No. 429.
Mr. Bingham to Mr. Fish.
United
States Legation, Japan,
Tokei, April 22, 1874.
(Received May 25.)
No. 76.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that for some
days during the past week there were rumors that the government of Japan was
about to send a military and naval expedition to Formosa for hostile
purposes against the island, and that an American ship, the New York,
belonging to the Pacific Mail Steam-Ship Company, and three citizens of the
[Page 676]
United States, viz, General C.
W. Le Gendre, Lieut. Commander Cassell, and Mr. Wasson, together with an
English ship, the Yorkshire, had been engaged by the Japanese government to
accompany the expedition.
On the 18th instant I addressed to the minister of foreign affairs a note,
(inclosure 1,) and also called upon him personally, and made inquiry about
the truth of the rumors as to the employment of American ships and citizens
in such expedition. In this interview the minister said that it was not the
intent of Japan to commit a hostile act against China, or any portion of the
people of China in Formosa, but simply to demand of the aborigines of
Formosa satisfaction for cruelties inflicted by them upon Japanese mariners
wrecked upon the coast of Formosa; and that to effect this purpose the
government was sending, with the knowledge and consent of China, a high
commission to Formosa, under the protection of an armed force, to obtain
amicably from the aboriginal chiefs a convention, which in future would
prevent cruelty to the shipwrecked Japanese seamen. Having insisted upon a
definite and immediate reply to my note of the 18th instant, on the 19th I
received a note from the minister of foreign affairs, (inclosure No. 2,)
with accompanying memorandum, (inclosure to inclosure No. 2,) in which you
will note that the minister reiterates his verbal statement to me, that his
govvernment is on the point of sending a high commission to the aborigines
of Formosa, and that troops accompany the mission for protection; and that
his government is far from entertaining even the slightest intention of
performing any hostile act against China. This paper clearly disclosed the
fact that the expedition was about to proceed to Formosa and take such
measures, “upon inflicting fitting retribution on the Formosans,” as would
enable the people of Japan to hereafter navigate their waters with safety,
&c., and omitted any statement that this was to be done with the consent
of China, whose jurisdiction over the island is admitted in the memorandum,
and is therein attempted to be excluded from that portion of the island
occupied by “these savages,” upon the verbal reply of Tsung-li-yamun a year
ago to the Japanese embassador that the country of the aborigines of Formosa
did not belong to China.
It seemed to me that this declaration of the purpose of the expedition, to
commit hostilities against the Formosans without any satisfactory evidence
of the assent thereto of China, whose territory and jurisdiction were to be
invaded by the expedition, called for renewed protest on my part against
employing American ships or citizens in such service. I immediately
addressed to the minister for foreign affairs a reply to his dispatch of the
19th instant, (inclosure 4,) in which you will observe that I declare to him
that I again protest against the employment of any ship or citizen of the
United States in a military or naval expedition against Formosa until the
written consent of China be first obtained in approval of the proposed
expedition to that island.
It is proper to say that I consider my power in this behalf thus to interfere
in any proposed action of the government of Japan against the territory of
China in Formosa to be defined and limited by the act of June 22, 1860,
(Statutes at Large, vol. 12, p. 72.) entitled “An act to carry into effect
the provisions of the treaties between the United States, China, &c.”
The twenty-fourth section of this act gives jurisdiction to the minister on
certain conditions, and declares that it shall be competent for the minister
in Japan to issue all manner of writs to prevent the citizens of the United
States from enlisting in the military or naval service of either of said
countries to make war upon any foreign power with whom the United States are
at peace.
[Page 677]
I have the honor to call your attention especially to the demand, in my
dispatch of the 19th instant to the minister for foreign affairs, that the
American citizens and ship employed by the Japanese government in this
expedition be detained from proceeding to Formosa with the expedition until
the written consent of China thereto shall have been obtained. This demand
is made upon the twenty-fourth section of the act cited, and, in my opinion,
the written consent of China to the expedition and its purposes being first
had, I would have no authority under the law to press my demand upon the
Japanese government, for the prohibition of the statute only restricts
employment in the military or naval service of Japan, &c., to make war
upon a foreign power with which the United States are at peace. The consent
of China being had to invade her territory in Formosa, excludes the
conclusion that such invasion could be an act of war upon any foreign power,
China being the only power in possession or claiming that island. Although
no reply to my dispatch of the 19th has been given, I have received verbal
communications from the minister for foreign affairs to the effect that the
expedition will not proceed to Formosa, nor to any other part of the Chinese
Empire without the written and authenticated consent and approval of the
Chinese government thereto. I am also verbally informed by the minister that
the proclamation (inclosure 5) of Sanjo, prime minister, has been
recalled.
I also deemed it my duty to place in the hands of the minister for foreign
affairs, with my dispatch of the 19th instant, notices in writing to Messrs.
Le Gendre, Cassel, and Wasson, American citizens employed in this
expedition, to the effect that they should not proceed in this military and
naval expedition to Formosa until they have received further official orders
and authority for so doing. I was assured yesterday by the minister, that
the notices to Messrs. Cassell and Wasson were delivered on the 19th
instant, and that the notice to General Le Gendre was forwarded to that
gentleman at Nagasaki, where it would reach him before he went further.
Although the vessels of this expedition have sailed from this port to
Nagasaki, I feel justified from the assurances given trie by the minister
for foreign affairs in asserting that no hostile act will be committed or
attempted upon any foreign power with which the United States are at
peace.
It has been my desire faithfully to discharge my duty and to maintain the
rights of the United States in the premises, and, in doing so, to avoid the
appearance of any unwarranted interference with the rights which pertain to
Japan as a sovereignty. I submit the matter to your consideration, hoping
that my action thus far will meet your approval, and especially desiring,
should any new exigency arise of which you may be apprised by telegram, that
you will, if you deem it important, instruct me by telegram.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 76.]
Mr. Bingham to Mr.
Terashima.
United
States Legation, Japan,
Tokei, April 18,
1874.
Your Excellency: For the first time I learn, by
an article in the Japan Daily Herald of the 17th instant, that the
Japanese expedition; now being fitted out, “comprehends
[Page 678]
within its scope effecting a settlement on
and subsequently, if permitted, a permanent occupation of the eastern
side of the island of Formosa.”
It is also asserted in the same article that “American ships have been
employed to sail under the American flag on what must be regarded, in
the absence of the necessary authoritative declarations, as a
semi-filibustering expedition, and that Mr. Bingham, the American
minister, has tacitly, if not expressly, sanctioned such employment,”
and that “the American government has so far sanctioned the expedition
as to grant leave to officers in its service to identify themselves with
it,” &c.
Inasmuch as these charges gravely imply that your excellency’s government
is about to commit an act of war against China, or a portion of her
people, I beg leave to know whether any ships of the United States have
been chartered under the authority of the government of Japan to engage
in a military expedition against and hostile to Formosa, and whether any
officers or citizens of the United States have been employed by the
government of Japan in such expedition.
It is due to myself to say that I have at no time been consulted about
employing American ships or officers for any such hostile purposes. I
was assured by two American citizens, who were invited to take
employment in your excellency’s government, that they were not to engage
in hostilities against any power whatever, and that no act hostile to
China or any portion of the people thereof, or any other power with
which the United States is at peace, was contemplated by your
excellency’s government. It is due to my government that I should know
at once whether any such hostile purposes are entertained by your
excellency’s government toward China, or any portion of her people, or
any other power, as are attributed to it by the article I have cited,
and I have the honor to request that your excellency will advise me
without delay and definitely on that subject.
Without assuming that any such purposes are entertained by the Japanese
government, I beg leave to say that it is my duty in the name of my
Government to protest, as I do hereby protest, against the employment by
your excellency’s government of any ship or any citizen of the United
States in any military or naval expedition hostile to the government or
authority of China, or to any portion of her people, inasmuch as such
employment is expressly forbidden and prohibited by the laws of the
United States.
I am, with great respect, your excellency’s obedient servant,
His Excellency Terashima Munenori,
&c., &c., &c.
[Inclosure 2 in No.
76.—Translation.]
Mr. Tcrashima to
Mr. Bingham.
Tokei, the 19th, 4th month, 7th year Meiji.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s dispatch dated the 18th
April, 1874, in which you state that you have learned, by an article in
the Japan Daily Herald of the 17th instant, published at Yokohama, that
a Japanese expedition to Formosa being now fitted out “comprehends
within its scope a permanent occupation of the eastern side of the
island of Formosa,” and that it is also asserted in the same article
that American ships have been employed to sail, and also that you have
tacitly sanctioned such employment, and that your Government has
sanctioned to engage your officers, &c.
The foregoing article implies that my government is about to commit an
act of war against China or a portion of her people. In the same
dispatch you express your anxious desire to know at once whether any
ships of your country have been chartered under the authority of my
government to engage in such expeditions against and hostile to Formosa,
and whether any such hostile purpose is entertained by my government
toward China and any portion of the people thereof. I beg leave, in
reply, to say that, as I have detailed to you in our last interview, my
government is on the point of sending a high commission to the
aborigines of Formosa, to take such proper measures as will enable our
people—upon our inflicting fitting retribution on the Formosans, who
have recently pillaged and maltreated countrymen of ours cast away upon
their coasts—to hereafter navigate their waters with safety. As a
precautionary measure, however, and in case they should threaten to
oppose our mission, troops accompany the expedition to guard against any
emergency or opposition. My government is far from entertaining even the
slightest intention of performing any hostile act against China.
Your excellency will perceive from what precedes that the officers and
ships of your nationality engaged in this service are employed in a
quiet and amicable undertaking, and without any hostile intent.
[Page 679]
For your excellency’s further information I have the honor to inclose
memorandum concerning the present expedition to Formosa.
I am, with respect and consideration, your excellency’s humble
servant,
TERASHIMA MUNENORI,
His Imperial
Japanese Majesty’s Minister for Foreign
Affairs.
His Excellency John A. Bingham,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
of United States of America in Japan.
[Inclosure 3 in No.
76.—Translation.]
memorandum..
Memorandum concerning a high commission about to leave
Japan for aboriginal Formosa, accompanied by a force sufficient for its
protection, to inquire into the circumstances of the murder of
fifty-four Japanese subjects there in December, 1871, and to take such
steps as may be required to prevent the recurrence of such
atrocities.
The cruel treatment of castaways by the inhabitants of aboriginal Formosa
has long been a subject of much solicitude to mariners and to the
government whose duty it is to afford them protection in their perilous
avocations, and in more than one case western powers have had to resort
to act of war against these tribes to punish them for their crimes.
(*) At least eighteen of the southern tribes,
under the chief Tanketok, being convinced they could not resist the
power which experience had taught them could be brought to bear against
them by England and America, made an agreement with the United States
consul for Amoy and Formosa in 1867 to protect castaways, (†) To this agreement they have ever since remained
remarkably faithful, (‡)
The eastern coast of aboriginal Formosa being very little known, it was
indispensable, in order to prosecute the work of pacification of the
tribes north of Tanketok’s dominions, to first thoroughly explore it;
and as this would have entailed considerable expense and labor, it was
not followed up by any one until a circumstance occurred which has
rendered it imperative for Japan to take an active part in this humane
task. On the 11th of December, 1871, sixty-six Japanese subjects were
wrecked on the eastern coast of aboriginal Formosa, in about latitude
22° 18’ north, and all except twelve, who made their escape, were
murdered by the Bontans, one of the tribes of that region.
On the 8th of March, 1873, four Japanese subjects were wrecked on the
coast, (Mafoke,) and all the cargo on hoard their junk and everything in
their possession was robbed.
When our embassador went to Peking last year, and asked that an adequate
punishment should be inflicted on these savages, the Tsung-le-yamen
replied that their country did not belong to China. A reference to
Chinese maps, whereon, of all that was known of the island of Formosa by
the Dutch in 1635, only the Chinese possessions therein—that is to say,
the northern and a portion of the western coast—were marked, convinced
our embassador that not only was His Imperial Chinese Majesty’s
government sincere in making this affirmation, but that it really had no
desire to extend its sway over the island farther than the natural
boundary formed by the chain of mountains that separates Chinese from
aboriginal Formosa and stretches from Pong-lee to San-o Bay.
On the return of the embassy to Tokei orders were issued to make
preparations for a high commission to be sent to aboriginal Formosa to
investigate the circumstances of the murder of our countrymen, and to
take such other steps as may be found necessary to insure the
non-recurrence of such tragedies there. These preparations being
completed,
[Page 680]
the commission is
now about to leave Japan. It will be accompanied by a force, which, it
is hoped, will give such emphasis to the words of persuasion which the
high commissioner is instructed to use toward the Bontans, as will
compel them, without effusion of blood, to give satisfaction, and such
assurances for the future as Japan has a right to demand.
[Inclosure 4 in No. 76.]
Mr. Bingham to Mr.
Terashima.
United
States Legation, Japan,
Tokei, April 19,
1874.
Your Excellency: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of your excellency’s dispatch of this date, in
reply to mine of the 18th instant, relative to the employment by your
excellency’s government of American ships and American citizens in an
expedition to Formosa.
Your excellency reiterates in this dispatch the assurance given to me
verbally in our interview of yesterday, that the government of Japan is
“far from entertaining even the slightest intention of performing any
hostile act against China,” and that the officers and ships of the
United States engaged by Japan in the proposed expedition are “employed
in a quiet and amicable undertaking, and without any hostile
intent.”
Upon careful consideration of your excellency’s dispatch and its
inclosure, I am constrained to say that I deem it my duty to again
protest against any ship or citizen of the United States of America
being sent to Formosa by your excellency’s government in connection with
a military and naval force, as proposed, until the written consent of
China be first obtained in approval of the proposed expedition to that
island. Although your excellency’s government may intend no hostile act
by sending out a high commissioner to the aborigines of Formosa, under
the protection of an armed force, China may decide that such act is
hostile to her government within the territory of Formosa, and may
accordingly meet and resist it with force of arms. To avoid such a
result, which would be most unfortunate for Japan, I cannot but say that
Japan, before approaching Formosa, should obtain the written and
authenticated consent of the Chinese government to the expedition
proposed and its objects. This is surely in accordance with the custom
and usage of nations. I have heretofore understood that the consent of
China had been obtained, but am pained to say that I find no evidence of
the fact in the dispatch received by me.
I have further to request that the United States ship New York and the
three citizens of the United States, to wit: General Le Gendre,
Lieutenant-Commander Cassel, and Mr. Wasson, employed, as I am verbally
informed, by your excellency’s government, be detained by your
excellency’s government from proceeding to Formosa with this expedition
until the written consent of China thereto shall have been obtained by
the government of Japan.
I am, with great respect, your excellency’s obedient servant,
His Excellency Terashima Munenori,
His Imperial Japanese Majesty’s Minister for
Foreign Affairs.
[Inclosure 5 in No.
76.—Translation.]
Proclamation of prime minister of Japan.
It is hereby notified that, during the 4th year of Meiji, in the 11th
month, (November, 1871,) some of the people of the Loochoo province were
wrecked on the Formosa coast, and 54 of their number killed by the
barbarians of Formosa.
Again, during the 3d month of the 6th year, (March, 1873,) four people of
the Oda district were wrecked there, and were there maltreated.
During the visit of Tane-omi Soyeshima, as embassador to the court of
China to ratify the treaty during last year, he made reference to these
matters, and was told that the barbarians referred to were in a part of
that island which was not under the Chinese jurisdiction.
As this island of Formosa is near to Japan, and such wrecks as described
may occur again, it seems necessary for the protection of our commerce
that the people inhabiting these parts of Formosa, should be restrained
from committing such acts in the future. And in pursuance of this
determination Saigo, as chief, with a number of
[Page 681]
subordinates, has been dispatched thither, with
instructions to investigate the preceding matters and to institute such
proceedings as shall guarantee safe conduct for our people in the
future.
As it may be possible that these people may not pay proper regard to his
mission, and create a disturbance, (warlike,) a sufficient guard has
been dispatched with him.
April 17, 1874.
- SANJO SANEYOSHI.
- DAIJO DAIJIN.
