the Hanseatic Leagueplentifully dotted river and coast line, served to increase thegeneral difficulties of a situation which no one formula couldadequately cover. Extraterritoriality, by creating the "treatyport" in China, had been the most powerful weapon in underminingnative economics; yet at the same time it had been the agent forcreating powerful new counter-balancing interests. Though theincreasingly large groups of foreigners, residing under their ownlaws, and building up, under their own specially protected systemof international exchange, a new and imposing edifice, had madethe hovel-like nature of Chinese economics glaringly evident, themercantile classes of the New China, being always quick to availthemselves of money-making devices, had not only taken shelterunder this new and imposing edifice, but were rapidly extending itof their own accord. In brief, the trading Chinese wereidentifying themselves and their major interests with the treaty-ports; they were transferring thither their specie and theircredits; making huge investments in land and properties, under theaegis of foreign flags in which they absolutely trusted. Themoney-interests of the country knew instinctively that the nativesystem was doomed and that with this doom there would come manychanges; these interests, in the way common to money all the worldover, were insuring themselves against the inevitable.

The force of this—politically—became finally evident in 1911;and what we have said in our opening sentences should now beclear. The Chinese Revolution was an emotional rising against thePeking System because it was a bad and inefficient and retrogradesystem, just as much as against the Manchus, who after all hadadopted purely Chinese methods and who were no more foreignersthan Scotchmen or Irishmen are foreigners to-day in England. TheRevolution of 1911 derived its meaning and its value—as well asits mandate—not from what it proclaimed, but for what it stoodfor. Historically, 1911 was the lineal descendant of 1900, whichagain was the offspring of the economic collapse advertised by thegreat foreign loans of the Japanese war, loans made necessarybecause the Taipings had disclosed the complete disappearance ofthe only raison d'etre of Peking sovereignty, i.e. the old-timemilitary power. The story is, therefore, clear and well-connectedand so logical in its results that it has about it a finalitysuggesting the unrolling of the inevitable.

During the Revolution the one decisive factor was shown to bealmost at once—money, nothing but money. The pinch was felt atthe end of the first thirty days. Provincial remittances ceased;the Boxer quotas remained unpaid; a foreign embargo was laid uponthe Customs funds. The Northern troops, raised and trained by YuanShih-kai, when he was Viceroy of the Metropolitan province, were,it is true, proving themselves the masters of the Yangtsze andSouth China troops; yet that circ*mstance was meaningless. Thosetroops were fighting for what had already proved itself a lostcause—the Peking System as well as the Manchu dynasty. The fightturned more and more into a money-fight. It was foreign moneywhich brought about the first truce and the transfer of the so-called republican government from Nanking to Peking. In thestrictest sense of the words every phase of the settlement thenarrived at was a settlement in terms of cash.[Footnote: There isno doubt that the so-called Belgian loan, 1,800,000 pounds ofwhich was paid over in cash at the beginning of 1912, was theinstrument which brought every one to terms.]

Had means existed for rapidly replenishing the Chinese Treasurywithout having recourse to European stockmarkets (whose actionsare semi-officially controlled when distant regions are involved)the Republic might have fared better. But placed almost at oncethrough foreign dictation under a species of police-control,which while nominally derived from Western conceptions, wasprimarily designed to rehabilitate the semblance of the authoritywhich had been so sensationally extinguished, the Republicremained only a dream; and the world, taught to believe that therecould be no real stability until the scheme of governmentapproximated to the conception long formed of Peking absolutism,waited patiently for the rude awakening which came with the YuanShih-kai coup d'etat of 4th November, 1913. Thus we had thisdouble paradox; on the one hand the Chinese people awkwardlytrying to be western in a Chinese way and failing: on the other,foreign officials and foreign governments trying to be Chinese andmaking the confusion worse confounded. It was inevitable in suchcirc*mstances that the history of the past six years should havebeen the history of a slow tragedy, and that almost every pageshould be written over with the name of the man who was theselected bailiff of the Powers—Yuan Shih-kai.

THE ENIGMA OF YUAN SHIH-KAI

THE HISTORY OF THE MAN FROM THE OPENING OF HIS CAREER IN KOREA, IN1882 TO THE END OF THE REVOLUTION, 12TH FEBRUARY, 1912

Yuan Shih-kai's career falls into two clear-cut parts, almost asif it had been specially arranged for the biographer; there is theprobationary period in Korea, and the executive in North China.The first is important only because of the moulding-power whichearly influences exerted on the man's character; but it isinteresting in another way since it affords glimpses of the sortof things which affected this leader's imagination throughout hislife and finally brought him to irretrievable ruin. The secondperiod is choke-full of action; and over every chapter one can seethe ominous point of interrogation which was finally answered inhis tragic political and physical collapse.

Yuan Shih-kai's origin, without being precisely obscure, isunimportant. He came of a Honanese family who were nothing moredistinguished than farmers possessing a certain amount of land,but not too much of the world's possessions. The boy probably ranwild in the field at an age when the sons of high officials andliterati were already pale and anaemic from overmuch study. Tosome such cause the man undoubtedly owed his powerful physique,his remarkable appetite, his general roughness. Native biographersstate that as a youth he failed to pass his hsiu-tsaiexaminations—the lowest civil service degree—because he hadspent too much time in riding and boxing and fencing. An uncle inofficial life early took charge of him; and when this relativedied the young man displayed filial piety in accompanying thecorpse back to the family graves and in otherwise manifestinggrief. Through official connections a place was subsequently foundfor him in that public department under the Manchus which may becalled the military intendancy, and it was through this branch ofthe civil service that he rose to power. Properly speaking YuanShih-kai was never an army-officer; he was a military official—his highest rank later on being that of military judge, or better,Judicial Commissioner.

Yuan Shih-kai first emerges into public view in 1882 when, as asequel to the opening of Korea through the action of foreignPowers in forcing the then Hermit kingdom to sign commercialtreaties, China began dispatching troops to Seoul. Yuan Shih-kai,with two other officers, commanding in all some 3,000 men, arrivedfrom Shantung, where he had been in the train of a certain GeneralWu Chang-ching, and now encamped in the Korean capital nominallyto preserve order, but in reality, to enforce the claims of thesuzerain power. For the Peking Government had never retreated fromthe position that Korea had been a vassal state ever since theMing Dynasty had saved the country from the clutches of Hideyoshiand his Japanese invaders in the Sixteenth Century. Yuan Shih-kaihad been personally recommended by this General Wu Chang-ching asa young man of ability and energy to the famous Li Hung Chang, whoas Tientsin Viceroy and High Commissioner for the Northern Seaswas responsible for the conduct of Korean affairs. The futuredictator of China was then only twenty-five years old.

His very first contact with practical politics gave him a peculiarmanner of viewing political problems. The arrival of Chinesetroops in Seoul marked the beginning of that acute rivalry withJapan which finally culminated in the short and disastrous war of1894-95. China, in order to preserve her influence in Koreaagainst the growing influence of Japan, intrigued night and day inthe Seoul Palaces, allying herself with the Conservative Courtparty which was led by the notorious Korean Queen who wasafterwards assassinated. The Chinese agents aided and abetted thereactionary group, constantly inciting them to attack the Japaneseand drive them out of the country.

Continual outrages were the consequence. The Japanese legation wasattacked and destroyed by the Korean mob not once but on severaloccasions during a decade which furnishes one of the most amazingchapters in the history of Asia. Yuan Shih-kai, being then merelya junior general officer under the orders of the Chinese ImperialResident, is of no particular importance; but it is significant ofthe man that he should suddenly come well under the limelight onthe first possible occasion. On 6th December, 1884, leading 2,000Chinese troops, and acting in concert with 3,000 Korean soldiers,he attacked the Tong Kwan Palace in which the Japanese Ministerand his staff, protected by two companies of Japanese infantry,had taken refuge owing to the threatening state of affairs in thecapital. Apparently there was no particular plan—it was theaction of a mob of soldiery tumbling into a political brawl andassisted by their officers for reasons which appear to-daynonsensical. The sequel was, however, extraordinary. The Japaneseheld the Palace gates as long as possible, and then beingdesperate exploded a mine which killed numbers of Koreans andChinese soldiery and threw the attack into confusion. They thenfought their way out of the city escaping ultimately to thenearest sea-port, Chemulpo.

The explanation of this extraordinary episode has never been madepublic. The practical result was that after a period of extremetension between China and Japan which was expected to lead to war,that political genius, the late Prince Ito, managed to calm thingsdown and arrange workable modus vivendi. Yuan Shih-kai, who hadgone to Tientsin to report in person to Li Hung Chang, returned toSeoul triumphantly in October, 1885, as Imperial Resident. He wasthen twenty-eight years old; he had come to the front, no matterby what means, in a quite remarkable manner.

The history of the next nine years furnishes plenty of minorincidents, but nothing of historic importance. As the faithfullieutenant of Li Hung Chang, Yuan Shih-kai's particular businesswas simply to combat Japanese influence and hold the threatenedadvance in check. He failed, of course, since he was playing alosing game; and yet he succeeded where he undoubtedly wished tosucceed. By rendering faithful service he established thereputation he wished to win; and though he did nothing great heretained his post right up to the act which led to the declarationof war in 1894. Whether he actually precipitated that war is stilla matter of opinion. On the sinking by the Japanese fleet of theBritish steamer Kowshing, which was carrying Chinesereinforcements from Taku anchorage to Asan Bay to his assistance,seeing that the game was up, he quietly left the Korean capitaland made his way overland to North China. That swift, silentjourney home ends the period of his novitiate.

It took him a certain period to weather the storm which the uttercollapse of China in her armed encounter with Japan brought about—and particularly to obtain forgiveness for evacuating Seoulwithout orders. Technically his offence was punishable by death—the old Chinese code being most stringent in such matters. But by1896 he was back in favour again, and through the influence of hispatron Li Hung Chang, he was at length appointed in command of theHsiaochan camp near Tientsin, where he was promoted and given thetask of reforming a division of old-style troops and making themas efficient as Japanese soldiery. He had already earned a widereputation for severity, for willingness to accept responsibility,for nepotism, and for a rare ability to turn even disasters to hisown advantage—all attributes which up to the last moment stoodhim in good stead.

In the Hsiaochan camp the most important chapter of his lifeopens; there is every indication that he fully realized it.Tientsin has always been the gateway to Peking: from there theroad to high preferment is easily reached. Yuan Shih-kai marchedsteadily forward, taking the very first turning-point in a mannerwhich stamped him for many of his compatriots in a way which cannever be obliterated.

It is first necessary to say a word about the troops of hiscommand, since this has a bearing on present-day politics. Thebulk of the soldiery were so-called Huai Chun—i.e., nominallytroops from the Huai districts, just south of Li Hung Chang'snative province Anhui. These Kiangu men, mixed with Shantungrecruits, had earned a historic place in the favour of the Manchusowing to the part they had played in the suppression of theTaiping Rebellion, in which great event General Gordon and Li HungChang had been so closely associated. They and the troops of Hunanprovince, led by the celebrated Marquis Tseng Kuo-fan, were "theloyal troops," resembling the Sikhs during the Indian Mutiny; theywere supposed to be true to their salt to the last man. Certainlythey gave proofs of uncustomary fidelity.

In those military days of twenty years ago Yuan Shih-kai and hishenchmen were, however, concerned with simpler problems. It wasthen a question of drill and nothing but drill. In his camp nearTientsin the future President of the Chinese Republic succeeded inreorganizing his troops so well that in a very short time theHsiaochan Division became known as a corps d'elite. The disciplinewas so stern that there were said to be only two ways of noticingsubordinates, either by promoting or beheading them. Devotinghimself to his task Yuan Shih-kai gave promise of being able tohandle much bigger problems.

His zeal soon attracted the attention of the Manchu Court. Thecirc*mstances in Peking at that time were peculiar. The famous oldEmpress Dowager, Tzu-Hsi, after the Japanese war, had greatlyrelaxed her hold on the Emperor Kwanghsu, who though still insubjection to her, nominally governed the empire. A well-intentioned but weak man, he had surrounded himself with advancedscholars, led by the celebrated Kang Yu Wei, who daily studiedwith him and filled him with new doctrines, teaching him tobelieve that if he would only exert his power he might rescue thenation from international ignominy and make for himself animperishable name.

The sequel was inevitable. In 1898 the oriental world waselectrified by the so-called Reform Edicts, in which the Emperorundertook to modernize China, and in which he exhorted the nationto obey him. The greatest alarm was created in Court circles bythis action; the whole vast body of Metropolitan officialdom,seeing its future threatened, flooded the Palace of the EmpressDowager with Secret Memorials praying her to resume power.Flattered, she gave her secret assent.

Things marched quickly after that. The Empress, nothing loth,began making certain dispositions. Troops were moved, men wereshifted here and there in a way that presaged action; and theEmperor, now thoroughly alarmed and yielding to the entreaties ofhis followers, sent two members of the Reform Party to Yuan Shih-kai bearing an alleged autograph order for him to advanceinstantly on Peking with all his troops; to surround the Palace,to secure the person of the Emperor from all danger, and then todepose the Empress Dowager for ever from power. What happened isequally well-known. Yuan Shih-kai, after an exhaustive examinationof the message and messengers, as well as other attempts tosubstantiate the genuineness of the appeal, communicated itsnature to the then Viceroy of Chihli, the Imperial Clansman JungLu, whose intimacy with the Empress Dowager since the days of heryouth has passed into history. Jung Lu lost no time in acting. Hebeheaded the two messengers and personally reported the whole plotto the Empress Dowager who was already fully warned. The resultwas the so-called coup d'etat of September, 1898, when all theReformers who had not fled were summarily executed, and theEmperor Kwanghsu himself closely imprisoned in the Island Palacewithin that portion of the Forbidden City known as the ThreeLakes, having (until the Boxer outbreak of 1900 carried him toHsianfu), as sole companions his two favourites, the celebratedodalisques "Pearl" and "Lustre."

This is no place to enter into the controversial aspect of YuanShih-kai's action in 1898 which has been hotly debated bypartisans for many years. For onlookers the verdict must alwaysremain largely a matter of opinion; certainly this is one of thosematters which cannot be passed upon by any one but a Chinesetribunal furnished with all the evidence. Those days whichwitnessed the imprisonment of Kwang Hsu were great because theyopened wide the portals of the Romance of History: all who were inPeking can never forget the counter-stroke; the arrival of thehordes composed of Tung Fu-hsiang's Mahommedan cavalry—men whohad ridden hard across a formidable piece of Asia at the behest oftheir Empress and who entered the capital in great clouds of dust.It was in that year of 1898 also that Legation Guards reappearedin Peking—a few files for each Legation as in 1860—and it wasthen that clear-sighted prophets saw the beginning of the end ofthe Manchu Dynasty.

Yuan Shih-kai's reward for his share in this counter-revolutionwas his appointment to the governorship of Shantung province. Hemoved thither with all his troops in December, 1899. Armed cap-a-pie he was ready for the next act—the Boxers, who burst on Chinain the Summer of 1900. These men were already at work in Shantungvillages with their incantations and alleged witchcraft. There isevidence that their propaganda had been going on for months, ifnot for years, before any one had heard of it. Yuan Shih-kai hadthe priceless opportunity of studying them at close range and soonmade up his mind about certain things. When the storm burst,pretending to see nothing but mad fanatics in those who, realizingthe plight of their country, had adopted the war-cry "Blot out theManchus and the foreigner," he struck at them fiercely, drivingthe whole savage horde headlong into the metropolitan province ofChihli. There, seduced by the Manchus, they suddenly changed theinscription on their flags. Their sole enemy became the foreignerand all his works, and forthwith they were officially protected.Far and wide they killed every white face they could find. Theytore up railways, burnt churches and chapels and produced ageneral anarchy which could only have one end—Europeanintervention. The man, sitting on the edge of Chinese history butnot yet identifying himself with its main currents because he wasnot strong enough for that, had once again not judged wrongly.With his Korean experience to assist him, he had seen preciselywhat the end must inevitably be.

The crash in Peking, when the siege of the Legations had beenraised by an international army, found him alert and sympathetic—ready with advice, ready to shoulder new responsibilities, readyto explain away everything. The signature of the Peace Protocol of1901 was signalized, by his obtaining the viceroyalty of Chihli,succeeding the great Li Hung Chang himself, who had beenreappointed to his old post, but had found active duties toowearisome. This was a marvellous success for a man but little overforty. And when the fugitive Court at length returned from Hsianfuin 1902, honours were heaped upon him as a person particularlyworthy of honour because he had kept up appearances and maintainedthe authority of the distressed Throne. As if in answer to this heflooded the Court with memorials praying that in order to restorethe power of the Dynasty a complete army of modern troops beraised—as numerous as possible but above all efficient.

His advice was listened to. From 1902 until 1907 as Minister ofthe Army Reorganization Council—a special post he heldsimultaneously with that of metropolitan Viceroy—Yuan Shih-kai'sgreat effort was concentrated on raising an efficient fightingforce. In those five years, despite all financial embarrassments,North China raised and equipped six excellent Divisions of field-troops—75,000 men—all looking to Yuan Shih-kai as their solemaster. So much energy did he display in pushing militaryreorganization throughout the provinces that the Court, warned byjealous rivals of his growing power, suddenly promoted him to apost where he would be powerless. One day he was brought to Pekingas Grand Councillor and President of the Board of Foreign Affairs,and ordered to hand over all army matters to his noted rival, theManchu Tieh Liang. The time had arrived to muzzle him. His lastphase as a pawn had come.

Few foreign diplomats calling at China's Foreign Office to discussmatters during that short period which lasted barely a twelve-month, imagined that the square resolute-looking man who asPresident of the Board gave the same energy and attention toconsular squabbles as to the reorganization of a national fightingforce, was almost daily engaged in a fierce clandestine struggleto maintain even his modest position. Jealousy, which flourishesin Peking like the upas tree, was for ever blighting his schemesand blocking his plans. He had been brought to Peking to be tiedup; he was constantly being denounced; and even his all powerfulpatroness, the old Empress Dowager, who owed so much to him,suffered from constant premonitions that the end was fastapproaching, and that with her the Dynasty would die.

In the Autumn of 1908 she took sick. The gravest fears quicklyspread. It was immediately reported that the Emperor Kwanghsu wasalso very ill—an ominous coincidence. Very suddenly bothpersonages collapsed and died, the Empress Dowager slightly beforethe Emperor. There is little doubt that the Emperor himself waspoisoned. The legend runs that as he expired not only did he givehis Consort, who was to succeed him in the exercise of the nominalpower of the Throne, a last secret Edict to behead Yuan Shih-kai,but that his faltering hand described circle after circle in theair until his followers understood the meaning. In the vernacularthe name of the great viceroy and the word for circle have thesame sound; the gesture signified that the dying monarch's lastwish was revenge on the man who had failed him ten years before.

An ominous calm followed this great break with the past. It wasunderstood that the Court was torn by two violent factionsregarding the succession which the Empress Tzu-hsi had herselfdecided. The fact that another long Regency had become inevitablethrough the accession of the child Hsuan Tung aroused instantapprehensions among foreign observers, whilst it was confidentlypredicted that Yuan Shih-kai's last days had come.

The blow fell suddenly on the 2nd January, 1909. In the intervalbetween the death of the old Empress and his disgrace, Yuan Shih-kai was actually promoted to the highest rank in the gift of theThrone, that is made "Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent" andplaced in charge of the Imperial funeral arrangements—alucrative appointment. During that interval it is understood thatthe new Regent, brother of the Emperor Kwang-hsu, consulted allthe most trusted magnates of the empire regarding the manner inwhich the secret decapitation Decree should be treated. Alladvised him to be warned in time, and not to venture on a courseof action which would be condemned both by the nation and by thePowers. Another Edict was therefore prepared simply dismissingYuan Shih-kai from office and ordering him to return to his nativeplace.

Every one remembers that day in Peking when popular rumourdeclared that the man's last hour had come. Warned on every sideto beware, Yuan Shih-kai left the Palace as soon as he had readthe Edict of dismissal in the Grand Council and drove straight tothe railway-station, whence he entrained for Tientsin, dressed asa simple citizen. Rooms had been taken for him at a Europeanhotel, the British Consulate approached for protection, whenanother train brought down his eldest son bearing a message directfrom the Grand Council Chamber, absolutely guaranteeing the safetyof his life. Accordingly he duly returned to his native place inHonan province, and for two years—until the outbreak of theRevolution—devoted himself sedulously to the development of thelarge estate he had acquired with the fruits of office. Livinglike a patriarch of old, surrounded by his many wives andchildren, he announced constantly that he had entirely dropped outof the political life of China and only desired to be left inpeace. There is reason to believe, however, that his henchmencontinually reported to him the true state of affairs and bade himbide his time. Certain it is that the firing of the first shots onthe Yangtsze found him alert and issuing private orders to hisfollowers. It was inevitable that he should have been recalled tooffice—and actually within one hundred hours of the first news ofthe outbreak the Court sent for him urgently and ungraciously.

From the 14th October, 1911, when he was appointed by ImperialEdict Viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan and ordered to proceed at once tothe front to quell the insurrection, until the 1st November, whenhe was given virtually Supreme Power as President of the GrandCouncil in place of Prince Ching, a whole volume is required todiscuss adequately the maze of questions involved. For thepurposes of this account, however, the matter can be dismissedvery briefly in this way. Welcoming the opportunity which had atlast come and determined once for all to settle mattersdecisively, so far as he was personally concerned, Yuan Shih-kaideliberately followed the policy of holding back and delayingeverything until the very incapacity marking both sides—theRevolutionists quite as much as the Manchus—forced him, as man ofaction and man of diplomacy, to be acclaimed the sole mediator andsaviour of the nation.

The detailed course of the Revolution, and the peculiar manner inwhich Yuan Shih-kai allowed events rather than men to assert theirmastery has often been related and need not long detain us. It isgenerally conceded that in spite of the bravery of the rawrevolutionary levies, their capacity was entirely unequal to thetrump card Yuan Shih-kai held all the while in his hand—the sixfully-equipped Divisions of Field Troops he himself had organizedas Tientsin Viceroy. It was a portion of this field-force whichcaptured and destroyed the chief revolutionary base in the triplecity of Hankow, Hanyang and Wuchang in November, 1911, and whichhe held back just as it was about to give the coup de grace bycrossing the river in force and sweeping the last remnants of therevolutionary army to perdition. Thus it is correct to declarethat had he so wished Yuan Shih-kai could have crushed therevolution entirely before the end of 1911; but he wassufficiently astute to see that the problem he had to solve wasnot merely military but moral as well. The Chinese as a nationwere suffering from a grave complaint. Their civilization had beenmade almost bankrupt owing to unresisted foreign aggression and tothe native inability to cope with the mass of accumulated wrongswhich a superimposed and exhausted feudalism—the Manchu system—had brought about. Yuan Shih-kai knew that the Boxers had beentheoretically correct in selecting as they first did the watchwordwhich they had first placed on their banners—"blot out theManchus and all foreign things." Both had sapped the oldcivilization to its foundations. But the program they had proposedwas idealistic, not practical. One element could be cleared away—the other had to be endured. Had the Boxers been sensible theywould have modified their program to the extent of protecting theforeigners, whilst they assailed the Dynasty which had broughtthem so low. The Court Party, as we have said, seduced theirleaders to acting in precisely the reverse sense.

Yuan Shih-kai was neither a Boxer, nor yet a believer inidealistic foolishness. He had realized that the essence ofsuccessful rule in the China of the Twentieth Century was tosupport the foreign point of view—nominally at least—becauseforeigners disposed of unlimited monetary resources, and hadscience on their side. He knew that so long as he did not openlyflout foreign opinion by indulging in barefaced assassinations, hewould be supported owing to the international reputation he hadestablished in 1900. Arguing from these premises, his instinctalso told him that an appearance of legality must always besedulously preserved and the aspirations of the nation nominallysatisfied. For this reason he arranged matters in such a manner asto appear always as the instrument of fate. For this reason,although he destroyed the revolutionists on the mid-Yangtsze, toequalize matters, on the lower Yangtsze he secretly ordered theevacuation of Nanking by the Imperialist forces so that he mighthave a tangible argument with which to convince the Manchusregarding the root and branch reform which he knew was necessary.That reform had been accepted in principle by the Throne when itagreed to the so-called Nineteen Fundamental Articles, a corpus ofdemands which all the Northern Generals had endorsed and hadindeed insisted should be the basis of government before theywould fight the rebellious South in 1911. There is reason tobelieve that provided he had been made de facto Regent, Yuan Shih-kai would have supported to the end a Manchu Monarchy. But thesurprising swiftness of the Revolutionary Party's action inproclaiming the Republic at Nanking on the 1st January, 1912, andthe support which foreign opinion gave that venture confused him.He had already consented to peace negotiations with therevolutionary South in the middle of December, 1911, and once hewas drawn into those negotiations his policy wavered, thearmistice in the field being constantly extended because he sawthat the Foreign Powers, and particularly England, were aversefrom further civil war. Having dispatched a former lieutenant,Tong Shao-yi, to Shanghai as his Plenipotentiary, he soon foundhimself committed to a course of action different from what he hadoriginally contemplated. South China and Central China insisted sovehemently that the only solution that was acceptable to them wasthe permanent and absolute elimination of the Manchu Dynasty, thathe himself was half-convinced, the last argument necessary beingthe secret promise that he should become the first President ofthe united Republic. In the circ*mstances, had he been reallyloyal, it was his duty either to resume his warfare or resign hisappointment as Prime Minister and go into retirement. He didneither. In a thoroughly characteristic manner he sought a middlecourse, after having vaguely advocated a national convention tosettle the matter. By specious misrepresentation the widow of theEmperor Kwang Hsu—the Dowager Empress Lung Yu who had succeededthe Prince Regent Ch'un in her care of the interests of the childEmperor Hsuan Tung—was induced to believe that ceremonialretirement was the only course open to the Dynasty if the countrywas to be saved from disruption and partition. There is reason tobelieve that the Memorial of all the Northern Generals which wastelegraphed to Peking on the 28th January, 1912, and which advisedabdication, was inspired by him. In any case it was certainly YuanShih-kai, who drew up the so-called Articles of FavourableTreatment for the Manchu House and caused them to be telegraphedto the South, whence they were telegraphed back to him as themaximum the Revolutionary Party was prepared to concede: and by acurious chance the attempt made to assassinate him outside thePalace Gates actually occurred on the very day he had submitted anoutline of these terms on his bended knees to the Empress Dowagerand secured their qualified acceptance. The pathetic attempt toconfer on him as late as the 26th January the title of Marquess,the highest rank of nobility which could be given a Chinese, anattempt which was four times renewed, was the last despairinggesture of a moribund power. Within very few days the Thronereluctantly decreed its own abdication in three extremely curiousEdicts which are worthy of study in the appendix. They proveconclusively that the Imperial Family believed that it was onlyabdicating its political power, whilst retaining all ancientceremonial rights and titles. Plainly the conception of aRepublic, or a People's Government, as it was termed in the nativeideographs, was unintelligible to Peking.

Yuan Shih-kai had now won everything he wished for. By securingthat the Imperial Commission to organize the Republic and re-unitethe warring sections was placed solely in his hands, he preparedto give a type of Government about which he knew nothing a trial.It is interesting to note that he held to the very end of his lifethat he derived his powers solely from the Last Edicts, and innowise from his compact with the Nanking Republic which hadinstituted the so-called Provisional Constitution. He was careful,however, not to lay this down categorically until many monthslater when his dictatorship seemed undisputed. But from the day ofthe Manchu Abdication almost, he was constantly engaged incalculating whether he dared risk everything on one throw of thedice and ascend the Throne himself; and it is precisely this whichimparts such dramatic interest to the astounding story whichfollows.

THE DREAM REPUBLIC

(FROM THE 1ST JANUARY, 1912, TO THE DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT)

To describe briefly and intelligibly the series of transactionsfrom the 1st January, 1912, when the Republic was proclaimed atNanking by a handful of provincial delegates, and Dr. Sun Yat Senelected Provisional President, to the coup d'etat of 4th November,1913, when Yuan Shih-kai, elected full President a few weekspreviously, after having acted as Chief Executive for twentymonths, boldly broke up Parliament and made himself de factoDictator of China, is a matter of extraordinary difficulty.

All through this important period of Chinese history one has theimpression that one is in dreamland and that fleeting emotionstake the place of more solid things. Plot and counter-plot followone another so rapidly that an accurate record of them all wouldbe as wearisome as the Book of Chronicles itself; whilst theamazing web of financial intrigue which binds the whole togetheris so complex—and at the same time so antithetical to thepolitical struggle—that the two stories seem to run counter toone another, although they are as closely united as two assassinspledged to carry through in common a dread adventure. A hugeagglomeration of people estimated to number four hundred millions,being left without qualified leaders and told that the system ofgovernment, which had been laid down by the Nanking ProvisionalConstitution and endorsed by the Abdication Edicts, was a systemin which every man was as good as neighbour, swayed meaninglesslyto and fro, vainly seeking to regain the equilibrium which hadbeen so sensationally lost. A litigious spirit became so universalthat all authority was openly derided, crimes of every descriptionbeing so common as to force most respectable men to withdraw frompublic affairs and leave a bare rump of desperadoes in power.

Long embarrassed by the struggle to pay her foreign loans andindemnities, China was also virtually penniless. The impossibilityof arranging large borrowings on foreign markets without the opensupport of foreign governments—a support which was hedged roundwith conditions—made necessary a system of petty expedients underwhich practically every provincial administration hypothecatedevery liquid asset it could lay hands upon in order to pay theinordinate number of undisciplined soldiery who littered thecountryside. The issue of unguaranteed paper-money soon reachedsuch an immense figure that the market was flooded with aworthless currency which it was unable to absorb. The Provincialleaders, being powerless to introduce improvement, exclaimed thatit was the business of the Central Government as representative ofthe sovereign people to find solutions; and so long as theymaintained themselves in office they went their respective wayswith a sublime contempt for the chaos around them.

What was this Central Government? In order successfully tounderstand an unparalleled situation we must indicate its nature.

The manoeuvres to which Yuan Shih-kai had so astutely lent himselffrom the outbreak of the Revolution had left him at its officialclose supreme in name. Not only had he secured an ImperialCommission from the abdicating Dynasty to organize a popularGovernment in obedience to the national wish, but having broughtto Peking the Delegates of the Nanking Revolutionary Body he hadreceived from them the formal offer of the Presidency.

These arrangements had, of course, been secretly agreed to en blocbefore the fighting had been stopped and the abdicationproclaimed, and were part and parcel of the elaborate scenerywhich officialdom always employs in Asia even when it is dealingwith matters within the purview of the masses. They had been madepossible by the so-called "Article of Favourable Treatment" drawn-up by Yuan Shih-kai himself, after consultation with therebellious South. In these Capitulations it had been clearlystipulated that the Manchu Imperial Family should receive inperpetuity a Civil List of $4,000,000 Mexican a year, retainingall their titles as a return for the surrender of their politicalpower, the bitter pill being gilded in such fashion as to hide itsreal meaning, which alone was a grave political error.

In spite of this agreement, however, great mutual suspicionexisted between North and South China. Yuan Shih-kai himself wasunable to forget that the bold attempt to assassinate him in thePeking streets on the 17th January, when he was actually engagedin negotiating these very terms of the Abdication, had beenapparently inspired from Nanking; whilst the Southern leaders weredaily reminded by the vernacular press that the man who held thebalance of power had always played the part of traitor in the pastand would certainly do the same again in the near future.

When the Delegates came to Peking in February, by far the mostimportant matter which was still in dispute was the question ofthe oath of office which Yuan Shih-kai was called upon to take toinsure that he would be faithful to the Republic. The Delegateshad been charged specifically to demand on behalf of the secedingprovinces that Yuan Shih-kai should proceed with them to Nankingto take that oath, a course of action which would have been heldtantamount by the nation to surrender on his part to those who hadbeen unable to vanquish him in the field. It must also not beforgotten that from the very beginning a sharp and dangerouscleavage of opinion existed as to the manner in which the powersof the new government had been derived. South and Central Chinaclaimed, and claimed rightly, that the Nanking ProvincialConstitution was the Instrument on which the Republic was based:Yuan Shih-kai declared that the Abdication Edicts, and not theNanking Instrument had established the Republic, and thattherefore it lay within his competence to organize the newgovernment in the way which he considered most fit.

The discussion which raged was suddenly terminated on the night ofthe 29th February (1912) when without any warning there occurredthe extraordinary revolt of the 3rd Division, a picked Northerncorps who for forty-eight hours plundered and burnt portions ofthe capital without any attempts at interference, there beinglittle doubt to-day that this manoeuvre was deliberately arrangedas a means of intimidation by Yuan Shih-kai himself. Although thedisorders assumed such dimensions that foreign intervention wasnarrowly escaped, the upshot was that the Nanking Delegates werecompletely cowed and willing to forget all about forcing thedespot of Peking to proceed to the Southern capital. Yuan Shih-kaias the man of the hour was enabled on the 10th March, 1912, totake his oath in Peking as he had wished thus securing fullfreedom of action during the succeeding years. [Footnote: Thedefective nature of this oath of office will be patent at aglance: "At the beginning of the Republic there are many things tobe taken care of. I, Yuan Shih-kai, sincerely wish to exert myutmost to promote the democratic spirit, to remove the dark blotsof despotism, to obey strictly the Constitution, and to abide bythe wish of the people, so as to place the country in a safe,united, strong, and firm position, and to effect the happiness andwelfare of the divisions of the Chinese race. All these wishes Iwill fulfil without fail. As soon as a new President is elected bythe National Assembly I shall at once vacate my present position.With all sincerity I take this oath before the people of China."Dated the tenth day of March in the First Year of the Republic ofChina (1912)."

(Signed) Yuan Shih-kai.]

It was on this astounding basis—by means of an organized revolt—that the Central Government was re-organized; and every act thatfollowed bears the mark of its tainted parentage. Acceptingreadily as his Ministers in the more unimportant governmentDepartments the nominees of the Southern Confederacy (which wasnow formally dissolved), Yuan Shih-kai was careful to reserve forhis own men everything that concerned the control of the army andthe police, as well as the all-important ministry of finance. Theframework having been thus erected, attention was almostimmediately concentrated on the problem of finding money, anamazing matter which would weary the stoutest reader if given inall its detail but which being part and parcel of the generalproblem must be referred to.

Certain essential features can be very rapidly exposed. We havealready made clear the purely economic nature of the forces whichhad sapped the foundations of Chinese society. Primarily it hadbeen the disastrous nature of Chinese gold-indebtedness which hadgiven the new ideas the force they required to work their will onthe nation. And just because the question of this gold-indebtedness had become so serious and such a drain on the nation,some months before the outbreak of the Revolution an arrangementhad been entered into with the bankers of four nations for aCurrency Loan of 10,000,000 pounds with which to make an organizedeffort to re-establish internal credit. But this loan had neveractually been floated, as a six months' safety clause hadpermitted a delay during which the Revolution had come. It wastherefore necessary to begin the negotiations anew; and as therich prizes to be won in the Chinese lottery had attracted generalattention in the European financial world through theadvertisem*nt which the Revolution had given the country, a hostof alternative loan proposals now lay at the disposal of Peking.

Consequently an extraordinary chapter of bargaining commenced.Warned that an International Debt Commission was the goal aimed atby official finance, Yuan Shih-kai and the various parties whomade up the Government of the day, though disagreeing on almostevery other question, were agreed that this danger must be foughtas a common enemy. Though the Four-Power group alleged that theyheld the first option on all Chinese loans, money had already beenadvanced by a Franco-Belgian Syndicate to the amount of nearly twomillion pounds during the critical days of the Abdication. Furiousat the prospect of losing their percentages, the Four Power groupmade the confusion worse confounded by blocking all competingproposals and closing every possible door. Russia and Japan, whohad hitherto not been parties to the official consortium,perceiving that participation had become a political necessity,now demanded a place which was grudgingly accorded them; and itwas in this way that the celebrated six-power Group arose.

It was round this group and the proposed issue of a 60,000,000pounds loan to reorganize Chinese finance that the central battleraged. The Belgian Syndicate, having been driven out of businessby the financial boycott which the official group was strongenough to organize on the European bourses, it remained for Chinato see whether she could not find some combination or some man whowould be bold enough to ignore all governments.

Her search was not in vain. In September (1912) a Londonstockbroker, Mr. Birch Crisp, determined to risk a brilliant coupby negotiating by himself a Loan of 10,000,000 pounds; and theworld woke up one morning to learn that one man was successfullyopposing six governments. The recollection of the storm raised infinancial circles by this bold attempt will be fresh in manyminds. Every possible weapon was brought into play byinternational finance to secure that the impudence of financialindependence should be properly checked; and so it happened thatalthough 5,000,000 pounds was secured after an intense struggle,it was soon plain that the large requirements of a derelictgovernment could not be satisfied in this Quixotic manner. Twoimportant points had, however, been attained; first, China waskept financially afloat during the year 1912 by the independenceof a single member of the London Stock Exchange; secondly, usingthis coup as a lever the Peking Government secured better termsthan otherwise would have been possible from the officialconsortium.

Meanwhile the general internal situation remained deplorable.Nothing was done for the provinces whose paper currency wasdepreciating from month to month in an alarming manner; whilst therivalries between the various leaders instead of diminishingseemed to be increasing. The Tutuhs, or Military Governors, actingprecisely as they saw fit, derided the authority of Peking andsought to strengthen their old position by adding to their armedforces. In the capital the old Manchu court, safely entrenched inthe vast Winter Palace from which it has not even to-day beenejected (1917) published daily the Imperial Gazette, bestowinghonours and decorations on courtiers and clansmen and preservingall the old etiquette. In the North-western provinces, and inManchuria and Mongolia, the socalled Tsung She Tang, or ImperialClan Society, intrigued perpetually to create risings which wouldhasten the restoration of the fallen House; and although theseintrigues never rose to the rank of a real menace to the country,the fact that they were surreptitiously supported by the Japanesesecret service was a continual source of anxiety. The question ofOuter Mongolia was also harassing the Central Government. TheHutuktu or Living Buddha of Urga—the chief city of OuterMongolia—had utilized the revolution to throw off his allegianceto Peking; and the whole of this vast region had been thrown intocomplete disorder—which was still further accentuated when Russiaon the 21st October (1912) recognized its independence. It wasknown that as a pendent to this Great Britain was about to insiston the autonomy of Tibet,—a development which greatly hurtChinese pride.

On the 15th August, 1912, the deplorable situation was well-epitomised by an extraordinary act in Peking, when General ChangCheng-wu, one of the "heroes" of the original Wuchang rising, whohad been enticed to the capital, was suddenly seized after abanquet in his honour and shot without trial at midnight.

This event, trivial in itself during times when judicial murderswere common, would have excited nothing more than passing interesthad not the national sentiment been so aroused by the chaoticconditions. As it was it served to focus attention on the generalmaladministration over which Yuan Shih-kai ruled as provisionalPresident. "What is my crime?" had shrieked the unhappyrevolutionist as he had been shot and then bayonetted to death.That query was most easily answered. His crime was that he was notstrong enough or big enough to compete against more sanguinarymen, his disappearance being consequently in obedience to anuniversal law of nature. Yuan Shih-kai was determined to asserthis mastery by any and every means; and as this man had floutedhim he must die.

The uproar which this crime aroused was, however, not easilyappeased; and the Advisory Council, which was sitting in Pekingpending the assembling of the first Parliament, denounced theProvisional President so bitterly that to show that thesereproaches were ill-deserved he invited Dr. Sun Yat-sen to thecapital treating him with unparalleled honours and requesting himto act as intermediary between the rival factions. All suchmanoeuvres, however, were inspired with one object,—namely toprove how nobody but the master of Peking could regulate theaffairs of the country.

Still no Parliament was assembled. Although the NankingProvisional Constitution had stipulated that one was to meetwithin ten months i. e. before 1st November, 1912, the electionswere purposely delayed, the attention of the Central Governmentbeing concentrated on the problem of destroying all rivals, andeverything being subordinate to this war on persons. Rascals,getting daily more and more out of hand, worked their will on richand poor alike, discrediting by their actions the name ofrepublicanism and destroying public confidence—which wasprecisely what suited Yuan Shih-kai. Dramatic and extraordinaryincidents continually inflamed the public mind, nothing being toosingular for those remarkable days.

Very slowly the problem developed, with everyone exclaiming thatforeign intervention was becoming inevitable. With the beginningof 1913, being unable to delay the matter any longer, Yuan Shih-kai allowed elections to be held in the provinces. He was so badlybeaten at the polls that it seemed in spite of his military powerthat he would be outvoted and outmanoeuvred in the new NationalAssembly and his authority undermined. To prevent this a freshassassination was decided upon. The ablest Southern leader, SungChiao-jen, just as he was entraining for Peking with a number ofParliamentarians at Shanghai, was coolly shot in a crowded railwaystation by a desperado who admitted under trial that he had beenpaid 200 pounds for the job by the highest authority in the land,the evidence produced in court including telegrams from Pekingwhich left no doubt as to who had instigated the murder.

The storm raised by this evil measure made it appear as if noparliament could ever assemble in Peking. But the feeling hadbecome general that the situation was so desperate that action hadto be taken. Not only was their reputation at stake, but theKuomingtang or Revolutionary Party now knew that the future oftheir country was involved just as much as the safety of their ownlives; and so after a rapid consultation they determined that theywould beard the lion in his den. Rather unexpectedly on the 7thApril (1913) Parliament was opened in Peking with a huge Southernmajority and the benediction of all Radicals. [Footnote: TheParliament of China is composed of a House of Representativesnumbering 596 members and a Senate of 274. The Representatives areelected by means of a property and educational franchise which isestimated to give about four million voters (1 per cent of thepopulation) although in practice relatively few vote. The Senateis elected by the Provincial Assemblies by direct ballot. In theopinion of the writer, the Chinese Parliament in spite of obviousshortcoming, is representative of the country in its presenttransitional stage.] Hopes rose with mercurial rapidity as asolution at last seemed in sight. But hardly had the firstformalities been completed and Speakers been elected to bothHouses, than by a single dramatic stroke Yuan Shih-kai reduced tonought these labours by stabbing in the back the whole theory andpractice of popular government.

The method he employed was simplicity itself, and it is peculiarlycharacteristic of the man that he should have been so bluntlycynical. Though the Provisional Nanking Constitution, which wasthe "law" of China so far as there was any law at all, had laiddown specifically in article XIX that all measures affecting theNational Treasury must receive the assent of Parliament, YuanShih-kai, pretending that the small Advisory Council which hadassisted him during the previous year and which had only just beendissolved, had sanctioned a foreign loan, peremptorily ordered thesignature of the great Reorganization Loan of 25,000,000 poundswhich had been secretly under negotiation all Winter with thefinancial agents of six Powers, [Footnote: The American Group atthe last moment dropped out of the Sextuple combination (prior tothe signature of the contract) after President Wilson had made hiswell-known pronouncement deprecating the association of Americansin any financial undertakings which impinged upon the rights ofsovereignty of a friendly Power,—which was his considered view ofthe manner in which foreign governments were assisting theirnationals to gain control of the Salt Administration. The exactlanguage the President used was that the conditions of the loanseemed "to touch very nearly the administrative independence ofChina itself," and that a loan thus obtained was "obnoxious" tothe principles upon which the American government rests. It is tobe hoped that President Wilson's dictum will be universallyaccepted after the war and that meddling in Chinese affairs willcease.] although the rupture which had come in the previous Juneas a forerunner to the Crisp loan had caused the general public tolose sight of the supreme importance of the financial factor.Parliament, seeing that apart from the possibility of a ForeignDebt Commission being created something after the Turkish andEgyptian models, a direct challenge to its existence had beenoffered, raged and stormed and did its utmost to delay thequestion; but the Chief Executive having made up his mind shuthimself up in his Palace and absolutely refused to see anyParliamentary representatives. Although the Minister of Financehimself hesitated to complete the transaction in the face of therising storm and actually fled the capital, he was brought back byspecial train and forced to complete the agreement. At fouro'clock in the morning on the 25th April the last documents weresigned in the building of a foreign bank and the Finance Minister,galloping his carriage suddenly out of the compound to avoidpossible bombs, reported to his master that at last—in spite ofthe nominal foreign control which was to govern the disbursem*nt—a vast sum was at his disposal to further his own ends.

Safe in the knowledge that possession is nine points of the law,Yuan Shih-kai now treated with derision the resolutions whichParliament passed that the transaction was illegal and the loanagreement null and void. Being openly backed by the agents of theForeign Powers, he immediately received large cash advances whichenabled him to extend his power in so many directions that furtherargument with him seemed useless. It is necessary to record thatthe Parliamentary leaders had almost gone down on their knees tocertain of the foreign Ministers in Peking in a vain attempt topersuade them to delay—as they could very well have done—thesignature of this vital Agreement for forty-eight hours so that itcould be formally passed by the National Assembly, and thus savethe vital portion of the sovereignty of the country from passingunder the heel of one man. But Peking diplomacy is a perverse anddisagreeable thing; and the Foreign Ministers of those days,although accredited to a government which while it had not thenbeen formally recognized as a Republic by any Power save theUnited States, was bound to be so very shortly, were determined tobe reactionary and were at heart delighted to find things runningback normally to absolutism.

[Footnote: The United States accorded formal recognition to theRepublic on the election of the Speakers of the two Houses ofParliament: the other Treaty Powers delayed recognition until YuanShih-kai had been elected full President in October. It has beenvery generally held that the long delay in foreign recognition ofthe Republic contributed greatly to its internal troubles bymaking every one doubt the reality of the Nanking transaction.Most important, however, is the historical fact that a group ofPowers numbering the two great leaders of democracy in Europe—England and France—did everything they could in Peking toenthrone Yuan Shih-kai as dictator.]

High finance had at last got hold of everything it required fromChina and was in no mood to relax the monopoly of the saltadministration which the Loan Agreement conferred. Nor must be thefact be lost sight of that of the nominal amount of 25,000,000pounds which had been borrowed, fully half consisted of repaymentsto foreign Banks and never left Europe. According to the schedulesattached to the Agreement, Annex A, comprising the Boxer arrearsand bank advances, absorbed 4,317,778 pounds: Annex B, being so-called provincial loans, absorbed a further 2,870,000 pounds:Annex C, being liabilities shortly maturing, amounted to 3,592,263pounds: Annex D, for disbandment of troops, amounted to 3,000,000pounds: Annex C, to cover current administrative expenses totalled5,500,000 pounds: whilst Annex E which covered the reorganizationof the Salt Administration, absorbed the last 2,000,000 pounds.The bank profits on this loan alone amounted to 1 1/4 millionpounds; whilst Yuan Shih-kai himself was placed in possession by asystem of weekly disbursem*nts of a sum roughly amounting to tenmillion sterling, which was amply sufficient to allow him to wreakhis will on his fellow-countrymen. Exasperated to the pitch ofdespair by this new development, the Central and Southernprovinces, after a couple of months' vain argument, began openlyto arm. On the 10th July in Kiangse province on the river Yangtszethe Northern garrisons were fired upon from the Hukow forts by theprovincial troops under General Li Lieh-chun and the so-calledSecond Revolution commenced.

The campaign was short and inglorious. The South, ill-furnishedwith munitions and practically penniless, and always confronted bythe same well-trained Northern Divisions who had proved themselvesinvincible only eighteen months before, fought hard for a while,but never became a serious menace to the Central Government owingto the lack of co-operation between the various Rebel forces inthe field. The Kiangse troops under General Li Lieh-chun, whonumbered at most 20,000 men, fought stiffly, it is true, for awhile but were unable to strike with any success and weregradually driven far back from the river into the mountains ofKiangse where their numbers rapidly melted away. The redoubtablerevolutionary Huang Hsin, who had proved useful as a propagandistand a bomb-thrower in earlier days, but who was useless in seriouswarfare, although he assumed command of the Nanking garrison whichhad revolted to a man, and attempted a march up the Pukow railwayin the direction of Tientsin, found his effort break down almostimmediately from lack of organization and fled to Japan. TheNanking troops, although deserted by their leader, offered astrenuous resistance to the capture of the southern capital whichwas finally effected by the old reactionary General Chang Hsunoperating in conjunction with General Feng Kuo-chang who had beendispatched from Peking with a picked force. The attack on theShanghai arsenal which had been quietly occupied by a smallNorthern Garrison during the months succeeding the great loantransaction, although pushed with vigour by the South, likewiseultimately collapsed through lack of artillery and properleadership. The navy, which was wholly Southern in its sympathiesand which had been counted upon as a valuable weapon in cuttingoff the whole Yangtsze Valley, was at the last moment purchased toneutrality by a liberal use of money obtained from the foreignbanks, under, it is said, the heading of administrative expenses!The turbulent city of Canton, although it also rose against theauthority of Peking, had been well provided for by Yuan Shih-kai.A border General, named Lung Chi-Kwang, with 20,000 semi-savageKwangsi troops had been moved near the city and at once attackedand overawed the garrison. Appointed Military Governor of theprovince in return for his services, this Lung Chi-kwang, who wasan infamous brute, for three years ruled the South with heartlessbarbarity, until he was finally ejected by the great rising of1916. Thoroughly disappointed in this and many other directionsthe Southern Party was now emasculated; for the moneyed classeshad withheld their support to the end, and without money nothingis possible in China. The 1913 outbreak, after lasting a bare twomonths, ignominiously collapsed with the flight of every one ofthe leaders on whose heads prices were put. The road was now leftopen for the last step Yuan Shih-kai had in mind, the coup againstParliament itself, which although unassociated in any direct waywith the rising, had undoubtedly maintained secret relations withthe rebellious generals in the field.

Parliament had further sinned by appointing a SpecialConstitutional Drafting Committee which had held its sittingsbehind closed doors at the Temple of Heaven. During this draftingof the Permanent Constitution, admittance had been absolutelyrefused to Yuan Shih-kai's delegates who had been sent to urge amodification of the decentralization which had been such acharacteristic of the Nanking Instrument. Such details astranspired showed that the principle of absolute money-control wasnot only to be the dominant note in the Permanent Constitution,but that a new and startling innovation was being included tosecure that a de facto Dictatorship should be rendered impossible.Briefly, it was proposed that when Parliament was not actually insession there should be left in Peking a special ParliamentaryCommittee, charged with supervising and controlling the Executive,and checking any usurpation of power.

This was enough for Yuan Shih-kai: he felt that he was not only anobject of general suspicion but that he was being treated withcontempt. He determined to finish with it all. He was as yet,however, only provisional President and it was necessary to showcunning. Once more he set to work in a characteristic way. By aliberal use of money Parliament was induced to pass in advance ofthe main body of articles the Chapter of the Constitution dealingwith the election and term of office of the President. When thathad been done the two Chambers sitting as an Electoral College,after the model of the French Parliament, being partly bribed andpartly terrorised by a military display, were induced to elect himfull President.

On the 10th October he took his final oath of office as Presidentfor a term of five years before a great gathering of officials andthe whole diplomatic body in the magnificent Throne Room of theWinter Palace. Safe now in his Constitutional position nothingremained for him but to strike. On the 4th November he issued anarbitrary Mandate, which received the counter-signature of thewhole Cabinet, ordering the unseating of all the so-calledKuomingtang or Radical Senators and Representatives on the countsof conspiracy and secret complicity with the July rising andvaguely referring to the filling of the vacancies thus created bynew elections. [Footnote: According to the official listspublished subsequent to the coup d'etat, 98 Senators and 252Members of the House of Representatives had their ParliamentaryCertificates impounded by the police as a result of the Mandatesof the 4th November, and were ordered to leave the Capital. Inaddition 34 Senators and 54 Members of the Lower House fled fromPeking before their Certificates could be seized. Therefore thetotal number affected by the proscription was 132 Senators and 306Representatives. As the quorums in the case of both Houses arehalf the total membership, any further sittings were thus madeimpossible.] The Metropolitan Police rigorously carried out theorder and although no brutality was shown, it was made clear thatif any of the indicted men remained in Peking their lives would beat stake. Having made it impossible for Parliament to sit owing tothe lack of quorums, Yuan Shih-kai was able to proceed with hiswork of reorganization in the way that best suited him; and thenovel spectacle was offered of a truly Mexican situation createdin the Far East by and with the assent of the Powers. It issignificant that the day succeeding this coup d'etat of the 4thNovember the agreement conceding autonomy to Outer Mongolia wassigned with Russia, China simply retaining the right to station adiplomatic representative at Urga. [Footnote: A full copy of thisagreement will be found in the appendix.]

In spite of his undisputed power, matters however did not improve.The police-control, judiciously mingled with assassinations, whichwas now put in full vigour was hardly the administration to makeroom for which the Manchus had been expelled; and the countrysecretly chafed and cursed. But the disillusionment of the peoplewas complete. Revolt had been tried in vain; and as the supportwhich the Powers were affording to this regime was well understoodthere was nothing to do but to wait, safe in the knowledge thatsuch a situation possessed no elements of permanency.

THE DICTATOR AT WORK

(FROM THE COUP D'ETAT OF THE 4TH NOVEMBER, 1913, TO THE OUTBREAKOF THE WORLD-WAR 1ST AUGUST, 1914)

With the Parliament of China effectively destroyed, and theturbulent Yangtsze Valley dragooned into sullen submission, YuanShih-kai's task had become so vastly simplified that he held themoment to have arrived when he could openly turn his hand to theproblem of making himself absolutely supreme, de jure as well asde facto. But there was one remaining thing to be done. To drivethe last nail into the coffin of the Republic it was necessary todiscredit and virtually imprison the man who was Vice-President.

It is highly characteristic that although he had received from thehero of the Wuchang Rising the most loyal co-operation—a co-operation of a very arduous character since the Commander of theMiddle Yangtsze had had to resist the most desperate attempts toforce him over to the side of the rebellion in July, 1913,nevertheless, Yuan Shih-kai was determined to bring this man toPeking as a prisoner of state.

It was just the fact that General Li Yuan-hung was a national herowhich impelled the Dictator to action. In the election which hadbeen carried out in October, 1913, by the National Assemblysitting as a National Convention, in spite of every effort todestroy his influence, the personal popularity of the Vice-President had been such that he had received a large number ofvotes for the office of full President—which had necessitated notone but three ballots being taken, making most people declare thathad there been no bribery or intimidation he would have probablybeen elected to the supreme office in the land, and ousted theambitious usurper. In such circ*mstances his complete eliminationwas deemed an elementary necessity. To secure that end Yuan Shih-kai suddenly dispatched to Wuchang—where the Vice-President hadresided without break since 1911—the Minister of War, GeneralTuan Chi-jui, with implicit instructions to deal with the problemin any way he deemed satisfactory, stopping short of nothingshould his victim prove recalcitrant.

Fortunately General Tuan Chi-jui did not belong to the ugly breedof men Yuan Shih-kai loved to surround himself with; and althoughhe was a loyal and efficient officer the politics of the assassinwere unknown to him. He was therefore able to convince the Vice-President after a brief discussion that the easiest way out of thering of intriguers and plotters in which Yuan Shih-kai was rapidlysurrounding him in Wuchang was to go voluntarily to the capital.There at least he would be in daily touch with developments andable to fight his own battles without fear of being stabbed in theback; since under the eye of the foreign Legations even Yuan Shih-kai was exhibiting a certain timidity. Indeed after the outcrywhich General Chang Cheng-wu's judicial murder had aroused he hadreserved his ugliest deeds for the provinces, only small men beingdone to death in Peking. Accordingly, General Li Yuan-hung packeda bag and accompanied only by an aide-de-camp left abruptly forthe capital where he arrived on the 11th December, 1913.

A great sensation was caused throughout China by this suddendeparture, consternation prevailing among the officers and men ofthe Hupeh (Wuchang) army when the newspapers began to hint thattheir beloved chief had been virtually abducted. Althoughcordially received by Yuan Shih-kai and given as his personalresidence the Island Palace where the unfortunate Emperor KwangHsu had been so long imprisoned by the Empress Dowager Tsu Hsiafter her coup d'etat of 1898, it did not take long for General LiYuan-hung to understand that his presence was a source ofembarrassment to the man who would be king. Being, however, giftedwith an astounding fund of patience, he prepared to sit down andallow the great game which he knew would now unroll to be playedto its normal ending. What General Li Yuan-hung desired above allwas to be forgotten completely and absolutely—springing to lifewhen the hour of deliverance finally arrived. His policy was shownto be not only psychologically accurate, but masterly in apolitical sense. The greatest ally of honesty in China has alwaysbeen time, the inherent decency of the race finally discreditingscoundrelism in every period of Chinese history.

The year 1914 dawned with so many obstacles removed that YuanShih-kai became more and more peremptory in his methods. InFebruary the young Empress Lun Yi, widow of the Emperor Kwang Hsu,who two years previously in her character of guardian of the boy-Emperor Hsuan Tung, had been cajoled into sanctioning theAbdication Edicts, unexpectedly expired, her death creatingprofound emotion because it snapped the last link with the past.Yuan Shih-kai's position was considerably strengthened by thisauspicious event which secretly greatly delighted him; and by hisorder for three days the defunct Empress lay in State in the GrandHall of the Winter Palace and received the obeisance of countlessmultitudes who appeared strangely moved by this hitherto unknownprocedure. There was now only a nine-year old boy between theDictator and his highest ambitions. Two final problems stillremained to be dealt with: to give a legal form to a purelyautocratic rule, and to find money to govern the country. Thesecond matter was vastly more important than the first to a manwho did not hesitate to base his whole polity on the teachings ofMachiavelli, legality being looked upon as only so much politicalwindow-dressing to placate foreign opinion and preventintervention, whilst without money even the semblance of therights of eminent domain could not be preserved. Everything indeedhinged on the question of finding money.

There was none in China, at least none for the government.Financial chaos still reigned supreme in spite of the greatReorganization Loan of 25,000,000 pounds, which had been carefullyarranged more for the purpose of wiping-out internationalindebtedness and balancing the books of foreign bankers than toinstitute a modern government. All the available specie in thecountry had been very quietly remitted in these troubled times bythe native merchant-guilds from every part of China to the vastemporium of Shanghai for safe custody, where a sum not far shortof a hundred million ounces now choked the vaults of the foreignbanks,—being safe from governmental expropriation. The collectionof provincial revenues having been long disorganized, Yuan Shih-kai, in spite of his military dictatorship, found it impossible tosecure the proper resumption of the provincial remittances. Freshloans became more and more sought after; by means of forceddomestic issues a certain amount of cash was obtained, but thecountry lived from hand to mouth and everybody was unhappy. Addedto this by March the formidable insurrection of the "White Wolf"bandits in Central China—under the legendary leadership of a manwho was said to be invulnerable—necessitated the mobilization ofa fresh army which ran into scores of battalions and which wasvainly engaged for nearly half a year in rounding-up this replicaof the Mexican Villa. So demoralized had the army become from longlicense that this guerilla warfare was waged with all possibleslackness until a chance shot mortally wounded the chief brigandand his immense following automatically dispersed. During sixmonths these pests had ravaged three provinces and menaced one ofthe most strongly fortified cities in Asia—the old capital ofChina, Hsianfu, whither the Manchu Court had fled in 1900.

Meanwhile wholesale executions were carried out in the provinceswith monotonous regularity and all attempts at rising ruthlesslysuppressed. In Peking the infamous Chih Fa Chu or Military Court—a sort of Chinese Star-Chamber—was continually engaged insummarily dispatching men suspected of conspiring against theDictator. Even the printed word was looked upon as seditious, anunfortunate native editor being actually flogged to death inHankow for telling the truth about conditions in the riverinedistricts. These cruelties made men more and more determined topay off the score the very first moment that was possible.Although he was increasingly pressed for ready money, Yuan Shih-kai, by the end of April, 1914, had the situation sufficiently inhand to bring out his supreme surprise,—a brand-new Constitutionpromulgated under the euphonious title of "The ConstitutionalCompact."

This precious document, which had no more legality behind it as agoverning instrument than a private letter, can be studied by thecurious in the appendix where it is given in full: here it issufficient to say that no such hocuspocus had ever been previouslyindulged in China. Drafted by an American legal adviser, Dr.Goodnow, who was later to earn unenviable international notorietyas the endorser of the monarchy scheme, it erected what it waspleased to call the Presidential System; that is, it placed allpower directly in the hands of the President, giving him a singleSecretary of State after the American model and reducing CabinetMinisters to mere Department Chiefs who received theirinstructions from the State Department but had no real voice inthe actual government. A new provincial system was likewiseinvented for the provinces, the Tutuhs or Governors of theRevolutionary period being turned into Chiang Chun or MilitaryOfficials on the Manchu model and provincial control absolutelycentralized in their hands, whilst the Provincial Assembliesestablished under the former dynasty were summarily abolished. Theworship at the Temple of Heaven was also re-established and so wasthe official worship of Confucius—both Imperialistic measures—whilst a brand-new ceremony, the worship of the two titularyMilitary Gods, was ordered so as to inculcate military virtue! Itwas laid down that in the worship of Heaven the President wouldwear the robes of the Dukes of the Chow dynasty, B. C. 1112, anovel and interesting republican experiment. Excerpts from twoMandates which belong to these days throw a flood of light on thekind of reasoning which was held to justify these developments.The first declares:

… "In a Republic the Sovereign Power is vested in the people,and the main principle is that all things should be determined inaccordance with the desires of the majority. These desires may beembraced by two words, namely, existence and happiness. I, thePresident, came from my farm because I was unable to bear theeternal sufferings of the innocent people. I assumed office andtried vainly to soothe the violent feelings. The greatest evilnowadays is the misunderstanding of true principles. TheRepublicans on the pretext of public interest try to attainselfish ends, some going so far as to consider the forsaking ofparents as a sign of liberty and regarding the violation of thelaws as a demonstration of equality. I will certainly do my bestto change all this."

In the second Mandate Yuan Shih-kai justifies the re-establishmentof the Confucian worship in a singular way, incidentally showinghow utterly incomprehensible to him is the idea of representativegovernment, since he would appear to have imagined that bydispatching circular telegrams to the provincial capitals andreceiving affirmative replies from his creatures all that isnecessary in the way of a national endorsem*nt of highconstitutional measures had been obtained.

… "China's devotion to Confucius began with the reign of theEmperor Hsiaowu, of the Han dynasty, who rejected the works of thehundred authors, making the six Confucian classics the leadingbooks. Confucius, born in the time of the tyranny of the nobility,in his works declared that after war disturbances comes peace, andwith peace real tranquillity and happiness. This, therefore, isthe fountain of Republicanism. After studying the history of Chinaand consulting the opinions of scholars, I find that Confuciusmust remain the teacher for thousands of generations. But in aRepublic the people possess sovereign power. Therefore circulartelegrams were dispatched to all the provinces to collectopinions, and many affirmative answers have already been received.Therefore, all colleges, schools, and public bodies are ordered torevive the sacrificial ceremony of Confucius, which shall becarefully and minutely ordained" …

With the formal promulgation of the Constitutional Compact thesituation had become bizarre in the extreme. Although even thechild-mind might have known that powers for Constitution-makingwere vested solely in the National Assembly, and that the re-division of authority which was now made was wholly illegal,because Yuan Shih-kai as the bailiff of the Powers was able to domuch as he pleased; and at a moment when Liberal Europe was on theeve of plunging into the most terrible war in history in defenceof right against might, reaction and Prussianism of the mostrepulsive type were passed by unnoticed in China. In a few looselydrafted chapters not only was the governance of the countryrearranged to suit a purely dictational rule, but the actualParliament was permanently extinguished and replaced by a singleLegislative Chamber (Li Fa Yuan) which from its very compositioncould be nothing but a harmless debating Society with no greatersignificance than a dietine of one of the minor German States.Meanwhile, as there was no intention of allowing even this chamberto assemble until the last possible moment, a Senate was gottogether as the organ of public opinion, ten Senators being chosento draft yet another Constitution which would be the final one.Remarkable steps were taken a little later in the year (1914) tosecure that the succession to the dictatorship should be left inYuan Shih-kai's own hands. An elaborate ritual was contrived andofficially promulgated under the title of the PresidentialSuccession Law on the 29th December whereby the Chief Executiveselected three names which were placed in a gold box in a StoneHouse in the grounds of the Palace,—the gold box only to beopened when death or incapacity deprived the nation of its self-appointed leader. For the term of the presidency was openlyconverted into one of ten years and made subject to indefiniterenewal by this precious instrument which was the work of thepuppet senate. In case of the necessity of an election suddenlyarising, an Electoral College was to be formed by fifty membersdrawn from the Legislative Chamber and fifty from the Senate, thePresidential candidates consisting of the President (if he sodesired) and the three whose names were in the gold box in theStone House in the Palace grounds. It is not definitely known towhom these provisions were due, but it is known that at least theywere not the work of the American adviser.

His responsibility, however, was very great; for the keynote ofall this scheme, according to Dr. Goodnow, [Footnote: It issignificant that Dr. Goodnow carried out all his ConstitutionalStudies in Germany, specializing in that department known asAdministrative Law which has no place, fortunately, in Anglo-Saxonconceptions of the State.] was "centralization of power," aparrot-like phrase which has deluded better men than ever came toChina and which—save as a method necessary during a state of war—should have no place in modern politics. But it was preciselythis which appealed to Yuan Shih-kai. Although as President he wasex officio Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, he now turnedthis office into a direct and special organization installedwithin the precincts of the Imperial City. The flags of this newdictatorship constantly floated over his palace, whilst scores ofofficers were appointed to scores of departments which weredirectly concerned with centralizing the control of every armedman in the country in the master's hands. Meanwhile in order toplacate provincial commanders, a "Palace of Generals," was createdin Peking to which were brought all men it was held desirable toemasculate. Here, drawing ample salaries, they could sit inidleness the livelong day, discussing the battles they had neverfought and intriguing against one another, two occupations inwhich the product of the older school of men in China excels.Provincial levies which had any military virtue, were graduallydisbanded, though many of the rascals and rapscallions, who wereopen menaces to good government were left with arms in their handsso as to be an argument in favour of drastic police-rule. Thus itis significant of the underlying falseness and weakness of thedictator's character that he never dared to touch the troops ofthe reprobate General Chang Hsun, who had made trouble for years,and who had nearly embroiled China in war with Japan during theso-called Second Revolution (July-August, 1913) by massacring someJapanese civilians in the streets of Nanking when the city wasrecaptured. So far from disbanding his men, Chang Hsun managedconstantly to increase his army of 30,000 men on the plea that thepost of Inspector-General of the Yangtsze Valley, which had beengiven to him as a reward for refusing to throw in his lot with theSouthern rebels, demanded larger forces. Yuan Shih-kai, althoughhalf-afraid of him, found him at various periods useful as acounterweight to other generals in the provinces; in any case hewas not the man to risk anything by attempting to crush him. As hewas planted with his men astride of the strategically importantPukow railway, it was always possible to order him at a moment'snotice into the Yangtsze Valley which was thus constantly underthe menace of fire and sword.

Far and wide Yuan Shih-kai now stretched his nets. He evenemployed Americans throughout the United States in the capacity ofpress-agents in order to keep American public opinion favourableto him, hoping to invoke their assistance against his life-enemy—Japan—should that be necessary. The precise details of thispropaganda and the sums spent in its prosecution are known to thewriter; if he refrains from publishing them it is solely forreasons of policy. England it was not necessary to deal with inthis way. Chance had willed that the British Representative inPeking should be an old friend who had known the Dictatorintimately since his Korean days; and who faithful to theextraordinary English love of hero-worship believed that such asurprising character could do little wrong. British policy whichhas always been a somewhat variable quantity in China, owing tothe spasmodic attention devoted to such a distant problem, may besaid to have been non-existent during all this period—a state ofaffairs not conducive to international happiness.

Slowly the problem developed in a shiftless, irresolute way.Unable to see that China had vastly changed, and that governmentby rascality had become a physical and moral impossibility, theLegations in Peking adopted an attitude of indifference leavingYuan Shih-kai to wreak his will on the people. The horde offoreign advisers who had been appointed merely as a piece ofpolitical window-dressing, although they were allowed to do nowork, were useful in running backwards and forwards between theLegations and the Presidential headquarters and in making eachPower suppose that its influence was of increasing importance. Itwas made abundantly clear that in Yuan Shih-kai's estimation theLegations played in international politics much the same role thatprovincial capitals did in domestic politics: so long as you boundboth to benevolent neutrality the main problem—the consolidationof dictatorial power—could be pushed on with as you wished.Money, however, remained utterly lacking and a new twenty-fivemillion sterling loan was spoken of as inevitable—the accumulateddeficit in 1914 being alone estimated at thirty-eight millionpounds. But although this financial dearth was annoying, Chineseresources were sufficient to allow the account to be carried onfrom day to day. Some progress was made in railways, buildingconcessions being liberally granted to foreign corporations, thispolicy having received a great impetus from the manner in whichDr. Sun Yat Sen had boomed the necessity for better communicationsduring the short time he had ruled at a National Railway Bureau inShanghai, an office from which he had been relieved in 1913 on itbeing discovered that he was secretly indenting for quick-firingguns. Certain questions proved annoying and insoluble, forinstance the Tibetan question concerning which England was veryresolute, as well as the perpetual risings in Inner Mongolia, aregion so close to Peking that constant concentrations of troopswere necessary. But on the whole as time went on there wasincreasing indifference both among the Foreign Powers and Chinesefor the extraordinary state of affairs which had been allowed togrow up.

There was one notable exception, however, Japan. Never relaxingher grip on a complicated problem, watchful and active, whereothers were indifferent and slothful, Japan bided her time.Knowing that the hour had almost arrived when it would be possibleto strike, Japan was vastly active behind the scenes in China longbefore the outbreak of the European war gave her the longed foropportunity; and largely because of her the pear, which seemedalready almost ripe, finally withered on the tree.

THE FACTOR OF JAPAN

(FROM THE OUTBREAK OP THE WORLD-WAR, 1ST AUGUST, 1914, TO THEFILING OP THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS, 18TH JANUARY, 1915)

The thunderclap of the European war shattered the uneasy calm inChina, not because the Chinese knew anything of the mighty issueswhich were to be fought out with such desperation and valour, butbecause the presence of the German colony of Kiaochow on Chinesesoil and the activity of German cruisers in the Yellow Sea broughtthe war to China's very doors. Vaguely conscious that this mightspell disaster to his own ambitious plans, Yuan Shih-kai wasactually in the midst of tentative negotiations with the GermanLegation regarding the retrocession of the Kiaochow territory whenthe news reached him that Japan, after some rapid negotiationswith her British Ally, had filed an ultimatum on Germany,peremptorily demanding the handing-over of all those intereststhat had been forcibly acquired in Shantung province in the greatleasing-year of 1898.

At once Yuan Shih-kai realized that the Nemesis which had doggedhis footsteps all his life was again close behind him. In theJapanese attack on Kiaochow he foresaw a web of complicationswhich even his unrivalled diplomacy might be unable to unravel;for he knew well from bitter experience that wherever the Japanesesets his foot there he remains. It is consequently round thissingle factor of Japan that the history of the two succeedingyears revolves. From being indisputably the central figure on theChinese canvas, Yuan Shih-kai suddenly becomes subordinate to theterror of Japanese intervention which hangs over him constantlylike a black cloud, and governs every move he made from the 15thAugust, 1914, to the day of his dramatic death on the 6th June,1916. We shall attempt to write down the true explanation of whythis should have been so.

It is extremely hard to discuss the question of Japan for thebenefit of an exclusively Western audience in a convincing waybecause Japanese policy has two distinct facets which seem utterlycontradictory, and yet which are in a great measure understandableif the objects of that diplomacy are set down. Being endowed withan extraordinary capacity for taking detached views, the Statesmenof Tokio long ago discerned the necessity of having twoindependent policies—an Eastern policy for Eastern Asia and aWestern policy for Western nations—because East and West areessentially antithetical, and cannot be treated (at least not yet)in precisely the same manner. Whilst the Western policy is frankand manly, and is exclusively in the hands of brilliant andattractive men who have been largely educated in the schools ofEurope and America and who are fully able to deal with all mattersin accordance with the customary traditions of diplomacy, theEastern policy is the work of obscurantists whose imaginations areheld by the vast projects which the Military Party believes arecapable of realization in China. There is thus a constantcontradiction in the attitude of Japan which men have sought invain to reconcile. It is for this reason that the outer world isdivided into two schools of thought, one believing implicitly inJapan's bona fides, the other vulgarly covering her with abuse anddeclaring that she is the last of all nations in her conceptionsof fair play and honourable treatment. Both views are far-fetched.It is as true of Japan as it is of every other Government in theworld that her actions are dictated neither by altruism nor byperfidy, but are merely the result of the faulty working of anumber of fallible brains and as regards the work ofadministration in Japan itself the position is equallyextraordinary. Here, at the extreme end of the world, so far frombeing in any way threatened, the principle of Divine Right, whichis being denounced and dismembered in Europe as a crude survivalfrom almost heathen days, stands untouched and still exhibitsitself in all its pristine glory. A highly aristocratic Court,possessing one of the most complicated and jealously protectedhierarchies in the world, and presided over by a monarch claimingdirect descent from the sacred Jimmu Tenno of twenty-five hundredyears ago, decrees to-day precisely as before, the elaborateritual governing every move, every decision and every agreement.There is something so engaging in this political curiosity,something so far removed from the vast world-movement now rollingfiercely to its conclusion, that we may be pardoned forinterpolating certain capital considerations which closely affectthe future of China and therefore cannot fail to be of publicinterest.

The Japanese, who owe their whole theocratic conception to theChinese, just as they owe all their letters and their learning tothem, still nominally look upon their ruler as the link betweenHeaven and Earth, and the central fact dominating their cosmogony.Although the vast number of well-educated men who to-day crowd thecities of Japan are fully conscious of the bizarre nature of thisbelief in an age which has turned its back on superstition,nothing has yet been done to modify it because—and this is theimportant point—the structure of Japanese society is such thatwithout a violent upheaval which shall hurl the military clansystem irremediably to the ground, it is absolutely impossible forhuman equality to be admitted and the man-god theory to bedestroyed. So long as these two features exist; that is so long asa privileged military caste supports and attempts to make all-powerful the man-god theory, so long will Japan be aninternational danger-spot because there will lack those democraticrestraints which this war has shown are absolutely essential tosecure a peaceful understanding among the nations. It is for thisreason that Japan will fail to attain the position the art-geniusand industry of her people entitle her to and must limp behind theprogress of the world unless a very radical revision of theconstitution is achieved. The disabilities which arise from anarchaic survival are so great that they will affect China asadversely as Japan, and therefore should be universallyunderstood. Japanese history, if stripped of its superficialaspects, has a certain remarkable quality; it seems steeped inheroic blood. The doctrine of force, which expresses itself in itscrudest forms in Europe, has always been in Japan a system ofheroic-action so fascinating to humanity at large that untilrecent times its international significance has not been realized.The feudal organization of Japanese society which arose as aresult of the armed conquest of the islands fifteen hundred yearsago, precluded centralizating measures being taken because theThrone, relying on the virtues of Divine Ancestors rather than onany well-articulated political theory, was weak in all exceptcertain quasi-sacerdotal qualities, and forced to rely on greatchieftains for the execution of its mandates as well as for itsdefence. The military title of "barbarian-conquering general,"which was first conferred on a great clan leader eight centuriesago, was a natural enough development when we remember that theautochthonous races were even then not yet pushed out of the mainisland, and were still battling with the advancing tide ofJapanese civilization which was itself composed of several rivalstreams coming from the Asiatic mainland and from the Malayanarchipelagoes. This armed settlement saturates Japanese historyand is responsible for the unending local wars and theglorification of the warrior. The conception of triumphantgeneralship which Hideyoshi attempted unsuccessfully to carry intoKorea in the Sixteenth Century, led directly at the beginning ofthe Seventeenth Century to the formal establishment of theShogunate, that military dictatorship being the result of thebackwash of the Korean adventure, and the greatest proof of thedisturbance which it had brought in Japanese society. Thepersistence of this hereditary military dictatorship for more thantwo and a half centuries is a remarkable illustration of the factthat as in China so in Japan the theocratic conception wasunworkable save in primitive times—civilization demandingorganization rather than precepts and refusing to bow its head tospeechless kings. Although the Restoration of 1868 nominally gaveback to the Throne all it had been forced to leave in other handssince 1603, that transfer of power was imaginary rather than real,the new military organization which succeeded the Shogun'sgovernment being the vital portion of the Restoration. In otherwords, it was the leaders of Japan's conscript armies whoinherited the real power, a fact made amply evident by thecrushing of the Satsuma Rebellion by these new corps whoseorganization allowed them to overthrow the proudest and mostvalourous of the Samurai and incidentally to proclaim the triumphof modern fire-arms.

Now it is important to note that as early as 1874—that is sixyears after the Restoration of the Emperor Meiji—these facts wereattracting the widest notice in Japanese society, the agitationfor a Constitution and a popular assembly being very vigourouslypushed. Led by the well-known and aristocratic Itagaki, JapaneseLiberalism had joined battle with out-and-out Imperialism morethan a quarter of a century ago; and although the question ofrecovering Tariff and Judicial autonomy and revising the ForeignTreaties was more urgent in those days, the foreign question wasoften pushed aside by the fierceness of the constitutionalagitation.

It was not, however, until 1889 that a Constitution was finallygranted to the Japanese—that instrument being a gift from theCrown, and nothing more than a conditional warrant to a limitednumber of men to become witnesses of the processes of governmentbut in no sense its controllers. The very first Diet summoned in1890 was sufficient proof of that. A collision at once occurredover questions of finance which resulted in the resignation of theMinistry. And ever since those days, that is for twenty-sevenconsecutive years, successive Diets in Japan have been fighting aforlorn fight for the power which can never be theirs save byrevolution, it being only natural that Socialism should come to belooked upon by the governing class as Nihilism, whilst the mob-threat has been very acute ever since the Tokio peace riots of1905.

Now it is characteristic of the ceremonial respect which allJapanese have for the Throne that all through this long contestthe main issue should have been purposely obscured. Thetraditional feelings of veneration which a loyal and obedientpeople feel for a line of monarchs, whose origin is lost in themists of antiquity, are such that they have turned what is ineffect an evergrowing struggle against the archaic principle ofdivine right into a contest with clan-leaders whom they assert areacting "unconstitutionally" whenever they choose to assert theundeniable principles of the Constitution. Thus to-day we havethis paradoxical situation: that although Japanese Liberalism mustfrom its very essence be revolutionary, i.e., destructive beforeit can hope to be constructive, it feigns blindness, hoping thatby suasion rather than by force the principle of parliamentarygovernment will somehow be grafted on to the body politic and theemperors, being left outside the controversy, become content toaccept a greatly modified rule.

This hope seems a vain one in the light of all history. Militarismand the clans are by no means in the last ditch in Japan, and theywill no more surrender their power than would the Russianbureaucracy. The only argument which is convincing in such a caseis the last one which is ever used; and the mere mention of it byso-called socialists is sufficient to cause summary arrest inJapan. Sheltering themselves behind the Throne, and nominallyderiving their latter-day dictatorship from the Imperial mandate,the military chiefs remain adamant, nothing having yet occurred toincline them to surrender any of their privileges. By a process ofadaptation to present-day conditions, a formula has now beendiscovered which it is hoped will serve many a long year. Bysecuring by extra-legal means the return of a "majority" in theHouse of Representatives the fiction of national support of theautocracy has been re-invigourated, and the doctrine laid downthat what is good for every other advanced people in the world isbad for the Japanese, who must be content with what is grantedthem and never question the superior intelligence of a privilegedcaste. In the opinion of the writer, it is every whit as importantfor the peace of the world that the people of Japan should governthemselves as it is for the people of Germany to do so. Thepersistence of the type of military government which we see to-dayin Japan is harmful for all alike because it is as antiquated asTsarism and a perpetual menace to a disarmed nation such as China.So long as that government remains, so long must Japan remain aninternational suspect and be denied equal rights in the council-chambers of the Liberal Powers.

If the situation which arose on the 15th August, 1914, is to bethoroughly understood, it is necessary to pick up threads ofChino-Japanese relations from a good many years back. First-handfamiliarity with the actors and the scenes of at least threedecades is essential to give the picture the completeness, thebrilliancy of colouring, and withal the suggestiveness inseparablefrom all true works of art. For the Chino-Japanese question isprimarily a work of art and not merely a piece of jejune diplomacystretched across the years. As the shuttle of Fate has been castswiftly backwards and forwards, the threads of these entwiningrelations have been woven into patterns involving the whole FarEast, until to-day we have as it were a complete Gobelin tapestry,magnificent with meaning, replete with action, and full ofscholastic interest.

Let us follow some of the tracery. It has long been the habit toaffirm that the conflict between China and Japan had its origin inKorea, when Korea was a vassal state acknowledging the suzeraintyof Peking; and that the conflict merited ending there, since ofthe two protagonists contending for empire Japan was left inundisputed mastery. This statement, being incomplete, isdangerously false. Dating from that vital period of thirty yearsago, when Yuan Shih-kai first went to Seoul as a general officerin the train of the Chinese Imperial Resident (on China beingforced to take action in protection of her interests owing to the"opening" of Korea by the American Treaty of 1882) threecontestants, equally interested in the balance of land-power inEastern Asia were constantly pitted against one another with Koreaas their common battling-ground—Russia, China and Japan. Thestruggle, which ended in the eclipse of the first two, merelyshifted the venue from the Korean zone to the Manchurian zone; andfrom thence gradually extended it further and further afield untilat last not only was Inner Mongolia and the vast belt of countryfronting the Great Wall embraced within its scope, but the entireaspect of China itself was changed. For these important facts haveto be noted. Until the Russian war of 1904-05 had demonstrated theutter valuelessness of Tsarism as an international militaryfactor, Japan had been almost willing to resign herself to asubordinate role in the Far East. Having eaten bitter bread as theresult of her premature attempt in 1895 (after the Korean war) tobecome a continental power—an attempt which had resulted in theforced retrocession of the Liaotung Peninsula—she had been placedon her good behaviour, an attitude which was admirably reflectedin 1900 when her Peking Expeditionary Force proved itself so well-behaved and so gallant as to arouse the world's admiration. Butthe war with Russia and the collapse of the Tsar's Manchurianadventure not only drew her back into territory that she neverhoped to see again, but placed her in possession of a ready-maderailway system which carried her almost up to the Sungari riverand surrendered to her military control vast grasslands stretchingto the Khingan mountains. This Westernly march so greatly enlargedthe Japanese political horizon, and so entirely changed theJapanese viewpoint, that the statesmen of Tokio in theirexcitement threw off their ancient spectacles and found to theirastonishment that their eyes were every whit as good as Europeaneyes. Now seeing the world as others had long seen it, theyunderstood that just as with the individuals so with nations thestruggle for existence can most easily be conducted by adoptingthat war-principle of Clausewitz—the restless offensive, and notby writing meaningless dispatches. Prior to the Russian war theyhad written to Russia a magnificent series of documents in whichthey had pleaded with sincerity for an equitable settlement,—only to find that all was in vain. Forced to battle, they hadfound in combat not only success but a new principle.

The discovery necessitated a new policy. During the eighties, andin a lesser degree in the nineties, Japan had apart fromeverything else been content to act in a modest and retiring way,because she wished at all costs to avoid testing too severely herimmature strength. But owing to the successive collapses of herrivals, she now found herself not only forced to attack as thesafest course of action, but driven to the view that the Powerthat exerts the maximum pressure constantly and unremittedly isinevitably the most successful. This conclusion had greatimportance. For just as the first article of faith for England inAsia has been the doctrine that no Power can be permitted to seizestrategic harbours which menace her sea-communications, so did itnow become equally true of Japan that her dominant policy becamenot an Eastern Monroe doctrine, as shallow men have supposed, butsimply the Doctrine of Maximum Pressure. To press with all herstrength on China was henceforth considered vital by everyJapanese; and it's in this spirit that every diplomatic patternhas been woven since the die was cast in 1905. Until this signalfact has been grasped no useful analysis can be made of theevolution of present conditions. Standing behind this policy, andconstantly reinforcing it, are the serried ranks of the newdemocracy which education and the great increase in materialprosperity have been so rapidly creating. The soaring ambitionwhich springs from the sea lends to the attacks developed by sucha people the aspect of piracies; and it is but natural in suchcirc*mstances that for Chinese Japan should not only have theaspect of a sea-monster but that their country should appear ashapless Andromeda bound to a rock, always awaiting a Perseus whonever comes. …

The Revolution of 1911 had been entirely unexpected in Japan.Whilst large outbreaks had been certainly counted on since theChinese Revolutionary party had for years used Japan as an asylumand a base of operations, never had it been anticipated that thefall of an ancient Dynasty could be so easily encompassed.Consequently, the abdication of the Manchus as the result ofintrigues rather than of warfare was looked upon as little shortof a catastrophe because it hopelessly complicated the outlook,broke the pattern which had been so carefully woven for so manyyears, and interjected harsh elements which could not be assignedan orderly place. Not only was a well-articulated State-systemsuddenly consigned to the flames, but the ruin threatened to be sogeneral that the balance of power throughout the Far East would betwisted out of shape. Japanese statesmen had desired a weak China,a China which would ultimately turn to them for assistance becausethey were a kindred race, but not a China that looked to theFrench Revolution for its inspiration. To a people as slow toadjust themselves to violent surprises as are the Japanese, therewas an air of desperation about the whole business which greatlyalarmed them, and made them determined at the earliest possiblemoment to throw every ounce of their weight in the direction whichwould best serve them by bringing matters back to their originalstarting-point. For this reason they were not only prepared intheory in 1911 to lend armed assistance to the Manchus but wouldhave speedily done so had not England strongly dissented from sucha course of action when she was privately sounded about thematter. Even to-day, when a temporary adjustment of Japanesepolicy has been successfully arranged, it is of the highestimportance for political students to remember that the dynasticinfluences in Tokio have never departed from the view that thelegitimate sovereignty of China remains vested in the Manchu Houseand that everything that has taken place since 1911 is irregularand unconstitutional.

For the time being, however, two dissimilar circ*mstances demandedcaution: first, the enthusiasm which the Japanese democracy, fedby a highly excited press, exhibited towards the Young China whichhad been so largely grounded in the Tokio schools and which hadcarried out the Revolution: secondly—and far more important—thedeep, abiding and ineradicable animosity which Japanese of allclasses felt for the man who had come out of the contest head andshoulders above everybody else—Yuan Shih-kai. These tworemarkable features ended by completely thrusting into thebackground during the period 1911-1914 every other element inJapanese statesmanship; and of the two the second must be countedthe decisive one. Dating back to Korea, when Yuan Shih-kai'sextraordinary diplomatic talents constantly allowed him to worsthis Japanese rivals and to make Chinese counsels supreme at theKorean Court up to the very moment when the first shots of the warof 1894 were fired, this ancient dislike, which amounted to aconsuming hatred, had become a fixed idea. Restrained by theworld's opinion during the period prior to the outbreak of theworld-war as well as by the necessity of acting financially inconcert with the other Powers, it was not until August, 1914, thatthe longed-for opportunity came and that Japan prepared to act ina most remarkable way.

The campaign against Kiaochow was unpopular from the outset amongthe Japanese public because it was felt that they were notlegitimately called upon to interest themselves in such a remotequestion as the balance of power among European nations, which waswhat British warfare against Germany seemed to them to be. Thoughsome ill-will was felt against Germany for the part played by herin the intervention of 1895, it must not be forgotten that just asthe Japanese navy is the child of the British navy, so is theJapanese army the child of the German army—and that Japanese armychiefs largely control Japan. These men were averse from "spoilingtheir army" in a contest which did not interest them. There wasalso the feeling abroad that England by calling upon her Ally tocarry out the essential provisions of her Alliance had shown thatshe had the better part of a bargain, and that she was exploitingan old advantage in a way which could not fail to react adverselyon Japan's future world's relationships. Furthermore, it isnecessary to underline the fact that official Japan was displeasedby the tacit support an uninterested British Foreign Office hadconsistently given to the Yuan Shih-kai regime. That the Chineseexperiment was looked upon in England more with amusem*nt thanwith concern irritated the Japanese—more particularly as theBritish Foreign Office was issuing in the form of White Papersdocuments covering Yuan Shih-kai's public declarations as if theywere contributions to contemporary history. Thus in the precedingyear (1913) under the nomenclature of "affairs in China" the textof a dementi regarding the President of China's Imperialaspirations had been published,—a document which Japanese hadclassified as a studied lie, and as an act of presumption becauseits wording showed that its author intended to keep his backturned on Japan. The Dictator had declared:—

… "From my student days, I, Yuan Shih-kai, have admired theexample of the Emperors Yao and Shun, who treated the empire as apublic trust, and considered that the record of a dynasty inhistory for good or ill is inseparably bound up with the publicspirit or self-seeking by which it has been animated. On attainingmiddle age I grew more familiar with foreign affairs, was struckby the admirable republican system in France and America, and feltthat they were a true embodiment of the democratic precepts of theancients. When last year the patriotic crusade started in Wuchangits echoes went forth into all the provinces, with the result thatthis ancient nation with its 2,000 years of despotism adopted withone bound the republican system of government.

It was my good fortune to see this glorious day at my life's lateeve; I cherished the hope that I might dwell in the seclusion ofmy own home and participate in the blessings of an age of peace.

But once again my fellow-countrymen honoured me with the pressingrequest that I should again assume a heavy burden, and on the dayon which the Republic was proclaimed I announced it the wholenation that never again should a monarchy be permitted in China.At my inauguration I again took this solemn oath in the sight ofheaven above and earth beneath. Yet of late ignorant persons inthe provinces have fabricated wild rumours to delude men's minds,and have adduced the career of the First Napoleon on which to basetheir erroneous speculations. It is best not to inquire as totheir motives; in some cases misconception may be the cause, inothers deliberate malice.

The Republic has now been proclaimed for six months; so far thereis no prospect of recognition from the Powers, while order is farfrom being restored in the provinces. Our fate hangs upon a hair;the slightest negligence may forfeit all. I, who bear this arduousresponsibility, feel it my bounden duty to stand at the helm inthe hope of successfully breasting the wild waves.

But while those in office are striving with all their might toeffect a satisfactory solution, spectators seem to find adifficulty in maintaining a generous forbearance. They forget thatI, who have received this charge from my countrymen, cannotpossibly look dispassionately on when the fate of the nation is inthe balance. If I were aware that the task was impossible andplayed a part of easy acquiescence, so that the future of theRepublic might become irreparable, others might not reproach me,but my own conscience would never leave me alone.

My thoughts are manifest in the sight of high heaven. But at thisseason of construction and dire crisis how shall these mutualsuspicions find a place? Once more I issue this announcement; ifyou, my fellow countrymen, do indeed place the safety of Chinabefore all other considerations, it behooves you to be large-minded. Beware of lightly heeding the plausible voice of calumny,and of thus furnishing a medium for fostering anarchy. If evillydisposed persons, who are bent on destruction, seize the excusefor sowing dissension to the jeopardy of the situation, I, YuanShih-kai, shall follow the behest of my fellow-countrymen inplacing such men beyond the pale of humanity.

A vital issue is involved. It is my duty to lay before you myinmost thought, so that suspicion may be dissipated. Those whoknow have the right to impose their censure. It is for publicopinion to take due notice."

Moreover Yuan Shih-kai had also shown in his selection and use offoreign Advisers, that he was determined to proceed in such amanner as to advertise his suspicion and enmity of Japan. Afterthe Coup d'etat of the 4th November, 1913, and the scattering ofParliament, it was an American Adviser who was set to work on thenew "Constitution"; and although a Japanese, Dr. Ariga, who was inreceipt of a princely salary, aided and abetted this work, hisendorsem*nt of the dictatorial rule was looked upon as traitorousby the bulk of his countrymen. Similarly, it was perfectly well-known that Yuan Shih-kai was spending large sums of money in Tokioin bribing certain organs of the Japanese Press and in attemptingto win adherents among Japanese members of Parliament. Remarkablestories are current which compromise very highly-placed Japanesebut which the writer hesitates to set down in black and white asdocumentary proof is not available. In any case, be this as itmay, it was felt in Tokio that the time had arrived to give aproper definition to the relations between the two states,—themore so as Yuan Shih-kai, by publicly proclaiming a small war-zonein Shantung within the limits of which the Japanese were alonepermitted to wage war against the Germans, had shown himselfindifferent to the majesty of Japan. The Japanese having capturedKiaochow by assault before the end of 1914 decided to accept theview that a de facto Dictatorship existed in China. Therefore onthe 18th of January, 1915, the Japanese Minister, Dr. Hioki,personally served on Yuan Shih-kai the now famous Twenty-oneDemands, a list designed to satisfy every present and future needof Japanese policy and to reduce China to a state of vassalage.

THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS

Although the press of the world gave a certain prominence at thetime to the astounding demarche with which we now have to deal,there was such persistent mystery about the matter and so manyofficial dementis accompanied every publication of the facts thateven to this day the nature of the assault which Japan deliveredon China is not adequately realized, nor is the narrow escapeassigned its proper place in estimates of the future. Briefly, hadthere not been publication of the facts and had not Britishdiplomacy been aroused to action there is little doubt that Japanwould have forced matters so far that Chinese independence wouldnow be virtually a thing of the past. Fortunately, however, Chinain her hour of need found many who were willing to succour her;with the result that although she lost something in thesenegotiations, Japan nevertheless failed in a very signal fashionto attain her main objective. The Pyrrhic victory which she wonwith her eleventh hour ultimatum will indeed in the end cost hermore than would have a complete failure, for Chinese suspicion andhostility are now so deep-seated that nothing will ever completelyeradicate them. It is therefore only proper that an accuraterecord should be here incorporated of a chapter of history whichhas much international importance; and if we invite closeattention to the mass of documents that follow it is because wehold that an adequate comprehension of them is essential tosecuring the future peace of the Far East. Let us first give theofficial text of the original Demands:

JAPAN'S ORIGINAL TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS

Translations of Documents Handed to the President, Yuan shih-kai,by Mr. Hioki, the Japanese Minister, on January 18th, 1915.

GROUP I

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government being desirousof maintaining the general peace in Eastern Asia and furtherstrengthening the friendly relations and good neighbourhoodexisting between the two nations agree to the following articles:—

Article 1. The Chinese Government engages to give full assent toall matters upon which the Japanese Government may hereafter agreewith the German Government relating to the disposition of allrights, interests and concessions, which Germany, by virtue oftreaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the Province ofShantung.

Article 2. The Chinese Government engages that within the Provinceof Shantung and along its coast no territory or island will beceded or leased to a third Power under any pretext.

Article 3. The Chinese Government consents to Japan's building arailway from Chefoo or Lungkow to join the Kiaochou-Tsinanfurailway.

Article 4. The Chinese Government engages, in the interest oftrade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by herself assoon as possible certain important cities and towns in theProvince of Shantung as Commercial Ports. What places shall beopened are to be jointly decided upon in a separate agreement.

GROUP II

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, since theChinese Government has always acknowledged the special positionenjoyed by Japan in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia,agree to the following articles:—

Article 1. The two Contracting Parties mutually agree that theterm of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny and the term of lease ofthe South Manchurian Railway and the Antung-Mukden Railway shallbe extended to the period of 99 years.

Article 2. Japanese subjects in South Manchuria and Eastern InnerMongolia shall have the right to lease or own land required eitherfor erecting suitable buildings for trade and manufacture or forfarming.

Article 3. Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel inSouth Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia and to engage inbusiness and in manufacture of any kind whatsoever.

Article 4. The Chinese Government agrees to grant to Japanesesubjects the right of opening the mines in South Manchuria andEastern Inner Mongolia. As regards what mines are to be opened,they shall be decided upon jointly.

Article 5. The Chinese Government agrees that in respect of the(two) cases mentioned herein below the Japanese Government'sconsent shall be first obtained before action is taken:—

(a) Whenever permission is granted to the subject of a third Powerto build a railway or to make a loan with a third Power for thepurpose of building a railway in South Manchuria and Eastern InnerMongolia.

(b) Whenever a loan is to be made with a third Power pledging thelocal taxes of South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia assecurity.

Article 6. The Chinese Government agrees that if the Chinese
Government employs political, financial or military advisers or
instructors in South Manchuria or Eastern Inner Mongolia, the
Japanese Government shall first be consulted.

Article 7. The Chinese Government agrees that the control andmanagement of the Kirin-Changchun Railway shall be handed over tothe Japanese Government for a term of 99 years dating from thesigning of this Agreement.

GROUP III

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, seeing thatJapanese financiers and the Hanyehping Co. have dose relationswith each other at present and desiring that the common interestsof the two nations shall be advanced, agree to the followingarticles:—

Article 1. The two Contracting Parties mutually agree that whenthe opportune moment arrives the Hanyehping Company shall be madea joint concern of the two nations and they further agree thatwithout the previous consent of Japan, China shall not by her ownact dispose of the rights and property of whatsoever nature of thesaid Company nor cause the said Company to dispose freely of thesame.

Article 2. The Chinese Government agrees that all mines in theneighbourhood of those owned by the Hanyehping Company shall notbe permitted, without the consent of the said Company, to beworked by other persons outside of the said Company; and furtheragrees that if it is desired to carry out any undertaking which,it is apprehended, may directly or indirectly affect the interestsof the said Company, the consent of the said Company shall firstbe obtained.

GROUP IV

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government with the objectof effectively preserving the territorial integrity of China agreeto the following special articles:—

The Chinese Government engages not to cede or lease to a third
Power any harbour or bay or island along the coast of China.

GROUP V

Article 1. The Chinese Central Government shall employ influential
Japanese advisers in political, financial and military affairs.

Article 2. Japanese hospitals, churches and schools in theinterior of China shall be granted the right of owning land.

Article 3. Inasmuch as the Japanese Government and the ChineseGovernment have had many cases of dispute between Japanese andChinese police to settle cases which caused no littlemisunderstanding, it is for this reason necessary that the policedepartments of important places (in China) shall be jointlyadministered by Japanese and Chinese or that the policedepartments of these places shall employ numerous Japanese, sothat they may at the same time help to plan for the improvement ofthe Chinese Police Service.

Article 4. China shall purchase from Japan a fixed amount ofmunitions of war (say 50% or more) of what is needed by theChinese Government or that there shall be established in China aSino-Japanese jointly worked arsenal. Japanese technical expertsare to be employed and Japanese material to be purchased.

Article 5. China agrees to grant to Japan the right ofconstructing a railway connecting Wuchang with Kiukiang andNanchang, another line between Nanchang and Hanchow, and anotherbetween Nanchang and Chaochou.

Article 6. If China needs foreign capital to work mines, buildrailways and construct harbour-works (including dock-yards) in theProvinces of f*ckien, Japan shall be first consulted.

Article 7. China agrees that Japanese subjects shall have theright of missionary propaganda in China. [Footnote: Refers topreaching Buddhism.]

The five groups into which the Japanese divided their demandspossess a remarkable interest not because of their sequence, orthe style of their phraseology, but because every word reveals apeculiar and very illuminating chemistry of the soul. To study theoriginal Chinese text is to pass as it were into the secretrecesses of the Japanese brain, and to find in that darkenedchamber a whole world of things which advertise ambitions mixedwith limitations, hesitations overwhelmed by audacities,greatnesses succumbing to littlenesses, and vanities having theappearance of velleities. Given an intimate knowledge of FarEastern politics and Far Eastern languages, only a few minutes arerequired to re-write the demands in the sequence in which theywere originally conceived as well as to trace the natural historyof their genesis. Unfortunately a great deal is lost in theirofficial translation, and the menace revealed in the Chineseoriginal partly cloaked: for by transferring Eastern thoughts intoWestern moulds, things that are like nails in the hands of softsensitive Oriental beings are made to appear to the steel-cladWest as cold-blooded, evolutionary necessities which may berepellent but which are never cruel. The more the matter isstudied the more convinced must the political student be that inthis affair of the 18th January we have an international coupdestined to become classic in the new text-books of politicalscience. All the way through the twenty-one articles it is easy tosee the desire for action, the love of accomplished facts,struggling with the necessity to observe the conventions of astereotyped diplomacy and often overwhelming those conventions. Asthe thoughts thicken and the plot develops, the effort to mask thereal intention lying behind every word plainly breaks down, and agrowing exultation rings louder and louder as if the covetedChinese prize were already firmly grasped. One sees as it were theJapanese nation, released from bondage imposed by the Treatieswhich have been binding on all nations since 1860, swarming madlythrough the breached walls of ancient Cathay and disputing hotlythe spoils of age-old domains.

Group I, which deals with the fruits of victory in Shantung, haslittle to detain us since events which have just unrolled therehave already told the story of those demands. In Shantung we havea simple and easily-understood repeated performance of thehistory of 1905 and the settlement of the Russo-Japanese War.Placed at the very head of the list of demands, though itslegitimate position should be after Manchuria, obviously thepurpose of Group I is conspicuously to call attention to the factthat Japan had been at war with Germany, and is still at war withher. This flourish of trumpets, after the battle is over, however,scarcely serves to disguise that the fate of Shantung, followingso hard on the heels of the Russian debacle in Manchuria, is thegreat moral which Western peoples are called upon to note. Japan,determined as she has repeatedly announced to preserve the peaceof the Orient by any means she deems necessary, has found the oneand only formula that is satisfactory—that of methodicallyannexing everything worth fighting about.

So far so good. The insertion of a special preamble to Group II,which covers not only South Manchuria but Eastern Inner Mongoliaas well, is an ingenious piece of work since it shows that the hotmood of conquest suitable for Shantung must be exchanged for acertain judicial detachment. The preamble undoubtedly betrays theguiding hand of Viscount Kato, the then astute Minister of ForeignAffairs, who saturated in the great series of internationalundertakings made by Japan since the first Anglo-Japanese Treatyof 1902, clearly believes that the stately Elizabethan mannerwhich still characterizes British official phrasing is anadmirable method to be here employed. The preamble is quiteEnglish; it is so English that one is almost lulled into believingthat one's previous reasoning has been at fault and that Japan isonly demanding what she is entitled to. Yet study Group II closelyand subtleties gradually emerge. By boldly and categoricallyplacing Eastern Inner Mongolia on precisely the same footing asSouthern Manchuria—though they have nothing in common—theassumption is made that the collapse in 1908 of the great Anglo-American scheme to run a neutral railway up the flank of SouthernManchuria to Northern Manchuria (the once celebrated Chinchow-Aigun scheme), coupled with general agreement with Russia whichwas then arrived at, now impose upon China the necessity ofpublicly resigning herself to a Japanese overlordship of thatregion. In other words, the preamble of Group II lays down thatEastern Inner Mongolia has become part and parcel of theManchurian Question because Japan has found a parallel for whatshe is doing in the acts of European Powers.

These things, however, need not detain us. Not that Manchuria orthe adjoining Mongolian plain is not important; not that thethreads of destiny are not woven thickly there. For it is certainthat the vast region immediately beyond the Great Wall of China isthe Flanders of the Far East—and that the next inevitable warwhich will destroy China or make her something of a nation must befought on that soil just as two other wars have been fought thereduring the past twenty years. But this does not belong tocontemporary politics; it is possibly an affair of the Chinesearmy of 1925 or 1935. Some day China will fight for Manchuria, ifit is impossible to recover it in any other way,—nobody needdoubt that. For Manchuria is absolutely Chinese—people mustremember. No matter how far the town-dwelling Japanese may invadethe country during the next two or three decades, no matter whatlarge alien garrisons may be planted there, the Chinese must andwill remain the dominant racial element, since their populationwhich already numbers twenty-five millions is growing at the rateof half a million a year, and in a few decades will equal thepopulation of a first-class European Power.

When we reach Group III we touch matters that are not onlyimmediately vital but quite new in their type of audacity andwhich every one can to-day understand since they are politico-industrial. Group III, as it stands in the original text, isSIMPLY THE PLAN FOR THE CONQUEST OF THE MINERAL WEALTH OF THEYANGTSZE VALLEY which mainly centres round Hankow because the vastalluvial plains of the lower reaches of this greatest of riverswere once the floor of the Yellow Sea, the upper provinces ofHupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi being the region of prehistoric forestsclothing the coasts, which once looked down upon the slowly-receding waste of waters, and which to-day contain all the coaland iron. Hitherto every one has always believed that the Yangtsze Valley was par excellence the British sphere in China; andevery one has always thought that that belief was enough. It istrue that political students, going carefully over all publisheddocuments, have ended their search by declaring that the mattercertainly required further elucidation. To be precise, this so-called British sphere is not an enclave at all in the propersense; indeed it can only seem one to those who still believe thatit is still possible to pre-empt provinces by ministerialdeclarations. The Japanese have been the first to dare to say thatthe preconceived general belief was stupid. They know, of course,that it was a British force which invaded the Yangtsze Valleyseventy-five years ago, and forced the signature of the Treaty ofNanking which first opened China to the world's trade; but theyare by no means impressed with the rights which that action hasbeen held to confer, since the mineral resources of this regionare priceless in their eyes and must somehow be won.

The study of twenty years of history proves this assumption to becorrect. Ever since 1895, Japan has been driving wedges into theYangtsze Valley of a peculiar kind to form the foundations for hersweeping claims of 1915. Thus after the war with China in 1894-95,she opened by her Treaty of Peace four ports in the YangtszeValley region, Soochow, Hangchow, Chungking and Shasi; that is, atthe two extreme ends of the valley she established politico-commercial points d'appui from which to direct her campaign.Whilst the proximity of Soochow and Hangchow to the Britishstronghold of Shanghai made it difficult to carry out any"penetration" work at the lower end of the river save in the formof subsidized steam-shipping, the case was different in Hunan andHupeh provinces. There she was unendingly busy, and in 1903 by afresh treaty she formally opened to trade Changsha, the capital ofthe turbulent Hunan province. Changsha for years remained a secretcentre possessing the greatest political importance for her, andserving as a focus for most varied activities involving Hunan,Hupeh, and Kiangsi, as well as a vast hinterland. The great Tayehiron-mines, although entirely Chinese-owned, were already beingtapped to supply iron-ore for the Japanese Government Foundry atWakamatsu on the island of Kiushiu. The rich coal mines ofPinghsiang, being conveniently near, supplied the great ChineseGovernment arsenal of Hanyang with fuel; and since Japan had verylittle coal or iron of her own, she decided that it would be bestto embrace as soon as possible the whole area of interests in onecategorical demand—that is to claim a dominant share in theHanyang arsenal, the Tayeh iron-mines and the Ping-hsiangcollieries. [Footnote: The reader will observe, that theexpression "Hanyehping enterprises" is compounded by linkingtogether characters denoting the triple industry.] By lendingmoney to these enterprises, which were grouped together under thename of Hanyehping, she had early established a claim on themwhich she turned at the psychological moment into an internationalquestion.

We can pass quickly by Group IV which is of little importance,except to say that in taking upon herself, without consultationwith the senior ally, the duty of asking from China a declarationconcerning the future non-leasing of harbours and islands, Japanhas attempted to assume a protectorship of Chinese territory whichdoes not belong to her historically. It is well also to note thatalthough Japan wished it to appear to the world that this actionwas dictated by her desire to prevent Germany from acquiring afresh foothold in China after the war, in reality Group IV wasdrafted as a general warning to the nations, one point being thatshe believed that the United States was contemplating thereorganization of the Foochow Arsenal in Fuhkien province, andthat as a corollary to that reorganization would be given thelease of an adjoining harbour such as Santuao.

It is not, however, until we reach Group V that the real purposeof the Japanese demands becomes unalterably clear, for in thisGroup we have seven sketches of things designed to serve as thecoup de grace. Not only is a new sphere—Fuhkien province—indicated; not only is the mid-Yangtsze, from the vicinity ofKiukiang, to serve as the terminus for a system of Japaneserailways, radiating from the great river to the coasts of SouthChina; but the gleaming knife of the Japanese surgeon is to aidthe Japanese teacher in the great work of propaganda; the Japanesemonk and the Japanese policeman are to be dispersed likeskirmishers throughout the land; Japanese arsenals are to supplyall the necessary arms, or failing that a special Japanese arsenalis to be established; Japanese advisers are to give the necessaryadvice in finance, in politics, in every department—foreshadowinga complete and all embracing political control. Never was a moresweeping program of supervision presented, and small wonder ifChinese when they learnt of this climax exclaimed that the fate ofKorea was to be their own. For a number of weeks after thepresentation of these demands everything remained clothed inimpenetrable mystery, and despite every effort on the part ofdiplomatists reliable details of what was occurring could not beobtained. Gradually, however, the admission was forced that thesecrecy being preserved was due to the Japanese threat thatpublicity would be met with the harshest reprisals; and presentlythe veil was entirely lifted by newspaper publication and foreignAmbassadors began making inquiries in Tokio. The nature and scopeof the Twenty-one Demands could now be no longer hidden; and inresponse to the growing indignation which began to be voiced bythe press and the pressure which British diplomacy brought tobear, Japan found it necessary to modify some of the mostimportant items. She had held twenty-four meetings at the ChineseForeign Office, and although the Chinese negotiators had beenforced to give way in such matters as extending the "leasing"periods of railways and territories in Manchuria and in admittingthe Japanese right to succeed to all German interests and rightsin Shantung (Group I and II), in the essential matters of theHanyehping concessions (Group III) and the noxious demands ofGroup V China had stood absolutely firm, declining even to discusssome of the items.

Accordingly Japanese diplomacy was forced to re-state and re-groupthe whole corpus of the demands. On the 26th April, acting underdirect instructions from Tokio, the Japanese Minister to Pekingpresented a revised list for renewed consideration, the demandsbeing expanded to twenty-four articles (in place of the originaltwenty-one largely because discussion had shown the necessity ofbreaking up into smaller units some of the original articles).Most significant, however, is the fact that Group V, (which in itsoriginal form was a more vicious assault on Chinese sovereigntythan the Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia of June, 1914) was soremodelled as to convey a very different meaning, the groupheading disappearing entirely and an innocent-looking exchange ofnotes being asked for. It is necessary to recall that, when taxedwith making Demands which were entirely in conflict with thespirit of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Japanese Governmentthrough its ambassadors abroad had categorically denied that theyhad ever laid any such Demands on the Chinese Government. It wasclaimed that there had never been twenty-one Demands, as theChinese alleged, but only fourteen, the seven items of Group Vbeing desiderata which it was in the interests of china to endorsebut which Japan had no intention of forcing upon her. The writer,being acquainted from first to last with everything that tookplace in Peking from the 18th January to the filing of theJapanese ultimatum of the 7th May, has no hesitation instigmatising this statement as false. The whole aim and object ofthese negotiations was to force through Group V. Japan would havegladly postponed sine die the discussion of all the other Groupshad China assented to provisions which would have made herindependence a thing of the past. Every Chinese knew that, in themain, Group V was simply a repetition of the measures undertakenin Korea after the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 as a forerunner toannexation; and although obviously in the case of China no suchrapid surgery could be practised, the endorsem*nt of thesemeasures would have meant a virtual Japanese Protectorate. Even acursory study of the text that follows will confirm in everyparticular these capital contentions:

JAPAN'S REVISED DEMANDS

Japan's Revised Demands on China, twenty-four in all, presented
April 26, 1915.

NOTE ON ORIGINAL TEXT:

[The revised list of articles is a Chinese translation of theJapanese text. It is hereby declared that when a final decision isreached, there shall be a revision of the wording of the text.]

GROUP I

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, being desirousof maintaining the general peace in Eastern Asia and furtherstrengthening the friendly relations and good neighbourhoodexisting between the two nations, agree to the followingarticles:—

Article 1. The Chinese Government engages to give full assent toall matters upon which the Japanese Government may hereafter agreewith the German Government, relating to the disposition of allrights, interests and concessions, which Germany, by virtue oftreaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the Province ofShangtung.

Article 2. (Changed into an exchange of notes.)

The Chinese Government declares that within the Province ofShantung and along its coast no territory or island will be cededor leased to any Power under any pretext.

Article 3. The Chinese Government consents that as regards therailway to be built by China herself from Chefoo or Lung kow toconnect with the Kiaochow-Tsinanfu Railway, if Germany is willingto abandon the privilege of financing the Chefoo-Weihsien line.China will approach Japanese capitalists to negotiate for a loan.

Article 4. The Chinese Government engages, in the interest oftrade and for the residence of foreigners, to open by Chinaherself as soon as possible certain suitable places in theProvince of Shantung as Commercial Ports.

(Supplementary Exchange of Notes)

The places which ought to be opened are to be chosen and theregulations are to be drafted, by the Chinese Government, but theJapanese Minister must be consulted before making a decision.

GROUP II

The Japanese Government and the Chinese Government, with a view todeveloping their economic relations in South Manchuria and EasternInner Mongolia, agree to the following articles:—

Article 1. The two contracting Powers mutually agree that the termof lease of Port Arthur and Dalny and the terms of the SouthManchuria Railway and the Antung-Mukden Railway shall be extendedto 99 years.

(Supplementary Exchange of Notes)

The term of lease of Port Arthur and Dalny shall expire in the86th year of the Republic or 1997. The date for restoring theSouth Manchurian Railway to China shall fall due in the 91st yearof the Republic or 2002. Article 12 in the original SouthManchurian Railway Agreement stating that it may be redeemed byChina after 36 years after the traffic is opened is herebycancelled. The term of the Antung-Mukden Railway shall expire inthe 96th year of the Republic or 2007.

Article 2. Japanese subjects in South Manchuria may lease orpurchase the necessary land for erecting suitable buildings fortrade and manufacture or for prosecuting agricultural enterprises.

Article 3. Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel inSouth Manchuria and to engage in business and manufacture of anykind whatsoever.

Article 3a. The Japanese subjects referred to in the preceding twoarticles, besides being required to register with the localauthorities pass-ports which they must procure under the existingregulations, shall also submit to police laws and ordinances andtax regulations, which are approved by the Japanese consul. Civiland criminal cases in which the defendants are Japanese shall betried and adjudicated by the Japanese consul; those in which thedefendants are Chinese shall be tried and adjudicated by ChineseAuthorities. In either case an officer can be deputed to the courtto attend the proceedings. But mixed civil cases between Chineseand Japanese relating to land shall be tried and adjudicated bydelegates of both nations conjointly in accordance with Chineselaw and local usage. When the judicial system in the said regionis completely reformed, all civil and criminal cases concerningJapanese subjects shall be tried entirely by Chinese law courts.

Article 4. (Changed to an exchange of notes.)

The Chinese Government agrees that Japanese subjects shall bepermitted forthwith to investigate, select, and then prospect forand open mines at the following places in South Manchuria, apartfrom those mining areas in which mines are being prospected for orworked; until the Mining Ordinance is definitely settled methodsat present in force shall be followed.

PROVINCE OF FENG-TIEN

Locality District Mineral

Niu Hsin T'ai Pen-hsi Coal
Tien Shih Fu Kou Pen-hsi Coal
Sha Sung Kang Hai-lung Coal
T'ieh Ch'ang Tung-hua Coal
Nuan Ti Tang Chin Coal
An Shan Chan region From Liao-yang
to Pen-hsi Iron

PROVINCE of KIRIN
(Southern portion)

Sha Sung Kang Ho-lung Coal and Iron
Kang Yao Chi-lin (Kirin) Coal
Chia P'i Kou Hua-tien Gold

Article 5. (Changed to an exchange of notes.) The ChineseGovernment declares that China will hereafter provide funds forbuilding railways in South Manchuria; if foreign capital isrequired, the Chinese Government agrees to negotiate for the loanwith Japanese capitalists first.

Article 5a. (Changed to an exchange of notes.) The ChineseGovernment agrees that hereafter, when a foreign loan is to bemade on the security of the taxes of South Manchuria (notincluding customs and salt revenue on the security of which loanshave already been made by the Central Government), it willnegotiate for the loan with Japanese capitalists first.

Article 6. (Changed to an exchange of notes.) The ChineseGovernment declares that hereafter if foreign advisers orinstructors on political, financial, military or police matters,are to be employed in South Manchuria, Japanese will be employedfirst.

Article 7. The Chinese Government agrees speedily to make afundamental revision of the Kirin-Changchun Railway LoanAgreement, taking as a standard the provisions in railroad loanagreements made heretofore between China and foreign financiers.If, in future, more advantageous terms than those in existingrailway loan agreements are granted to foreign financiers, inconnection with railway loans, the above agreement shall again berevised in accordance with Japan's wishes.

All existing treaties between China and Japan relating to
Manchuria shall, except where otherwise provided for by this
Convention, remain in force.

1. The Chinese Government agrees that hereafter when a foreignloan is to be made on the security of the taxes of Eastern InnerMongolia, China must negotiate with the Japanese Government first.

2. The Chinese Government agrees that China will herself providefunds for building the railways in Eastern Inner Mongolia; ifforeign capital is required, she must negotiate with the JapaneseGovernment first.

3. The Chinese Government agrees, in the interest of trade and forthe residence of foreigners, to open by China herself, as soon aspossible, certain suitable places in Eastern Inner Mongolia asCommercial Ports. The places which ought to be opened are to bechosen, and the regulations are to be drafted, by the ChineseGovernment, but the Japanese Minister must be consulted beforemaking a decision.

4. In the event of Japanese and Chinese desiring jointly toundertake agricultural enterprises and industries incidentalthereto, the Chinese Government shall give its permission.

GROUP III

The relations between Japan and the Hanyehping Company being veryintimate, if those interested in the said Company come to anagreement with the Japanese capitalists for co-operation, theChinese Government shall forthwith give its consent thereto. TheChinese Government further agrees that, without the consent of theJapanese capitalists, China will not convert the Company into astate enterprise, nor confiscate it, nor cause it to borrow anduse foreign capital other than Japanese.

GROUP IV

China to give a pronouncement by herself in accordance with thefollowing principle:—

No bay, harbour, or island along the coast of China may be cededor leased to any Power.

Notes to be Exchanged A

As regards the right of financing a railway from Wuchang toconnect with the Kiu-kiang-Nanchang line, the Nanchang-Hangchowrailway, and the Nanchang-Chaochow railway, if it is clearlyascertained that other Powers have no objection, China shall grantthe said right to Japan.

B

As regards the rights of financing a railway from Wuchang toconnect with the Kiu-kiang-Nanchang railway, a railway fromNanchang to Hangchow and another from Nanchang to Chaochow, theChinese Government shall not grant the said right to any foreignPower before Japan comes to an understanding with the other Powerwhich is heretofore interested therein.

NOTES TO BE EXCHANGED

The Chinese Government agrees that no nation whatever is to bepermitted to construct, on the coast of f*ckien Province, adockyard, a coaling station for military use, or a naval base; notto be authorized to set up any other military establishment. TheChinese Government further agrees not to use foreign capital forsetting up the above mentioned construction or establishment.

Mr. Lu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated as follows:—

1. The Chinese Government, shall, whenever, in future, itconsiders this step necessary, engage numerous Japanese advisers.

2. Whenever, in future, Japanese subjects desire to lease orpurchase land in the interior of China for establishing schools orhospitals, the Chinese Government shall forthwith give its consentthereto.

3. When a suitable opportunity arises in future, the ChineseGovernment will send military officers to Japan to negotiate withJapanese military authorities the matter of purchasing arms orthat of establishing a joint arsenal.

Mr. Hioki, the Japanese Minister, stated as follows:—

As relates to the question of the right of missionary propagandathe same shall be taken up again for negotiation in future.

An ominous silence followed the delivery of this document. TheChinese Foreign Office had already exhausted itself in adiscussion which had lasted three months, and pursuant toinstructions from the Presidential Palace prepared an exhaustiveMemorandum on the subject. It was understood by now that all theForeign Offices in the world were interesting themselves veryparticularly in the matter; and that all were agreed that thesituation which had so strangely developed was very serious. Onthe 1st May, proceeding by appointment to the Waichiaopu (ForeignOffice) the Japanese Minister had read to him the followingMemorandum which it is very necessary to grasp as it shows howsolicitous China had become of terminating the business beforethere was an open international break. It will also be seen thatthis Memorandum was obviously composed for purpose of publicrecord, the fifth group being dealt with in such a way as to fixupon Japan the guilt of having concealed from her British Allymatters which conflicted vitally with the aims and objects of theAnglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty.

MEMORANDUM

Read by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Mr. Hioki, the Japanese
Minister, at a Conference held at Wai Chiao Pu, May 1, 1915.

The list of demands which the Japanese Government first presentedto the Chinese Government consists of five groups, the firstrelating to Shantung, the second relating to South Manchuria andEastern Inner Mongolia, the third relating to Hanyehping Company,the fourth asking for non-alienation of the coast of the country,and the fifth relating to the questions of national advisers,national police, national arms, missionary propaganda, YangtszeValley railways, and f*ckien Province. Out of profound regard forthe intentions entertained by Japan, the Chinese Government tookthese momentous demands into grave and careful consideration anddecided to negotiate with the Japanese Government frankly andsincerely what were possible to negotiate. This is a manifestationto Japan of the most profound regard which the Chinese Governmententertains for the relations between the two nations.

Ever since the opening of the negotiations China has been doingher best to hasten their progress holding as many as threeconferences a week. As regards the articles in the second group,the Chinese Government being disposed to allow the JapaneseGovernment to develop the economic relations of the two countriesin South Manchuria, realizing that the Japanese Governmentattaches importance to its interests in that region, and wishingto meet the hope of Japan, made a painful effort, withouthesitation, to agree to the extension of the 25-year lease of PortArthur and Dalny, the 36-year period of the South ManchurianRailway and the 15-year period of the Antung-Mukden Railway, allto 99 years; and to abandon its own cherished hopes to regaincontrol of these places and properties at the expiration of theirrespective original terms of lease. It cannot but be admitted thatthis is a most genuine proof of China's friendship for Japan.

As to the right of opening mines in South Manchuria, the ChineseGovernment has already agreed to permit Japanese to work mineswithin the mining areas designated by Japan. China has furtheragreed to give Japan a right of preference in the event ofborrowing foreign capital for building railways or of making aloan on the security of the local taxes in South Manchuria. Thequestion of revising the arrangement for the Kirin-ChangchunRailway has been settled in accordance with the proposal made byJapan. The Chinese Government has further agreed to employJapanese first in the event of employing foreign advisers onpolitical, military, financial and police matters.

Furthermore, the provision about the repurchase period in theSouth Manchurian Railway was not mentioned in Japan's originalproposal. Subsequently, the Japanese Government alleging that itsmeaning was not clear, asked China to cancel the provisionaltogether. Again, Japan at first demanded the right of Japaneseto carry on farming in South Manchuria, but subsequently sheconsidered the word "farming" was not broad enough and asked toreplace it with the phrase "agricultural enterprises." To theserequests the Chinese Government, though well aware that theproposed changes could only benefit Japan, still acceded withoutdelay. This, too, is a proof of China's frankness and sinceritytowards Japan.

As regards matters relating to Shangtung the Chinese Governmenthas agreed to a majority of the demands.

The question of inland residence in South Manchuria is, in theopinion of the Chinese Government, incompatible with the treatiesChina had entered into with Japan and other Powers, still theChinese Government did its best to consider how it was possible toavoid that incompatibility. At first, China suggested that theChinese Authorities should have full rights of jurisdiction overJapanese settlers. Japan declined to agree to it. Thereupon Chinareconsidered the question and revised her counter-proposal five orsix times, each time making some definite concession, and went sofar to agree that all civil and criminal cases between Chinese andJapanese should be arranged according to existing treaties. Onlycases relating to land or lease contracts were reserved to beadjudicated by Chinese Courts, as a mark of China's sovereigntyover the region. This is another proof of China's readiness toconcede as much as possible.

Eastern Inner Mongolia is not an enlightened region as yet and theconditions existing there are entirely different from thoseprevailing in South Manchuria. The two places, therefore, cannotbe considered in the same light. Accordingly, China agreed to opencommercial marts first, in the interests of foreign trade.

The Hanyehping Company mentioned in the third group is entirely aprivate company, and the Chinese Government is precluded frominterfering with it and negotiating with another government tomake any disposal of the same as the Government likes, but havingregard for the interests of the Japanese capitalists, the ChineseGovernment agreed that whenever, in future, the said company andthe Japanese capitalists should arrive at a satisfactoryarrangement for co-operation, China will give her assent thereto.Thus the interests of the Japanese capitalists are amplysafeguarded.

Although the demand in the fourth group asking for a declarationnot to alienate China's coast is an infringement of her sovereignrights, yet the Chinese Government offered to make a voluntarypronouncement so far as it comports with China's sovereign rights.Thus, it is seen that the Chinese Government, in deference to thewishes of Japan, gave a most serious consideration even to thosedemands, which gravely affect the sovereignty and territorialrights of China as well as the principle of equal opportunity andthe treaties with foreign Powers. All this was a painful effort onthe part of the Chinese Government to meet the situation—a factof which the Japanese Government must be aware.

As regards the demands in the fifth group, they all infringeChina's sovereignty, the treaty rights of other Powers or theprinciple of equal opportunity. Although Japan did not indicateany difference between this group and the preceding four in thelist which she presented to China in respect to their character,the Chinese Government, in view of their palpably objectionablefeatures, persuaded itself that these could not have been intendedby Japan as anything other than Japan's mere advice to China.Accordingly China has declared from the very beginning that whileshe entertains the most profound regard for Japan's wishes, shewas unable to admit that any of these matters could be made thesubject of an understanding with Japan. Much as she desired to payregard to Japan's wishes, China cannot but respect her ownsovereign rights and the existing treaties with other Powers. Inorder to be rid of the seed for future misunderstanding and tostrengthen the basis of friendship, China was constrained toiterate the reasons for refusing to negotiate on any of thearticles in the fifth group, yet in view of Japan's wishes Chinahas expressed her readiness to state that no foreign money wasborrowed to construct harbour work in f*ckien Province. Thus it isclear that China went so far as to see a solution for Japan of aquestion that really did not admit of negotiation. Was there,then, evasion, on the part of China?

Now, since the Japanese Government has presented a revised list ofdemands and declared at the same time, that it will restore theleased territory of Kiaochow, the Chinese Government reconsidersthe whole question and herewith submits a new reply to thefriendly Japanese Government.

In this reply the unsettled articles in the first group are statedagain for discussion.

As regards the second group, those articles which have alreadybeen initialled are omitted. In connection with the question ofinland residence the police regulation clause has been revised ina more restrictive sense. As for the trial of cases relating toland and lease contracts the Chinese Government now permits theJapanese Consul to send an officer to attend the proceedings.

Of the four demands in connection with that part of Eastern InnerMongolia which is within the jurisdiction of South Manchuria andthe Jehol intendency, China agrees to three.

China, also, agrees to the article relating to the Hanyehping
Company as revised by Japan.

It is hoped that the Japanese Government will appreciate theconciliatory spirit of the Chinese Government in making this finalconcession and forthwith give her assent thereto.

There is one more point. At the beginning of the presentnegotiations it was mutually agreed to observe secrecy butunfortunately a few days after the presentation of the demands byJapan an Osaka newspaper published an "Extra" giving the text ofthe demands. The foreign and the Chinese press has since beenpaying considerable attention to this question and frequentlypublishing pro-Chinese or pro-Japanese comments in order to callforth the World's conjecture—a matter which the ChineseGovernment deeply regrets.

The Chinese Government has never carried on any newspaper campaignand the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs has repeatedlydeclared this to the Japanese Minister.

In conclusion, the Chinese Government wishes to express its hopethat the negotiations now pending between the two countries willsoon come to an end and whatever misgivings foreign countriesentertain toward the present situation may be quickly dispelled.

The Peking Government, although fully aware of the perils nowconfronting it, had dared to draft a complete reply to the revisedDemands and had reduced Japanese redundancy to effective limits.Not only were various articles made more compact, but thephraseology employed conveyed unmistakably, if in a somewhatsubtle way, that China was not a subordinate State treating with asuzerain. Moreover, after dealing succinctly and seriously withGroups I, II and III, the Chinese reply terminates abruptly, theother points in the Japanese List being left entirely unanswered.It is important to seize these points in the text that follows.

CHINA'S REPLY TO REVISED DEMANDS

China's Reply of May 1, 1915, to the Japanese Revised Demands of
April 26, 1915.

GROUP I

The Chinese Government and the Japanese Government, being desirousof maintaining the general peace in Eastern Asia and furtherstrengthening the friendly relations and good neighbourhoodexisting between the two nations, agree to the followingarticles:—

Article 1. The Chinese Government declares that they will givefull assent to all matters upon which the Japanese and GermanGovernments may hereafter mutually agree, relating to thedisposition of all interests, which Germany, by virtue of treatiesor recorded cases, possesses in relation to the Province ofShantung.

The Japanese Government declares that when the Chinese Governmentgive their assent to the disposition of interests above referredto, Japan will restore the leased territory of Kiaochow to China;and further recognize the right of the Chinese Government toparticipate in the negotiations referred to above between Japanand Germany.

Article 2. The Japanese Government consents to be responsible forthe indemnification of all losses occasioned by Japan's militaryoperation around the leased territory of Kiaochow. The customs,telegraphs and post offices within the leased territory ofKiaochow shall, prior to the restoration of the said leasedterritory to China, be administered as heretofore for the timebeing. The railways and telegraph lines erected by Japan formilitary purposes are to be removed forthwith. The Japanese troopsnow stationed outside the original leased territory of Kiaochoware now to be withdrawn first, those within the original leasedterritory are to be withdrawn on the restoration of the saidleased territory to China.

Article 3. (Changed to an exchange of notes.)

The Chinese Government declares that within the Province ofShantung and along its coast no territory or island will be cededor leased to any Power under any pretext.

Article 4. The Chinese Government consent that as regards therailway to be built by China herself from Chefoo or Lung kow toconnect with the Kiaochow-Tsinanfu railway, if Germany is willingto abandon the privilege of financing the Chefoo-Weihsien line,China will approach Japanese capitalists for a loan.

Article 5. The Chinese Government engage, in the interest of tradeand for the residence of foreigners, to open by herself as soon aspossible certain suitable places in the Province of Shantung asCommercial Ports.

(Supplementary Exchange of Notes)

The places which ought to be opened are to be chosen, and theregulations are to be drafted by the Chinese Government, but theJapanese Minister must be consulted before making a decision.

Article 6. If the Japanese and German Governments are not able tocome to a definite agreement in future in their negotiationsrespecting transfer, etc., this provisional agreement contained inthe foregoing articles shall be void.

GROUP II [Footnote: Six articles found in Japan's Revised Demandsare omitted here as they had already been initiated by the ChineseForeign Minister and the Japanese minister.]

The Chinese Government and the Japanese Government, with a view todeveloping their economic relations in South Manchuria, agree tothe following articles:—

Article 2. Japanese subjects in South Manchuria may, byarrangement with the owners, lease land required for erectingsuitable buildings for trade and manufacture or agriculturalenterprises.

Article 3. Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel inSouth Manchuria and to engage in business and manufacture of anykind whatsoever.

Article 3a. The Japanese subjects referred to in the preceding twoarticles, besides being required to register with the localauthorities pass-ports which they must procure under the existingregulations, shall also observe police rules and regulations andpay taxes in the same manner as Chinese. Civil and criminal casesshall be tried and adjudicated by the authorities of the defendantnationality and an officer can be deputed to attend theproceedings. But all cases purely between Japanese subjects andmixed cases between Japanese or Chinese, relating to land ordisputes arising from lease contracts, shall be tried andadjudicated by Chinese Authorities and the Japanese Consul mayalso depute an officer to attend the proceedings. When thejudicial system in the said Province is completely reformed, allthe civil and criminal cases concerning Japanese subjects shall betried entirely by Chinese law courts.

RELATING TO EASTERN INNER MONGOLIA (To be Exchanged by Notes)

1. The Chinese Government declare that China will not in futurepledge the taxes, other than customs and salt revenue of that partof Eastern Inner Mongolia under the jurisdiction of SouthManchuria and Jehol Intendency, as security for raising a foreignloan.

2. The Chinese Government declare that China will herself providefunds for building the railways in the part of Eastern InnerMongolia under the jurisdiction of South Manchuria and the JeholIntendency; if foreign capital is required, China will negotiatewith Japanese capitalists first, provided this does not conflictwith agreements already concluded with other Powers.

The Chinese Government agree, in the interest of trade and for theresidence of foreigners, to open by China herself certain suitableplaces in that part of Eastern Inner Mongolia under thejurisdiction of South Manchurian and the Jehol Intendency, asCommercial Marts.

The regulations for the said Commercial Marts will be made inaccordance with those of other Commercial Marts opened by Chinaherself.

GROUP III

The relations between Japan and the Hanyehping Company being veryintimate, if the said Company comes to an agreement with theJapanese capitalists for co-operation, the Chinese Governmentshall forthwith give their consent thereto. The Chinese Governmentfurther declare that China will not convert the company into astate enterprise, not confiscate it, nor cause it to borrow anduse foreign capital other than Japanese.

Letter to be addressed by the Japanese Minister to the Chinese
Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Excellency: I have the honour to state that a report has reachedme that the Chinese Government have given permission to foreignnations to construct, on the coast of f*ckien Province, dock-yards,coaling stations for military use, naval bases and otherestablishments for military purposes; and further, that theChinese Government are borrowing foreign capital for putting upthe above-mentioned constructions or establishments. I shall bemuch obliged if the Chinese Government will inform me whether ornot these reports are well founded in fact.

Reply to be addressed by the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairsto the Japanese Minister.

Excellency: I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of yourExcellency's Note of … In reply I beg to state that theChinese Government have not given permission to foreign Powers toconstruct, on the coast of f*ckien Province, dock-yards, coalingstations for military use, naval bases or other establishments formilitary purposes; nor do they contemplate to borrow foreigncapital for putting up such constructions or establishments.

Within forty-eight hours of this passage-at-arms of the 1st May itwas understood in Peking that Japan was meditating a serious step.That vague feeling of unrest which so speedily comes in capitalswhen national affairs reach a crisis was very evident, and theword "ultimatum" began to be whispered. It was felt that whilstChina had held to her rights to the utmost and had receivedvaluable indirect support from both England and the United States,the world-situation was such that it would be difficult to preventJapan from proceeding to extremities. Accordingly there was littlereal surprise when on the 7th May Japan filed an ultimatumdemanding a satisfactory reply within 48 hours to her RevisedDemands—failing which those steps deemed necessary would betaken. A perusal of the text of the Ultimatum will show aninteresting change in the language employed. Coaxing havingfailed, and Japan being 'now convinced that so long as she did notseek to annex the rights of other Foreign Powers in China openopposition could not be offered to her,' states her case verydefiantly. One significant point, however, must be carefullynoted—that she agrees "to detach Group V from the presentnegotiations and to discuss it separately in the future." It isthis fact which remains the sword of Damocles hanging over China'shead; and until this sword has been flung back into the waters ofthe Yellow Sea the Far Eastern situation will remain perilous.

JAPAN'S ULTIMATUM TO CHINA

Japan's Ultimatum delivered by the Japanese Minister to the
Chinese Government, on May 7th, 1915.

The reason why the Imperial Government opened the presentnegotiations with the Chinese Government is first to endeavour todispose of the complications arising out of the war between Japanand China, and secondly to attempt to solve those variousquestions which are detrimental to the intimate relations of Chinaand Japan with a view to solidifying the foundation of cordialfriendship subsisting between the two countries to the end thatthe peace of the Far East may be effectually and permanentlypreserved. With this object in view, definite proposals werepresented to the Chinese Government in January of this year, andup to today as many as twenty-five conferences have been held withthe Chinese Government in perfect sincerity and frankness.

In the course of the negotiation the Imperial Government haveconsistently explained the aims and objects of the proposals in aconciliatory spirit, while on the other hand the proposals of theChinese Government, whether important or unimportant, have beenattended to without any reserve.

It may be stated with confidence that no effort has been spared toarrive at a satisfactory and amicable settlement of thosequestions.

The discussion of the entire corpus of the proposals waspractically at an end at the twenty-fourth conference; that is onthe 17th of the last month. The Imperial Government, taking abroad view of the negotiation and in consideration of the pointsraised by the Chinese Government, modified the original proposalswith considerable concessions and presented to the ChineseGovernment on the 26th of the same month the revised proposals foragreement, and at the same time it was offered that, on theacceptance of the revised proposals, the Imperial Governmentwould, at a suitable opportunity, restore, with fair and properconditions, to the Chinese Government the Kiaochow territory, inthe acquisition of which the Imperial Government had made a greatsacrifice.

On the 1st of May, the Chinese Government delivered the reply tothe revised proposals of the Japanese Government, which iscontrary to the expectations of the Imperial Government. TheChinese Government not only did not give a careful considerationto the revised proposals but even with regard to the offer of theJapanese Government to restore Kiaochow to the Chinese Governmentthe latter did not manifest the least appreciation for Japan'sgood will and difficulties.

From the commercial and military point of view Kiaochow is animportant place, in the acquisition of which the Japanese Empiresacrificed much blood and money, and, after the acquisition theEmpire incurs no obligation to restore it to China. But with theobject of increasing the future friendly relations of the twocountries, they went to the extent of proposing its restoration,yet to her great regret, the Chinese Government did not take intoconsideration the good intention of Japan and manifestappreciation of her difficulties. Furthermore, the ChineseGovernment not only ignored the friendly feelings of the ImperialGovernment in offering the restoration of Kiaochow Bay, but alsoin replying to the revised proposals they even demanded itsunconditional restoration; and again China demanded that Japanshould bear the responsibility of paying indemnity for all theunavoidable losses and damages resulting from Japan's militaryoperations at Kiaochow; and still further in connection with theterritory of Kiaochow China advanced other demands and declaredthat she has the right of participation at the future peaceconference to be held between Japan and Germany. Although China isfully aware that the unconditional restoration of Kiaochow andJapan's responsibility of indemnification for the unavoidablelosses and damages can never be tolerated by Japan yet shepurposely advanced these demands and declared that this reply wasfinal and decisive.

Since Japan could not tolerate such demands the settlement of theother questions, however compromising it may be, would not be toher interest. The consequence is that the present reply of theChinese Government is, on the whole, vague and meaningless.

Furthermore, in the reply of the Chinese Government to the otherproposals in the revised list of the Imperial Government, such asSouth Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, where Japanparticularly has geographical, commercial, industrial andstrategic relations, as recognized by all the nations, and mademore remarkable in consequence of the two wars in which Japan wasengaged the Chinese Government overlooks these facts and does notrespect Japan's position in that place. The Chinese Governmenteven freely altered those articles which the Imperial Government,in a compromising spirit, have formulated in accordance with thestatement of the Chinese Representatives thereby making thestatements of the Representatives an empty talk; and on seeingthem conceding with the one hand and withholding with the other itis very difficult to attribute faithfulness and sincerity to theChinese authorities.

As regards the articles relating to the employment of advisers,the establishment of schools, and hospitals, the supply of armsand ammunition and the establishment of arsenals and railwayconcessions in South China in the revised proposals they wereeither proposed with the proviso that the consent of the Powerconcerned must be obtained, or they are merely to be recorded inthe minutes in accordance with the statements of the Chinesedelegates, and thus they are not in the least in conflict eitherwith Chinese sovereignty or her treaties with the Foreign Powers,yet the Chinese Government in their reply to the proposals,alleging that these proposals are incompatible with theirsovereign rights and treaties with Foreign Powers, defeat theexpectations of the Imperial Government. However in spite of suchattitude of the Chinese Government, the Imperial Government,though regretting to see that there is no room for furthernegotiations, yet warmly attached to the preservation of the peaceof the Far East, is still hoping for a satisfactory settlement inorder to avoid the disturbance of the relations.

So in spite of the circ*mstances which admitted no patience, theyhave reconsidered the feelings of the Government of theirneighbouring country and, with the exception of the articlerelating to f*ckien which is to be the subject of an exchange ofnotes as has already been agreed upon by the Representatives ofboth nations, will undertake to detach the Group V from thepresent negotiation and discuss it separately in the future.Therefore the Chinese Government should appreciate the friendlyfeelings of the Imperial Government by immediately acceptingwithout any alteration all the articles of Group I, II, III, andIV and the exchange of notes in connection with f*ckien province inGroup V as contained in the revised proposals presented on the26th of April.

The Imperial Government hereby again offer their advice and hopethat the Chinese Government, upon this advice, will give asatisfactory reply by 6 o'clock P. M. on the 9th day of May. It ishereby declared that if no satisfactory reply is received beforeor at the specified time, the Imperial Government will take stepsthey may deem necessary.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Accompanying Ultimatum delivered to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs by the Japanese Minister, May 7th, 1915.

1. With the exception of the question of f*ckien to be arranged byan exchange of notes, the five articles postponed for laternegotiation refer to (a) the employment of advisers, (b) theestablishment of schools and hospitals, (c) the railwayconcessions in South China, (d) the supply of arms and ammunitionand the establishment of arsenals and (e) right of Missionarypropaganda.

2. The acceptance by the Chinese Government of the articlerelating to f*ckien may be either in the form as proposed by theJapanese Minister on the 26th of April or in that contained in theReply of the Chinese Government of May 1st. Although the Ultimatumcalls for the immediate acceptance by China of the modifiedproposals presented on April 26th, without alteration but itshould be noted that it merely states the principle and does notapply to this article and articles 4 and 5 of this note.

3. If the Chinese Government accept all the articles as demandedin the Ultimatum the offer of the Japanese Government to restoreKiaochow to China, made on the 26th of April, will still holdgood.

4. Article 2 of Group II relating to the lease or purchase ofland, the terms "lease" and "purchase" may be replaced by theterms "temporary lease" and "perpetual lease" or "lease onconsultation," which means a long-term lease with itsunconditional renewal.

Article 4 of Group II relating to the approval of police laws andOrdinances and local taxes by the Japanese Council may form thesubject of a secret agreement.

5. The phrase "to consult with the Japanese Government" inconnection with questions of pledging the local taxes for raisingloans and the loans for the construction of railways, in EasternInner Mongolia, which is similar to the agreement in Manchuriarelating to the matters of the same kind, may be replaced by thephrase "to consult with the Japanese capitalists."

The article relating to the opening of trade marts in EasternInner Mongolia in respect to location and regulations, may,following their precedent set in Shantung, be the subject of anexchange of notes.

6. From the phrase "those interested in the Company" in Group IIIof the revised list of demands, the words "those interested in"may be deleted.

7. The Japanese version of the Formal Agreement and its annexesshall be the official text or both the Chinese and Japanese shallbe the official texts.

Whilst it would be an exaggeration to say that open panic followedthe filing of this document, there was certainly very acutealarm,—so much so that it is today known in Peking that theJapanese Legation cabled urgently to Tokio that even better termscould be obtained if the matter was left to the discretion of themen on the spot. But the Japanese Government had by now passedthrough a sufficiently anxious time itself, being in possession ofcertain unmistakable warnings regarding what was likely to happenafter a world-peace had come,—if matters were pressed too far.Consequently nothing more was done, and on the following day Chinasignified her acceptance of the Ultimatum in the following terms.

Reply of the Chinese Government to the Ultimatum of the Japanese
Government, delivered to the Japanese Minister by the Minister of
Foreign Affairs on the 8th of May, 1915,

On the 7th of this month, at three o'clock P. M. the ChineseGovernment received an Ultimatum from the Japanese Governmenttogether with an Explanatory Note of seven articles. The Ultimatumconcluded with the hope that the Chinese Government by six o'clockP. M. on the 9th of May will give a satisfactory reply, and it ishereby declared that if no satisfactory reply is received beforeor at the specified time, the Japanese Government will take stepsshe may deem necessary.

The Chinese Government with a view to preserving the peace of theFar East hereby accepts, with the exception of those five articlesof Group V postponed for later negotiation, all the articles ofGroup I, II, III, and IV and the exchange of notes in connectionwith f*ckien Province in Group V as contained in the revisedproposals presented on the 26th of April, and in accordance withthe Explanatory Note of seven articles accompanying the Ultimatumof the Japanese Government with the hope that thereby all theoutstanding questions are settled, so that the cordialrelationship between the two countries may be furtherconsolidated. The Japanese Minister is hereby requested to appointa day to call at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make theliterary improvement of the text and sign the Agreement as soon aspossible.

Thus ended one of the most extraordinary diplomatic negotiationsever undertaken in Peking.

THE ORIGIN OF THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS

The key to this remarkable business was supplied by a cover sentanonymously to the writer during the course of these negotiationswith no indication as to its origin. The documents which thisenvelope contained are so interesting that they merit attention atthe hands of all students of history, explaining as they do thepsychology of the Demands as well as throwing much light on themanner in which the world-war has been viewed in Japan.

The first document is purely introductory, but is none the lessinteresting. It is a fragment, or rather a precis of the momentousconversation which took place between Yuan Shih-kai and theJapanese Minister when the latter personally served the Demands onthe Chief Executive and took the opportunity to use languageunprecedented even in the diplomatic history of Peking.

The precis begins in a curious way. After saying that "theJapanese Minister tried to influence President Yuan Shih-kai withthe following words," several long lines of asterisks suggest thatafter reflection the unknown chronicler had decided, for politicalreasons of the highest importance, to allow others to guess howthe "conversation" opened. From the context it seems absolutelyclear that the excised words have to deal with the possibility ofthe re-establishment of the Empire in China—a very importantconclusion in view of what followed later in the year. Indeedthere is no reason to doubt that the Japanese Envoy actually toldYuan Shih-kai that as he was already virtually Emperor it laywithin his power to settle the whole business and to secure hisposition at one blow. In any case the precis begins with theseilluminating sentences:

… Furthermore, the Chinese revolutionists are in close touch andhave intimate relations with numerous irresponsible Japanese, someof whom have great influence and whose policy is for strongmeasures. Our Government has not been influenced by this policy,but if your Government does not quickly agree to thesestipulations, it will be impossible to prevent some of ourirresponsible people from inciting the Chinese revolutionists tocreate trouble in China.

The majority of the Japanese people are also opposed to PresidentYuan and Yuan's Government. They all declare that the Presidententertains anti-Japanese feeling and adopts the policy of"befriending the Far" (Europe and America) and "antagonizing theNear" (Japan). Japanese public opinion is therefore exceedinglyhostile.

Our Government has all along from first to last exerted its bestefforts to help the Chinese Government, and if the ChineseGovernment will speedily agree to these stipulations it will havethus manifested its friendship for Japan.

The Japanese people will then be able to say that the Presidentnever entertained anti-Japanese feelings, or adopted the policy of"befriending the Far and antagonizing the Near." Will not thisthen be indeed a bona fide proof of our friendly relations?

The Japanese Government also will then be inclined to renderassistance to President Yuan's Government whenever it is necessary… .

We are admittedly living in a remarkable age which is making wastepaper of our dearest principles. But in all the welter which theworld war has made it would be difficult to find anything moreextraordinary than these few paragraphs. Japan, through herofficial representative, boldly tears down the veil hiding herambitions, and using the undoubted menace which Chineserevolutionary activities then held for the Peking Government,declares in so many words that unless President Yuan Shih-kai bowshis head to the dictation of Tokio, the duel which began in Seoultwenty-five years ago would be openly resumed.

Immediately following the "conversation" is the principal documentin the dossier. This is nothing less than an exhaustiveMemorandum, divided into two sections, containing the policyadvocated by the Japanese secret society, called the Black DragonSociety, which is said to have assumed that name on account of themembers (military officers) having studied the situation in theHeilungchiang (or "Black Dragon") province of Manchuria. Thememorandum is the most remarkable document dealing with the FarEast which has come to light since the famous Cassini Conventionwas published in 1896. Written presumably late in the autumn of1914 and immediately presented to the Japanese Government, it mayundoubtedly be called the fulminate which exploded the Japanesemine of the 18th January, 1915. It shows such sound knowledge ofworld-conditions, and is so scientific in its detachment thatlittle doubt can exist that distinguished Japanese took part inits drafting. It can therefore be looked upon as a genuineexpression of the highly educated Japanese mind, and as suchcannot fail to arouse serious misgivings. The first part is ageneral review of the European War and the Chinese Question: thesecond is concerned with the Defensive Alliance between China andJapan which is looked upon as the one goal of all JapaneseDiplomacy.

PART I. THE EUROPEAN WAR AND THE CHINESE QUESTION

The present gigantic struggle in Europe has no parallel inhistory. Not only will the equilibrium of Europe be affected andits effect felt all over the globe, but its results will create aNew Era in the political and social world. Therefore, whether ornot the Imperial Japanese Government can settle the Far EasternQuestion and bring to realization our great Imperial policydepends on our being able to skilfully avail ourselves of theworld's general trend of affairs so as to extend our influence andto decide upon a course of action towards China which shall bepractical in execution. If our authorities and people view thepresent European War with indifference and without deep concern,merely devoting their attention to the attack on Kiaochow,neglecting the larger issues of the war, they will have brought tonought our great Imperial policy, and committed a blunder greaterthan which it can not be conceived. We are constrained to submitthis statement of policy for the consideration of our authorities,not because we are fond of argument but because we are deeplyanxious for our national welfare.

No one at present can foretell the outcome of the European War. Ifthe Allies meet with reverses and victory shall crown the arms ofthe Germans and Austrians, German militarism will undoubtedlydominate the European Continent and extend southward and eastwardto other parts of the world. Should such a state of affairs happento take place the consequences resulting therefrom will be indeedgreat and extensive. On this account we must devote our mostserious attention to the subject. If, on the other hand, theGermans and Austrians should be crushed by the Allies, Germanywill be deprived of her present status as a Federated State undera Kaiser. The Federation will be disintegrated into separatestates, and Prussia will have to be content with the status of asecond-rate Power. Austria and Hungary, on account of this defeat,will consequently be divided. What their final fate shall be, noone would now venture to predict. In the meantime Russia willannex Galicia and the Austrian Poland: France will repossessAlsace and Lorraine: Great Britain will occupy the German Coloniesin Africa and the South Pacific; Servia and Montenegro will takeBosnia, Herzegovina and a certain portion of Austrian Territory;thus making such great changes in the map of Europe that even theNapoleonic War in 1815 could not find a parallel.

When these events take place, not only will Europe experiencegreat changes, but we should not ignore the fact that they willoccur also in China and in the South Pacific. After Russia hasreplaced Germany in the territories lost by Germany and Austria,she will hold a controlling influence in Europe, and, for a longtime to come, will have nothing to fear from her western frontier.Immediately after the war she will make an effort to carry out herpolicy of expansion in the East and will not relax that effortuntil she has acquired a controlling influence in China. At thesame time Great Britain will strengthen her position in theYangtsze Valley and prohibit any other country from getting afooting there. France will do likewise in Yunnan province using itas her base of operations for further encroachments upon China andnever hesitate to extend her advantages. We must thereforeseriously study the situation remembering always that the combinedaction of Great Britain, Russia, and France will not only affectEurope but that we can even foresee that it will also affectChina.

Whether this combined action on the part of England, France andRussia is to terminate at the end of the war or to continue tooperate, we can not now predict. But after peace in Europe isrestored, these Powers will certainly turn their attention to theexpansion of their several spheres of interest in China, and, inthe adjustment, their interests will most likely conflict with oneanother. If their interests do not conflict, they will workjointly to solve the Chinese Question. On this point we have notthe least doubt. If England, France and Russia are actually tocombine for the coercion of China, what course is to be adopted bythe Imperial Japanese Government to meet the situation? Whatproper means shall we employ to maintain our influence and extendour interests within this ring of rivalry and competition? It isnecessary that we bear in mind the final results of the EuropeanWar and forestall the trend of events succeeding it so as to beable to decide upon a policy towards China and determine theaction to be ultimately taken. If we remain passive, the ImperialJapanese Government's policy towards China will lose thatsubjective influence and our diplomacy will be checked forever bythe combined force of the other Powers. The peace of the Far Eastwill be thus endangered and even the existence of the JapaneseEmpire as a nation will no doubt be imperilled. It is thereforeour first important duty at this moment to enquire of ourGovernment what course is to be adopted to face that generalsituation after the war? What preparations are being made to meetthe combined pressure of the Allies upon China? What policy hasbeen followed to solve the Chinese Question? When the European Waris terminated and peace restored we are not concerned so much withthe question whether it be the Dual Monarchies or the TripleEntente which emerge victorious but whether, in anticipation ofthe future expansion of European influence in the Continents ofEurope and Asia, the Imperial Japanese Government should or shouldnot hesitate to employ force to check the movement before thisoccurrence. Now is the most opportune moment for Japan to quicklysolve the Chinese Question. Such an opportunity will not occur forhundreds of years to come. Not only is it Japan's divine duty toact now, but present conditions in China favour the execution ofsuch a plan. We should by all means decide and act at once. If ourauthorities do not avail themselves of this rare opportunity,great difficulty will surely be encountered in future in thesettlement of this Chinese Question. Japan will be isolated fromthe European Powers after the war, and will be regarded by themwith envy and jealousy just as Germany is now regarded. Is it notthen a vital necessity for Japan to solve at this very moment theChinese Question?

No one—not even those who care nothing for politics—can denythat there is in this document an astounding disclosure of themental attitude of the Japanese not only towards their enemies buttowards their friends as well. They trust nobody, befriend nobody,envy nobody; they content themselves with believing that the wholeworld may in the not distant future turn against them. The burdenof their argument swings just as much against their British allyas against Germany and Austria; and the one and only matter whichpreoccupies Japanese who make it their business to think aboutsuch things is to secure that Japan shall forestall Europe inseizing control of China. It is admitted in so many words that itis too early to know who is to triumph in the gigantic Europeanstruggle; it is also admitted that Germany will forever be theenemy. At the same time it is expected, should the issue of thestruggle be clearcut and decisive in favour of the Allies, that anew three-Power combination formed by England, France and Russiamay be made to operate against Japan. Although the alliance withEngland, twice renewed since 1902, should occupy as important aplace in the Far East as the Entente between England and Franceoccupies in Europe, not one Japanese in a hundred knows or caresanything about such an arrangement; and even if he has knowledgeof it, he coolly assigns to his country's major internationalcommitment a minimum and constantly diminishing importance. In hisview the British Alliance is nothing but a piece of paper whichmay be consumed in the great bonfire now shedding such a luridlight over the world. What is germane to the matter is his ownplan, his own method of taking up arms in a sea of troubles. Thesecond part of the Black Dragon Society's Memorandum, pursuing theargument logically and inexorably and disclosing traces of realpolitical genius, makes this unalterably clear.

Having established clearly the attitude of Japan towards theworld—and more particularly towards the rival politicalcombinations now locked together in a terrible death-struggle,this second part of the Memorandum is concerned solely with Chinaand can be broken into two convenient sections. The first sectionis constructive—the plan for the reconstruction of China isoutlined in terms suited to the Japanese genius. This part beginswith an illuminating piece of rhetoric.

PART II. THE CHINESE QUESTION AND THE DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE

It is a very important matter of policy whether the JapaneseGovernment, in obedience to its divine mission, shall solve theChinese Question in a heroic manner by making China voluntarilyrely upon Japan. To force China to such a position there isnothing else for the Imperial Japanese Government to do but totake advantage of the present opportunity to seize the reigns ofpolitical and financial power and to enter by all means into adefensive alliance with her under secret terms as enumeratedbelow:

The Secret Terms of the Defensive Alliance

The Imperial Japanese Government, with due respect for theSovereignty and Integrity of China and with the object and hope ofmaintaining the peace of the Far East, undertakes to share theresponsibility of co-operating with China to guard her againstinternal trouble and foreign invasion and China shall accord toJapan special facilities in the matter of China's NationalDefence, or the protection of Japan's special rights andprivileges and for these objects the following treaty of Allianceis to be entered into between the two contracting parties:

1. When there is internal trouble in China or when she is at warwith another nation or nations, Japan shall send her army torender assistance, to assume the responsibility of guardingChinese territory and to maintain peace and order in China.

2. China agrees to recognize Japan's privileged position in SouthManchuria and Inner Mongolia and to cede the sovereign rights ofthese regions to Japan to enable her to carry out a scheme oflocal defence on a permanent basis.

3. After the Japanese occupation of Kiaochow, Japan shall acquireall the rights and privileges hitherto enjoyed by the Germans inregard to railways, mines and all other interests, and after peaceand order is restored in Tsingtao, the place shall be handed backto China to be opened as an International Treaty port.

4. For the maritime defence of China and Japan, China shall leasestrategic harbours along the coast of the f*ckien province to Japanto be converted into naval bases and grant to Japan in the saidprovince all railway and mining rights.

5. For the reorganization of the Chinese army China shall entrustthe training and drilling of the army to Japan.

6. For the unification of China's firearms and munitions of war,China shall adopt firearms of Japanese pattern, and at the sametime establish arsenals (with the help of Japan) in differentstrategic points.

7. With the object of creating and maintaining a Chinese Navy,China shall entrust the training of her navy to Japan.

8. With the object of reorganizing her finances and improving themethods of taxation, China shall entrust the work to Japan, andthe latter shall elect competent financial experts who shall actas first-class advisers to the Chinese Government.

9. China shall engage Japanese educational experts as educationaladvisers and extensively establish schools in different parts ofthe country to teach Japanese so as to raise the educationalstandard of the country.

10. China shall first consult with and obtain the consent of Japanbefore she can enter into an agreement with another Power formaking loans, the leasing of territory, or the cession of thesame.

From the date of the signing of this Defensive Alliance, Japan andChina shall work together hand-in-hand. Japan will assume theresponsibility of safeguarding Chinese territory and maintainingthe peace and order in China. This will relieve China of allfuture anxieties and enable her to proceed energetically with herreforms, and, with a sense of territorial security, she may waitfor her national development and regeneration. Even after thepresent European War is over and peace is restored China willabsolutely have nothing to fear in the future of having pressurebrought against her by the foreign powers. It is only thus thatpermanent peace can be secured in the Far East.

But before concluding this Defensive Alliance, two points mustfirst be ascertained and settled. (1) Its bearing on the ChineseGovernment. (2) Its bearing on those Powers having intimaterelations with and great interests in China.

In considering its effect on the Chinese Government, Japan musttry to foresee whether the position of China's present ruler YuanShih-kai shall be permanent or not; whether the presentGovernment's policy will enjoy the confidence of a large sectionof the Chinese people; whether Yuan Shi-kai will readily agree tothe Japanese Government's proposal to enter into a treaty ofalliance with us. These are points to which we are bound to give athorough consideration. Judging by the attitude hitherto adoptedby Yuan Shi-kai we know he has always resorted to the policy ofexpediency in his diplomatic dealings, and although he may nowoutwardly show friendliness towards us, he will in fact rely uponthe influence of the different Powers as the easiest check againstus and refuse to accede to our demands. Take for a singleinstance, his conduct towards us since the Imperial Governmentdeclared war against Germany and his action will then be clear toall. Whether we can rely upon the ordinary friendly methods ofdiplomacy to gain our object or not it does not require muchwisdom to decide. After the gigantic struggle in Europe is over,leaving aside America which will not press for advantage, Chinawill not be able to obtain any loans from the other Powers. With adepleted treasury, without means to pay the officials and thearmy, with local bandits inciting the poverty-stricken populace totrouble, with the revolutionists waiting for opportunities torise, should an insurrection actually occur while no outsideassistance can be rendered to quell it we are certain it will beimpossible for Yuan Shi-kai, single-handed, to restore order andconsolidate the country. The result will be that the nation willbe cut up into many parts beyond all hope of remedy. That thisstate of affairs will come is not difficult to foresee. When thisoccurs, shall we uphold Yuan's Government and assist him tosuppress the internal insurrection with the certain assurance thatwe could influence him to agree to our demands, or shall we helpthe revolutionists to achieve a success and realize our objectthrough them? This question must be definitely decided upon thisvery moment so that we may put it into practical execution. If wedo not look into the future fate of China but go blindly to upholdYuan's Government, to enter into a Defensive Alliance with China,hoping thus to secure a complete realization of our object byassisting him to suppress the revolutionists, it is obviously awrong policy. Why? Because the majority of the Chinese people havelost all faith in the tottering Yuan Shi-kai who is discreditedand attacked by the whole nation for having sold his country. IfJapan gives Yuan the support, his Government, though in a veryprecarious state, may possibly avoid destruction. Yuan Shi-kaibelongs to that school of politicians who are fond of employingcraftiness and cunning. He may be friendly to us for a time, buthe will certainly abandon us and again befriend the other Powerswhen the European war is at an end. Judging by his past we have nodoubt as to what he will do in the future. For Japan to ignore thegeneral sentiment of the Chinese people and support Yuan Shi-kaiwith the hope that we can settle with him the Chinese Question isa blunder indeed. Therefore in order to secure the permanent peaceof the Far East, instead of supporting a Chinese Government whichcan neither be long continued in power nor assist in theattainment of our object, we should rather support the 400,000,000Chinese people to renovate their corrupt Government, to change itspresent form, to maintain peace and order in the land and to usherinto China a new era of prosperity so that China and Japan may infact as well as in name be brought into the most intimate andvital relations with each other. China's era of prosperity isbased on the China-Japanese Alliance and this Alliance is thefoundational power for the repelling of the foreign aggressionthat is to be directed against the Far East at the conclusion ofthe European war. This Alliance is also the foundation-stone ofthe peace of the world. Japan therefore should take this as thelast warning and immediately solve this question. Since theImperial Japanese Government has considered it imperative tosupport the Chinese people, we should induce the Chineserevolutionists, the Imperialists and other Chinese malcontents tocreate trouble all over China. The whole country will be throwninto disorder and Yuan's Government will consequently beoverthrown. We shall then select a man from amongst the mostinfluential and most noted of the 400,000,000 of Chinese and helphim to organize a new form of Government and to consolidate thewhole country. In the meantime our army must assist in therestoration of peace and order in the country, and in theprotection of the lives and properties of the people, so that theymay gladly tender their allegiance to the new Government whichwill then naturally confide in and rely upon Japan. It is afterthe accomplishment of only these things that we shall withoutdifficulty gain our object by the conclusion of a DefensiveAlliance with China.

For us to incite the Chinese revolutionists and malcontents torise in China we consider the present to be the most opportunemoment. The reason why these men can not now carry on an activecampaign is because they are insufficiently provided with funds.If the Imperial Government can take advantage of this fact to makethem a loan and instruct them to rise simultaneously, greatcommotion and disorder will surely prevail all over China. We canintervene and easily adjust matters.

The progress of the European War warns Japan with greater urgencyof the imperative necessity of solving this most vital ofquestions. The Imperial Government can not be considered asembarking on a rash project. This opportunity will not repeatit*elf for our benefit. We must avail ourselves of this chance andunder no circ*mstances hesitate. Why should we wait for thespontaneous uprising of the revolutionists and malcontents? Whyshould we not think out and lay down a plan beforehand? When weexamine into the form of Government in China, we must ask whetherthe existing Republic is well suited to the national temperamentand well adapted to the thoughts and aspirations of the Chinesepeople. From the time the Republic of China was established up tothe present moment, if what it has passed through is to becompared to what it ought to be in the matter of administrationand unification, we find disappointment everywhere. Even therevolutionists themselves, the very ones who first advocated theRepublican form of government, acknowledge that they have made amistake. The retention of the Republican form of Government inChina will be a great future obstacle in the way of a Chino-Japanese Alliance. And why must it be so? Because, in a Republicthe fundamental principles of government as well as the social andmoral aims of the people are distinctly different from that of aConstitutional Monarchy. Their laws and administration alsoconflict. If Japan act as a guide to China and China modelsherself after Japan, it will only then be possible for the twonations to solve by mutual effort the Far East Question withoutdifferences and disagreements. Therefore to start from thefoundation for the purpose of reconstructing the ChineseGovernment, of establishing a Chino-Japanese Alliance, ofmaintaining the permanent peace of the Far East and of realizingthe consummation of Japan's Imperial policy, we must takeadvantage of the present opportunity to alter China's Republicanform of Government into a Constitutional Monarchy which shallnecessarily be identical, in all its details, to theConstitutional Monarchy of Japan, and to no other. This is reallythe key and first principle to be firmly held for the actualreconstruction of the form of Government in China. If Chinachanges her Republican form of Government to that of aConstitutional Monarchy, shall we, in the selection of a newruler, restore the Emperor Hsuan T'ung to his throne or choose themost capable man from the Monarchists or select the most worthymember from among the revolutionists? We think, however, that itis advisable at present to leave this question to the exigency ofthe future when the matter is brought up for decision. But we mustnot lose sight of the fact that to actually put into executionthis policy of a Chino-Japanese Alliance and the transformation ofthe Republic of China into a Constitutional Monarchy, is, inreality, the fundamental principle to be adopted for thereconstruction of China.

We shall now consider the bearing of this Defensive Alliance onthe other Powers. Needless to say, Japan and China will in no wayimpair the rights and interests already acquired by the Powers. Atthis moment it is of paramount importance for Japan to come to aspecial understanding with Russia to define our respective spheresin Manchuria and Mongolia so that the two countries may co-operatewith each other in the future. This means that Japan after theacquisition of sovereign rights in South Manchuria and InnerMongolia will work together with Russia after her acquisition ofsovereign rights in North Manchuria and Outer Mongolia to maintainthe status quo, and endeavour by every effort to protect the peaceof the Far East. Russia, since the outbreak of the European War,has not only laid aside all ill-feelings against Japan, but hasadopted the same attitude as her Allies and shown warm friendshipfor us. No matter how we regard the Manchurian and MongolianQuestions in the future she is anxious that we find some way ofsettlement. Therefore we need not doubt but that Russia, in herattitude towards this Chinese Question, will be able to come to anunderstanding with us for mutual co-operation.

The British sphere of influence and interest in China is centredin Tibet and the Yangtsze Valley. Therefore if Japan can come tosome satisfactory arrangement with China in regard to Tibet andalso give certain privileges to Great Britain in the YangtszeValley, with an assurance to protect those privileges, no matterhow powerful Great Britain might be, she will surely not opposeJapan's policy in regard to this Chinese Question. While thispresent European War is going on Great Britain has never askedJapan to render her assistance. That her strength will certainlynot enable her to oppose us in the future need not be doubted inthe least.

Since Great Britain and Russia will not oppose Japan's policytowards China, it can readily be seen what attitude France willadopt in regard to the subject. What Japan must now somewhatreckon with is America. But America in her attitude towards usregarding our policy towards China has already declared theprinciple of maintaining China's territorial integrity and equalopportunity and will be satisfied, if we do not impair America'salready acquired rights and privileges. We think America will alsohave no cause for complaint. Nevertheless America has in the Easta naval force which can be fairly relied upon, though notsufficiently strong to be feared. Therefore in Japan's attitudetowards America there is nothing really for us to be afraid of.

Since China's condition is such on the one hand and the Powers'relation towards China is such on the other hand, Japan shouldavail herself in the meantime of the European War to definitelydecide upon a policy towards China, the most important move beingthe transformation of the Chinese Government to be followed up bypreparing for the conclusion of the Defensive Alliance. Theprecipitate action on the part of our present Cabinet in accedingto the request of Great Britain to declare war against Germanywithout having definitely settled our policy towards China has noreal connection with our future negotiations with China or affectthe political condition in the Far East. Consequently allintelligent Japanese, of every walk of life throughout the land,are very deeply concerned about the matter.

Our Imperial Government should now definitely change our dependentforeign policy which is being directed by others into anindependent foreign policy which shall direct others, proclaimingthe same with solemn sincerity to the world and carrying it outwith determination. If we do so, even the gods and spirits willgive way. These are important points in our policy towards Chinaand the result depends on how we carry them out. Can ourauthorities firmly make up their mind to solve this ChineseQuestion by the actual carrying out of this fundamental principle?If they show irresolution while we have this heaven-conferredchance and merely depend on the good will of the other Powers, weshall eventually have greater pressure to be brought against theFar East after the European War is over, when the presentequilibrium will be destroyed. That day will then be too late forus to repent of our folly. We are therefore impelled by force ofcirc*mstances to urge our authorities to a quicker sense of thesituation and to come to a determination.

The first point which leaps out of this extraordinarily frankdisquisition is that the origin of the Twenty-one Demands is atlast disclosed. A perusal of the ten articles forming the basis ofthe Defensive alliance proposed by the Black Dragon Society,allows us to understand everything that occurred in Peking in thespring of 1915. As far back as November, 1914, it was generallyrumoured in Peking that Japan had a surprise of an extraordinarynature in her diplomatic archives, and that it would be merely amatter of weeks before it was sprung. Comparing this elaboratememorandum of the Black Dragon Society with the original text ofthe Twenty-one Demands it is plain that the proposed plan, havingbeen handed to Viscount Kato, had to be passed through thediplomatic filters again and again until all gritty matter hadbeen removed, and an appearance of innocuousness given to it. Itis for this reason that the defensive alliance finally emerges asfive compact little "groups" of demands, with the vital thingsdirectly affecting Chinese sovereignty labelled desiderata, sothat Japanese ambassadors abroad could leave very warm assurancesat every Foreign Office that there was nothing in what Japandesired which in any way conflicted with the Treaty rights of thePowers in China. The air of mystery which surrounded the wholebusiness from the 18th January to the 7th May—the day of theultimatum—was due to the fact that Japan attempted to translatethe conspiracy into terms of ordinary intercourse, only to findthat in spite of the "filtering" the atmosphere of plotting couldnot be shaken off or the political threat adequately hidden. Thereis an arresting piece of psychology in this.

The conviction expressed in the first portion of the Memorandumthat bankruptcy was the rock on which the Peking administrationmust sooner or later split, and that the moment which Japan mustseize is the outbreak of insurrections, is also highly instructivein view of what happened later. Still more subtle is the manner inwhich the ultimate solution is left open: it is consistentlyadmitted throughout the mass of reasoning that there is no meansof knowing whether suasion or force will ultimately be necessary.Force, however, always beckons to Japan because that is thesimplest formula. And since Japan is the self-appointed defenderof the dumb four hundred millions, her influence will be thrown onthe side of the populace in order "to usher into China a new eraof prosperity" so that China and Japan may in fact as well as inname be brought into the most intimate and vital relations witheach other.

The object of the subsidized insurrections is also clearly stated:it is to alter China's republican form of government into aConstitutional Monarchy which shall necessarily be identical inall its details to the Constitutional Monarchy of Japan and to noother. Who the new Emperor is to be is a point left in suspense,although we may here again recall that in 1912 in the midst of therevolution Japan privately sounded England regarding theadvisability of lending the Manchus armed assistance, a proposalwhich was immediately vetoed. But there are other things: nothingis forgotten in the Memorandum. Russia is to be speciallyplacated, England to be specially negotiated with, thusincidentally explaining Japan's recent attitude regarding theYangtsze Railways. Japan, released from her dependent foreignpolicy, that is from a policy which is bound by conventions andtreaties which others respect, can then carry out her own planswithout fear of molestation.

And this brings us to the two last documents of the dossier—themethod of subsidizing and arranging insurrections in China whenand wherever necessary.

The first document is a detailed agreement between theRevolutionary Party and various Japanese merchants. Trainedleaders are to be used in the provinces South of the Yellow River,and the matter of result is so systematized that the agreementspecifies the amount of compensation to be paid for every Japanesekilled on active service; it declares that the Japanese willdeliver arms and ammunition in the districts of Jihchow inShantung and Haichow in Kiangsu; and it ends by stating that thefirst instalment of cash, Yen 400,000, had been paid over inaccordance with the terms of the agreement. The second document isan additional loan agreement between the interested partiescreating a special "trading" corporation, perhaps satiricallynamed "The Europe and Asia Trading Company," which in aconsideration of a loan of half a million yen gives Japanese priorrights over all the mines of China.

ALLEGED SECRET AGREEMENT MADE BETWEEN SUN WEN (SUN YAT SEN) ANDTHE JAPANESE

In order to preserve the peace in the Far East, it is necessaryfor China and Japan to enter into an offensive and defensivealliance whereby in case of war with any other nation or nationsJapan shall supply the military force while China shall beresponsible for the finances. It is impossible for the presentChinese Government to work hand in hand with the JapaneseGovernment nor does the Japanese Government desire to co-operatewith the former. Consequently Japanese politicians and merchantswho have the peace of the Far East at heart are anxious to assistChina in her reconstruction. For this object the followingAgreement is entered into by the two parties:

1. Before an uprising is started, Terao, Okura, Tseji Karoku andtheir associates shall provide the necessary funds, weapons andmilitary force, but the funds so provided must not exceed1,500,000 yen and rifles not to exceed 100,000 pieces.

2. Before the uprising takes place the loan shall be temporarilysecured by 10,000,000 yen worth of bonds to be issued by Sun Wen(Sun Yat Sen). It shall however be secured afterwards by all themovable properties of the occupied territory. (See Article 14 ofthis Agreement.)

3. The funds from the present loan and military force to beprovided are for operations in the provinces South of the YellowRiver viz: Yunnan, Kweichow, Hunan, Hupeh, Szechuan, Kiangsi,Anhuei, Kiangsu, Chekiang, f*ckien, Kwangsi and Kwangtung. If it isintended to invade the Northern provinces North of the YellowRiver, Tseji Karoku and his associates shall participate with therevolutionists in all deliberations connected with suchoperations.

4. The Japanese volunteer force shall be allowed from the date oftheir enrolment active service pay in accordance with theregulations of the Japanese army. After the occupation of a place,the two parties will settle the mode of rewarding the meritoriousand compensating the family of the killed, adopting the mostgenerous practice in vogue in China and Japan. In the case of thekilled, compensation for each soldier shall, at the least, be morethan 1,000 yen.

5. Wherever the revolutionary army might be located the Japanesemilitary officers accompanying these expeditions shall have theright to advise a continuation or cessation of operations.

6. After the revolutionary army has occupied a region andstrengthened its defences, all industrial undertakings and railwayconstruction and the like, not mentioned in the Treaties withother foreign Powers, shall be worked with joint capital togetherwith the Japanese.

7. On the establishment of a new Government in China, all Japan'sdemands on China shall be recognized by the new Government assettled and binding.

8. All Japanese Military Officers holding the rank of Captain orhigher ranks engaged by the Chinese revolutionary army shall havethe privilege of being continued in their employment with a limitas to date and shall have the right to ask to be thus employed.

9. The loan shall be paid over in three instalments. The firstinstalment will be 400,000 yen, the second instalment … yen andthe third instalment … yen. After the first instalment is paidover, Okura who advances the loan shall have the right to appointmen to supervise the expenditure of the money.

10. The Japanese shall undertake to deliver all arms andammunition in the Districts of Jih Chao and Haichow (in Shantungand Kiangsu, South of Kiaochow).

11. The payment of the first instalment of the loan shall be madenot later than three days after the signing of this Agreement.

12. All the employed Japanese Military officers and Japanesevolunteers are in duty bound to obey the orders of the Commanderof the revolutionary army.

13. The Commander of the revolutionary army shall have the rightto send back to Japan those Japanese military officers andJapanese volunteers who disobey his orders and their passage moneyshall not be paid if such decision meets with the approval ofthree or more of the Japanese who accompany the revolutionaryforce.

14. All the commissariat departments in the occupied territorymust employ Japanese experts to co-operate in their management.

15. This Agreement takes effect immediately it is signed by thetwo parties.

The foregoing fifteen articles have been discussed several timesbetween the two parties and signed by them in February. The firstinstalment of 400,000 yen has been paid according to the terms ofthis Agreement.

LOAN AGREEMENT MADE BETWEEN THE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY REPRESENTED BYCHANG YAO CHING AND HIS ASSOCIATES OF THE FIRST PART AND KAWASAKIKULANOSKE OF THE SECOND PART

1. The Europe and Asia Trading Company undertakes to raise a loanof 500,000 yen. After the Agreement is signed and sealed by thecontracting parties the Japanese Central Bank shall hand over 3/10of the loan as the first instalment. When Chang Yao Ching and hisassociates arrive at their proper destination the sum of 150,000yen shall be paid over as the second instalment. When finalarrangements are made the third and last instalment of 200,000 yenshall be paid.

2. When money is to be paid out, the Europe and Asia TradingCompany shall appoint supervisers. Responsible individuals of thecontracting parties shall jointly affix their seals (to thechecks) before money is drawn for expenditure.

3. The Europe and Asia Trading Company shall secure a volunteerforce of 150 men, only retired officers of the Japanese army to beeligible.

4. On leaving Japan the travelling expenses and personal effectsof the volunteers shall be borne by themselves. After reachingChina, Chang Yao Ching and his associates shall give thevolunteers the pay of officers of the subordinate grade accordingto the established regulations of the Japanese army.

5. If a volunteer is wounded while on duty Chang Yao Ching and hisassociates shall pay him a provisional compensation of notexceeding 1,000 yen. When wounded seriously a provisionalcompensation of 5,000 yen shall be paid as well as a life pensionin accordance with the rules of the Japanese army. If a volunteermeets with an accident, thus losing his life, an indemnity of50,000 yen shall be paid to his family.

6. If a volunteer is not qualified for duty Chang Yao-ching andhis associates shall have the power to dismiss him. All volunteersare subject to the orders of Chang Yao-ching and his associatesand to their command in the battlefields.

7. When volunteers are required to attack a certain selected placeit shall be their duty to do so. But the necessary expenses forthe undertaking shall be determined beforehand by both partiesafter investigating into existing conditions.

8. The volunteer force shall be organized after the model of theJapanese army. Two Japanese officers recommended by the Europe andAsia Trading Company shall be employed.

9. The Europe and Asia Trading Company shall have the power todispose of the public properties in the places occupied by thevolunteer force.

10. The Europe and Asia Trading Company shall have the firstpreference for working the mines in places occupied and protectedby the volunteer force.

And here ends this extraordinary collection of papers. Is fictionmixed with fact—are these only "trial" drafts, or are they realdocuments signed, sealed, and delivered? The point seemsunimportant. The thing of importance is the undoubted fact thatassembled and treated in the way we have treated them they presenta complete and arresting picture of the aims and ambitions of theordinary Japanese; of their desire to push home the attack to thelast gasp and so to secure the infeodation of China.

THE MONARCHIST PLOT

THE PAMPHLET OF YANG TU

A shiver of impotent rage passed over the country when the natureand acceptance of the Japanese Ultimatum became generally known.The Chinese, always an emotional people responding with quasi-feminine volubility to oppressive acts, cried aloud at theignominy of the diplomacy which had so cruelly crucified them. Oneand all declared that the day of shame which had been so harshlyimposed upon them would never be forgotten and that Japan wouldindeed pay bitterly for her policy of extortion.

Two movements were started at once: one to raise a NationalSalvation Fund to be applied towards strengthening the nation inany way the government might decide; the other, to boycott allJapanese articles of commerce. Both soon attained formidableproportions. The nation became deeply and fervently interested inthe double-idea; and had Yuan Shih-kai possessed true politicalvision there is little doubt that by responding to this nationalcall he might have ultimately been borne to the highest pinnaclesof his ambitions without effort on his part. His oldest enemiesnow openly declared that henceforth he had only to work honourablyand whole-heartedly in the nation's interest to find themsupporting him, and to have every black mark set against his namewiped out.

In these circ*mstances what did he do? His actions form one of themost incredible and, let it be said, contemptible chapters ofcontemporary history.

In dealing with the origins of the Twenty-one Demands we havealready discussed the hints the Japan Representative hadofficially made when presenting his now famous Memorandum. BrieflyYuan Shih-kai had been told in so many words that since he wasalready autocrat of all the Chinese, he had only to endorse theprinciple of Japanese guidance in his administration to find thathis Throne would be as good as publicly and solidly established.Being saturated with the doleful diplomacy of Korea, and seeing inthese proposals a mere trap, Yuan Shih-kai, as we have shown, haddrawn back in apparent alarm. Nevertheless the words spoken hadsunk in deep, for the simple and excellent reason that ever sincethe coup d'etat of the 4th November, 1913, the necessity of"consolidating" his position by something more permanent than adisplay of armed force had been a daily subject of conversation inthe bosom of his family. The problem, as this misguided man sawit, was simply by means of an unrivalled display of cunning toprofit by the Japanese suggestion, and at the same time to leavethe Japanese in the lurch.

His eldest son, an individual of whom it has been said that he hadabsorbed every theory his foreign teachers had taught him withoutbeing capable of applying a single one, was the leader in thisfamily intrigue. The unhappy victim of a brutal attempt to killhim during the Revolution, this eldest son had been for yearssemi-paralyzed: but brooding over his disaster had only fortifiedin him the resolve to succeed his father as legitimate Heir.Having saturated himself in Napoleonic literature, and being fullyaware of how far a bold leader can go in times of emergency, hedaily preached to his father the necessity of plucking the pear assoon as it was ripe. The older man, being more skilled and morecautious in statecraft than this youthful visionary, purposelyrejected the idea so long as its execution seemed to himpremature. But at last the point was reached when he was persuadedto give the monarchy advocates the free hand they solicited, beinglargely helped to this decision by the argument that almostanything in China could be accomplished under cover of the war,—SO LONG AS VESTED FOREIGN INTERESTS WERE NOT JEOPARDIZED.

In accordance with this decision, very shortly after the 18thJanuary, the dictator's lieutenants had begun to sound the leadersof public opinion regarding the feasibility of substituting forthe nominal Republic a Constitutional Monarchy. Thus, in a highlycharacteristic way, all through the tortuous course of theJapanese negotiations, to which he was supposed to be devoting hissole attention in order to save his menaced fatherland, Yuan Shih-kai was assisting his henchmen to indoctrinate Peking officialdomwith the idea that the salvation of the State depended more onrestoring on a modified basis the old empire than in beating offthe Japanese assault. It was his belief that if some scholar ofnational repute could be found, who would openly champion theseideas and urge them with such persuasiveness and authority thatthey became accepted as a Categorical Imperative, the game wouldbe as good as won, the Foreign Powers being too deeply committedabroad to pay much attention to the Far East. The one man whocould have produced that result in the way Yuan Shih-kai desiredto see it, the brilliant reformer Liang Chi-chao, famous eversince 1898, however, obstinately refused to lend himself to suchwork; and, sooner than be involved in any way in the plot, threwup his post of Minister of Justice and retired to the neighbouringcity of Tientsin from which centre he was destined to play anotable part.

This hitch occasioned a delay in the public propaganda, though notfor long. Forced to turn to a man of secondary ability, Yuan Shih-kai now invoked the services of a scholar who had been known to behis secret agent in the Old Imperial Senate under the Manchus—acertain Yang Tu—whose constant appeals in that chamber had indeedbeen the means of forcing the Manchus to summon Yuan Shih-kai backto office to their rescue on the outbreak of the Wuchang rebellionin 1911. After very little discussion everything was arranged. Inthe person of this ex-Senator, whose whole appearance wascuriously Machiavellian and decadent, the neo-imperialists at lastfound their champion.

Events now moved quickly enough. In the Eastern way, very fewweeks after the Japanese Ultimatum, a society was founded calledthe Society for the Preservation of Peace (Chou An Hut) andhundreds of affiliations opened in the provinces. Money was spentlike water to secure adherents, and when the time was deemed ripethe now famous pamphlet of Yang Tu was published broadcast, beingin everybody's hands during the idle summer month of August. Thisdocument is so remarkable as an illustration of the working ofthat type of Chinese mind which has assimilated some portion ofthe facts of the modern world and yet remains thoroughlyreactionary and illogical, that special attention must be directedto it. Couched in the form of an argument between two individuals—one the inquirer, the other the expounder—it has something ofthe old Testament about it both in its blind faith and in itsinsistence on a few simple essentials. It embodies everythingessential to an understanding of the old mentality of China whichhas not yet been completely destroyed. From a literary standpointit has also much that is valuable because it is so naive; andalthough it is concerned with such a distant region of the worldas China its treatment of modern political ideas is so bizarre andyet so acute that it will repay study.

It was not, however, for some time, that the significance of thispamphlet was generally understood. It was such an amazingdeparture from old precedents for the Peking Government to lenditself to public propaganda as a revolutionary weapon that themind of the people refused to credit the fatal turn things weretaking. But presently when it became known that the "Society forthe Preservation of Peace" was actually housed in the ImperialCity and in daily relations with the President's Palace; and thatfurthermore the Procurator-General of Peking, in response toinnumerable memorials of denunciation, having attempted to proceedagainst the author and publishers of the pamphlet, as well asagainst the Society, had been forced to leave the capital underthreats against his life, the document was accepted at its face-value. Almost with a gasp of incredulity China at last realizedthat Yuan Shih-kai had been seduced to the point of openlyattempting to make himself Emperor. From those August days of 1915until the 6th June of the succeeding year, when Fate had her owngrim revenge, Peking was given up to one of the most amazingepisodes that has ever been chronicled in the dramatic history ofthe capital. It was as if the old city walls, which had lookeddown on so much real drama, had determined to lend themselves tothe staging of an unreal comedy. For from first to last themonarchy movement had something unreal about it, and might havebeen the scenario of some vast picture-play. It was acting pureand simple—acting done in the hope that the people might find itso admirable that they would acclaim it as real, and call theDictator their King. But it is time to turn to the arguments ofYang Tu and allow a Chinese to picture the state of his country:

A DEFENCE OF THE MONARCHICAL MOVEMENT PART I

Mr. Ko (or 'the stranger'): Since the establishment of theRepublic four years have passed, and upon the President dependsthe preservation of order at home and the maintenance of prestigeabroad. I suppose that after improving her internal administrationfor ten or twenty years, China will become a rich and prosperouscountry, and will be able to stand in the front rank with westernnations.

Mr. Hu: No! No! If China does not make any change in the form ofgovernment there is no hope for her becoming strong and rich;there is even no hope for her having a constitutional government.I say that China is doomed to perish.

Mr. Ko: Why so?

Mr. Hu: The republican form of government is responsible. TheChinese people are fond of good names, but they do not care muchabout the real welfare of the nation. No plan to save the countryis possible. The formation of the Republic as a result of thefirst revolution has prevented that.

Mr. Ko: Why is it that there is no hope of China's becomingstrong?

Mr. Hu: The people of a republic are accustomed to listen to thetalk of equality and freedom which must affect the political andmore especially the military administration. In normalcirc*mstances both the military and student classes are requiredto lay great emphasis upon unquestioned obedience and respect forthose who hold high titles. The German and Japanese troops observestrict discipline and obey the orders of their chiefs. That is whythey are regarded as the best soldiers in the world. France andAmerica are in a different position. They are rich but not strong.The sole difference is that Germany and Japan are ruled bymonarchs while France and America are republics. Our conclusiontherefore is that no republic can be strong.

But since the French and American peoples possess generaleducation, they are in a position to assume responsibility for thegood government of their nations which they keep in good order. Onthat account, although these republics are not strong in dealingwith the Powers, they can maintain peace at home. China, however,is unlike these countries, for her standard of popular educationis very low. Most of the Chinese soldiers declare as acommonplace; "We eat the imperial food and we must therefore servethe imperial master." But now the Imperial family is gone, and forit has been substituted an impersonal republic, of which they knownothing whatsoever. These soldiers are now law-abiding becausethey have awe-inspiring and respectful feelings for the man at thehead of the state. But as the talk of equality and freedom hasgradually influenced them, it has become a more difficult task tocontrol them. As an example of this corrupt spirit, the commandersof the Southern troops formerly had to obey their subordinateofficers and the subordinate officers had to obey their soldiers.Whenever there was an important question to be discussed, thesoldiers demanded a voice and a share in the solution. Thesesoldiers were called the republican army. Although the Northerntroops have not yet become so degenerate, still they neverhesitate to disobey the order of their superiors whenever they areordered to proceed to distant localities. Now we have come to thepoint when we are deeply satisfied if the army of the Republicdoes not openly mutiny! We cannot expect any more from them saveto hope that they will not mutiny and that they will be able tosuppress internal disturbances. In the circ*mstances there is nouse talking about resistance of a foreign invasion by thesesoldiers. As China, a republic, is situated between two countries,Japan and Russia, both of which have monarchical governments, howcan we resist their aggression once diplomatic conversationsbegin? From this it is quite evident that there is nothing whichcan save China from destruction. Therefore I say there is no hopeof China becoming strong.

Mr. Ko: But why is it that there is no hope of China ever becomingrich?

Mr. Hu: People may not believe that while France and America arerich China must remain poor. Nevertheless, the reason why Franceand America are rich is that they were allowed to work out theirown salvation without foreign intervention for many years, andthat at the same time they were free from internal disturbances.If any nation wishes to become rich, it must depend uponindustries for its wealth. Now, what industries most fear isdisorder and civil war. During the last two years order has beenrestored and many things have returned their former State, but ourindustrial condition is the same as under the Manchu Dynasty.Merchants who lost their capital during the troublous times andwho are now poor have no way of retrieving their losses, whilethose who are rich are unwilling to invest their money inindustrial undertakings, fearing that another civil war may breakout at any moment, since they take the recent abortive secondrevolution as their warning. In future, we shall have disquietudeevery few years; that is whenever the president is changed. Thenour industrial and commercial condition will be in a still worsecondition. If our industries are not developed, how can we expectto be strong? Take Mexico as a warning. There is very littledifference between that country and China, which certainly cannotbe compared with France and America. Therefore I say there is nohope for China ever becoming rich.

Mr. Ko: Why is it that you say there is no hope for China having a
Constitutional Government?

Mr. Hu: A true republic must be conducted by many peoplepossessing general education, political experience and a certainpolitical morality. Its president is invested with power by thepeople to manage the general affairs of the state. Should thepeople desire to elect Mr. A their president today and Mr. Btomorrow, it does not make much difference; for the policy of thecountry may be changed together with the change of the presidentwithout there being any danger of disorder of chaos following suchchange. We have a very different problem to solve in China. Themajority of our people do not know what the republic is, nor dothey know anything about a Constitution nor have they any truesense of equality and freedom. Having overthrown the Empire andestablished in its place a republic they believe that from now onthey are subservient to no one, and they think they can do as theyplease. Ambitious men hold that any person may be president and ifthey cannot get the presidency by fair means of election they areprepared to fight for it with the assistance of troops androbbers. The second revolution is an illustration of this point.From the moment that the Emperor was deposed, the centralizationof power in the government was destroyed; and no matter who may beat the head of the country, he cannot restore peace except by there-establishment of the monarchy. So at the time when the republicwas formed, those who had previously advocated ConstitutionalGovernment turned into monarchists. Although we have a ProvisionalConstitution now and we have all kinds of legislative organs,which give to the country an appearance of a constitutionalgovernment, China has a constitutional government in name only andis a monarchy in spirit. Had the government refrained fromexercising monarchical power during the last four years, thepeople could not have enjoyed one day of peace. In short, China'srepublic must be governed by a monarchy through a constitutionalgovernment. If the constitutional government cannot govern therepublic, the latter cannot remain. The question of constitutionalgovernment is therefore very important, but it will take ten ortwenty years before it can be solved.

Look at the people of China today! They know that somethingterrible is going to come sooner or later. They dare not think ofthe future. The corrupt official lines his pocket with unrighteousmoney, preparing to flee to foreign countries or at least to theForeign Settlements for safety. The cautious work quietly and donot desire to earn merit but merely try to avoid giving offence.The scholars and politicians are grandiloquent and discourse upontheir subjects in a sublime vein, but they are no better than thecorrupt officials. As for our President, he can remain at the headof the State for a few years. At most he may hold office forseveral terms,—or perhaps for his whole life. Then questions mustarise as to who shall succeed him; how to elect his successor; howmany rivals will there be; whether their policies will bedifferent from his, etc., etc. He personally has no idea regardingthe solution of these questions. Even if the president is asagacious and capable man, he will not be able to make a policyfor the country or fix a Constitution which will last for ahundred years. Because of this he is driven merely to adopt apolicy so as to maintain peace in his own country and to keep thenation intact so long as he may live. In the circ*mstances such apresident can be considered the best executive head we can have.Those who are worshippers of the constitutional government cannotdo more than he does. Here we find the reason for the silence ofthe former advocates of a constitutional administration. They haverealized that by the formation of the republic the fundamentalproblem of the country has been left unsolved. In this wise ithappens that the situation is something like this. Whilst thecountry is governed by an able president, the people enjoy peaceand prosperity. But once an incapable man assumes the presidency,chaos will become the order of the day, a state of affairs whichwill finally lead to the overthrow of the president himself andthe destruction of the country. In such circ*mstances, how can youdevise a general policy for the country which will last for ahundred years? I say that there is no hope for China establishinga truly constitutional government.

Mr. Ko: In your opinion there is no hope for China becoming strongand rich or for her acquiring a constitutional government. She hasno choice save ultimately to disappear. And yet is there no planpossible whereby she may be saved?

Mr. Hu: If China wishes to save herself from ultimatedisappearance from the face of the earth, first of all she mustget rid of the republic. Should she desire wealth and strength,she must adopt a constitutional government. Should she wantconstitutional government she must first establish a monarchy.

Mr. Ko: How is it that should China desire wealth and strength shemust first adopt the constitutional form of government?

Mr. Hu: Wealth and strength is the object of the country, and aconstitutional government is the means to realizing this object.In the past able rulers could accomplish their purpose without aconstitutional government. We refer to Emperor Wu of the HanDynasty and Emperor Tai Chung of the Tang Dynasty. However, whenthese able rulers died their system of administration died withthem. This contention can be supported by numerous historicalinstances; but suffice to say that in China as well as in Europe,the lack of a constitutional government has been the cause of theweakness of most of the nations in ancient times. Japan was neverknown as a strong nation until she adopted a constitutionalgovernment. The reason is this: when there is no constitutionalgovernment, the country cannot continue to carry out a definitepolicy.

Within comparatively recent times there was born in Europe theconstitutional form of government. European nations adopted it,and they became strong. The most dangerous fate that can confronta nation is that after the death of an able ruler the system ofadministration he has established disappears with him; but thisthe constitutional form of government is able to avert. Take forinstance William I of Germany who is dead but whose countrycontinues to this day strong and prosperous. It is because ofconstitutional government. The same is true of Japan, which hasadopted constitutional government and which is becoming strongerand stronger every day. The change of her executive cannot affecther progress in respect of her strength. From this it is quiteclear that constitutional government is a useful instrument forbuilding up a country. It is a government with a set of fixed lawswhich guard the actions of both the people and the president noneof whom can overstep the boundary as specified in the laws. Noruler, whether be he a good man or a bad man, can change one iotaof the laws. The people reap the benefit of this in consequence.It is easy to make a country strong and rich but it is difficultto establish a constitutional government. When a constitutionalgovernment has been established, everything will take care ofitself, prosperity following naturally enough. The adoption of aconstitutional government at the present moment can be compared tothe problem of a derailed train. It is hard to put the train backon the track, but once on the track it is very easy to move thetrain. What we should worry about is not how to make the countryrich and prosperous, but how to form a genuine constitutionalgovernment. Therefore I say that if China desires to be strong andprosperous, she should first of all adopt the constitutional formof government.

Mr. Ko: I do not understand why it is that a monarchy should beestablished before the constitutional form of government can beformed?

Mr. Hu: Because if the present system continues there will beintermittent trouble. At every change of the president there willbe riot and civil war. In order to avert the possibility of suchaweful times place the president in a position which is permanent.It follows that the best thing is to make him Emperor. When thatbone of contention is removed, the people will settle down tobusiness and feel peace in their hearts, and devote their wholeenergy and time to the pursuit of their vocations. It is logicalto assume that after the adoption of the monarchy they willconcentrate their attention on securing a constitutionalgovernment which they know is the only salvation for theircountry. As for the Emperor, knowing that he derives his positionfrom the change from a republic, and filled with the desire ofpacifying the people, he cannot help sanctioning the formation ofthe constitutional form of government, which in addition, willinsure to his offspring the continuation of the Throne. Should headopt any other course, he will be exposed to great personaldanger. If he is broadminded, he will further recognize the factthat if no constitutional form of government is introduced, hispolicy will perish after his death. Therefore I say that beforethe adoption of the constitutional form of government, a monarchyshould be established. William I of Germany and the Emperor Meijiof Japan both tried the constitutional form of government andfound it a success.

Mr. Ko: Please summarize your discussion.

Mr. Hu: In short, the country cannot be saved except through theestablishment of a constitutional form of government. Noconstitutional government can be formed except through theestablishment of a monarchy. The constitutional form of governmenthas a set of fixed laws, and the monarchy has a definite head whocannot be changed, in which matters lies the source of nationalstrength and wealth.

Mr. Ko: What you have said in regard to the adoption of theconstitutional monarchy as a means of saving the country fromdismemberment is quite true, but I would like to have your opinionon the relative advantages and disadvantages of a republic and amonarchy, assuming that China adopts the scheme of a monarchy.

Mr. Hu: I am only too glad to give you my humble opinion on thismomentous question.

Mr. Ko: You have said that China would be devastated by contendingarmies of rival leaders trying to capture the presidency. At whatprecise moment will that occur?

Mr. Hu: The four hundred million people of China now rely upon thePresident alone for the protection of their lives and property.Upon him likewise falls the burden of preserving both peace andthe balance of power in the Far East. There is no time in thehistory of China that the Head of the State has had to assume sucha heavy responsibility for the protection of life and property andfor the preservation of peace in Asia; and at no time in ourhistory has the country been in greater danger than at the presentmoment. China can enjoy peace so long as His Excellency Yuan Shih-kai remains the President, and no longer. Should anything befallthe President, every business activity will at once be suspended,shops will be closed, disquietude will prevail, people will becomepanic-stricken, the troops uncontrollable, and foreign warshipwill enter our harbours. European and American newspapers will befull of special dispatches about the complicated events in China,and martial law will be declared in every part of the country. Allthis will be due to the uncertainty regarding the succession tothe presidency.

It will be seen from the first section of this long andextraordinary pamphlet how the author develops his argument. Oneof his major premises is the inherent unruliness of Republicansoldiery,—the armies of republics not to be compared with thearmed forces of monarchies,—and consequently constituting aperpetual menace to good government. Passing on from this, he laysdown the proposition that China cannot hope to become rich so longas the fear of civil war is ever-present; and that without aproper universal education a republic is an impossibility. Theexercise of monarchical power in such circ*mstances can only becalled an inevitable development,—the one goal to be aimed atbeing the substitution of Constitutional Government for thedictatorial rule. The author deals at great length with thebackground to this idea, playing on popular fears to reinforce hiscasuistry. For although constitutional government is insisted uponas the sole solution, he speedily shows that thisconstitutionalism will depend more on the benevolence of thedictator than on the action of the people. And should his advicebe not heeded, when Fortune wills that Yuan Shih-kai's rule shallend, chaos will ensue owing to the "uncertainty" regarding thesuccession.

Here the discussion reaches its climax—for the demand thatsalvation be sought by enthroning Yuan Shih-kai now becomes clearand unmistakable. Let the author speak for himself.

Mr. Ko: But it is provided in the Constitutional Compact that apresident must be selected from among the three candidates whosenames are now kept in a golden box locked in a stone room. Do youthink this provision is not sufficient to avert the terrible timeswhich you have just described?

Mr. Hu: The provision you have mentioned is useless. Can you findany person who is able to be at the head of the state besides HisExcellency Yuan Shih-kai? The man who can succeed President Yuanmust enjoy the implicit confidence of the people and must haveextended his influence all over the country and be known both athome and abroad. He must be able to maintain order, and then nomatter what the constitution provides, he will be unanimouslyelected President. He must also be able to assure himself that thetwo other candidates for the presidency have no hope for successin the presidential campaign. The provision in the constitution,as well as the golden casket in which the names of the threecandidates are kept which you have mentioned, are nothing butnominal measures. Moreover there is no man in China who answersthe description of a suitable successor which I have just given.Here arises a difficult problem; and what has been specified inthe Constitutional Compact is a vain attempt to solve it. It ispertinent to ask why the law-makers should not have made the lawin such a way that the people could exercise their free choice inthe matter of the presidential successor? The answer is that thereis reason to fear that a bad man may be elected president bymanipulations carried out with a masterly hand, therebyjeopardizing the national welfare. This fear has influenced theconstitution-makers to settle upon three candidates from amongwhom the president must be elected. Then it may be asked why notfix upon one man instead of upon three since you have alreadydeprived the people of part of their freedom? The answer is that:there is not a single man whose qualifications are high enough tobe the successor. As it is, three candidates of equalqualifications are put forward for the people to their selection.No matter how one may argue this important question from the legalpoint of view, there is the fact that the law makers fixed uponthree candidates for the presidency, believing that we do notpossess a suitable presidential successor. The vital question ofthe day setting aside all paper talk, is whether or not China hasa suitable man to succeed President Yuan Shih-kai. Whether or notthe constitutional compact can be actually carried out in future Ido not know; but I do know that that instrument will eventuallybecome ineffective.

Mr. Ko: I desire a true picture of the chaos which you have hintedwill ensue in this country. Can you tell me anything along thatline?

Mr. Hu: In a time of confusion, the soldiers play the mostimportant part, virtuous and experienced and learned statesmenbeing unable to cope with the situation. The only qualificationwhich a leader at such a time needs to possess is the control ofthe military, and the ability to suppress Parliament. Should sucha person be made the president, he cannot long hold his enviablepost in view of the fact that he cannot possess sufficientinfluence to control the troops of the whole country. The generalsof equal rank and standing will not obey each other, while thesoldiers and politicians, seeing a chance in these differences fortheir advancement, will stir up their feelings and incite oneanother to fight. They will fight hard among themselves. Therebels, who are now exiles in foreign lands, taking advantage ofthe chaos in China, will return in very little time to perpetratethe worst crimes known in human history. The royalists who are inretirement will likewise come out to fish in muddy waters. Personswho have the qualifications of leaders will be used as tools tofight for the self-aggrandizement of those who use them. I do notwish to mention names, but I can safely predict that more than tendifferent parties will arise at the psychological moment. Men whowill never be satisfied until they become president, and those whoknow they cannot get the presidency but who are unwilling to serveothers, will come out one after another. Confusion and disturbancewill follow with great rapidity. Then foreign countries which haveentertained wild ambitions, availing themselves of the distressfulsituation in China, will stir up ill-feelings among these partiesand so increase the disturbances. When the proper time comes,various countries, unwilling to let a single country enjoy theprivilege of controlling China, will resort to armed intervention.In consequence the eastern problem will end in a rupture of theinternational peace. Whether China will be turned at that timeinto a battleground for the Chinese people or for the foreignPowers I cannot tell you. It is too dreadful to think of thefuture which is enshrouded in a veil of mystery. However, I cantell you that the result of this awful turmoil will be either theslicing of China like a melon or the suppression of internaltrouble with foreign assistance which will lead to dismemberment.As to the second result some explanation is necessary. Afterforeign countries have helped us to suppress internaldisturbances, they will select a man of the type of Li Wang ofKorea, who betrayed his country to Japan, and make him Emperor ofChina. Whether this man will be the deposed emperor or a member ofthe Imperial family or the leader of the rebel party, remains tobe seen. In any event he will be a figurehead in whose hand willnot be vested political, financial and military power, which willbe controlled by foreigners. All the valuable mines, various kindsof industries and our abundant natural resources will likewise bedeveloped by others. China will thus disappear as a nation.

In selecting a man of the Li Wang type, the aforesaid foreigncountries will desire merely to facilitate the acquisition ofChina's territory. But there can be easily found such a man whobears remarkable resemblance to Li Wang, and who will be willingto make a treaty with the foreigners whereby he unpatrioticallysells his country in exchange for a throne which he can neverobtain or keep without outside assistance. His procedure will besomething like this: He will make an alliance with a foreignnation by which the latter will be given the power to carry onforeign relations on behalf of his country. In the eyes offoreigners, China will have been destroyed, but the people willcontinue deceived and made to believe that their country is stillin existence. This is the first step. The second step will be toimitate the example of Korea and make a treaty with a certainpower, whereby China is annexed and the throne abolished. Theimperial figure-head then flees to the foreign country where heenjoys an empty title. Should you then try to make him devisemeans for regaining the lost territory it will be too late. ForChina will have been entirely destroyed by that time. This is thesecond procedure in the annexation of Chinese territory. Thereason why that foreign country desires to change the republicinto the monarchy is to set one man on the throne and make himwitness the whole process of annexation of his country, therebysimplifying the matter. When that time has come, the people willnot be permitted to make any comment upon the form of governmentsuitable for China, or upon the destruction of their country. Therebels who raised the standard of the republic have no principlesand if they now find that some other tactics will help to increasetheir power they will adopt these tactics. China's republic isdoomed, no matter what happens. If we do not change it ourselves,others will do it for us. Should we undertake the change ourselveswe can save the nation: otherwise there is no hope for China toremain a nation. It is to be regretted that our people now assumean attitude of indifference, being reluctant to look forward tothe future, and caring not what may happen to them and theircountry. They are doomed to become slaves after the loss of theirnational independence.

Mr. Ko: I am very much frightened by what you have said. You havestated that the adoption of a constitutional monarchy can avertsuch terrible consequences; but is there not likely to bedisturbance during the change of the republic to monarchy, sincesuch disturbance must always accompany the presidential election?

Mr. Hu: No comparison can be formed between these two things.There may be tumult during the change of the form of government,but it will be better in comparison with the chaos that will someday ensue in the republic. There is no executive head in thecountry when a republic endeavours to select a presidentialsuccessor. At such a time, the ambitious try to improve theirfuture, while the patriotic are at a loss now to do anything whichwill assist in the maintenance of order. Those who are rebelliousrise in revolt while those who are peace-loving are compelled bycirc*mstances to join their rank and file. Should the form ofgovernment be transformed into a monarchical one, and should thetime for change of the head of the state come, the successorhaving already been provided for, that will be well-known to thepeople. Those who are patriotic will exert their utmost topreserve peace, and as result the heir-apparent can peacefullystep on the throne. There are persons who will contend for theoffice of the President, but not for the throne. Those who contendfor the office of President do not commit any crime, but those whotry to seize the throne are rebels. Who dares to contend for theThrone?

At the time of the change of the president in a republic,ambitious persons arise with the intention of capturing this mosthonourable office, but not so when the emperor is changed. Shouldthere be a body of persons hostile to the heir-apparent, that bodymust be very small. Therefore I say that the enemies of asucceeding Emperor are a few, whilst there are many in the case ofa presidential successor. This is the first difference.

Those who oppose the monarchy are republican enthusiasts orpersons who desire to make use of the name of the republic fortheir own benefit. These persons will raise trouble even withoutthe change of the government. They do not mind disturbing thepeace of the country at the present time when the republic exists.It is almost certain that at the first unfurling of the imperialflags they will at once grasp such an opportune moment and try tosatisfy their ambition. Should they rise in revolt at the timewhen the Emperor is changed the Government, supported by the loyalstatesmen and officials, whose interests are bound up with thewelfare of the imperial family and whose influence has spread farand wide, will be able to deal easily with any situation which maydevelop. Therefore I declare that the successor to the throne hasmore supporters while the presidential successor has few. This isthe second difference between the republic and the constitutionalmonarchy.

Why certain persons will contend for the office of the Presidentcan be explained by the fact that there is not a single man in thecountry whose qualifications are above all the others. Successionto the throne is a question of blood-relation with the reigningEmperor, and not a question of qualifications. The high officialswhose qualifications are unusually good are not subservient toothers but they are obedient to the succeeding Emperor, because oftheir gratitude for what the imperial family has done for them,and because their well-being is closely associated with that ofthe imperial household. I can cite an historical incident tosupport my contention. Under the Manchu Dynasty, at one timeGeneral Chu Chung-tang was entrusted with the task of suppressingthe Mohammedan rebellion. He appointed General Liu Sung Sangeneralissimo. Upon the death of General Liu, Chu Chung-tangappointed his subordinate officers to lead the army, but thesubordinate officers competed for power. Chu Chung-tang finallymade the step-son of General Liu the Commander-in-Chief and theofficers and soldiers all obeyed his order as they did hisfather's. But it may be mentioned that this young man was not moreable than any of his father's subordinate commanders. Neverthelessprestige counted. He owed his success to his naturalqualification, being a step-son to General Liu. So is the casewith the emperor whose successor nobody dares openly to defy—tosay nothing of actually disputing his right to the throne. This isthe third difference between the republic and the monarchy.

I will not discuss the question: as to whether there being norighteous and able heir-apparent to succeed his Emperor-father,great danger may not confront the nation. However, in order toprovide against any such case, I advocate that the formation of aconstitutional government should go hand in hand with theestablishment of the monarchy. At first it is difficult toestablish and carry out a constitutional government, but once itis formed it will be comparatively easy. When the constitutionalgovernment has been established, the Emperor will have to seek hisfame in such useful things as the defence of his country and theconquest of his enemy. Everything has to progress, and menpossessing European education will be made use of by the reigningfamily. The first Emperor will certainly do all he can to capturethe hearts of the people by means of adopting and carrying out inletter as well as in spirit constitutional government. The heir-apparent will pay attention to all new reforms and new things.Should he do so, the people will be able to console themselves bysaying that they will always be the people of a constitutionalmonarchy even after the succession to the throne of the heir-apparent. When the time comes for the heir-apparent to mount thethrone the people will extend to him their cordial welcome, andthere will be no need to worry about internal disturbances.

Therefore, I conclude that the successor to the presidential chairhas to prevent chaos by wielding the monarchical power, while thenew emperor can avert internal disquietude forever by means of hisconstitutional government. This is the fourth difference betweenthe republic and the monarchy. These four differences areaccountable for the fact that there will not be as muchdisturbance at the time of the change of emperors as at the timewhen the president is changed.

Mr. Ko: I can understand what you have said with regard to theadvantages and disadvantages of the republic and the monarchy, butthere are many problems connected with the formation of aconstitutional monarchy which we have to solve. Why is it that theattempt to introduce constitutional government during the lastyears of the Manchu Dynasty proved a failure?

Mr. Hu: The constitutional government of the Manchu Dynasty wasone in name only, and as such the forerunner of the revolution of1911. Towards the end of the Manchu Dynasty, the talk of startinga revolution to overthrow the imperial regime was in everybody'smouth, although the constitutional party endeavoured to accomplishsomething really useful. At that time His Excellency Yuan Shih-kaiwas the grand chancellor, and realizing the fact that nothingexcept the adoption of a constitutional government could save thethrone of the Manchus, he assumed the leadership of theconstitutional party, which surpassed in strength therevolutionary party as a result of his active support. Thepeople's hearts completely turned to the constitutional party forsalvation, while the revolutionary party lost that popular supportwhich it had formerly enjoyed. Then it seemed that the imperialhousehold would soon adopt the constitutional monarchy and thethreatening revolution could be averted. Unfortunately, theelaborate plans of His Excellency Yuan Shih-kai regarding theadoption of the constitutional government were not carried out bythe imperial household. A great change took place: His Excellencyretired to his native province; and after losing this powerfulleader the constitutional party was pitilessly shattered. Amonarchist party suddenly made its appearance on the politicalarena to assist the imperial family, which pretended to do itsvery best for the development of a constitutional government, butsecretly exerted itself to the utmost for the possession andretention of the real power. This double-dealing resulted inbringing about the revolution of 1911. For instance, when thepeople cried for the convening of a parliament, the imperialfamily said "No." The people also failed to secure the abolitionof certain official organs for the imperialists. They lostconfidence in the Reigning House, and simultaneously therevolutionary party raised its banner and gathered its supportersfrom every part of the country. As soon as the revolt started atWuchang the troops all over the country joined in the movement tooverthrow the Manchu Dynasty. The members of the Imperial Senate,most of whom were members of the constitutional party, could nothelp showing their sympathy with the revolutionists. At last theimperial household issued a proclamation containing NineteenArticles—a veritable magna carta—but it was too late. Theconstitutional government which was about to be formed was thuslaid aside. What the imperial family did was the mere organizationof an advisory council. A famous foreign scholar aptly remarked:"A false constitutional government will eventually result in atrue revolution." In trying to deceive the people by means of afalse constitutional government the imperial house encompassed itsown destruction. Once His Excellency Yuan Shih-kai stated in amemorial to the throne that there were only two alternatives: togive the people a constitutional government or to have themrevolt. What happened afterwards is a matter of common knowledge.Therefore I say that the government which the imperial familyattempted to form was not a constitutional government.

Mr. Ko: Thank you for your discussion of the attempt of theimperial household to establish a constitutional government; buthow about the Provisional Constitution, the parliament and thecabinet in the first and second years of the Republic? Theparliament was then so powerful that the government was absolutelyat its mercy, thereby disturbing the peaceful condition of thecountry. The people have tasted much of the bitterness ofconstitutional government. Should you mention the name ofconstitutional government again they would be thoroughlyfrightened. Is that true?

Mr. Hu: During the first and second years of the Republic, in mymany conversations with the members of the Kuo Ming Tang, I saidthat the republic could not form an efficient method of control,and that there would be an over centration of power through theadoption of monarchical methods of ruling, knowing as well as Idid the standards of our people. When the members of the Kuo MingTang came to draw up the Provisional Constitution they purposelytook precisely the opposite course of action and ignored mysuggestion. It may, however, be mentioned that the ProvisionalConstitution made in Nanking was not so bad, but after thegovernment was removed to Peking, the Kuo Ming Tang people tiedthe hand and foot of the government by means of the Cabinet Systemand other restrictions with the intention of weakening the powerof the central administration in order that they might be able tostart another revolution. From the dissolution of the Nankinggovernment to the time of the second revolution they had this oneobject in view, namely to weaken the power of the centraladministration so that they could contend for the office of thepresident by raising further internal troubles in China. Thosemembers of the Kuo Ming Tang who made the constitution know aswell as I that China's republic must be governed through amonarchical administration; and therefore the unreasonablerestrictions in the Provisional Constitution were purposelyinserted.

Mr. Ko: What is the difference between the constitutionalgovernment which you have proposed and the constitutionalgovernment which the Manchu Dynasty intended to adopt?

Mr. Hu: The difference lies in the proper method of procedure andin honesty of purpose, which are imperative if constitutionalgovernment expects to be successful.

Mr. Ko: What do you mean by the proper method of procedure?

Mr. Hu: The Provisional Constitution made in Nanking, which wasconsidered good, is not suitable for insertion in the futureconstitution, should a constitutional monarchy be established. Inmaking a constitution for the future constitutional monarchy wehave to consult the constitutions of the monarchies of the world.They can be divided into three classes which are represented byEngland, Prussia and Japan. England is advanced in itsconstitutional government, which has been in existence forthousands of years, (sic) and is the best of all in the world. TheEnglish king enjoys his empty title and the real power of thecountry is exercised by the parliament, which makes all the lawsfor the nation. As to Prussia, the constitutional monarchy wasestablished when the people started a revolution. The ruler ofPrussia was compelled to convene a parliament and submitted tothat legal body a constitution. Prussia's constitution was made byits ruler together with the parliament. Its constitutionalgovernment is not so good as the English. As to the Japaneseconstitutional monarchy, the Emperor made a constitution and thenconvened a parliament. The constitutional power of the Japanesepeople is still less than that of the Prussian people. Accordingto the standard of our people we cannot adopt the Englishconstitution as our model, for it is too advanced. The best thingfor us to do is to adopt part of the Prussian and part of theJapanese in our constitution-making. As our people are bettereducated now than ever before, it is decidedly unwise entirely toadopt the Japanese method, that is, for the Emperor to make aconstitution without the approval of the parliament and then toconvoke a legislative body. In the circ*mstances China shouldadopt the Prussian method as described above with somemodifications, which will be very suitable to our conditions. Asto the contents of the constitution we can copy such articles asthose providing the right for the issue of urgent orders andappropriation of special funds, etc. from the JapaneseConstitution, so that the power of the ruler can be increasedwithout showing the slightest contempt for the legislative organ.I consider that this is the proper method of procedure for theformation of a constitutional monarchy for China.

Mr. Ko: Can I know something about the contents of our futureconstitution in advance?

Mr. Hu: If you want to know them in detail I recommend you to readthe Constitutions of Prussia and Japan. But I can tell you thismuch. Needless to say that such stipulations as articlesguaranteeing the rights of the people and the power of theparliament will surely be worked into the future constitution.These are found in almost every constitution in the world. But asthe former Provisional Constitution has so provided that the powerof the parliament is unlimited, while that of the president isvery small the Chief Executive, besides conferring decorations andgiving Orders of Merit, having almost nothing to do without theapproval of the Senate, it is certain that nothing will be takenfrom that instrument for the future constitution. Nor will themakers of the future constitution take anything from the nineteencapitulations offered by the Manchu Government, which gave toomuch power to the legislative organ. According to the NineteenArticles the Advisory Council was to draw up the constitution,which was to be ratified by the parliament; the Premier beingelected by the parliament; whilst the use of the army and navyrequired the parliament's sanction; the making of treaties withforeign countries have likewise to be approved by the parliament,etc., etc. Such strict stipulations which are not even known insuch an advanced country in matters constitutional as England wereextorted from the imperial family by the advisory council.Therefore it is most unlikely that the makers of the futureconstitution will take any article from the nineteen capitulationsof "confidence." They will use the Constitutions of Japan andPrussia as joint model and will always have in their mind theactual conditions of this country and the standard of the people.In short, they will copy some of the articles in the Japaneseconstitution, and adopt the Prussian method of procedure for themaking of the constitution.

Mr. Ko: What do you mean by honesty?

Mr. Hu: It is a bad policy to deceive the people. Individually thepeople are simple, but they cannot be deceived collectively. TheManchu Government committed an irretrievable mistake by promisingthe people a constitutional government but never carrying outtheir promise. This attitude on the part of the then reigninghouse brought about the first revolution. As the standard of ourpeople at the present time is not very high, they will besatisfied with less power if it is properly given to them. Shouldany one attempt to deceive them his cause will finally be lost. Ido not know how much power the people and the parliament will getin the constitutional monarchy, but I would like to point out herethat it is better to give them less power than to deceive them. Ifthey are given less power, and if they want more, they willcontend for it. Should the government deem it advisable to givethem a little more, well and good. Should they be unfit for thepossession of greater power, the government can issue aproclamation giving the reasons for not complying with theirrequest, and they will not raise trouble knowing the trueintention of the government. However, honesty is the mostimportant element in the creation of a constitutional monarchy. Itis easy and simple to practise it. The parliament must have thepower to decide the laws and fix the budgets. Should its decisionbe too idealistic or contrary to the real welfare of the country,the Government can explain its faults and request it to reconsiderits decision. Should the parliament return the same decision, theGovernment can dissolve it and convoke another parliament. In sodoing the Government respects the parliament instead of despisingit. But what the parliament has decided should be carried outstrictly by the Government, and thus we will have a realconstitutional Government. It is easy to talk but difficult toact, but China like all other countries has to go through theexperimental stage and face all kinds of difficulties before agenuine constitutional government can be evolved. The beginning isdifficult but once the difficulty is over everything will go onsmoothly. I emphasize that it is better to give the people lesspower at the beginning than to deceive them. Be honest with themis my policy.

Mr. Ko: I thank you very much for what you have said. Yourdiscussion is interesting and I can understand it well. The propermethod of procedure and honesty of purpose which you havementioned will tend to wipe out all former corruption.

Mr. Ko, or the stranger, then departed.

On this note the pamphleteer abruptly ends. Having discussed adnauseam the inadequacy of all existing arrangements, even thosemade by Yuan Shih-kai himself, to secure a peaceful succession tothe presidency; and having again insisted upon the evil partsoldiery cannot fail to play, he introduces a new peril, thecertainty that the foreign Powers will set up a puppet Emperorunless China solves this problem herself, the case of Korea beinginvoked as an example of the fate of divided nations. Fear ofJapan and the precedent of Korea, being familiar phenomena, aregiven a capital in all this debate, being secondary only to thecrucial business of ensuring the peaceful succession to thesupreme office. The transparent manner in which the history of thefirst three years of the Republic is handled in order to drivehome these arguments will be very apparent. A fit crown is put onthe whole business by the final suggestion that the ConstitutionalGovernment of China under the new empire must be a mixture of thePrussian and Japanese systems, Yang Tu's last words being that itis best to be honest with the people! No more damning indictmentof Yuan Shih-kai's regime could possibly have been penned.

THE MONARCHY PLOT

THE MEMORANDUM OF DR. GOODNOW

Although this extraordinary pamphlet was soon accepted by Chinesesociety as a semi-official warning of what was coming, it alonewas not sufficient to launch a movement which to be successfulrequired the benign endorsem*nt of foreign opinion. The Chinesepamphleteer had dealt with the emotional side of the case: it wasnecessary to reinforce his arguments with an appeal which would beunderstood by Western statesmen as well as by Eastern politicians.Yuan Shih-kai, still pretending to stand aside, had kept hisattention concentrated on this very essential matter; for, as wehave repeatedly pointed out, he never failed to understand thesuperlative value of foreign support in all his enterprises,—thatsupport being given an exaggerated value by the public thanks toChina's reliance on foreign money. Accordingly, as if stillunconvinced, he now very naively requested the opinion of hischief legal adviser, Dr. Goodnow, an American who had beenappointed to his office through the instrumentality of the Boardof the Carnegie Institute as a most competent authority onAdministrative Law.

Even in this most serious matter the element of comedy was notlacking. Dr. Goodnow had by special arrangement returned to Pekingat the psychological moment; for having kicked his heels duringmany weary months in the capital, he had been permitted in 1914 totake up the appointment of President of an American University oncondition that he would be available for legal "advice" wheneverwanted. The Summer vacation gave him the opportunity of revisitingin the capacity of a transient the scenes of his former idleness;and the holiday-task set him by his large-hearted patron was toprove in as few folios as possible that China ought to be aMonarchy and not a Republic—a theme on which every schoolboycould no doubt write with fluency. Consequently Dr. Goodnow,arming himself with a limited amount of paper and ink, produced invery few days the Memorandum which follows,—a document which itis difficult to speak of dispassionately since it seems to havebeen deliberately designed to play into the hands of a man who wasnow openly set on betraying the trust the nation reposed in him,and who was ready to wade through rivers of blood to satisfy hisinsensate ambition.

Nothing precisely similar to this Goodnow Memorandum has ever beenseen before in the history of Asia: it was the ultramodern spiritimpressed into the service of mediaeval minds. In any othercapital of the world the publication of such a subversivedocument, following the Yang Tu pamphlet, would have led to riotand tumult. In China, the home of pacifism, the politicians andpeople bowed their heads and bided their time. Even foreigncircles in China were somewhat nonplussed by the insouciancedisplayed by the peripatetic legal authority; and the Memorandumwas for many days spoken of as an unnecessary indiscretion.[Footnote: It is perhaps of importance to note that Dr. Goodnowcarried out all his studies in Germany.] Fastening at once on thepoint to which Yang Tu had ascribed such importance—the questionof succession—Dr. Goodnow in his arguments certainly shows adetachment from received principles which has an old-world flavourabout it, and which has damned him forever in the eyes of therising generation in China. The version which follows is thetranslation of the Chinese translation, the original EnglishMemorandum having been either mislaid or destroyed; and it is bestthat this argument should be carefully digested before we add ourcomments.

DR. GOODNOW'S MEMORANDUM

A country must have a certain form of government, and usually theparticular form of government of a particular country is not theresult of the choice of the people of that country. There is notany possibility even for the most intellectual to exercise anymental influence over the question. Whether it be a monarchy orrepublic, it cannot be the creation of human power except when itis suitable to the historical, habitual, social and financialconditions of that country. If an unsuitable form of government isdecided upon, it may remain for a short while, but eventually asystem better suited will take its place.

In short, the form of government of a country is usually thenatural and only result of its circ*mstances. The reasons for suchan outcome are many, but the principal one is Force. If we studythe monarchical countries we will find that usually a dynasty iscreated by a person who is capable of controlling the force of theentire country and overthrowing other persons opposed to him,working towards his goal with an undaunted spirit. If this man iscapable of ruling the nation and if he is a rare genius of theday, and the conditions of the country are suited for amonarchical government, he as a rule creates a new dynasty and hisdescendants inherit the same from generation to generation.

If this is so, then the solution of a difficult position of acountry is to be found in a monarchy rather than a republic. Foron the death of a monarch no doubt exists as to who shall succeedhim, and there is no need of an election or other procedure.Englishmen say, "The King is dead, Long live the King." Thisexpresses the point. But in order to attain this point it isnecessary that the law of succession be definitely defined andpublicly approved; otherwise there will not be lacking, on thedeath of the monarch, men aspiring to the throne; and as no one isqualified to settle the dispute for power, internal disturbancewill be the result.

Historically speaking no law of succession is so permanentlysatisfactory as that used by the nations of Europe. According tothis system the right of succession belongs to the eldest son ofthe monarch, or failing him, the nearest and eldest male relative.The right of succession, however, may be voluntarily surrenderedby the rightful successor if he so desires; thus if the eldest sondeclines to succeed to the throne the second son takes his place.This is the rule of Europe.

If instead of this law of a succession a system is adopted bywhich the successor is chosen by the monarch from among his sonsor relatives without any provision being made for the rights ofthe eldest son, disturbance will be the inevitable result. Therewill not be a few who would like to take possession of the throneand they will certainly plot in the very confines of the palace,resulting in an increase of the sufferings of an aged monarch;and, even if the disaster of civil war be avoided, much disputewill arise owing to the uncertainty of the successor—a dangeroussituation indeed.

Such is the lesson we learn from history. The conclusion is,speaking from the viewpoint of the problem of transmission ofpower, that the superiority of the monarchical system over therepublican system is seen in the law of succession,—that is theeldest son of the ruler should succeed to the throne.

Leaving out the nations of ancient times, the majority ofcountries in Europe and Asia have adopted the monarchical system.There are, however, exceptions such as Wen-ni-shih (Venice) andSwitzerland, which adopted the republican form of government; butthey are in the minority while most of the great nations of theworld have adopted the monarchical form of government.

During the recent century and a half the attitude of Europe hasundergone a sudden change and the general tendency is to discreditmonarchism and adopt republicanism. The one great European powerwhich first attempted to make a trial of republicanism is GreatBritain. In the Seventeenth Century a revolution broke out inEngland and King Charles I was condemned to death by Parliamentand executed as a traitor to the nation. A republic wasestablished and the administration was called republican withCromwell as regent, i.e. President, Cromwell was able to controlthe power of government because at the head of the revolutionaryarmy he defeated the King. This English republic however, onlyexisted for a few years and was finally defeated in turn. Thereason was that the problem of succession after the death ofCromwell was difficult to solve. Cromwell had a desire to placehis son in his place as regent after his death, but as the Englishpeople were then unsuited for a republic and his son had not theability to act as chief executive, the republic of Englandsuddenly disappeared. The British people then abandoned therepublican system and readopted the monarchical system. ThusCharles II, the son of Charles I, was made King not only with thesupport of the army but also with the general consent of thecountry.

The second European race which attempted to have a republic wasthe American. In the Eighteenth Century the United States ofAmerica was established in consequence of the success of arevolution. But the American revolution was not at first intendedto overthrow the monarchy. What it sought to do was to throw offthe yoke of the monarchy and become independent. The revolution,however, succeeded and the circ*mstances were such that there wasno other alternative but to have a republic: for there was noroyal or Imperial descendant to shoulder the responsibilities ofthe state. Another factor was the influence of the advocates ofrepublicanism who came to America in the previous century fromEngland and saturated the minds of the Americans with the ideas ofrepublicanism. The minds of the American people were so imbuedwith the ideas of republicanism that a republican form ofgovernment was the ideal of the entire race. Had GeneralWashington—the leader of the revolutionary army—had the desireto become a monarch himself he would probably have beensuccessful. But Washington's one aim was to respect republicanismand he had no aspiration to become King. Besides he had no soncapable of succeeding him on the throne. Consequently on the dayindependence was won, the republican form of government wasadopted without hesitation, and it has survived over a hundredyears.

There is no need to ask whether the result of the establishment ofthe American Republic has been good or bad. The republican form ofgovernment is really the making of the United States of America.But it should be remembered that long before the establishment ofthe republic, the American people had already learned the goodlaws and ordinances of England, and the constitution andparliamentary system of England had been long in use in Americafor over a hundred years. Therefore the change in 1789 from acolony into a Republic was not a sudden change from a monarchy toa republic. Thorough preparations had been made and self-government was well practised before the establishment of therepublic. Not only this, but the intellectual standard of theAmerican people was then already very high; for ever since thebeginning of American history attention was given to universaleducation. No youth could be found who could not read, and theextent of education can thus be gauged.

Soon after the formation of the American Republic, the FrenchRepublic followed in her footsteps. Now in France a monarchicalgovernment was in existence before the declaration ofindependence, and the supreme power of administration was in thehands of the King. The people, having never participated in theadministration and lacking experience in self-government, made apoor experiment of the republican system which they suddenly setup. The result was that for many years disorder reigned, and thetyranny of the military governments held sway one after another.After the defeat of Napoleon, the monarchical system was restoredas a result of the intervention of other Powers. The secondrevolution in 1830 again resulted in the restoration of themonarchy but the power of the common people was considerablyincreased. The monarchy was again overthrown in 1848 and aRepublic formed in its stead—the nephew of Napoleon was then madePresident. This President, however, once more discardedrepublicanism and set up a monarchy for himself. It was not untilafter the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 that Napoleon III wasoverthrown and the final Republic established which has lived forhalf a century now, there being every likelihood of its continuingin its present form.

Indeed the Republic of France has every prospect of beingpermanent, but the permanency is only the result of a hundredyears' political revolution. For a hundred years the foundationswere being laid by means of an energetic and persistent campaignof education, which increased the political knowledge of thepeople. The people were also allowed to participate in politicalaffairs, and so gained experience in self-government. This is whythe French Republic is a success. Then in France and America theyhave found a solution for the difficult problem of the nation,that is the problem of succession of the government in power. ThePresident of France is elected by the Parliament while thePresident of America is elected by the people. The people of thesetwo countries are all experienced in self-government as a resultof participation in political affairs. Furthermore, for the lastfifty years these two countries have all laid emphasis onuniversal education by having an extensive system of schools,subsidized by the Government. The intellectual standard of thesetwo people is therefore fairly high.

As a result of the examples set up by France and America, at theend of the Eighteenth Century the Spanish colonies in Central andSouth America also declared their independence one after theother. The conditions then prevailing in those countries weresomewhat similar to those of America. When their independence wasdeclared, it seemed that the republican system was best suited totheir condition. For on the one hand there was no imperial houseto direct the people, on the other hand the Republic of NorthAmerica was a good example to follow. Public opinion was at thattime unanimous that since the republican form of government wasthe ideal form, it was suitable for any country and any people.The idea thus quickly spread and almost every country became arepublic. The independence of these countries, however, wassecured only at the cost of a hard struggle and once the spirit ofrebellion was aroused it became difficult to suppress in a shortwhile. And since education was not then universal the intellect ofthe people was low. What they were expert in was in autocraticmethods. No task is harder than to establish a republic in acountry, the intelligence of whose people is low. These republics,therefore, reaped no good results although they tried to retainrepublicanism unnaturally. The consequence is that the republicsof Central and South America have been a living drama ofcontinuous internal disturbance. One after another their militaryleaders have grasped the power of administration. Occasionallythere has been peace but this peace has only been secured by theiron hand of one or two powerful men holding the power. Suchpowerful men, however, seldom pay any attention to educationalmatters, and one never hears of their establishing any schools. Asto the people under them, they are not allowed to participate inpolitical affairs by which their experience in politics may beripened. The result is, on the man in power becoming sick ordying—and the iron rule relaxed—that those who wish to usurp thepower of the state rise at once; and as the satisfactory solutionof the problem of succession cannot be found, those undertakingswhich have made progress during the time of peace are swept awaywithout a single exception. In extreme cases the disturbancescontinues to such an extent that the country falls into a state ofanarchy. Thus the social and financial factors of the wholecountry are trodden on and destroyed under foot. The conditionsnow prevailing in Mexico have been many times duplicated in otherrepublics in Central and South America. For this can be the onlyresult from adopting the republican form of government where thepolitical and financial conditions are unsuited. Diaz, a militaryleader, once held the power of state in his own hand, and when hebecame the President of Mexico it looked as if the politicalproblem was solved thereby. Diaz, however, did not push educationbut instead oppressed the people and did not allow them toparticipate in politics. When he was advanced in age and hisinfluence decreased, he lost entire control once the banner ofrebellion was raised. Ever since the overthrow of Diaz, militaryleaders of that country have been fighting one another and thedisturbance is developing even today. In the present circ*mstancesthere is no other means to solve the political problem of Mexicoexcept by intervention from abroad. (Sic.)

Among the republics of Central and South America, however, thereare some which have made fairly good progress, the most prominentof which are Argentina, Chili, and Peru. For some time there wasdisorder in the first two republics immediately after the adoptionof the republican system, but later peace was gradually restoredand the people have been enjoying peace. As regards Peru, althoughsome disturbances have occurred since the establishment of therepublican government, the life of the Republic as a whole hasbeen peaceful. All of these three countries, however, developedconstitutional government with the utmost vigour. Even as far backas in the earlier part of the Nineteenth Century Argentina andChili were already endeavouring to excel each other in theirprogress, and as for Peru, its people were encouraged even whileunder the Imperial regime, to participate in political affairs.The success of these three republics is, therefore, not a merechance happening.

The study of the experiences of these republics of Central andSouth America and the history of France and the United Statesbrings forward two points which we should carefully consider:—

1. In order to make a satisfactory solution of the problem ofsuccession to the chief executive in a republican country, it isnecessary that the country be in possession of an extensive systemof schools; that the intellect of its people has been brought upto a high Standard by means of a patient process of universaleducation; and that they be given a chance to participate inpolitical affairs for the purpose of gaining the neededexperience, before the republican form can be adopted withoutharm;

2. It is certain that the adoption of a republican form ofgovernment in a country where the people are low in intellect andlack experience and knowledge in political affairs, will not yieldany good result. For as the position of the President is nothereditary, and consequently the problem of succession cannot besatisfactorily solved, the result will be a military dictatorship.It might be possible to have a short-lived peace but such a periodof peace is usually intermingled with periods of disturbances,during which the unduly ambitious people may rise and strugglewith each other for the control of power, and the disaster whichwill follow will be irremediable.

This is not all. The present tendency is that the European andother western Powers will not tolerate the existence of a militarygovernment in the world; for experience shows that the result ofmilitary government is anarchy. Now this is of vital importance tothe interests of the European Powers. Since their financialinfluence has extended so far, their capital as well as theircommercial undertakings of all branches and sorts have reachedevery corner of the world, they will not hesitate to express theirviews for the sake of peace, as to the system of government acountry should adopt, although they have no right to interferewith the adoption of a form of government by another nation. Forunless this is done they cannot hope to get the due profit on thecapital they have invested. If this view is carried to theextreme, the political independence of a nation may be interferedwith or even the Government may be replaced with some other organ.If such steps are necessary to attain their views the Powers willnot scruple to take them. Therefore no nation will be allowedhereafter to choose its own form of government if that results inconstant revolution, as in the case of South America in the lastcentury. The Governments of the future should, therefore,carefully consider the system to be adopted for the maintenance ofpeace; otherwise control by foreigners will be unavoidable.

We will now proceed to consider what significance these pointsreviewed above have for the political conditions of China. China,owing to the folly of an absolute monarchical system, hasneglected the education of the masses, whose intellectualattainments have been consequently of a low standard. Then, thereis the additional fact that the people have never had a voice inthe doings of their government. Therefore they have not theability to discuss politics. Four years ago the absolute monarchywas suddenly changed into a Republic. This movement was all toosudden to expect good results. If the Manchus had not been analien race, which the country wished to overthrow, the best stepwhich could then have been adopted was to retain the Emperor andgradually lead him to a constitutional government. What theCommissioners on Constitutional Government suggested was quitepractical if carried out gradually until perfection was reached.Unfortunately the feeling of alien control was bitter to thepeople and the maintenance of the throne was an utterimpossibility. Thus the monarchy was overthrown and the adoptionof a republican system was the only alternative.

Thus we see that China has during the last few years beenprogressing in constitutional government. The pioneering stage ofthe process was, however, not ideal. The results could have beenmuch better if a person of royal blood, respected by the people,had come out and offered his service. Under the present conditionsChina has not yet solved the problem of the succession to thePresidency. What provisions we have now are not perfect. If thePresident should one day give up his power the difficultiesexperienced by other nations will manifest themselves again inChina. The conditions in other Countries are similar to thoseobtaining in China and the dangers are also the same. It is quitewithin the bounds of possibility that the situation might threatenChina's independence if internal disturbance should occur inconnection with this problem and not be immediately put down.

What attitude then should those who have the good of the nation atheart, take under the present circ*mstances? Should they advocatethe continuance of the Republic or suggest a change for amonarchy? It is difficult to answer these questions. But I have nodoubt in saying that the monarchical system is better suited toChina than the republican system. For, if China's independence isto be maintained, the government should be constitutional, and inconsideration of China's conditions as well as her relations withother Powers, it will be easier to form a constitutionalgovernment by adopting a monarchy than a Republic.

However, it must be remembered that in order to secure the bestresults from changing the Republic into a Monarchy not a singleone of the following points can be dispensed with:

1. Such a change must not arouse the opposition of the Chinesepeople or the Foreign Powers, which will cause the disturbances soenergetically suppressed by the Republican Government to appearagain in China. For the peace now prevailing in the country shouldbe maintained at any price so that no danger may come therefrom.

2. If the law of succession be not definitely defined in such away that it will leave no doubts as to the proper successor, nogood can come from the change from Republic to Monarchy. I havesaid enough about the necessity of not allowing the monarch tochoose his own successor. Although the power of an Emperor isgreater than that of a President, when the majority of the peopleknow nothing, it is more respected by the people. But the reasonfor such a change will not be valid if the change is brought aboutmerely to add to the power of the chief executive without thequestion of succession being definitely settled. For thedefiniteness about succession is the most prominent point ofsuperiority of the monarchical system over the republican system.

3. If the Government should fail to make provisions for thedevelopment of the constitutional government, no permanent benefitwill result from the change of a republic into a monarchy. For ifChina wishes to occupy a suitable place among the world powers,the patriotism of her people must be made to grow so that thegovernment will be more than strong enough to cope with outsideaggression. The patriotism of the people will not grow if they arenot allowed to participate in political affairs, and without thehearty assistance of the people no government can become strong.For the reason why the people will assist the government isbecause they feel they are a part of the government. Therefore thegovernment should make the people realize that the government isthe organ which aims at bringing blessing to the people, and makethe people understand that they have the right to superintend thegovernment before the government can achieve great things.

Every one of the points mentioned above are indispensable for thechange of the Republic into a monarchy. Whether the necessaryconditions are present must be left to those who know China welland are responsible for her future progress. If these conditionsare all present then I have no doubt that the change of the formof the government will be for the benefit of China.

The first illuminating point, as we have already said, to leap upand lock attention to the exclusion of everything else in thismemorandum, is that the chief difficulty which perplexes Dr.Goodnow is not the consolidation of a new government which hadbeen recognized by all the Treaty Powers only two years previouslybut the question of succession to the supreme office in the land,a point which had already been fully provided for in the onechapter of the Permanent Constitution which had been legallypassed prior to the Coup d'etat of the 4th November, 1913. ButYuan Shih-kai's first care after that coup d'etat had been topromulgate with the assistance of Dr. Goodnow and others, a bogusLaw, resting on no other sanction than his personal volition, withan elaborate flummery about three candidates whose names were tobe deposited in the gold box in the Stone House in the gardens ofthe Palace. Therefore since the provisional nature of thisprestidigitation had always been clear, the learned doctor's onlysolution is to recommend the overthrow of the government; therestoration of the Empire under the name of ConstitutionalMonarchy; and, by means of a fresh plot to do in China what allEurope has long been on the point of abandoning, namely, tosubstitute Family rule for National rule.

Now had these suggestions been gravely made in any country butChina by a person officially employed it is difficult to know whatwould have happened. Even in China had an Englishman published orcaused to be published—especially after the repeated statementsYuan Shih-kai had given out that any attempt to force the sceptreon him would cause him to leave the country and end his daysabroad [Footnote: The most widely-quoted statement on this subjectis the remarkable interview, published in the first week of July,1915, throughout the metropolitan press, between President YuanShih-kai and General Feng Kuo-chang, commanding the forces on thelower Yangtsze. This statement was telegraphed by foreigncorrespondents all over the world. Referring to the many rumoursafloat that titles of nobility would be revived as a precursor tothe monarchy the President declared that even if he seized theThrone that would not increase his powers, whilst as fortransmitting the Imperial Yellow to his sons none were fitted forthat honour which would mean the collapse of any new dynasty. HereGeneral Feng Kuo-chang interrupted with the remark that the peopleof South China would not oppose such a change ultimately, thoughthey thought it was too early to talk about it just now. Thereuponthe president's features became stern and he declared in aheightened voice: "You and others seem still to believe that Iharbour secret ambitions. I affirm positively that when I sent mysons to study in England, I privately ordered the purchase of asmall estate there as a possible home. If the people of Chinainsist upon my accepting the sceptre I shall leave this countryand spend the remaining days of my life abroad." This interview,so far from being denied, has been affirmed to the present writeras being substantially correct.]—that Englishman, we say, wouldhave been liable under the Orders in Council to summaryimprisonment, the possibility of tumult and widespread internaldisturbances being sufficient to force a British Court to takeaction. What are the forces which brought an American to saythings which an Englishman would not dare to say—that in 1915there was a sanction for a fresh revolutionary movement in China?First, an interpretation of history so superficial, combined withsuch an amazing suppression of contemporary political thought,that it is difficult to believe that the requirements of thecountry were taken in the least bit seriously; secondly, in thecomparisons made between China and the Latin republics, adeliberate scouting of the all-important racial factor; and,lastly, a total ignorance of the intellectual qualities which areby far the most outstanding feature of Chinese civilization.

Dr. Goodnow's method is simplicity itself. In order to prove thesuperiority of Monarchism over Republicanism—and thusdeliberately ignoring the moral of the present cataclysmic war—heransacks the dust-laden centuries. The English Commonwealth, whichdisappeared nearly three hundred years ago, is brought forward asan example of the dangers which beset a republic, though it isdifficult to see what relation an experiment made before the ideaof representative government had been even understood bears to ourtimes. But there is worse. The statement is deliberately made thatthe reason for the disappearance of that Commonwealth was "thatthe problem of succession after the death of Cromwell wasdifficult to solve." English historians would no doubt havenumerous remarks to offer on this strange untruth which dismiss aremarkably interesting chapter of history in the most misleadingway, and which tells Chinese political students nothing about thecomplete failure which military government—not republicanism—must always have among the Anglo-Saxon peoples and which is thesole reason why Cromwellism disappeared. Even when treating thehistory of his own country Dr. Goodnow seems to take pleasure inbeing absurd. For he says: "The mind of the American people was soimbued with the idea of republicanism that a republican form ofgovernment was the ideal of the whole race"; then adding as if torefute his own statements, "Had General Washington—the leader ofthe revolutionary army—had the desire to become a monarch hewould probably have been successful." We do not know how Americanswill like this kind of interpretation of their history; but atleast they will not fail to note what dismal results it hastenedon in China. With the experimental Eighteenth Century FrenchRepublic; with the old Spanish Colonies of Central and SouthAmerica; and above all with Mexico, Dr. Goodnow deals in the samevein. Vast movements, which can be handled only tentatively evenin exhaustive essays are dismissed in misleading sentences framedso as to serve as mere introduction to the inevitable climax—theChinese Constitutional Monarchy of 1915 with Yuan Shih-kai asEmperor.

Yet this is not all. As if in alarm at the very conclusions he sopurposely reaches, at the end of his Memorandum he reduces theseconclusions to naught by stating that three impossible conditionsare necessary to consummate the Restoration of the Monarchy inChina, (1) no opposition should be aroused, (2) the law ofsuccession must be properly settled, (3) full provision must bemade for the development of Constitutional Government. That theseconditions were known to be impossible, everyone in the Far Easthad long admitted. Had Dr. Goodnow paid the slightest attention tothe course of history in China he would have known (a) that anyusurpation of the Throne would infallibly lead to rebellion inChina and intervention on the part of Japan, (b) that Yuan Shih-kai's power was purely personal and as such could not betransmitted to any son by any means known to the human intellect,(c) that all Yuan Shih-kai's sons were worthless, the eldest sonbeing semi-paralyzed, (d) that constitutional government and theEastern conception of kingship, which is purely theocratic, are soantithetical that they cannot possibly co-exist, any re-establishment of the throne being ipso facto the re-establishmentof a theocracy, (e) that although he so constantly speaks of thelow political knowledge of the people, the Chinese have had a mostcomplete form of local self-government from the earliest times,the political problem of the day being simply to gather up andexpress these local forms in some centralized system: (f) the so-called non-patriotism of the Chinese is non-existent and is anidea which has been spread abroad owing to the complete foreignmisunderstanding of certain basic facts—for instance that underthe Empire foreign affairs were the sole concern of the Emperors,provincial China prior to 1911 being a socio-economicconfederation resembling mediaeval contrivances such as theHanseatic League—a provincial confederation not concerningitself with any matter which lay outside its everyday economiclife, such as territorial overlordship or frontier questions orthe regulation of sea-port intercourse etc., because such matterswere meaningless. It was only when foreign encroachment in thePOST-Japanese war period (i. e. after 1895) carried problems fromthe fringes of the Empire into the economic life of the peoplethat their pride was touched and that in spite of "their lack ofexperience and knowledge in political affairs" they suddenlydisplayed a remarkable patriotic feeling, the history of Chinaduring the past two decades being only comprehensible when thiscapital contention, namely the reality of Chinese patriotism, isgiven the central place.

It is useless, however, to pursue the subject: we have said enoughto disclose the utter levity of those who should have realizedfrom the first that the New China is a matter of life and death tothe people, and that the first business of the foreigner is touphold the new beliefs. The Goodnow Memorandum, immediately it waspublished, was put to precisely those base uses which any one withan elementary knowledge of China might have foreseen: it wassimply exploited in an unscrupulous way, its recommendations beingcarried out in such a manner as to increase one's contempt for themen who were pushing the monarchist plot with any means that theycould seize hold of, and who were not averse from makingresponsible foreigners their tools.

THE MONARCHY MOVEMENT IS OPPOSED

THE APPEAL OF THE SCHOLAR LIANG CH'I-CHAO

We have already referred in several places to the extraordinaryrole scholarship and the literary appeal play in the governance ofChina. It is necessary to go back to the times of the birth of theRoman Empire, and to invoke the great figure of Cicero, tounderstand how greatly the voice of men of recognized intellectualqualities influences the nation. Liang Ch'i-chao, a man of someforty-five years, had long been distinguished for his literaryattainments and for the skill with which, though unversed in anyWestern language, he had expounded the European theory andpractice of government to his fellow-countrymen. To his brain isdue the coining of many exact expressions necessary forparliamentary government, his mentality having grown with themodern growth of China and adapted itself rather marvellously tothe requirements of the Twentieth Century. A reformer of 1898—that is one of the small devoted band of men who under Kang Yu Weialmost succeeded in winning over the ill-fated Emperor Kwang Hsuto carrying out a policy of modernizing the country in the teethof fierce mandarin opposition, he possessed in his armoury everypossible argument against the usurpation Yuan Shih-kai proposed topractise. He knew precisely where to strike—and with whatstrength; and he delivered himself over to his task with whole-hearted fervour. It having become known that he was engaged inpreparing this brief for the people of China, every influence wasbrought to bear to prevent such a disastrous publication.Influential deputations were sent to him to implore him toremember the parlous international situation China found herselfin,—a situation which would result in open disaster if subjectedto the strain of further discords. For a time he hesitatedlaunching his counter-stroke. But at length the Republican Partypersuaded him to deal the tyrant the needed blow; and his nowfamous accusation of the Chief Executive was published.

Its effect was immediate and very far-reaching. Men understoodthat armed revolt was in the air. The almost Biblical fervourwhich pervades this extraordinary document shows an unusual senseof moral outrage. The masterly analysis of the Diaz regime inMexico coupled with the manner in which—always pretending to beexamining the conduct of the Mexican—he stabs at Yuan Shih-kai,won the applause of a race that delights in oblique attacks andwas ample proof that great trouble was brewing. The document wasread in every part of China and everywhere approved. Although itsuffers from translation, the text remains singularly interestingas a disclosure of the Chinese mentality; whilst the exhaustiveexamination of political terms it contains shows that some dayChinese will carry their inventive genius into fields they havehitherto never openly invaded. Especially interesting is it tocontrast the arguments of such a man with those of a decadent suchas Yang Tu.

FROM REPUBLIC TO MONARCHY

Before I proceed with my argument I wish to make plain two points.One is that I am not one of those reformers whose ears are theirbrains, and who are intoxicated with the doctrine ofrepublicanism. I have, therefore, no partiality for the republicanform of government nor any bias for or against other forms ofgovernment. This can be proved by my literary work during the lastten years. The second point is that I am not one of the veteranconservatives who lay so much stress on the importance of having adynasty. For such are the thoughts of men who only seek to adjustthemselves to existing conditions. If one wishes to consider thepresent situation of the country without bias or prejudice he mustdisregard the rise or fall of any particular family. Only thosewho bear in mind these two points can read my argument with realunderstanding.

I. THE QUESTION OF KUO-TI

Some time ago I said that, as political students, we should onlycare for Cheng-ti, i.e., the form of government and not for kuo-ti, i.e., the form of state. Do not call this trifling with words,for it is a principle which all critics of politics should followand never depart from. The reason is that critics of politicsshould not, because they cannot, influence the question of kuo-ti.They should not influence the question of kuo-ti because so longas the question of kuo-ti remains unsettled the major portion ofthe administration remains at a stand-still. Thus there will be nopolitical situation properly so called and there will be nopolitical questions to discuss (here the term political meansreally administrative). If a critic of politics, therefore,interfere with the question of Kuo-ti, he will be leading thenation into a condition of political instability, thus underminingthe ground on which the people stand. Such critics can be likenedunto a man trying to enter a house without ascending the steps orcrossing a river without a boat.

They cannot influence the question of Kuo-ti. The force whichdrives and steers the change of one form of State or vice versa isgenerally not derived from mere politics. If the time is not ripe,then no amount of advocacy on the part of critics can hasten it.If the time is ripe, nothing the critics say can prevent it. Hewho indulges himself in the discussion of the problem of Kuo-ti—i.e., the form of States, as a political student, is ignorant ofhis own limitations and capacity. This is as true of the activepoliticians as of the critics; for the first duty of an activepolitician is to seek for the improvement and progress of theadministration of the existing foundation of government. A stepbeyond this line is revolution and intrigue, and such cannot bethe attitude of a right-minded active politician or statesman.This is looking at it from the negative side.

From the positive, that is, the progressive point of view, thereis also a boundary. Such actions under one form of government arepolitical activities, and under the opposite form of governmentare also political activities. But these are not questions ofpolitical principle. For only when a man sacrifices the idealswhich he has advocated and cherished during the whole of his lifedoes the question of principle arise. Therefore the greatprinciple of looking to the actual state of administration of theform of government and leaving the mere form of state in the back-ground is a principle that is applicable under all circ*mstancesand should be followed by all critics of politics.

II. THE ARGUMENT AGAINST CHANGE

No form of government is ideal. Its reason of existence can onlybe judged by what it has achieved. It is the height of folly torely on theoretical conclusions as a basis for artificialarbitration as to what should be accepted and what discarded. Merefolly, however, is not to be seriously condemned. But the dangerand harm to the country will be unmeasurable if a person hasprejudiced views respecting a certain form of government and inorder to prove the correctness of his prejudiced views, createsartificially a situation all by himself. For this reason my viewhas always been not to oppose any form of government. But I amalways opposed to any one who engages in a propaganda in favour ofa form of government other than the one under which we actuallylive. In the past I opposed those who tried to spread therepublican form of government while the country was undermonarchical government, and the arguments I advanced in support ofmy views were written in no fewer than 200,000 words. Even so lateas the ninth month after the outbreak of the Revolution I issued apamphlet entitled "The Problem of the Building of the New China,"which was my last attempt to express my views respecting themaintenance of the old form of government.

What obligations had I to the then Imperial House? Did it not heappersecution and humiliation on me to the utmost of its power andresources? I would have been an exile even to this day had it notbeen for the Revolution. Further, I was no child and I was fullyaware of the disappointment which the then Government caused inthe minds of the people. Yet I risked the opposition of the wholecountry and attempted to prolong the life of the dying dynasty. Ihad no other view in mind except that there would be somepossibility of our hope being realized if the whole nation wouldunite in efforts to improve the administration under the thenexisting form of government. I believed that because the peoplewere not educated for a change. But if the status of the countryshould be changed before the people are educated and accustomed tothe new order of things, the danger and hardship during thetransitional period of several years would be incalculable. Incertain circ*mstances this might lead to the destruction of thenation. Even if we are spared the tragedy of national extinction,the losses sustained by the retarding of the progress of theadministration would be unredeemable. It is painful to recall pastexperiences; but if my readers will read once more my articles inthe Hsin Mim Tung Pao during the years 1905 and 1906 they will seethat all the sufferings which the Republic has experienced bearout the predictions made then. The different stages of thesinister development have been unfolding themselves one by onejust as I said they would. It was unfortunate that my words werenot heeded although I wept and pleaded. Such has been theconsequence of the change of the state of the country—a change ofKuo-ti.

Yet before we have hardly ceased panting, this talk of a secondchange is on us. I am not in a position to say exactly how thistalk had its beginning. Ostensibly it was started by the remarksof Dr. Goodnow. But I am unable to say whether Dr. Goodnowactually gave out such a view or for what purpose he expressedsuch a view. From what he told the representative of a Pekingnewspaper he never expressed the views attributed to him. Be thisas it may, I cannot help having my doubts. All Dr. Goodnow isalleged to have said bearing on the merits of the monarchical andrepublican system of government as an abstract subject ofdiscussion, such as the necessity of the form of state (Kuo-ti)being suited to the general conditions of the country and thelessons we should learn from the Central and South Americanrepublics, are really points of a very simple nature and easilydeduced. How strange that among all this large number ofpoliticians and scholars, who are as numerous as the trees in theforest and the perch in the stream, should have failed for allthese years to notice these simple points; and now suddenly make afetish of them because they have come out of the mouth of aforeigner. Is it because no one except a foreign doctor candiscover such facts? Why even a humble learner like myself, thoughnot so learned even to the extent of one ten-thousandth part ofhis knowledge, more than ten years ago anticipated what the gooddoctor has said; and I said much more and in much morecomprehensive terms. I have no desire to talk about my work, butlet my readers glance through the copies of the Hsin Min TsungPao, Yin Ping Shih Wen Chi, the "Fight between ConstitutionalAdvocates" and "Revolutionary Advocates," the "Question of theBuilding of the New China," etc., etc. My regret is that my eyesare not blue and my hair not brown, and hence my words were notacceptable to the nation!

III. RES JUDICATA

I do not say that the merits or otherwise of the republican systemshould not be discussed, but the time for such a discussion haspassed. The most opportune time for such a discussion was in 1911when the Revolution had just begun; but since then furtherdiscussions should not be tolerated. There might have been someexcuse if this subject had been brought up for discussion when thesecond revolution broke out at Hukow on the Yangtsze river orbefore the President was formally inaugurated, or before thePowers formally recognized the Republic; but the excuse even thenwould have been a weak one. Where were you then, advocates ofmonarchy? Could you not at that time have brought out an essay byone of the great scholars of the world as a subject fordiscussion? Could you not have cited the cases of Americanrepublics as a warning for us that these republic were by no meanspeaceful? Yet at that time when the heroes of discretion weredaily pushing the progress of the republican cause, stating thatrepublicanism was the panacea for all the world's administrationsand that republicanism was not a new factor in Chinese history, ahumble and ignorant man like myself, then a stranger in a foreignland, was burdened with the fear of the unsuitability of therepublican system to China and wrote articles in support of hisown views and wept till his eyes were dry.

Do you not realize that the State is a thing of great importanceand should not be disturbed carelessly? How can you thenexperiment with it and treat it as if you were putting a chestinto a dead hole, saying "Let me place it here for the moment andI will see to it later." The status of the State can be likened tomarriage between man and woman. The greatest care should be takenduring courtship. The lady should then exercise care to see thatthe man whom she is taking to be a life companion is worthy ofher. During this period it is the duty of her relatives andfriends to point out to her any danger or misunderstanding even tothe extent of offending her feelings. But if you leave her aloneat this stage when there is plenty of time to change her course,and—what is more—urge her to tie the knot despiteincompatibility, what right have you afterward to make theimpudent suggestion to the wife that her husband is not a man towhom she should cling for life? Is such a course a charitable wayof doing things?

If indeed the republican cause is enough to cause the destructionof the nation then you, the advocates of monarchy, have placed thecountry in a position from which she has no hope of ever comingout independent. You are the men, who—to the best of yourability—inculcated and pressed the adoption of the republicancause. The proverb says, "If now, why not then?" How many days cana person live that you, not satisfied with one great sin, areagain to commit another. It is not long since the Republic wasfirst established; yet you, the veterans of republicanism, are theleaders today in advocating the overthrow of the Republic. Yes. Itis indeed strange that I, a man who once opposed the republicancause, should now be opposing you. Nothing is stranger and nothingis so fateful.

But our modern critics say we prefer a constitutional monarchy toan autocratic republic. Now whether we are constitutional or notis a question concerning the administration, while the questionwhether we are republican or not is a question concerning the formor status of the country. We have always held that the question ofKuo-ti is above discussion and that what we should consider is theactual condition of administration. If the administration(government) is constitutional, then it matters not whether thecountry is a Republic or a Monarchy. If the government is notconstitutional then neither a republic nor a monarchy will avail.There is no connexion, therefore, between the question of Kuo-tiand the question of Cheng-ti. It is an absurd idea to say that inorder to improve the administration we must change the Kuo-ti—thestatus or form of the country—as a necessity. If this idea is tobe entertained for a single moment the changes even inconstitutional countries will be endless. But the curious paradoxis that in former days the critics said that only a republic, nota monarchy, could be constitutional; whereas, the critics now saythat a monarchy, not a republic, can alone be constitutional!

IV. THE PRESIDENT AND THE CONSTITUTION

Let me therefore lay down a simple definition of what aConstitution is before discussing whether the contentions of thecritics are reasonable. My opponents will agree with me that themain principle of a constitutional government is that thelegislative organ should always balance the executive and that theexercising of the administrative power is always limited to acertain extent. They will also agree that the most important pointof a so-called constitutional monarchy is that the monarch shouldact as a figurehead, and that the establishment of a responsiblecabinet is an indispensable accompaniment. If these simpleprinciples are recognized then we must put up the theory fordiscussion. Let us then raise the question who shall be themonarch. In plain words, is the person in our mind the President?or any other person? (In view of the repeated declarations of thePresident that he will never consent to become an Emperor, thissuggestion on my part is a gross insult to his character, but Icrave to excuse myself as this is only mere speculation andsupposition.) What shall we do with the President if we findanother man? The President, having so long borne the burdens ofthe State, will certainly be only too willing to vacate his postto live in retirement as far as his own person is concerned, butcan we imagine that the country will allow the President toretire? If not, then are we going to ask the President to form aresponsible cabinet under a figurehead monarch? Even if we take itfor granted that the President, out of love for the country, wouldbe willing to sacrifice his own principles and yield to the wishof the country, it will be dangerous indeed if he—a person onwhom the whole nation depends—is placed in the path ofparliament. Therefore the contention that a constitutionalmonarchy will be attained if a person other than the President bemade a monarch is false and baseless.

Shall we then make the present President a monarch? Of course thePresident will not consent to this. But leaving this aside let ussuppose that the President, in consideration of the permanentwelfare of the country, is willing to sacrifice everything tosatisfy the wish of the people, do we expect that he will become amere figurehead? A figurehead monarch is, to adapt the saying ofthe west a fat porker, a guinea-pig, that is, good as an expensiveornament. Will it be wise to place so valuable a personage in soidle a position at a time when the situation is so extremelycritical?

Even if we are willing to suffer the President to become afigurehead it will remain a question whether a responsible cabinetcan ever be formed. I do not say that the President will not allowa responsible cabinet to exist under him. My contention is thatthere is no one within my knowledge, who commands respect enoughand is capable of taking over the responsibilities of PresidentYuan. For who can replace the Great President in coping with ournumerous difficulties? If we select an ordinary man and make himbear the great burdens, we will find that in addition to his lackof ability rendering him unequal to the occasion, his lack ofdominating influence will disqualify him from exercisingauthority. It was for the purpose of meeting the requirements ofthe existing conditions that the Cabinet system was changed into aPresidential system—an excellent substitution for a weakenedadministration. Conditions in the next two or three years will notbe very much different from what they are now. Therefore, thecontention that the administration will be changed overnight forthe better after a change in the form of the State is, if not awicked untruth to deceive the common people, the ridiculousabsurdity of a bookworm. Thus the theory that a constitutionalmonarchy will immediately follow, if the President consents tobecome a monarch, is also fallacious.

Can it be possible that those who are now holding up theconstitutional principle as a shield for their monarchical viewshave a different definition for the term "constitution"? The Ching(Manchu) Dynasty considered itself as possessing a constitution inits last days. Did we recognize it as such? Let me also ask thecritics what guarantee they have to offer that the constitutionwill be put into effect without hindrance as soon as the form ofState is changed. If they cannot give any definite guarantee, thenwhat they advocate is merely an absolute monarchy and not aconstitutional monarchy. As it is not likely to be aconstitutional monarchy, we may safely assume that it will be animperial autocracy. I cannot regard it as a wise plan if, owing todislike of its defects, the Republic should be transformed into anImperial autocracy. Owing to various unavoidable reasons, it isexcusable in spite of violent opposition to adopt temporarilyautocratic methods in a republican country. But if the planproposed by present-day critics be put into effect, that on thepromise of a constitution we should agree to the adoption of amonarchy, then the promise must be definitely made to the countryat the time of transition that a constitutional government willbecome an actuality. But if, after the promise is made, existingconditions are alleged to justify the continuance of autocraticmethods, I am afraid the whole country will not be so toleranttowards the Chief Executive. To assume outwardly the role ofconstitutional government, but in reality to rule in anunconstitutional manner, was the cause of the downfall of theChing Dynasty. The object lesson is not obscure. Let us takewarning by it.

V. FALLACIES OF THE MONARCHISTS

If, on the other hand, the present day critics are really inearnest for a constitution, then I am unable to understand whythey believe that this cannot be secured under the Republic butmust be obtained in a roundabout way by means of a monarchy. In myview the real hindrances to the adoption of a constitution at thepresent day in China are the existing conditions, viz. theattitude of the officials and the traditions and intellectualstandards of the people. But these hindrances have not resultedfrom the adoption of republicanism. Therefore they cannot beexpected to disappear with the disappearance of the Republic. Forinstance, from the President downward to the minor official ofevery official organ in the capital or in the provinces, every oneinclines to be independent of the law, and considers it convenientto deal with affairs as he pleases. This is the greatest obstacleto constitutional government. Now has that anything to do with thechange or not of the form of State? Again, the absence, on thepart of the people, of interest in political affairs, of knowledgeof politics, of political morality and strength, and theirinability to organize proper political parties to make use of aninviolable parliament, are also hindrances to the attainment of aconstitution. Now what have these things to do with a change inthe form of the States? If I were to go on naming such hindrancesone by one, I should count my fingers many times over and I shouldnot be through. Yet it is quite plain that not a single one ofthese hindrances can be attributed to republicanism.

To say that what we cannot get under the republic can be securedimmediately upon accepting a monarchical regime, or to say thatwhat can be secured under a monarchical regime can never besecured in a republican period is beyond the understanding of astupid man like myself, although I have searched my brain for avalid reason.

My view is that if China is really in earnest for a constitution,the President should set the example himself by treating theConstitutional Compact as sacredly inviolable and compel hissubordinates to do the same. Every letter of the compact should becarried out and no attempt should be made to step beyond itslimits.

Meantime give the people as many opportunities as possible toacquaint themselves with political affairs, and do not stifle theaspirations of the people or weaken their strength or damp theirinterest or crush their self-respect. Then within a few years weshall be rewarded with results. If, instead of doing all thesethings, we vainly blame the form of State, we are, as Chu Tsesays, like a boat that blames the creek for its curves.

The most powerful argument of those who advocate a change to amonarchy is that there is every possibility of disturbance at thetime of a Presidential election. This is a real danger. It is forthis reason that ten years ago I did not dare to associate myselfwith the advocates of republicanism. If the critics want to attackme on this point to support of their contentions, I advise themnot to write another article but to reprint my articles writtensome time ago, which, I think, will be more effective.Fortunately, however, we have discovered a comparatively effectiveremedy. For, according to the latest President Election Law theterm of the President is to all intents and purposes a term forlife. It is therefore impossible for such dangers to appear duringthe life of the President. What concerns us is therefore what willhappen after the departure of the present President for anotherworld. This, of course, is a question that we do not wish to touchupon; but since every one, even the patriarchs must die some day,let us face the matter openly. If Heaven blesses China and allowsthe Great President to devote himself to the country for ten ormore years—during which he will be able to assert the authorityof the government, cleanse officialdom, store-up strength,consolidate the country, and banish all hidden dangers—then therewill be nothing to choose between a republic or a monarchy. If, onthe other hand, Heaven should not be pleased so to favour us andtakes away our Great President before he is half through with hisgreat task, then the fate of China is sealed. No changes in theform of State will avail under any circ*mstances. Therefore thequestion whether China will be left in peace or not dependsentirely on the length of years the Great President will live andwhat he will be able to accomplish in his lifetime. Whether thecountry is ruled as a republic or a monarchy, the consequenceswill be the same.

Do you still doubt my words? Let me go deeper into the analysis.The difference between a republic and a monarchy lies only in themethods of succession of the head of the nation. It is evidentthat although a certain law of succession may be made during thelife-time of the Head, it cannot take effect until his death; andwhether or not the effect thus intended will come up toexpectations will depend on two factors: (1) whether or not themerits and personal influence of the predecessor will continueeffective after his death, and (2) whether or not there will beunscrupulous and insubordinate claimants at the death of the Head,and, if any, the number of such men and whether the point ofdispute they raise be well-founded. If these are taken as thebasis for discerning the future we will arrive at the sameconclusion whether the country be a republic or a monarchy.

VI. THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LAW

The Presidential Election Law, however, provides that thesuccessor should be nominated by his predecessor, and the name ofthe successor so nominated is to be locked in the golden box inthe stone strong-room. The President may now, on the one hand,multiply his merits and strengthen his personal influence so thatthe whole country will gladly bow to his wishes to the extent thateven after his death they will not want to disobey his last wish,and on the other hand, the President may quietly ascertain thelikely causes which would produce dissension, and take suitablesteps to prevent and be rid of them. If the seed of dissension isin the ordinances, then alter the ordinances so that they may notbe used as a tool by possible claimants. If the seed of dissensionis in a person then cultivate that man, lead him to righteousness,place him in a suitable position so that he may be protected fromtemptation. Meanwhile let the President carefully select hissuccessor on whom he may eventually lay the responsibilities ofState (according to the Presidential Election Law the President isat liberty to suggest any one he likes, his own son or some oneelse). Let the nominee be placed in a responsible position so asto bring him to public notice. Give him real authority so that hemay establish his influence. Place his name at the head of othermen of little consequence in the golden box. Then there will beabsolutely no ground for dispute when the time comes to open thebox.

If every President will do likewise this system can be usedwithout fear of a break for hundreds of years. Otherwise we willhave only the Imperial system on paper to rely on for assistance,which is not even to be thought of. A glance through the pages ofChinese history will show the numerous cases in the reign ofEmperors when princes fought in the very confines of the Emperor'spalace while the corpse of their royal father lay unburied in thehall. Thus it is seen that the hidden cause of the safety orotherwise of the country does not lie with the mere formality of aconstitution either in a republic or a monarchy.

VII. THE CASE OF DIAZ, THE DICTATOR

The critics bring up the example of Mexico where live rivals havebeen struggling with each other for the presidency, and theinternal confusion of the Central and South American republics aswell as Portugal, as an unquestionable proof of their contentionthat a republic is not so good as a monarchy. I imagine that theidea of these critics is that all these disturbances can beavoided if all these republics were changed into monarchies. Letme tell them that Diaz ruled over Mexico for thirty years, andonly died as an exile in May last (I am not quite sure of theexact month). If indeed the struggle in Mexico was a fight forsuccession then the fight should not have begun until this year.And indeed if it were necessary to have a monarch to avoid thedisturbance, and supposing that Diaz, thirty years ago, had a manlike Dr. Goodnow to make the suggestion, and men like the Chou AnHui to spread it, and suppose that Diaz boldly took the advice andset up an Imperial system for himself, would Mexico then have apeace that would last as long as the ages?

If Diaz had assumed the throne I am positive he would long agohave been an exile in a foreign country before his imperial systemcould have come into effect or he himself become the proud founderof a new dynasty. What he would have held as an imperial charterwould have become a mere scrap of paper. If he could not preventrebellion even during his life-time how can we expect an emptyImperial system to prevent it after his death. Even a child cansee this. The disturbances in Mexico were unavoidable no matterunder a republic or a monarchy. The reason? It is because Diaz,under the mask of a republic, actually played the role of adespot. During all the thirty years he held office he neverdevoted himself to the strengthening of the fundamental things ofState, but diligently strengthened his own position. He massed anenormous number of troops for his own protection so that he mightoverawe the people. For fear that the troops might become arrogantand insubordinate, he provoked disagreement among them in orderthat he might play them round his fingers. He banished all thosewho opposed him, relying on force alone. In dealing with those whowere really patriotic, he either corrupted their character bybuying them with silver or removed them by assassination. He was avainglorious man and spent money like water. From the foreigncapitalists he borrowed in a most indiscriminate manner, while onthe Mexican people he levied all sorts of cruel taxes. Thus thestrength of the people was drained and the resources of thecountry were exhausted, creating a position over which heeventually had no control whatever. Ten years ago I wrote anarticle in the Hsin Mim Tsung Pao remarking that Diaz was amatchless fraud. I said then that a nation-wide calamity wouldbefall Mexico after his death and that the Mexican nation would bereduced to a mere shadow. (My friend Mr. Tang Chio-tun also wrotean article, before the internal strife in Mexico broke out, on thesame subject and in an even more comprehensive way). Luckily forDiaz he ruled under the mask of republicanism, for only by sodoing did he manage to usurp and keep the presidential chair forthirty years. He would long ago have disappeared had he attemptedto assume the role of an emperor. This is also true of the otherrepublics of Central and South America. Their presidents almostwithout a single exception used military force as a stepping-stoneto the presidential chair. We have yet to see the last militaryaspirant. The unsuitability of the country to the republicansystem is of course one of the reasons but I cannot agree withthose who say that this is the only reason.

As to Portugal it is true that the change from the monarchy torepublic has not stopped internal disturbance; but is it not afact that Portugal became a republic as a result of internaldisturbance and was it not during the existence of the monarchthat the disturbance started? It is ridiculous to suppose that arepublic will surely court disturbance while a monarchy willsurely ensure peace and order. Is not Persia a monarchy? Is notTurkey a monarchy? Is not Russia a monarchy?

Read their history in recent decades and see how many years ofpeace they have had. There have been no election of presidents inthese countries. Why then such unrest?

Again, why was the state of affairs during the Sixteen States ofthe Five Dynasty-Period and the Ten States of the Five Successionsas deplorably miserable and disastrous as the state of affairs nowprevailing in Mexico, although there was no election of Presidentsthen? In quoting objective facts as illustrations the criticshould not allow his choice to be dictated by his personal like ordislike. Otherwise he will not be deceiving others than himself.Soberly speaking, any form of state is capable of either ensuringa successful government or causing rebellion. And nine cases outof ten the cause of rebellion lies in the conditions of theadministration and not in the form of state. It cannot be denied,however, that the chances of rebellion and dissension are morefrequent and easier when the form of state does not suit theconditions of the people. That is why I did not advocaterepublicanism; and even now I am not a blind believer inrepublicanism. In this I agree with you, the Chou An Hui people.

The reason why I have not decided to advocate boldly a change inthe form of state is because for years my heart has been burdenedwith an unspeakable sorrow and pain, believing that ever since themistake made in 1911 the hope for China's future has dwindled toalmost nothing. On one hand I have been troubled with ourinability to make the Republic a success, and on the other I havebeen worrying over the fact that it would be impossible to restorethe monarchy. The situation has so worked on my troubled mind thatat times I seemed to be beside myself. But as the whole countryseemed to be already in a state of desperation I have come to theconclusion that it would not do any good to add pain to sorrow.Therefore, instead of uttering pessimistic views I have beenspeaking words of encouragement to raise our spirits. In this,however, I have exhausted my own strength. My friend, Mr. Hsu Fo-su, told me some five or six years ago that it was impossible forChina to escape a revolution, and as a result of the revolutioncould not escape from becoming a republic, and by becoming arepublic China would be bound to disappear as a nation. I havebeen meditating on these words of ill omen and sought to help thecountry to escape from his prediction but I have not yet found theway.

IX. "DIVINITY DOTH HEDGE A KING"

Now my friends, you have stated in a worthy manner the reasons whythe republican form of state cannot assist China to maintain herexistence; now let me state why it is impossible to restore themonarchical system. The maintenance of the dignity of a monarchdepends on a sort of mystical, historical, traditional influenceor belief. Such an influence was capable of producingunconsciously and spontaneously a kind of effect to assistdirectly or indirectly in maintaining order and imparting blessingto the country. In this lies the value of a monarchy. But dignityis a thing not to be trifled with. Once it is trodden down it cannever rise again. We carve wood or mould clay into the image of aperson and call it a god (idol). Place it in a beautiful temple,and seat it in a glorious shrine and the people will worship itand find it miraculously potent. But suppose some insane personshould pull it down, tread it under foot and throw it into a dirtypond and suppose some one should discover it and carry it back toits original sacred abode, you will find the charm has gone fromit. Ever since the days of monarchical government the people havelooked on the monarch with a sort of divine reverence, and neverdared to question or criticize his position. After a period ofrepublicanism, however, this attitude on the part of the commonpeople has been abruptly terminated with no possibility ofresurrection. A survey of all the republics of the world will tellus that although a large number of them suffered under republicanrule, not a single one succeeded in shaking itself free of therepublican fetters. Among the world republics only France has hadher monarchical system revived twice after the republic was firstinaugurated. The monarchy, however, disappeared almostimmediately. Thus we may well understand how difficult it is for acountry to return to its monarchical state after a republicanregime. It may be said that China has had only a short experienceof the republican regime; but it must also be remembered that thesituation has been developing for more than ten years and inactual existence for about four years. During the period ofdevelopment the revolutionists denounced the monarch in mostextravagant terms and compared him to the devil. Their aim was tokill the mystic belief of the people in the Emperor; for only bydiminishing the dignity of the monarch could the revolutionarycause make headway. And during and after the change all theofficial documents, school textbooks, press views and socialgossip have always coupled the word monarch with reprobation. Thusfor a long while this glorious image has been lying in the dirtypond! Leaving out the question that it is difficult to restore themonarchy at the present day, let us suppose that by arbitrarymethod we do succeed in restoring it. You will then find that itwill be impossible for it to regain in former dignity andinfluence.

Turning to another aspect, the most natural course would seem tobe a revival of the last dynasty. It might have been possible fora Charles II and Louis XVIII of China to appear again, if not forthe hatred of racial domination. But since the last dynasty wasManchu this is out of the question. If a new dynasty were set upit would require many years of hard labour and a great deal oforganizing to succeed. Even then only a few have succeeded in thisway in prolonging their dynasties by actually convincing thepeople of their merits. Therefore for several years I have beensaying to myself that it would be easier to strengthen the countryand place it on a sounder basis if it were possible for us toreturn to our monarchical state. And to revive the monarchicalgovernment there are two ways.

One is that after thoroughly reforming the internal administrationunder the leadership of the present Great President, that is, whenall the neglected affairs of the country have been well attendedto, every family in the land made happy and prosperous, the armywell-trained and all the necessary bitterness "eaten," thePresident, when a suitable opportunity presented itself, shouldhave the rare fortune to gain a decisive victory over a foreignfoe; then his achievements would be such that the millions ofpeople would compel him to ascend the throne, and so he would handhis sceptre on to his descendants for endless ages.

The second possibility is that after a second great internaldisturbance, resulting in the whole country being thrown into astate of utter confusion and cut up into small independent states,the President should suppress them and unite the country into oneempire. We will, of course, not pray for the second possibility tocome about as then there will be little left of the Chinesepeople. And no one can be certain whether the person who shallsucceed in suppressing the internal strife will be a man of ourown race or not. Thus the result will not differ very much fromnational extinction. As to the first possibility, we know that anexceedingly capable man is now in a most powerful position; lethim be given time and he will soon show himself to be a man ofsuccess. Does not the last ray of hope for China depend on this?

X. THE UNRIPE PEAR.

This is why I say we should not deliberately create trouble forthe Republic at this time to add to the worries of the GreatPresident so that he might devote his puissant thoughts andenergies to the institution of great reforms. Then our final hopewill be satisfied some day. But what a year and what a day we arenow living in? The great crisis (Note: The reference is to theJapanese demands) has just passed and we have not yet had time fora respite. By the pressure of a powerful neighbour we have beencompelled to sign a "certain" Treaty. Floods, drought, epidemicsand locusts visit our country and the land is full of sufferingwhile robbers plunder the people. In ancient times this would havebeen a day for the Imperial Court to remove their ornaments andlive in humiliation. What do the people of our day mean byadvising and urging the President to ascend the throne? To pluckthe fruit before it is ripe, injures the roots of the tree; and toforce the premature birth of a child kills the mother. If the last"ray of hope" for China should be extinguished by the failure of apremature attempt to force matters, how could the advocates ofsuch a premature attempt excuse themselves before the wholecountry? Let the members of the Chou An Hui meditate on thispoint.

The odes say, "The people are tired. Let them have a respite." Inless than four years' time from the 8th moon of the year Hsin Haiwe have had many changes. Like a bolt from the blue we had theManchu Constitution, then "the Republic of Five Races," then theProvisional President, then the formal Presidency, then theProvisional Constitution was promulgated, then it was suddenlyamended, suddenly the National Assembly was convoked, suddenly itwas dissolved, suddenly we had a Cabinet System, suddenly it waschanged to a Presidential System, suddenly it was a short-termPresidency, suddenly it was a life-term Presidency, suddenly theProvisional Constitution was temporarily placed in a legalposition as a Permanent Constitution, suddenly the drafting of thePermanent Constitution was pressed. Generally speaking the averagelife of each new system has been less than six months, after whicha new system quite contrary to the last succeeded it. Thus thewhole country has been at a loss to know where it stood and how toact; and thus the dignity and credit of the Government in the eyesof the people have been lowered down to the dust. There are manysubjects respecting internal and diplomatic affairs which we canprofitably discuss. If you wish to serve the country in apatriotic way you have many ways to do so. Why stir the peacefulwater and create a sea of troubles by your vain attempt to excitethe people and sow seeds of discord for the State?

XI. THE ASSEVERATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT

One or two points more, and I am finished. These will be in thenature of a straight talk to the Chou An Hui. The question I wouldask in plain words is, who is the person you have in your mind asthe future Emperor? Do you wish to select a person other than theGreat President? You know only too well that the moment thePresident relieves his shoulder of the burdens of State thecountry will be thrown into confusion. If you entertain this plotwith the deliberation of a person bent upon the destruction of thecountry, then the four hundred million of people will not excuseyou.

Is the man you have in mind the present President? Heaven andearth as well as all living creatures in China and other landsknow what the President swore to when he took the oath of officeas President. Rumours have indeed been circulated, but wheneverthey reached the ears of the President he has never hesitated toexpress his righteous mind, saying that no amount of pressurecould compel him to change his determination. All officials whohave come into close contact with the President have heard suchsentiments from the lips of the President on not a few occasions.To me his words are still ringing in my ears. General Feng Kuo-chang has conveyed to me what he was told by the President. Hesays that the President has prepared a "few rooms" in England, andthat if the people would not spare him he would flee to the refugehe has prepared. Thus we may clearly see how determined thePresident is. Can it be possible that you have never heard of thisand thus raise this extraordinary subject without any cause. Ifthe situation should become such that the President should becompelled to carry out his threat and desert the Palace, whatwould you say and do then?

Or, perhaps, you are measuring the lordly conduct of a gentlemanwith the heart of a mean man, saying to yourself that what thePresident has been saying cannot be the truth, but, as Confuciushas said, "say you are not but make a point to do it," and that,knowing that he would not condemn you, you have taken the risk. Ifso, then what do you take the President for? To go back on one'swords is an act despised by a vagabond. To suggest such an act asbeing capable of the President is an insult, the hideousness ofwhich cannot be equalled by the number of hairs on one's head. Anyone guilty of such an insult should not be spared by the fourhundred million of people.

XII. THE CHOU AN HUI AND THE LAW

Next let me ask if you have read the Provisional Constitution, theProvisional Code, the Meeting and Association Law, the PressRegulations, the various mandates bearing on the punishment ofpersons who dare conspire against the existing form of state? Doyou not know that you, as citizens of the Republic, must in dutybound observe the Constitution and obey the laws and mandates? Yetyou have dared openly to call together your partisans and incite arevolution (the recognized definition in political science forrevolution is "to change the existing form of state"). As theJudiciary have not been courageous enough to deal with you sinceyou are all so closely in touch with the President, you havebecome bolder still and carry out your sinister scheme in broaddaylight. I do not wish to say what sort of peace you are planningfor China; but this much I know, that the law has been violated byyou to the last letter. I will be silent if you believe that anation can be governed without law. Otherwise tell me what youhave got to say?

It is quite apparent that you will not be satisfied with mereshouting and what you aim at is the actual fulfilment of yourexpectations. That is, you wish that once the expected monarchy isestablished it may continue for ever. Now by what principle cansuch a monarchy continue for ever, except that the laws and ordersof that dynasty be obeyed, and obeyed implicitly by all, from theCourt down to the common people? For one to adopt methods thatviolate the law while engaged in creating a new dynasty is like aman, who to secure a wife, induces the virtuous virgin to commitfornication with him, on the plea that as a marriage will bearranged preservation of her virtue need not be insisted upon. Cansuch a man blame his wife for immorality after marriage? If, whilestill citizens of a republican country, one may openly and boldlycall meetings and organize societies for the overthrow of theRepublic, who shall say that we may not in due time openly andboldly call meetings and organize societies for the overthrow ofthe monarchy? What shall you say if in future there should beanother foreign doctor to suggest another theory and anothersociety to engage in another form of activity? The Odes have it,"To prevent the monkey from climbing a tree is like putting mud ona man in the mire." For a person to adopt such methods whileengaged in the making of a dynasty is the height of folly. Menciussays, "a Chuntse when creating a dynasty aims at things that canbe handed down as good examples." Is it not the greatestmisfortune to set up an example that cannot be handed down as aprecedent? The present state of affairs is causing me no smallamount of anxiety.

XIII. A POSTSCRIPT

A copy of Yang Tu's pamphlet, "Constitutional Monarchy or theSalvation of China" reached me after I had finished writing theabove discussion. On a casual glance through it I alighted uponthe following passage: "What is known as a constitutional countryis a country which has definite laws and in which no one, from theruler down to the common people, can take any action that is notpermitted by law. Good men cannot do good outside of the bounds oflaw; neither can bad men do evil in violation of it." This isindeed a passage that breathes the very spirit ofconstitutionalism. Let us ask Mr. Yang if the activities of theChou An Hui, of which he is the President, are acts within thebounds of law? Mr. Yang is a good man. It is therefore possiblefor him to believe that he is not doing evil in violation of thelaw; but has he not at least been doing good outside of the boundsof law? If an advocate of constitutional monarchy is capable ofdoing such unlawful acts, we may easily imagine what sort of aconstitutional monarchy he advocates; and we may also easilyimagine what the fate of his constitutional monarchy will be.

Mencius says, "Am I argumentative? I cannot help it." Who wouldhave thought that a man, who cares not for the question of theform of state like myself and who opposed you—Mr. Yang Tu—during your first campaign for the change in the form of State—you were a Republican then—would be opposing you again now thatyou are engaged in advocating another change in the form of state?A change in the form of government is a manifestation of progresswhile a change in the status of the State is a sign of revolution.The path of progress leads to further progress, but the path ofrevolution leads to more revolution. This is a fact proved bytheory as well as actual experience. Therefore a man who has anylove for his country, is afraid to mention revolution; and as formyself I am always opposed to revolution. I am now opposing yourtheory of monarchical revolution, just as I once opposed yourtheory of republican revolution, in the same spirit, and I amdoing the same duty. My belief is that since the country is now ina most weakened state, we may yet fail even if we do all we can atall times to nurse its wound and gather up its scattered strength.How can any one devote his time and energy to the discussion of aquestion of no importance such as the form of state, and soobstruct the progress of the administration? But this is not all.The whole country is now stirred up to an excited state and iswondering how long this ever-changing situation is going to stop.The loss caused by this state of affairs, though unnoticed, isincalculable. In the Odes, it is written "Alas! my brethren.Befriended of the countrymen. No one wants rebellion. What has noparents?'" Let the critics remember this—let them remember.

Some will say to me that a revolution is an unavoidable thing. Ofall things only the facts cannot be undone. Why then should Ibother myself especially as my last effort fell on deaf ears. ThisI realize; but it is not my nature to abandon what is myconviction. Therefore, although aware of the futility of my words,I cannot refrain from uttering them all the same. Chu Yuan drownedhimself in the Pilo and Chia Sheng died from his horse. Ask themwhy they did these things, they will say they did not know. Once Iwrote a piece of poetry containing the following lines:

"Ten years after you will think of me,
The country is excited. To whom shall I speak?"

I have spoken much in my life, and all my words have becomesubjects for meditation ten years after they were uttered. Never,however, have any of my words attracted the attention of my owncountrymen before a decade has spent itself. Is it a misfortunefor my words or a misfortune to the Country? My hope is that therewill be no occasion for the country to think of my present wordsten years hence.

THE DREAM EMPIRE

"THE PEOPLE'S VOICE," AND THE ACTION OF THE POWERS (FROM SEPTEMBERTO DECEMBER, 1915)

The effect of Liang Ch'i-chao's appeal was noticeable at once:there were ominous mutterings among all the great class of"intellectuals" who form such a remarkable element throughout thecountry. Nevertheless there were no overt acts attempted againstthe authority of Peking. Although literary and liberal China wasnow thoroughly convinced that the usurpation which Yuan Shih-kaiproposed to practise would be a national disgrace and lead to far-reaching complications, this force were too scattered and too muchunder the power of the military to tender at once any activeopposition as would have been the case in Western countries. YuanShih-kai, measuring this situation very accurately, and aware thathe could easily become an object of popular detestation if thepeople followed the lead of the scholars, decided to place himselfoutside and beyond the controversy by throwing the entireresponsibility on the Tsan Cheng Yuan, the puppet Senate he haderected in place of the parliament destroyed by his coup d'etat ofthe 4th November, 1913. In a message issued to that body on the6th September, 1915, he declared that although in his opinion thetime was inappropriate for making any change in the form of State,the matter demanded the most careful and serious considerationwhich he had no doubt would be given to it. If a change of somomentous a character as was now being publicly advocated weredecided in too great a haste it might create grave complications:therefore the opinion of the nation should be consulted by themethod of the ballot. And with this nunc dimittis he officiallywashed his hands of a plot in which he had been the prime mover.

The Senate now openly delivered itself over to the accomplishmentof the scheme which had been broached by Yang Tu, the monarchistpamphleteer. Although this individual still posed as the leader ofthe movement, in reality he was nothing but the tool of aremarkable man, one Liang Shih-yi, famous throughout the countryas the most unscrupulous and adroit politician the Revolution hadthrown up. This person, who is known to have been gravelyimplicated in many assassinations, and who was the instrument usedin 1912 by Yuan Shih-kai to persuade the Manchu Imperial Family toabdicate, had in a brief four years accumulated a vast fortune bythe manipulations he had indulged in as Director-General of TheBank of Communications, an institution which, because it disposedof all the railway receipts, was always in funds even when theCentral Treasury itself was empty. By making himself financiallyindispensable to Yuan Shih-kai he had become recognized as thepower behind the Throne; for although, owing to foreign clamour,he had been dismissed from his old office of Chief Secretary tothe President (which he had utilized to effect the sale of officesfar and wide) he was a daily visitor to the Presidential Palaceand his creatures daily pulled all the numerous strings.

The scheme now adopted by the Senate was to cause the provinces toflood Peking with petitions, sent up through the agency of "TheSociety for the Preservation of Peace," demanding that theRepublic be replaced by that form of government which the peoplealone understood, the name Constitutional Monarchy being selectedmerely as a piece of political window-dressing to please theforeign world. A vast amount of organizing had to be done behindthe scenes before the preliminaries were completed: but on the 6thOctober the scheme was so far advanced that in response to "hostsof petitions" the Senate, sitting in its capacity of LegislativeChamber (Li Fa Yuan) passed a so-called King-making bill in whichelaborate regulations were adopted for referring the questionunder discussion to a provincial referendum. According to thisnaive document the provinces were to be organized into electoralcolleges, and the votes of the electors, after being recorded,were to be sent up to Peking for scrutiny. Some attempt was madeto follow Dr. Goodnow's advice to secure as far as possible thatthe various classes of the community should be speciallyrepresented: and provision was therefore made in the voting forthe inclusion of "learned scholars," Chambers of Commerce, and"oversea merchants," whose votes were to be directly recorded bytheir special delegates. To secure uniformly satisfactory results,the whole election was placed absolutely and without restrictionin the hands of the high provincial authorities, who were invitedto bestow on the matter their most earnest attention.

In a Mandate, issued in response to this Bill, Yuan Shih-kaimerely limits himself to handing over the control of the electionsand voting to the local authorities, safe in the knowledge thatevery detail of the plot had been carefully worked out in advance.By this time the fact that a serious and dangerous movement wasbeing actively pushed had been well-impressed on the PekingLegations, and some anxiety was publicly manifested. It was knownthat Japan, as the active enemy of Yuan Shih-kai, could not remainpermanently silent: and on the 28th October in association withGreat Britain and Russia, she indeed made official inquiries atthe Chinese Foreign Office regarding the meaning of the movement.She was careful, however, to declare that it was her solicitudefor the general peace that alone dictated her action. [Footnote: Avery remarkable illustration of the manner in which Yuan Shih-kaiwas trapped by official Japan during the monarchist movement hasrecently been extensively quoted in the Far Eastern press. Here isthe substance of a Japanese (vernacular) newspaper account showingthe uses to which Japanese politicians put the Press:

"… When that question was being hotly discussed in China MarquisOkuma, interviewed by the Press, stated that monarchy was theright form of government for China and that in case a monarchicalregime was revived Yuan Shih-kai was the only suitable person tosit on the Throne. When this statement by Marquis Okuma waspublished in the Japanese papers, Yuan Shih-kai naturallyconcluded that the Japanese Government, at the head of whichMarquis Okuma was, was favourably disposed towards him and themonarchical movement. It can well be imagined, therefore, howintense was his surprise when he later received a warning from theJapanese Government against the resuscitation of the monarchy inChina. When this inconsistency in the Marquis's actions was calledin question in the Japanese House of Representatives, the ex-Premier absolutely denied the truth of the statement attributed tohim by the Japanese papers, without any show of hesitancy, andthus boldly shirked the responsibility which, in reality, lay onhim … "] Nevertheless, her warning had an unmistakable note aboutit and occasioned grave anxiety, since the ultimatum of theprevious May in connection with the Twenty-one Demands had notbeen forgotten. At the beginning of November the Chinese Ministerof Foreign Affairs, replying verbally to these representations,alleged that the movement had gone too far for it to be stoppedand insisted that no apprehensions need be felt by the ForeignPowers regarding the public safety. Dissatisfied by this reply allthe Entente Powers, now including France and Italy, renewed theirrepresentations, receiving a few days later a formal Note in whichabsolute guarantees were given that law and order would besedulously preserved. Baffled by this firmness, and conscious thatfurther intervention in such matter would be fraught with gravedifficulties, the Entente Powers decided to maintain a watchfulattitude but to do no more publicly. Consequently events marchedforward so rapidlly that by December the deed was done, and YuanShih-kai had apparently been elected unanimously Emperor of Chinaby the provincial ballot.

The explanation of this extraordinary business was only madepublic months later with the outbreak of the Yunnan rebellion andthe secession of the Southern provinces. In a remarkablepublication, entitled satirically "The People's Will," theSouthern Republican Party, which now possessed access to all theconfidential archives of the provinces, published in full thesecret instructions from Peking which had brought about thiselaborate comedy. Though considerations of space prevent alldocuments being included in our analysis, the salient ones arehere textually quoted so as to exhibit in its proper historicallight the character of the chief actor, and the regime the Powershad supported—until they were forced by Japan to be more honest.These documents, consisting mainly of telegraphic despatches sentfrom Peking to the provinces, do more to explain the working ofthe Government of China than a dozen treatises; for they drag intothe garish light of day the most secret Yamen machinery and showprecisely how it is worked.

The play was set in motion by a circular code telegram sent out onthe 30th August by Tuan Chih-kuei, Governor of Moukden and one ofYuan Shih-kai's most trusted lieutenants, the device of utilizinga centre other than the capital to propagate revolutionary ideasbeing a familiar one and looked upon as a very discreet procedure.This initial telegram is a document that speaks for itself:

CODE TELEGRAM DATED AUGUST 30, 1915, FROM TUAN CHI-KUEI, MILITARYGOVERNOR OF MOUKDEN, ET ALIA, CONTAINING INSTRUCTIONS FORPRESENTING PETITIONS TO PEKING IN THE NAME OF THE CITIZENS OF THEPROVINCES

To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:—(To bedeciphered personally with the Council of State Code)

The proposal of changing the form of the State into a monarchyhaving been unanimously agreed to by the provinces, the first stepto be taken has now to be decided. We propose that petitions besent in the name of the citizens of the respective provinces tothe Senate acting in the capacity of Legislative Chamber, so as todemonstrate the wish of the people to have a monarchy. The actingLegislative Chamber will then decide upon the course to beadopted.

The plan suggested is for each province to send in a separatepetition, the draft of which will be made in Peking and wired tothe respective provinces in due course. If you approve, you willinsert your name as well as those of the gentry and merchants ofthe province who agree to the draft. These petitions are to bepresented one by one to the Legislative Chamber, as soon as it isconvoked. At all events, the change in the form of the State willhave to be effected under the colour of carrying out the people'swill.

As leading members of political and military bodies, we shouldwait till the opportune moment arrives when we will givecollateral support to the movement. Details of the plan will bemade known to you from time to time.

This method of circular telegrams, which had been inherited fromthe last days of the Manchus, and vastly extended during the POST-revolutionary period, was now to be used to the very utmost inindoctrinating the provinces with the idea that not only was theRepublic doomed but that prompt steps must be taken to erect theConstitutional Monarchy by use of fictitious legal machinery sothat it should not be said that the whole enterprise was a mereplot. Accordingly, on the 10th September, as a sequel to thetelegram we have just quoted, an enormous circular message ofseveral thousand words was sent in code from Peking to all theMilitary and Civil Governors in the provinces instructing themprecisely how to act in order to throw a cloak over the nefariousdeed. After explaining the so-called "Law on the GeneralConvention of the Citizens' Representatives" (i. e. nationalreferendum) the following illuminating sentences occur whichrequire no comment showing as they do what apt pupils reactionaryChinese are in the matter of ballot-fraud.

… (1) The fact that no fewer than one hundred petitions for achange in the form of State have been received from peopleresiding in all parts of the country shows that the people are ofone mind concerning this matter. Hence the words in the "GeneralConvention Law": "to be decided by the General Convention of theCitizens' Representatives," refer to nothing more than the formalapproval of the Convention and are by no means intended to giveroom for discussion of any kind. Indeed, it was never intendedthat the citizens should have any choice between a republic and amonarchy. For this reason at the time of voting all therepresentatives must be made unanimously to advocate a change ofthe Republic into a Monarchy.

It behooves you, therefore, prior to the election and voting,privately to search for such persons as are willing to express thepeople's will in the sense above indicated. You will also make thenecessary arrangements beforehand, and devise every means to havesuch persons elected, so that there may be no divergence ofopinion when the time arrives for putting the form of the State tothe vote.

(2) Article 2 provides: "The citizens' representatives shall beelected by separate ballot signed by the person voting. The personwho obtains the greatest number of votes cast shall be declaredelected."

The citizens' representatives, though nominally elected by. theelectors, are really appointed beforehand by you acting in thecapacity of Superintendent of Election. The principle of separatesigned ballot is adopted in this article with the object ofpreventing the voters from casting their votes otherwise than asdirected, and of awakening in them a sense of responsibility fortheir votes … .

These admirable principles having been officially laid down byPeking, it is not hard to understand that the Military and CivilGovernors in the provinces, being anxious to retain their postsand conciliate the great personage who would be king, gave theproblem their most earnest attention, and left no stone unturnedto secure that there should be no awkward contretemps. On the 28thSeptember, the Peking Government, being now entirely surrenderedinto the hands of the plotters, thought it advisable to give thecommon people a direct hint of what was coming, by sendingcircular instructions regarding the non-observance of theRepublican anniversary (10th October). The message in question isso frankly ingenuous that it merits inclusion in this singularDOSSIER:

CODE TELEGRAM DATED SEPTEMBER 26, 1915, FROM THE COUNCIL OF STATETO THE MILITARY AND CIVIL GOVERNORS OF THE PROVINCES RESPECTINGTHE NON-OBSERVANCE OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE REPUBLIC

To the Military and Civil Governors and the Military Commissionersof the Provinces and the Intendant of Shanghai:—

(Code Telegram)

Now that a monarchical form of government has been advocated, theNational Anniversary in commemoration of the Republic should, ofcourse, be observed with least possible display, under the pretexteither of the necessity for economy owing to the impoverishedcondition of the people, or of the advisability of celebrating theoccasion quietly so as to prevent disturbances arising inconsequence of the many rumours now afloat. In this way publicpeace and order may be maintained on the one hand, money andtrouble saved on the other. How to put this suggestion intopractice will be left to your discretion.

(Signed) COUNCIL OF STATE.

By October such progress had been made in Peking in the generalwork of organizing this coup d'etat that as we have seen, theSenate had passed on the 6th of that month the so-called "King-making Bill." The very next day, so that nothing should be left indoubt, the following circular telegram was dispatched to all theprovinces:

CODE TELEGRAM DATED OCTOBER 7, 1915, FROM CHU CHI-CHUN, MINISTEROF THE INTERIOR, ET ALIA, DEVISING PLANS FOR NOMINATING YUAN SHIH-KAI AS EMPEROR

To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:—

(To be deciphered with the Hua Code)

Our telegram of the 12th ult. must have reached you by this time.

The Administrative Council, at a meeting held on the 4th inst.,passed the Bill for a General Convention of the Citizens'Representatives. Article 12 of the Bill was amended so as tocontain the following clause:—"The Superintendent of Electionmay, in case of necessity, delegate his functions to the severaldistrict magistrates." This will soon be communicated officiallyto the provinces. You are therefore requested to make thenecessary preparations beforehand in accordance with theinstructions contained in our telegram of the 29th September.

We propose that the following steps be taken after the votes havebeen duly polled:—

(1) After the form of the state has been put to the vote, theresult should be reported to the sovereign (meaning Yuan-shihkai)and to the Administrative Council in the name of the GeneralConvention of the Citizens' Representatives.

(2) In the telegrams to be sent by the General Convention of theCitizens' Representatives for nominating the emperor, thefollowing words should be specifically used: "We respectfullynominate the present President Yuan Shih-kai as Emperor of theChinese Empire."

(3) The telegrams investing the Administrative Council withgeneral powers to act on behalf of the General Convention of theCitizens' Representatives should be dispatched in the name of theGeneral Convention of the Citizens of the Provinces.

The drafts of the dispatches under the above-mentioned three headswill be wired to you beforehand. As soon as the votes are cast,these are to be shown to the representatives, who will sign themafter perusal. Peking should be immediately informed by telegram.

As for the telegrams to be sent by the commercial, military, andpolitical bodies, they should bear as many signatures as possible,and be wired to the Central Government within three days after thevoting.

When the enthronement is promulgated by edict, letters ofcongratulation from the General Convention of the Citizens'Representatives, as well as from the commercial, military, andpolitical bodies, will also have to be sent in. You are thereforerequested to draw up these letters in advance.

This is specially wired for your information beforehand. Thedetails will be communicated by letter.

In ordinary circ*mstances it would have been thought thatsufficiently implicit instructions had already been given topermit leaving the matter in the hands of the provincialauthorities. Great anxiety, however, was beginning to reign inPeking owing to continual rumours that dangerous opposition, bothinternal and external, was developing. It was therefore heldnecessary to clinch the matter in such a way that no possiblequestions should be raised later. Accordingly, before the end ofOctober—and only two days before the "advice" was tendered byJapan and her Allies,—the following additional instructions weretelegraphed wholesale to the provinces, being purposely designedto make it absolutely impossible for any slip to occur between cupand lip. The careful student will not fail to notice in theseremarkable messages that as the game develops, all disguise isthrown to the four winds, and the central and only importantpoint, namely the prompt election and enthronement of Yuan Shih-kai as Emperor, insisted on with almost indecent directness, everypossible precaution being taken to secure that end:

CODE TELEGRAM DATED OCTOBER 26, 1915, FROM CUU CHI-CUUN, MINISTEROF THE INTERIOR, ET ALIA, RESPECTING THE NOMINATION OF YUAN SHIH-KAI AS EMPEROR

To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:—

(To be deciphered with the Hua Code)

Your telegram of the 24th inst. came duly to hand. After the formof the state has been put to the vote, the nomination of YuanShih-kai as emperor should be made forthwith without furthervoting. You should address the representatives and tell them thata monarchy having been decided on, not even a single day shouldpass without an emperor; that the citizens' representativespresent should nominate Yuan Shih-kai as the Great Emperor of theChinese Empire; and that if they are in favour of the proposal,they should signify their assent by standing up. This done, thetext of the proposed letter of nomination from the citizens shouldbe handed to the representatives for their signatures; after whichyou should again address them to the effect that in all mattersconcerning the nomination and the petition for immediateenthronement, they may, in the name of the citizens'representatives, invest the acting Legislative Council withgeneral powers to act on their behalf and to do the necessarythings until their petition is granted. The text (alreadyprepared) of the proposed telegram from the citizens'representatives to the acting Legislative Council should then beshown to the representatives for approval. Whereupon threeseparate telegrams are to be drawn up: one giving the number ofvotes in favour of a change in the form of the state, onecontaining the original text of the letter of nomination, and thethird concerning the vesting of the acting Legislative Councilwith general powers to act on behalf of the citizens'representatives. These should be sent officially to the actingLegislative Council in the name of the citizens' representatives.You should at the same time wire to the President all that hastaken place. The votes and the letter of nomination are to beforwarded to Peking in due course.

As for the exact words to be inserted in the letter of nomination,they have been communicated to you in our telegram of the 23rdinst. These characters, forty-five in all, must on no account bealtered. The rest of the text is left to your discretion.

We may add that since the letter of nomination and the vesting ofthe acting Legislative Council with general powers to act onbehalf of the citizens' representatives are matters whichtransgress the bounds of the law, you are earnestly requested notto send to the National Convention Bureau any telegraphic enquiryconcerning them, so that the latter may not find itself in theawkward position of having to reply.

Two days after this telegram had been dispatched the long-fearedaction on the part of Japan had been taken and a new situation hadbeen created. The Japanese "advice" of the 28th October was infact a veritable bombshell playing havoc with the house of cardswhich had been so carefully erected. But the intrigue had gone sofar, and the prizes to be won by the monarchical supporters wereso great that nothing could induce them to retrace theirfootsteps. For a week and more a desperate struggle went on behindthe scenes in the Presidential Palace, since Yuan Shih-kai was tooastute a man not to understand that a most perilous situation wasbeing rapidly created and that if things went wrong he would bethe chief victim. But family influences and the voice of theintriguers proved too strong for him, and in the end he gave hisreluctant consent to a further step. The monarchists, boldlyacting on the principle that possession is nine points of the law,called upon the provinces to anticipate the vote and to substitutethe title of Emperor for that of President in all governmentdocuments and petitions so that morally the question would bechose jugee.

CODE TELEGRAM DATED NOVEMBER 7, 1915, FROM CHU CHI-CHUN, MINISTER.OF THE INTERIOR, ET ALIA, ENJOINING A STRONG ATTITUDE TOWARDSINTERFERENCE ON THE PART OF A CERTAIN FOREIGN POWER

To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:—

(To be deciphered personally with the Council of State Code)

A certain foreign power, under the pretext that the Chinese peopleare not of one mind and that troubles are to be apprehended, haslately forced England and Russia to take part in tendering adviceto China. In truth, all foreign nations know perfectly well thatthere will be no trouble, and they are obliged to follow theexample of that power. If we accept the advice of other Powersconcerning our domestic affairs and postpone the enthronement, weshould be recognizing their right to interfere. Hence actionshould under no circ*mstance be deferred. When all the votes ofthe provinces unanimously recommending the enthronement shall havereached Peking, the Government will, of course, ostensibly assumea wavering and compromising attitude, so as to give due regard tointernational relations. The people, on the other hand, shouldshow their firm determination to proceed with the matter at allcosts, so as to let the foreign powers know that our people are ofone mind. If we can only make them believe that the change of therepublic into a monarchy will not in the least give rise totrouble of any kind, the effects of the advice tendered by Japanwill ipso facto come to nought.

At present the whole nation is determined to nominate Yuan Shih-kai Emperor. All civil and military officers, being the naturalleaders of the people, should accordingly give effect to thenomination. If this can be done without friction, the confidenceof both Chinese and foreigners in the Government will be greatlystrengthened. This is why we suggested to you in a previoustelegram the necessity of immediately substituting the title of"Emperor" for "President." We trust you will concur in oursuggestion and carry it out without delay.

We may add that this matter should be treated as strictlyconfidential.

A reply is requested.

(Signed)

The die now being cast all that was left to be done was to rushthrough the voting in the Provinces. Obsequious officials returnedto the use of the old Imperial phraseology and Yuan Shih-kai, evenbefore his "election," was memorialized as though he were thelegitimate successor of the immense line of Chinese sovereigns whostretch back to the mythical days of Yao and Shun (2,800 B.C.).The beginning of December saw the voting completed and the resultstelegraphed to Peking; and on the 11th December, the Senatehastily meeting, and finding that "the National Convention ofCitizens" had unanimously elected Yuan Shih-kai Emperor, formallyoffered him the Throne in a humble petition. Yuan Shih-kaimodestly refused: a second petition was promptly handed to him,which he was pleased to accept in the following historic document:

YUAN SHIH-KAI's ACCEPTANCE OF THE IMPERIAL THRONE

The prosperity and decline of the country is a part of theresponsibility of every individual, and my love for the country iscertainly not less than that of others. But the task imposed on meby the designation of the millions of people is of extraordinarymagnitude. It is therefore impossible for one without merit andwithout virtue like myself to shoulder the burdens of Stateinvolved in the enhancing of the welfare of the people, thestrengthening of the standing of the country, the reformation ofthe administration and the advancement of civilization. My formerdeclaration was, therefore, the expression of a sincere heart andnot a mere expression of modesty. My fear was such that I couldnot but utter the words which I have expressed. The people,however, have viewed with increasing impatience that declarationand their expectation of me is now more pressing than ever. Thus Ifind myself unable to offer further argument just as I am unableto escape the position. The laying of a great foundation is,however, a thing of paramount importance and it must not be donein a hurry. I, therefore, order that the different Ministries andBureaux take concerted action in making the necessary preparationsin the affairs in which they are concerned; and when that is done,let the same be reported to me for promulgation. Meanwhile all ourcitizens should go on peacefully in their daily vocations with theview to obtain mutual benefit. Let not your doubts and suspicionshinder you in your work. All the officials should on their part befaithful at their posts and maintain to the best of their abilitypeace and order in their localities, so that the ambition of theGreat President to work for the welfare of the people may thus berealized. Besides forwarding the memorial of the principalrepresentatives of the Convention of the Representatives ofCitizens and that of the provinces and special administrative areato the Cheng Shih Tang and publishing the same by a mandate, Ihave the honour to notify the acting Li Fan Yuan as the principalrepresentatives of the Convention of the Representatives ofCitizens, to this effect.

Cautious to the end, it will be seen that Yuan Shih-kai's veryacceptance is so worded as to convey the idea that he is beingforced to a course of action which is against his betterinstincts. There is no word of what came to be called the GrandCeremony i. e. the enthronement. That matter is carefully left inabeyance and the government departments simply told to make thenecessary preparations. The attitude of Peking officialdom iswell-illustrated in a circular telegram dispatched to theprovinces three days later, the analysis of Japan's relationshipto the Entente Powers being particularly revealing. The obsequiousnote which pervades this document is also particularly noticeableand shows how deeply the canker of sycophancy had now eaten in.

CODE TELEGRAM DATED DECEMBER 14, 1915, FROM THE OFFICE OFCOMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE LAND AND NAVAL FORCES, RESPECTINGCHINA'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOREIGN NATIONS

To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:—(To bedeciphered with the Hua Code)

On the 11th inst. the acting Legislature Council submitted amemorial to the Emperor, reporting on the number of votes cast bythe people in favour of a monarchy and the letters of nominationof Yuan Shih-kai as Emperor received from all parts of thecountry, and begged that he would ascend the Throne at an earlydate. His Majesty was, however, so modest as to decline. TheCouncil presented a second memorial couched in the most entreatingterms, and received an order to the effect that all the ministriesand departments were to make the necessary preparations for theenthronement. The details of this decision appeared in thePresidential Orders of the past few days, so need not be repeatednow.

The people are unanimously of the opinion that in a republic thefoundation of the state is very apt to be shaken and the policy ofthe government to be changed; and that consequently there is nopossibility of enjoying everlasting peace and prosperity, nor anyhope for the nation to become powerful. Now that the form of thestate has been decided in favour of a monarchy and the person whois to sit on the Throne agreed upon, the country is placed on asecure basis, and the way to national prosperity and strength isthus paved.

Being the trustworthy ministers and, as it were, the hands andfeet of His Majesty, we are united to him by more ties than one.On this account we should with one mind exert our utmost effortsin discharging our duty of loyalty to the country. This should bethe spirit which guides us in our action at the beginning of thenew dynasty. As for the enthronement, it is purely a matter ofceremony. Whether it takes place earlier or later is of no moment.Moreover His Majesty has always been modest, and does everythingwith circ*mspection. We should all appreciate his attitude.

So far as our external relations are concerned, a thoroughunderstanding must be come to with the foreign nations, so thatrecognition of the new regime may not be delayed and diplomaticintercourse interrupted. Japan, has, in conjunction with theEntente Powers, tendered advice to postpone the change of theRepublic into an empire. As a divergence of opinion exists betweenJapan and the Entente Powers, the advice is of no great effect.Besides, the Elders and the Military Party in Japan are allopposed to the action taken by their Government. Only the press inTokyo has spread all sorts of threatening rumours. This isobviously the upshot of ingenious plots on the part ofirresponsible persons. If we postpone the change we shall besubject to foreign interference, and the country will consequentlycease to exist as an independent state. On the other hand, if weproclaim the enthronement forthwith, we shall then be flatlyrejecting the advice,—an act which, we apprehend, will not betolerated by Japan. As a result, she will place obstacles in theway of recognition of the new order of things.

Since a monarchy has been decided to be the future form of thestate, and His Majesty has consented to accept the Throne, thechange may be said to be an accomplished fact. There is noquestion about it. All persons of whatever walk of life canhenceforth continue their pursuits without anxiety. In themeantime we will proceed slowly and surely with the enthronement,as it involves many ceremonies and diplomatic etiquette. In thisway both our domestic and our foreign policies will remainunchanged.

We hope you will comprehend our ideas and treat them as strictlyconfidential.

(Signed) Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Land and Naval
Force.

After this one last step remained to be taken—it was necessary toburn all the incriminating evidence. On the 21st December, thelast circular telegram in connection with this extraordinarybusiness was dispatched from Peking, a delightful naivete beingdisplayed regarding the possibility of certain letters andtelegrams having transgressed the bounds of the law. All suchdelinquencies are to be mercifully wiped out by the simple andadmirable method of invoking the help of the kitchen-fires. And inthis appropriate way does the monster-play end.

CODE TELEGRAM DATED DECEMBER 21, 1915, FROM THE NATIONALCONVENTION BUREAU, ORDERING THE DESTRUCTION OF DOCUMENTS CONNECTEDWITH THE ELECTIONS

To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces, the Military
Commissioners at Foochow and Kweiyang; the Military Commandants at
Changteh, Kweihuating, and Kalgan; and the Commissioner of Defence
at Tachienlu:—

(To be deciphered with the Hua Code)

The change in the form of the state is now happily accomplished.This is due not only to the unity of the people's minds, but moreespecially to the skill with which, in realizing the object ofsaving the country, you have carried out the propaganda from thebeginning, managed affairs according to the exigencies of theoccasions, and adapted the law to suit the circ*mstances. Thepeople have, to be sure, become tired of the Republic; yet unlessyou had taken the lead, they would not have dared to voice theirsentiments. We all appreciate your noble efforts.

Ever since the monarchical movement was started, the people aswell as the high officials in the different localities haverepeatedly petitioned for the change, a fact which proves that thepeople's will is in favour of it. In order to enable the people toexpress their will through a properly constituted organ, theGeneral Convention of the Citizens' Representatives has beencreated.

Since the promulgation of the Law on the Organization of theCitizens' Representatives, we, who are devoted to the welfare ofthe state, desire to see that the decisions of that Convention donot run counter to the wishes of the people. We are so anxiousabout the matter that we have striven so to apply the law to meetthe circ*mstances as to carry out our designs. It is out ofpatriotic motives that we have adopted the policy of adhering tothe law, whenever possible, and, at the same time, of yielding toexpediency, whenever necessary. During the progress of this schemethere may have been certain letters and telegrams, both officialand private, which have transgressed the bounds of the law. Theywill become absolutely useless after the affair is finished.Moreover, no matter how carefully their secrets may have beenguarded, still they remain as permanent records which mightcompromise us; and in the event of their becoming known toforeigners, we shall not escape severe criticism and bitterattacks, and, what is worse, should they be handed down as part ofthe national records, they will stain the opening pages of thehistory of the new dynasty. The Central Government, aftercarefully considering the matter, has concluded that it would bebetter to sort out and burn the document so as to remove allunnecessary records and prevent regrettable consequences. Forthese reasons you are hereby requested to sift out all telegrams,letters, and dispatches concerning the change in the form of thestate, whether official or private, whether received from Pekingor the provinces (excepting those required by law to be filed onrecord), and cause the same to be burnt in your presence. As forthose which have already been communicated to the local officials,you are likewise requested to order them to be returnedimmediately; to commit them to the flames; and to report to thisBureau for future reference the total number of documents sodestroyed.

The present change in the form of the state constitutes the mostglorious episode of our national history. Not only is this farsuperior to the succession of dynasties by right of conquest or invirtue of voluntary transfer (as in the days of Yao and Shun), butit compares favourably with all the peaceful changes that havetaken place in western politics. Everything will be perfect ifwhatever mars it (meaning the documents) is done away with.

All of you have acquired greatness in founding the dynasty. Youwill doubtless concur with us, and will, we earnestly hope, loseno time in cautiously and secretly carrying out our request.

We respectfully submit this to your consideration and wait for areply.

(Signed) NATIONAL CONVENTION BUREAU.

"THE THIRD REVOLUTION"

THE REVOLT OF YUNNAN

In all the circ*mstances it was only natural that theextraordinary chapter of history we have just narrated should havemarched to its appointed end in just as extraordinary a manner asit had commenced. Yuan Shih-kai, the uncrowned king, actuallyenjoyed in peace his empty title only for a bare fortnight, thecurious air of unreality becoming more and more noticeable afterthe first burst of excitement occasioned by his acceptance of theThrone had subsided. Though the year 1915 ended with Pekingbrightly illuminated in honour of the new regime, which hadadopted in conformity with Eastern precedents a new calendar underthe style of Hung Hsien or "glorious Constitutionalism," thatofficial joy was just as false as the rest had been and awakenedthe incredulity of the crowd.

On Christmas Day ominous rumours had spread in the diplomaticcircle that dramatic developments in South China had come whichnot only directly challenged the patient plotting of months butmade a debacle appear inevitable. Very few days afterwards it wasgenerally known that the southernmost province of China, Yunnan—on the borders of French-Indo-China—had telegraphed the CentralGovernment a thinly veiled ultimatum, that either the monarchymust be cancelled and the chief monarchists executed at once orthe province would take such steps as were deemed advisable. Thetext of these telegrams which follows was published by thecourageous editor of the Peking Gazette on the 31st December andelectrified the capital. The reader will not fail to note howrichly allegorical they are in spite of their dramatic nature:

FIRST TELEGRAM

To the Great President:

Since the question of Kuo-ti (form of State) was raisedconsternation has seized the public mind; and on account of theinterference of various Powers the spirit of the people has beenmore and more aroused. They have asked the question:—"Who hasinvited the disaster, and brought upon us such great disgrace?"Some one must be responsible for the alien insults heaped on us.

We have learned that each day is given to rapid preparations forthe Grand Ceremony; and it is now true that, internally, publicopinion has been slighted, and, externally, occasions have beenoffered to foreigners to encroach on our rights. Our blood runscold when we face the dangers at the door. Not once but twice haththe President taken the oath to observe and obey the Constitutionand protect and maintain the Republic. The oath was sworn beforeHeaven and Earth; and it is on record in the hearts of millions ofpeople and the words thereof still echo in the ears of the peopleof all nations. In the Classics it is said that "in dealing withthe people of the country, faith is of the essence of great rule."Again it is written that "without faith a people cannot endure asa nation." How then can one rule the people when he "eats" his ownwords and tears his own oath? Principle has now been cast to thewinds and the Kuo-ti has been changed. We know not how the countrycan be administered.

Since the suspension of the National Assembly and the revision ofthe Constitution, the powers of Government have been centred inone person, with the implied freedom to do whatever seems meetwithout let or hindrance. If the Government were to use this powerin order to reform the administration and consolidate thefoundations of the nation, there would be no fear of failure. Forthe whole country would submit to the measures of the CentralGovernment. Thus there is not the least necessity to committreason by changing the Kuo-ti.

But although the recent decision of the Citizens' Representativesin favour of a monarchy and the request of the high localofficials for the President's accession to the Throne have beenrepresented as inspired by the unanimous will of the people, it iswell known that the same has been the work of ignoble men whosebribery and intimidation have been sanctioned by the authorities.Although inept efforts have been made to disguise the deceit, thesame is unhidden to the eyes of the world.

Fortunately it is said that the President has from the verybeginning maintained a calm attitude, speaking not his mind on thesubject. It is now as easy to turn the tide as the reversing ofthe palm. It may be objected that if the "face" of the nation isnot preserved in view of the interference of Foreign Powers, therewill be great danger in future. But it must be observed thatofficial declaration can only be made in accordance with the willof the people, the tendency of which can easily be ascertained bysearching for the facts. If the will of the people that thecountry should be the common property of the Nation be obeyed andthe idea of the President that a Dynasty is as cheap as a worn-outshoe is heeded, the latter has it in his power to loosen thestring that suspends the bell just as much as the person who hashung it. If the wrong path is not forsaken, it is feared that assoon as the heart of the people is gone, the country will bebroken to pieces and the dismemberment of the Nation will takeplace when alien pressure is applied to us. We who have hithertoreceived favours from the President and have received highappointments from him hereby offer our faithful advice in thespirit of men who are sailing in common in a boat that is indanger; we speak as do those who love sincerity and cherish theunbroken word. We hope that the President will, with courage,refuse to listen to the speech of evil counsellors and heed thevoice of conscience and of honour. We further hope that he willrenew his promise to protect the Republic; and will publicly swearthat a monarchical system will never again appear.

Thus the heart of the people will be settled and the foundationsof the Nation will be consolidated. Then by enlisting the servicesof sagacious colleagues in order to surmount the difficulties ofthe time and sweeping away all corruption and beginning anew withthe people, it may be that the welfare and interest of the Nationwill be furthered. In sending this telegram our eyes are wet withtears knowing not what more to say. We respectfully await theorder of the President with our troops under arms.

(Signed) THE GOVERNORS OF YUNNAN.

SECOND TELEGRAM

For the Perusal of the Great President:—

In our humble opinion the reason why the people—Chinese andforeign—cannot excuse the President is because the movement forthe change of Kuo-ti has been inspired, and indeed actuallyoriginated in Peking, and that the ringleaders of the plot againstthe Min Kuo are all "bosom-men" of the President. The Chou An Hui,organized by Yang Tu and five other men, set the fire ablaze andthe circular telegram sent by Chu Chi-chien and six other personsprecipitated the destruction of the Republican structure. ThePresident knew that the bad deed was being done and yet he didnothing to arrest the same or punish the evil-doers. The peopletherefore, are suspicious. A mandate was issued on the 24th of the11th month of the 3rd year in which it is affirmed: "Democracy andrepublicanism are laid down in the Constitutional Compact; andthere is also a law relating to the punishment of those who spreadsedition in order to disturb the minds of the people. If any oneshall hereafter dare to advance strange doctrines and misconstruethe meaning of the Constitution, he will be punished severely inaccordance with the law of sedition."

Yang Tu for having publicly organized the said Society and ChuChi-chien for having directly plotted by telegram are theprincipal offenders in the present flagrant case of sedition. Astheir crimes are obvious and the subject of abundant proof, wehereby ask the President to carry out at once the terms of thesaid mandate and publicly execute Yang Tu, Sun Yu-yun, Yen Fu, LiuShih-pei, Li Hsieh-ho, Hu Ying, Chu Chi-chien, Tuan Chih-kuei,Chow Tze-chi, Liang Shih-yi, Chang Cheng-fang and Yuan Nai-kuanto the end that the whole nation may be pacified. Then, and nottill then, will the world believe in the sincerity of thePresident, in his love for the country and his intention to abideby the law. All the troops and people here are in anger; andunless a substantial proof from the Central Authorities isforthcoming, guaranteeing the maintenance of the Republic, it willbe impossible to suppress or pacify them. We await a reply withintwenty-four hours.

(Signed) THE GOVERNORS OF YUNNAN PROVINCE.

It was evident from the beginning that pride prevented Yuan Shih-kai from retreating from the false position he had taken up. Underhis instructions the State Department sent a stream of powerfultelegraphic messages to Yunnan attempting to dissuade theRepublican leaders from revolt. But the die had been cast and verygravely the standard of rebellion was raised in the capital cityof Yunnan and the people exhorted to shed their blood. Everythingpointed to the fact that this rising was to be very different fromthe abortive July outbreak of 1913. There was a soberness and adeliberation about it all which impressed close observers with asense of the ominous end which was now in sight.

Still Peking remained purblind. During the month of January thesplendour of the dream empire, which was already dissolving intothin air, filled the newspapers. It was reported that an ImperialEdict printed on Yellow Paper announcing the enthronement wasready for universal distribution: that twelve new Imperial Sealsin jade or gold were being manufactured: that a golden chair and amagnificent State Coach in the style of Louis XV were almostready. Homage to the portrait of Yuan Shih-kai by all officialsthroughout the country was soon to be ordered; sycophanticscholars were busily preparing a volume poetically entitled "TheGolden Mirror of the Empire," in which the virtues of the newsovereign were extolled in high-sounding language. A reconditesignificance, it was said, was to be given to the old ceremonialdress, which was to be revived, from the fact that every officialwould carry a Hu or Ivory Tablet to be held against the breast.The very mention of this was sufficient to make the local price ofivory leap skywards! In the privacy of drawing-rooms the storywent the rounds that Yuan Shih-kai, now completely deluded intobelieving in the success of his great scheme, had held a full-dress rehearsal of a ceremony which would be the first one at hisnew Court when he would invest the numerous ladies of hisestablishment with royal rank. Seated on his Throne he had beenengaged in instructing these interested females, already robed inmagnificent costumes, in the parts they were to play, when he hadnoticed the absence of the Korean Lady—a consort he had won, itis said, in his Seoul days in competition against the JapaneseEnvoy accredited to Korea, thereby precipitating the war of 1894-95. [Footnote: This story is firmly believed by many, namely thata beautiful woman caused the loss of Korea.] The Korean Lady hadrefused to enter the Throne-room, he was told, because she wasdissatisfied with the rank he proposed to confer on her. Sternlyhe sent for her and told her to take her place in the circle. Butno sooner had she arrived than hysterically she screamed, "Youtold me when you wedded me that no wife would be my superior: nowI am counted only a secondary consort." With that she hurledherself at the eldest wife who was occupying the post of honourand assailed her bitterly. Amidst the general confusion the would-be-Emperor hastily descended from his Throne and vainlyintervened, but the women were not to be parted until their robeswere in tatters.

In such childishnesses did Peking indulge when a great disasterwas preparing. To explain what had occurred in Yunnan it isnecessary to go back and tell the story of a remarkable youngChinese-General Tsao-ao, the soul of the new revolt.

In the revolution of 1911 each province had acted on theassumption that it possessed inherent autonomous rights and couldassume sovereignty as soon as local arrangements had allowed theorganization of a complete provisional government. Yunnan had beenone of the earliest provinces to follow the lead of the Wu-changrebels and had virtually erected itself into a separate republic,which attracted much attention because of the iron disciplinewhich was preserved. Possessing a fairly well-organized militarysystem, largely owing to the proximity of the French frontier andthe efforts which a succession of Viceroys had made to provideadequate frontier defence, it was amply able to guarantee itsnewly won autonomy. General Tsao-ao, then in command of a divisionof troops had been elected Generalissimo of the province; andbending himself to his task in very few weeks he had driven intoexile all officials who adhered to the Imperialist cause and madeall local institutions completely self-supporting. Even in 1911 ithad been reported that this young man dreamed of founding adynasty for himself in the mountains of South China—an ambitionby no means impossible of realization since he had received afirst-class military education in the Tokio Military Schools andwas thoroughly up-to-date and conversant with modern theories ofgovernment.

These reports had at the time greatly concerned Yuan Shih-kai whoheard it stated by all who knew him that the Yunnan leader was agenius in his own way. In conformity with his policy of bringingto Peking all who might challenge his authority, he had inducedGeneral Tsao-ao, since the latter had played no part in therebellion of 1913, to lay down his office of Yunnan Governor-General and join him in the capital at the beginning of 1914—another high provincial appointment being held out to him as abait.

Once in Peking, however, General Tsao-ao had been merely placed incharge of an office concerned with the reorganization of the land-tax, nominally a very important piece of work long advocated byforeign critics. But as there were no funds available, and as thepurpose was plainly merely to keep him under observation, hefretted at the restraint, and became engaged in secret politicalcorrespondence with men who had been exiled abroad. As he was soonan open suspect, in order to avoid arrest he had taken the boldstep at the very inception of the monarchy movement of heading thelist of Generals in residence in Peking who petitioned the Senateto institute a Monarchy, this act securing him against summarytreatment. But owing to his secret connection with the scholarLiang Chi-chao, who had thrown up his post of Minister of Justiceand left the capital in order to oppose the new movement, he waswatched more and more carefully—his death being even hinted at.

He was clever enough to meet this ugly development with a masterlypiece of trickery conceived in the Eastern vein. One day acarefully arranged dispute took place between him and his wife,and the police were angrily called in to see that his family andall their belongings were taken away to Tientsin as he refused anylonger to share the same roof with them. Being now alone in thecapital, he apparently abandoned himself to a life of shamelessdebauch, going nightly to the haunts of pleasure and becoming anotorious figure in the great district in the Outer City of Pekingwhich is filled with adventure and adventuresses and which is thelocality from which Haroun-Al Raschid obtained through the mediumof Arab travellers his great story of "Aladdin and the WonderfulLamp." When governmental suspicions were thoroughly lulled, hearranged with a singing-girl to let him out by the backdoor of herhouse at dawn from whence he escaped to the railway-station,rapidly reaching Tientsin entirely unobserved.

The morning was well-advanced before the detectives who nightlywatched his movements became suspicious. Then finding that hiswhereabouts were unknown to the coachman dozing on the box of hiscarriage, they roughly entered the house where he had passed thenight only to find that the bird had flown. Hasty telegrams weredispatched in every direction, particularly to Tientsin—the greatcentre for political refugees—and his summary arrest ordered.But fortune favoured him. A bare quarter-of-an-hour before thepolice began their search he had embarked with his family on aJapanese steamer lying in the Tientsin river and could snap hisfingers at Yuan Shih-kai.

Once in Japan he lost no time in assembling his revolutionaryfriends and in a body they embarked for South China. As rapidly aspossible he reached Yunnan province from Hongkong, travelling byway of the French Tonkin railway. Entering the province early inDecember he found everything fairly ready for revolt, though therewas a deficiency in arms and munitions which had to be made good.Yuan Shih-kai, furious at this evasion, had telegraphed toconfidential agents in Yunnan to kill him at sight, butfortunately he was warned and spared to perform his importantwork. Had a fortnight of grace been vouchsafed him, he would haveprobably made the most brilliant modern campaign that has beenwitnessed in China, for he was an excellent soldier. Acting fromthe natural fortress of Yunnan it was his plan to descend suddenlyon the Yangtsze Valley by way of Chungking and to capture theupper river in one victorious march thus closing the vast provinceof Szechuan to the Northern troops. But circ*mstances had made itimperative for him and his friends to telegraph the Yunnanultimatum a fortnight sooner than it should have been dispatched,and the warning thus conveyed to the Central Government largelycrippled the Yunnan offensive.

The circ*mstances which had made instant action necessary were asfollows. As we have seen from the record of the previous risings,the region of the Yangtsze river has superlative value in Chinesepolitics. Offering as it does an easy road into the heart of thecountry and touching more than half the Provinces, it is indeed apriceless means of communication, and for this reason Yuan Shih-kai had been careful after the crushing of the rebellion of 1913to load the river-towns with his troops under the command ofGenerals he believed incorruptible. Chief of these was GeneralFeng Kuo-chang at Nanking who held the balance of power on thegreat river, and whose politics, though not entirely abovesuspicion, had been proof against all the tempting offers SouthChina made to him until the ill-fated monarchy movement hadcommenced. But during this movement General Feng Kuo-chang hadexpressed himself in such contemptuous terms of the would-beEmperor that orders had been given to another high official—Admiral Tseng, Garrison Commissioner at Shanghai—to have himassassinated. Instead of obeying his instructions, Admiral Tsenghad conveyed a warning to his proposed victim, the consequencebeing that the unfortunate admiral was himself brutally murderedon the streets of Shanghai by revolver-shots for betraying theconfidence of his master. After this denouement it was not verystrange that General Feng Kuo-chang should have intimated to theRepublican Party that as soon as they entered the Yangtsze Valleyhe would throw his lot with them together with all his troops. Ofthis Yuan Shih-kai became aware through his extraordinary systemof intelligence; and following his usual practice he had orderedGeneral Feng Kuo-chang to Peking as Chief of the General Staff—anappointment which would place him under direct surveillance. Firston one excuse, then on another, General Feng Kuo-chang had managedto delay his departure from day to day without actually comingunder the grave charge of refusing to obey orders. But finally theposition was such that he telegraphed to General Tsao-ao thatunless the Yunnan arrangements were hastened he would have toleave Nanking—and abandon this important centre to one of YuanShih-kai's own henchmen—which meant the end of all hopes of theYangtsze Valley rising EN MASSE.

It was to save Feng Kuo-chang, then, that the young patriot Tsao-ao caused the ultimatum to be dispatched fourteen days too sooni.e., before the Yunnan troops had marched over the mountain-barrier into the neighbouring province of Szechuan and seized thecity of Chungking—which would have barred the advance of theNorthern troops permanently as the river defiles even when lightlydefended are impassable here to the strongest force. It waslargely due to the hardships of forced marches conducted overthese rugged mountains, which raise their precipitous peaks to theheavens, that Tsao-ao subsequently lost his life, his health beingundermined by exposure, tuberculosis finally claiming him. But onething at least did his resolute action secure. With Yunnan in openrevolt and several other provinces about to follow suit, GeneralFeng Yuo-chang was able to telegraph Peking that it was impossiblefor him to leave his post at Nanking without rebellion breakingout. This veiled threat was understood by Yuan Shih-kai. Grimly heaccepted the checkmate.

Yet all the while he was acting with his customary energy. Troopswere dispatched towards Szechuan in great numbers, being trackedup the rapids of the upper river on board fleets of junks whichwere ruthlessly commandeered. Now commenced an extraordinary racebetween the Yunnan mountaineers and the Northern plainsmen for thestrategic city of Chungking. For some weeks the result was indoubt; for although Szechuan province was held by Northerngarrisons, they were relatively speaking weak and surrounded byhostile Szechuan troops whose politics were doubtful. In the end,however, Yuan Shih-kai's men reached their goal first andChungking was saved. Heavy and continuous mountain-fightingensued, in which the Southern troops were only partiallysuccessful. Being less well-equipped in mountain artillery andless well-found in general supplies they were forced to relylargely on guerilla warfare. There is little accurate record ofthe desperate fighting which occurred in this wild region but itis known that the original Yunnan force was nearly annihilated,and that of the remnant numbers perished from disease andexposure.

Other events were, however, hastening the debacle. Kueichowprovince had almost at once followed the example of Yunnan. Athird province, Kwangsi, under a veteran who was much respected,General Lu Yun Ting, was soon added; and gradually as in 1911 itbecame clear that the army was only one chessman in a complicatedand very ingenious game.

"THE THIRD REVOLUTION" (Continued)

THE DOWNFALL AND DEATH OP YUAN SHIH-KAI

As had been the case during the previous revolts, it was notpublicly or on the battlefield that the most crucial work wasperformed: the decisive elements in this new and conclusivestruggle were marshalled behind the scenes and performed theirtask unseen. Though the mandarinate, at the head of which stoodYuan Shih-kai, left no stone unturned to save itself from itsimpending fate, all was in vain. Slowly but inexorably it wasshown that a final reckoning had to be faced.

The reasons are not far to seek. Too long had the moral sense ofeducated men been outraged by common fraud and deceit for anycontinuance of a regime which had disgraced China for four longyears to be humanly possible. Far and wide the word was rapidlypassing that Yuan Shih-kai was not the man he had once been: hewas in reality feeble and choleric—prematurely old from too muchhistory-making and too many hours spent in the harem. He hadindeed become a mere Colossus with feet of clay,—a man who couldbe hurled to the ground by precisely the same methods he had usedto destroy the Manchus. Even his foreign supporters were becomingtired and suspicious of him, endless trouble being now associatedwith his name, there being no promise that quieter times couldpossibly come so long as he lived. A very full comprehension ofthe general position is given by perusing the valedictory letterof the leader of the Chinese intellectuals, that remarkable man—Liang Chi-ch'ao, who in December had silently and secretly fledfrom Tientsin on information reaching him that his assassinationwas being planned. On the eve of his departure he had sent thefollowing brilliant document to the Emperor-elect as a reply to anattempt to entrap him to Peking, a document the meaning of whichwas clear to every educated man. Its exquisite irony mixed withits bluntness told all that was necessary to tell—and forecastedthe inevitable fall. It runs:—

For the Kind Perusal of the Great President:—

A respectful reading of your kind instructions reveals to me yourmodesty and the brotherly love which you cherish for your humbleservant, who is so moved by your heart-touching sympathy that hedoes not know how to return your kindness. A desire then seizedhim to submit his humble views for your wise consideration; thoughon the one hand he has thought that he might fail to express whathe wishes to say if he were to do so in a set of brief words,while on the other hand he has no desire to trouble the busy mindof one on whose shoulders fall myriads of affairs, with viewsexpressed in many words. Furthermore, what Ch'i-chao desires tosay relates to what can be likened to the anxiety of one who,fearing that the heavens may some day fall on him, strives to wardoff the catastrophe. If his words should be misunderstood, itwould only increase his offence. Time and again he has essayed towrite; but each time he has stopped short. Now he is going Southto visit his parents; and looking at the Palace-Gate from afar, herealizes that he is leaving the Capital indefinitely. The thoughtthat he has been a protege of the Great President and that dangersloom ahead before the nation as well as his sense of duty andfriendly obligations, charge him with the responsibility of sayingsomething. He therefore begs to take the liberty of presenting hishumble but extravagant views for the kind consideration of theGreat President.

The problem of Kuo-ti (form of State) appears to have gone too farfor reconsideration: the position is like unto a man riding on theback of a wild tiger. …Ch'i-chao therefore at one moment thoughthe would say no more about it, since added comment thereon mightmake him all the more open to suspicion. But a sober study of thegeneral situation and a quiet consideration of the possible futuremake him tremble like an autumn leaf; for the more he meditates,the more dangerous the situation appears. It is true that theminor trouble of "foreign advice" and rebel plotting can besettled and guarded against; but what Ch'i-chao bitterly deploresis that the original intention of the Great President to devotehis life and energy to the interest of the country—an intentionhe has fulfilled during the past four years—will be difficult toexplain to the world in future. The trust of the world in theGreat President would be shattered with the result that thefoundation of the country will be unsettled. Do not the Sages say:"In dealing with the people aim at faithfulness?" If faithfulnessto promises be observed by those in authority, then the peoplewill naturally surrender themselves. Once, however, a promise isbroken, it will be as hard to win back the people's trust as toascend to the very Heavens. Several times have oaths of officebeen uttered; yet even before the lips are dry, action hathfalsified the words of promise. In these circ*mstances, how canone hope to send forth his orders to the country in the future,and expect them to be obeyed? The people will say "he started inrighteousness but ended in self-seeking: how can we trust ourlives in his hands, if he should choose to pursue even further hislove of self-enrichment?" It is possible for Ch'i-chao to believethat the Great President has no desire to make profit for himselfby the sacrifice of the country, but how can the mass of thepeople—who believe only what they are told—understand whatCh'i-chao may, perchance, believe?

The Great President sees no one but those who are always near him;and these are the people who have tried to win his favour and gainrewards by concocting the alleged unanimous petitions of the wholecountry urging his accession to the Throne. In reality, however,the will of the people is precisely the opposite. Even the highofficials in the Capital talk about the matter in a jeering andsarcastic way. As for the tone of the newspapers outside Peking,that is better left unmentioned. And as for the "small people" whocrowd the streets and the market-places, they go about as ifsomething untoward might happen at any moment. If a kingdom can bemaintained by mere force, then the disturbance at the time ofCh'in Chih-huang and Sui Yang Ti could not have been successful.If, on the other hand, it is necessary to secure the co-operationand the willing submission of the hearts of the people, then is itnot time that our Great President bethinks himself and boldlytakes his own stand?

Some argue that to hesitate in the middle of a course afterindulging in much pomp and pageantry at the beginning will resultin ridicule and derision and that the dignity of the ChiefExecutive will be lowered. But do they even know whether the GreatPresident has taken the least part in connection with thephantasies of the past four months? Do they know that the GreatPresident has, on many occasions, sworn fidelity before highHeaven and the noon-day sun? Now if he carries out his sacrosanctpromise and is deaf to the unrighteous advice of evil counsellors,his high virtue will be made even more manifest than ever before.Wherein then is there need of doubt or fear? Others may evensuggest that since the proposal was initiated by military men, thetie that has hitherto bound the latter to the Great President maybe snapped in case the pear fails to ripen. But in the humbleopinion of Ch'i-chao, the troops are now all fully inspired with asense of obedience to the Chief Executive. Who then can claim theright to drag our Great President into unrighteousness for thesake of vanity and vainglory? Who will dare disobey the behests ofthe Great President if he should elect to open his heart andfollow the path of honour and unbroken vows? If today, as Head ofthe nation, he is powerless to silence the riotous clamour of thesoldiery as happened at Chen-chiao in ancient time, then be surein the capacity of an Emperor he will not be able to suppress anoutbreak of troops even as it happened once at Yuyang in the Tangdynasty. [Footnote: The incident of Chen-chiao is very celebratedin Chinese annals. A yellow robe, the symbol of Imperialauthority, was thrown around General Chao Kuang-ying, at a placecalled Chen-chiao, by his soldiers and officers when he commandeda force ordered to the front. Chao returned to the Capitalimmediately to assume the Imperial Throne, and was thus"compelled" to become the founder of the famous Sung dynasty. The"incident of Yuyang" refers to the execution of Yang Kuei-fei, thefavourite concubine of Emperor Yuan Tsung of the Tang dynasty. TheEmperor for a long time was under the alluring influence of YangKuei-fei, who had a paramour named An Lo-hsan. The latter finallyrebelled against the Emperor. The Emperor left the capital andproceeded to another place together with his favourite concubine,guarded by a large force of troops. Midway, however, the soldiersthreatened to rebel unless the concubine was killed on the spot.The clamour was such that the Emperor was forced to sacrifice thefavourite of his harem, putting her to death in the presence ofhis soldiers.] To give them the handle of the sword is simplycourting trouble for the future. But can we suspect the troops—so long trained under the Great President—of such unworthyconduct?

The ancients say "However a thing is done, do not hurt thefeelings of those who love you, or let your enemy have a chance torejoice." Recently calamities in the forms of drought and floodhave repeatedly visited China; and the ancients warn us that insuch ways does Heaven manifest its Will regarding great movementsin our country. In addition to these we must remember theprevailing evils of a corrupt officialdom, the incessant ravagesof robbers, excesses in punishment, the unusually heavy burdens oftaxation, as well as the irregularity of weather and rain, whichall go to increase the murmurs and complaints of the people.Internally, the rebels are accumulating strength against anopportune time to rise; externally, powerful neighbouringcountries are waiting for an opportunity to harass us. Why thenshould our Great President risk his precious person and become atarget of public criticism; or "abandon the rock of peace insearch of the tiger's tail"; or discourage the loyalty of faithfulones and encourage the sinister ambitions of the unscrupulous?Ch'i-chao sincerely hopes that the Great President will devotehimself to the establishment of a new era which shall be aninspiration to heroism and thus escape the fate of those who arestigmatized in our annals with the name of Traitor. He hopes thatthe renown of the Great President will long be remembered in theland of Chung Hua (China) and he prays that the fate of China maynot end with any abrupt ending that may befall the GreatPresident. He therefore submits his views with a bleeding heart.He realizes that his words may not win the approval of one who iswise and clever; but Ch'i-chao feels that unless he unburdens whatis in his heart, he will be false to the duty which bids him speakand be true to the kindness that has been showered on him by theGreat President. Whether his loyalty to the Imperative Word willbe rewarded with approval or with reproof, the order of the GreatPresident will say.

There are other words of which Ch'i-chao wishes to tender to theGreat President. To be an independent nation today, we must needfollow the ways of the present age. One who opposes the current ofthe world and protects himself against the enriching influence ofthe world-spirit must eventually share the fate of the unselected.It is sincerely hoped that the Great President will refrain tosome extent from restoring the old and withal work for realreform. Law can only be made a living force by both the ruler andthe people obeying it with sincerity. When the law loses itsstrength, the people will not know how to act; and then thedignity of Government will disappear. It is hoped that the GreatPresident will keep himself within the bounds of law and not leadthe officials and the people to juggle with words. Participationin politics and patriotism are closely related. Bear well in mindthat it is impossible to expect the people to share theresponsibilities of the country, unless they are given a voice inthe transaction of public business. The hope is expressed that theGreat President will establish a real organ representing the truewill of the people and encourage the natural growth of the freeexpression of public opinion. Let us not become so arrogant andoppressive that the people will have no chance to express theirviews, as this may inspire hatred on the part of the people. Therelation between the Central Government and the provincial centresis like that between the trunk and branches of a tree. If thebranches are all withered, how can the trunk continue to grow? Itis hoped that the Great President, while giving due considerationto the maintenance of the dignity of the Central Government, willat the same time allow the local life of the provinces to develop.Ethics, Righteousness, Purity and Conscientiousness are four greatprinciples. When these four principles are neglected, a countrydies. If the whole country should come in spirit to be like"concubines and women," weak and open to be coerced and forcedalong with whomsoever be on the stronger side, how can a State beestablished? May the Great President encourage principle, andvirtue, stimulate purity of character, reject men of covetous andmean character, and grant wise tolerance to those who know no fearin defending the right. Only then will the vitality of the countrybe retained in some degree; and in time of emergency, there willbe a reserve of strength to be drawn upon in support of the State.All these considerations are of the order of obvious truths and itmust be assumed that the Great President, who is greatly wise, isnot unaware of the same. The reason why Ch'i-chao ventures torepeat them is this. He holds it true that a duty is laid on himto submit whatever humble thoughts are his, and at the same timehe believes that the Great President will not condemn a properphysic even though it may be cheap and simple. How fortunate willCh'i-chao be if advice so tendered shall meet with approval. He isproceeding farther and farther away from the Palace every day andhe does not know how soon he will be able to seek an audienceagain. He writes these words with tears dropping into the ink-slaband he trusts that his words may receive the attention of theGreat President.

So ends this remarkable missive which has become an historicdocument in the archives of the Republic. Once again it waswhispered that so great an impression did this fateful warningproduce on the Emperor-elect that he was within an ace ofcancelling the disastrous scheme which now enmeshed him. But inthe end family influence won the day; and stubbornly and doggedlythe doomed man pushed on with his attempt to crush revolt andconsolidate his crumbling position.

Every possible effort was made to minimize the effect ofinternational influence on the situation. As the sycophanticvernacular press of the capital, long drilled to blindsubservience, had begun to speak of his enthronement as acertainty on the 9th February, a Circular Note was sent to theFive Allied Powers that no such date had been fixed, and that thenewspaper reports to that effect were inventions. In orderspecially to conciliate Japan, a high official was appointed toproceed on an Embassy to Tokio to grant special industrialconcessions—a manoeuvre which was met with the official refusalof the Tokio Government to be so placated. Peking was coldlyinformed that owing to "court engagements" it would be impossiblefor the Emperor of Japan to receive any Chinese Mission. Afterthis open rebuff attention was concentrated on "the punitiveexpedition" to chastise the disaffected South, 80,000 men beingput in the field and a reserve of 80,000 mobilized behind them. Anattempt was also made to win over waverers by an indiscriminatedistribution of patents of nobility. Princes, Dukes, Marquises,Viscounts and Barons were created in great batches overnight onlyto be declined in very many cases, one of the most preciouspossessions of the Chinese race being its sense of humour. Everyone, or almost every one, knew that the new patents were not worththe paper they were written on, and that in future years themembers of this spurious nobility would be exposed to somethingworse than contempt. France was invited to close the Tonkinfrontier, but this request also met with a rebuff, andrevolutionists and arms were conveyed in an ever-more menacingmanner into the revolted province of Yunnan by the Frenchrailways. A Princedom was at length conferred on Lung Chi Kwang,the Military Governor of Canton, Canton being a pivotal point andLung Chi Kwang, one of the most cold-blooded murderers in China,in the hope that this would spur him to such an orgy of crime thatthe South would be crushed. Precisely the opposite occurred, sinceeven murderers are able to read the signs of the times. Attemptswere likewise made to enforce the use of the new ImperialCalendar, but little success crowned such efforts, no one outsidethe metropolis believing for a moment that this innovationpossessed any of the elements of permanence. Meanwhile themonetary position steadily worsened, the lack of money becoming somarked as to spread panic. Still, in spite of this, the leadersrefused to take warning, and although the political impasse wasconstantly discussed, the utmost concession the monarchists werewilling to make was to turn China into a Federal Empire with theprovinces constituted into self-governing units. The over-issue ofpaper currency to make good the gaps in the National Finance, nowslowly destroyed the credit of the Central Government and made thesuspension of specie payment a mere matter of time. By the end ofFebruary the province of Kueichow was not only officially admittedby the Peking Government to be in open revolt as well as Yunnan,but rebel troops were reported to be invading the neighbouringprovince of Hunan. Kwangsi was also reported to be preparing forsecession whilst in Szechuan local troops were revolting inincreasing numbers. Rumours of an attempted assassination of YuanShih-kai by means of bombs now circulated,—and there were manyarrests and suicides in the capital. Though by a mandate issued onthe 23rd February, the enthronement ceremony was indefinitelypostponed, that move came too late. The whole country was plainlytrembling on the edge of a huge outbreak when, less than fourweeks later, Yuan Shih-kai reluctantly and publicly admitted thatthe game was up. It is understood that a fateful interview he hadwith the British Minister greatly influenced him, though theformal declaration of independence of Kwangsi on the 16th March,whither the scholar Liang Ch'i-chao had gone, was also a powerfulargument. On the 22nd March the Emperor-elect issued the mandatecategorically cancelling the entire monarchy scheme, it beingdeclared that he would now form a Responsible Cabinet. Until thatdate the Government Gazette had actually perpetrated the folly ofpublishing side by side Imperial Edicts and Presidential Mandates—the first for Chinese eyes, the second for foreign consumption.Never before even in China had such a farce been seen. A rapidperusal of the Mandate of Cancellation will show how lamely andpoorly the retreat is made:

DECREE CANCELLING THE EMPIRE (22D MARCH)

After the establishment of the Min Kuo (i.e. the Republic),disturbances rapidly followed one another; and a man of littlevirtue like me was called to take up the vast burden of the State.Fearing that disaster might befall us any day, all those who hadthe welfare of the country at heart advocated the reinstitution ofthe monarchical system of government to the end that a stop be putto all strife for power and a regime of peace be inaugurated.Suggestions in this sense have unceasingly been made to me sincethe days of Kuei Chou (the year of the first Revolution, 1911) andeach time a sharp rebuke has been administered to the one makingthe suggestion. But the situation last year was indeed sodifferent from the circ*mstances of preceding years that it wasimpossible to prevent the spread of such ideas.

It was said that China could never hope to continue as a nationunless the constitutional monarchical form of state were adopted;and if quarrels like those occurring in Mexico and Portugal wereto take place in China, we would soon share the fate of Annam andBurmah. A large number of people then advocated the restoration ofa monarchy and advanced arguments which were reasonable. In thisproposal all the military and civil officials, scholars and peopleconcurred; and prayers were addressed to me in most earnest toneby telegram and in petitions. Owing to the position I was at thetime holding, which laid on me the duty of maintaining the thenexisting situation, I repeatedly made declarations resisting theadoption of the advice; but the people did not seem to realize myembarrassment. And so it was decided by the acting Li Fa Yuan(i.e. the Senate) that the question of Kuo-ti (form of State)should be settled by the Convention of Citizens' Representatives.As the result, the representatives of the Provinces and of theSpecial Administrative Areas unanimously decided in favour of aconstitutional monarchy, and in one united voice elected me as theEmperor. Since the sovereignty of the country has been vested inthe citizens of China and as the decision was made by the entirebody of the representatives, there was no room left to me forfurther discussion. Nevertheless, I continued to be of theconviction that my sudden elevation to the Great Seat would be aviolation of my oath and would compromise my good faith, leavingme unable to explain myself; I, therefore, declined in earnestwords in order to make clear the view which hath always been mine.The said Senate however, stated with firmness that the oath of theChief Executive rested on a peculiar sanction and should beobserved or discarded according to the will of the people. Theirarguments were so irresistible that there was in truth no excusefor me further to decline the offer.

Therefore I took refuge behind the excuse of "preparations" inorder that the desire of the people might be satisfied. But I tookno steps actually to carry out the program. When the trouble inYunnan and Kueichow arose, a mandate was officially issuedannouncing the decision to postpone the measure and forbiddingfurther presentation of petitions praying for the enthronement. Ithen hastened the convocation of the Li Fa Yuan (i.e., a newParliament) in order to secure the views of that body and hopingthus to turn back to the original state of affairs, I, being a manof bitter experiences, had at once given up all ideas of worldaffairs; and having retired into the obscurity of the river Yuan(in Honan), I had no appetite for the political affairs of thecountry. As the result of the revolution in Hsin Hai, I was bymistake elected by the people. Reluctantly I came out of myretirement and endeavoured to prop up the tottering structure. Icared for nothing, but the salvation of the country. A perusal ofour history of several thousand years will reveal in vivid mannerthe sad fate of the descendants of ancient kings and emperors.What then could have prompted me to aspire to the Throne? Yetwhile the representatives of the people were unwilling to believein the sincerity of my refusal of the offer, a section of thepeople appear to have suspected me of harbouring the desire ofgaining more power and privileges. Such difference in thought hasresulted in the creation of an exceedingly dangerous situation. Asmy sincerity has not been such as to win the hearts of the peopleand my judgment has not been sound enough to appraise every man, Ihave myself alone to blame for lack of virtue. Why then should Iblame others? The people have been thrown into misery and mysoldiers have been made to bear hardships; and further the peoplehave been cast into panic and commerce has rapidly declined. WhenI search my own heart a measure of sorrow fills it. I shall,therefore, not be unwilling to suppress myself in order to yieldto others.

I am still of the opinion that the "designation petitions"submitted through the Tsan Cheng Yuan are unsuited to the demandsof the time; and the official acceptance of the Imperial Thronemade on the 11th day of the 12th month of last year (11thDecember, 1915) is hereby cancelled. The "designation petitions"of the Provinces and of the Special Administrative Areas arehereby all returned through the State Department to the Tsan ChengYuan, i.e., the acting Li Fa Yuan (Parliament), to be forwarded tothe petitioners for destruction; and all the preparationsconnected therewith are to cease at once. In this wise I hope toimitate the sincerity of the Ancients by taking on myself all theblame so that my action may fall in line with the spirit ofhumanity which is the expression of the will of Heaven. I nowcleanse my heart and wash my thoughts to the end that trouble maybe averted and the people may have peace. Those who advocated themonarchical system were prompted by the desire to strengthen thefoundation of the country; but as their methods have provedunsuitable their patriotism might harm the country. Those who haveopposed the monarchy have done so out of their desire to expresstheir political views. It may be therefore presumed that theywould not go to the extreme and so endanger the country. Theyshould, therefore, all hearken to the voice of their ownconscience and sacrifice their prejudices, and with one mind andone purpose unite in the effort of saving the situation so thatthe glorious descendants of the Sacred Continent may be spared thehorrors of internal warfare and the bad omens may be changed intolucky signs.

In brief I now confess that all the faults of the country are theresult of my own faults. Now that the acceptance of the ImperialThrone has been cancelled every man will be responsible for hisown action if he further disturbs the peace of the locality andthus give an opportunity to others. I, the Great President, beingcharged with the duty of ruling over the whole country, cannotremain idle while the country is racing to perdition. At thepresent moment the homesteads are in misery, discipline has beendisregarded, administration is being neglected and real talentshave not been given a chance. When I think of such conditions Iawake in the darkness of midnight. How can we stand as a nation ifsuch a state of affairs is allowed to continue? Hereafter allofficials should thoroughly get rid of their corrupt habits andendeavour to achieve merits. They should work with might and mainin their duties, whether in introducing reforms or in abolishingold corruptions. Let all be not satisfied with empty words andentertain no bias regarding any affair. They should hold up astheir main principle of administration the policy that onlyreality will count and deal out reward or punishment with strictpromptness. Let all our generals, officials, soldiers and peopleall, all, act in accordance with this ideal.

This attempt at an Amende honourable, so far from being well-received, was universally looked upon as an admission that YuanShih-kai had almost been beaten and that a little more wouldcomplete his ruin. Though, as we have said, the Northern troopswere fighting well in his cause on the upper reaches of the greatYangtsze, the movement against him was now spreading as though ithad been a dread contagious disease, the entire South unitingagainst Peking. His promise to open a proper Legislative Chamberon 1st May was met with derision. By the middle of April fiveprovinces—Yunnan, Kueichow, Kwangsi, Kwangtung and Chekiang—haddeclared their independence, and eight others were preparing tofollow suit. A Southern Confederacy, with a Supreme MilitaryCouncil sitting at Canton, was organized, the brutal Governor LungChi Kwang having been won over against his master, and the scholarLiang Ch'i-chao flitting from place to place, inspiring move aftermove. The old parliament of 1913 was reported to be assembling inShanghai, whilst terrorist methods against Peking officials werebruited abroad precipitating a panic in the capital and leading toan exodus of well-to-do families who feared a general massacre.

An open agitation to secure Yuan Shih-kai's complete retirementand exile now commenced. From every quarter notables begantelegraphing him that he must go,—including General Feng Kuo-chang who still held the balance of power on the Yangtsze. Everyenemy Yuan Shih-kai had ever had was also racing back to Chinafrom exile. By the beginning of May the situation was sothreatening that the Foreign Legations became alarmed and talkedof concerting measures to insure their safety. On the 6th May camethe coup de grace. The great province of Szechuan, which has apopulation greater than the population of France, declared itsindependence; and the whole Northern army on the upper reaches ofthe Yangtsze was caught in a trap. The story is still told withbated breath of the terrible manner in which Yuan Shih-kai satedhis rage when this news reached him—Szechuan being governed by aman he had hitherto thoroughly trusted—one General Chen Yi.Arming himself with a sword and beside himself with rage he burstinto the room where his favourite concubine was lying with hernewly-delivered baby. With a few savage blows he butchered themboth, leaving them lying in their gore, thus relieving theapoplectic stroke which threatened to overwhelm him. Nothingbetter illustrates the real nature of the man who had been so longthe selected bailiff of the Powers. On the 12th May it becamenecessary to suspend specie payment in Peking, the governmentbanks having scarcely a dollar of silver left, a last attempt tonegotiate a loan in America having failed. Meanwhile underinspiration of General Feng Kuo-chang, a conference to deal withthe situation was assembling at Nanking; but on the 11th May, theCanton Military Government, representing the Southern Confederacy,had already unanimously elected Vice-President Li Yuan Hung aspresident of the Republic, it being held that legally Yuan Shih-kai had ceased to be President when he had accepted the Throne onthe previous 13th December. The Vice-President, who had managed toremove his residence outside the Palace, had already receivedfriendly offers of protection from certain Powers which hedeclined, showing courage to the end. Even the Nanking Conference,though composed of trimmers and wobblers, decided that theretirement of Yuan Shih-kai was a political necessity, GeneralFeng Kuo-chang as chairman of the Conference producing at the lastmoment a telegram from the fallen Dictator declaring that he waswilling to go if his life and property were guaranteed.

A more dramatic collapse was, however, in store. As May drew to anend it was plain that there was no government at all left inPeking. The last phase had been truly reached. Yuan Shih-kai'snervous collapse was known to all the Legations which wereexceedingly anxious about the possibility of a soldiers' revolt inthe capital. The arrival of a first detachment of the savagehordes of General Chang Hsun added Byzantine touches to a picturealready lurid with a sickened ruler and the Mephistophelian figureof that ruler's ame damnee, the Secretary Liang Shih-yi, vainlystriving to transmute paper into silver, and find the wherewithalto prevent a sack of the capital. It was said at the time thatLiang Shih-yi had won over his master to trying one last throw ofthe dice. The troops of the remaining loyal Generals, such as NiShih-chung of Anhui, were transported up the Yangtsze in anattempt to restore the situation by a savage display,—but thateffort came to nought.

The situation had become truly appalling in Peking. It was evensaid that the neighbouring province of Shantung was to become aseparate state under Japanese protection. Although the Pekingadministration was still nominally the Central Government ofChina, it was amply clear to observers on the spot that by aprocess of successive collapses all that was left of governmentwas simply that pertaining to a city-state of the antique Greektype—a mal-administration dominated by the enigmatic personalityof Liang Shih-yi. The writ of the capital no longer ran more thanten miles beyond the city walls. The very Government Departments,disgusted with, and distrustful of, the many hidden influences atwork, had virtually declared their independence and went their ownway, demanding foreign dollars and foreign banknotes from thepublic, and refusing all Chinese money. The fine residium ofundisputed power left in the hands of the Mal-administrator-in-Chief, Liang Shih-yi, was the control of the copper cash marketwhich he busily juggled with to the very end netting a few lastthousands for his own purse, and showing that men like waterinevitably find their true level. In all China's tribulationsnothing similar had ever been seen. Even in 1900, after the Boxerbubble had been pricked and the Court had sought safety in flight,there was a certain dignity and majesty left. Then an immensemisfortune had fallen across the capital; but that misfortune waslike a cloak which hid the nakedness of the victim; and there wasat least no pretence at authority. In the Summer of 1916, had itnot been for the fact that an admirable police and gendarmeriesystem, comprising 16,000 men, secured the safety of the people,there can be little doubt that firing and looting would have dailytaken place and no woman been safe. It was the last phase ofpolitical collapse with a vengeance: and small wonder if allChinese officials, including even high police officers, sent theirvaluables either out of the city or into the Legation Quarter forsafe custody. Extraordinary rumours circulated endlessly among thecommon people that there would be great trouble on the occasion ofthe Dragon Festival, the 5th June; and what actually took placewas perhaps more than a coincidence.

Early on the 6th June an electric thrill ran through Peking—YuanShih-kai was dead! At first the news was not believed, but byeleven o'clock it was definitely known in the Legation Quarterthat he had died a few minutes after ten o'clock that morning fromuraemia of the blood—the surgeon of the French Legation being inattendance almost to the last. A certificate issued later by thisgentleman immediately quieted the rumours of suicide, though manystill refused to believe that he was actually dead. "I did notwish this end," he is reported to have whispered hoarsely a fewminutes before he expired, "I did not wish to be Emperor. Thosearound me said that the people wanted a king and named me for theThrone. I believed and was misled." And in this way did his lightflicker out. If there are sermons in stones and books in therunning brooks surely there is an eloquent lesson in this tragedy!Before expiring the wretched man issued the following DeathMandate in accordance with the ancient tradition, attempting asthe long night fell on him to make his peace with men:—

LAST MANDATE OF YUAN SHIH-KAI

The Min Kuo has been established for five years. Unworthily haveI, the Great President, been entrusted with the great task by thecitizens. Owing to my lack of virtue and ability I have not beenable fully to transform into deeds what I have desired toaccomplish; and I blush to say that I have not realized one ten-thousandth part of my original intention to save the country andthe people. I have, since my assumption of the office, worked inday and thought in the night, planning for the country. It is truethat the foundation of the country is not yet consolidated, thehardships of the people not yet relieved, and innumerable reformsare still unattended to. But by the valuable services of the civilofficials and militarymen, some semblance of peace and order hasbeen maintained in the provinces and friendly relations with thePowers upheld till now.

While on the one hand I comfort myself with such thingsaccomplished, on the other hand I have much to blame myself for. Iwas just thinking how I could retire into private life and restmyself in the forest and near the springs in fulfilment of myoriginal desire, when illness has suddenly overtaken me. As theaffairs of the State are of gravest importance, the right man mustbe secured to take over charge of the same. In accordance withArticle 29 of the Provisional Constitution, which states that incase the office of the Great President should be vacated forcertain reasons or when the Great President is incapacitated fromdoing his duties, the Vice-President shall exercise authority andpower in his stead. I, the Great President, declare in accordancewith the Provisional Constitution that the Vice-President shallexercise in an acting capacity, the authority and power of theGreat President of the Chung Hua Min Kuo.

The Vice-President being a man of courtesy, good nature,benevolence and wisdom, will certainly be capable of greatlylessening the difficulties of the day and place the country on thefoundation of peace, and so remedy the defects of me, the GreatPresident, and satisfy the expectations of the people of the wholecountry. The civil and military officials outside of the Capitalas well as the troops, police and scholars and people shoulddoubly keep in mind the difficulties and perils of the nation, andendeavour to maintain peace and order to the best of theirability, placing before everything else the welfare of thecountry. The ancients once said: "It is only when the living dotry to become strong that the dead are not dead." This is also thewish of me, the Great President.

(Signed) TUAN CHI-JUI, Secretary of State and Minister of War,
TSAO JU-LIN, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Communications.

WANG YI-TANG, Minister of Interior.

CHOW TZU-CHI, Minister of Finance.

LIU-KUAN-HSIUNG, Minister of Navy.

CHANG TSUNG-HSIANG, Minister of Justice and Agriculture and
Commerce.

CHANG KUO-KAN, Minister of Education.

6th day of the 6th month of the 5th year of Chung Hua Min Kuo.

This tragic denouement did not fail to awaken within very few daysamong thinking minds a feeling of profound sympathy for the deadman coupled with sharp disgust for the part that foreigners hadplayed—not all, of course—but a great number of them. Briefly,when all the facts are properly grouped it can be said that YuanShih-kai was killed by his foreign friends—by the sort of advicehe has been consistently given in Constitutional Law, in Finance,in Politics, in Diplomacy. It is easy to trace step by step thebroad road he had been tempted to travel, and to see how at eachturning-point the men who should have taught him how to be trueand loyal to the Western things the country had nominally adheredto from the proclamation of the Republic, showed him how to bedisloyal and untrue. The tragedy is one which is bound to bedeeply studied throughout the whole world when the facts areproperly known and there is time to think about them, and if thereis anything today left to poetic justice the West will know towhom to apportion the blame.

Yuan Shih-kai, the man, when he came out of retirement in 1911,was in many ways a wonderful Chinese: he was a fount of energy andof a physical sturdiness rare in a country whose governing classeshave hitherto been recruited from attenuated men, pale from studyand the lotus life. He had a certain task to which to put hishand, a huge task, indeed, since the reformation of four hundredmillions was involved, yet one which was not beyond him if wiselyadvised. He was an ignorant man in certain matters, but he had hadmuch political experience and apparently possessed a marvellousaptitude for learning. The people needed a leader to guide themthrough the great gateway of the West, to help them to acquirethose jewels of wisdom and experience which are a common heritage.An almost Elizabethan eagerness rilled them, as if a New Worldthey had never dreamed of had been suddenly discovered for themand lay open to their endeavours. China, hitherto derided as adecaying land, had been born anew; and in single massive gesturehad proclaimed that she, too, would belong to the elect and begoverned accordingly.

What was the foreign response—the official response? In everytransaction into which it was possible to import them, reactionand obscurantism were not only commonly employed but heartilyrecommended. Not one trace of genuine statesmanship, not one flashof altruism, was ever seen save the American flash in the pan of1913, when President Wilson refused to allow Americanparticipation in the great Reorganization Loan because he heldthat the terms on which it was to be granted infringed uponChina's sovereign rights. Otherwise there was nothing but a tacitendorsem*nt of the very policy which has been tearing the entrailsout of Europe—namely militarism. That was the fine fruit whichwas offered to a hopeful nation—something that would wither onthe branch or poison the people as they plucked it. They weretaught to believe that political instinct was the ability tomisrepresent in a convincing way the actions and arguments of youropponents and to profit by their mistakes—not that it is a mightyimpulse which can re-make nations. The Republic was declared bythe actions of Western bureaucrats to be a Republic pour rire, nota serious thing; and by this false and cruel assumption theykilled Yuan Shih-kai.

If that epitaph is written on his political tombstone, it will beas full of blinding truth as is only possible with Last Things.

THE NEW REGIME,—FROM 1916 TO 1917

Within an hour of the death of Yuan Shih-kai, the veteran GeneralTuan Chi-jui, in his capacity of Secretary of State, had called onVice-President Li Yuan-hung—the man whom years before he hadbeen sent to the Yangtsze to bring captive to Peking—and welcomedhim as President of the Republic. At one o'clock on the same daythe Ministers of the Allied Powers who had hastily assembled atthe Waichiaopu (Foreign Office), were informed that General LiYuan-hung had duly assumed office and that the peace and securityof the capital were fully guaranteed. No unrest of any sort needbe apprehended; for whilst rumours would no doubt circulate wildlyas soon as the populace realized the tragic nature of the climaxwhich had come, the Gendarmerie Corps and the Metropolitan Police—two forces that numbered 18,000 armed men—were taking everypossible precaution.

In spite of these assurances great uneasiness was felt. Theforeign Legations, which are very imperfectly informed regardingChinese affairs although living in the midst of them, could not beconvinced that internal peace could be so suddenly attained afterfive years of such fierce rivalries. Among the many gloomypredictions made at the time, the most common to fall from thelips of Foreign Plenipotentiaries was the remark that the Japanesewould be in full occupation of the country within three months—the one effective barrier to their advance having been removed. Nobetter illustration could be given of the inadequate grasp ofpolitics possessed by those whose peculiar business it should beto become expert in the science of cause and effect. In China, asin the Balkans, professional diplomacy errs so constantly becauseit has in the main neither the desire nor the training to studydispassionately from day to day all those complex phenomena whichgo to make up modern nationalism. Guided in its conduct almostentirely by a policy of personal predilections, which is fitfullyreinforced by the recollection of precedents, it is small wonderif such mountains of mistakes choke every Legation dossier.Determined to having nothing whatever to do, save in the lastresort, with anything that savours of Radicalism, and incliningnaturally towards ideals which have long been abandoned in theworkaday world, diplomacy is the instinctive lover of obscurantismand the furtive enemy of progress. Distrusting all those generousmovements which spring from the popular desire to benefit bychange, it follows from this that the diplomatic brotherhoodinclines towards those truly detestable things—secret compacts.In the present instance, having been bitterly disappointed by thecomplete collapse of the strong man theory, it was only naturalthat consolation should be sought by casting doubt on the future.Never have sensible men been so absurd. The life-story of YuanShih-kai, and the part European and Japanese diplomacy played inthat story, form a chapter which should be taught as a warning toall who enter politics as a career, since there is exhibited inthis history a complete compendium of all the more vicious traitsof Byzantinism.

The first acts of President Li Yuan-hung rapidly restoredconfidence and advertised to the keen-eyed that the end of thelong drawn-out Revolution had come. Calling before him all thegenerals in the capital, he told them with sincerity andsimplicity that their country's fortunes rested in their hands;and he asked them to take such steps as would be in the nature ofa permanent insurance against foreign interference in the affairsof the Republic. He was at once given fervent support. A massmeeting of the military was followed by the whole body ofcommissioned men volunteering to hold themselves personallyresponsible for the maintenance of peace and order in the capital.The dreadful disorders which had ushered in the Yuan Shih-kairegime were thus made impossible; and almost at once men wentabout their business as usual.

The financial wreckage left by the mad monarchy adventure was,however, appalling. Not only was there no money in the capital buthardly any food as well; for since the suspension of speciepayments country supplies had ceased entering the city as farmersrefused to accept inconvertible paper in payment for theirproduce. It became necessary for the government to sell at anominal price the enormous quantities of grain which had beenaccumulated for the army and the punitive expedition against theSouth; and for many days a familiar sight was the endless blue-coated queues waiting patiently to receive as in war-time theirstipulated pittance.

Meanwhile, although the troops remained loyal to the new regime,not so the monarchist politicians. Seeing that their hour ofobliteration had come, they spared no effort to sow secretdissensions and prevent the provinces from uniting again withPeking. It would be wearisome to give in full detail theinnumerable schemes which were now hourly formulated, to securethat the control of the country should not be exercised in alawful way. Finding that it was impossible to conquer the generaldetestation felt for them, the monarchists, led by Liang Shih-yi,changed their tactics and exhausted themselves in attempting tosecure the issue of a general annesty decree. But in spite ofevery argument President Li Yuan-hung remained unmoved and refusedabsolutely to consider their pardon. A just and merciful man, itwas his intention to allow the nation to speak its mind beforeissuing orders on the subject; but to show that he was no advocateof the terrorist methods practised by his predecessor, he nowissued a Mandate summarily abolishing the infamous Chih Fa Chu, orMilitary Court, which Yuan Shih-kai had turned into an engine ofjudicial assassination, and within whose gloomy precincts manythousands of unfortunate men had perished practically untried inthe period 1911-1916.

Meanwhile the general situation throughout the country only slowlyameliorated. The Northern Military party, determined to preventpolitical power from passing solely into the hands of the SouthernRadicals, bitterly opposed the revival of the Nanking ProvisionalConstitution, and denounced the re-convocation of the oldParliament of 1913, which had already assembled in Shanghai,preparatory to coming up to the capital. It needed a sharpmanoeuvre to bring them to their senses. The Chinese Navy,assembled in the waters near Shanghai, took action; and in anultimatum communicated to Peking by their Admiral, declared thatso long as the government in the hands of General Tuan Chi-juirefused to conform to popular wishes by reviving the NankingProvisional Constitution and resummoning the old Parliament, solong would the Navy refuse to recognize the authority of theCentral Government. With the fleet in the hands of the SouthernConfederacy, which had not yet been formally dissolved, the PekingGovernment was powerless in the whole region of the Yangtsze;consequently, after many vain manoeuvres to avoid this reasonableand proper solution, it was at last agreed that things should bebrought back precisely where they had been before the coup d'etatof the 4th November, 1913—the Peking Government beingreconstituted by means of a coalition cabinet in which there wouldbe both nominees of the North and South—the premiership remainingin the hands of General Tuan Chi-jui.

On the 28th June a long funeral procession wended its way from thePresidential Palace to the railway station; it was the remains ofthe great dictator being taken to their last resting-place inHonan. Conspicuous in this cortege was the magnificent stagecoachwhich had been designed to bear the founder of the new dynasty tohis throne but which only accompanied him to his grave. Thedetached attitude of the crowds and the studied simplicity of theprocession, which was designed to be republican, proved moreclearly than reams of arguments that China—despite herselfperhaps—had become somewhat modernized, the oldest country in theworld being now the youngest republic and timidly trying to learnthe lessons of youth.

Once Yuan Shih-kai had been buried, a Mandate ordering the summaryarrest of all the chief monarchist plotters was issued; but thegang of corrupt men had already sought safety in ignominiousflight; and it was understood that so long as they remained onsoil under foreign jurisdiction, no attempt would be made even toconfiscate their goods and chattels as would certainly have beendone under former governments. The days of treachery and double-dealing and cowardly revenge were indeed passing away and the newregime was committed to decency and fairplay. The task of the newPresident was no mean one, and in all the circ*mstances if hemanaged to steer a safe middle course and avoid both Caesarism andcomplete effacement, that is a tribute to his training. Born in1864 in Hupeh, one of the most important mid-Yangtsze provinces,President Li Yuan-hung was now fifty-two years old, and in theprime of life; but although he had been accustomed to a militaryatmosphere from his earliest youth his policy had never beenmilitaristic. His father having been in command of a force inNorth China for many years, rising from the ranks to the post oftsan chiang (Lieutenant-Colonel), had been constrained to give himthe advantage of a thoroughly modern training. At the age of 20 hehad entered the Naval School at Tientsin; whence six years laterhe had graduated, seeing service in the navy as an engineerofficer during the Chino-Japanese war of 1894. After that campaignhe had been invited by Viceroy Chang Chih-tung, then one of themost distinguished of the older viceroys, to join his staff atNanking, and had been entrusted with the supervision of theconstruction of the modern forts at the old Southern capital,which played such a notable part in the Revolution. When ChangChih-tung was transferred to the Wuchang viceroyalty, General LiYuan-hung had accompanied him, actively participating in thetraining of the new Hupeh army, and being assisted in that work byGerman instructors. In 1897 he had gone to Japan to studyeducational, military and administrative methods, returning toChina after a short stay, but again proceeding to Tokyo in 1897 asan officer attached to the Imperial Guards. In the autumn of thefollowing year he had returned to Wuchang and been appointedCommander of the Cavalry. Yet another visit was paid by him toJapan in 1902 to attend the grand military manoeuvres, thesejourneys giving him a good working knowledge of Japanese, inaddition to the English which had been an important item in thecurriculum of the Naval School, and which he understandsmoderately well. In 1903 he was promoted Brigadier General, beingsubsequently gazetted as the Commander of the 2nd Division ofRegulars (Chang Pei Chun) of Hupeh. He also constantly heldvarious subsidiary posts, in addition to his substantiveappointment, connected with educational and administrative work ofvarious kinds, and has therefore a sound grasp of provincialgovernment. He was Commander-in-Chief of the 8th Division duringthe famous military manoeuvres of 1906 at Changtehfu in Honanprovince, which are said to have been given birth to the idea of auniversal revolt against the Manchus by using the army as thechief instrument.

On the memorable day of October 11, 1911, when the standard ofrevolt was raised at Wuchang, somewhat against his will as he wasa loyal officer, he was elected military Governor, thus becomingthe first real leader of the Republic. Within the space of tendays his leadership had secured the adhesion of fourteen provincesto the Republican cause; and though confronted by gravedifficulties owing to insufficiency of equipment and militarysupplies, he fought the Northern soldiery for two months aroundWuchang with varying success. He it was, when the Republic hadbeen formally established and the Manchu regime made a thing ofthe past, who worked earnestly to bring about better relationsbetween the armies of North and South China which had been arrayedagainst one another during many bitter weeks. It was he, also, whowas the first to advocate the complete separation of the civil andmilitary administration—the administrative powers in the earlydays of the Republic being entirely in the hands of the militarygovernors of the provinces who recruited soldiery in totaldisregard to the wishes of the Central Government. Although thisreform has even today only been partially successful, there is noreason to doubt that before the Republic is many years older theidea of the military dictating the policy and administration ofthe country will pass away. The so-called Second Revolution of1913 awakened no sympathy in General Li Yuan-hung, because he wasopposed to internal strife and held that all Chinese should workfor unity and concerted reform rather than indulge in fruitlessdissensions. His disapproval of the monarchy movement had beenequally emphatic in the face of an ugly outlook. He was repeatedlyapproached by the highest personages to give in his adhesion toYuan Shih-kai becoming emperor, but he persistently refusedalthough grave fears were publicly expressed that he would beassassinated. Upon the formal acceptance of the Throne by YuanShih-kai, he had had conferred on him a princedom which hesteadfastly refused to accept; and when the allowances of a princewere brought to him from the Palace he returned them with thestatement that as he had not accepted the title the money was nothis. Every effort to break his will proved unavailing, hispatience and calmness contributing very materially to the vastmoral opposition which finally destroyed Yuan Shih-kai.

Such was the man who was called upon to preside over the newgovernment and parliament which was now assembling in Peking; andcertainly it may be counted as an evidence of China's traditionalluck which brought him to the helm. General Li Yuan Hung knew wellthat the cool and singular plan which had been pursued to forge anational mandate for a revival of the empire would take yearscompletely to obliterate, and that the octopus-hold of theMilitary Party—the army being the one effective organizationwhich had survived the Revolution—could not be loosened in aday,—in fact would have to be tolerated until the nation asserteditself and showed that it could and would be master. In thecirc*mstances his authority could not but be very limited,disclosing itself in passive rather than in active ways. Wishingto be above all a constitutional President, he quickly saw that aninterregnum must be philosophically accepted during which thePermanent Constitution would be worked out and the various partiesforced to a general agreement; and thanks to this decision theyear which has now elapsed since Yuan Shih-kai's death has beenalmost entirely eventless, with the exception of the crisis whicharose over the war-issue, a matter which is fully discussedelsewhere.

Meanwhile, in the closing months of 1916, the position was not alittle singular. Two great political parties had arisen throughthe Revolution—the Kuo Ming Tang or Nationalists, who includedall the Radical elements, and the Chinputang or Progressives,whose adherents were mainly men of the older official classes, andtherefore conservative. The Yunnan movement, which had led to theoverthrow of Yuan Shih-kai, had been inspired and very largelydirected by the scholar Liang Ch'i-chao, a leader of theChinputang. To this party, then, though numerically inferior tothe Kuo Ming Tang, was due the honour and credit of re-establishing the Republic, the Kuo Ming Tang being under a cloudowing to the failure of the Second Revolution of 1913 which it hadengineered. Nevertheless, owing to the Kuo Ming Tang being moregenuinely republican, since it was mainly composed of younger andmore modern minds, it was from its ranks that the greatest checkto militarism sprang; and therefore although its work wasnecessarily confined to the Council-chamber, its moral influencewas very great and constantly representative of the civilianelement as opposed to the militarist. By staking everything on thenecessity of adhering to the Nanking Provisional Constitutionuntil a permanent instrument was drawn up, the Kuo Ming Tangrapidly established an ascendancy; for although the NankingConstitution had admittedly failed to bring representativegovernment because of the difficulty of defining powers in such away as to make a practical autocracy impossible, it had at leastestablished as a basic principle that China could no longer beruled as a family possession, which in itself marked a greatadvance on all previous conceptions. President Li Yuan-hung'spolicy, in the circ*mstances, was to play the part of a moderatorand to seek to bring harmony to a mass of heterogeneous elementsthat had to carry out the practical work of government over fourhundred millions of people.

His success was at the outset hampered by the appeal the militarywere quick in making to a new method—to offset the power ofParliament in Peking. We have already dealt with the evils of thecircular telegram in China—surely one of the most unexpectedresults of adapting foreign inventions to native life. By means ofthese telegraphic campaigns a rapid exchange of views is madepossible among the provincial governors; and consequently in theautumn of 1916, inspired by the Military Party, a wholly illegalConference of generals was organized by the redoubtable oldGeneral Chang Hsun on the Pukow railway for the purpose ofoverawing parliament, and securing that the Military Partyretained a controlling hand behind the scenes. It is perhapsunnecessary today to do more than note the fact that the peace ofthe country was badly strained by this procedure; but thanks tomoderate counsels and the wisdom of the President no open breachoccurred and there is reason to believe that this experiment willnot be repeated,—at least not in the same way. [Footnote:Although the events dealt with in Chapter XVI have brought Chinaface to face with a new crisis the force of the arguments usedhere is in no wise weakened.]

The difficulty to be solved is of an unique nature. It is not thatthe generals and the Military Party are necessarily reactionary:it is that, not belonging to the intellectual-literary portion ofthe ruling elements, they are less advanced and less accustomed toforeign ways, and therefore more in touch with the older Chinawhich lingers on in the vast agricultural districts, and in allthose myriad of townships which are dotted far and wide across theprovinces to the confines of Central Asia. Naturally it is hardfor a class of men who hold the balance of power and carry on muchof the actual work of governing to submit to the paper decrees ofan institution they do not accept as being responsible andrepresentative: but many indications are available that when aPermanent Constitution has been promulgated, and made an articleof faith in all the schools, a change for the better will come andthe old antagonisms gradually disappear.

It is on this Constitution that Parliament has been at work eversince it re-assembled in August, 1916, and which is nowpractically completed. Sitting together three times a week as aNational Convention, the two Houses have subjected the DraftConstitution (which was prepared by a Special ParliamentaryDrafting Committee) to a very exhaustive examination anddiscussion. Many violent scenes have naturally marked the progressof this important work, the two great parties, the Kuo Ming Tangand the Chinputang, coming to loggerheads again and again. But inthe main the debates and the decisions arrived at have beensatisfactory and important, because they have tended to express ina concrete and indisputable form the present state of the Chinesemind and its immense underlying commonsense. Remarkablediscussions and fierce enmities, for instance, marked the finaldecision not to make the Confucian cult the State Religion; butthere is not the slightest doubt that in formally registering thisveritable revolution in the secret stronghold of Chinese politicalthought, a Bastille has been overthrown and the ground left clearfor the development of individualism and personal responsibilityin a way which was impossible under the leaden formulae of thegreatest of the Chinese sages. In defining the relationship whichmust exist between the Central Government and the provinces evenmore formidable difficulties have been encountered, the apostlesof decentralization and the advocates of centralization refusingfor many months to agree on the so-called Provincial system, andthen fighting a battle A OUTRANCE on the question of whether thisbody of law should form a chapter in the Constitution or be simplyan annexure to the main instrument. The agreement which wasfinally arrived at—to make it part and parcel of theConstitution—was masterly in that it has secured that thesovereignty of the people will not tend to be expressed in theprovincial dietines which have now been re-erected (after havingbeen summarily destroyed by Yuan Shih-kai) the Central Parliamentbeing left the absolute master. This for a number of years will nodoubt be more of a theory than a practice; but there is everyindication that parliamentary government will within a limitedperiod be more successful in China than in some Europeancountries; and that the Chinese with their love of well-established procedure and cautious action, will select open debateas the best method of sifting the grain from the chaff anddeciding every important matter by the vote of the majority.Already in the period of 1916-1917 Parliament has more thanjustified its re-convocation by becoming a National WatchCommittee. Interpellations on every conceivable subject have beenconstant and frequent; fierce verbal assaults are delivered onCabinet Ministers; and slowly but inexorably a real sense ofMinisterial responsibility is being created, the fear of having torun the gauntlet of Parliament abating, if it has not yet entirelydestroyed, many malpractices. In the opinion of the writer in lessthan ten years Parliament will have succeeded in coalescing thecountry into an organic whole, and will have placed the Cabinet insuch close daily relations with it that something very similar tothe Anglo-Saxon theory of government will be impregnablyentrenched in Peking. That such a miracle should be possible inextreme Eastern Asia is one more proof that there are no victoriesbeyond the capacity of the human mind.

Meanwhile, for the time being, in China as in countries tenthousand miles away, ministerial irresponsibility is the enemy;that is to say that so-called Cabinet-rule, with the effacement ofthe Chief Executive, has tended to make Cabinet Ministers removedfrom effective daily control. All sorts of things are done whichshould not be done and men are still in charge of portfolios whoshould be summarily expelled from the capital for malpractices.[Footnote: Since this was written two Cabinet Ministers have beensummarily arrested.] But although Chinese are slow to take actionand prefer to delay all decisions until they have about them theinexorable quality which is associated with Fate, there is not theslightest doubt that in the long run the dishonest suffer, and anincreasingly efficient body of men take their place. From everypoint of view then there is reason for congratulation in thepresent position, and every hope that the future will unrollpeacefully.

A visit to Parliament under the new regime is a revelation to mostmen: the candid come away with an impression which is nevereffaced from their minds. There is a peculiar suggestiveness evenin the location of the Houses of the National Assembly. They aretucked away in the distant Western city immediately under theshadow of the vast Tartar Wall as if it had been fully expectedwhen they were called into being that they would never justifytheir existence, and that the crushing weight of the great bastionof brick and stone surrounding the capital would soon prove tothem how futile it was for such palpable intruders to aspire tonational control. Under Yuan Shih-kai, as under the Manchus, theywere an exercise in the arm of government, something which wasnever to be allowed to harden into a settled practice. They werefirst cousins to railways, to electrical power, to metalledroadways and all those other modern instances beginning to modifyan ancient civilization entirely based on agriculture; and becausethey were so distantly related to the real China of the farm-yardit was thought that they would always stand outside the nationallife.

That was what the fools believed. Yet in a copy of the rules ofprocedure of the old Imperial Senate (Tzuchengyuan) the writerfinds this note written in 1910: "The Debates of this body havebeen remarkable during the very first session. They make it seemclear that the first National Parliament of 1913 will seizecontrol of China and nullify the power of the Throne. Result,revolution—" Though the dating is a little confused, the prophecyis worthy of record.

The watchfulness of the special police surrounding the Parliamentof 1916-1917 and the great number of these men also tells a storyas eloquent as the location of the building. It is not so muchthat any contemplated violence sets these guardians here as thenecessity to advertise that there has been unconstitutionalviolence in the past which, if possible, will be rigidly defeatedin the future. Probably no National Assembly in the world has beenheld up to greater contempt than the Parliament of Peking andprobably no body deserves it less. An afternoon spent in the Houseof Representatives would certainly surprise most open-minded menwho have been content to believe that the Chinese experiment waswhat some critics have alleged it to be. The Chinese as a people,being used to guild-house proceedings, debates, in which thewelfare of the majority is decided after an examination of theprinciples at stake, are a very old and well-established custom;and though at present there are awkwardnesses and gaucheries to benoted, when practice has become better fixed, the common sense ofthe race will abundantly disclose itself and make a lasting markon contemporary history. There can be no doubt about this at all.Take your seat in the gallery and see for yourself. The firstquestion which rises to the lips is—where are the young men,those crude and callow youths masquerading as legislators whichthe vernacular press has so excessively lampooned? The majority ofthe members, so far from being young, are men of thirty or forty,or even fifty, with intelligent and tired faces that have lost theSpring of youth. Here and there you will even see venerablegreybeards suffering from rheumy coughs who ought to be at home;and though occasionally there is a lithe youngster in Europeanclothes with the veneer he acquired abroad not yet completelyrubbed off, the total impression is that of oldish men who havereached years of maturity and who are as representative of thecountry and as good as the country is in a position today toprovide. No one who knows the real China can deny that.

The Continental arrangement of the Members' desks and the raisedtribune of the Speaker, with its rows of clerks and recorders,make an impression of orderliness, tinged nevertheless with afaint revolutionary flavour. Perhaps it is the straight blackChinese hair and the rich silk clothing, set on a very plain andunadorned background, which recall the pictures of the FrenchRevolution. It is somehow natural in such circ*mstances that thereshould occasionally be dramatic outbursts with the blood ofoffenders bitterly demanded as though we were not living in theTwentieth Century when blood alone is admittedly no satisfaction.The presence of armed House police at every door, and in the frontrows of the strangers' gallery as well, contributes to thisimpression which has certain qualities of the theatre about it andis oddly stimulating. China at work legislating has alreadycreated her first traditions: she is proceeding deliberatelyarmed—with the lessons of the immediate past fully noted.

This being the home of a literary race, papers and notebooks areon most Members' desks. As the electric bells ring sharply anunending procession of men file in to take their seats, for therehas been a recess and the House has been only half-filled. Nearlyevery one is in Chinese dress (pien-yi) with the Member's badgepinned conspicuously on the breast. The idea speedily becomes aconviction that this after all is not extraneous to the nation butactually of the living flesh, a vital and imperative thing. Thevastness and audacity of it all cannot fail to strike theimaginative mind, for the four or five hundred men who aregathered here typify, if they do not yet represent, the four orfive hundred millions who make up the country. You see as it werethe nation in profile, a ponderous, slow-moving mass, quicklyresponsive to curious subconscious influences—suddenly angry andsuddenly calm again because Reason has after all always been thegreat goddess which is perpetually worshipped. All are scholarlyand deliberate in their movements. When the Speaker calls theHouse in order and the debate commences, deep silence comes savefor the movement of hundreds of nervous hands that touch papers orfidget to and fro. Every man uses his hands, particularly when hespeaks, not clenched as a European would do, but open, with theslim figures speaking a language of their own, twisting, turning,insinuating, deriding, a little history of compromises. It wouldbe interesting to write the story of China from a study of thehands.

Each man goes to the rostrum to speak, and each has much to say.Soon another impression deepens—that the Northerners with theirclear-cut speech and their fuller voices have an advantage overthe Southerners of the kind that all public performers know. Themandarin language of Peking is after all the mother-language ofofficialdom, the madre linqua, less nervous and more precise thanany other dialect and invested with a certain air of authoritywhich cannot be denied. The sharp-sounding, high-pitched Southernvoice, though it may argue very acutely and rapidly, appears at anincreasing disadvantage. There seems to be a tendency inherent init to become querulous, to make its pleading sound speciousbecause of over-much speech. These are curious little things whichhave been not without influence in other regions of the world.

The applause when it comes proves the same thing as applause doeseverywhere; that if you want to drive home your points in a largeassembly you must be condensed and simple, using broad, slashingarguments. This is precisely what distinguishes melodrama fromdrama, and which explains why excessive analysis is no argument inthe popular mind. Generally, however, there is not much applauseand the voice of the speaker wanders through the halluninterrupted by signs of content or discontent. Sometimes,although rather rarely, there is a gust of laughter as a point isscored against a hated rival. But it dies away as suddenly as itarose—almost before you have noted it, as if it were superfluousand must make room for more serious things.

With the closing of a debate there is the vote. An electric bellrings again, and with a rough hand the House police close all theexits. The clerks come down into the aisles. They seem to movelistlessly and indifferently; yet very quickly they have checkedthe membership to insure that the excessively large quorumrequisite is present. Now the Speaker calls for the vote.Massively and stiffly, as at a word of command the "ayes" rise intheir seats. There is a round of applause; the bill has beencarried almost unanimously. That, however, is not always so. Whenthere is an obstreperous mood abroad, the House will decline toproceed with the agenda, and a dozen men will rise at a time andspeak from behind their desks, trying to talk each other down. TheSpeaker stands patiently wrestling with the problem of procedure—and often failing since practice is still in process of beingformed. Years must elapse before absolutely hard-and-fast rulesare established. Still the progress already made since August,1916, is remarkable, and something is being learned every day. Thebusiness of a Parliament is after all to debate—to give voice tothe uppermost thoughts in the nation's mind; and how thosethoughts are expressed is a continual exposition of the real stateof the nation's political beliefs. Parliament is—or should be—amicrocosm of the race; parliament is never any better or any worsethan the mass of the people. The rule of the majority as expressedin the voting of the National Assembly must be taken as afundamental thing; China is no exception to the rule—the rule ofthe majority must be decisive.

But here another complexity of the new Chinese political lifeenters into the problem. The existence of a responsible Cabinet,which is not yet linked to the Legislative body in any well-understood way, and which furthermore has frequently acted inopposition to the President's office, makes for a daily strugglein the administration of the country which is strongly to becondemned and which has already led to some ugly clashes. Butnevertheless there are increasing indications that parliamentarygovernment is making steady headway and that when both thePermanent Constitution and the Local Government system have beenenforced, a new note will be struck. No doubt it will need ayounger generation in office to secure a complete abandonment ofall the old ways, but the writer has noted with astonishmentduring the past twelve-month how eager even viceroys belonging tothe old Manchu regime have become to fall in with the new orderand to lend their help, a sharp competition to obtain ministerialposts being evident in spite of the fact that the gauntlet ofParliament has to be run and a majority vote recorded before anyappointment is valid.

One last anomaly has, however, yet to be done away with in Peking.The deposed boy Emperor still resides in the Winter Palacesurrounded by a miniature court,—a state of affairs which shouldnot be tolerated any longer as it no doubt tends to assist therumours which every now and again are mysteriously spread byinterested parties that a Restoration is imminent. The time hasarrived when not only must the Manchu Imperial Family be removedfar from the capital but a scheme worked out for commuting thepension-system of so-called Bannerman families who still drawtheir monthly allowances as under the Manchus, thanks to thearticles of Favourable Treatment signed at the time of abdicationof 1912. When these two important questions have been settled,imperialism in China will tend rapidly to fade into completeoblivion.

THE REPUBLIC IN COLLISION WITH REALITY: TWO TYPICAL INSTANCES OF"FOREIGN AGGRESSION"

Such, then, were the internal conditions which the newadministration was called upon to face with the death of YuanShih-kai. With very little money in the National Treasury and withthe provinces unable or unwilling to remit to the capital a singledollar, it was fortunate that at least one public service, erectedunder foreign pressure, should be brilliantly justifying itsexistence. The Salt Administration, efficiently reorganized in thespace of three years by the great Indian authority, Sir RichardDane, was now providing a monthly surplus of nearly five milliondollars; and it was this revenue which kept China alive during atroubled transitional period when every one was declaring that shemust die. By husbanding this hard cash and mixing it liberallywith paper money, the Central Government has been able since June,1916, to meet its current obligations and to keep the generalmachinery from breaking down.

But in a country such as China new dangers have to be constantlyfaced and smoothed away—the interests of the outer world pressingon the country and conflicting with the native interest at amyriad points. And in order to illustrate and make clear the sortof daily exacerbation which the nation must endure because of thevastness of its territory and the octopus-hold of the foreigner wegive two typical cases of international trouble which haveoccurred since Yuan Shih-kai's death. The first is the well-knownChengchiatun incident which occurred in Manchuria in August, 1916:the second is the Laohsikai affair which took place in Tientsin inNovember of the same year and created a storm of rage againstFrance throughout North China which, at the moment of writing hasnot yet abated.

The facts about the Chengchiatun incident are incredibly simpleand merit being properly told. Chengchiatun is a small Mongol-Manchurian market-down lying some sixty miles west of the SouthManchurian railway by the ordinary cart-roads, though as the crowflies the distance is much less. The country round about is "newcountry," the prefecture in which Chengchiatun lies beingoriginally purely Mongol territory on which Chinese squatted insuch numbers that it was necessary to erect the ordinary Chinesecivil administration. Thirty or forty miles due west of the towncultivation practically ceases; and then nothing meets the eye butthe rolling grasslands of Mongolia, with their sparse encampmentsof nomad horsem*n and shepherds which stretch so monotonously intothe infinities of High Asia.

The region is strategically important because the trade-routesconverge there from the growing marts of the Taonanfuadministration, which is the extreme westernly limit of Chineseauthority in the Mongolian borderland. A rich exchange in hides,furs, skins, cattle and foodstuffs has given this frontier-townfrom year to year an increasing importance in the eyes of theChinese who are fully aware of the dangers of a laissez allerpolicy and are determined to protect the rights they have acquiredby pre-emption. The fact that notorious Mongol brigand-chiefs,such as the famous Babachapu who was allied to the ManchuRestoration Party and who was said to have been subsidized by theJapanese Military Party, had been making Chengchiatun one of theirobjectives, brought concern early in 1916 to the Moukden Governor,the energetic General Chang Tso-lin, who in order to cope with thedanger promptly established a military cordon round the district,with a relatively large reserve based on Chengchiatun, drawn fromthe 28th Army Division. A certain amount of desultory fightingmonths before any one had heard of the town had given Chengchiatunthe odour of the camp; and when in the summer the Japanese beganmilitary manoeuvres in the district with various scattereddetachments, on the excuse that the South Manchuria railway zonewhere they alone had the right under the Portsmouth Peace Treatyto be, was too cramped for field exercises, it became apparentthat dangerous developments might be expected—particularly as abody of Japanese infantry was billeted right in the centre of thetown.

On the 13th August a Japanese civilian at Chengchiatun—there isa small Japanese trading community there—approached a Chinese boywho was selling fish. On the boy refusing to sell at the priceoffered him, the Japanese caught hold of him and started beatinghim. A Chinese soldier of the 28th Division who was passingintervened; and a scuffle commenced in which other Chinesesoldiers joined and which resulted in the Japanese being severelyhandled. After the Chinese had left him, the man betook himself tothe nearest Japanese post and reported that he had been grievouslyassaulted by Chinese soldiers for no reason whatsoever. A Japanesegensdarme made a preliminary investigation in company with theman; then returning to the Japanese barracks, declared that hecould find no one in authority; that his attempts at discoveringthe culprits had been resisted; and that he must have help. TheJapanese officer in command, who was a captain, detailed alieutenant and twenty men to proceed to the Chinese barracks toobtain satisfaction from the Chinese Commander—using force ifnecessary. It was precisely in this way that the play was set inmotion.

The detachment marched off to the headquarters of the offendingChinese detachment, which was billeted in a pawnshop, and tried toforce their way past a sentry who stood his ground, into the innercourtyards. A long parley ensued with lowered bayonets; and atlast on the Chinese soldier absolutely refusing to give way, thelieutenant gave orders to cut him down. There appears to be nodoubt about these important facts—that is to say, that the actof war was the deliberate attack by a Japanese armed detachment ona Chinese sentry who was guarding the quarters of his Commander.

A frightful scene followed. It appears that scattered groups ofChinese soldiers, some with their arms, and some without, hadcollected during this crisis and point-blank firing at oncecommenced. The first shots appear to have been fired—though thiswas never proved—by a Chinese regimental groom, who was standingwith some horses some distance away in the gateway of somestabling and who is said to have killed or wounded the largestnumber of Japanese. In any case seven Japanese soldiers werekilled outright, five more mortally wounded and four severely so,the Chinese themselves losing four killed, besides a number ofwounded. The remnant of the Japanese detachment after this rudereverse managed to retreat with their wounded officer to their ownbarracks where the whole detachment barricaded themselves in,firing for many hours at everything that moved on the roads thoughabsolutely no attempt was made by the Chinese soldiery to advanceagainst them.

The sound of this heavy firing, and the wild report that manyJapanese had been killed, had meanwhile spread panic throughoutthe town, and there was a general sauve qui pent, a terribleretribution being feared. The local Magistrate finally restoredsome semblance of order; and after dark proceeded in person withsome notables of the town to the Japanese barracks to tender hisregrets and to arrange for the removal of the Japanese corpseswhich were lying just as they had fallen, and which Chinese customdemanded should be decently cared for, though they constitutedimportant and irrefragible evidence of the armed invasion whichhad been practised. The Japanese Commander, instead of meetingthese conciliatory attempts half-way, thereupon illegally arrestedthe Magistrate and locked him up, being impelled to this action bythe general fear among his men that a mass attack would be made inthe night by the Chinese troops in garrison and the whole commandwiped out. Nothing, however, occurred and on the 14th instant theMagistrate was duly released on his sending for his son to takehis place as hostage. On the 16th the Magistrate had successfullyarranged the withdrawal of all Chinese troops five miles outsidethe town to prevent further clashes. On the 15th Japanese cavalryand infantry began to arrive in large numbers from the SouthManchuria railway zone (where they alone have the Treaty right tobe) and the town of Chengchiatun was arbitrarily placed by them ina state of siege.

Here is the stuff of which the whole incident was made: there isnothing material beyond the facts stated which illustrate veryglaringly the manner in which a strong Power acts towards a weakone.

Meanwhile the effect in Tokyo of these happenings had beenelectrical. Relying on the well-known Japanese police axiom, thatthe man who gets in his story first is the prosecutor and theaccused the guilty party, irrespective of what the evidence maybe, the newspapers all came out with the same account of acalculated attack by "ferocious Chinese soldiers" on a Japanesedetachment and the general public were asked to believe that anumber of their enlisted nationals had been deliberately andbrutally murdered. It was not, however, until more than a weekafter the incident that an official report was published by theTokyo Foreign Office, when the following garbled account wasdistributed far and wide as the Japanese case:—

"When one Kiyokishy Yoshimoto, aged 27, an employee of a Japaneseapothecary at Chengchiatun, was passing the headquarters of theChinese troops on the 13th instant, a Chinese soldier stopped him,and, with some remarks, which were unintelligible to the Japanese,suddenly struck him on the head. Yoshimoto became enraged, but wassoon surrounded by a large number of Chinese soldiers and others,who subjected him to all kind of humiliation. As a result of thislawlessness on the part of the Chinese, the Japanese sustainedinjuries in seven or eight places, but somehow he managed to breakaway and reach a Japanese police box, where he applied for help.On receipt of this news, a policeman, named Kowase, hastened tothe spot, but by the time he arrived there all the offenders hadfled. He therefore repaired to the headquarters of the Chinese tolay a complaint, but the sentry stopped him, and presented apistol at him, and under these circ*mstances he was obliged toapply to the Japanese Garrison headquarters, where Captain Inoneinstructed Lieutenant Matsuo with twenty men to escort thepoliceman to the Chinese headquarters. When the party approachedthe Chinese headquarters, Chinese troops began to fire, and thepolicemen and others were either killed or wounded. Despite thefact that the Japanese troops retired, the Chinese troops did notgive up firing, but besieged the Japanese garrison, deliveringseveral severe attacks. Soon after the fighting ceased, theChinese authorities visited the Japanese barracks, and expressedthe desire that the affair be settled amicably. It was theoriginal intention of the Japanese troops to fight it out, butthey were completely out-numbered, and lest the safety of theJapanese residents be endangered, they stopped fighting. Onexamination of the dead bodies of seven Japanese soldiers, whowere attacked outside the barracks, it was discovered that theyhad been all slain by the Chinese troops, the bodies bearing marksof violence."

Without entering again into the merits of the case, we would askthose who are acquainted with recent history whether it is likelythat Chinese soldiers, knowing all the pains and penaltiesattaching to such action, would deliberately attack a body oftwenty armed Japanese under an officer as the Japanese officialaccount states? We believe that no impartial tribunal,investigating the matter on the spot, could fail to point out thereal aggressors and withal lay bare the web of a most amazingstate of affairs. For in order to understand what occurred, on the13th August, 1916, it is necessary to turn far away fromChengchiatun and see what lies behind it all.

At the back of the brain of the Japanese Military Party, which byno means represents the Japanese nation or the Japanese Governmentalthough it exercises a powerful influence on both, is the fixedidea that South Manchuria and Inner Mongolia must be turned into astrongly held and fortified Japanese ENCLAVE, if the balance ofpower in Eastern Asia is to be maintained. Pursuant to this idea,Japanese diplomacy was induced many months ago to concentrate itsefforts on winning—if not wringing—from Russia thestrategically important strip of railway south of the SungariRiver, because (and this should be carefully noted) with theSungari as the undisputed dividing-line between the Russian andJapanese spheres in Manchuria, and with Japanese shallow-draftgun-boats navigating that waterway and entering the Nonni river,it would be easily possible for Japan to complete a "Continentalquadrilateral" which would include Korea, South Manchuria andInner Mongolia, the extreme western barrier of which would be thenew system of Inner Mongolian railways centring round Taonanfu andterminating at Jehol, for which Japan already holds the buildingrights. [Footnote: Russian diplomats now deny that the Japaneseproposals regarding the cession of the railway south of theSungari river have ever been formally agreed to.] policing rights—in the outer zone of this enclave,—with a total exclusion of allChinese garrisons, is the preliminary goal towards which theJapanese Military Party has been long plainly marching; and longbefore anybody had heard of Chengchiatun, a scheme ofreconnoitring detachments had been put in force to spy out theland and form working alliances with the Mongol bands in order toharass and drive away all the representatives of Chineseauthority. What occurred, then, at Chengchiatun might have takenplace at any one of half-a-dozen other places in this vast andlittle-known region whither Japanese detachments have silentlygone; and if Chinese diplomacy in the month of August, 1916, wasfaced with a rude surprise, it was only what political studentshad long been expecting. For though Japan should be the realdefender of Chinese liberties, it is a fact that in Chineseaffairs Japanese diplomacy has been too long dictated to by theMilitary Party in Tokio and attempts nothing save when violenceallows it to tear from China some fresh portion of herindependence.

And here we reach the crux of the matter. One of the little knownpeculiarities of the day lies in the fact that Japan is the landof political inaction because there is no tradition of action savethat which has been built up by the military and naval chiefssince the Chinese war of 1894-95. Having only visualized the worldin international terms during two short decades, there has been notime for a proper tradition to be created by the civil governmentof Japan; and because there is no such tradition, the islandempire of the East has no true foreign policy and is at the mercyof manufactured crises, being too often committed to pettyadventures which really range her on the side of those in Europethe Allies have set themselves to destroy. It is for this reasonthat the Chinese are consistently treated as though they werehewers of wood and drawers of water, helots who are occasionallyflattered in the columns of the daily press and yet are secretlylooked upon as men who have been born merely to be cuffed andconquered. The Moukden Governor, General Chang Tso-ling,discussing the Chengchiatun affair with the writer, put the matterin a nutshell. Striking the table he exclaimed: "After all we arenot made of wood like this, we too are flesh and blood and mustdefend our own people. A dozen times I have said, 'Let them comeand take Manchuria openly if they dare, but let them cease theirchildish intrigues.' Why do they not do so? Because they are notsure they can swallow us—not at all sure. Do you understand? Weare weak, we are stupid, we are divided, but we are innumerable,and in the end, if they persist, China will burst the Japanesestomach."

Such passionate periods are all very well, but when it comes tothe sober business of the council chamber it is a regrettable factthat Chinese, although foreign friends implore them to do so, donot properly use the many weapons in their armoury. Thus in thisparticular case, instead of at once hurrying to Chengchiatun someof the many foreign advisers who sit kicking their heels in Pekingfrom one end of the year to the other and who number competentjurisconsults, China did next to nothing. No proper report wasdrawn up on the spot; sworn statements were not gathered, nor werewitnesses brought to Peking; and it therefore happened that whenJapan filed her demands for redress, China had not in herpossession anything save an utterly inadequate defence. Mainlybecause of this she was forced to agree to foregoing any directdiscussion of the rights and wrongs of the case, proceedingdirectly to negotiations based on the various claims which Japanfiled and which were as follows:—

1. Punishment of the General commanding the 28th Division.

2. The dismissal of officers at Chengchiatun responsible for theoccurrence as well as the severe punishment of those who tookdirect part in the fracas.

3. Proclamations to be posted ordering all Chinese soldiers andcivilians in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia to refrainfrom any act calculated to provoke a breach of the peace withJapanese soldiers or civilians.

4. China to agree to the stationing of Japanese police officers inplaces in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia where theirpresence was considered necessary for the protection of Japanesesubjects. China also to agree to the engagement by the officialsof South Manchuria of Japanese police advisers.

And in addition:—

1. Chinese troops stationed in South Manchuria and Eastern InnerMongolia to employ a certain number of Japanese Military officersas advisers.

2. Chinese Military Cadet schools to employ a certain number ofJapanese Military officers as instructors.

3. The Military Governor of Moukden to proceed personally to PortArthur to the Japanese Military Governor of Kwantung to apologizefor the occurrence and to tender similar personal apologies to theJapanese Consul General in Moukden.

4. Adequate compensation to be paid by China to the Japanesesufferers and to the families of those killed.

The merest tyro will see at once that so far from caring very muchabout the killing of her soldiery, Japan was bent on utilizing theopportunity to gain a certain number of new rights and privilegesin the zone of Southern Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia—notably an extension of her police and military-supervisionrights. In spite, however, of the faulty procedure to which shehad consented, China showed considerable tenacity in the course ofnegotiations which lasted nearly half a year, and by the end ofJanuary, 1917, had whittled down the question of Japanesecompensation to fairly meagre proportions. To be precise the twogovernments agreed to embody by the exchange of Notes the fivefollowing stipulations:

1. The General commanding the 28th Division to be reprimanded.

2. Officers responsible to be punished according to law. If thelaw provides for severe punishment, such punishment will beinflicted.

3. Proclamations to be issued enjoining Chinese soldiers andcivilians in the districts where there is mixed residence toaccord considerate treatment to Japanese soldiers and civilians.

4. The Military Governor of Moukden to send a representative toPort Arthur to convey his regret when the Military Governor ofKwantung and Japanese Consul General at Moukden are theretogether,

5. A solatium of $500 (Five Hundred Dollars) to be given to theJapanese merchant Yoshimoto.

But though the incident was thus nominally closed, and amicablerelations restored, the most important point—the question ofJapanese police-rights in Southern Manchuria and Eastern InnerMongolia—was left precisely where it had been before, the mostvigorous Chinese protests not having induced Japan to abate in theslightest her pretensions. During previous years a number ofJapanese police-stations and police-boxes had been established indefiance of the local authorities in these regions, and althoughChina in these negotiations recorded her strongest possibleobjection to their presence as being the principal cause of thecontinual friction between Chinese and Japanese, Japan refused towithdraw from her contention that they did not constitute anyextension of the principle of extraterritoriality, and that indeedJapanese police, distributed at such points as the Japaneseconsular authorities considered necessary, must be permanentlyaccepted. Here then is a matter which will require carefulconsideration when the Powers meet to revise their ChineseTreaties as they must revise them after the world-war; for Japanin Manchuria is fundamentally in no different a position fromEngland in the Yangtsze Valley and what applies to one must applyto the other. The new Chinese police which are being distributedin ever greater numbers throughout China form an admirable forceand are superior to Japanese police in the performance of nearlyall their duties. It is monstrous that Japan, as well as otherPowers, should act in such a reprehensible manner when the Chineseadministration is doing all it can to provide efficient guardiansof the peace.

The second case was one in which French officialdom by a curiousact of folly gravely alienated Chinese sympathies and gave apowerful weapon to the German propaganda in China at the end of1916. The Lao-hsi-kai dispute, which involved a bare 333 acres ofland in Tientsin, has now taken its place beside the Chengchiatunaffair, and has become a leading case in that great dossier ofgriefs which many Chinese declare make up the corpus of Euro-Chinese relations. Here again the facts are absolutely simple andabsolutely undisputed. In 1902 the French consular authorities inTientsin filed a request to have their Concession extended on theground that they were becoming cramped. The Chinese authorities,although not wishing to grant the request and indeed ignoring itfor a long time, were finally induced to begin fitfulnegotiations; and in October, 1916, after having passed throughvarious processes of alteration, reduction, and re-statementduring the interval of fourteen years, the issue had been so fineddown that a virtual agreement regarding the administration of thenew area had been reached—an agreement which the PekingGovernment was prepared to put into force subject to onereasonable stipulation, that the local opposition to the new grantof territory which was very real, as Chinese feel passionately onthe subject of the police-control of their land-acreage, was firstovercome. The whole essence or soul of the disputes lay therein:that the lords of the soil, the people of China, and in this casemore particularly the population of Tientsin, should accept thedecision arrived at which was that a joint Franco-Chineseadministration be established under a Chinese Chairman.

When the terms of this proposed agreement were communicated to theTientsin Consulate by the French Legation the arrangement did notplease the French Consul-General, who was under transfer toShanghai and who proposed to settle the case to the satisfactionof his nationals before he left. There is absolutely no disputeabout this fact either—namely that the main pre-occupation of aconsular officer, charged primarily under the Treaties with thesimple preservation of law and order among his nationals, was theclosing-up of a vexatious outstanding case, by force if necessary,before he handed over his office to his successor. It was withthis idea that an ultimatum was drawn up by the French ConsulGeneral and, having been weakly approved by the French Legation,was handed to the Chinese local authorities. It gave them a time-limit of twenty-four hours in which to effect the complete policeevacuation of the coveted strip of territory on the ground thatthe delay in the signature of a formal Protocol had been wilfuland deliberate and had closed the door to further negotiations;and as no response came at the end of the time-limit, an openinvasion of Chinese territory was practised by an armed Frenchdetachment; nine uniformed Chinese constables on duty beingforcibly removed and locked up in French barracks and Frenchsentries posted on the disputed boundary.

The result of this misguided action was an enormous Chinese outcryand the beginning of a boycott of the French in North China,—andthis in the middle of a war when France has acted with inspiringnobility. Some 2,000 native police, servants and employes promptlydeserted the French Concession en masse; popular unions wereformed to keep alive resentment; and although in the end thearrested police were set at liberty, the friendly intervention ofthe Allies proved unable to effect a settlement of the case whichat the moment of writing remains precisely where it was a yearago. [Footnote: A further illustration of the action of Frenchdiplomacy in China has just been provided (April, 1917) in theprotest lodged by France against the building of a railway inKwangsi Province by American engineers with American capital,—France claiming exclusive rights in Kwangsi by virtue of a lettersent by the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs to the FrenchLegation in 1914 as settlement for a frontier dispute in thatyear. The text of the letter is as follows:

"The dispute that rose in consequence of the disturbance at theborder of Annam and Kwangsi has been examined into by the JointCommittee detailed by both parties concerned, and a conclusion hasbeen reached to the effect that all matters relating to thesolution of the case would be carried out in accordance with therequest of Your Excellency.

"In order to demonstrate the especially good friendly relationsexisting between the two countries, the Republican Governmentassures Your Excellency that in case a railway construction or amining enterprise being undertaken in Kwangsi Province in thefuture, for which foreign capital is required, France would firstbe consulted for a loan of the necessary capital. On such anoccasion, the Governor of Kwangsi will directly negotiate with aFrench syndicate and report to the Government." It is high timethat the United States raises the whole question of the open doorin China again, and refuses to tolerate any longer the olddisruptive and dog-in-the-manger policy of the Powers. America isnow happily in a position to inaugurate a new era in the Far Eastas in the Far West and to stop exploitation.]

Here you have the matter of foreign interests in China explainedin the sense that they appear to Chinese. It is not too much tosay that this illustration of the deliberate lawlessness, whichhas too often been practised in the past by consuls who are simplyJustices of the Peace, would be incredible elsewhere; and yet itis this lawlessness which has come to be accepted as part andparcel of what is called "policy" in China because in the fiftyyears preceding the establishment of the Republic a weak andeffeminate mandarinate consistently sought safety in surrenders.It is this lawlessness which must at all costs be suppressed if weare to have a happy future. The Chinese people have so farcontented themselves by pacific retaliation and have not explodedinto rage; but those who see in the gospel of boycott an uglymanifestation of what lies slumbering should give thanks nightlythat they live in a land where reason is so supreme. Think of whatmight not happen in China if the people were not whollyreasonable! Throughout the length and breadth of the land you havesmall communities of foreigners, mere drops in a mighty ocean offour hundred millions, living absolutely secure althoughabsolutely at the mercy of their huge swarms of neighbours. Allsuch foreigners—or nearly all—have come to China for purposes ofprofit; they depend for their livelihood on co-operation with theChinese; and once that co-operation ceases they might as well bedead and buried for all the good residence will do them. In suchcirc*mstances it would be reasonable to suppose that a certaindecency would inspire their attitude, and that a policy of give-and-take would always be sedulously practised; and we are happy tosay that there is more of this than there used to be. It is onlywhen incidents such as the Chengchiatun and Laihsikai affairsoccur that the placid population is stirred to action. Even then,instead of turning and rending the many little defencelesscommunities—as European mobs would certainly do—they simplyconfine themselves to boycotting the offenders and hoping thatthis evidence of their displeasure will finally induce the worldto believe that they are determined to get reasonable treatment.The Chinese as a people may be very irritating in the slownesswith which they do certain things—though they are as quick inbusiness as the quickest Anglo-Saxon—but that is no excuse whymen who call themselves superior should treat them with contempt.The Chinese are the first to acknowledge that it will take them ageneration at least to modernize effectively their country andtheir government; but they believe that having erected a Republicand having declared themselves as disciples of the West they arejustified in expecting the same treatment and consideration whichare to be given after the war even to the smallest and weakestnations of Europe.

CHINA AND THE WAR

The question of Chinese sentiments on the subject of the war, aswell as the precise relations between the Chinese Government andthe two groups of belligerents, are matters which have beentotally misunderstood. To those who have grasped the significanceof the exhaustive preceding account of the Republic in travail,this statement should not cause surprise; for China has been in nocondition to play anything but an insignificant and unsatisfactoryrole in world-politics.

When the world-war broke out China was still in the throes of herdomestic troubles and without any money at all in her CentralTreasury; and although Yuan Shih-kai, on being suddenly confrontedwith an unparalleled international situation, did initiate certainnegotiations with the German Legation with a view to securing acancellation of the Kiaochow lease, the ultimatum which Japandispatched to Germany on the 15th August, 1914, completelynullified his tentative proposals. Yuan Shih-kai had, indeed, notbeen in the slightest degree prepared for such a sensationaldevelopment as war between Japan and Germany over the question ofa cruiser-base established on territory leased from China; andalthough he considered the possibility of sending a Chinese forceto co-operate in the attack on the German stronghold, that projectwas never matured, whilst his subsequent contrivances, notably theestablishment of a so-called war-zone in Shantung, were withoutinternational value, and attracted no attention save in Japan.

Chinese, however, did not remain blind to the trend of events.After the fall of Tsingtao and the subsequent complications withJapan, which so greatly served to increase the complexities of anebulous situation, certain lines of thought insensibly developed.That the influential classes in China should have desired thatGermany should by some means rehabilitate herself in Europe and sobe placed in a position to chastise a nation that for twenty yearshad brought nothing but sorrow to them was perhaps only natural;and it is primarily to this one cause that so-called sympathy withGermany during the first part of the war has been due. But it mustalso be noticed that the immense German propaganda in China duringthe first two years of the war, coupled with the successes won inRussia and elsewhere, powerfully impressed the population—not somuch because they were attracted by the feats of a Power that hadenthroned militarism, but because they wrongly supposed thatsooner or later the effects of this military display would be notonly to secure the relaxation of the Japanese grip on the countrybut would compel the Powers to re-cast their pre-war policies inChina and abandon their attempts at placing the country underfinancial supervision. Thus, by the irony of Fate, Germany inEastern Asia for the best part of 1914, 1915 and 1916, stood forthe aspirations of the oppressed—a moral which we may veryreasonably hope will not escape the attention of the ForeignOffices of the world. Nor must it be forgotten that the modernChinese army, being like the Japanese, largely Germany-trained andGermany-armed, had a natural predilection for Teutonism; and sincethe army, as we have shown, plays a powerful role in the politicsof the Republic, public opinion was greatly swayed by what itproclaimed through its accredited organs.

Be this as it may, it was humanly impossible for such a vastcountry with such vast resources in men and raw materials toremain permanently quiescent during an universal conflagrationwhen there was so much to be salvaged. Slowly the idea becamegeneral in China that something had to be done; that is that astate of technical neutrality would lead nowhere save possibly toAvernus.

As early as November, 1915, Yuan Shih-kai and his immediatehenchmen had indeed realized the internal advantages to be derivedfrom a formal war-partnership with the signatories of the Pact ofLondon, the impulse to the movement being given by certainimportant shipments of arms and ammunition from China which werethen made. A half-surreptitious attempt to discuss terms in Pekingcaused no little excitement, the matter being, however, onlydebated in very general terms. The principal item proposed by thePeking government was characteristically the stipulation that animmediate loan of two million pounds should be made to China, inreturn for her technical belligerency. But when the proposal wastaken to Tokio, Japan rightly saw that its main purpose was simplyto secure an indirect foreign endorsem*nt of Yuan Shih-kai'scandidature as Emperor; and for that reason she threw cold-wateron the whole project. To subscribe to a formula, which besidesenthroning Yuan Shih-kai would have been a grievous blow to herContinental ambitions, was an unthinkable thing; and therefore themanoeuvre was foredoomed to failure.

The death of Yuan Shih-kai in the Summer of 1916 radically alteredthe situation. Powerful influences were again set to work to stampout the German cult and to incline the minority of educated menwho control the destinies of the country to see that their realinterests could only lie with the Allies, who were beginning toexport Chinese man-power as an auxiliary war-aid and who were veryanxious to place the whole matter on a sounder footing. Littlereal progress was, however, made in the face of the renewed Germanefforts to swamp the country with their propaganda. By means ofwar-maps, printed in English and Chinese, and also by means of anexhaustive daily telegraphic service which hammered home everypossible fact illustrative of German invincibility, the Germanposition in China, so far from being weakened, was actuallystrengthened during the period when Rumania was being overrun. Bya singular destiny, any one advocating an alliance with the Allieswas bitterly attacked not only by the Germans but by the Japaneseas well—this somewhat naive identification of Japan's politicalinterest with those of an enemy country being an unique feature ofthe situation worthy of permanent record.

It was not until President Wilson sent out his Peace offering ofthe 19th December, 1916, that a distant change came. On thisdocument being formally communicated to the Chinese Governmentgreat interest was aroused, and the old hopes were revived that itwould be somehow possible for China to gain entry at thedefinitive Peace Congress which would settle beyond repeal thequestion of the disposal of Kiaochow and the whole of Germaninterests in Shantung Provinces,—a subject of burning interest tothe country not only because of the harsh treatment which had beenexperienced at the hands of Japan, but because the precedentestablished in 1905 at the Portsmouth Treaty was one which it wasfelt must be utterly shattered if China was not to abandon herclaim of being considered a sovereign international State. On thatoccasion Japan had simply negotiated direct with Russia concerningall matters affecting Manchuria, dispatching a Plenipotentiary toPeking, after the Treaty of Peace had been signed, to secureChina's adhesion to all clauses EN BLOC without discussion. Trueenough, by filing the Twenty-one Demands on China in 1915—whenthe war was hardly half-a-year old—and by forcing China's assentto all Shantung questions under the threat of an Ultimatum, Japanhad reversed the Portsmouth Treaty procedure and apparentlysettled the issues at stake for all time; nevertheless the Chinesehoped when the facts were properly known to the world that thisspecies of diplomacy would not be endorsed, and that indeed theShantung question could be reopened.

Consequently great pains were taken at the Chinese Foreign Officeto draft a reply to the Wilson Note which would tell its ownstory. The authorized translation of the document handed to theAmerican Legation on the 8th January has therefore a peculiarpolitical interest. It runs as follows:—

"I have examined with the care which the gravity of the questiondemands the note concerning peace which President Wilson hasaddressed to the Governments of the Allies and the Central Powersnow at war and the text of which Your Excellency has been goodenough to transmit to me under instructions of your Government.

"China, a nation traditionally pacific, has recently againmanifested her sentiments in concluding treaties concerning thepacific settlement of international disputes, responding thus tothe voeux of the Peace Conference held at the Hague.

"On the other hand, the present war, by its prolongation, hasseriously affected the interests of China, more so perhaps thanthose of other Powers which have remained neutral. She is atpresent at a time of reorganization which demands economically andindustrially the co-operation of foreign countries, a co-operationwhich a large number of them are unable to accord on account ofthe war in which they are engaged.

"In manifesting her sympathy for the spirit of the President'sNote, having in view the ending as soon as possible of thehostilities, China is but acting in conformity not only with herinterests but also with her profound sentiments.

"On account of the extent which modern wars are apt to assume andthe repercussions which they bring about, their effects are nolonger limited to belligerent States. All countries are interestedin seeing wars becoming as rare as possible. Consequently Chinacannot but show satisfaction with the views of the Government andpeople of the United States of America who declare themselvesready, and even eager, to co-operate when the war is over, by allproper means to assure the respect of the principle of theequality of nations, whatever their power may be, and to relievethem of the peril of wrong and violence. China is ready to joinher efforts with theirs for the attainment of such results whichcan only be obtained through the help of all."

Already, then, before there had been any question of Germany'sruthless submarine war necessitating a decisive move, China hadcommenced to show that she could not remain passive during aworld-conflict which was indirectly endangering her interests.America, by placing herself in direct communication with thePeking Government on the subject of a possible peace, had given adirect hint that she was solicitous of China's future anddetermined to help her as far as possible. All this was in strictaccordance with the traditional policy of the United States inChina, a policy which although too idealistic to have had muchpractical value—being too little supported by battleships andbayonets to be respected—has nevertheless for sixty yearstempered the wind to the shorn lamb. The ground had consequentlybeen well prepared for the remarkable denouement which came on the9th February, 1917, and which surprised all the world.

On the fourth of that month the United States formallycommunicated with China on the subject of the threatened Germansubmarine war against neutral shipping and invited her toassociate herself with America in breaking-off diplomaticrelations with Germany. China had meanwhile received a telegraphiccommunication from the Chinese Minister in Berlin transmitting aNote from the German Government making known the measuresendangering all merchant vessels navigating the prescribed zones.The effect of these two communications on the mind of the ChineseGovernment was at first admittedly stunning and very variedexpressions of opinion were heard in Peking. For the first time inthe history of the country the government had been invited to takea step which meant the inauguration of a definite Foreign policyfrom which there could be no retreat. For four days a discussionraged which created the greatest uneasiness; but by the 8thFebruary, President Li Yuan-hung had made up his mind—the finalproblem being simply the "conversion" of the Military Party to theidea that a decisive step, which would forever separate them fromGermany, must at last be taken. It is known that the brilliantScholar Liang Ch'i-chao, who was hastily summoned to Peking,proved a decisive influence and performed the seemingly impossiblein a few hours' discussion. Realizing at once the advantages whichwould accrue from a single masculine decision he advised instantaction in such a convincing way that the military leaderssurrendered. Accordingly on the 9th February the presence of theGerman Minister was requested at the Chinese Foreign Office whenthe following Note was read to him and subsequently transmittedtelegraphically to Berlin.

Your Excellency:

A telegraphic communication has been received from the ChineseMinister at Berlin transmitting a note from the German Governmentdated February 1st, 1917, which makes known that the measures ofblockade newly adopted by the Government of Germany will, fromthat day, endanger neutral merchant vessels navigating in certainprescribed zones.

The new measures of submarine warfare, inaugurated by Germany,imperilling the lives and property of Chinese citizens to even agreater extent than the measures previously taken which havealready cost so many human lives to China, constitute a violationof the principles of public international law at present in force;the tolerance of their application would have as a result theintroduction into international law of arbitrary principlesincompatible with even legitimate commercial intercourse betweenneutral states and between neutral states and belligerent powers.

The Chinese Government, therefore, protests energetically to theImperial German Government against the measures proclaimed onFebruary 1st, and sincerely hopes that with a view to respectingthe rights of neutral states and to maintaining the friendlyrelations between these two countries, the said measures will notbe carried out.

In case, contrary to its expectations, its protest be ineffectualthe Government of the Chinese Republic will be constrained, to itsprofound regret, to sever the diplomatic relations at presentexisting between the two countries. It is unnecessary to add thatthe attitude of the Chinese Government has been dictated purely bythe desire to further the cause of the world's peace and by themaintenance of the sanctity of international law.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency theassurance of my highest consideration.

At the same time the following reply was handed to the American
Minister in Peking thus definitely clinching the matter:

Your Excellency:

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'sNote of the 4th February, 1917, informing me that the Governmentof the United States of America, in view of the adoption by theGerman Government of its new policy of submarine warfare on the1st of February, has decided to take certain action which itjudges necessary as regards Germany.

The Chinese Government, like the President of the United Slates ofAmerica, is reluctant to believe that the German Government willactually carry into execution those measures which imperil thelives and property of citizens of neutral states and jeopardizethe commerce, even legitimate, between neutrals as well as betweenneutrals and belligerents and which tend, if allowed to beenforced without opposition, to introduce a new principle intopublic international law.

The Chinese Government being in accord with the principles setforth in Your Excellency's note and firmly associating itself withthe Government of the United States, has taken similar action byprotesting energetically to the German Government against the newmeasures of blockade. The Chinese government also proposes to takesuch action in the future as will be deemed necessary for themaintenance of the principles of international law.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency theassurance of my highest consideration.

His Excellency Paul S. Reinsch, Envoy Extraordinary & Minister
Plenipotentiary of The United States of America.

When these facts became generally known an extraordinary fermentwas noticeable. What efforts had to be made to overcome the notinconsiderable opposition of the Military Party who were opposedto any departure from a policy of passive neutrality need not nowbe set down; but it is sufficient to state that the decisionarrived at was in every sense a victory of the youngerintellectual forces over the older mandarinate, whose traditionsof laissez faire and spineless diplomacy had hitherto cost thecountry so dear. A definite and far-reaching Foreign Policy had atlast been inaugurated. By responding rapidly and firmly to theinvitation of the United States to associate herself with thestand taken against Germany's piratical submarine warfare, Chinahas undoubtedly won for herself a new place in the world's esteem.Both in Europe and America the news of this development awakenedwell-understandable enthusiasm, and convinced men that theRepublic at last stood for something vital and real. Until the 9thFebruary, 1917, what China had been doing was not really tomaintain her neutrality, since she had been unable to defend herterritory from being made a common battleground in 1914: she hadbeen engaged in guarding and perpetuating her traditionalimpotency. For whilst it may be accurate to declare—a fact whichfew Westerners have realized—that to the mass of the Chinesenation the various members of the European Family areundistinguishable from one another, there being little to choosein China between a Russian or a German, an Englishman or anAustrian, a Frenchman or a Greek, the trade-contact of a centuryhad certainly taught to a great many that there was profit incertain directions and none in certain others. It was perfectlywell-known, for instance, that England stood for a sea-empire;that the sea was an universal road; that British ships, bothmercantile and military, were the most numerous; and that otherthings being equal it must primarily be Britain more than anyother European country which would influence Chinese destinies.But the British Alliance with Japan had greatly weakened the trustwhich originally existed; and this added to the fact that Germany,although completely isolated and imprisoned by the sea, stillmaintained herself intact by reason of her marvellous war-machine,which had ploughed forward with such horrible results in a numberof directions, had made inaction seem the best policy. And yet,although the Chinese may be pardoned for not forming clearconcepts regarding the rights and wrongs of the present conflict,they had undoubtedly realized that it was absolutely essential forthem not to remain outside the circle of international friendshipswhen a direct opportunity was offered them to step within.

It was a sudden inkling of these things which now dawned on thepublic mind and slowly awakened enthusiasm. For the first timesince Treaty relations with the Powers had been establishedChinese diplomatic action had swept beyond the walls of Peking andembraced world-politics within its scope. The Confucianistconception of the State, as being simply a regional creation, athing complete in itself and all sufficient because it was lockedto the past and indifferent to the future, had hitherto beensupreme, foreign affairs being the result of unwilling contact atsea-ports or in the wastes of High Asia where rival empires meet.To find Chinese—five years after the inauguration of theirRepublic—ready to accept literally and loyally in the western wayall the duties and obligations which their rights of eminentdomain confer was a great and fine discovery. It has been supposedby some that a powerful role was played in this business by thetemptation to benefit materially by an astute move: that is thatChina was greatly influenced in her decision by the knowledge thatthe denouncing of the German treaties would instantly suspend theGerman Boxer indemnity and pour into the depleted Central Treasurya monthly surplus of nearly two million Mexican dollars.Paradoxical as it may sound in a country notoriously hard-pressedfor cash, monetary considerations played no part whatever inconvincing the Peking Government that the hour for action hadarrived; nor again was there any question of real hostility to anation which is so far removed from the East as to be meaninglessto the masses. The deep, underlying, decisive influence was simplyexpediency—the most subtle of all political reasons and thehardest to define. But just as Britain declared war because theinvasion of Belgium brought to a head all the vague grounds foropposition to German policy; and just as America broke offrelations because the scrapping of undertaking after undertakingregarding the sea-war made it imperative for her to act, so didChina choose the right moment to enunciate the doctrine of herindependence by voicing her determination to hold to the wholecorpus of international sanctions on which her independencefinally rests. In the last analysis, then, the Chinese note of the9th February to the German Government was a categorical andunmistakable reply to all the insidious attempts which had beenmade since the beginning of the war to place her outside andbeyond the operation of the Public Law of Europe; and it is solelyand entirely in that light that her future actions must be judged.The leaders who direct the destinies of China became fullyprepared for a state of belligerency from the moment they decidedto speak; but they could not but be supremely anxious concerningthe expression of that belligerency, since their internationalposition had for years been such that a single false move mightcripple them.

Let us make this clear. Whilst China has been from the first fullyprepared to co-operate with friendly Powers in the taking of war-measures which would ultimately improve her world-position, shehas not been prepared to surrender the initiative in these mattersinto foreign hands. The argument that the mobilization of herresources could only be effectively dealt with by speciallydesignated foreigners, for instance, has always been repellent toher because she knows from bitter experience that although Japanhas played little or no part in the war, and indeed classifiesherself as a semi-belligerent, the Tokio Government would nothesitate to use any opportunity which presented itself in Chinafor selfish ends; and by insisting that as she is on the spot sheis the most competent to insure the effectiveness of Chinese co-operation, attempt to tighten her hold on the country. It is afact which is self-evident to observers on the spot that eversince the coup of the Twenty-one Demands, many Japanese believethat their country has succeeded in almost completely infeodatingChina and has became the sovereign arbitrator of all quarrels, aswell as the pacificator of the Eastern World. Statements whichwere incautiously allowed to appear in the Japanese Press a fewdays prior to the Chinese Note of the 9th February disclose whatJapan really thought on the subject of China identifying herselfwith the Allies. For instance, the following, which bears thehall-mark of official inspiration, reads very curiously in thelight of after-events:

… "Dispatches from Peking say that England and France havealready started a flanking movement to induce China to join theanti-German coalition. The intention of the Chinese Government hasnot yet been learned. But it is possible that China will agree, ifconditions are favourable, thus gaining the right to voice herviews at the coming peace conference. Should the Entente Powersgive China a firm guarantee, it is feared here that China wouldnot hesitate to act.

"The policy of the Japanese Government toward this question cannotyet be learned. It appears, however, that the Japanese Governmentis not opposed to applying the resolutions of the Paris EconomicConference, in so far as they concern purely economic questions,since Japan desires that German influence in the commerce andfinance of the Orient should be altogether uprooted. But shouldthe Entente Powers of Europe try to induce China to join them,Japan may object on the ground that it will create moredisturbances in China and lead to a general disturbance of peacein the Orient."

Now there is not the slightest doubt in the writer's mind—and hecan claim to speak as a student of twenty years' standing—thatthis definition of Japanese aims and objects is a very true one;and that the subsequent invitation to China to join the Allieswhich came from Tokio after a meeting between the JapaneseMinister of Foreign Affairs and the Allied Ambassadors was simplymade when a new orientation of policy had been forced by stress ofcirc*mstances. Japan has certainly always wished German influencein the Far East to be uprooted if she can take the place ofGermany; but if she cannot take that place absolutely and entirelyshe would vastly prefer the influence to remain, since it is inthe nature of counterweight to that of other European Powers andof America—foreign influence in China, as Mr. Hioki blandly toldthe late President Yuan Shih-kai in his famous interview of the18th January, 1915, being a source of constant irritation to theJapanese people, and the greatest stumbling-block to a permanentunderstanding in the Far East.

Chinese suspicion of any invitation coming by way of Tokyo hasbeen, therefore, in every way justified, if it is a reasonable andlegitimate thing for a nation of four hundred millions of peopleto be acutely concerned about their independence; for events havealready proved up to the hilt that so far from the expulsion ofGermany from Shantung having resulted in the handing-back ofinterests which were forcibly acquired from China in 1898, thatexpulsion has merely resulted in Japan succeeding to suchinterests and thereby obliterating all trace of her originalpromise to the world in 1914 that she would restore to China whatwas originally taken from her. Here it is necessary to remark thatnot only did Japan in her negotiations over the Twenty-one Demandsforce China to hand over the twelve million pounds of Germanimprovements in Shantung province, but that Baron Hayashi, thepresent Japanese Minister to China, "has recently declared thatJapan would demand from China a vast settlement or concession atTsingtao, thus making even the alleged handing-back of the leasedterritory—which Japan is pledged to force from Germany at thePeace Conference—wholly illusory, the formula of a Settlementbeing adopted because twelve years' experience of Port Arthur hasshown that territorial "leases," with their military garrisons andadministrative offices, are expensive and antiquated things, andthat it is easier to push infiltration by means of a multitude ofSettlements in which police-boxes and policemen form an importantelement, than to cut off slices of territory under a nomenclaturewhich is a clamant advertisem*nt of disruptive aims.

Now although these matters appear to be taking us far from theparticular theme we are discussing, it is not really so. Like adark thunder-cloud on the horizon the menace of Japanese actionhas rendered frank Chinese co-operation, even in such a simplematter as war-measures against Germany, a thing of supremedifficulty. The mere rumour that China might dispatch anExpeditionary Force to Mesopotamia was sufficient to send the hostof unofficial Japanese agents in Peking scurrying in everydirection and insisting that if the Chinese did anything at allthey should limit themselves to sending troops to Russia wherethey would be "lost"—a suggestion made because that was whatJapan herself offered to do when she declined in 1915 the Allies'proposal to dispatch troops to Europe. Nor must the fact be lostsight of that as in other countries so in China, foreign affairsprovide an excellent opportunity for influencing the march ofinternal events. Thus, as we have clearly shown, the MilitaryParty, although originally averse to any action at all, saw that astrong foreign policy would greatly enhance its reputation andallow it to influence the important elections for the Parliamentof 1918 which, sitting as a National Convention, will elect thenext President. Thus, in the extraordinary way which happensthroughout the world, the whole of February was consumed in therival political parties manoeuvring for position, the Vice-President, General Feng Kuo-chang, himself coming hastily toPeking from Nanking to take part in this elaborate game in whichmany were now participating merely for what they could get out ofit.

On the 4th March matters were brought to a climax by an openbreach between President Li Yuan-hung and the Premier, GeneralTuan Chi-jui, at a Cabinet meeting regarding the procedure to beobserved in breaking off diplomatic relations with Germany.Although nearly a month had elapsed, no reply had been receivedfrom Berlin; and of the many plans of action proposed nothing hadbeen formally decided. Owing to the pressure Japan was exertingfrom Tokio to get China to come to a definite arrangement, popularanxiety was growing. Over the question of certain telegrams to becommunicated to the Japanese Government, of which he had been keptin ignorance, President Li Yuan-hung took a firm stand; with theresult that the Premier, deeply offended, abruptly left theCouncil Chamber, handed in his resignation and left the capital—acourse of action which threatened to provoke a national crisis.

Fortunately in President Li Yuan-hung China had a cool anddispassionate statesman. At the first grave crisis in hisadministration he wished at all costs to secure that the assent ofParliament should be given to all steps taken, and that nothing sospeculative as a policy which had not been publicly debated shouldbe put into force. He held to this point doggedly; and after somenegotiations, the Premier was induced to return to the capital andresume office, on the understanding that nothing final was to bedone until a popular endorsem*nt had been secured.

On the 10th March the question was sent to Parliament fordecision. After a stormy debate of several hours in the LowerHouse the policy of the Government was upheld by 330 votes to 87:on the following day the Senate endorsed this decision by 158votes to 37. By a coincidence which was too extraordinary not tohave been artificially contrived, the long-awaited Germany replyarrived on the morning of this 10th March, copies of the documentbeing circulated wholesale by German agents among the Members ofParliament in a last effort to influence their decision. Theactual text of the German reply was as follows, and it will beseen how transparently worded it is:

To the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China:

YOUR EXCELLENCY: By the instructions of my home Government—whichreached me on the 10th inst.—I beg to forward you the followingreply to China's protest to the latest blockade policy ofGermany:—

"The Imperial German Government expresses its great surprise atthe action threatened by the Government of the Republic of Chinain its Note of protest. Many other countries have also protested,but China, which has been in friendly relations with Germany, isthe only State which has added a threat to its protest. Thesurprise is doubly great, because of the fact that, as China hasno shipping interests in the seas of the barred zones, she willnot suffer thereby.

"The Government of the Republic of China mentions that loss oflife of Chinese citizens has occurred as the results of thepresent method of war. The Imperial German Government wishes topoint out that the Government of the Republic of China has nevercommunicated with the Imperial Government regarding a single caseof this kind nor has it protested in this connexion before.According to reports received by the Imperial Government, suchlosses as have been actually sustained by Chinese subjects haveoccurred in the firing line while they were engaged in diggingtrenches and in other war services. While thus engaged, they wereexposed to the dangers inevitable to all forces engaged in war.The fact that Germany has on several occasions protested againstthe employment of Chinese citizens for warlike purpose is evidentthat the Imperial Government has given excellent proof of itsfriendly feelings toward China. In consideration of these friendlyrelations the Imperial Government is willing to treat the matteras if the threat had never been uttered. It is reasonable for theImperial Government to expect that the Government of the Republicof China will revise its views respecting the question.

"Germany's enemies were the first to declare a blockade on Germanyand the same is being persistently carried out. It is thereforedifficult for Germany to cancel her blockade policy. The ImperialGovernment is nevertheless willing to comply with the wishes ofthe Government of the Republic of China by opening negotiations toarrive at a plan for the protection of Chinese life and property,with the view that the end may be achieved and thereby the utmostregard be given to the shipping rights of China. The reason whichhas prompted the Imperial Government to adopt this conciliatorypolicy is the knowledge that, once diplomatic relations aresevered with Germany, China will not only lose a truly good friendbut will also be entangled in unthinkable difficulties."

In forwarding to Your Excellency the above instructions from myhome Government, I beg also to state that—if the Government ofChina be willing—I am empowered to open negotiations for theprotection of the shipping rights of China.

I have the honour to be. … (Signed by the German Minister.)
March 10, 1917.

With a Parliamentary endorsem*nt behind them there remainednothing for the Peking Government but to take the vital step ofsevering diplomatic relations. Certain details remained to besettled but these were expeditiously handled. Consequently,without any further discussion, at noon on the 14th March theGerman Minister was handed his passports, with the followingcovering dispatch from the Chinese Foreign Office. It is worthy ofrecord that in the interval between the Chinese Note of the 9thFebruary and the German reply of the 10th March the French mail-steamer Athos had been torpedoed in the Mediterranean and fivehundred Chinese labourers proceeding to France on board herdrowned.

Your Excellency:—

With reference to the new submarine policy of Germany, theGovernment of the Republic of China, dictated by the desire tofurther the cause of world's peace and to maintain the sanctity ofInternational Law, addressed a protest to Your Excellency onFebruary 9th and declared that in case, contrary to itsexpectations its protest be ineffectual, it would be constrainedto sever the diplomatic relations at present existing between thetwo countries.

During the lapse of a month no heed has been paid to the protestof the Government of the Republic in the activities of the GermanSubmarines, activities which have caused the loss of many Chineselives. On March 10, a reply was received from Your Excellency.Although it states that the Imperial German Government is willingto open negotiations to arrive at a plan for the protection ofChinese life and property, yet it declares that it is difficultfor Germany to cancel her blockade policy. It is therefore not inaccord with the object of the protest and the Government of theChinese Republic, to its deep regret, considers its protest to beineffectual. The Government of the Republic is constrained tosever the diplomatic relations at present existing with theImperial German Government. I have the honour to send herewith toYour Excellency, the passport for Your Excellency, the members ofthe German Legation and their families and retinue for protectionwhile leaving Chinese territory. With regard to the ConsularOfficers of Germany in China, this Ministry has instructed thedifferent Commissioners of Foreign Affairs to issue to themsimilarly passports for leaving the country.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to Your Excellency theassurance of my highest consideration.

March 14th, 1917.

It was not until eleven days later—on the 25th March—that theGerman Minister and his suite reluctantly left Peking for Germanyvia America. Meanwhile the Chinese Government remained undecidedregarding the taking of the final step as a number of importantmatters had still to be settled. Not only had arrangements to bemade with the Allies but there was the question of adjustingChinese policy with American action. A special commission onDiplomatic affairs daily debated the procedure to be observed, butowing to the conflict of opinion in the provinces further actionwas greatly delayed. As it is necessary to show the nature of thisconflict we give two typical opinions submitted to the Governmenton the question of a formal declaration of war against Germany(and Austria). The first Memorandum was written for the DiplomaticCommission by the scholar Liang Ch'i-chao and is singularlylucid:—

THE NECESSITY FOR WAR

"Those who question the necessity for war can only quote theattitude of America as example. The position of China is, however,different from that of America in two points. First, actualwarfare will follow immediately after America's declaration ofwar, so it is necessary for her to make the necessary preparationsbefore taking the step. For this purpose, America has votedseveral hundred million dollars for an increase of her navalappropriations. America therefore cannot declare war until she hascompleted every preparation. With China it is different. Evenafter the declaration of war, there will be no actual warfare. Itis therefore unnecessary for us to wait.

"Secondly, America has no such things as foreign settlements,consular jurisdiction or other un-equal treaties with Germany.Under the existing conditions America has no difficulties insafeguarding herself against the Germans residing in America afterthe severance of diplomatic relations even though war has not yetbeen actually declared, and as to future welfare, America willhave nothing to suffer even though her old treaties with Germanyshould continue to be operative. It is impossible for China totake the necessary steps to safeguard the country against theGermans residing in China unless the old treaties be cancelled.For unless war is declared it is impossible to cancel the consularjurisdiction of the Germans, and so long as German consularjurisdiction remains in China we will meet with difficultieseverywhere whenever we wish to deal with the Germans. If ourfuture is to be considered, unless war is declared, the oldtreaties will again come into force upon the resumption ofdiplomatic relations, in which case we shall be held responsiblefor all the steps which we have taken in contravention of treatiesduring the rupture. It will be advantageous to China if the oldtreaties be cancelled by a declaration of war and new treaties benegotiated after the conclusion of peace.

"In short by severing diplomatic relations with Germany China hasalready incurred the ill-feelings of that country. We shall not beable to lessen the hostile feelings of the Germans even if werefrain from declaring war on them. It is therefore our obligationto choose the course that will be advantageous to us. This is notreluctantly yielding to the request of the Entente Allies. It isthe course we must take in our present situation.

THE REASON FOR DECLARING WAR

"The presumptuous manner in which Germany has replied to ourdemand is an open affront to our national integrity. RecentlyGermany has deliberately shown hostility to our advice byreiterating her determination to carry out the ruthless submarinepolicy with increased vigour. All these are reasons for diplomaticrupture as well as for declaration of war. Furthermore, the peaceof the Far East was broken by the occupation of Kiachow byGermany. This event marked the first step of the German disregardfor international law. In the interests of humanity and for thesake of what China has passed through, she should rise and punishsuch a country, that dared to disregard international law. Such areason for war is certainly beyond criticism.

THE TIME TO DECLARE WAR

"War should be declared as soon as possible. The reason for thediplomatic rupture is sufficient reason for declaring war. Thishas already been explained. It would be impossible for us to findan excuse for declaring war if war be declared now. According tousual procedure war is declared when the forces of the twocountries come into actual conflict. Now such a possibility doesnot exist between China and Germany. Since it is futile to expectGermany to declare war on us first, we should ask ourselves if waris necessary. If not, then let us go on as we are, otherwise wemust not hesitate any more.

"Some say that China should not declare war on Germany until wehave come to a definite understanding with the Entente Alliesrespecting certain terms. This is indeed a wrong conception ofthings. We declare war because we want to fight for humanity,international law and against a national enemy. It is not becausewe are partial towards the Entente or against Germany or Austria.International relations are not commercial connexions. Why thenshould we talk about exchange of privileges and rights? As to therevision of Customs tariff, it has been our aspiration for morethan ten years and a foremost diplomatic question, for which wehave been looking for a suitable opportunity to negotiate with theforeign Powers. It is our view that the opportunity has comebecause foreign Powers are now on very friendly terms with China.It is distinctly a separate thing from the declaration of war. Letno one try to confuse the two.

THE QUESTION OF AUSTRIA

"If China decides to declare war on Germany the same attitudeshould be taken towards Austria. We have severed diplomaticrelations with Germany but retain the status quo with Austria.This is fraught with danger. German intrigue is to be dreaded.What they have done in America and Mexico is enough to shock us.The danger can easily be imagined when we remember that they havein China the Austrian Legation, Austrian Consulates and Austrianconcessions as their bases of operation for intrigue and plotting.Some say we should follow America, which has not yet severeddiplomatic relations with Austria. This is a great mistake.America can afford to ignore Austria because there are no Austrianconcessions and Austrian consular jurisdiction in America.

"The question is then what steps should be taken to severdiplomatic relations with and declare war on Austria. The solutionis that since Austria has also communicated to our Ministerregarding her submarine policy we can serve her with an ultimatumdemanding that the submarine policy be cancelled within twenty-four hours. If Austria refuses, China may sever diplomaticrelations and declare war at the same time immediately upon theexpiry of the twenty-four hour limit.

"In conclusion I wish to say that whenever a policy is adopted weshould carry out the complete scheme. If we should hesitate in themiddle and become afraid to go ahead we will soon find ourselvesin an embarrassing position. The Government and Parliament shouldtherefore stir up courage and boldly make the decision and takethe step.

Unanswerable as seem these arguments to the Western mind, theywere by no means so to the mass of Chinese who are always fearfullest some sudden reshuffling in the relationships existing betweenforeign Powers exposes them to new and greater calamities. ThisChinese viewpoint, with its ignorance of basic considerations, iswell-illustrated by the Second Memorandum, which follows. Writtenby the famous reformer of 1898 Kang Yu-wei, it demonstrates howgreatly the revolutionists of 1911 are in advance of a schoolwhich was the vogue less than twenty years ago and which iscompletely out of touch with the thought which the war has madeworld-wide. Nevertheless the line of argument which characterizesthis utterance is still a political factor in China and must beunderstood.

MEMORANDUM

… "The breach between the United States and Germany is noconcern of ours. But the Government suddenly severed diplomaticrelations with Germany and is now contemplating entry into thewar. This is to advance beyond the action of the United Stateswhich continues to observe neutrality. And if we analyse thepublic opinion of the country, we find that all peoples—high andlow, well-informed and ignorant—betray great alarm when informedof the rupture and the proposal to declare war on Germany, fearingthat such a development may cause grave peril to the country. Thiswar-policy is being urged by a handful of politicians, including afew members of Parliament and several party men with the view ofcreating a diplomatic situation to serve their political ends andto reap great profits.

"Their arguments are that China—by siding with the Entente—mayobtain large loans, the revision of the Customs Tariff and thesuspension of the Boxer indemnity to Germany, as well as therecovery of the German concessions, mining and railroad rights andthe seizure of German commerce. Pray, how large is Germany's shareof the Boxer indemnity? Seeing that German commerce is protectedby international law, will China be able to seize it; and does shenot know that the Kaiser may in the future exact restitution?

PERILS OF WAR

"News from Holland tells of a rumoured secret understandingbetween Germany, Japan and Russia. The Japanese Government ispursuing a policy of friendship toward Germany. This is verydisquieting news to us. As to foreign loans and the revision ofthe Customs Tariff, we can raise these matters at any time. Whythen should we traffic for these things at the risk of gravedangers to the nation? My view is that what we are to obtain fromthe transaction is far less than what we are to give. If it beargued that the policy aims at securing for China her right tolive as an unfettered nation, then we ought to ask for thecancellation of the entire Boxer Indemnities, the abolition ofexterritoriality, the retrocession of the foreign concessions andthe repeal or amendment of all unjust treaties after the war. Butnone of these have we demanded. If we ourselves cannot improve ourinternal administration in order to become a strong country, it isabsurd to expect our admission to the ranks of the first-classPowers simply by being allowed a seat at the Peace Conference andby taking a side with the Entente!

"Which side will win the war? I shall not attempt to predict here.But it is undoubted that all the arms of Europe—and theindustrial and financial strength of the United States and Japan—have proved unavailing against Germany. On the other hand Francehas lost her Northern provinces and Belgium, Serbia and Rumaniaare blotted off the map. Should Germany be victorious, the wholeof Europe—not to speak of a weak country like China—would be ingreat peril of extinction. Should she be defeated, Germany stillcan—after the conclusion of peace—send a fleet to war againstus. And as the Powers will be afraid of a second world-war, whowill come to our aid? Have we not seen the example of Korea? Thereis no such thing as an army of righteousness which will come tothe assistance of weak nations. I cannot bear to think of hearingthe angry voice of German guns along our coasts!

"If we allow the Entente to recruit labour in our country withoutrestriction, thousands upon thousands of our fellow countrymenwill die for no worthy cause; and if we allow free exportation offoodstuff, in a short time the price of daily necessaries willmount ten to a hundredfold. This is calculated to cause internaltroubles. Yea, all gains from this policy will go to thepoliticians but the people will suffer the evil consequencesthrough no fault of theirs.

DIPLOMACY OF CONFUCIUS

"In the matter of diplomacy, we do not need to go to the West forthe apt learning on the point at issue. Confucius had said: 'Betruthful and cultivate friendship—this is the foundation of humanhappiness.' Our country being weak and undeveloped, if we striveto be truthful and cultivate friendship, we can still be acivilized nation, albeit hoary with age. But we are now advised totake advantage of the difficulties of Germany and abandon honestyin order that we may profit thereby. Discarding treaties is to beunfaithful, grasping for gains is not the way of a gentleman,taking advantage of another's difficulties is to be mean andjoining the larger in numbers is cowardice. How can we be anation, if we throw away all these fundamental qualities.

"Even in the press of England and the United States, there isopposition to America entering the war. If we observe neutrality,we are not bound to any side; and when the time comes for peace—as a friend to both sides—we may be able to bring about the endsof the war. Is this not a service to humanity and the true spiritof civilization?

"Now it is proposed to take the existence of this great nation offive thousand years and four hundred million people in order toserve the interests of politicians in their party struggles. Weare now to be bound to foreign nations, without freedom to act forourselves and running great risks of national destruction. Can yougentlemen bear to see this come to pass? China has severedrelations with Germany but the decision for war has not yet beenreached. The whole country is telegraphing opposition to theGovernment's policy and wants to know whether Germany will not inthe future take revenge on account of our rupture with her; and ifwe are not secured against this eventuality, what are thepreparations to meet with a contingency? The Government must notstake the fate of the nation as if it be a child's toy, and thepeople must not be cast into the whirlpool of slaughter. Thepeople are the backbone of a country, and if the people are allopposed to war on Germany, the Government—in spite of the supportof Parliament—must call a great citizens' convention to decidethe question. We must persist in our neutrality. You gentlemen arepatriotic sons of this country and must know that the existence ofChina as a nation depends upon what she does now in this matter.In tears, I appeal to you. KANG YU-WEI."

March and April were consumed in this fruitless discussion inwhich everybody participated. The Premier, General Tuan Chi-jui,in view of the alleged provincial opposition, now summoned toPeking a Conference of Provincial Military Governors to endorsehis policy, but this action although crowned with success so faras the army chiefs were concerned—the conference voting solidlyfor war—was responsible for greatly alarming Parliament which sawin this procedure a new attempt to undermine its power and controlthe country by extra-legal means. Furthermore, publication in theMetropolitan press of what the Japanese were doing behind thescenes created a fear that extraordinary intrigues were beingindulged in with the object of securing by means of secretdiplomacy certain guarantees of a personal nature. Apart frombeing associated with the semi-official negotiations of theEntente Powers in Peking, Japan was carrying on a second set ofnegotiations partly by means of a confidential agent named KameioNishihara dispatched from Tokio specially for that purpose byCount Terauchi, the Japanese Premier, a procedure which led to thecirculation of highly sensational stories regarding China's futurecommitments. When the Premier, General Tuan Chi-jui, had made hisstatement to Parliament on the 10th March, regarding the necessityof an immediate rupture with Germany, he had implied that Chinahad already received assurances from the Allies that there wouldbe a postponement of the Boxer Indemnities for a term of years, animmediate increase in the Customs Tariff, and a modification ofthe Peace Protocol of 1901 regarding the presence of Chinesetroops near Tientsin. Suddenly all these points were declared tobe in doubt. Round the question of the length of time theIndemnities might be postponed, and the actual amount of theincrease in the Customs Tariff, there appeared to be aninexplicable muddle largely owing to the intervention of so manyagents and to the fact that the exchange of views had been almostentirely verbal, unofficial, and secret. It would be wearisome toanalyse a dispute which belongs to the peculiar atmosphere ofPeking diplomacy; but the vast difficulties of making even asimple decision in China were glaringly illustrated by thismatter. With a large section of the Metropolitan press dailyinsisting that the future of democracy in China would be againimperilled should the Military Party have its own way, smallwonder if the question of a formal declaration of war on Germany(and Austria) now assumed an entirely different complexion.

On the 1st May, in spite of all these trials and tribulations,being pressed by the Premier to do so, the Cabinet unanimouslydecided that a declaration of war was imperative; and on the 7thMay, after an agreement with the President had been reached,Parliament received the following dispatch—this method ofcommunication being the usual one between the executive andlegislative branches of the Government:

The President has the honour to communicate to the House ofRepresentatives the following proposal. Since the severance ofdiplomatic relations with Germany, Germany has continued toviolate the rights of the neutral nations and to damage and causelosses in life and property to our people as well as to trample oninternational law and disregard principles of humanity. For thepurpose of hastening peace, upholding international law andprotecting the life and property of our people, the President isof the view that it is necessary to declare war on the GermanGovernment. In accordance with Article 35 of the ProvisionalConstitution, he now asks for the approval of the House, anddemands—in accordance with Article 21 of the ProvisionalConstitution—that the meeting in the House be held in secret.

On 8th May, after hearing a statement made in person by thePremier, the House of Representatives in secret session referredthe question for examination to the House sitting as a Committeein order to gain time to make up its mind. On the same day theSenate sat on the same question. A very heated and bitterdiscussion followed in the upper House, not because of any realdisagreement regarding the matter at issue, but because a largesection of Senators were extremely anxious regarding the internalconsequences. This is well-explained by the following writteninterpellation which was addressed to the government by a largenumber of parliamentarians:

We, the undersigned, hereby address this interpellation to theGovernment. As a declaration of war on Germany has become anobject of the foreign policy of the Government, the latter hasheld informal meetings to ascertain the views of parliament on thequestion; and efforts are being made by the Government to securethe unanimous support of both Houses for its war policy. Inpursuing this course, the Government appears to believe that itscall for support will be readily complied with by the Houses. Butin our view there are quite a number of members in both Houses whofail thoroughly to understand the war decision of the Government.The reason for this is that, according to recent reports, bothforeign and vernacular, the Government has entered into secrettreaties with a "neighbouring country." It is also reported thatsecret agents on both sides are active and are travelling betweenthe two countries. The matter seems to be very grave; and it hasalready attracted the attention of Parliament, which in the nearfuture will discuss the war-issue.

Being in doubt as to the truth of such a report, we hereby requestthe Government for the necessary information in the matter. Wealso beg to suggest that, if there is any secret diplomaticagreement, we consider it expedient for the Government to submitthe matter to Parliament for the latter's consideration. This willenable the members in Parliament to study the question with careand have a clear understanding of the matter. When this is done,Parliament will be able to support the Government in theprosecution of its war policy according to the dictates ofconscience. In this event both Parliament and Government will beable to co-operate with each other in the solution of the presentdiplomatic problem. Troubled not a little with the presentdiplomatic situation of the country, we hereby address thisinterpellation to the Government in accordance with law. It ishoped that an answer from the Government will be dispatched to uswithin three days from date.

On the 10th May Parliament met in secret session and it was plainthat a crisis had come. Members of the House of Representativesexperienced great difficulties in forcing their way through a mobof several thousand roughs who surrounded the approaches toParliament, many members being hustled if not struck. The mob wasso plainly in control of a secret organization that the House ofRepresentatives refused to sit. Urgent messages were sent to thePolice and Gendarmerie headquarters for reinforcements of armedmen as a protection, whilst the presence of the Premier was alsodemanded. Masses of police were soon on the ground, but whilstthey prevented the mob from entering Parliament and carrying outtheir threat of burning the buildings, and murdering the members,they could not—or would not—disperse the crowds, it transpiringsubsequently that half-a-battalion of infantry in plain clothesunder their officers formed the backbone of the demonstrators.

It was not until nearly dark, after six or seven hours of thesedisorderly scenes, that the Premier finally arrived. Cavalry hadmeanwhile also been massed on the main street; but it was onlywhen the report spread that a Japanese reporter had been killedthat the order was finally given to charge the mob and disperse itby force. This was very rapidly done, as apart from the soldiersin plain clothes the mass of people belonged to the lowest class,and had no stomach for a fight, having only been paid to shout. Itwas nearly midnight, after twelve hours of isolation and afoodless day, that the Representatives were able to dispersewithout having debated the war-question. The upshot was that withthe exception of the Minister of Education, the Premier found thathis entire Cabinet had resigned, the Ministers being unwilling tobe associated with what had been an attempted coercion ofParliament carried out by the Military.

The Premier, General Tuan Chi-jui, however, remained determined tocarry his point, and within a week a second dispatch was sent tothe House of Representatives demanding, in spite of what hadhappened, that the declaration of war be immediately brought upfor debate. Meanwhile publication in a leading Peking newspaper offurther details covering Japan's subterranean activities greatlyinflamed the public, and made the Liberal political elements moredetermined than ever to stand firm. It was alleged that CountTerauchi was reviving in a more subtle form Group V of the Twenty-one Demands of 1915, the latest Japanese proposal taking the formof a secret Treaty of twenty articles of which the mainstipulations were to be a loan of twenty million yen to China toreorganize the three main Chinese arsenals under Japaneseguidance, and a further loan of eighty million yen to be expendedon the Japanization of the Chinese army. As a result of thispublication, which rightly or wrongly was declared to be withoutfoundation, the editor of The Peking Gazette was seized in themiddle of the night and thrown into goal; but Parliament so farfrom being intimidated passed the very next day (19th May) aresolution refusing to consider in any form the declaration of waragainst Germany until the Cabinet had been reorganized—whichmeant the resignation of General Tuan Chi-jui. A last effort wasmade by the reactionary element to jockey the President intosubmission by presenting to the Chief Executive a petition fromthe Military Governors assembled in Peking demanding the immediatedissolution of Parliament. On this proposal being absolutelyrejected by the President as wholly unconstitutional, and theMilitary Governors soundly rated for their interference, anominous calm followed.

Parliament, however, remained unmoved and continued its work.Although the draft of the Permanent Constitution had beenpractically completed, important additions to the text were nowproposed, such additions being designed to increase parliamentarycontrol and provide every possible precaution against arbitraryacts in the future. Thus the new provision that a simple vote ofwant of confidence in the Cabinet must be followed by thePresident either dismissing the Cabinet or dissolving the House ofRepresentatives—but that the dissolution of the Lower Housecould not be ordered without the approval of the Senate—wasgenerally recognized as necessary to destroy the last vestiges ofthe Yuan Shih-kai regime. Furthermore a new article, conferring onthe President the right to dismiss the Premier summarily byPresidential Mandate without the counter-signature of the otherCabinet Ministers, completed the disarray of the conservatives whosaw in this provision the dashing of their last hopes. [Footnote:The final text of the Permanent Constitution as it stood on the28th May, 1917, will be found in the appendix. Its accuracy hasbeen guaranteed to the writer by the speakers of the two Houses.]

By the 21st May, the last remaining Cabinet Minister—theMinister of Education—had resigned and the Premier was leftcompletely isolated. On the 23rd May the President, relying on thegeneral support of the nation, summarily dismissed General TuanChi-jui from the Premiership and appointed the veteran diplomatDr. Wu Ting-fang to act during the interim period in his stead, atthe same time placing the metropolitan districts under fourtrustworthy Generals who were vested with provost-marshals' powersunder a system which gave them command of all the so-called"precautionary troops" holding the approaches to the capital. TheMilitary Governors, who a few hours before these events had leftPeking precipitately in a body on the proclaimed mission ofallying themselves with the redoubtable General Chang Hsun atHsuchowfu, and threatening the safety of the Republic were,however, coolly received in the provinces in spite of all theirmost bitter attempts to stir up trouble. This, however, as will beshown, had no influence on their subsequent conduct. The quietdisappearance of the ex-Premier in the midst of this upheavalcaused the report to spread that all the members of the corruptcamarilla which had surrounded him were to be arrested, but thePresident soon publicly disclaimed any intention of doing so,—which appears to have been a fatal mistake. It is disheartening tohave to state that nearly all the Allied Legations in Peking hadbeen in intimate relations with this gang—always excepting theAmerican Legation whose attitude is uniformly correct—the FrenchMinister going so far as to entertain the Military Governors anddeclare, according to reports in the native press, that Parliamentwas of no importance at all, the only important thing being forChina promptly to declare war. That some sort of publicinvestigation into Peking diplomacy is necessary before there canbe any hope of decent relations between China and the Powers seemsindisputable. [Footnote: Since this was written certaindiplomatists in Peking have been forced to resign.]

Before the end of May the militarists being now desperate,attempted the old game of inciting the provincial capitals "todeclare their independence," although the mass of the nation wasplainly against them. Some measure of success attended this move,since the soldiery of the northern provinces obediently followedtheir leaders and there was a sudden wild demand for a march onPeking. A large amount of rolling-stock on the main railways wasseized with this object, the confusion being made worse confoundedby the fierce denunciations which now came from the southernmostprovinces, coupled with their threats to attack the Northerntroops all along the line as soon as they could mobilize.

The month of June opened with the situation more threatening thanit had been for years. Emissaries of the recalcitrant MilitaryGovernors, together with all sorts of "politicals" and disgruntledgenerals, gathered in Tientsin—which is 80 miles from Peking—andopenly established a Military Headquarters which they declaredwould be converted into a Provisional Government which would seekthe recognition of the Powers. Troops were moved and concentratedagainst Peking; fresh demands were made that the President shoulddissolve Parliament; whilst the Metropolitan press was suddenlyfilled with seditious articles. The President, seeing that thesituation was becoming cataclysmic, was induced, through whatinfluences is not known, to issue a mandate summoning GeneralChang Hsun to Peking to act as a mediator, which was another fatalmove. He arrived in Tientsin with many troops on the 7th Junewhere he halted and was speedily brought under subversiveinfluences, sending at once up to Peking a sort of ultimatum whichwas simply the old demand for the dissolution of Parliament.

Meanwhile on the 5th June, the United States, which had beenalarmed by these occurrences, had handed China the following Notehoping thereby to steady the situation:

The Government of the United States learns with the most profoundregret of the dissension in China and desires to express the mostsincere desire that tranquillity and political co-ordination maybe forthwith re-established.

The entry of China into war with Germany—or the continuance ofthe status quo of her relations with that Government—are mattersof secondary consideration.

The principal necessity for China is to resume and continue herpolitical entity, to proceed along the road of nationaldevelopment on which she has made such marked progress.

With the form of Government in China or the personnel whichadministers that Government, the United States has an interestonly in so far as its friendship impels it to be of service toChina. But in the maintenance by China of one Central United andalone responsible Government, the United States is deeplyinterested, and now expresses the very sincere hope that China, inher own interest and in that of the world, will immediately setaside her factional political disputes, and that all parties andpersons will work for the re-establishment of a co-ordinateGovernment and the assumption of that place among the Powers ofthe World to which China is so justly entitled, but the fullattainment of which is impossible in the midst of internaldiscord.

The situation had, however, developed so far and so rapidly thatthis expression of opinion had little weight. The Vice-Presidentof the Republic, General Feng Kuo-chang, unwilling or unable to doanything, had already tendered his resignation from Nanking,declaring that he would maintain the "neutrality" of the importantarea of the lower Yangtsze during this extraordinary struggle; andhis action, strange as it may seem, typified the vast misgivingswhich filled every one's mind regarding the mad course of actionwhich the rebellious camarilla had decided upon.

Until Saturday the 9th June, the President had seemed adamant. Onthat day he personally saw foreign press correspondents andassured them that, in spite of every threat, he would in noconceivable circ*mstances attempt the unconstitutional step ofdissolving Parliament,—unconstitutional because the NankingProvisional Constitution under which the country was stillgoverned pending the formal passage of the Permanent Constitutionthrough Parliament, only provided for the creation of Parliamentas a grand constitutional Drafting Committee but gave no power tothe Chief Executive to dissolve it during its "life" which wasthree years. As we have already shown, the period between the coupd'etat of 4th November, 1913, and the re-convocation of Parliamenton 1st August, 1916, had been treated as a mere interregnum:therefore until 1918, if the law were properly construed, no powerin the land could interrupt the Parliamentary sessions exceptParliament itself. Parliament, in view of these threateningdevelopments, had already expressed its willingness (a) to re-consider certain provisions of the draft constitution in such aconciliatory manner as to insure the passage of the wholeinstrument through both houses within two weeks (b) to alter theElection Law in such fashion as to conciliate the moreconservative elements in the country (c) to prorogue the secondsession (1916-1917) immediately these things were done and after avery short recess to open the third session (1917-1918) and closeit within three months allowing new elections to be held in theearly months of 1918,—the new Parliament to be summoned in April,1918, to form itself into a National Convention and elect thePresident for the quinquennial period 1918-1923.

All these reasonable plans were knocked on the head on Sunday, the10th June, by the sudden report that the President having beenperemptorily told that the dissolution of Parliament was the solemeans of saving the Republic and preventing the sack of Peking, aswell as an open armed attempt to restore the boy-emperor HsuanTung, had at last made up his mind to surrender to the inevitable.He had sealed a Mandate decreeing the dissolution of Parliamentwhich would be promulgated as soon as it had received the counter-signature of the acting Premier, Dr. Wu Ting-fang, such counter-signature being obligatory under Article 45 of the ProvisionalConstitution.

At once it became clear again, as happens a thousand times duringevery year in the East, that what is not nipped in the bud growswith such malignant swiftness as finally to blight all honestintentions. Had steps been taken on or about the 23rd May todetain forcibly in Peking the ringleader of the recalcitrantMilitary Governors, one General Ni Shih-chung of Anhui, historywould have been very different and China spared much national andinternational humiliation. Six years of stormy happenings hadcertainly bred in the nation a desire for constitutionalism and adetestation of military domination. But this desire anddetestation required firm leadership. Without that leadership itwas inchoate and powerless, and indeed made furtive by theconstant fear of savage reprisals. A great opportunity had comeand a great opportunity had been lost. President Li Yuan-hung'spersonal argument, communicated to the writer, was that in sealingthe Mandate dissolving Parliament he had chosen the lesser of twoevils, for although South China and the Chinese Navy declared theywould defend Parliament to the last, they were far away whilstlarge armies were echeloned along the railways leading into Pekingand daily threatening action. The events of the next year or somust prove conclusively, in spite of what has happened in thismonth of June, 1917, that the corrupt power of the sword can nolonger even nominally rule China.

Meanwhile the veteran Dr. Wu Ting-fang, true to his faith,declared that no power on earth would cause him to sign a Mandatepossessing no legality behind it; and he indeed obstinatelyresisted every attempt to seduce him. Although his resignation wasrefused he stood his ground manfully, and it became clear thatsome other expedient would have to be resorted to. In the smallhours of the 13th June what this was was made clear: by a rapidreshuffling of the cards Dr. Wu Ting-fang's resignation wasaccepted and the general officer commanding the PekingGendarmerie, a genial soul named General Chiang Chao-tsung, whohad survived unscathed the vicissitudes of six years ofrevolution, was appointed to act in his stead and duly counter-signed the fateful Mandate which was at once printed andpromulgated at four o'clock in the morning. It has been stated tothe writer that had it not been so issued four battalions of ChangHsun's savage pigtailed soldiery, who had been bivouacked for somedays in the grounds of the Temple of Heaven, would have been letloose on the capital. The actual text of the Mandate provesconclusively that the President had no hand in its drafting—oneargument being sufficient to prove that, namely the deliberateignoring of the fact that Parliament had been called into being byvirture of article 53 of the Nanking Provisional Constitution andthat under article 54 its specific duty was to act as a grandconstitutional conference to draft and adopt the PermanentConstitution, article 55 furthermore giving Parliament the rightsummarily to amend the Provisional Constitution before thePromulgation of the permanent instrument, should that benecessary. Provisions of this sort would naturally carry no weightwith generals of the type of Chang Hsun, of whom it is said thatuntil recent years he possessed only the most elementaryeducation; but it is a dismal thing to have to record that theConservative Party in China should have adopted a platform ofbrute force in the year of grace, 1917.

MANDATE DISSOLVING PARLIAMENT

In the 6th month of last year I promulgated a Mandate stating thatin order to make a Constitution it was imperative that Parliamentshould be convened. The Republic was inaugurated five years agoand yet there was no Constitution, which should be the fundamentallaw of a nation, therefore it was ordered that Parliament be re-convened to make the Constitution, etc., at once.

Therefore the main object for the re-convocation of Parliament wasto make a formal constitution for the country. Recently a petitionwas received from Meng En-yuen, Tu-chun of Kirin, and others, tothe effect that "in the articles passed by the ConstitutionConference there were several points as follows: 'when the Houseof Representatives passes a vote of want of confidence against theCabinet Ministers, the President may dismiss the CabinetMinisters, or dissolve the said House, but the dissolution of theHouse shall have the approval of the Senate.' Again, 'When thePresident dismisses his Prime Minister, it is unnecessary for himto secure the counter-signature of the Cabinet Ministers.' Again'when a bill is passed by the Two Houses it shall have the forceof the law.' We were surprised to read the above provisions.

"According to the precedents of other nations the Constitution hasnever been made by Parliament. If we should desire a good andworkable Constitution, we should seek a fundamental solution.Indeed Parliament is more important than any other organ in thecountry; but when the national welfare is imperilled, we must takeaction. As the present Parliament does not care about the nationalwelfare, it is requested that in view of the critical condition ofthe country, drastic measures be taken and both the House ofRepresentatives and the Senate be dissolved so that they may bereorganized and the Constitution may be made without any furtherdelay. Thus the form of the Republican Government be preserved,etc."

Of late petitions and telegrams have been received from themilitary and civil officials, merchants, scholars, etc.,containing similar demands. The Senate and the House ofRepresentatives have held the Constitution Conference for aboutone year, and the Constitution has not yet been completed.Moreover at this critical time most of the M.P's. of both Houseshave tendered their resignation. Hence it is impossible to securequorums to discuss business. There is therefore no chance torevise the articles already passed. Unless means be devised tohasten the making of the Constitution, the heart of the peoplewill never be satisfied.

I, the President, who desire to comply with the will of thepopulace and to consolidate the foundation of the nation, grantthe request of the Tuchuns and the people. It is hereby orderedthat the Senate and the House of Representatives be dissolved, andthat another election be held immediately. Thus a ConstitutionalGovernment can be maintained. It must be pointed out that theobject for the reorganization of Parliament is to hasten themaking of the Constitution, and not to abolish the LegislativeOrgan of the Republic. I hope all the citizens of the Republicwill understand my motives.

A great agitation and much public uneasiness followed thepublication of this document; and the parliamentarians, who hadalready been leaving Peking in small numbers, now evacuated thecapital en masse for the South. The reasonable and wholly logicalattitude of the Constitutionalists is well-exhibited in the lastMemorandum they submitted to the President some days prior to hisdecision to issue the Mandate above-quoted; and a perusal of thisdocument will show what may be expected in the future. It will benoted that the revolting Military Governors are boldly termedrebels and that the constitutional view of everything they maycontrive as from the 13th June, 1917, is that it will be bereft ofall legality and simply mark a fresh interregnum. Furthermore, itis important to note that the situation is brought back by theMandate of the 13th June to where it was on the 6th June, 1916,with the death of Yuan Shih-kai, and that a period of civilcommotion seems inevitable.

MEMORANDUM

To the President: Our previous memorandum to Your Excellency musthave received your attention. We now beg further to inform youthat the rebels are now practically in an embarrassing predicamenton account of internal differences, the warning of the friendlyPowers, and the protest of the Southwestern provinces. Theirposition is becoming daily more and more untenable. If YourExcellency strongly holds out for another ten days or so, theirmovement will collapse.

Some one, however, has the impudence to suggest that with theentry of Chang Hsun's troops into the Capital, and delay in thesettlement of the question will mean woe and disaster. But to us,there need be no such fear. As the troops in the Capital have nomind to oppose the rebels, Tsao Kun and his troops alone will beadequate for their purposes in the Capital. But now the rebelstroops have been halting in the neighbourhood of the Capital forthe last ten days. This shows that they dare not open hostilitiesagainst the Government, which step will certainly bring aboutforeign intervention and incur the strong opposition of theSouthwestern provinces. Having refused to participate in therebellion at the invitation of Ni Shih-chung and Chang Tso-lin,Chang Hsun will certainly not do what Tsao Kun has not dared todo. But the rebels have secret agents in the Capital to circulaterumours to frighten the public and we hope that the President willremain calm and unperturbed, lest it will give an opportunity forthe rebel agents to practise their evil tricks.

Respecting Parliament, its re-assembly was one of the two mostimportant conditions by means of which the political differencesbetween the North and the South last year were healed. Thedissolution of Parliament would mean the violation of the terms ofsettlement entered into between the North and the South last yearand an open challenge to the South. Would the South remain silentrespecting this outrageous measure? If the South rises in armsagainst this measure, what explanation can the Central Governmentgive? It will only serve to hasten the split between the North andthe South. From a legal point of view, the Power of Government isvested in the Provisional Constitution. When the Governmentexercises power which is not provided for by the Constitution, itsimply means high treason.

Some one has suggested that it would not be an illegal act for theGovernment to dissolve Parliament, since it is not provided in theProvisional Constitution as to how Parliament should be dissolved,nor does that instrument specifically prohibit the Government fromdissolving Parliament. But this is a misinterpretation. Forinstance, the Provisional Constitution has not provided that thePresident shall not proclaim himself Emperor, nor does it prohibithim from so doing. According to such interpretation, it would notbe illegal, if the President were to proclaim himself Emperor ofthe country.

In short, the action taken by Ni Shih-chung and others is nothingshort of open rebellion. From the legal point of view, anysuggestion of compromise would be absurd. It has already been afatal mistake for the President to have allowed them to do whatthey like, and if he again yields to their pressure by dissolvingParliament, he will be held responsible, when the righteous troopsrise and punish the rebels. If the President, deceived by ignoblepersons, take upon himself to dissolve the assembly, his name willgo down in history as one committing high treason against theGovernment, and the author of the break between the North and theSouth. The President has been known as the man by whose hands theRepublic was built. We have special regard for his benevolentcharacter and kind disposition. We are reluctant to see himintimidated and misled by evil counsels to take a step which willundo all his meritorious services to the country and shatter theunique reputation he has enjoyed.

The unrolling of these dramatic events was the signal for thegreatest subterranean activity on the part of the Japanese, whowere now everywhere seen rubbing their hands and congratulatingthemselves on the course history was taking. General Tanaka, Vice-Chief of the Japanese General Staff, who had been on an extensivetour of inspection in China, SO PLANNED AS TO INCLUDE EVERYARSENAL NORTH OF THE YANGTSZE had arrived at the psychologicalmoment in Peking and was now deeply engaged through Japanesefield-officers in the employ of the Chinese Government, in pullingevery string and in trying to commit the leaders of thisunedifying plot in such a way as to make them puppets of Japan.The Japanese press, seizing on the American Note of the 5th Juneas an excuse, had been belabouring the United States for some daysfor its "interference" in Chinese affairs, and also for havingignored Japan's "special position" in China, which according tothese publicists demanded that no Power take any action in the FarEast, or give any advice, without first consulting Japan. That astern correction will have to be offered to this presumption assoon as the development of the war permits it is certain. But notonly Japanese military officers and journalists were endlesslybusy: so-called Japanese advisers to the Chinese Government haddone their utmost to assist the confusion. Thus Dr. Ariga, theConstitutional expert, when called in at the last moment foradvice by President Li Yuan-hung had flatly contradicted Dr.Morrison, who with an Englishman's love of justice andconstitutionalism had insisted that there was only one thing forthe President to do—to be bound by legality to the last no matterwhat it might cost him. Dr. Ariga had falsely stated that theissue was a question of expediency, thus deliberately assistingthe forces of disruption. This is perhaps only what was to beexpected of a man who had advised Yuan Shih-kai to make himselfEmperor—knowing full well that he could never succeed and thatindeed the whole enterprise from the point of view of Japan was anelaborate trap.

The provincial response to the action taken on the 13th Junebecame what every one had expected: the Southwestern group ofprovinces, with their military headquarters at Canton, beganopenly concerting measures to resist not the authority of thePresident, who was recognized as a just man surrounded by evil-minded persons who never hesitated to betray him, but to destroythe usurping generals and the corrupt camarilla behind them;whilst the Yangtsze provinces, with their headquarters at Nanking,which had hitherto been pledged to "neutrality," began secretlyexchanging views with the genuinely Republican South. The group ofTientsin generals and "politicals," confused by thesedevelopments, remained inactive; and this was no doubt responsiblefor the mad coup attempted by the semi-illiterate General ChangHsun. In the small hours of July 1st General Chang Hsun, relyingon the disorganization in the capital which we have dealt with inour preceding account, entered the Imperial City with his troopsby prearrangement with the Imperial Family and at 4 o'clock on themorning of the 1st July the Manchu boy-emperor Hsuan Tung, wholost the Throne on the 12th February, 1912, was enthroned before asmall assembly of Manchu nobles, courtiers and sycophanticChinese. The capital woke up to find military patrols everywhereand to hear incredulously that the old order had returned. Thepolice, obeying instructions, promptly visited all shops anddwelling-houses and ordered every one to fly the Dragon Flag. Inthe afternoon of the same day the following Restoration Edict wasissued, its statements being a tissue of falsehoods, the allegedmemorial from President Li Yuan Hung, which follows the principaldocument, being a bare-faced forgery, whilst no single nameinserted in the text save that of Chang Hsun had any right to bethere. There is also every reason to believe that the Manchu courtparty was itself coerced, terror being felt from the beginningregarding the consequences of this mad act which was largelypossible because Peking is a Manchu city.

IMPERIAL EDICT

Issued the 13th day of the 5th Moon of the 9th year of Hsuan Tung.

While yet in our boyhood the inheritance of the great domain wasunfortunately placed in our possession; and since we were then allalone, we were unable to weather the numerous difficulties. Uponthe outbreak of the uprising in the year of Hsin Hai, (1911) OurEmpress, Hsiao Ting Chin, owing to her Most High Virtue and MostDeep Benevolence was unwilling to allow the people to suffer, andcourageously placed in the hands of the late Imperial Councillor,Yuan Shih-kai, the great dominion which our forefathers had builtup, and with it the lives of the millions of Our People, withorders to establish a provisional government.

The power of State was thus voluntarily given to the whole countrywith the hope that disputes might disappear, disturbances mightstop and the people enabled to live in peace. But ever since theform of State was changed into a Republic, continuous strife hasprevailed and several wars have taken place. Forcible seizure,excessive taxation and bribery have been of everyday occurrence.Although the annual revenue has increased to 400 millions thisamount is still insufficient to meet the needs. The total amountof foreign obligations has reached a figure of more than tenthousand millions yet more loans are being contracted. The peoplewithin the seas are shocked by this state of affairs and interestin life has forsaken them. The step reluctantly taken by OurEmpress Hsiao Ting Chin for the purpose of giving respite to thepeople has resulted untowardly in increasing the burdens of OurPeople. This indeed Our Empress Hsiao Ting Chin was unable toforesee, and the result must have made her Spirit in Heaven toweep sorely. And it is owing to this that we have been praying toHeaven day and night in the close confines of the palace,meditating and weeping in silent suffering.

Recently party strife has resulted in war and the country hasremained too long in an unsettled condition. The Republic hasfallen to pieces and means of remedy have been exhausted.

Chang Hsun, Feng Kuo-chang and Lu Yung-ting have jointlymemorialized the Throne stating that the minds of people aredisturbed and they are longing to see the old regime restored, andasking that the throne be reoccupied in order to comfort thepeople.

Chu Hung-chi and others have also memorialized us stating that thecountry is in imminent danger and that the people have lost theirfaith in the Republic, and asking that we ascend the Throne inobedience to the mandate of Heaven and man.

Li Yuan Hung has also memorialized the throne, returning the greatpower of State to us in order to benefit the country and save thepeople.

A persual of the said memorials, which are worded in earnestterms, has filled our heart with regret and fear. On the one handWe, being yet in Our boyhood, are afraid to assume the greatresponsibilities for the existence of the country but on the otherhand We are unwilling to turn our head away from the welfare ofthe millions simply because the step might affect Our own safety.

After weighing the two sides and considering the mandates ofHeaven and man, we have decided reluctantly to comply with theprayers, and have again occupied the Court to attend to theaffairs of State after resuming possession of the great power onthe 13th day of the 5th moon of the 9th year of Hsuan Tung.

A new beginning will be made with our people. Hereafter theprinciples of morality and the sacred religion shall be ourconstitution in spirit, and order, righteousness, honesty andconscience will be practised to rebind the minds of the people whoare now without bonds. People high and low will be uniformlytreated with sincerity, and will not depend on obedience of lawalone as the means of co-operation. Administration and orders willbe based on conscientious realization and no one will be allowedto treat the form of State as material for experiment. At thistime of exhaustion when its vitality is being wasted to the lastdrop and the existence of the country is hanging in the balance,we, as if treading on thin ice over deep waters, dare not in theslightest degree indulge in license on the principle that theSovereign is entitled to enjoyment. It is our wish therefore thatall officials, be they high or low, should purify their hearts andcleanse themselves of all forms of old corruption, constantlykeeping in mind the real interests of the people. Every bit ofvitality of the people they shall be able to preserve shall go tostrengthen the life of the country for whatever it is worth. Onlyby doing so can the danger be averted and Heaven moved by oursincerity.

THE NINE ARTICLES

Herewith we promulgate the following principal things, which wemust either introduce as reforms or abolish as undesirable inrestoration.

1. We shall obey the edict of Emperor Teh Tsung Chin (Kuang Hsu),namely, that the sovereign power shall be controlled by the Court(state) but the detailed administration shall be subject to publicopinion. The country shall be called The Empire of Ta Ching; andthe methods of other constitutional monarchies shall be carefullycopied.

2. The allowance for the Imperial House shall be the same asbefore, namely, $4,000,000 per year. The sum shall be paidannually and not a single cent is to be added.

3. We shall strictly obey the instructions of our forefathers tothe extent that no member of the imperial family shall be allowedto interfere with administrative affairs.

4. The line of demarcation between Man (Manchu) and Han (Chinese)shall be positively obliterated. All Manchurian and Mongolianposts which have already been abolished shall not be restored. Asto intermarrige and change of customs the officials concerned arehereby commanded to submit their views on the points concerningthem respectively.

5. All treaties and loan agreements, money for which has alreadybeen paid, formally concluded and signed with any eastern andwestern countries before this 13th day of the 5th Moon of the 9thyear of Hsuan Tung, shall continue to be valid.

6. The stamp duty which was introduced by the Republic is herebyabolished so that the people may be relieved of their burdens. Asto other petty taxes and contributions the Viceroys and Governorsof the provinces are hereby commanded to make investigations andreport on the same for their abolition.

7. The criminal code of the Republic is unsuited to this country.It is hereby abolished. For the time being the provisionalcriminal code as adopted in the first year of Hsuan Tung shall beobserved.

8. The evil custom of political parties is hereby forbidden. Oldpolitical offenders are all pardoned. We shall, however, not beable to pardon those who deliberately hold themselves aloof anddisturb peace and order.

9. All of our people and officials shall be left to decide forthemselves the custom of wearing or cutting their queues ascommanded in the 9th moon of the 3rd year of Hsuan Tung.

We swear that we and our people shall abide by these articles. TheGreat Heaven and Earth bear witness to our words. Let this be madeknown to all.

Counter-signed by Chang Hsun, Member of the Imperial Privy
Council.

ALLEGED MEMORIAL BY PRESIDENT LI YUAN HUNG

In a memorial submitted this day, offering to return the sovereignpower of State and praying that we again ascend the throne tocontrol the great empire, Li Yuan Hung states that some time agohe was forced by mutinous troops to steal the great throne andfalsely remained at the head of the administration but failed todo good to the difficult situation. He enumerates the variousevils in the establishment of a Republic and prays that we ascendthe throne to again control the Empire with a view that the peoplemay thereby be saved. As to himself he awaits punishment by theproperly instituted authorities, etc. As his words are so mournfuland full of remorse they must have been uttered from a sincereheart. Since it was not his free choice to follow the rebellion,the fact that he has returned the great power of administration tous shows that he knows the great principle of righteousness. Atthis time of national danger and uncertainty, he has taken thelead of the people in obeying their sovereign, and decided beforeothers the plan to save the country from ruin. The merit is indeedgreat, and we are highly pleased with his achievement. Li Yuan-hung is hereby to have conferred on him the dignity of Duke of thefirst class so as to show our great appreciation. Let him acceptour Edict and forever receive our blessings.

Counter-signed by Chang Hsun, Member of the Privy Council.

PRIVY COUNCIL

At this time of restoration a Privy Council is hereby establishedin order that we may be assisted in our duties and thatresponsibility may be made definite. Two Under-secretaries of theCouncil are also created. Other officials serving outside of thecapital shall remain as under the system in force during the firstyear of Hsuan Tung. All civil and military officials who are nowserving at their various posts are hereby commanded to continue inoffice as hitherto.

Counter-signed by Chang Hsun.

(Hereafter follow many appointments of reactionary Chineseofficials.)

The general stupefaction at the madness of this act and themilitary occupation of all posts and telegraph-offices in Pekingallowed 48 hours to go by before the reaction came. On the 2ndJuly Edicts still continued to appear attempting to galvanize tolife the corpse of Imperialism and the puzzled populace flew theDragon Flag. On the morning of the 3rd, however, the news suddenlyspread that President Li Yuan-hung, who had virtually been made aprisoner in the Presidential Palace, had escaped at nine o'clockthe night before by motorcar accompanied by two aides-de-camp, andafter attempting to be received at the French Hospital in theLegation Quarter, had proceeded to the Japanese Legation where hewas offered a suitable residence. On the evening of the 3rd theJapanese Legation issued the following official communique (inFrench) defining its attitude:

TRANSLATION

President Li, accompanied by two members of his staff, came at9.30 on the evening of July 2 to the residence of General Saito,Military Attache of the Japanese Legation, and asked protectionfrom him. He arrived in a spontaneous manner and without previousnotice.

Under these circ*mstances, the Imperial Japanese Legation,following international usage, has decided to accord him thenecessary protection and has placed at his disposal a part of themilitary barracks.

The Legation further declares that as long as President Li remainsthere, it will not permit any political action on his part.

Following this sensational development it became known thatPresident Li Yuan Hung had completely frustrated the efforts ofthe Imperialists by sending away a number of important telegraphicMandates by courier to Tientsin as well as the Presidential Seal.By a masterly move in one of these Mandates General Tuan Chi-juiwas reappointed Premier, whilst Vice-President Feng Kuo-chang wasasked to officiate as President, the arrangements being socomplete as at once to catch Chang Hsun in his own net.

Here is the text of these four historically important messages:

(1) Dated July 1. Today Inspector General Chang Hsun entered thecity with his troops and actually restored the monarchy. Hestopped traffic and sent Liang Ting-fen and others to my place topersuade me. Yuan-hung refused in firm language and swore that hewould not recognize such a step. It is his hope that the Vice-President and others will take effective means to protect theRepublic. LI YUAN HUNG.

(2) Dated July 1. As Heaven does not scorn calamity so has themonarchy been restored. It is said that in an edict issued by theChing House it is stated that Yuan-hung had actually memorializedto return the power of State to the said House. This is anextraordinary announcement. China changed from autocracy to aRepublic by the unanimous wish of the five races of the country.Since Yuan-hung was entrusted by the people with the greatresponsibilities it is his natural duty to maintain the Republicto the very end. Nothing more or less than this will he care tosay. He is sending this in order to avoid misunderstanding. LIYUAN HUNG.

(3) The President to the Vice-President.

To the Vice-President Feng at Nanking—It is to be presumed thatthe two telegrams sent on the 1st have safely reached you. I statewith deepest regret and greatest sorrow that as the result of mylack of ability to handle the situation the political crisis haseventually affected the form of government. For this Yuan-hungrealizes that he owes the country apology. The situation in Pekingis daily becoming more precarious. Since Yuan-hung is now unableto exercise his power the continuity of the Republic may besuddenly interrupted. You are also entrusted by the citizens withgreat responsibilities; I ask you to temporarily exercise thepower and functions of the President in your own office inaccordance with the provisions of Article 42 of the ProvisionalConstitution and Article 5 of the Presidential Election Law. Asthe means of communication is effectively blocked it is fearedthat the sending of my seal will meet with difficulty andobstruction. Tuan Chih-chuan (Tuan Chi-jui) has been appointedPremier, and is also ordered to temporarily protect the seal, andlater to devise a means to forward it on to you. Hereafter everything pertaining to the important question of saving the countryshall be energetically pushed by you and Chih-chuan with utmostvigour. The situation is pressing and your duty is clear. In greatanxiety and expectation I am sending you this telegram. LI YUANHUNG.

(4) Dated July 3. To Vice-President Feng, Tu Chuns and Governorsof the Provinces, Provincial Assemblies, Inspector General Lu:—Ipresume that the two telegrams dated 1st and one dated 3rd inst.have safely reached your place. With bitter remorse to myself Inow make the statement that the political crisis has resulted inaffecting the form of government. Tuan Chih-chuan has beenappointed on the 1st inst. as Premier; and the Vice-President hasbeen asked to exercise the power and functions of the President inaccordance of office by the Vice-President. Premier Tuan isauthorized to act at his discretion. All the seal and documentshave been sent to Tientsin, and Premier Tuan has been told to keepand guard the same for the time being. He has also been asked toforward the same to the Vice-President. The body guards of thePresident's Office have suddenly been replaced and I have beenpressed to give up the Three Lakes. Yuan-hung has thereforeremoved to a sanctuary. As regards the means to save the country Itrust that you will consult and work unitedly with Vice-PresidentFeng and Premier Tuan. In great expectation, and with much of myheart not poured out. LI YUAN HUNG.

Meanwhile, whilst these dramatic events were occurring in Peking,others no less sensational were taking place in the provinces. TheTientsin group, suddenly realizing that the country was in danger,took action very swiftly, disclosing that in spite of all disputesRepublicanism had become very dear to every thinking man in thecountry, and that at last it was possible to think of an unitedChina. The Scholar Liang Chi Chao, spokesman of ChineseLiberalism, in an extraordinarily able message circularized theprovinces in terms summarizing everything of importance. Beginningwith the fine literary flight that "heaven has refused tosympathize with our difficulties by allowing traitors to be born"he ends with the astounding phrase that although he had proposedto remain silent to the end of his days, "at the sight of thefallen nest he has, however, spat the stopper out of his throat,"and he calls upon all China to listen to his words which aresimply that the Republic must be upheld or dissolution will come.

Arms now united with Literature. General Tuan Chi-jui, immediatelyaccepting the burden placed on him, proceeded to the mainentrenched camp outside Tientsin and assumed command of the troopsmassed there, issuing at the same time the following manifesto:

TUAN CHI-JUI'S MANIFESTO

To Vice-President Feng Kuo-chang, Inspector General of Wumin, Tu
Chuns, Governors, Tu-tungs. …

Heaven is chastening this country by the series of disturbancesthat have taken place. Chang Hsun, filled with sinister designs,has occupied the capital by bringing up his troops under thepretext of effecting a compromise with the astounding result thatlast night the Republican form of government was overthrown. Thequestion of the form of Government is the very fundamentalprinciple on which the national existence depends. It requiresassiduous efforts to settle the form of government and once adecision has been reached on the subject, any attempt to changethe same is bound to bring on unspeakable disasters to thecountry. Today the people of China are much more enlightened anddemocratic in spirit than ever before. It is, therefore,absolutely impossible to subjugate the millions by holding out tothe country the majesty of any one family.

When the Republic of China was being founded, the Ching House,being well aware of the general inclinations of modern peoples,sincerely and modestly abdicated its power. Believing that suchspirit deserved handsome recognition the people were willing toplace the Ching House under the protection of special treatmentand actually recorded the covenant on paper, whereby contentmentand honour were vouchsafed the Ching House. Of the end of morethan 20 dynasties of Chinese history, none can compare with theChing dynasty for peace and safety.

Purely for sake of satisfying his ambitions of self-elevationChang Hsun and others have audaciously committed a crime ofinconceivable magnitude and are guilty of high treason. Like WangMang and Tung Tso he seeks to sway the whole nation by utilizing ayoung and helpless emperor. Moreover he has given the country tounderstand that Li Yuan-hung has memorialized the Ching House thatmany evils have resulted from republicanism and that the ex-emperor should be restored to save the masses. That Chang Hsun hasbeen guilty of usurpation and forging documents is plain and thescandal is one that shocks all the world.

Can it be imagined that Chang Hsun is actuated by a patrioticmotive? Surely despotism is no longer tolerated in this stage ofmodern civilization. Such a scheme can only provoke universalopposition. Five years have already passed since the friendlyPowers accorded their recognition of the Chinese Republic and ifwe think we could afford to amuse ourselves with changes in thenational fabric, we could not expect foreign powers to put up withsuch childishness. Internal strife is bound to invite foreignintervention and the end of the country will then be near.

Can it be possible that Chang Hsun has acted in the interest ofthe Ching House? The young boy-emperor lives in peace andcontentment and has not the slightest idea of ever ruling Chinaagain. It is known that his tutors have been warning him of thedangers of intriguing for power. That the boy-emperor has beendragged on the throne entirely against his own wishes isundeniable. History tells us that no dynasty can live for ever. Itis an unprecedented privilege for the Ching dynasty to be able toend with the gift of special treatment. How absurd to again placethe Tsing house on the top of a high wall so that it may fall oncemore and disappear for ever.

Chi-jui, after his dismissal, resolved not to participate inpolitical affairs, but as he has had a share, howeverinsignificant, in the formation of the Chinese Republic, andhaving served the Republic for so long he cannot bear to see itsdestruction without stretching out a helping hand. Further, he hasbeen a recipient of favours from the defunct dynasty, and he cannot bear to watch unmoved, the sight of the Ching House being madethe channel of brigandage with suicidal results. Wherever dutycalls, Chi-jui will go in spite of the danger of death. You,gentlemen, are the pillars of the Republic of China and thereforehave your own duties to perform. In face of this extraordinarycrisis, our indignation must be one. For the interest of thecountry we should abide by our oath of unstinted loyalty; and forthe sake of the Tsing House let us show our sympathy by sane andwise deeds. I feel sure you will put forth every ounce of yourenergy and combine your efforts to combat the great disaster.Though I am a feeble old soldier, I will follow you on the back ofmy steed. (Sgd) TUAN CHI-JUI.

Following the publication of this manifesto a general movement oftroops began. On the 5th July the important Peking-Tientsinrailway was reported interrupted forty miles from the capital—atLangfang which is the station where Admiral Seymour's reliefexpedition in 1900 was nearly surrounded and exterminated. ChangHsun, made desperate by the swift answer to his coup, had movedout of Peking in force stiffening his own troops with numbers ofManchu soldiery, and announcing that he would fight it out to thebitter end, although this proved as false as the rest had been.The first collision occurred on the evening of the 5th July andwas disastrous for the King-maker. The whole Northern army, withthe exception of a Manchu Division in Peking, was so rapidlyconcentrated on the two main railways leading to the capital thatChang Hsun's army, hopelessly outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, fellback after a brief resistance. Chang Hsun himself was plainlystupefied by the discovery that imperialism of the classic typewas as much out of date in the North as in the South; and withinone week of his coup he was prepared to surrender if his life andreputation were spared. By the 9th July the position was this: theRepublican forces had surrounded Peking: Chang Hsun had resignedevery appointment save the command of his own troops: the ManchuCourt party had drafted a fresh Edict of Renunciation, but beingterrorized by the pigtailed troops surrounding the Palace did notdare to issue it.

The usual bargaining now commenced with the Legation Quarteracting as a species of middleman. No one was anxious to seewarfare carried into the streets of Peking, as not only might thislead to the massacres of innocent people, but to foreigncomplications as well. The novelty had already been seen of aminiature air-raid on the Imperial city, and the panic thatexploding bombs had carried into the hearts of the Manchu ImperialFamily made them ready not only to capitulate but to run away. Thechief point at issue was, however, not the fate of the monarchy,which was a dead thing, but simply what was going to happen toChang Hsun's head—a matter which was profoundly distressing ChangHsun. The Republican army had placed a price of 10,000 pounds onit, and the firebrands were advocating that the man must becaptured, dead or alive, and suffer decapitation in front of theGreat Dynastic Gate of the Palace as a revenge for his perfidy.Round this issue a subtle battle raged which was not brought to ahead until the evening of the 11th July, when all attempts atforcing Chang Hsun to surrender unconditionally having failed, itwas announced that a general attack would be made on his forces atdaylight the next morning.

Promptly at dawn on the 12th July a gun-signal heralded theassault. Large Republican contingents entered the city throughvarious Gates, and a storm of firing aroused terror among thepopulace. The main body of Chang Hsun's men, entrenched in thegreat walled enclosure of the Temple of Heaven, were soonsurrounded, and although it would have been possible for them tohold out for several days, after a few hours' firing a parleybegan and they quietly surrendered. Similarly in the Imperialcity, where Chang Hsun had taken up his residence, this leader, inspite of his fire-eating declarations, soon fled to the LegationQuarter and besought an asylum. His men held out until two in theafternoon, when their resistance collapsed and the cease-firesounded. The number of casualties on both sides was infinitesimal,and thus after eleven days' farce the Manchu dynasty found itselfworse off than ever before. It is necessary, however, not to losesight of the main problem in China, which is the establishment ofa united government and a cessation of internecine warfare,—issues which have been somewhat simplified by Chang Hsun'sescapade, but not solved. That a united government will ultimatelybe established is the writer's belief, based on a knowledge of allthe facts. But to attain that further provincial struggles areinevitable, since China is too large a unit to find common groundwithout much suffering and bitterness. President Li Yuan Hunghaving declared that nothing would induce him to resume office,Vice-President Feng Kuo-chang has become the legal successor andhas quietly assumed office. Chang Hsun's abortive coup has alreadycleared the air in North China to this extent: that the ManchuImperial Family is to be removed from Peking and the Imperialallowance greatly reduced, whilst the proscription of such out-and-out imperialists as Kang Yu-wei has destroyed the lastvestiges of public support. Finally the completion of China'sforeign policy, i. e. the declaration of war against Germany andAustria, has at last been made on the 14th August, 1917, and aconsistent course of action mapped out.

THE FINAL PROBLEM:—REMODELLING THE POLITICO-ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN CHINA AND THE WORLD

The careful narrative we have made—supported as it is bydocuments—of the history of China since the inception of theRepublic six years ago should not fail to awaken profoundastonishment among those who are interested in the spread of goodgovernment throughout the world. Even casual readers will have nodifficulty in realizing how many lives have been lost and howgreatly the country has been crippled both owing to the blindforeign support given to Yuan Shih-kai during four long and wearyyears and to the stupid adhesion to exploded ideas, when a littleintelligence and a little generosity and sympathy would haveguided the nation along very different paths. To have to go back,as China was forced to do in 1916, and begin over again the workwhich should have been performed in 1912 is a handicap which onlypersistent resolution can overcome; for the nation has been sogreatly impoverished that years must elapse before a completerecovery from the disorders which have upset the internal balancecan be chronicled; and when we add that the events of the periodMay-July, 1917, are likely still further to increase the burdenthe nation carries, the complicated nature of the outlook will bereadily understood.

Happily foreign opinion has lately taken turn for the better.Whilst the substitution of a new kind of rule in place of the YuanShih-kai regime, with its thinly disguised Manchuism and itssecret worship of fallen gods, was at first looked upon as apolitical collapse tinged with tragedy—most foreigners refusingto believe in an Asiatic Republic—the masculine decision of the9th February, 1917, which diplomatically ranged China definitelyon the side of the Liberal Powers, has caused something of a volteface. Until this decision had been made it was the fashion todeclare that China was not only not fit to be a Republic but thather final dissolution was only a matter of time. Though the empiredisappeared because it had become an impossible rule in the modernworld—being womanish, corrupt, and mediaeval—to the foreign mindthe empire remained the acme of Chinese civilization; and to killit meant to lop off the head of the Chinese giant and to leavelying on the ground nothing but a corpse. It was in vain to insistthat this simile was wrong and that it was precisely becauseChinese civilization had exhausted itself that a new conception ofgovernment had to be called in to renew the vitality of thepeople. Men, and particularly diplomats, refused to understandthat this embodied the heart and soul of the controversy, and thatthe sole mandate for the Republic, as well as the supreme reasonwhy it had to be upheld if the country was not to dissolve, hasalways lain in the fact that it postulates something which is thevery antithesis of the system it has replaced and which should bewholly successful in a single generation, if courage is shown andthe whip unflinchingly used.

The chief trouble, in the opinion of the writer, has been thesimplicity of the problem and not its complexity. By eliminatingthe glamour which surrounded the Throne, and by kicking away allthe pomp and circ*mstance which formed the age-old ritual ofgovernment, the glaring simplicity and barrenness of Chinese life—when contrasted with the complex West—has been made evident.Bathed in the hard light of modern realities, the poetic Chinawhich Haroun-al-Raschid painted in his Aladdin, and which stilllives in the beautiful art of the country, has vanished foreverand its place has been taken by a China of prose. To those whohave always pictured Asia in terms of poetry this has no doubtbeen a very terrible thing—a thing synonymous with politicaldeath. And yet in point of fact the elementary things remain muchas they have always been before, and if they appear to haveacquired new meaning it is simply because they have been movedinto the foreground and are no longer masked by a gaudysuperstructure.

For if you eliminate questions of money and suppose for a momentthat the national balance-sheet is entirely in order, China is theold China although she is stirred by new ideas. Here you have byfar the greatest agricultural community in the world, living justas it has always lived in the simplest possible manner, andremitting to the cities (of which there are not ten with half-a-million inhabitants) the increment which the harvests yield. Thesecities have made much municipal progress and developed anindependence which is confessedly new. Printing presses havespread a noisy assertiveness, as well as a very critical andlitigious spirit, which tends to resent and oppose authority.

[Footnote: The growth of the Chinese press is remarkable. Althoughno complete statistics are available there is reason to believethat the number of peri-odicals in China now approximates 10,000,the daily vernacular newspapers in Peking alone exceeding 60.Although no newspaper in China prints more than 20,000 copies aday, the reading public is growing at a phenomenal rate, it beingestimated that at least 50 million people read the dailypublications, or hear what they say,—a fact which is deemed sopolitically important that all political parties and groups havetheir chains of organs throughout the country.]

Trade, although constantly proclaimed to be in a bad way, issteadily growing as new wants are created and fashions change. Animmense amount of new building has been done, particularly inthose regions which the Revolution of 1911 most devastated. Thearchaic fiscal system, having been tumbled into open ruin, hasbeen partially replaced by European conceptions which are stillonly half-understood, but which are not really opposed. Thecountry, although boasting a population which is only some fiftymillions less than the population of the nineteen countries ofEurope, has an army and a police-force so small as to allow one tosay that China is virtually disarmed since there are only 900,000men with weapons in their hands. Casting about to discover whatreally tinges the outlook, that must simply be held to be the longdelay the world has made in extending the same treatment to Chinaas is now granted to the meanest community of Latin America. Ithas been almost entirely this, coupled with the ever-presentthreat of Japanese chauvinism, which has given China theappearance of a land that is hopelessly water-logged, although theNational Debt is relatively the smallest in the world and thepeople the most industrious and law-abiding who have ever lived.In such circ*mstances that ideas of collapse should have spread sofar is simply due to a faulty estimate of basic considerations.

For we have to remember that in a country in which the thoroughlyEnglish doctrine of laissez faire has been so long practised thatit has become second nature, and in which the philosophic spiritis so undisputed that the pillars of society are just as much thebeggars who beg as the rich men who support them, influences of apeculiar character play an immense role and can be only veryslowly overcome. Passivity has been so long enthroned that of theChinese it may be truly said that they are not so much too proudto fight as too indifferent,—which is not a fruitful state ofaffairs. Looking on the world with callous detachment the massesgo their own way, only pausing in their work on their ancientFestival days which they still celebrate just as they have alwayscelebrated them since the beginning of their history. The pettydaily activities of a vast legion of people grouped together inthis extraordinary way, and actuated by impulses which seemsharply to conflict with the impulses of the other great races ofthe world, appear incredible to Westerners who know what the outerperils really are, and who believe that China is not only at baybut encircled—caught in a network of political agreements andcommitments which have permanently destroyed her power ofinitiative and reduced her to inanition. To find her lumbering onundisturbed, ploughing the fields, marrying and giving inmarriage, buying, selling, cursing and laughing, carrying outrebellions and little plots as though the centuries that stretchahead were still her willing slaves, has in the end become toonlookers a veritable nightmare. Puzzled by a phenomenon which isso disconcerting as to be incapable of any clear definition, theyhave ended by declaring that an empty Treasury is an empty rule,adding that as it is solely from this monetary viewpoint that theNew China ought to be judged, their opinion is the one which willfinally be accepted as authoritative. The situation is admittedlydangerous; and it is imperative that a speedy remedy be sought;for the heirs and assigns of an estate which has been mismanagedto the brink of bankruptcy must secure at all costs that no publicreceivership is made.

What is the remedy? That must consist simply enough in attackingthe grand simplicities directly; in recognizing, as we haveclearly shown that the bases of Chinese life having collapsedthrough Euro-Japanese pressure, the politico-economic relationshipbetween the Republic and the world must be remodelled at theearliest possible opportunity, every agreement which has been madesince the Treaties of 1860 being carefully and completely revised.[Footnote: The mediaeval condition of Chinese trade taxation iswell illustrated by a Memorandum which the reader will find in theappendix. One example may be quoted. Timber shipped from the Yaluriver, i.e. from Chinese territory, to Peking, pays duties at fivedifferent places, the total amount of which aggregates 20 per centof its market value; whilst timber from America, with transit duesand Peking Octroi added, only pays 10 per cent! China is probablythe only country that has ever existed that discriminates againstit* own goods and gives preference to the foreigner,—through theoperation of the Treaties.]

To say this is to give utterance to nothing very new or brilliant:it is the thought which has been present in every one's mind for anumber of years. So far back as 1902, when Great Britainnegotiated with China the inoperative Mackay Commercial Treaty,provision was not only made for a complete reform of the Tariff—import duties to be made two and a half times as large in returnfor a complete abolition of likin or inter-provincial trade-taxation—but for the abolition of extraterritoriality when Chinashould have erected a modern and efficient judicial system. Andalthough matters equally important, such as the funding of allChinese indemnities and loans into one Consolidated Debt, as wellas the withdrawal of the right of foreign banks to make banknoteissues in China, were not touched upon, the same principles wouldundoubtedly have been applied in these instances, as beingconductive to the re-establishment of Chinese autonomy, hadChinese negotiators been clever enough to urge them as being ofequal importance to the older issues. For it is primarily debt,and the manipulation of debt, which is the great enemy.

Three groups of indebtedness and three groups of restrictions,corresponding with the three vital periods in Chinese history, lieto-day like three great weights on the body of the Chinese giant.First, there is the imbroglio of the Japanese war of 1894-5;second, the settlement following the Boxer explosion of 1900; andthird, the cost of the revolution of 1911-1912. We have alreadydiscussed so exhaustively the Boxer Settlement and the finance ofthe Revolutionary period that it is necessary to deal with thefirst period only.

In that first period China, having been rudely handled by Japan,recovered herself only by indulging in the sort of diplomacy whichhad become traditional under the Manchus. Thankful for any help inher distress, she invited and welcomed the intervention of Russia,which gave her back the Liaotung Peninsula and preserved for herthe shadow of her power when the substance had already been sosensationally lost. Men are apt to forget to-day that thefinancial accommodation which allowed China to liquidate theJapanese war-debt was a remarkable transaction in which Russiaformed the controlling element. In 1895 the Tsar's Government hadintervened for precisely the same motives that animate every Stateat critical times in history, that is, for reasons of self-interest. The rapid victory which Japan had won had revived in anacute form the whole question of the future of the vast block ofterritory which lies south of the Amur regions and is bathed bythe Yellow Sea. Russian statesmen suddenly became conscious thatthe policy of which Muravieff-Amurski in the middle of thenineteenth century had been the most brilliant exponent—thepolicy of reaching "warm water"—was in danger of being crucified,and the work of many years thrown away. Action on Russia's partwas imperative; she was great enough to see that; and so that itshould not be said that she was merely depriving a gallant nationof the fruits of victory and thereby issuing to her a directchallenge, she invited the chief Powers in Treaty relations withChina to co-operate with her in readjusting what she described asthe threatened balance. France and Germany responded to thatinvitation; England demurred. France did so because she wasalready the devoted Ally of a nation that was a guarantee for thesecurity of her European frontiers: Germany because she wasanxious to see that Russia should be pushed into Asiaticcommitments and drawn away from the problems of the Near East.England on her part very prudently declined to be associated witha transaction which, while not opposed to her interests, wasfilled with many dubious elements.

It was in Petrograd that this account was liquidated. Theextraordinary chapter which only closed with the disastrous Peaceof Portsmouth opened for Russia in a very brilliant way. Thepresence in Moscow of the veteran statesman Li Hung-chang on theoccasion of the Tsar's Coronation afforded an opportunity forexhaustively discussing the whole problem of the Far East. Chinarequired money: Russia required the acceptance of plans whichultimately proved so disastrous to her. Under Article IV of theTreaty of Shimonoseki (April, 1895) China had agreed to pay Japanas a war-indemnity 200 million Treasury taels in eightinstalments: that is 50 million taels within six months, a further50 millions within twelve months, and the remaining 100 millionsin six equal instalments spread over seven years, as well as anadditional sum of 50 millions for the retrocession of the LiaotungPeninsula.

China, therefore, needed at once 80 million taels. Russiaundertook to lend her at the phenomenally low rate of 4 per centthe sum of 16,000,000 pounds sterling—the interest and capitalof which the Tsar's Government guaranteed to the French bankersundertaking the flotation. In return for this accommodation, thewell-known Russo-Chinese Declaration of the 24th June (6th July)1895 was made in which the vital article IX states that—"Inconsideration of this Loan the Chinese Government declares that itwill not grant to any foreign Power any right or privilege of nomatter what description touching the control or administration ofthe revenues of the Chinese Empire. Should, however, the ChineseGovernment grant to any foreign Power rights of this nature, it isunderstood that the mere fact of having done so will extend thoserights to the Russian Government."

This clause has a monumental significance: it started the scramblein China: and all the history of the past 22 years is piled like apyramid on top of it. Now that the Romanoff's have been hurledfrom the throne, Russia must prove eager to reverse the policywhich brought Japan to her Siberian frontiers and which pinned abrother democracy to the ground.

For China, instead of being nearly bankrupt as so many haveasserted, has, thanks to the new scale of indebtedness which thewar has established, become one of the most debt-free countries inthe world, her entire national debt (exclusive of railway debt)amounting to less than 150 millions sterling, or seven shillingsper head of population, which is certainly not very terrible. Nostudent who has given due attention to the question can deny thatit is primarily on the proper handling of this nexus of financialinterests, and not by establishing any artificial balance of powerbetween foreign nations, that the peace of the Far East reallyhinges. The method of securing national redemption is ready-made;Western nations should use the Parliament of China as aninstrument of reform, and by limiting themselves to this onemethod secure that civil authority is reinforced to such a pointthat its behests have behind them all the wealth of the West. Inquestions of currency, taxation, railways and every othervexatious problem, it is solely by using this instrument thatsatisfactory results can be attained.

[Footnote: We need only give a single example of what we mean. If,in the matter of the reform of the currency, instead ofauthorizing trade-agencies, i.e. the foreign Exchange Banks, tomake a loan to China, which is necessarily hedged round withconditions favourable to such trade-agencies, the Powers took thematter directly in their own hands; and selecting the Bank ofChina—the national fiscal agent—as the instrument of reformagreed to advance all the sums necessary, PROVIDED a Banking Lawwas passed by the Parliament of China of a satisfying nature, andthe necessary guarantees were forthcoming, it would soon bepossible to have a uniform National Currency which would beeverywhere accepted and lead to a phenomenal trade expansion. Itshould be noted that China is still on a Copper Standard basis,—the people's buying and selling being conducted in multiples ofcopper cent-pieces of which there has been an immense over-issue,the latest figures showing that there are no less than22,000,000,000 1-cent, ten cash pieces in circulation or 62 coinsper head of population—roughly twenty-five millions sterling invalue,—or 160,000 tons of copper! The number of silver dollarsand subsidiary silver coins is not accurately known,—nor is thevalue of the silver bullion; but it certainly cannot greatlyexceed this sum. In addition there is about 15,000,000 pounds ofpaper money. A comprehensive scheme of reform, placed in the handsof the Bank of China, would require at least 15,000,000 pounds;but this sum would be sufficient to modernize the currency andestablish a universal silver dollar standard.

The Bank of China requires at least 600 branches throughout thecountry to become a true fiscal agent. It has today one-tenth ofthis number.]

For once Chinese realize that parliamentary government is notmerely an experimental thing but the last chance the country is tobe given to govern itself, they will rally to the call and provethat much of the trouble and turmoil of past years has been due tothe misunderstanding of the internal problem by Western minds,which has incited the population to intrigue against one anotherand remain disunited. And if we insist that there is urgent needfor a settlement of these matters in the terms we have indicated,it is because we know very prcisely what Japanese thought on thissubject really is.

What is that thought—whither does it lead?

It may be broadly said that Japanese activities throughout the FarEast are based on a thorough and adequate appreciation of the factthat apart from the winning of the hegemony of China, there is thefar more difficult and knotty problem of overshadowing andultimately dislodging the huge network of foreign interests—particularly British interests—which seventy-five years of Treatyintercourse have entwined about the country. These interests,growing out of the seed planted in the early Canton Factory days,had their origin in the termination by the act of the BritishGovernment of the trading monopoly enjoyed until the thirties oflast century by the East India Company. Left without properdefinition until the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 had formally wonthe principle of trading-rights at five open ports, and thusestablished a first basis of agreement between England and China(to which all the trading powers hastened to subscribe), theseinterests expanded in a half-hearted way until 1860, when in orderto terminate friction, the principle of extraterritoriality wasboldly borrowed from the Turkish Capitulations, and made the rockon which the entire fabric of international dealings in China wasbased. These treaties, with their always-recurring "most-favourednation" clause, and their implication of equal treatment for allPowers alike, constitute the Public Law of the Far East, just asmuch as the Treaties between the Nations constitute the Public Lawof Europe; and any attempt to destroy, cripple, or limit theirscope and function has been very generally deemed an assault onall the High Contracting Parties alike. By a thoroughlyMachiavellian piece of reasoning, those who have been responsiblefor the framing of recent Japanese policy, have held it essentialto their plan to keep the world chained to the principle ofextraterritoriality and Chinese Tariff and economic subjectionbecause these things, imposing as they necessarily do restrictionsand limitations in many fields, leave it free to the Japanese toplace themselves outside and beyond these restrictions andlimitations; and, by means of special zones and secretencroachments, to extend their influence so widely that ultimatelyforeign treaty-ports and foreign interests may be left isolatedand at the mercy of the "Higher machinery" which their hegemony isinstalling. The Chinese themselves, it is hoped, will be graduallycajoled into acquiescing in this very extraordinary state ofaffairs, because being unorganized and split into suspiciousgroups, they can be manipulated in such a way as to offer noeffective mass resistance to the Japanese advance, and in the endmay be induced to accept it as inevitable.

If the reader keeps these great facts carefully in mind, a newlight will dawn on him and the urgency of the Chinese questionwill be disclosed. The Japanese Demands of 1915, instead of beingfantastic and far-fetched, as many have supposed, are shown to bevery intelligently drawn-up, the entire Treaty position in Chinahaving been most exhaustively studied, and every loophole into thevast region left untouched by the exterritorialized Powers markeddown for invasion. For Western nations, in spite of exorbitantdemands at certain periods in Chinese history, having mainlylimited themselves to acquiring coastal and communicationprivileges, which were desired more for genuine purposes of tradethan for encompassing the destruction of Chinese autonomy, are to-day in a disadvantageous position which the Japanese have shownthey thoroughly understand by not only tightening their hold onManchuria and Shantung, but by going straight to the root of thematter and declaring on every possible occasion that they aloneare responsible for the peace and safety of the Far East,—andthis in spite of the fact that their plan of 1915 was exposed andpartially frustrated. But the chief force behind the JapaneseForeign Office, it should be noted, is militarist; and it is apoint of honour for the Military Party to return to the charge inChina again and again until there is definite success or definitefailure.

Now in view of the facts which have been so voluminously set forthin preceding chapters, it is imperative for men to realize thatthe struggle in the Far East is like the Balkan Question a thingrooted in geography and peoples, and cannot be brushed aside orsettled by compromises. The whole future of Chinese civilizationis intimately bound up with the questions involved, and theproblem instead of becoming easier to handle must becomeessentially more difficult from day to day. Japan's real objectivebeing the termination of the implied trusteeship which Europe andAmerica still exercise in the Far East, the course of the Europeanwar must intimately effect the ultimate outcome. If that end issatisfactory for democracies, China may reasonably claim to sharein the resulting benefits; if on the other hand, the LiberalPowers do not win an overwhelming victory which shall secure thesanctity of Treaties for all time, it will go hard for China.Outwardly, the immediate goal which Japan seeks to attain ismerely to become the accredited spokesman of Eastern Asia, theofficial representative; and, using this attorneyship as a cloakfor the advancement of objects which other Powers would pursue ondifferent principles, so impregnably to entrench herself where shewas no business to be that no one will dare to attempt to turn herout. For this reason we see revived in Manchuria on a modifiedscale the Eighteenth Century device, once so essential a featureof Dutch policy in the struggle against Louis XIV, namely thecreation of "barrier-cities" for closing and securing a frontierby giving them a special constitution which withdraws them fromordinary jurisdiction and places foreign garrisons in them. Thisis precisely what is going on from the Yalu to Eastern Mongolia,and this procedure no doubt will be extended in time to otherregions as opportunities arise. Already in Shantung the samepolicy is being pursued and there are indications that it is beingthought of in Fuhkien; whilst the infantry garrison which wasquietly installed at Hankow—600 miles up the Yangtsze river—atthe time of the Revolution of 1911 is apparently to be madepermanent. Allowing her policy to be swayed by men who know fartoo little of the sea, Japan stands in imminent danger offorgetting the great lesson which Mahan taught, that for island-peoples sea-power is everything and that land conquests whichdiminish the efficacy of that power are merely a delusion andsnare. Plunging farther and farther into the vast regions ofManchuria and Mongolia which have been the graves of a dozendynasties, Japan is displaying increasing indifference for the onegreat lesson which the war has yielded—the overwhelmingimportance of the sea. [Footnote: It should be carefully notedthat not only has Japan no unfriendly feelings for Germany butthat German Professors have been appointed to office during thewar. In the matter of enemy trading Japan's policy has been evenmore extraordinary. Until there was a popular outcry among theEntente Allies, German merchants were allowed to trade more orless as usual. They were not denied the use of Japanese steamers,shipping companies being simply "advised" not to deal with them,the two German banks in Yokohama and Kobe being closed only in theAutumn of 1916. It was not until April, 1917, that Enemy TradingRegulations were formally promulgated and enforced,—that is whenthe war was very far advanced—the action of China against Germanybeing no doubt largely responsible for this step. That theJapanese nation greatly admires the German system of governmentand is in the main indifferent to the results of the war has longbeen evident to observers on the spot.] Necessarily guardian ofthe principles on which intercourse in Asia is based, because sheframed those principles and fought for them and has built up greatedifices under their sanction, British sea-power—now alliedforever, let us hope, with American power—nevertheless remainsand will continue to remain, in spite of what may be half-surreptitiously done to-day, the dominant factor in the Far Eastas it is in the Far West. Withdrawn from view for the time being,because of the exigencies of the hour, and because the Anglo-Japanese Alliance is still counted a binding agreement, Westernsea-power nevertheless stands there, a heavy cloud in the offing,full of questionings regarding what is going on in the Orient, andfully determined, let us pray, one day to receive frank answers.For the right of every race, no matter how small or weak, to enjoythe inestimable benefits of self-government and independence maybe held to have been so absolutely established that it is a merequestion of time for the doctrine not only to be universallyaccepted but to be universally applied. In many cases, it is true,the claims of certain races are as yet incapable of beingexpressed in practical state-forms; but where nationalities havelong been well-defined, there can be no question whatsoever that aproperly articulated autonomy must be secured in such a way as topreclude the possibility of annexations.

Now although in their consideration of Asia it is notorious thatWestern statesmen have not cared to keep in mind politicalconcepts which have become enthroned in Europe, owing to the factthat an active element of opposition to such concepts was to befound in their own policies, a vast change has undoubtedly beenrecently worked, making it certain that the claims of nationalismare soon to be given the same force and value in the East as inthe West. But before there can be any question of Asia for theAsiatics being adopted as a root principle by the whole world, itwill have to be established in some unmistakable form that thesurrender of the policy of conquest which Europe has pursued forfour centuries East of the Suez Canal will not lead to itsadoption by an Asiatic Power under specious forms which hide theglittering sword. If that can be secured, then the presentconflict will have truly been a War of Liberation for the East aswell as for the West. For although Japan has been engaged for someyears in declaring to all Asiatics under her breath that she holdsout the hand of a brother to them, and dreams of the days when theage of European conquests will be nothing but a distant memory,her actions have consistently belied her words and shown that shehas not progressed in political thought much beyond the crudeconceptions of the Eighteenth Century. Thus Korea, which fellunder her sway because the nominal independence of the country hadlong made it the centre of disastrous international intrigues, isgoverned to-day as a conquered province by a military viceroywithout a trace of autonomy remaining and without any promise thatsuch a regime is only temporary. Although nothing in theundertakings made with the Powers has ever admitted that a nationwhich boasts of an ancient line of kings, and which gave Japanmuch of her own civilization, should be stamped under foot in suchmanner, the course which politics have taken in Korea has beendisastrous in the extreme ever since Lord Lansdowne in 1905, asBritish Secretary for Foreign Affairs, pointed out in a carefuldispatch to the Russian Government that Korea was a region whichfell naturally under the sway of Japan. Not only has a tragic fateovercome the sixteen million inhabitants of that country, butthere has been a covert extension of the principles applied tothem to the people of China. Now if as we say European conceptsare to have universal meaning, and if Japan desires Europeantreatment, it is time that it is realized that the policy followedin Korea, combined with the attempt to extend that treatment tosoil where China rightly claims undisputed sovereignty, forms aninsuperable barrier to Japan being admitted to the inner councilof the nations. [Footnote: A very remarkable confirmation of thesestatements is afforded in the latest Japanese decision regardingManchuria which will be immediately enforced. The experience ofthe past three years having proved conclusively that the Chinese,in spite of their internal strife, are united to a man in theirdetermination to prevent Japan from tightening her hold onManchuria and instituting an open Protectorate, the TokioGovernment has now drawn up a subtle scheme which it is believedwill be effective. A Bill for the unification of administration inSouth Manchuria has passed the Japanese Cabinet Conference andwill soon be formally promulgated. Under the provisions of thisBill, the Manchuria Railway Company will become the actual organof Japanese administration in South Manchuria; the JapaneseConsular Service will be subordinate to the administration of theRailway; and all the powers hitherto vested in the ConsularService, political, commercial, judicial and administrative, willbe made part of the organization of the South Manchuria Railway.This is not all. From another Japanese source we learn that a lawis about to take effect by which the administration of the SouthManchuria Railway will be transferred directly to the control ofthe Government-General of Korea, thus making the Railway at oncean apparently commercial but really political organization. Infuture the revenues of the South Manchuria Railway are to be paiddirect to the Government-General of Korea; and the yearlyappropriation for the upkeep and administration of the Railway isto be fixed at Yen 19,000,000. These arrangements, especially theamalgamation of the South Manchuria Railway, are to take effectfrom the 1st July, 1917, and are an attempt to do in the dark whatJapan dares not yet attempt in the open.] No one wishes to deny toJapan her proper place in the world, in view of her marvellousindustrial progress, but that place must be one which fits in withmodern conceptions and is not one thing to the West and another tothe East. Even the saying which was made so much of during theRussian war of 1904, that Korea in foreign hands was a daggerpointed at the heart of Japan—has been shown to be inherentlyfalse by the lessons of the present struggle, the Korean dagger-point being 120 sea miles from the Japanese coast. Such argumentsclearly show that if the truce which was hastily patched up in1905 is to give way to a permanent peace, that can be evolved onlyby locking on to the Far East the principles which are in processof being vindicated in Europe. In other words, precisely as Polandis to be given autonomy, so must Korea enjoy the same privileges,the whole Japanese theory of suzerainty on the Eastern AsiaticContinent being abandoned. To re-establish a proper balance ofpower in the Far East, the Korean nation, which has had a knownhistorical existence of 1,500 years, must be reinstated insomething resembling its old position; for Korea has always beenthe keystone of the Far Eastern arch, and it is the destruction ofthat arch more than anything else which has brought the collapseof China so perilously near.

Once the legitimate aspirations of the Korean people have beensatisfied, the whole Manchurian-Mongolian question will assume adifferent aspect, and a true peace between China and Japan will bemade possible. It is to no one's interest to have a Polishquestion in the Far East with all the bitterness and the crimeswhich such a question must inevitably lead to; and the time toobviate the creation of such a question is at the very beginningbefore it has become an obsession and a great international issue.Although the Japanese annexation may be held to have settled thequestion once and for all, we have but to point to Poland to showthat a race can pass through every possible humiliation and endureevery possible species of truncation without dying or abating byone whit its determination to enjoy what happier races have won.

The issue is a vital one. China by her recent acts has given acategorical and unmistakable reply to all the insidious attemptsto place her outside and beyond the operation of international lawand all those sanctions which make life worth living; and becauseof the formal birth of a Foreign Policy it can be definitelyexpected that this nation, despite its internal troubles andstruggles, will never rest content until she has created a newnexus of world-relationships which shall affirm and apply everyone of the principles experience elsewhere has proved are theabsolute essentials to peace and happiness. China is already manydecades ahead of Japan in her theory of government, no matter whatthe practice may be, the marvellous revolution of 1911 havinggiven back to this ancient race its old position of leader inideas on the shores of the Yellow Sea. The whole dream Japan hascherished, and has sought to give form to during the war, is inthe last analysis antiquated and forlorn and must ultimatelydissolve into thin air; for it is monstrous to suppose, in an agewhen European men have sacrificed everything to free themselvesfrom the last vestiges of feudalism, that in the Far East the cultof Sparta should remain a hallowed and respected doctrine. Japan'spolicy in the Far East during the period of the war has beenuniformly mischievous and is largely responsible for the fiercehatreds which burst out in 1917 over the war issue; and China willbe forced to raise at the earliest possible moment the wholequestion of the validity of the undertakings extorted from her in1915 under the threat of an ultimatum. Although the precise natureof Anglo-Japanese diplomacy during the vital eleven days from the4th to the 15th August, 1914, [i. e. from the British declarationof war on Germany to the Japanese ultimatum regarding Kiaochow]remains a sealed book, China suspects that Japan from the verybeginning of the present war world-struggle has taken advantage ofEngland's vast commitments and acted ultra vires. China hopes andbelieves that Britain will never again renew the Japanesealliance, which expires in 1921, in its present form, particularlynow that an Anglo-American agreement has been made possible. Chinaknows that in spite of all coquetting with both the extremeradical and military parties which is going on daily in Peking andthe provinces, the secret object of Japanese diplomacy is eitherthe restoration of the Manchu dynasty, or the enthronement of somepliant usurper, a puppet-Emperor being what is needed to repeat inChina the history of Korea. Japan would be willing to go to anylengths to secure the attainment of this reactionary object.Faithful to her "divine mission," she is ceaselessly stirring uptrouble and hoping that time may still be left her to consolidateher position on the Asiatic mainland, one of her latest methodsbeing to busy herself at distant points in the Pacific so thatWestern men for the sake of peace may be ultimately willing toabandon the shores of the Yellow Seas to her unchallenged mastery.

The problem thus outlined becomes a great dramatic thing. Thelines which trace the problem are immense, stretching from Chinato every shore bathed by the Pacific and then from there to thedistant west. Whenever there is a dull calm, that calm must betreated solely as an intermission, an interval between the acts, apreparation for something more sensational than the last episode,but not as a permanent settlement which can only come by themethods we have indicated. For the Chinese question is no longer alocal problem, but a great world-issue which statesmen mustregulate by conferences in which universal principles will bevindicated if they wish permanently to eliminate what is almostthe last remaining international powder-magazine. A China that ishenceforth not only admitted to the family of nations on terms ofequality but welcomed as a representative of Liberalism and asubscriber to all those sanctions on which the civilization ofpeace rests, will directly tend to adjust every other Asiaticproblem and to prevent a recrudescence of those evil phenomenawhich are the enemies of progress and happiness. Is it too much todream of such a consummation? We think not. It is to America andto England that China looks to rehabilitate herself and to makeher Republic a reality. If they lend her their help, if they areconsistent, there is still no reason why this democracy on theshores of the Yellow Sea should not be reinstated in the proudposition it occupied twenty centuries ago, when it furnished thevery silks which clothed the daughters of the Caesars.

APPENDIX

DOCUMENTS IN GROUP I

(1) The so-called Nineteen Articles, being the grant made by theThrone after the outbreak of the Wuchang Rebellion in 1911 in avain attempt to satisfy the nation.

(2) The Abdication Edicts issued on the 12th February, 1912,endorsing the establishment of the Republic.

(3) The terms of abdication, generally referred to as "Thearticles of Favourable Treatment," in which special provision ismade for the "rights" of Manchus, Mongols, Mohammedans andTibetans, who are considered as being outside the Chinese nation.

THE NINETEEN ARTICLES

1. The Ta-Ching Dynasty shall reign for ever.

2. The person of the Emperor shall be inviolable.

3. The power of the Emperor shall be limited by a Constitution.

4. The order of the succession shall be prescribed in theConstitution.

5. The Constitution shall be drawn up and adopted by the NationalAssembly, and promulgated by the Emperor.

6. The power of amending the Constitution belongs to Parliament.

7. The members of the Upper House shall be elected by the peoplefrom among those particularly eligible for the position.

8. Parliament shall select, and the Emperor shall appoint, thePremier, who will recommend the other members of the Cabinet,these also being appointed by the Emperor. The Imperial Princesshall be ineligible as Premier, Cabinet Ministers, oradministrative heads of provinces.

9. If the Premier, on being impeached by Parliament, does notdissolve Parliament he must resign but one Cabinet shall not beallowed to dissolve Parliament more than once.

10. The Emperor shall assume direct control of the army and navy,but when that power is used with regard to internal affairs, hemust observe special conditions, to be decided upon by Parliament,otherwise he is prohibited from exercising such power.

11. Imperial decrees cannot be made to replace the law except inthe event of immediate necessity in which case decrees in thenature of a law may be issued in accordance with specialconditions, but only when they are in connection with theexecution of a law or what has by law been delegated.

12. International treaties shall not be concluded without theconsent of Parliament, but the conclusion of peace or adeclaration of war may be made by the Emperor if Parliament is notsitting, the approval of Parliament to be obtained afterwards.

13. Ordinances in connection with the administration shall besettled by Acts of Parliament.

14. In case the Budget fails to receive the approval of Parliamentthe Government cannot act upon the previous year's Budget, nor mayitems of expenditure not provided for in the Budget be appended toit. Further, the Government shall not be allowed to adoptextraordinary financial measures outside the Budget.

15. Parliament shall fix the expenses of the Imperial household,and any increase or decrease therein.

16. Regulations in connection with the Imperial family must notconflict with the Constitution.

17. The two Houses shall establish the machinery of anadministrative court.

18. The Emperor shall promulgate the decisions of Parliament.

19. The National Assembly shall act upon Articles 8, 9, 10, 12,13, 14, 15 and 18 until the opening of Parliament.

EDICTS OF ABDICATION

I

We (the Emperor) have respectfully received the following Imperial
Edict from Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager Lung Yu:—

As a consequence of the uprising of the Republican Army, to whichthe different provinces immediately responded, the Empire seethedlike a boiling cauldron and the people were plunged into uttermisery. Yuan Shih-kai was, therefore, especially commanded sometime ago to dispatch commissioners to confer with therepresentatives of the Republican Army on the general situationand to discuss matters pertaining to the convening of a NationalAssembly for the decision of the suitable mode of settlement hasbeen discovered. Separated as the South and the North are by greatdistances, the unwillingness of either side to yield to the othercan result only in the continued interruption of trade and theprolongation of hostilities, for, so long as the form ofgovernment is undecided, the Nation can have no peace. It is nowevident that the hearts of the majority of the people are infavour of a republican form of government: the provinces of theSouth were the first to espouse the cause, and the generals of theNorth have since pledged their support. From the preference of thepeople's hearts, the Will of Heaven can be discerned. How could Wethen bear to oppose the will of the millions for the glory of oneFamily! Therefore, observing the tendencies of the age on the onehand and studying the opinions of the people on the other, We andHis Majesty the Emperor hereby vest the sovereignty in the Peopleand decide in favour of a republican form of constitutionalgovernment. Thus we would gratify on the one hand the desires ofthe whole nation who, tired of anarchy, are desirous of peace, andon the other hand would follow in the footsteps of the AncientSages, who regarded the Throne as the sacred trust of the Nation.

Now Yuan Shih-kai was elected by the Tucheng-yuan to be thePremier. During this period of transference of government from theold to the new, there should be some means of uniting the Southand the North. Let Yuan Shih-kai organize with full powers aprovisional republican government and confer with the RepublicanArmy as to the methods of union, thus assuring peace to the peopleand tranquillity to the Empire, and forming the one Great Republicof China by the union as heretofore, of the five peoples, namely,Manchus, Chinese, Mongols, Mohammedans, and Tibetans together withtheir territory in its integrity. We and His Majesty the Emperor,thus enabled to live in retirement, free from responsibilities,and cares and passing the time in ease and comfort, shall enjoywithout interruption the courteous treatment of the Nation and seewith Our own eyes the consummation of an illustrious government.Is not this highly advisable?

Bearing the Imperial Seal and Signed by Yuan Shih-kai, the
Premier;

Hoo Wei-teh, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs;

Chao Ping-chun, Minister of the Interior;

Tan Hsuch-heng, Acting Minister of Navy;

Hsi Yen, Acting Minister of Agriculture, Works and Commerce;

Liang Shih-yi, Acting Minister of Communications;

Ta Shou, Acting Minister of the Dependencies. 25th day of the 12thmoon of the 3rd year of Hsuan Tung.

II

We have respectfully received the following Imperial Edict from
Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager Lung Yu:—

On account of the perilous situation of the State and the intensesufferings of the people, We some time ago commanded the Cabinetto negotiate with the Republican Army the terms for the courteoustreatment of the Imperial House, with a view to a peacefulsettlement. According to the memorial now submitted to Us by theCabinet embodying the articles of courteous treatment proposed bythe Republican Army, they undertake to hold themselves responsiblefor the perpetual offering of sacrifices before the ImperialAncestral Temples and the Imperial Mausolea and the completion asplanned of the Mausoleum of His Late Majesty the Emperor KuangHsu. His Majesty the Emperor is understood to resign only hispolitical power, while the Imperial Title is not abolished. Therehave also been concluded eight articles for the courteoustreatment of the Imperial House, four articles for the favourabletreatment of Manchus, Mongols, Mohammedans, and Tibetans. We findthe terms of perusal to be fairly comprehensive. We herebyproclaim to the Imperial Kinsmen and the Manchus, Mongols,Mohammedans, and Tibetans that they should endeavour in the futureto fuse and remove all racial differences and prejudices andmaintain law and order with united efforts. It is our sincere hopethat peace will once more be seen in the country and all thepeople will enjoy happiness under a republican government.

Bearing the Imperial Seal and Signed by Yuan Shih-kai, the
Premier;

Hoo Wei-teh, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs;

Chao Ping-chun, Minister of the Interior;

Tan Hsuen-heng, Acting Minister of the Navy;

Hsi Yen, Acting Minister of Agriculture, Works and Commerce;

Liang Shih-yi, Acting Minister of Communications;

Ta Shou, Acting Minister of the Dependencies. 25th day of the 12thmoon of the 3rd year of Hsuan Tung.

III

We have respectfully received the following Edict from Her
Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager Lung Yu:—

In ancient times the ruler of a country emphasized the importantduty of protecting the lives of his people, and as their shepherdcould not have the heart to cause them injury. Now the newlyestablished form of government has for its sole object theappeasem*nt of the present disorder with a view to the restorationof peace. If, however, renewed warfare were to be indefinitelymaintained, by disregarding the opinion of the majority of thepeople, the general condition of the country might beirretrievably ruined, and there might follow mutual slaughteramong the people, resulting in the horrible effects of a racialwar. As a consequence, the spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors mightbe greatly disturbed and millions of people might be terrorized.The evil consequences cannot be described. Between the two evils,We have adopted the lesser one. Such is the motive of the Thronein modelling its policy in accordance with the progress of time,the change of circ*mstances, and the earnest desires of OurPeople. Our Ministers and subjects both in and out of theMetropolis should, in conformity with Our idea, consider mostcarefully the public weal and should not cause the country and thepeople to suffer from the evil consequences of a stubborn prideand of prejudiced opinions.

The Ministry of the Interior, the General Commandant of theGendarmerie, Chiang Kuei-ti, and Feng Kuo-chang, are ordered totake strict precautions, and to make explanations to the peoplesso clearly and precisely as to enable every and all of them tounderstand the wish of the Throne to abide by the ordinance ofheaven, to meet the public opinion of the people and to be justand unselfish.

The institution of the different offices by the State has been forthe welfare of the people, and the Cabinet, the various Ministriesin the Capital, the Vice-royalties, Governorships,Commissionerships, and Taotaiships, have therefore beenestablished for the safe protection of the people, and not for thebenefit of one man or of one family. Metropolitan and Provincialofficials of all grades should ponder over the presentdifficulties and carefully perform their duties. We hereby hold itthe duty of the senior officials earnestly to advise and warntheir subordinates not to shirk their responsibilities, in orderto conform with Our original sincere intention to love and to takecare of Our people.

Bearing the Imperial Seal and Signed by Yuan Shih-kai, the
Premier;

Hoo Wei-teh, Minister of Foreign Affairs;

Chao-ping-chun, Minister of the Interior;

Tan Hseuh-heng, Acting Minister of the Navy;

Hsi Yen, Acting Minister of Agriculture, Works and Commerce;

Liang Shih-yi, Acting Minister of Communications;

Ta Shou, Acting Minister of the Dependencies.

25th day of the 12th moon of the 3rd year of Hsuan Tung.

TERMS OF ABDICATION

N.B. These terms are generally referred to in China as "The
Articles of Favourable Treatments."

A.—Concerning the Emperor.

The Ta Ching Emperor having proclaimed a republican form ofgovernment, the Republic of China will accord the followingtreatment to the Emperor after his resignation and retirement.

Article 1. After abdication the Emperor may retain his title andshall receive from the Republic of China the respect due to aforeign sovereign.

Article 2. After the abdication the Throne shall receive from theRepublic of China an annuity of Tls. 4,000,000 until theestablishment of a new currency, when the sum shall be $4,000,000.

Article 3. After abdication the Emperor shall for the present beallowed to reside in the Imperial Palace, but shall later removeto the Eho Park, retaining his bodyguards at the same strength ash*therto.

Article 4. After abdication the Emperor shall continue to perform
the religious ritual at the Imperial Ancestral Temples and
Mausolea, which shall be protected by guards provided by the
Republic of China.

Article 5. The Mausoleum of the late Emperor not being completed,the work shall be carried out according to the original plans, andthe services in connexion with the removal of the remains of thelate Emperor to the new Mausoleum shall be carried out asoriginally arranged, the expense being borne by the Republic ofChina.

Article 6. All the retinue of the Imperial Household shall beemployed as hitherto, but no more eunuchs shall be appointed.

Article 7. After abdication all the private property of the
Emperor shall be respected and protected by the Republic of China.

Article 8. The Imperial Guards will be retained without change inmembers or emolument, but they will be placed under the control ofthe Department of War of the Republic of China.

B.—Concerning the Imperial Clansmen.

Article 1. Princes, Dukes and other hereditary nobility shallretain their titles as hitherto.

Article 2. Imperial Clansmen shall enjoy public and private rightsin the Republic of China on an equality with all other citizens.

Article 3. The private property of the Imperial Clansmen shall beduly protected.

Article 4. The Imperial Clansmen shall be exempt from militaryservice.

C.—Concerning Manchus, Mongols, Mohammedans and Tibetans.

The Manchus, Mongols, Mohammedans and Tibetans having accepted the
Republic, the following terms are accorded to them:—

Article 1. They shall enjoy full equality with Chinese.

Article 2. They shall enjoy the full protection of their privateproperty.

Article 3. Princes, Dukes and other hereditary nobility shallretain their titles as hitherto.

Article 4. Impoverished Princes and Dukes shall be provided withmeans of livelihood.

Article 5. Provision for the livelihood of the Eight Banners,shall with all dispatch be made, but until such provision has beenmade the pay of the Eight Banners shall be continued as hitherto.

Article 6. Restrictions regarding trade and residence that havehitherto been binding on them are abolished, and they shall now beallowed to reside and settle in any department or district.

Article 7. Manchus, Mongols, Mohammedans and Tibetans shall enjoycomplete religious freedom.

DOCUMENTS IN GROUP II

(1) The Provisional Constitution passed at Nanking in January,1912.

(2) The Presidential Election Law passed on the 4th October, 1913,by the full Parliament, under which Yuan Shih Kai was electedPresident,—and now formally incorporated as a separate chapter inthe Permanent Constitution.

(3) The Constitutional Compact, promulgated on 1st May, 1914. This"law" which was the first result of the coup d'etat of 4thNovember, 1913, and designed to take the place of the NankingConstitution is wholly illegal and disappeared with the death ofYuan Shih Kai.

(4) The Presidential Succession Law. This instrument, like theConstitutional Compact, was wholly illegal and drawn up to makeYuan Shih Kai dictator for life.

Passed at Nanking in 1912, currently referred to as the old
Constitution

Article 1. The Republic of China is composed of the Chinesepeople.

Art. 2. The sovereignty of the Chinese Republic is vested in thepeople.

Art. 3. The territory of the Chinese Republic consists of the 18provinces, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Tibet and Ching-hai.

Art. 4. The sovereignty of the Chinese Republic is exercised bythe National Council, the Provisional President, the Cabinet andthe Judiciary.

Art. 5. Citizens of the Chinese Republic are all equal, and thereshall be no racial class or religious distinctions.

Art. 6. Citizens shall enjoy the following rights:—

(a) The person of the citizens shall not be arrested, imprisoned,tried or punished except in accordance with law.

(b) The habitations of citizens shall not be entered or searchedexcept in accordance with law.

(c) Citizens shall enjoy the right of the security of theirproperty and the freedom of trade.

(d) Citizens shall have the freedom of speech, of composition, ofpublication, of assembly and of association.

(e) Citizens shall have the right of the secrecy of their letters.

(f) Citizens shall have the liberty of residence and removal.

(g) Citizens shall have the freedom of religion.

Art. 7. Citizens shall have the right to petition the Parliament.

Art. 8. Citizens shall have the right of petitioning the executiveofficials.

Art. 9. Citizens shall have the right to institute proceedingsbefore the Judiciary, and to receive its trial and judgment.

Art. 10. Citizens shall have the right of suing officials in theAdministrative Courts for violation of law or against theirrights.

Art. 11. Citizens shall have the right of participating in civilexaminations.

Art. 12. Citizens shall have the right to vote and to be votedfor.

Art. 13. Citizens shall have the duty to pay taxes according tolaw.

Art. 14. Citizens shall have the duty to enlist as soldiersaccording to law.

Art. 15. The rights of citizens as provided in the present Chaptershall be limited or modified by laws, provided such limitation ormodification shall be deemed necessary for the promotion of publicwelfare, for the maintenance of public order, or on account ofextraordinary exigency.

Art. 16. The legislative power of the Chinese Republic isexercised by the National Council.

Art. 17. The Council shall be composed of members elected by theseveral districts as provided in Article 18.

Art. 18. The Provinces, Inner and Outer Mongolia, and Tibet shalleach elect and depute five members to the Council, and Chinghaishall elect one member.

The election districts and methods of elections shall be decidedby the localities concerned.

During the meeting of the Council each member shall have one vote.

Art. 19. The National Council shall have the following powers:

(a) To pass all Bills.

(b) To pass the budgets of the Provisional Government.

(c) To pass laws of taxation of currency, and weights and measuresfor the whole country.

(d) To pass measures for the calling of public loans and toconclude contracts affecting the National Treasury.

(e) To give consent to matters provided in Articles 34, 35, and40.

(f) To reply to inquiries from the Provisional Government.

(g) To receive and consider petitions of citizens.

(h) To make suggestions to the Government on legal or othermatters.

(i) To introduce interpellations to members of the Cabinet, and toinsist on their being present in the Council in making repliesthereto.

(j) To insist on the Government investigating into any allegedbribery and infringement of laws by officials.

(k) To impeach the Provisional President for high treason by amajority vote of three-fourths of the quorum consisting of morethan four-fifths of the total number of the members.

(1) To impeach members of the Cabinet for failure to perform theirofficial duties or for violation of the law by majority votes oftwo-thirds of the quorum consisting of over three-fourths of thetotal number of the members.

Art. 20. The National Council shall itself convoke, conduct andadjourn its own meetings.

Art. 21. The meetings of the Advisory Council shall be conductedpublicly, but secret meetings may be held at the suggestion ofmembers of the Cabinet or by the majority vote of its quorum.

Art. 22. Matters passed by the Advisory Council shall becommunicated to the Provisional President for promulgation andexecution.

Art. 23. If the Provisional President should veto matters passedby the National Council he shall, within ten days after he hasreceived such resolutions, return the same with stated reasons tothe Council for reconsideration. If by a two-thirds vote of thequorum of the Council, it shall be dealt with in accordance withArticle 22.

Art. 24. The Chairman of the National Council shall be elected byballots signed by the voting members and the one receiving morethan one-half of the total number of the votes cast shall beelected.

Art. 25. Members of the National Council shall not, outside theCouncil, be responsible for their opinion expressed and votes castin the Council.

Art. 26. Members of the Council shall not be arrested without thepermission of the Chairman of the Council except for crimespertaining to civil and international warfare.

Art. 27. Procedure of the National Council shall be decided by itsown members.

Art. 28. The National Council shall be dissolved on the day of theconvocation of the National Assembly, and its powers shall beexercised by the latter.

Art. 29. The Provisional President and Vice-President shall beelected by the National Council, and he who receives two-thirds ofthe total number of votes cast by a sitting of the Councilconsisting of over three-fourths of the total number of membersshall be elected.

Art. 30. The Provisional President represents the ProvisionalGovernment as the fountain of all executive powers and forpromulgating all laws.

Art. 31. The Provisional President may issue or cause to be issuedorders for the execution of laws and of powers delegated to him bythe law.

Art. 32. The Provisional President shall be the Commander-in-Chiefof the Army and Navy of the whole of China.

Art. 33. The Provisional President shall ordain and establish theadministrative system and official regulations, but he must firstsubmit them to the National Council for its approval.

Art. 34. The Provisional President shall appoint and remove civiland military officials, but in the appointment of Members of theCabinet, Ambassadors and Ministers he must have the concurrence ofthe National Council.

Art. 35. The Provisional President shall have power, with theconcurrence of the National Council, to declare war and concludetreaties.

Art. 36. The Provisional President may, in accordance with law,declare a state of siege.

Art. 37. The Provisional President shall, representing the wholecountry, receive Ambassadors and Ministers of foreign countries.

Art. 38. The Provisional President may introduce Bills into the
National Council.

Art. 39. The Provisional President may confer decorations andother insignia of honour.

Art. 40. The Provisional President may declare general amnesty,grant special pardon, commute punishment, and restore rights, butin the case of a general amnesty he must have the concurrence ofthe National Council.

Art. 41. In case the Provisional President is impeached by theNational Council he shall be tried by a special Court consistingof nine judges elected among the justices of the Supreme Court ofthe realm.

Art. 42. In case the Provisional President vacates his office forvarious reasons, or is unable to discharge the powers and dutiesof the said office, the Provisional Vice-President shall take hisplace.

Art. 43. The Premier and the Chiefs of the Government Departmentsshall be called Members of the Cabinet (literally, Secretaries ofState Affairs).

Art. 44. Members of the Cabinet shall assist the Provisional
President in assuming responsibilities.

Art. 45. Members of the Cabinet shall countersign all Billsintroduced by the Provisional President, and all laws and ordersissued by him.

Art. 46. Members of the Cabinet and their deputies may be presentand speak in the National Council.

Art. 47. Upon members of the Cabinet have been impeached by theNational Council, the Provisional President may remove them fromoffice, but such removal shall be subject to the reconsiderationof the National Council.

Art. 48. The Judiciary shall be composed of those judges appointedby the Provisional President and the Minister of Justice.

The organization of the Courts and the qualifications of judgesshall be determined by law.

Art. 49. The Judiciary shall try civil and criminal cases, butcases involving administrative affairs or arising from otherparticular causes shall be dealt with according to special laws.

Art. 50. The trial of cases in the law Courts shall be conductedpublicly, but those affecting public safety and order may be incamera.

Art. 51. Judges shall be independent, and shall not be object tothe interference of higher officials.

Art. 53. Judges during their continuance in office shall not havetheir emoluments decreased and shall not be transferred to otheroffices, nor shall they be removed from office except when theyare convicted of crimes, or of offences punishable according tolaw by removal from office.

Regulations for the punishment of judges shall be determined bylaw.

Art. 53. Within ten months after the promulgation of this
Provisional Constitution the Provisional President shall convene a
National Assembly, the organization of which and the laws for the
election of whose members shall be decided by the National
Council.

Art. 54. The Constitution of the Republic of China shall beadopted by the National Assembly, but before the promulgation ofthe Constitution, the Provisional Constitution shall be aseffective as the Constitution itself.

Art. 55. The Provisional Constitution may be amended by the assentof two-thirds of the members of the National Council or upon theapplication of the Provisional President and being passed by overthree-fourths of the quorum of the Council consisting of overfour-fifths of the total number of its members.

Art. 56. The present Provisional Constitution shall take effect onthe date of its promulgation, and the fundamental articles for theorganization of the Provisional Government shall cease to beeffective on the same date.

Sealed by THE NATIONAL COUNCIL.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LAW

Passed October 4, 1913, by the National Assembly and promulgatedby the then Provisional President on October 5 of the same year.

Article 1. A citizen of the Chinese Republic, who is entitled toall the rights of citizenship, is 40 years or more in age and hasresided in China for not less than ten years, is eligible forelection as President.

Art. 2. The President shall be elected by an Electoral Collegeorganized by the members of the National Assembly of the ChineseRepublic.

The said election shall be held by a quorum of two-thirds or moreof the entire membership of the said Electoral College and shallbe conducted by secret ballot. A candidate shall be deemed electedwhen the number of votes in his favour shall not be less thanthree-fourths of the total number of votes cast at the election.If no candidate secures the requisite number of votes after twoballotings, a final balloting shall be held with the two persons,securing the greatest number of votes at the second balloting, ascandidates. The one securing a majority of votes shall be elected.

Art. 3. The term of office of the President shall be five years;and if re-elected, he may hold office for one more term.

Three months previous to the expiration of the term, the membersof the National Assembly shall convene and organize by themselvesthe Electoral College to elect the President for the next period.

Art. 4. The President on taking office shall make oath as follows:

"I hereby swear that I will most sincerely obey the constitutionand faithfully discharge the duties of the President."

Art. 5. Should the post of the President become vacant, the Vice-
President shall succeed to the same TO THE END OF THE TERM OF THE
ORIGINAL PRESIDENT.

Should the President be unable to discharge his duties for anycause the Vice-President shall act in his stead.

Should the Vice-President vacate his post at the same time, theCabinet shall officiate for the President. In this event themembers of the National Assembly of the Chinese Republic shallconvene themselves within three months to organize an ElectoralCollege to elect a new President.

Art. 6. The President shall vacate office on the expiry of histerm. Should the election of the next President or Vice-Presidentbe not effected for any cause, or having been elected should theybe unable to be inaugurated, the President and Vice-Presidentwhose terms have expired shall quit their posts and the Cabinetshall officiate for them.

Art. 7. The election of the Vice-President shall be according tothe fixed regulations for the election of the President, and theelection of the Vice-President shall take place at the same timewhen the President is elected. Should there be a vacancy for theVice-Presidency a Vice-President shall be elected according to theprovisions herein set forth.

Before the completion of the Formal Constitution, with regard tothe duties and privileges of the President the ProvisionalConstitution regarding the same shall temporarily be followed.

"THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMPACT"

Drafted by Dr. Frank Johnson Goodnow, Legal Adviser to Yuan Shih-kai, and promulgated on May 1, 1914

Article 1. The Chung Hua Min Kuo is organized by the people of
Chung Hua.

Art. 2. The sovereignty of Chung Hua Min Kuo originates from thewhole body of the citizens.

Art. 3. The territory of the Chung Hua Min Kuo is the same as thatpossessed by the former Empire.

Art. 4. The people of the Chung Hua Min Kuo are all equal in law,irrespective of race, caste, or religion.

Art. 5. The people are entitled to the following rights ofliberty:—

(1) No person shall be arrested, imprisoned, tried, or punishedexcept in accordance with law.

(2) The habitation of any person shall not be entered or searchedexcept in accordance with law.

(3) The people have the right of possession and protection ofproperty and the freedom of trade within the bounds of law.

(4) The people have the right of freedom of speech, of writing andpublication, of meeting and organizing association, within thebounds of law.

(5) The people have the right of the secrecy of correspondencewithin the bounds of law.

(6) The people have the liberty of residence and removal, withinthe bounds of law.

(7) The people have freedom of religious belief, within the boundsof law.

Art. 6. The people have the right to memorialize the Li Fa Yuanaccording to the provisions of law.

Art. 7. The people have the right to institute proceedings at thejudiciary organ in accordance with the provisions of law.

Art. 8. The people have the right to petition the administrativeorgans and lodge protests with the Administrative Court inaccordance with the provisions of law.

Art. 9. The people have the right to attend examinations held forsecuring officials and to join the public service in accordancewith the provisions of law.

Art. 10. The people have the right to vote and to be voted for inaccordance with the provisions of law.

Art. 11. The people have the obligation to pay taxes according tothe provisions of law.

Art. 12. The people have the obligation to serve in a militarycapacity in accordance with the provisions of law.

Art. 13. The provisions made in this Chapter, except when inconflict with the Army or Naval orders and rules, shall beapplicable to military and naval men.

Art. 14. The President is the Head of the nation, and controls thepower of the entire administration.

Art. 15. The President represents the Chung Hua Min Kuo.

Art. 16. The President is responsible to the entire body ofcitizens.

Art. 17. The President convokes the Li Fa Yuan, declares theopening, the suspension and the closing of the sessions.

The President may dissolve the Li Fa Yuan with the approval of theTsan Cheng Yuan; but in that case he must have the new memberselected and the House convoked within six months from the day ofdissolution.

Art. 18. The President shall submit Bills of Law and the Budget tothe Li Fa Yuan.

Art. 19. For the purposes of improving the public welfare orenforcing law or in accordance with the duties imposed upon him bylaw, the President may issue orders and cause orders to be issued,but he shall not alter the law by his order.

Art. 20. In order to maintain public peace or to preventextraordinary calamities at a time of great emergency when timewill not permit the convocation of the Li Fa Yuan, the Presidentmay, with the approval of the Tsan Cheng Yuan [Senate], issueprovisional orders which shall have the force of law; but in thatcase he shall ask the Li Fa Yuan [House of Representative] forindemnification at its next session.

The provisional orders mentioned above shall immediately becomevoid when they are rejected by the Li Fa Yuan.

Art. 21. The President shall fix the official systems and officialregulations. The President shall appoint and dismiss military andcivil officials.

Art. 22. The President shall declare war and conclude peace.

Art. 23. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of, and controls,the Army and Navy of the whole country. The President shall decidethe system of organization and the respective strength of the Armyand Navy.

Art. 24. The President shall receive the Ambassadors and Ministersof the foreign countries.

Art. 25. The President makes treaties.

But the approval of the Li Fa Yuan must be secured if the articlesshould change the territories or increase the burdens of thecitizens.

Art. 26. The President may, according to law, declare Martial Law.

Art. 27. The President may confer titles of nobility, decorationsand other insignia of honour.

Art. 28. The President may declare general amnesty, specialpardon, commutation of punishment, or restoration of rights. Incase of general amnesty the approval of the Li Fa Yuan must hesecured.

Art. 29. When the President, for any cause, vacates his post or isunable to attend to his duties, the Vice-President shall assumehis duties and authority in his stead.

Art. 30. Legislation shall be done by the Legislature organizedwith the members elected by the people.

The organization of the Legislature and the method of electing thelegislative members shall be fixed by the Provisional ConstitutionConference.

Art. 31. The duties and authorities of the Li Fa Yuan shall be asfollows: (1) To discuss and pass all bills of law.

(2) To discuss and pass the Budget.

(3) To discuss and pass or approve articles relating to raising ofpublic loans and national financial responsibilities.

(4) To reply to the inquiries addressed to it by the Government.

(5) To receive petitions of the people.

(6) To bring up bills on law.

(7) To bring up suggestions and opinions before the Presidentregarding law and other affairs.

(8) To bring out the doubtful points of the administration andrequest the President for an explanation; but when the Presidentdeems it necessary for a matter to be kept secret he may refuse togive the answer.

(9) Should the President attempt treason the Li Fa Yuan mayinstitute judicial proceedings in the Supreme Court against him bya three-fourths or more vote of a four-fifths attendance of thetotal membership.

Regarding the clauses from 1 to 8 and articles 20, 25, 28, 55 and27, the approval of a majority of more than half of the attendingmembers will be required to make a decision.

Art. 32. The regular annual session of the Li Fa Yuan will be fourmonths in duration; but when the President deems it necessary itmay be prolonged. The President may also call special sessionswhen it is not in session.

Art. 33. The meetings of the Li Fa Yuan shall be "open sessions,"but they may be held in secret at the request of the President orthe decision of the majority of more than half of the memberspresent.

Art. 34. The law bills passed by the Li Fa Yuan shall bepromulgated by the President and enforced.

When the President vetoes a law bill passed by the Li Fa Yuan hemust give the reason and refer it again to the Li Fa Yuan forreconsideration. If such bill should be again passed by a two-thirds vote of the members present at the Li Fa Yuan but at thesame time the President should firmly hold that it would greatlyharm the internal administration or diplomacy to enforce such lawor there will be great and important obstacles against enforcingit, he may withhold promulgation with the approval of the TsanCheng Yuan.

Art. 35. The Speaker and vice-Speaker of the Li Fa Yuan shall beelected by and from among the members themselves by ballot. Theone who secures more than half of the votes cast shall beconsidered elected.

Art. 36. The members of the Li Fa Yuan shall not be heldresponsible to outsiders for their speeches, arguments and votingin the House.

Art. 37. Except when discovered in the act of committing a crimeor for internal rebellion or external treason, the members of theLi Fa Yuan shall not be arrested during the session period withoutthe permission of the House.

Art. 38. The House laws of the Li Fa Yuan shall be made by the
House itself.

Art. 39. The President shall be the Chief of the Administration. A
Secretary of State shall be provided to assist him.

Art. 40. The affairs of the Administration shall be separately
administered by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Interior, of
Finance, of Army, of Navy, of Justice, of Education, of
Agriculture and Commerce and of Communications.

Art. 41. The Minister of each Ministry shall control the affairsin accordance with law and orders.

Art. 42. The Secretary of State, Ministers of the Ministries andthe special representative of the President may take seats in theLi Fa Yuan and express their views.

Art. 43. The Secretary of State or any of the Ministers when theycommit a breach of law shall be liable to impeachment by theCensorate (Suchengting) and trial by the Administrative Court.

Art. 44. The judicial power shall be administered by the Judiciaryformed by the judicial officials appointed by the President.

The organization of the Judiciary and the qualifications of the
Judicial officials shall be fixed by law.

Art. 45. The Judiciary shall independently try and decide cases ofcivil and criminal law suits according to law. But with regard toadministrative law suits and other special law cases they shall beattended to according to the provisions of this law.

Art. 46. As to the procedure the Supreme Court should adopt forthe impeachment case stated in clause 9 of article 31, specialrules will be made by law.

Art. 47. The trial of law suits in the judicial courts should beopen to the public; but when they are deemed to be harmful topeace and order or good custom, they may be held in camera.

Art. 48. The judicial officials shall not be given a reducedsalary or shifted from their posts when functioning as such, andexcept when a sentence has been passed upon him for punishment orhe is sentenced to be removed, a judicial official shall not bedismissed from his post.

The regulations regarding punishment shall be fixed by law.

Art. 49. The Tsan Cheng Yuan shall answer the inquiries of the
President and discuss important administrative affairs.

The organization of the Tsan Cheng Yuan shall be fixed by the
Provisional Constitution Conference.

Art. 50. Levying of new taxes and dues and change of tariff shallbe decided by law.

The taxes and dues which are now in existence shall continue to becollected as of old except as changed by law.

Art. 51. With regard to the annual receipts and expenditures ofthe nation, they shall be dealt with in accordance with the Budgetapproved by the Li Fa Yuan.

Art. 52. For special purposes continuous expenditures for aspecified number of years may be included in the budget.

Art. 53. To prepare for any deficiency of the budget and expensesneeded outside of the estimates in the budget, a special reservefund must be provided in the budget.

Art. 54. The following items of expenditures shall not becancelled or reduced except with the approval of the President:—

1. Any duties belonging to the nation according to law.

2. Necessities stipulated by law.

8. Necessities for the purpose of carrying out the treaties.

4. Expenses for the Army and Navy.

Art. 55. For national war or suppression of internal disturbanceor under unusual circ*mstances when time will not permit toconvoke the Li Fa Yuan, the President may make emergency disposalof finance with the approval of the Tsan Cheng Yuan, but in suchcase he shall ask the Li Fa Yuan for indemnification at its nextsession.

Art. 56. When a new Budget cannot be established, the Budget ofthe previous year will be used. The same procedure will be adoptedwhen the Budget fails to pass at the time when the fiscal year hasbegun.

Art. 57. When the closed accounts of the receipts and expendituresof the nation have been audited by the Board of Audit, they shallbe submitted by the President to the Li Fa Yuan for approval.

Art. 58. The organization of the Board of Audit shall be fixed bythe Provisional Constitution Conference.

Art. 59. The Constitution of Chung Hua Min Kuo shall be drafted bythe Constitution Draft Committee, which shall be organized withthe members elected by and from among the members of the TsanCheng Yuan. The number of such drafting Committee shall be limitedto ten.

Art. 60. The Bill on the Constitution of Chung Hua Min Kuo shallbe fixed by the Tsan Cheng Yuan.

Art. 61. When the Bill on the Constitution of the Chung Hua MinKuo has been passed by the Tsan Cheng Yuan, it shall be submittedby the President to the Citizens' Conference for final passage.

The organization of the Citizens' Conference shall be fixed by the
Provisional Constitution Conference.

Art. 62. The Citizens' Conference shall be convoked and dissolvedby the President.

Art. 63. The Constitution of Chung Hua Min Kuo shall bepromulgated by the President.

Art. 64.-Before the Constitution of Chung Hua Min Kuo comes intoforce this Provisional Constitution shall have equal force to thePermanent Constitution.

The order and instructions in force before the enforcement of this
Provisional Constitution shall continue to be valid, provided that
they do not come into conflict with the provisions of this
Provisional Constitution.

Art. 65. The articles published on the 12th of the Second Month ofthe First Year of Chung Hua Min Kuo, regarding the favourabletreatment of the Ta Ching Emperor after his abdication, and thespecial treatment of the Ching Imperial Clan, as well as thespecial treatment of the Manchus, Mongols, Mahomedans and Tibetansshall never lose their effect.

As to the Articles dealing with the special treatment of Mongolsin connexion with the special treatment articles, it is guaranteedthat they shall continue to be effective, and that the same willnot be changed except by law.

Art. 66. This Provisional Constitution may be amended at therequest of two-thirds of the members of the Li Pa Yuan, or theproposal of the President, by a three-fourths majority of a quorumconsisting of four-fifths or more of the whole membership of theHouse. The Provisional Constitution Conference will then beconvoked by the President to undertake the amendment.

Art. 67. Before the establishment of the Li Fa Yuan the Tsan ChengYuan shall have the duty and authority of the former and functionin its stead.

Art. 68. This Provisional Constitution shall come into force fromthe date of promulgation. The Temporary Provisional Constitutionpromulgated on the 11th day of the Third Month of the First Yearof the Min Kuo shall automatically cease to have force from thedate on which this Provisional Constitution comes into force.

THE PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION.

Passed by a puppet political body and promulgated by Yuan Shih-kaion December 29, 1914

Article 1. A male citizen of the Republic of Chung Hua, possessingthe rights of citizenship, 40 or more years of age and havingresided in the Republic for not less than 20 years shall beeligible for election as President.

Art. 2. The Presidential term shall be ten years with eligibilityfor re-election.

Art. 3. At the time of the Presidential Election the thenPresident shall, representing the opinion of the people carefullyand reverently nominate (recommend) three persons, with thequalifications stated in the first Article, as candidates for thePresidential Office.

The names of these nominated persons shall be written by the thenPresident on a gold Chia-ho-plate, sealed with the National Sealand placed in a gold box, which shall be placed in a stone housein the residence of the President.

The key of the box will be kept by the President while the keys to
the Stone House shall be kept separately by the President, the
Chairman of the Tsan Cheng Yuan and the Secretary of State. The
Stone House may not be opened without an order from the President.

Art. 4. The Presidential Electoral College shall be organized withthe following members:

1. Fifty members elected from the Tsan Cheng Yuan.

2. Fifty members elected from the Li Fa Yuan.

The said members shall be elected by ballot among the membersthemselves. Those who secure the largest number of votes shall beelected. The election shall be presided over by the Minister ofInterior. If it should happen that the Li Fa Yuan is in session atthe time of the organization of the Presidential ElectoralCollege, the fifty members heading the roll of the House and thenin the Capital, shall be automatically made members of theElectoral College.

Art. 5. The Electoral College shall be convocated by the Presidentand organized within three days before the electon.

Art. 6. The house of the Tsan Cheng Yuan shall be used as ameeting place for the Presidential Electoral College. The chairmanof the Tsan Cheng Yuan shall act as the chairman of the College.

If the Vice-President is the chairman of the Tsan Cheng Yuan orfor other reasons, the chairman of the Li Fa Yuan shall act as thechairman.

Art. 7. On the day of the Presidential Election the Presidentshall respectfully make known to the Presidential ElectoralCollege the names of the persons recommended by him as qualifiedcandidates for the Presidential office.

Art. 8. The Electoral College may vote for the re-election of thethen President, besides three candidates recommended by him.

Art. 9. The single ballot system will be adopted for thePresidential Election. There should be an attendance of not lessthan three-fourths of the total membership. One who receives atwo-thirds majority or greater of the total number of votes castshall be elected. If no one secures a two-thirds majority the twopersons receiving the largest number of votes shall be put to thefinal vote.

Art. 10. When the year of election arrives should the members ofthe Tsan Cheng Yuan consider it a political necessity, the thenPresident may be re-elected for another term by a two-thirdsmajority of the Tsan Cheng Yuan without a formal election. Thedecision shall then be promulgated by the President.

Art. 11. Should the President vacate his post before theexpiration of his term of office a special Presidential ElectoralCollege shall be organized within three days. Before the electiontakes place the Vice-President shall officiate as Presidentaccording to the provisions of Article 29 of the ConstitutionalCompact and if the Vice-President should also vacate his post atthe same time, or be absent from the Capital or for any otherreasons be unable to take up the office, the Secretary of Stateshall officiate but he shall not assume the duties of clauses 1and 2, either as a substitute or a temporary executive.

Art. 12. On the day of the Presidential Election, the personofficiating as President or carrying on the duties as a substituteshall notify the Chairman of the Special Presidential ElectoralCollege to appoint ten members as witnesses to the opening of theStone House or the Gold Box, which shall be carried reverently tothe House and opened before the assembly and its contents madeknown to them. Votes shall then be forthwith cast for the electionof one of the three candidates recommended as provided for inarticle 9.

Art. 13. Whether at the re-election of the old President or theassumption office of the new President, he shall take oath in thefollowing words at the time of taking over the office:

"I swear that I shall with all sincerity adhere to theConstitution and execute the duties of the President. I reverentlyswear."

Before the promulgation of the Constitution it shall bespecifically stated in the oath that the President shall adhere tothe Constitutional Compact.

Art. 14. The term of office for the Vice-President shall be thesame as that of the President. Upon the expiration of the term,three candidates, possessing the qualifications of article 1,shall be nominated by the re-elected or the new President, forelection. The regulations governing the election of the Presidentshall be applicable.

Should the Vice-President vacate his post before the expiration ofhis term for some reasons, the President shall proceed accordingto the provisions of the preceding article.

Art. 15. The Law shall be enforced from the date of promulgation.

On the day of enforcement of this Law the Law on the Election ofthe President as promulgated on the 5th day of the 10th Month ofthe 2nd Year of the Min Kuo shall be cancelled.

DOCUMENTS IN GROUP III

(1) The Russo-Chinese agreement of 5th November, 1918, whichaffirmed the autonomy of Outer Mongolia.

(2) The Russo-Chinese-Mongolian tripartite agreement of the 7thJune, 1915, ratifying the agreement of the 5th November, 1913.

(3) The Chino-Japanese Treaties and annexes of the 25th May, 1915,in settlement of the Twenty-one Demands of the 18th January, 1915.

THE RUSSO-CHINESE AGREEMENT REGARDING OUTER MONGOLIA

(Translation from the official French Text.)

DECLARATION

The Imperial Russian Government having formulated the principleson which its relations with China on the subject of Outer Mongoliashould be based; and the Government of the Republic of Chinahaving signified its approval of the aforesaid principles, the twoGovernments have come to the following agreement:

Article I. Russia recognizes that Outer Mongolia is placed underthe suzerainty of China.

Art. II. China recognizes the autonomy of Outer Mongolia.

Art. III. Similarly, recognizing the exclusive right of theMongols of Outer Mongolia to carry on the internal administrationof autonomous Mongolia and to regulate all commercial andindustrial questions affecting that country, China undertakes notto interfere in these matters, nor to dispatch troops to OuterMongolia nor to appoint any civil or military officer nor to carryout any colonization scheme in this region. It is neverthelessunderstood that an envoy of the Chinese Government may reside atUrga and be accompanied by the necessary staff as well as an armedescort. In addition the Chinese Government may, in case ofnecessity, maintain her agents for the protection of the interestsof her citizens at certain points in Outer Mongolia to be agreedupon during the exchange of views provided for in Article V ofthis agreement. Russia on her part undertakes not to quartertroops in Outer Mongolia, excepting Consular Guards, nor tointerfere in any question affecting the administration of thecountry and will likewise abstain from all colonization.

Art. IV. China declares herself ready to accept the good officesof Russia in order to establish relations in conformity with theprinciples mentioned above and with the stipulations of the Russo-Mongolian Commercial Treaty of the 21st October, 1912.

Art. V. Questions affecting the interests of Russia and China inOuter Mongolia which have been created by the new conditions ofaffairs in that country shall be discussed at subsequent meetings.In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorized to thateffect, have signed and sealed the Present Declaration. Done inDuplicate in Peking on the 5th November, 1913, corresponding tothe 5th Day of the 11th Month of the Second Year of the Republicof China.

(Signed) B. KRUPENSKY.
(Signed) SUN PAO CHI.

ADDENDUM

In signing the Declaration of to-day's date covering OuterMongolia, the undersigned Envoy Extraordinary and MinisterPlenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias,duly authorized to that effect, has the honour to declare in thename of his Government to His Excellency Monsieur Sun Pao Chi,Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China as follows:

I. Russia recognizes that the territory of Outer Mongolia formspart of the territory of China.

II. In all questions affecting matters of a political orterritorial nature, the Chinese Government will come to anunderstanding with the Russian Government by means of negotiationsat which the authorities of Outer Mongolia shall take part.

III. The discussions which have been provided for in Article V ofthe Declaration shall take place between the three contractingparties at a place to be designated by them for that purpose forthe meeting of their delegates.

IV. Autonomous Outer Mongolia comprises the regions hitherto underthe jurisdiction of the Chinese Amban of Urga, the Tartar Generalof Uliasoutai and the Chinese Amban of Kobdo. In view of the factthat there are no detailed maps of Mongolia, and that theboundaries of the administrative divisions of this country areill-defined, it is hereby agreed that the precise boundaries ofOuter Mongolia, as well as the delimitation of the district ofKobdo and the district of Altai, shall be the subject ofsubsequent negotiations as provided for by Article V of theDeclaration.

The undersigned seizes the present occasion to renew to His
Excellency Sun Pao Chi the assurance of his highest consideration.

(Signed) B. KRUPENSKY.

In signing the Declaration of to-day's date covering OuterMongolia, the undersigned Minister of Foreign Affairs of theRepublic of China, duly authorized to that effect, has the honourto declare in the name of his Government to His ExcellencyMonsieur Krupensky, Envoy Extraordinary and MinisterPlenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias asfollows:

I. Russia recognizes that the territory of Outer Mongolia formspart of the territory of China.

II. In all questions affecting matters of a political orterritorial nature, the Chinese Government will come to anunderstanding with the Russian Government by means of negotiationsat which the authorities of Outer Mongolia shall take part.

III. The discussions which have been provided for in Article V ofthe Declaration shall take place between the three contractingparties at a place to be designated by them for that purpose forthe meeting of their delegates.

IV. Autonomous Outer Mongolia comprises the regions hitherto underthe jurisdiction of the Chinese Amban of Urga, the Tartar Generalof Uliasoutai and the Chinese Amban of Kobdo. In view of the factthat there are no detailed maps of Mongolia, and that theboundaries of the administrative divisions of this country areill-defined, it is hereby agreed that the precise boundaries ofOuter Mongolia, as well as the delimitation of the district ofKobdo and the district of Altai, shall be the subject ofsubsequent negotiations as provided for by Article V of theDeclaration.

The Undersigned seizes the present occasion to renew to HisExcellency Monsieur Krupensky the assurance of his highestconsideration.

(Signed) SUN PAO CHI.

SINO-RUSSO MONGOLIAN AGREEMENT

(Translation from the French)

The President of the Republic of China, His Imperial Majesty theEmperor of all Russias, and His Holiness the Bogdo Djembzoun DambaKhoutoukhtou Khan of Outer Mongolia, animated by a sincere desireto settle by mutual agreement various questions created by a newstate of things in Outer Mongolia, have named for that purposetheir Plenipotentiary Delegates, that is to say:

The President of the Republic of China, General Py-Koue-Fang and
Monsieur Tcheng-Loh, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of China to Mexico;

His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of all Russias, His Councillor of
State, Alexandra Miller, Diplomatic Agent and Consul-General in
Mongolia; and His Holiness the Bogdo Djembzoun Damba Khoutoukhtou
Khan of Outer Mongolia, Erdeni Djonan Beise Shirnin Damdin, Vice-
Chief of Justice, and Touchetou Tsing Wang Tchakdourjab, Chief of
Finance, who having verified their respective full powers found in
good and due form, have agreed upon the following:

Article 1. Outer Mongolia recognizes the Sino-Russian Declarationand the Notes exchanged between China and Russia of the fifth dayof the eleventh month of the second year of the Republic of China(23rd October, 1913. Old style.)

Art. 2. Outer Mongolia recognizes China's suzerainty. China and
Russia recognize the autonomy of Outer Mongolia forming part of
Chinese territory.

Art. 3. Autonomous Mongolia has no right to conclude internationaltreaties with foreign powers respecting political and territorialquestions.

As respects questions of a political and territorial nature inOuter Mongolia, the Chinese Government engages to conform toArticle II of the Note exchanged between China and Russia on thefifth day of the eleventh month of the second year of the Republicof China, 23rd October, 1913.

Art. 4. The title: "Bogdo Djembzoun Damba Khoutoukhtou Khan of
Outer Mongolia" is conferred by the President of the Republic of
China. The calendar of the Republic as well as the Mongol calendar
of cyclical signs are to be used in official documents.

Art. 5. China and Russia, conformably to Article 2 and 3 of theSino-Russian Declaration of the fifth day of the eleventh month ofthe second year of the Republic of China, 23rd October, 1913,recognize the exclusive right of the autonomous government ofOuter Mongolia to attend to all the affairs of its internaladministration and to conclude with foreign powers internationaltreaties and agreements respecting questions of a commercial andindustrial nature concerning autonomous Mongolia.

Art. 6. Conformably to the same Article III of the Declaration,China and Russia engage not to interfere in the system ofautonomous internal administration existing in Outer Mongolia.

Art. 7. The military escort of the Chinese Dignitary at Urgaprovided for by Article III of the above-mentioned Declaration isnot to exceed two hundred men. The military escorts of hisassistants at Ouliassoutai, at Kobdo, and at the Mongolian-Kiachtaare not to exceed fifty men each. If, by agreement with theautonomous government of Outer Mongolia, assistants of the ChineseDignitary are appointed in other localities of Outer Mongolia,their military escorts are not be exceed fifty men each.

Art. 8. The Imperial Government of Russia is not to send more thanone hundred and fifty men as consular guard for its representativeat Urga. The military escorts of the Imperial consulates and vice-consulates of Russia, which have already been established or whichmay be established by agreement with the autonomous government ofOuter Mongolia, in other localities of Outer Mongolia, are not toexceed fifty men each.

Art. 9. On all ceremonial or official occasions the first place ofhonour is due to the Chinese Dignitary. He has the right, ifnecessary, to present himself in private audience with HisHoliness Bogdo Djembzoun Damba Khoutoukhtou Khan of OuterMongolia. The Imperial Representative of Russia enjoys the sameright of private audience.

Art. 10. The Chinese Dignitary at Urga and his assistants in thedifferent localities of Outer Mongolia provided for by Article VIIof this agreement are to exercise general control lest the acts ofthe autonomous government of Outer Mongolia and its subordinateauthorities may impair the suzerain rights and the interests ofChina and her subjects in autonomous Mongolia.

Art. 11. Conformably to Article IV of the Note exchanged betweenChina and Russia on the fifth day of the eleventh month of thesecond year of the Republic of China (23rd October, 1915), theterritory of autonomous Outer Mongolia comprises the regions whichwere under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Amban at Ourga, or theTartar-General at Ouliassoutai and of the Chinese Amban at Kobdo;and connects with the boundary of China by the limits of thebanners of the four aimaks of Khalkha and of the district ofKobdo, bounded by the district of Houloun-Bourie on the east, byInner Mongolia on the south, by the Province of Sinkiang on thesouthwest, and by the districts of Altai on the West.

The formal delimitation between China and autonomous Mongolia isto be carried out by a special commission of delegates of China,Russia and autonomous Outer Mongolia, which shall set itself tothe work of delimitation within a period of two years from thedate of signature of the present Agreement.

Art. 12. It is understood that customs duties are not to beestablished for goods of whatever origin they may be, imported byChinese merchants into autonomous Outer Mongolia. Nevertheless,Chinese merchants shall pay all the taxes on internal trade whichhave been established in autonomous Outer Mongolia and which maybe established therein in the future, payable by the Mongols ofautonomous Outer Mongolia. Similarly the merchants of autonomousOuter Mongolia, when importing any kind of goods of localproduction into "Inner China," shall pay all the taxes on tradewhich have been established in "Inner China" and which may beestablished therein in the future, payable by Chinese merchants.Goods of foreign origin imported from autonomous Outer Mongoliainto "Inner China" shall be subject to the customs dutiesstipulated in the regulations for land trade of the seventh yearof the reign of Kouang-Hsu (1881).

Art. 13. Civil and criminal actions arising between Chinesesubjects residing in autonomous Outer Mongolia are to be examinedand adjudicated by the Chinese Dignitary at Urga and by hisassistants in the other localities of autonomous Outer Mongolia.

Art. 14. Civil and criminal actions arising between Mongols ofautonomous Outer Mongolia and Chinese subjects residing thereinare to be examined and adjudicated by the Chinese Dignitary atUrga and his assistants in the other localities of autonomousOuter Mongolia, or their delegates, and the Mongolian authorities.If the defendant or accused of autonomous Outer Mongolia, thejoint examination and decision of the case are to be held at theChinese Dignitary's place at Niga and that of his assistants inthe other localities of autonomous Outer Mongolia; if thedefendant or the accused is a Mongol of autonomous Outer Mongoliaand the claimant or the complainment is a Chinese subject, thecase is to be examined and decided in the same manner in theMongolian yamen. The guilty are to be punished according to theirown laws. The interested parties are free to arrange theirdisputes amicably by means of arbitrators chosen by themselves.

Art. 15. Civil and criminal actions arising between Mongols ofautonomous Outer Mongolia and Russian subjects residing thereinare to be examined and decided conformably to the stipulations ofArticle XVI of the Russo-Mongolian Commercial protocol of 2lstOctober, 1912.

Art. 16. All civil and criminal actions arising between Chineseand Russian subjects in autonomous Outer Mongolia are to beexamined and decided in the following manner: in an action whereinthe claimant or the complainant is a Russian subject and thedefendant or accused is a Chinese subject, the Russian Consulpersonally or through his delegate participates in the judicialtrial, enjoying the same right as the Chinese Dignitary at Urga orhis delegate or his assistants in the other localities ofautonomous Outer Mongolia. The Russian Consul or his delegateproceeds to the hearing of the claimant and the Russian witnessesin the court in session, and interrogates the defendant and theChinese witnesses through the medium of the Chinese Dignitary atUrga or his delegates or of his assistants in the other localitiesof autonomous Outer Mongolia; the Russian Consul or his delegateexamines the evidence presented, demands security for"revindication" and has recourse to the opinion of experts, if heconsiders such expert opinion necessary for the elucidation of therights of the parties, etc.; he takes part in deciding and in thedrafting of the judgment, which he signs with the ChineseDignitary at Urga or his delegates or his assistants in the otherlocalities of Autonomous Outer Mongolia. The execution of thejudgment constitutes a duty of the Chinese authorities.

The Chinese Dignitary at Urga and his Assistants in the otherlocalities of autonomous Outer Mongolia may likewise personally orthrough their delegates be present at the hearing of an action inthe Consulates of Russia wherein the defendant or the accused is aRussian subject and the claimant or the complainant is a Chinesesubject. The execution of the judgment constitutes a duty of theRussian authorities.

Art. 17. Since a section of the Kiachta-Urga-Kalgan telegraph linelies in the territory of autonomous Outer Mongolia, it is agreedthat the said section of the said telegraph line constitutes thecomplete property of the Autonomous Government of Outer Mongolia.The details respecting the establishment on the borders of thatcountry and Inner Mongolia of a station to be administered byChinese and Mongolian employes for the transmission of telegrams,as well as the questions of the tariff for telegrams transmittedand of the apportionment of the receipts, etc., are to be examinedand settled by a special commission of technical delegates ofChina, Russia and Autonomous Outer Mongolia.

Art. 18. The Chinese postal institutions at Urga and Mongolian
Kiachta remain in force on the old basis.

Art. 19. The Autonomous Government of Outer Mongolia will place atthe disposal of the Chinese Dignitary at Urga and of hisassistants at Ouliassoutai, Kobdo and Mongolian-Kiachta as well asof their staff, the necessary houses, which are to constitute thecomplete property of the Government of the Republic of China.Similarly, necessary grounds in the vicinity of the residences ofthe said staff are to be granted for their escorts.

Art. 20. The Chinese Dignitary at Urga and his assistants in theother localities of autonomous Outer Mongolia and also their staffare to enjoy the right to use the courier stations of theautonomous Mongolian Government conformably to the stipulations ofArticle XI of the Russo-Mongolian Protocol of 81st October, 1912.

Art. 21. The stipulations of the Sino-Russian declaration and theNotes exchanged between China and Russia of the 5th day of the11th month of the 2nd year of the Republic of China, 23rd October,1913, as well as those of the Russo-Mongolian Commercial Protocolof the 2lst October, 1912, remain in full force.

Art. 22. The present Agreement, drawn up in triplicate in Chinese,Russian, Mongolian and French languages, comes into force from theday of its signature. Of the four texts which have been dulycompared and found to agree, the French text shall beauthoritative in the interpretation of the Present Agreement.

Done at Kiachta the 7th day of the Sixth Month of the Fourth yearof the Republic of China, corresponding to the Twenty-fifth ofMay, Seventh of June, One Thousand Nine Hundred Fifteen.

CHINO-JAPANESE TREATIES AND ANNEXES

COMPLETE ENGLISH TEXT OF THE DOCUMENTS

The following is an authoritative translation of the two Treatiesand thirteen Notes exchanged between His Excellency the Presidentof the Republic of China and His Majesty the Emperor of Japanthrough their respective plenipotentiaries:

TREATY RESPECTING THE PROVINCE OP SHANTUNG

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and HisMajesty the Emperor of Japan, having resolved to conclude a Treatywith a view to the maintenance of general peace in the ExtremeEast and the further strengthening of the relations of friendshipand good neighbourhood now existing between the two nations, havefor that purpose named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Chung-ching, First Class Chia Ho Decoration, Minister ofForeign Affairs.

And His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Hioki Eki, Jushii, Second
Class of the Imperial Order of the Sacred Treasure, Minister
Plenipotentiary, and Envoy Extraordinary:

Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers andfound them to be in good and due form, have agreed upon andconcluded the following Articles:—

Article 1. The Chinese Government agrees to give full assent toall matters upon which the Japanese Government may hereafter agreewith the German Government relating to the disposition of allrights, interests and concessions which Germany, by virtue oftreaties or otherwise, possesses in relation to the Province ofShantung.

Art. 2. The Chinese Government agrees that as regards the railwayto be built by China herself from Chefoo or Lungkow to connectwith the Kiaochow-Tsinanfu railway, if Germany abandons theprivilege of financing the Chefoo-Weihsien line, China willapproach Japanese capitalists to negotiate for a loan.

Art. 3. The Chinese Government agrees in the interest of trade andfor the residence of foreigners, to open by China herself as soonas possible certain suitable places in the Province of Shantung asCommercial Ports.

Art. 4. The present treaty shall come into force on the day of itssignature.

The present treaty shall be ratified by His Excellency the
President of the Republic of China and His Majesty the Emperor of
Japan, and the ratification thereof shall be exchanged at Tokio as
soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries of the HighContracting Parties have signed and sealed the present Treaty, twocopies in the Chinese language and two in Japanese.

Done at Peking this twenty-fifth day of the fifth month of thefourth year of the Republic of China, corresponding to the sameday of the same month of the fourth year of Taisho.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING SHANTUNG

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th years of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre.

In the name of the Chinese Government I have the honour to makethe following declaration to your Government:—"Within theProvince of Shantung or along its coast no territory or islandwill be leased or ceded to any foreign Power under any pretext."

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki,

Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you made the followingdeclaration in the name of the Chinese Government:—"Within theProvince of Shantung or along its coast no territory or islandwill be leased or ceded to any foreign Power under any pretext."

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of thisdeclaration.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE OPENING OF PORTS IN SHANTUNG

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre.

I have the honour to state that the places which ought to beopened as Commercial Ports by China herself, as provided inArticle 3 of the Treaty respecting the Province of Shantung signedthis day, will be selected and the regulations therefor, will bedrawn up, by the Chinese Government itself, a decision concerningwhich will be made after consulting the Minister of Japan.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you stated "that the places whichought to be opened as Commercial Ports by China herself, asprovided in Article 3 of the Treaty respecting the province ofShantung signed this day, will be selected and the regulationstherefor, will be drawn up by the Chinese Government itself, adecision concerning which will be made after consulting theMinister of Japan."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same,

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI KEI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE RESTORATION OF THE LEASEDTERRITORY OF KIAOCHOW BAY

—Note—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of
Taisho.

Excellency,

In the name of my Government I have the honour to make thefollowing declaration to the Chinese Government:—

When, after the termination of the present war, the leasedterritory of Kiaochow Bay is completely left to the free disposalof Japan, the Japanese Government will restore the said leasedterritory to China under the following conditions:—

1. The whole of Kiaochow Bay to be opened as a Commercial Port.

2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction of Japan to beestablished at a place designated by the Japanese Government.

3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an international concessionmay be established.

4. As regards the disposal to be made of the buildings andproperties of Germany and the conditions and procedure relatingthereto, the Japanese Government and the Chinese Government shallarrange the matter by mutual agreement before the restoration.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang,

Minister of Foreign Affairs.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you made the followingdeclaration in the name of your Government:—

"When, after the termination of the present war the leasedterritory of Kiaochow Bay is completely left to the free disposalof Japan, the Japanese Government will restore the said leasedterritory to China under the following conditions:—

1. The whole of Kiaochow Bay to be opened as a Commercial Port.

2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction of Japan to beestablished at a place designated by the Japanese Government.

3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an international concessionmay be established.

4. As regards the disposal to be made of the buildings andproperties of Germany and the conditions and procedure relatingthereto, the Japanese Government and the Chinese Government shallarrange the matter by mutual agreement before the restoration."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of thisdeclaration.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) Lou TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

TREATY RESPECTING SOUTH MANCHURIA AND EASTERN INNER MONGOLIA

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China and HisMajesty the Emperor of Japan, having resolved to conclude a Treatywith a view to developing their economic relations in SouthManchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, have for that purpose namedas their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say;

His Excellency the President of the Republic of China, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Chung-ching, First Class Chia-ho Decoration, and Ministerof Foreign Affairs; And His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, HiokiEki, Jushii, Second Class of the Imperial Order of the SacredTreasure, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary;

Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers,and found them to be in good and due form, have agreed upon andconcluded the following Articles:—

Article 1. The two High Contracting Parties agree that the term oflease of Port Arthur and Dalny and the terms of the SouthManchuria Railway and the Antung-Mukden Railway, shall be extendedto 99 years.

Art. 2. Japanese subjects in South Manchuria may, by negotiation,lease land necessary for erecting suitable buildings for trade andmanufacture or for prosecuting agricultural enterprises.

Art. 3. Japanese subjects shall be free to reside and travel inSouth Manchuria and to engage in business and manufacture of anykind whatsoever.

Art. 4. In the event of Japanese and Chinese desiring jointly toundertake agricultural enterprises and industries incidentalthereto, the Chinese Government may give its permission.

Art. 5. The Japanese subjects referred to in the preceding threearticles, besides being required to register with the localAuthorities passports which they must procure under the existingregulations, shall also submit to the police laws and ordinancesand taxation of China.

Civil and criminal cases in which the defendants are Japaneseshall be tried and adjudicated by the Japanese Consul: those inwhich the defendants are Chinese shall be tried and adjudicated byChinese Authorities. In either case an officer may be deputed tothe court to attend the proceedings. But mixed civil cases betweenChinese and Japanese relating to land shall be tried andadjudicated by delegates of both nations conjointly in accordancewith Chinese law and local usage.

When, in future, the judicial system in the said region is
completely reformed, all civil and criminal cases concerning
Japanese subjects shall be tried and adjudicated entirely by
Chinese law courts.

Art. 6. The Chinese Government agrees, in the interest of tradeand for the residence of foreigners, to open by China herself, assoon as possible, certain suitable places in Eastern InnerMongolia as Commercial Ports.

Art. 7. The Chinese Government agrees speedily to make afundamental revision of the Kirin-Changchun Railway LoanAgreement, taking as a standard the provisions in railway loanagreements made heretofore between China and foreign financiers.

When in future, more advantageous terms than those in existingrailway loan agreements are granted to foreign financiers inconnection with railway loans, the above agreement shall again berevised in accordance with Japan's wishes.

Art. 8. All existing treaties between China and Japan relating to
Manchuria shall, except where otherwise provided for by this
Treaty, remain in force.

Art. 9. The present Treaty shall come into force on the date ofits signature. The present Treaty shall be ratified by HisExcellency the President of the Republic of China and His Majestythe Emperor of Japan, and the ratifications thereof shall beexchanged at Tokio as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries of the two
High Contracting Parties have signed and sealed the present
Treaty, two copies in the Chinese language and two in Japanese.

Done at Peking this twenty-fifth day of the fifth month of thefourth year of the Republic of China, corresponding to the sameday of the same month of the fourth year of Taisho.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES

Respecting the Terms of Lease of Port Arthur and Dalny and the
Terms of South Manchurian and Antung-Mukden Railways.

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to state that, respecting the provisionscontained in Article 1 of the Treaty relating to South Manchuriaand Eastern Inner Mongolia, signed this day, the term of lease ofPort Arthur and Dalny shall expire in the 86th year of theRepublic or 1997. The date for restoring the South ManchuriaRailway to China shall fall due in the 9lst year of the Republicor 2002. Article 12 in the original South Manchurian RailwayAgreement providing that it may be redeemed by China after 36years from the day on which the traffic is opened is herebycancelled. The term of the Antung-Mukden Railway shall expire inthe 96th year of the Republic or 2007.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) Lou TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki,

Japanese Minister.

—Reply—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of
Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date, in which you stated that respecting theprovisions contained in Article 1 of the Treaty relating to SouthManchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia, signed this day, the term oflease of Port Arthur and Dalny shall expire in the 86th year ofthe Republic or 1997. The date for restoring the South ManchurianRailway to China shall fall due in the 91st year of the Republicor 2002. Article 12 in the original South Manchurian RailwayAgreement providing that it may be redeemed by China after 36years from the day on which the traffic is opened, is herebycancelled. The term of the Antung-Mukden Railway shall expire inthe 96th year of the Republic or 2007.

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE OPENING OF PORTS IN EASTERNINNER MONGOLIA

—Note—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year ofthe Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to state that the places which ought to beopened as Commercial Ports by China herself, as provided inArticle 6 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and EasternInner Mongolia signed this day, will be selected, and theregulations therefor, will be drawn up, by the Chinese Governmentit*elf, a decision concerning which will be made after consultingthe Minister of Japan.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of
Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you stated "that the places whichought to be opened as Commercial Ports by China herself, asprovided in Article 6 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria andEastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, will be selected, and theregulations therefor, will be drawn up, by the Chinese Governmentit*elf, a decision concerning which will be made after consultingthe Minister of Japan."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

SOUTH MANCHURIA

—Note—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year ofthe Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to state that Japanese subjects shall, as soonas possible, investigate and select mines in the mining areas inSouth Manchuria specified hereinunder, except those beingprospected for or worked, and the Chinese Government will thenpermit them to prospect or work the same; but before the Miningregulations are definitely settled, the practice at present inforce shall be followed. Provinces Fengtien:—

Locality District Mineral

Niu Hsin T'ai Pen-hsi Coal

Tien Shih Fu Kou Pen-hsi Coal

Sha Sung Kang Hai-lung Coal

T'ieh Ch'ang Tung-hua Coal

Nuan Ti T'ang Chin Coal

An Shan Chan region From Liaoyang to Pen-hsi Iron

KIRIN (Southern portion)

Locality District Mineral
Sha Sung Kang Ho-lung C. & I.
Kang Yao Chi-lin (Kirin) Coal
Chia P'i Kou Hua-tien Gold

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day respecting the opening of mines in SouthManchuria, stating; "Japanese subjects shall, as soon as possible,investigate and select mines in the mining areas in SouthManchuria specified hereinunder, except those being prospected foror worked, and the Chinese Government will then permit them toprospect and or work the same; but before the Mining regulationsare definitely settled, the practice at present in force shall befollowed.

1 Provinces Fengtien.

Locality District Mineral

1. Niu Hsin T'ai Pen-hsi Coal2. Tien Shih Fu Kou Pen-hsi Coal3. Sha Sung Kang Hai-lung Coal4. T'ieh Ch'ang Tung-hua Coal5. Nuan Ti T'ang Chin Coal6. An Shan Chan region From Liaoyang to Pen-hsi Iron

KIRIN (Southern portion)

1. Sha Sung Kang Ho-lung Coal & Iron2. Kang Yao Chi-lin (Kirin) Coal3. Chia P'i Kou Hua-tien Gold

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs ofthe Republic of China.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING RAILWAYS AND TAXES IN SOUTH MANCHURIAAND EASTERN INNER MONGOLIA

—Note—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year ofthe Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

In the name of my Government.

I have the honour to make the following declaration to your
Government:—

China will hereafter provide funds for building necessary railwaysin South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia; if foreign capitalis required China may negotiate for a loan with Japanesecapitalists first; and further, the Chinese Government, whenmaking a loan in future on the security of the taxes in the above-mentioned places (excluding the salt and customs revenue whichhave already been pledged by the Chinese Central Government) maynegotiate for it with Japanese capitalists first.

I avail, etc.

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date respecting railways and taxes in SouthManchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia in which you stated:

"China will hereafter provide funds for building necessaryrailways in South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia; if foreigncapital is required China may negotiate for a loan with Japanesecapitalists first; and further, the Chinese Government, whenmaking a loan in future on the security of taxes in the abovementioned places (excluding the salt and customs revenue which hasalready been pledged by the Chinese Central Government) maynegotiate for it with Japanese capitalists first.

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE EMPLOYMENT OF ADVISERS IN SOUTHMANCHURIA

—Note—Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year ofthe Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

In the name of the Chinese Government, I have the honour to makethe following declaration to your Government:—

"Hereafter, if foreign advisers or instructors on political,financial, military or police matters are to be employed in SouthManchuria, Japanese may be employed first."

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you made the followingdeclaration in the name of your Government:—

"Hereafter if foreign advisers or instructors in political,financial, military or police matters are to be employed in SouthManchuria, Japanese may be employed first."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

Hia Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE EXPLANATION OF "LEASE BYNEGOTIATION" IN SOUTH MANCHURIA

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to state that the term lease by negotiationcontained in Article 2 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuriaand Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day shall be understood toimply a long-term lease of not more than thirty years and also thepossibility of its unconditional renewal.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you state.

"The term lease by negotiation contained in Article 2 of theTreaty respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongoliasigned this day shall be understood to imply a long-term lease ofnot more than thirty years and also the possibility of itsunconditional renewal."

In reply I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE ARRANGEMENT FOR POLICE LAWS ANDORDINANCES AND TAXATION IN SOUTH MANCHURIA AND EASTERN INNERMONGOLIA

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to state that the Chinese Authorities willnotify the Japanese Consul of the police laws and ordinances andthe taxation to which Japanese subjects shall submit according toArticle 5 of the Treaty respecting South Manchuria and EasternInner Mongolia signed this day so as to come to an understandingwith him before their enforcement.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) Lou TSENO-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you state:

"The Chinese Authorities will notify the Japanese Consul of thePolice laws and ordinances and the taxation to which Japanesesubjects shall submit according to Article 5 of the Treatyrespecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed thisday so as to come to an understanding with him before theirenforcement."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang Minister of Foreign Affairs.

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to state that, inasmuch as preparations have tobe made regarding Articles 2, 3, 4 & 5 of the Treaty respectingSouth Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed this day, theChinese Government proposes that the operation of the saidArticles be postponed for a period of three months beginning fromthe date of the signing of the said Treaty.

I hope your Government will agree to this proposal.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you stated that "inasmuch aspreparations have to be made regarding Articles 2, 3, 4 & 5 theTreaty respecting South Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongoliasigned this day, the Chinese Government proposes that theoperation of the said Articles be postponed for a period of threemonths beginning from the date of the signing of the said Treaty."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE MATTER OF HANYEHPING

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to state that if in future the HanyehpingCompany and the Japanese capitalists agree upon co-operation, theChinese Government, in view of the intimate relations subsistingbetween the Japanese capitalists and the said Company, willforthwith give its permission. The Chinese Government furtheragrees not to confiscate the said Company, nor, without theconsent of the Japanese capitalists to convert it into a stateenterprise, nor cause it to borrow and use foreign capital otherthan Japanese.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of Taisho.

Excellency,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date in which you state:

"If in future the Hanyehping Company and the Japanese capitalistsagree upon co-operation, the Chinese Government, in view of theintimate relations subsisting between the Japanese capitalists andthe said Company, will forthwith give its permission. The ChineseGovernment further agrees not to confiscate the said Company, nor,without the consent of the Japanese capitalists to convert it intoa state enterprise, nor cause it to borrow and use foreign capitalother than Japanese."

In reply, I beg to state that I have taken note of the same.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

EXCHANGE OF NOTES RESPECTING THE f*ckIEN QUESTION

—Note—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Excellency,

A report has reached me to the effect that the Chinese Governmenthas the intention of permitting foreign nations to establish, onthe coast of f*ckien Province, dock-yards, coaling stations formilitary use, naval bases, or to set up other militaryestablishments; and also of borrowing foreign capital for thepurpose of setting up the above-mentioned establishments. I havethe honour to request that Your Excellency will be good enough togive me reply stating whether or not the Chinese Government reallyentertains such an intention.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) HIOKI EKI.

His Excellency, Lou Tseng-tsiang, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

—Reply—

Peking, the 25th day of the 5th month of the 4th year of the
Republic of China.

Monsieur le Ministre,

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency'snote of this day's date which I have noted.

In reply I beg to inform you that the Chinese Government herebydeclares that it has given no permission to foreign nations toconstruct, on the coast of f*ckien Province, dock-yards, coalingstations for military use, naval bases, or to set up othermilitary establishment; nor does it entertain an intention ofborrowing foreign capital for the purpose of setting up the above-mentioned establishmments.

I avail, etc.,

(Signed) LOU TSENG-TSIANG.

His Excellency, Hioki Eki, Japanese Minister.

DOCUMENTS IN GROUP IV

(1) The Draft of the Permanent Constitution completed in May,1917.

(2) The proposed Provincial System, i.e., the local governmentlaw.

(3) Memorandum by the Ministry of Commerce on Tariff Revision,illustrating the anomalies of present trade taxation.

(4) The leading outstanding cases between China and the ForeignPowers.

(As it stood on May 28th, 1917, in its second reading at the
Constitutional Conference.)

The Constitutional Conference of the Republic of China, in orderto enhance the national dignity, to unite the national dominion,to advance the interest of society and to uphold the sacredness ofhumanity, hereby adopt the following constitution which shall bepromulgated to the whole country, to be universally observed, andhanded down unto the end of time.

Article 1. The Republic of China shall forever be a consolidated
Republic.

Art. 2. The National Territory of the Republic of China shall bein accordance with the dominion hithertofore existing.

No change in National Territory and its divisions can be made savein accordance with the law.

Art. … The power of Government of the Republic of China shallbe derived from the entire body of citizens.

Art. 3. Those who are of Chinese nationality according to lawshall be called the citizens of the Republic of China.

Art. 4. Among the citizens of the Republic of China, there shallbe, in the eyes of the law, no racial, class, or religiousdistinctions, but all shall be equal.

Art. 5. No citizens of the Republic of China shall be arrested,detained, tried, or punished save in accordance with the law.Whoever happens to be detained in custody shall be entitled, onapplication therefore, to the immediate benefit of the writ ofhabeas corpus, bringing him before a judicial court of competentjurisdiction for an investigation of the case and appropriateaction according to law.

Art. 6. The private habitations of the citizens of the Republic ofChina shall not be entered or searched except in accordance withthe law.

Art. 7. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have the rightof secrecy of correspondence, which may not be violated except asprovided by law.

Art. 8. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have libertyof choice of residence and of profession which shall beunrestricted except in accordance with law.

Art. 9. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have libertyto call meetings or to organize societies which shall beunrestricted except in accordance with the law.

Art. 10. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have freedomof speech, writing and publication which shall be unrestrictedexcept in accordance with the law.

Art. 11. The citizens of the Republic of China shall be entitledto honour Confucius and shall enjoy freedom of religious beliefwhich shall be unrestricted except in accordance with the law.

Art. 12. The citizens of the Republic of China shall enjoy theinviolable right to the security of their property and any measureto the contrary necessitated by public interest shall bedetermined by law.

Art. … . The citizens of the Republic of China shall enjoy allother forms of freedom aside from those hithertofore mentioned,provided they are not contrary to the spirit of the Constitution.

Art. 13. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have theright to appeal to the Judicial Courts according to law.

Art. 14. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have theright to submit petitions or make complaints according to law.

Art. 15. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have theright to vote and to be voted for according to law.

Art. 16. The citizens of the Republic of China shall have theright to hold official posts according to law.

Art. 17. The citizens of the Republic of China shall perform theobligation of paying taxes according to law.

Art. 18. The citizens of the Republic of China shall perform theobligation of military service according to law.

Art. 19. The citizens of the Republic of China shall be under theobligation to receive primary education according to law.

Art. 20. The legislative power of the Republic of China shall beexercised by the National Assembly exclusively.

Art. 21. The National Assembly shall consist of a Senate and Houseof Representatives.

Art. 22. The Senate shall be composed of the Senators elected bythe highest local legislative assemblies and other electoralbodies.

Art. 23. The House of Representatives shall be composed of therepresentatives elected by the various electoral districts inproportion to the population.

Art. 24. The members of both Houses shall be elected according tolaw.

Art. 25. In no case shall one person be a member of both Housessimultaneously.

Art. 26. No member of either House shall hold any official post,civil or military during his term.

Art. 27. The qualifications of the members of either House shallbe determined by the respective Houses.

Art. 28. The term of office for a member of the Senate shall besix years. One-third of the members shall retire and new ones beelected every two years.

Art. 29. The term of office for a member of the House of
Representatives shall be three years.

Art. 30. Each House shall have a President and a Vice-Presidentwho shall be elected from among its members.

Art. 31. The National Assembly shall itself convene, open andclose its sessions, but as to extraordinary sessions, they shallbe called under one of the following circ*mstances:

(1) A signed request of more than one-third of the members of eachHouse.

(2) A mandate of the President.

Art. 32. The ordinary sessions of the National Assembly shallbegin on the first day of the eighth month in each year.

Art. 33. The period for the ordinary session of the NationalAssembly shall be four months which may be prolonged, but theprolonged period shall not exceed the length of the ordinarysession.

Art. 34. (Eliminated.)

Art. 35. Both Houses shall meet in joint session at the openingand closing of the National Assembly.

If one House suspends its session, the other House shall dolikewise during the same period.

When the House of Representatives is dissolved, the Senate shalladjourn during the same period.

Art. 36. The work of the National Assembly shall be conducted inthe Houses separately. No bill shall be introduced in both Housessimultaneously.

Art. 37. Unless there be an attendance of over half of the totalnumber of members of either House, no sitting shall be held.

Art. 38. Any subject discussed in either House shall be decided bythe votes of the majority of members attending the sitting. ThePresident of each House shall have a deciding vote in case of atie.

Art. 39. A decision of the National Assembly shall require thedecision of both Houses.

Art. 40. The sessions of both Houses shall be held in public,except on request of the government, or decision of the Houseswhen secret sessions may be held.

Art. 41. Should the House of Representatives consider either thePresident or the Vice-President of the Republic of China hascommitted treason, he may be impeached by the decision of amajority of over two-thirds of the members present, there being aquorum of over two-thirds of the total membership of the House.

Art. 43. Should the House of Representatives consider that theCabinet Ministers have violated the law, an impeachment may beinstituted with the approval of over two-thirds of the memberspresent.

Art. 43. The House of Representatives may pass a vote of want of
Confidence in the Cabinet Ministers.

Art. 44. The Senate shall try the impeached President, Vice-
President and Cabinet Ministers.

With regard to the above-mentioned trial, no judgment of guilt orviolation of the law shall be passed without the approval of overtwo-thirds of the members present.

When a verdict of "Guilty" is pronounced on the President or Vice-President, he shall be deprived of his post, but the infliction ofpunishment shall be determined by the Supreme Court of Justice.

When the verdict of "Guilty" is pronounced upon a CabinetMinister, he shall be deprived of his office and may forfeit hispublic rights. Should the above penalty be insufficient for hisoffence, he shall be tried by the Judicial Court.

Art. … Either of the two Houses shall have power to request thegovernment to inquire into any case of delinquency or unlawful acton the part of any official and to punish him accordingly.

Art. 45. Both Houses shall have the right to offer suggestions tothe Government.

Art. 46. Both Houses shall receive and consider the petitions ofthe citizens.

Art. 47. Members of either House may introduce interpellations tothe members of the Cabinet and demand their attendance in theHouse to reply thereto.

Art. 48. Members of either House shall not be responsible to thoseoutside the House for opinions expressed and votes cast in theHouse.

Art. 49. No member of either House during session shall bearrested or detained in custody without the permission of hisrespective House, unless he be arrested in the commission of theoffence or act.

When any member of either House has been so arrested, thegovernment should report the cause to his respective House. Suchmember's House, during session, may with the approval of itsmembers demand for the release of the arrested member and fortemporary suspension of the legal proceedings.

Art. 50. The annual allowances and other expenses of the membersof both Houses shall be fixed by law.

(CHAPTER V on Resident Committee of the National Assembly with 4articles has been eliminated.)

Art. 55. The administrative power of the Republic of China shallbe vested in the President with the assistance of the CabinetMinisters.

Art 56. A person of the Republic of China in the full enjoyment of
public rights, of the age of forty years or more, and resident in
China for at least ten years, is eligible for election as
President.

Art. 57. The President shall be elected by a Presidential Election
Convention, composed of the members of the National Assembly.

For the above election, an attendance of at least two-thirds ofthe number of electors shall be required, and the voting shall beperformed by secret ballot. The person obtaining three-fourths ofthe total votes cast shall be elected; but should no definiteresult be obtained after the second ballot, the two candidatesobtaining the most votes in the second ballot shall be voted forand the candidate receiving the majority vote shall be elected.

Art. 58. The period of office of the President shall be fiveyears, and if re-elected, he may hold office for another term,

Three months previous to the expiration of the term, the membersof the National Assembly of the Republic shall themselves conveneand organize the President Election Convention to elect aPresident for the next term.

[*] Art. 59. When the President is being inaugurated, he shallmake an oath as follows: "I hereby solemnly swear that I will mostfaithfully obey the Constitution and discharge the duties of thePresident."

[*] Art. 60. Should the post of the President become vacant, theVice-President shall succeed him until the expiration of the termof office of the President. Should the President be unable todischarge his duties for any cause, the Vice-President shall actfor him.

Should the Vice-President vacate his post at the same time, theCabinet shall officiate for the President, but at the same time,the members of the National Assembly shall within three monthsconvene themselves and organize the Presidential ElectionConvention to elect a new President.

[*] Art. 61. The President shall be relieved of his office at theexpiration of his term of his office. If, at the end of theperiod, the new President has not been elected, or, having beenelected, be unable to assure office and when the Vice-President isalso unable to act as President, the Cabinet shall officiate forthe President.

[*] Art. 62. The election of the Vice-President shall be inaccordance with the regulations fixed for the election of thePresident; and the election of the Vice-President shall take placesimultaneously with the election of the President. Should the postof the Vice-President become vacant, a new Vice-President shall beelected.

Art. 63. The President shall promulgate all laws and supervise andsecure their enforcement.

Art. 64. The President may issue and publish mandates for theexecution of laws in accordance with the powers delegated to himby the law.

Art. 65. (Eliminated.)

Art. 66. The President shall appoint and remove all civil andmilitary officials, with the exception of those specially providedfor by the Constitution or laws.

Art. 67. The President shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Armyand Navy of the Republic.

The organization of the Army and Navy shall be fixed by law.

Art. 68. Intercourse with foreign countries, the President shallbe the representative of the Republic.

Art. 69. The President may, with the concurrence of the NationalAssembly, declare war, but, in case of defence against foreigninvasion, he may request recognition of the National Assemblyafter the declaration of the war.

Art. 70. The President may conclude treaties; but with regards totreaties of peace, and those effecting legislation, they shall notbe valid, if the consent of the National Assembly is not obtained.

Art. 71. The President may proclaim martial law according to law;but if the National Assembly should consider that there is no suchnecessity, he should declare the withdrawal of the martial law.

Art. 72. (Eliminated.)

Art. 73. The President may, with the concurrence of the SupremeCourt of Justice, grant pardons, commute punishment, and restorerights; but with regard to a verdict of impeachment, unless withthe concurrence of the National Assembly, he shall not make anyannouncement of the restoration of rights.

Art. 74. The President may suspend the session of either theSenate or the House of Representatives for a period not exceedingten days, but during any one session, he may not exercise thisright more than once.

Art. 75. With the concurrence of two-thirds or more of the membersof the Senate present, the President may dissolve the House ofRepresentatives, but there must not be a second dissolution duringthe period of the same session.

When the House of Representatives is dissolved by the President,another election shall take place immediately, and the convocationof the House at a fixed date within five months should be effectedto continue the session.

Art. 76. With the exception of high treason, no criminal chargesshall be brought against the President before he has vacated hisoffice.

Art. 77. The salaries of the President and Vice-President shall befixed by law.

Art. 78. The Cabinet shall be composed of the Cabinet Ministers.

Art. 79. The Premier and the Ministers of the various ministriesshall be called the Cabinet Ministers.

Art. 80. The appointment of the Premier shall be approved by the
House of Representatives.

Should a vacancy in the Premiership occur during the time ofadjournment of the National Assembly, the President may appoint anActing-Premier, but it shall be required that the appointment mustbe submitted to the House of Representatives for approval withinseven days after the convening of the next session.

Art. 81. Cabinet Ministers shall assist the President and shall beresponsible to the House of Representatives.

Without the counter-signature of the Cabinet Minister to whoseMinistry the Mandate or dispatch applies, the mandate or dispatchof the President in connection with State affairs shall not bevalid; but this shall not apply to the appointment or dismissal ofthe Premier.

Art. 82. When a vote of want of confidence in the CabinetMinisters is passed, if the President does not dissolve the Houseof Representatives according to the provisions made in Art. 75, heshould remove the Cabinet Ministers.

Art. 83. The Cabinet Ministers shall be allowed to attend both
Houses and make speeches, but in case of introducing bills for the
Executive Department, their delegates may act for them.

Art. 84. The Judicial authority of the Republic of China shall beexercised by the Courts of Justice exclusively.

Art. 85. The organization of the Courts of Justice and thequalifications of the Judges shall be fixed by law.

The appointment of the Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court shouldhave the approval of the Senate. Art. 86. The Judiciary shallattend to and settle all civil, criminal administrative and othercases, but this does not include those cases which have beenspecially provided for by the Constitution or law.

Art. 87. The trial of cases in the law courts shall be conductedpublicly, but those affecting public peace and order or proprietymay be held in camera.

Art. 88. The Judges shall be independent in the conducting oftrials and none shall be allowed to interfere.

Art. 89. Except in accordance with law, judges, during theircontinuation of office shall not have their emoluments decreased,nor be transferred to other offices, nor shall they be removedfrom office.

During his tenure of office, no judge shall be deprived of hisoffice unless he is convicted of crime, or for offences punishableby law. But the above does not include cases of reorganization ofJudicial Courts and when the qualification of the Judges aremodified. The punishments and fines of the Judicial Officialsshall be fixed by law.

Art. 90. The members of both Houses and the Executive Departmentmay introduce bills of law, but if any bill of law is rejected bythe House it shall not be re-introduced during the same session.

Art. 91. Any bill of law which has been passed by the NationalAssembly shall be promulgated by the President within 15 daysafter receipt of the same.

Art. 92. Should the President disapprove of any bill of law passedby the National Assembly, he shall within the period allowed forpromulgation, state the reason of his disapproval and request there-consideration of the same by the National Assembly.

If a bill of law has not yet been submitted with a request forconsideration and the period for promulgation has passed; it shallbecome law. But the above shall not apply to the case when thesession of the National Assembly is adjourned, or, the House ofRepresentatives dissolved before the period for the promulgationis ended.

Art. 93. The law shall not be altered or repealed except inaccordance with the law.

Art. 94. Any law that is in conflict with the Constitution shallnot be valid.

Art. 95. The introductions of new taxes and alterations in therate of taxation shall be fixed by law.

Art. 96. (Eliminated.)

Art. 97. The approval of the National Assembly must be obtainedfor National loans, or the conclusion of agreements which tend toincrease the burden of the National Treasury.

Art. … Financial bills involving direct obligation on the partof the citizens shall first be submitted to the House ofRepresentatives.

Art. 98. The Executive Department of the Government shall preparea budget setting forth expenditures and receipts of the Nation forthe fiscal year which shall be submitted to the House ofRepresentatives within 15 days after the opening of the session ofthe National Assembly.

Should the Senate amend or reject the budget passed by the Houseof Representatives, it shall request the concurrence of the Houseof Representatives in its amendment or rejection, and, if suchconcurrence is not obtained, the budget shall be considered aspassed.

Art. 99. In case of special provisions, the Executive Departmentmay fix in advance in the budget the period over which theappropriations are to be spread and may provide for the successiveappropriations continuing over this period.

Art. 100. In order to provide for a safe margin for under-estimates or for items left out of the budget, the ExecutiveDepartment may include contingent items in the budget under theheading of Reserve Fund. The sum expended under the aboveprovision shall be submitted to the House of Representatives atthe next session for recognition. Art. 101. Unless approved by theExecutive Department, the National Assembly shall have no right toabolish or curtail any of the following items:

(1) Items in connection with obligations of the Governmentaccording to law.

(2) Items necessitated by the observance of treaties.

(3) Items legally fixed.

(4) Successive appropriations continuing over a period.

Art. 102. The National Assembly shall not increase the annualexpenditures as set down in the budget.

Art. 103. In case the budget is not yet passed, when the fiscalyear begins, the Executive Department may, during this period,follow the budget for the preceding year by limiting itsexpenditures and receipts by one-twelfth of the total amount foreach month.

Art. 104. Should there be a defensive war against foreigninvasion, or should there be a suppression of internal rebellion,or provide against extraordinary calamity, when it is impossibleto issue writs for summoning the National Assembly, the ExecutiveDepartment may adopt financial measures for the emergency, but itshould request the recognition thereof by the House ofRepresentatives within seven days after the convening of the nextsession of the National Assembly.

Art. 105. Orders on the Treasury for payments on account of theannual expenditures of the Government shall first be passed by theAuditing Department.

Art. 106. Accounts of the annual expenditures and annual receiptsfor each year should first be referred to the Auditing Departmentfor investigation and then the Executive Department shall reportthe same to the National Assembly.

If the account be rejected by the House of Representatives, the
Cabinet shall be held responsible.

Art. 107. The method of organization of the Auditing Departmentand the qualification of the Auditors shall be fixed by law.

During his tenure of office, the auditor shall not be dismissed ortransferred to any other duty or his salary be reduced except inaccordance with the law.

The manner of punishment of Auditors shall be fixed by law.

Art. 108. The Chief of the Auditing Department shall be elected bythe Senate. The Chief of the Auditing Department may attendsittings of both Houses and report on the Audit with explanatorystatements.

Art. 109. The National Assembly may bring up bills for theamendment of the National Constitution.

Bills of this nature shall not take effect unless approved by two-thirds of the members of each House present.

No bill for the amendment of the Constitution shall be introducedunless signed by one-fourth of the members of each House.

Art. 110. The amendment of the National Constitution shall bediscussed and decided by the National Constitutional Conference.

Art. 111. No proposal for a change of the form of Government shallbe allowed as a subject for amendment.

Art. 112. Should there be any doubt as to the meaning of the textof the Constitution, it shall be interpreted by the NationalConstitutional Conference.

Art. 113. The National Constitutional Conference shall be composedof the members of the National Assembly.

Unless there be a quorum of two-thirds of the total number of themembers of the National Assembly, no Constitutional Conferenceshall be held, and unless three-fourths of the members presentvote in favour, no amendment shall be passed. But with regard tothe interpretation of the Constitution, only two-thirds of themembers present is required to decide an issue.

Art. … The National Constitution shall be the Supreme Law ofthe land and shall be inviolable under any circ*mstances unlessduly amended in accordance with the procedure specified in thisConstitution.

[V] A Chapter on Provincial or local organization is to beinserted under Chapter … providing for certain powers and rightsto be given to local governments with the residual power left inthe hands of the central government. The exact text is not yetsettled.

Note: The Mark (*) indicated that the article has already beenformally adopted as a part of the finished Constitution.

The mark (V) indicates that the article has not yet passed throughthe second reading.

Those without marks have passed through the second reading on May28th, 1917. Articles bearing no number are additions to theoriginal draft as presented to the Conference by the DraftingCommittee.

THE LOCAL SYSTEM

DRAFT SUBMITTED TO PARLIAMENT

The following Regulations on the Local System have been referredto the Parliamentary Committee for consideration:—

Article 1. The Local System shall embrace provinces and hsiendistricts.

Any change for the existing division of provinces and hsiendistricts shall be decided by the Senate. As to Mongolia, Tibet,Chinghai and other places where no provinces and hsien districtshave been fixed, Parliament shall enforce these regulations therein future.

Art. 2. A province shall have the following duties and rights: (a)To fix local laws. (b) To manage provincial properties, (c) Toattend to the affairs in connexion with police organization,sanitation, conservancy, roads, and public works, (d) To developeducation and industry in accordance with the order and mandatesof the Central Government. (e) To improve its navigation andtelegraphic lines, or to undertake such enterprises with the co-operation of other provinces, (f) To organize precautionary troopsfor the protection of local interests, the method of whoseorganization, uniforms and arms shall be similar to those of theNational Army. With the exception of the matter of declaring waragainst foreign countries, the President shall have no power totransfer these troops to other provinces: and unless the provinceis unable to suppress its own internal troubles, it shall not askthe Central Government for the service of the National Army, (g)The province shall defray its own expenses for the administrationand the maintenance of precautionary troops; but the provinceswhich have hitherto received subsidies, shall continue to receivesame from the National Treasury with the approval of Parliament.(h) Land, Title Deed, License, Mortgage, Tobacco and Wine,Butchery, Fishery and all other principal and additional taxesshall be considered as local revenues, (i) The province may fixrates for local tax or levy additional tax on the National Taxes.(j) The province shall have a provincial treasury. (k) It mayraise provincial public loans. (l) It shall elect a certain numberof Senators, (m) It shall fix regulations for the smaller localSelf-Governing Bodies.

Art. 3. Besides the above rights and privileges, a province shallbear the following responsibilities:

(a) In case of financial difficulties of the Central Government,it shall share the burden according to the proportion of itsrevenue, (b) It shall enforce the laws and mandates promulgated bythe Central Government, (c) It shall enforce the measuresentrusted by the Central Government, but the latter shall bear theexpenses. (d) In case the local laws and regulations are inconflict with those of the Central Government the latter may withthe approval of Parliament cancel or modify the same. (e) In caseof great necessity the provincial telegraph, railway, etc., may beutilized by the Central Government. (f) In case of negligence, orblunder made by the provincial authorities, which injures theinterests of the nation, the Central Government, with the approvalof Parliament, may reprimand and rectify same, (g) It shall notmake laws on the grant of monopoly and of copyrights; neitherissue bank notes, manufacture coins, make implements of weightsand measures; neither grant the right to local banks to manage theGovernment Treasury; nor sign contracts with foreigners on thepurchase or sale of lands and, mines, or mortgage land tax to themor construct naval harbours or arsenals, (h) All local laws,budgets, and other important matters shall be reported to thePresident from time to time, (i) The Central Government maytransfer to itself the ownership of enterprises or rights whichParliament has decided should become national, (j) In case of aquarrel arising between the Central Government and the province,or between provinces, it shall be decided by Parliament, (k) Incase of refusal to obey the orders of the Central Government, thePresident with the approval of Parliament may change the Shenchang(Governor) or dissolve the Provincial Assembly. (l) The Presidentwith the approval of Parliament may suppress by force any provincewhich defies the Central Authorities.

Art. 4. A Shenchang shall be appointed for each province torepresent the Central Government in the supervision of the localadministration. The appointment shall be made with the approval ofthe Senate, the term of office for the Shenchang shall be fouryears, and his annual salary shall be $24,000, which shall be paidout of the National Treasury.

Art. 5. The administration measures entrusted by the Government tothe Shenchang shall be enforced by the administrative organs underhis supervision, and he shall be responsible for same.

Art. 6. In the enforcement of the laws and mandates of the CentralGovernment, or of the laws and regulations of his province, he mayissue orders.

Art. 7. The province shall establish the following five
Departments, namely Interior, Police, Finance, Education and
Industry. There shall be one Department Chief for each Department,
to be appointed by the Shenchang.

Art. 8. A Provincial Council shall be organized to assist theShenchang to enforce the administrative measures, and it shall beresponsible to the Provincial Assembly for same.

This Council shall be composed of all the Departmental Chiefs, andfive members elected out of the Provincial Assembly. It shalldiscuss the Bills on Budget, on administration, and on theorganization, of police forces, submitted by the Shenchang.

Art. 9. If one member of the Council be impeached by theProvincial Assembly, the Shenchang shall replace him, but if thewhole body of the Council be impeached, the Shenchang shall eitherdissolve the Assembly or dismiss all his Departmental Chiefs. Inone session the Assembly shall not be dissolved twice, and aftertwo months of the dissolution, it shall be convened again.

Art. 10. The organization and election of the Provincial Assemblyshall be fixed by law.

Art. 11. The Provincial Assembly shall have the following dutiesand powers: (a) It may pass such laws as allowed by theConstitution, (b) It may pass the bills on the provincial Budgetand Accounts, (c) It may impeach the members of the ProvincialCouncil. (d) It may address interpellations or give suggestions tothe Provincial Council. (e) It may elect Members for theProvincial Council. (f) It may attend to the petitions submittedby the public.

Art. 12. A Magistrate shall be appointed for each hsien districtto enforce administrative measures. He shall be appointed directlyby the Shenchang, and his term of office shall be three years.

Art. 13. The Central Government shall hold examinations in theprovinces for candidates for the Magistracy. In a province half ofthe total number of magistrates shall be natives of the provinceand the other half of other provinces; but a native shall holdoffice of Magistrate 300 li away from his home.

Art. 14. The organization for the legislative organ of the hsiendistrict shall be fixed by law.

TARIFF REVISION IN CHINA

The following is a translation of a memorandum prepared by theMinistry of Agriculture and Commerce regarding abolition of likinand an increase of the Customs duties:—

THE MEMORANDUM

"Disproportionate taxation on commodities at inland towns andcities tends to cripple the productive power of a country. Actingupon this principle, France in the 17th, England, America, Germanyand Austria in the 18th Century abolished such kind of taxation,the Customs tariff remaining, which is a levy on imports at thefirst port of entry. Its purpose is to increase the cost ofproduction of imported goods and to serve as a protection ofnative products (sic). Raw materials from abroad are, however,exempt from Customs duty in order to provide cheap material forhome manufactures. An altogether different state of affairs,however, exists in this country. Likin stations are foundthroughout the country, while raw materials are taxed. Take theHangchow silk for instance. When transported to the Capital forsale, it has to pay a tax on raw material of 18 per cent. Foreignimported goods on the other hand, are only taxed at the rate offive per cent, ad valorem Customs duty at the first port of entrywith another 2.5 per cent, transit duty at one of the other portsthrough which the goods pass. Besides these only landing duty isimposed upon imported goods at the port of destination. Upontimber being shipped from Fengtien and Antung to Peking, it has topay duties at five different places, the total amount of whichaggregates 20 per cent, of its market value, while timber fromAmerican is taxed only ten per cent. Timber from Jueichow toHankow and Shanghai is taxed at six different places, the totalamount of duty paid aggregating 17.5 per cent., while timberimported from abroad to these ports is required to pay Customsduty only one-third thereof. The above-mentioned rates on nativegoods are the minimum. Not every merchant can, however, obtainsuch special "exemption," without a long negotiation and specialarrangements with the authorities. Otherwise, a merchant must pay25 per cent, of the market value of his goods as duty. For thisreason the import of timber into this country has greatlyincreased within the last few years, the total amount of whichbeing valued at $13,000,000 a year. Is this not a great injusticeto native merchants?

THE CHINESE METHOD

"Respecting the improvement of the economic condition of thepeople, a country can hardly attain this object without developingits foreign commerce. The United States of America, Germany andJapan have one by one abolished their export duty as well as madeappropriations for subsidies to encourage the export of certainkinds of commodities. We, on the other hand, impose likin allalong the line upon native commodities destined for foreign marketin addition to export duty. Goods for foreign market are moreheavily taxed than for home consumption. Take the Chekiang silkfor instance. Silk for export is more heavily taxed than that forhome use. Different rates of taxation are imposed upon tea forforeign and home market. Other kinds of native products for exportare also heavily taxed with the result that, within the last twodecades, the annual exports of this country are exceeded byimports by over Tls. 640,000,000,000. From the 32nd year of thereign of Kuang Hsu to the 4th year of the Republic, imports exceedexports on the average by Tls. 120,000,000. These figures speakfor themselves.

LIKIN

"Likin stations have been established at places where railwaycommunication is available. This has done a good deal of harm totransportation and the railway traffic. Lately a proposal has beenmade in certain quarters that likin stations along the railways beabolished; and the measure has been adopted by the Peking-Tientsinand Tientsin-Pukow Railways at certain places. When the towns andcities throughout the country are connected by railways, therewill be no place for likin stations. With the increase in thenumber of treaty ports, the "likin zone" will be graduallydiminished. Thencefrom the proceeds from likin will be decreasedyear by year.

"Owing to the collection of likin the development of both home andforeign trade has been arrested and the people are working undergreat disadvantages. Hence in order to develop foreign and hometrade, the Government must do away with likin, which will bringback business prosperity, and in time the same will enable theGovernment to obtain new sources of revenues.

"From the above-mentioned considerations, the Government canhardly develop and encourage trade without the abolition of likin.By treaty with Great Britain, America and Japan, the Governmentcan increase the rate of Customs tariff to cover losses due to theabolition of likin. The question under consideration is not a newone. But the cause which has prevented the Government fromreaching a prompt decision upon this question is the fear that,after the abolition of likin, the proceeds from the increasedCustoms tariff would not be sufficient to cover the shortagecaused by the abolition of likin.

COST OF ABOLITION OF LIKIN

But such a fear should disappear when the Authorities remember thefollowing facts:—

(a) The loss as the result of the abolition of likin: $38,900,000.

(b) The loss as the result of the abolition of a part of dutycollected by the native Customs houses: $7,300,000.

(c) Annual proceeds from different kinds of principal andmiscellaneous taxes which shall be done away with the abolition oflikin $11,800,000.

The above figures are determined by comparing the actual amount ofproceeds collected by the Government in the 3rd and 4th years ofthe Republic with the estimated amount in the Budget of the fifthyear. The total amount of loss caused by the abolition of likinwill be $58,000,000.

INCREASE OF CUSTOMS TARIFF

The amount of increase in the Customs tariff which the Governmentexpects to collect is as follows:—

(a) The increase in import duties $29,000,000.

(b) The increase in export duties Tls. 6,560,000.

The above figures are determined according to the Customs returnsof the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of the Republic. By deducting Tls.2,200,000 of transit duty, the net increase will be Tls.33,600,000 taels, which is equal to $48,500,000. For the sake ofprudence, allowance of five per cent, of the total amount is madeagainst any incidental shortage. The net revenue thus increasedwould amount to $46,100,000. Against the loss of $58,000,000,there will be a shortage of some $11,900,000. This, however, willnot be difficult to make good by new sources of revenue as theresult of a tariff revision:—

(a) Tax on goods at the time of manufacture $800,000.

(b) Tax on goods at the time of sale $8,000,000.

(c) Tax on cattle and slaughtering houses $2,000,000.

(d) Tax on foodstuffs $4,000,000.

"Under (a) and (b) are the taxes to be collected on native madeforeign imitation goods and various kinds of luxurious articles.Under (c) and (d) are taxes which are already enforced in theprovinces but which can be increased to that much by reorganizingthe method of collection. The total sum of the proceeds set forthunder above items will amount to $14,800,000. These will be quitesufficient to cover the loss caused by the abolition of likin.

A VITAL INTEREST

"As the abolition of likin concerns the vital interest of themerchants and manufacturers, it should be carried out withoutdelay. The commercial and industrial enterprises of the countrycan only thrive after likin is abolished and only then can newsources of revenue be obtained. This measure will form thefundamental factor of our industrial and economical development.But one thing to which we should like to call the specialattention of the Government is the procedure to be adopted tonegotiate with the Foreign countries respecting the adoption ofthis measure. The first step in this connexion should be theincrease of the present Customs tariff to the actual five percent, ad valorem rate. When this is done, proposal should be madeto the Powers having treaty relations with us concerning theabolition of likin and revision of Customs tariff. The transitdestination duties on imported goods should at the same time bedone away with. This would not entail any disadvantage to theimporters of foreign goods and any diplomatic question would notbe difficult of solution. Meantime preparatory measures should bedevised for reorganizing the method of collecting duties set forthabove so that the abolition of likin can take place as soon as theGovernment obtains the consent of the foreign Powers respectingthe increase of Customs tariff."

MEMORANDUM

THE LEADING OUTSTANDING CASES BETWEEN CHINA AND THE FOREIGN POWERS

(Author's note. The following memorandum was drawn up by Dr. C. C.Wu, Councillor at the Chinese Foreign Office and son of Dr. WuTing-fang, the Foreign Minister, and is a most competent andprecise statement. It is a noteworthy fact that not only is Dr. C.C. Wu a British barrister but he distinguished himself above allhis fellows in the year he was called to the Bar. It is alsonoteworthy that the Lao Hsi-kai case does not figure in thissummary, China taking the view that French action throughout wasultra vires, and beyond discussion.)

BY DR. C. C. WU

Republican China inherited from imperial China the vast and richterritory of China Proper and its Dependencies, but theinheritance was by no means free from incumbrances as in the caseof Outer Mongolia, Tibet and Manchuria, and other impediments inthe form of unfavourable treaty obligations and a long list ofoutstanding foreign cases affecting sovereign and territorialrights.

I have been asked by the Editor of the North-China Daily News tocontribute an article on some of the outstanding questions betweenChina and foreign powers, instancing Tibet, Manchuria, Mongolia,and to give the Chinese point of view on these questions. Althoughthe subject is a delicate one to handle, particularly in thepress, being as it is one in which international susceptibilitiesare apt to be aroused, I have yet accepted the invitation in thebelief that a calm and temperate statement of the Chinese casewill hurt no one whose case will bear public discussion but willperhaps do some good by bringing about a clear understanding ofthe points at issue between China and the foreign Powersconcerned, and thus facilitating an early settlement which is soearnestly desired by China. I may say that I have appreciated theBritish sense of justice and fairplay displayed by the "North-China Daily News" in inviting a statement of the Chinese case inits own columns on questions one of which concerns Britishinterests in no small degree, and the discussion cannot beconducted under a better spirit than that expressed in the mottoof the senior British journal in the Far East: "Impartial notNeutral."

1 DEGREE MANCHURIA

The treaty between China and Japan of 1915 respecting SouthManchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia giving that power specialrights and privileges in those regions has given rise to manyknotty problems for the diplomatists of the two countries tosolve. Two of such problems are mentioned here.

JAPANESE POLICE BOXES IN MANCHURIA AND MONGOLIA

Since the last days of the Tsings, the Japanese have beenestablishing police boxes in different parts of South Manchuriaand Eastern Inner Mongolia always under protest of the local andPeking authorities. Since the treaty of 1915, a new reason hasbecome available in the right of mixed residence given to Japanesein these regions. It is said that for the protection and controlof their subjects, and indeed for the interest of the Chinesethemselves, it is best that this measure should be taken. It isfurther contended that the stationing of police officers is but acorollary to the right of exterritoriality, and that it is in noway a derogation of Chinese sovereignty.

It is pointed out by the Chinese Government that in the treaty of1915, express provision is made for Japanese in South Manchuriaand Eastern Inner Mongolia to submit to the police laws andordinances and taxation of China (Article 5). This leaves thematter in no doubt. If the Japanese wish to facilitate the Chinesepolice in their duty of protection and control of the Japanese,they have many means at their command for so doing. It isunnecessary to point out that the establishment of foreign policeon Chinese soil (except in foreign settlements and concessionswhere it is by the permission of the Chinese Government) is, toour thinking, at any rate, a very grave derogation to China'ssovereign rights. Furthermore, from actual experience, we knowthat the activities of these foreign police will not be confinedto their countrymen; in a dispute between a Chinese and a Japaneseboth will be taken to the Japanese station by the Japanesepoliceman. This existence of an imperium in imperio, so far fromaccomplishing its avowed object of "improving the relations of thecountries and bringing about the development of economic intereststo no small degree," will, it is feared, be the cause of continualfriction between the officials and people of the two countries.

As to the legal contention that the right of police control is anatural corollary to the right of exterritoriality, it must besaid that ever since the grant of consular jurisdiction toforeigners by China in her first treaties, this is the first timethat such a claim has been seriously put forward. We can only saythat if this interpretation of exterritoriality is correct theother nations enjoying exteriorality in China have been veryneglectful in the assertion of their just rights.

In the Chengchiatun case, the claim of establishing police boxeswherever the Japanese think necessary was made one of the demands.The Chinese Government in its final reply which settled the casetook the stand as above outlined.

It may be mentioned in passing that in Amoy the Japanese have alsoendeavoured to establish similar police rights. The people of thatcity and province, and indeed of the whole country, as evidencedby the protests received from all over China, have been very muchexercised over the matter. It is sincerely hoped that with theundoubted improvement of relations between the two countrieswithin the last several months, the matter will be smoothly andequitably settled.

LEGAL STATUS OF KOREANS IN CHIENTAO

The region which goes by the name of Chientao, a Japanesedenomination, comprises several districts in the Yenchi Circuit ofKirin Province north of the Tumen Kiang (or the Tiumen River)which here forms the boundary between China and Korea. For overthirty years Koreans have been allowed here to cultivate the wastelands and acquire ownership therein, a privilege which has notbeen permitted to any other foreigners in China and which has beengranted to these Koreans on account of the peculiar localconditions. According to reliable sources, the Korean populationnow amounts to over 200,000 which is more than the Chinesepopulation itself. In 1909 an Agreement, known as the Tumen KiangBoundary Agreement, was arrived at between China and Japan, whowas then the acknowledged suzerain of Korea, dealing, inter alia,with the status of these Koreans. It was provided that whileKoreans were to continue to enjoy protection of their landedproperty, they were to be subject to Chinese laws and to thejurisdiction of Chinese courts. The subsequent annexation of Koreadid not affect this agreement in point of international law, andas a matter of practice Japan has adhered to it until September,1915. Then the Japanese Consul suddenly interfered in theadministration of justice by the local authorities over theKoreans and claimed that he should have jurisdiction.

The Japanese claim is based on the Treaty Respecting SouthManchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia signed in May, 1915, article5 of which provides that civil and criminal cases in which thedefendants are Japanese shall be tried and adjudicated by theJapanese consul.

The Chinese view is that this article is inapplicable to Koreansin this region and that the Tumen Kiang Agreement continues inforce. This view is based on a saving clause in article 8 of theTreaty of 1915 which says that "all existing treaties betweenChina and Japan relating to Manchuria shall, except whereotherwise provided for by treaty, remain in force."

In the first place, the origin of the Tumen Kiang Agreementsupports this view. When the Japanese assumed suzerainty overKorea they raised certain questions as to the boundary betweenChina and Korea. There were also outstanding several questionsregarding railways and mines between China and Japan. Japaninsisted that the boundary question and the railway and miningquestions be settled at the same time. As a result, two agreementswere concluded in 1909 one respecting the boundary question, theTumen Kiang Agreement, and the other respecting railways and mineswhereby Japan obtained many new and valuable privileges andconcessions, such as the extension of the Kirin-Changchun Railwayto the Korean frontier, the option on the Hsinminfu-Fakumen line,and the working of the Fushun and Yentai mines, while in returnChina obtained a bare recognition of existing rights, namely theboundary between China and Korea and the jurisdiction over theKoreans in the Yenchi region. The two settlements were in thenature of quid pro quo though it is clear that the Japanese sideof the scale heavily outweighed that of the Chinese. Now Japanendeavours to repudiate, for no apparent reason so far as we cansee, the agreement which formed the consideration whereby sheobtained so many valuable concessions.

Secondly, while Koreans are now Japanese subjects, it is contendedby the Chinese that the particular Koreans inhabiting the Yenchiregion are, as regards China, in a different position fromJapanese subjects elsewhere. These Koreans enjoy the rights offree residence and of cultivating and owning land in the interiorof China, rights denied to other foreigners, including Japanesewho, even by the new treaty, may only lease land in SouthManchuria. For this exceptional privilege, they are subject to thejurisdiction of Chinese laws and Chinese courts, a duty notimposed on other foreigners. It would be "blowing hot and cold atthe same time" in the language of English lawyers if it is soughtto enjoy the special privileges without performing the duties.

Thirdly, Japanese under the Treaty of 1915 are required toregister their passports with the local authorities. On the otherhand, Koreans in Yenchi have never been nor are they now requiredto procure passports. This would seem to be conclusive proof thatKoreans in that region are not within the provisions of the treatyof 1915 but are still governed by the Tumen Kiang Agreement.

The question is something more than one of academic or even merelyjudicial importance. As has been stated, the Koreans in Yenchioutnumber the Chinese and the only thing that has kept the regionChinese territory in fact as well as in name is the possession bythe Chinese of jurisdiction over every inhabitant, whether Chineseor Korean. Were China to surrender that jurisdiction over amajority of those inhabitants, it would be tantamount to a cessionof territory.

2 DEGREES MACAO

The dispute between China and Portugal over the Macao question hasbeen one of long standing. The first treaty of commerce signedbetween them on August 13,1862, at Tientsin, was not ratified inconsequence of a dispute respecting the Sovereignty of Macao. By aProtocol signed at Lisbon on March 26, 1887, China formallyrecognized the perpetual occupation and government of Macao andits dependencies by Portugal, as any other Portuguese possession;and in December of the same year, when the formal treaty wassigned, provision was made for the appointment of a Commission todelimit the boundaries of Macao; "but as long as the delimitationof the boundaries is not concluded, everything in respect to themshall continue as at present without addition, diminution, oralteration by either of the Parties."

In the beginning of 1908, a Japanese steamer, the Tatsu Maru,engaged in gun-running was captured by a Chinese customs cruisernear the Kau-chau archipelago (Nove Ilhas). The Portugueseauthorities demanded her release on the ground that she was seizedin Portuguese territorial waters thus raising the question of thestatus of the waters surrounding Macao.

In the same year the Portuguese authorities of Macao attempted theimposition of land tax in Maliaoho, and proposed to dredge thewaterways in the vicinity of Macao. The Chinese Governmentthereupon instructed its Minister in France, who was alsoaccredited to Portugal, to make personal representations to thePortuguese Foreign Office in regard to the unwarrantable action ofthe local Portuguese authorities. The Portuguese Governmentrequested the withdrawal of Chinese troops on the Island of Lappaas a quid pro quo for the appointment of a new DemarcationCommissioner, reserving to itself the right to refer to the HagueTribunal any dispute that may arise between the Commissionersappointed by the respective Governments.

After protracted negotiations it was agreed between the ChineseMinister and the Portuguese Government by an exchange of notesthat the respective Governments should each appoint a DemarcationCommissioner to delimit the boundaries of Macao and itsdependencies in pursuance of the Lisbon Protocol and Article 2 ofthe Sino-Portuguese Treaty of 1887, subject to the decision oftheir respective Governments.

THE PORTUGUESE CLAIM

In February, 1909, Portugal appointed General Jaoquim Machado andChina Mr. Kao Erh-chien as their respective Commissioners and theymet at Hongkong in June of the same year.

The Portuguese claim consisted of the whole of the Peninsula ofMacao as far north as Portas do Cerco, the Island of Lappa, GreenIsland (Ilha Yerde), Ilhas de Taipa, Ilha de Coloane, IlhaMacarira, Ilha da Tai-Vong-Cam, other small islands, and thewaters of Porto Interior. The Portuguese Commissioner alsodemanded that the portion of Chinese territory between Portas doCerco and Peishanling be neutralized.

In the absence of evidence, documentary or otherwise, China couldnot admit Portugal's title to half the territory claimed, but wasprepared to concede all that part of the Peninsula of Macao southof Portas do Cerco which was already beyond the limits of theoriginal Portuguese Possession of Macao, and also to grant thedeveloped parts of Ilhas de Coloane as Portuguese settlements. Theownership of territorial waters was to remain vested in China.

The negotiations having proved fruitless were transferred toLisbon but on the outbreak of the Revolution in Portugal they weresuspended. No material progress has been made since.

3 DEGREES TIBET

In November, 1911, the Chinese garrison in Lhassa, in sympathywith the revolutionary cause in China, mutinied against AmbanLien-yu, a Chinese Bannerman, and a few months later the Tibetans,by order of the Dalai Lama, revolted and besieged the Chineseforces in Lhassa till they were starved out and eventuallyevacuated Tibet. Chinese troops in Kham were also ejected. Anexpedition was sent from Szechuan and Yunnan to Tibet, but GreatBritain protested and caused its withdrawal.

In August, 1912, the British Minister in Peking presented aMemorandum to the Chinese Government outlining the attitude ofGreat Britain towards the Tibetan question. China was asked torefrain from dispatching a military expedition into Tibet, as there-establishment of Chinese authority would, it is stated,constitute a violation of the Anglo-Chinese Treaty of 1906.Chinese suzerainty in regard to Tibet was recognized. But GreatBritain could not consent to the assertion of Chinese sovereigntyover a State enjoying independent treaty relations with her. Inconclusion, China was invited to come to an agreement regardingTibet on the lines indicated in the Memorandum, such agreement tobe antecedent to Great Britain's recognition of the Republic.Great Britain also imposed an embargo on the communicationsbetween China and Tibet via India.

In deference to the wishes of the British Government, China atonce issued orders that the expeditionary force should not proceedbeyond Giamda. In her reply she declared that the ChineseGovernment had no intention of converting Tibet into anotherprovince of China and that the preservation of the traditionalsystem of Tibetan government was as much the desire of China as ofGreat Britain. The dispatch of troops into Tibet was, however,necessary for the fulfilment of the responsibilities attaching toChina's treaty obligations with Great Britain, which required herto preserve peace and order throughout that vast territory, butshe did not contemplate the idea of stationing an unlimited numberof soldiers in Tibet. China considered that the existing treatiesdefined the status of Tibet with sufficient clearness, andtherefore there was no need to negotiate a new treaty. Sheexpressed the regret that the Indian Government had placed anembargo on the communications between China and Tibet via India,as China was at peace with Great Britain and regretted that GreatBritain should threaten to withhold recognition of the Republic,such recognition being of mutual advantage to both countries.Finally, the Chinese Government hoped that the British Governmentwould reconsider its attitude.

THE SIMLA CONFERENCE

In May, 1913, the British Minister renewed his suggestion of theprevious year that China should come to an agreement on theTibetan question, and ultimately a Tripartite Conference wasopened on October 13, at Simla with Mr. Ivan Chen, Sir HenryMcMahon, and Lonchen Shatra as plemipotentiaries representingChina, Great Britain, and Tibet, respectively.

The following is the substance of the Tibetan proposals:—

1. Tibet shall be an independent State, repudiating the Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1906.

2. The boundary of Tibet in regard to China includes that portionof Sinkiang south of Kuenlun Range and Altyn Tagh, the wholeterritory of Chinghai, the western portion of Kansuh and Szechuan,including Tachienlu, and the northwestern portion of Yunnan,including Atuntzu.

3. Great Britain and Tibet to negotiate, independent of China, newtrade regulations.

4. No Chinese officials and troops to be stationed in Tibet.

5. China to recognize Dalai Lama as the head of the BuddhistReligion and institutions in Mongolia and China.

6. China to compensate Tibet for forcible exactions of money orproperty taken from the Tibetan Government.

The Chinese Plenipotentiary made the following counter-proposals:—

1. Tibet forms an integral part of Chinese territory and Chineserights of every description which have existed in consequence ofthis integrity shall be respected by Tibet and recognized by GreatBritan. China engages not to convert Tibet into a province andGreat Britain not to annex Tibet or any portion of it.

2. China to appoint a Resident at Lhassa with an escort of 3,600soldiers.

3. Tibet undertakes to be guided by China in her foreign andmilitary affairs and not to enter into negotiations with anyforeign Power except through the intermediary of China but thisengagement does not exclude direct relations between British TradeAgents and Tibetan authorities as provided in the Anglo-ChineseConvention of 1906.

4. Tibet to grant amnesty to those Tibetans known for their pro-Chinese inclinations and to restore to them their property.

5. Clause 5 of Tibetan claims can be discussed.

6. Revision of Trade Regulations of 1893 and 1908, if foundnecessary, must be made by all the parties concerned.

7. In regard to the limits of Tibet China claims Giamda and allthe places east of it.

THE BOUNDARY DEADLOCK

The British plenipotentiary sustained in the main the Tibetan viewconcerning the limits of Tibet. He suggested the creation of Innerand Outer Tibet by a line drawn along the Kuenlun Range to the9eth longitude, turning south reaching a point south of the 34thlatitude, then in south-easterly direction to Niarong, passingHokow, Litang, Batang in a western and then southern andsouthwestern direction to Rima, thus involving the inclusion ofChiamdo in Outer Tibet and the withdrawal of the Chinese garrisonstationed there. He proposed that recognition should be accordedto the autonomy of Outer Tibet whilst admitting the right of theChinese to re-establish such a measure of control in Inner Tibetas would restore and safeguard their historic position there,without in any way infringing the integrity of Tibet as ageographical and political entity. Sir Henry McMahon alsosubmitted to the Conference a draft proposal of the Convention tothe plenipotentiaries. After some modification this draft wasinitialled by the British and Tibetan delegates but the Chinesedelegate did not consider himself authorized to do so. Thereuponthe British member after making slight concessions in regard torepresentation in the Chinese Parliament and the boundary in theneighbourhood of Lake Kokonor threatened, in the event of hispersisting in his refusal, to eliminate the clause recognizing thesuzerainty of China, and ipso facto the privileges appertainingthereto from the draft Convention already initialled by theBritish and Tibetan plenipotentiaries. In order to save thesituation, the Chinese delegate initialled the documents, but onthe clear understanding that to initial and to sign were twodifferent things and that to sign he must obtain instructions fromhis Government.

China, dissatisfied with the suggested division into an Inner andOuter Tibet the boundaries of which would involve the evacuationof those districts actually in Chinese effective occupation andunder its administration, though otherwise in accord with thegeneral principles of the draft Convention, declared that theinitialled draft was in no way binding upon her and took up thematter with the British Government in London and with itsrepresentative in Peking. Protracted negotiations took placethereafter, but, in spite of repeated concessions from the Chineseside in regard to the Chinese side in regard to the boundaryquestion, the British Government would not negotiate on any basisother than the initialled convention. On July 3 an Agreement basedon the terms of the draft Convention but providing specialsafeguards for the interests of Great Britain and Tibet in theevent of China continuing to withhold her adherence, was signedbetween Great Britain and Tibet, not, however, before Mr. IvanChen had declared that the Chinese Government would recognize anytreaty or similar document that might then or thereafter be signedbetween Great Britain and Tibet.

CHINA'S STANDPOINT

With the same spirit of compromise and a readiness to meet thewishes of the British Government and even to the extent of makingconsiderable sacrifices in so far as they were compatible with herdignity, China has more than once offered to renew negotiationswith the British Government but the latter has up to the presentdeclined to do so. China wants nothing more than the re-establishment of Chinese suzerainty over Tibet, with recognitionof the autonomy of the territory immediately under the control ofthe Lhassa Government; she is agreeable to the British idea offorming an effective buffer territory in so far as it isconsistent with equity and justice; she is anxious that her tradeinterest should be looked after by her trade agents as do theBritish, a point which is agreeable even to the Tibetans thoughapparently not to the British; in other words, she expects thatGreat Britain would at least make with her an arrangementregarding Tibet which should not be any less disadvantageous toher than that made with Russia respecting Outer Mongolia.

Considering that China has claimed and exercised sovereign rightsover Tibet, commanded the Tibetan army, supervised Tibetaninternal administration, and confirmed the appointments of Tibetanofficials, high and low, secular and even ecclesiastical, suchexpectations are modest enough, surely. At the present moment,with communication via India closed, with no officialrepresentative or agent present, with relations unsettled andunregulated, the position of China vis-a-vis Tibet is far fromsatisfactory and altogether anomalous, while as between China andGreat Britain there is always this important question outstanding.An early settlement in a reciprocal spirit of give and take andgiving reasonable satisfaction to the legitimate aspirations andclaims of all parties is extremely desirable.

4 DEGREES OUTER MONGOLIA

The world is more or less acquainted with the events in Urga inDecember, 1911, and the proclamation of independence of OuterMongolia with Jetsun Dampa Hutukhtu as its ruler. By the Russo-Chinese Declaration of November 5, 1913, and the TripartiteConvention of Kiakhta of 1914 China has re-established hersuzerainty over Outer Mongolia and obtained the acknowledgementthat it forms a part of the Chinese territory. There remains thedemarcation of boundary between Inner and Outer Mongolia whichwill take place shortly, and the outstanding question of thestatus of Tannu Uriankhai where Russia is lately reported to besubjecting the inhabitants to Russian jurisdiction and expellingChinese traders.

The Tannu Uriankhai lands, according to the Imperial Institutes ofthe Tsing Dynasty, were under the control of the Tartar General ofUliasutai, the Sain Noin Aimak, the Jasaktu Khan Aimak and theJetsun Dampa Hutkhta, and divided into forty-eight somons(tsoling). Geographically, according to the same authority, TannuUriankhai is bounded on the north by Russia, east by Tushetu KhanAimak, west by the various aimks of Kobdo, and south by JasaktuKhan Aimak. By a Joint Demarcation Commission in 1868 the RussoChinese boundary in respect to Uriankhai was denmited and eightwooden boundary posts were erected to mark their respectivefrontiers.

In 1910, however, a Russian officer removed and burnt the boundarypost at Chapuchi Yalodapa. The matter was taken up by the thenWaiwupu with the Russian Minister. He replied to the effect thatthe limits of Uriankhai were an unsettled question and the RussianGovernment would not entertain the Chinese idea of takingindependent steps to remark the boundary or to replace the postand expressed dissatisfaction with the work of the JointDemarcation Commission of 1868, a dissatisfaction which would seemto be somewhat tardily expressed, to say the least. The case wastemporarily dropped on account of the secession of Uliasutai fromChina in the following year.

While Uriankhai forms part of Autonomous Outer Mongolia, yet sinceOuter Mongolia is under China's suzerainty, and its territory isexpressly recognized to form part of that of China, China cannotlook on with indifference to any possible cession of territory byOuter Mongolia to Russia. Article 3 of the Kiakhta Agreement,1915, prohibiting Outer Mongolia from concluding treaties withforeign powers respecting political and territorial questionacknowledges China's right to negotiate and make such treaties. Itis the firm intention of the Chinese Government to maintain itsterritorial integrity basing its case on historical records, ontreaty rights and finally on the principle of nationality. It isnotorious that the Mongols will be extremely unwilling to seeUriankhai incorporated into the Russian Empire. While Russia isspending countless lives and incalculable treasure in fighting forthe sacred principle of nationality in Europe, we cannot believe