Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 6, 1875, Volume I
No. 172.
Mr. Avery
to Mr. Fish.
Peking, July 19, 1875. (Received September 18.)
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith copies of dispatches from Consul-General Seward and from Mr. Consul Colby, giving the particulars of a grave disturbance which occurred at Chin kiang on the 14th of June, and of the subsequent proceedings to bring the offenders to justice.
Although no actual violence was suffered by any of the foreigners assailed, wanton insults to the consul a officer of the United States and his wife, and an open assault upon the British consular premises, were [Page 392] offenses of too grave a nature to be lightly treated. The prompt intervention of Consul-General Seward, followed up by the firm persistence of Mr. Colby, resulted in securing, with little delay, the full measure of satisfaction demanded.
The dispatches inclosed give all the facts with sufficient clearness. I have approved the action of Mr. Seward and Mr. Colby, which was at once energetic and judicious.
I have, &c.,
Mr. Seward to Mr. Avery.
Shanghai, June 17, 1875.
Sir: I have the honor to hand to you herewith a copy of a dispatch I have received from Mr. Colby reporting a serious disturbance which occurred at Chin Kiang on the 14th instant.
I have had an opportunity to learn the contents of the dispatch addressed by the British consular agent at Chin-kiang to the consul here in regard to the same matter. It is more detailed, and puts the matter in quite as bad a light as does Mr. Colby’s.
Under the circumstances I have consulted with the British consul, Mr. Medhurst, and, at a later moment, with Mr. Wade, the British minister, and it has been arranged that Mr. Medhurst and I shall proceed at once to Chin Kiang. The British sloop-of-war Thalia will also be dispatched for that port as soon as possible, and Captain Bridgman of the American gunboat Palos will follow a little later.
My object will be to advise with Mr. Colby with a view to concert such measures between him and the Chinese officials as will prevent a recurrence of the annoyance to which he has been subjected, and which may at any time end seriously.
It may be possible to procure the punishment of some of the ringleaders in this particular case of annoyance, two of whom are, I believe, the men who were lodged at the British consulate, and for whose rescue the attack on the consulate was made.
I shall also give such support to my British colleague in the graver matter which he has in hand as may appear appropriate.
This movement may be in one sense unnecessary. But regarded in another light, it appears to me very desirable. The Chinese are not, as a rule, troublesome at the ports. The native population at the ports has, however, a large rabble element which is cowardly enough as a rule, but, when excited, it is cruel in the extreme. The best way to keep this element in subjection is to show the ability and readiness to act sternly and rapidly in any given case of trouble.
The advent of Mr. Medhurst and myself, supported by two ships-of-war, and followed by appropriate measures for the punishment of the offenders, and for the future security of our people, will have a good effect at the port for years to come.
I ask your approval of my proposed course, as above reported, and trust to be able to inform you in a few days of the satisfactory settlement of the whole affair. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
United States Consul-General.
Mr. Seward to Mr. Avery.
Shanghai, 22d April, 1875.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I returned to Shanghai last evening from Chin-kiang, and to report the facts of the recent trouble at that port, and of the action which has been taken in view of it.
It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Colby were walking on a street of the English settlement, and that a lot of braves, ten or a dozen in number, followed them and used vile language toward or regarding Mrs. Colby. A Chinese policeman, who was patrolling in the neighborhood, thought it desirable to warn them to desist. This led to an altercation [Page 393] between the policeman and some of the braves, and he finally called to his assistance some Chinese of the foreign hongs, and with them arrested two of their number. Thereupon the other braves ran off and called together a considerable number of their comrades, perhaps fifty, who proceeded to the British consulate with the avowed object of releasing the prisoners who had been taken there by the policeman and the constable of the consulate.
Seeing the approach of the soldiers, followed by a large crowd of their country-people, Mr. Baber closed a gate on a public street in the rear of the consulate, thus cutting off the approach on that side. In front of this gate the soldiers stood, some urging that the gate should be broken in. It appears, however, that from the time when the gate was closed, being pressed back upon the crowd, until the end, no attempt was made to force it. During the twenty minutes or half hour that the crowd stood in front of the gate, a number of the foreign residents made their way through the crowd and entered the consulate, the gate being opened for them. Others, including Mr. and Mrs. Colby, came in by another gate. An officer of the corps to which the soldiers belonged also appeared, and used some exertions in the way of strong language and actual blows with his riding-stick, which resulted in dispersing the soldiers.
Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby wrote the Taotai after the occurrence, stating what had occurred, and asking him to secure the punishment of the offenders, both those who had been so troublesome to Mr. and Mrs. Colby and those who had made the demonstration before the consulate. The Taotai responded to this that the two men actually arrested and then in his hands had been dismissed from the service, and would be tried and punished. Further than this he made no promise, and it would appear that he did not feel able to make any, in view of the independent nature of the military branch.
By consent matters remained in this form until Mr. Medhurst and I arrived on Saturday, five days after the trouble. We at once proceeded, with Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby, to take the evidence of the police-officer, the constable of the British consulate, and a tide-waiter at the customs, who had seen a great deal of the disturbance. We also heard what Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby had to say. The substance of all this evidence I have given above, and it does not seem necessary to encumber this dispatch with copies of the actual statements.
Saturday afternoon Mr. Medhurst met the Taotai, and impressed upon him the need of his urging the military commandant to arrest a considerable number of the offending Chinese. The Taotai, as Mr. Medhurst has told me, did not express himself hope-fully in the matter, but appeared willing to do what he could.
My own task with the Taotai was easier than Mr. Medhurst’s, and I was able to secure from him promises—
- 1st.
- To try the two prisoners in my presence the next morning.
- 2d.
- To urge the commandant very warmly to arrest others of those who had used the vile language to Mr. and Mrs. Colby.
- 3d.
- To issue a proclamation setting forth the facts of the case, reprobating the conduct of the soldiers in suitable terms, and warning others against the commission of a like offense.
I reported this result to Mr. Medhurst, and asked him to be present at the trial and to urge against the same men the charge of resistance to a police-officer. This he thought well of and agreed to do.
The next morning we proceeded to the Taotai’s Yamen and watched the trial as conducted by the Che Hsien. The two men were sentenced to fifty blows each, and to be caugued in the street, where they had assailed Mr. and Mrs. Colby with vile language, for thirty days, their offense to be stated on the cangue.
An incident of the trial was the proposal of the Che Hsien to bamboo the prisoners to make them tell the names of their comrades. The two men were actually led out, thrown upon their faces, and their thighs stripped for the whipping, before we could make the Taotai understand that the use of torture to procure evidence is not sanctioned by our laws, and that we could not assent to such procedure.
So far as the punishment was concerned, the Taotai’s readiness to meet our representatives may be understood when I say that he was quite willing to administer one hundred blows to the prisoners, or even two hundred, if we thought it desirable. We took pains to indicate to him that we had no wish to be vindictive; and that it was the adequate punishment of a considerable number of persons, and not the cruel punishment of the two in question, that we desired.
After I had again impressed upon the Taotai the need of his calling upon the commandant to make further arrests in Mr. Colby’s case, and had told him that Mr. Medhurst had suggested the issue of one proclamation embracing the whole case, and that I assented to this, Mr. Medhurst urged upon the Taotai strongly the need of his appealing forcibly to the commandant to arrest and punish those soldiers who had made the demonstration at the consulate, and told him that unless he received word that this work was going on satisfactorily by the next evening, he would proceed to Nanking to state the case to the viceroy.
[Page 394]The business having been so far prosecuted, and my duties-here demanding my attention, I left for this place the same afternoon.
You will see that the newspaper reports of the case have been somewhat exaggerated, and you may consider that we showed quite as much vigor as the case required.
I do not think that more has been done or projected than the circumstances demanded. If the Chinese are allowed to use toward foreigners language of the vilest character, that prestige of the foreign name which is essential to the security of foreigners in the smaller ports will be more or less injured. To pass by a grave demonstration against a consular residence would be a still greater mistake. If Mr. Medhurst shall succeed in carrying the whole business to a satisfactory conclusion, the result will be one for which the residents of Chin-kiang may congratulate themselves, as promising to them a greater degree of security for a long while to come. And even if the soldiers are not further punished, which I cannot believe will be the case, good will come of the demonstration which has been made.
My co-operation with Mr. Medhurst was warm and hearty throughout, and that of Mr. Baber and Mr. Colby has been equally satisfactory. I should say that Mr. Baber’s coolness when his consulate was besieged is deserving of much appreciation, and that all his steps were carefully taken. Mr. Colby has shown excellent judgment throughout.
The further action needed to secure the results aimed at by me will be undertaken by him, and I have but little doubt he will succeed perfectly. He takes a quiet unbiased view of the business, and will insist upon such action as that contemplated in my conversations with the Taotai.
I have to express my gratification at the promptness with which Captain Bridgman, of the Palos, met my suggestion that he should show his flag at Chin-kiang.
I respectfully ask an expression of approval of my course, if it shall seem to you to have been judicious.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Consul-General.
Hon. Benj. P. Avery.
United States Minister, Peking.
Mr. Colby to Mr. Avery.
Chin-kiang, July 6, 1875.
Sir: Referring to the disturbance that took place at this port on the 14th of last month, I beg to submit the following report of the affair as regards the events transpiring after Mr. Seward’s departure from here on the 20th ultimo:
The judicious arrangement effected by Mr. Seward with the Taotai in regard to a just and equitable adjustment of the difficulty left little else for me to do but to follow the course marked out by that gentleman, and to see to it that the Taotai fulfilled the promises made him. In this regard I have been scrupulously exacting, at the same time endeavoring to avoid captiousness or an appearance of distrust, and I am happy to announce that the result, to me at least, is highly satisfactory, and all that reasonably could be expected.
The day Mr. Seward left here two men, the principal offenders, were bambooed, receiving eighty blows each, and were sentenced to a month’s cangue, and they are now, undergoing that punishment upon the scene of their misconduct.
The next day after the departure of Mr. Seward the Taotai announced the capture of four others of the men who participated in the general disturbance, two of whom confessed their insolence and disorderly conduct toward my wife and me.
I have had several interviews with the Taotai touching the identity of these men, and other matters connected with the settlement of this affair, and at his request I consented to a delay of the trial of the two men who confessed their guilt until Her Britannic Majesty’s consul, Mr. Medhurst, returned to Kiu-kiang.
I here take occasion to say that the delay on the part of Mr. Medhurst, the two cases being so closely allied and amalgamated, prevented a speedy settlement and termination of my case, which otherwise would have been concluded several days ago.
On Friday, the 3d (?) instant, the two men who confessed their guilt were tried at the office of the Che Hsien in my presence, and were sentenced to fifty blows of the heavy bamboo and one month’s cangue. The blows were administered in my presence, and the men are undergoing the canguing on the bund in front of my office; thus making [Page 395] four men in all who have been punished for their insolence to my wife and me on that occasion; a sufficient example and warning, I take it, to convince others that foreigners are hot to be treated insolently with impunity.
In accordance with the views expressed by Mr. Seward while here, I have not insisted upon a severe and vindictive punishment of these men, believing it to be a wiser and better policy to only demand such a punishment as, while it does not savor of cruelty, is yet sufficiently strong to become a proper example to deter others from committing similar offenses, and, what I consider of far more importance, establishing a precedent upon the principle that we must be protected in “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” even in China.
The Taotai stated to me in a letter a few days ago that “it was a Chinese custom, in hot weather, not to cangue criminals, but to defer it until the autumn;” “but,” he says, “as this is a case in which both natives and foreigners were concerned,” he would, “for the public expediency, have the men exposed for a day or two in cangue, and then remove them in custody until the autumn, at which time they would conclude their caugue punishment.” To this proposition I strongly demurred, insisting that if he intended to punish these men in good faith, I wanted no humbuggery about it, but wanted the men exposed daily until the expiration of their sentence. My object in this apparent severity was to show him that he could not lead me, and whatever leniency I extended would be of my own volition and sense of right, and not at his dictation. He acceded to my demand, and pledged his honor that, “rain or shine, hot or cold,” the men should be forthcoming daily.
Finally, when the men were all flogged, and everything concluded except the promulgation of the proclamation, I told the Taotai that if these men were exposed in good faith for ten days, I would then consent to a suspension of their cangue sentence until the autumn, he making himself responsible for its fulfillment at that time. To this he readily agreed, and thanked me profusely for my “humane action,” as he called it.
As a termination of the whole affair, and in accordance with Mr. Seward’s arrangement with the Taotai, that official has issued a proclamation, a copy of which, with the translation, I have the honor herewith to inclose, which is posted up in conspicuous places for the benefit of all whom it may concern.
The proclamation, as now promulgated, is somewhat different from the original text, many changes having been suggested by both Mr. Medhurst and myself, the most of which were readily assented to by the Taotai. It may not be out of place for me to say that I believe the Taotai has acted in good faith throughout, and has manifested a disposition to bring the violators of law and good order to a speedy trial and punishment. And considering the embarrassments with which he has been surrounded, the offenders being “braves,” and belonging to a military command, over which he had no Imperative control, he has acted with commendable zeal.
In conclusion, I have to say that all is quiet, and I have no apprehension of violence at the hands of either local citizens or “braves “in camp, of whom, by the way, there are still three or four thousand en route for Formosa.
Hoping that my action and report will meet with your approbation,
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Consul.
To His Excellency B. P. Avery,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
United States, Peking.
Proclamation.
Whereas a foreign official and his lady were lately followed by braves, and accosted with insulting language in the settlement, and the said braves tumultuously assaulted a municipal policeman who interposed; and whereas, two of them being arrested on the spot, a number of soldiers repaired to the front of the English consulate and cried a rescue, apparently intending to force the palisade, the offenders first seized and those subsequently captured have now been delivered to the magistrate for trial and punishment;
And whereas following and impudently insulting a foreign officer and his lady, in the settlement or elsewhere is beyond doubt a lawless proceeding, and combining to mob the English consular office and to raise a disturbance and riot, the serious consequences of which were only averted by securing the palisade, is to evince an utter contempt for law; the offenders have now severally been sentenced, as the law directs, to flogging with the heavy bamboo and severe canguing of two months; the case has been reported to the high authorities to be placed on record, and this proclamation is Issued:
[Page 396]Know ye, therefore, soldiers and people, that since the opening of trade natives and foreigners associate on terms of mutual consideration a foreign public office must therefore be regarded with respect, and foreign gentlemen or ladies, immaterial where they are, walking in the settlement or elsewhere, treated with deference and politeness, to the confirmation of friendship and good feeling.
Henceforward, therefore, let there be no more such disturbance and defiance of law, only leading to arrest and punishment. The foreign settlement is devoted to the purposes of trade. Let soldiers and braves attend strictly to the duties of the camp, and not create trouble and disorder by strolling about the settlement and congregating in knots, thereby causing disturbances to arise.
Let all obey a special proclamation.