Mr. Denby to Mr.
Blaine.
[Extract.]
Legation of
the United States,
Peking, September 13, 1891.
(Received October 27.)
No. 1387.]
Sir: In my dispatch No. 1378, of August 29, I
inclosed a copy of a joint communication of the foreign representatives to
the foreign office on the subject of the antiforeign riots. I have now the
honor to inclose a translation of the answer of the yamên to that
communication and a copy of the reply of the foreign representatives
thereto.
In the first inclosure the yamên seeks to defend itself against the charges
of unwillingness on the part of China to protect foreigners and of
negligence. The excuses made were not satisfactory to the foreign
representatives. Before any reply, however, could be sent to the yamên the
news reached Peking that a serious riot had occurred on the 2d instant at
Ichang, during which all the buildings belonging to the missionaries
resident there had been destroyed and three French missionaries had been
injured. The English consulate and the building occupied by the foreign
customs were not injured. All that saved them from destruction was the fact
that they were temples. I have at this time only a brief telegraphic account
of the riot. Ichang is a prefectural city of considerable official
importance in the province of Hupeh. It is situated on the Yangtse, about
363 miles above Hankow. It was opened to foreign trade April 1, 1887. It is
a considerable distributing center, and its inward transit trade is second
to that of Hankow. The population is about 35,000. An American church
mission is located there, whose members are Rev. and Mrs. Lowerby. The
established church of Scotland and the Catholics have missions there, the
latter being very large and mostly composed of Germans. This new outbreak,
following so closely an outrage in Manchuria, taken in connection with minor
displays of hostility to foreigners and missionaries in all parts of China,
led the foreign representatives to believe that it was necessary and
important that an appeal should be made to the respective governments
represented at Peking to bring to bear on China their joint influence to
secure protection for foreigners or to adopt such action as might be
advisable. It must be borne in mind that the riots commenced in May; that
the imperial edict issued June 13; that the riots have been the incessant
subject of discussion by the foreign representatives and the Chinese foreign
office until the present time. It is said that at Swatow some armed
resistance was made to the mob; but at no other point have proper preventive
measures been taken, except at Kiukiang, where two or three
[Page 436]
foreign gunboats were lying. It can not be
doubted that if any one of the numerous riots that have occurred against
foreigners had been directed against Chinese subjects prompt recourse would
have been had to repression by firing on the rioters. There have been some
punishments inflicted, and indemnities will be paid by the local
authorities; but what the foreigner needs in China is prevention of injury,
and not simply punishment of offenders or compensation for loss of property.
In the midst of incessant alarms both mission work and commerce must
languish. At several points on the Yangtse, though the mission buildings
were untouched, the American missionaries thought themselves compelled to
flee to save their lives. It is plain that this condition can not be
permitted to endure in China without nullifying the letter and spirit of the
treaties. Unless permanent peace can be restored, it will not be possible
for foreigners to continue to live in China. In this emergency, having
exhausted all means at their own disposal, a joint appeal to the governments
of the treaty powers has been prepared, to be sent to each government by the
respective foreign representatives.
The perusal of this paper, which will be mailed to you as soon as possible,
will satisfy you, I think, that the dangers to foreigners in China have not
been exaggerated. I make mention now of this paper bemuse I will not be able
to forward a copy of it for several days. The existing danger is plain; the
inaction of the Government of China is also plain; the trouble arises over
the remedy for the extraordinary condition in which foreigners find
themselves in this country.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No.
1387.—Translation.]
The tsung-li yamên to the
foreign representatives.
The prince and ministers of the tsung-li yamên have the honor to
acknowledge, the receipt of the joint note which the foreign
representatives addressed to them on the 25th August. Their excellencies
state that they have received the yamên’s communication of 18th August,
being an answer to their former note of 12th August on the subject of
the recent riots, and in proceeding to an exhaustive consideration of
the various points raised by the yamên, they ask that instructions
should be issued for giving effect to their demands. With reference to
this, the yamên would observe that, in acknowledging the repeated joint
notes which the foreign representatives addressed to them respecting the
outrages committed on missionary establishments in the valley of the
Yangtse during the fifth moon of the present year, they have already
furnished full details of all that has been done in the matter. Having
regard for the urgent nature of the further communication which they
have now received, they beg to reiterate and place on record once more
their views on the various points enumerated.
The note in question states that at places which can be reached by
ordinary means of communication in fifteen days the edict had been
published only after the long delay of forty-five days; that at Nanking,
Fuchau, and other places important portions of the document had been
suppressed. The yamên would observe that the printing and publication of
proclamations and the transmission of instructions to subordinate
authorities for having them promulgated everywhere can not be carried
into effect immediately on the receipt of the dispatch containing the
imperial decree. As regards abridgment in such publications, it is, as a
matter of fact, a procedure adopted in China, as was fully explained in
the yamên’s previous dispatch. If it is meant to assert that the
authorities at Nanking and Fuchau were guilty of deliberate suppression,
the yamên must deny most positively that such is the case. From
information now received the yamên learn that a supplementary and very
considerable issue of copies of the proclamation has been made in
succession in the various provinces, and, as all classes of people in
the places where it has already appeared in an abbreviated form are
fully acquainted with its tenor, any further promulgation of the
document would bear the appearance
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of needless repetition. The yamên would therefore
beg their excellencies to give themselves no undue concern on this
point. Again, it is stated that, although the rioters at Wusueh numbered
not less than several thousands, it was only after foreign officials had
exercised the utmost pressure that eight or nine persons were brought to
justice. Inflammatory placards were, it was added, largely responsible
for the disturbances that had occurred, and yet not a single ringleader
among the rioters nor a single author of these placards had been
arrested or punished. Seeing that the infamous language complained of
occurs in anonymous placards, by what means can the offenders be
individually traced and arrested? The yamên have communicated with the
authorities in the different localities, urging them to take active
measures of a repressive nature. As regards the number of people
connected with the riots, it was no doubt large; but the majority were
ignorant and foolish persons, who joined the crowd at the moment and did
not necessarily take any active part in the movement. Punishment cannot
be made general, and all that can be done is to deal severely with those
who were guilty in a grave degree. In both the Wuhu and Wusueh cases the
men who suffered the extreme penalty of the law were all arrested and
brought to justice immediately after the occurrence, without waiting for
any pressure on the part of the foreign officials. More than one local
official has been denounced and removed from office in consequence of
his failure to deal properly with such cases, and a knowledge of this
has been disseminated everywhere without waiting for the memorials
reporting the termination of the whole question. The note further states
that authority was given for treating the question of indemnity on the
spot. It is pointed out, however, that in writing to one or two of the
foreign representatives respecting arrests and indemnities the yamên had
used the semiofficial and not the official style of address, and this
was regarded as a proof that the yamên was disposed to treat the
question as merely one of ordinary importance. In dealing with
international questions the yamên invariably reply officially to every
official communication that reaches them. His excellency the French
chargé d’affaires, Monsieur Ristelhueber, having asked them some time
ago to inform him occasionally of what was being done in the provinces
with regard to this matter, the yamên accordingly communicated
semiofficially the contents of every important telegram they received,
in the hope of thus saving time, and intending as soon as the memorials
and dispatches were received to write officially on the subject. Their
excellencies the foreign representatives now, however, make an important
point of this, and in doing so surely show a great want of
consideration. The various points alluded to in this note have already
been answered in detail in the yameVs communication of the 12th of
August.
To sum up: Both the yamên and the high provincial authorities along the
Yangtse have in every case shown the utmost earnestness, energy,
sincerity, and justice in dealing with these missionary troubles. All
the criminals who have been arrested have been punished with extreme
severity. The occurrence of missionary questions in such numbers is
unprecedented. When the memorials shall have been handed down (by the
Emperor to the grand secretariat), they are certain to receive publicity
in the Peking Gazette.
As regards the remedial measures to be introduced for the future, it will
be proper, as soon as the present questions shall have been brought to a
termination, that the yamên and their excellencies the foreign
representatives should arrive at some permanent arrangement, the
essential being that the scheme should be practicable, so as to obviate
as far as possible all contention on either side. The practice of
sending joint notes in official intercourse is not warranted in
international usage in Europe, and, now that the missionary troubles in
the valley of the Yangtse are gradually subsiding, it would seem as if
their excellencies the foreign representatives need not give themselves
the trouble of again resorting to this form of correspondence.
The yamên have the honor to forward this reply to the German minister,
and hope that his excellency will be good enough to communicate to his
colleagues, the representatives of the other powers.
The prince and ministers avail, etc.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 1387.]
The foreign
representatives to the tsung-li
yamên.
Peking, September 10,
1891.
The undersigned, representatives of Belgium, the French Republic, the
German Empire, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, Russia, and the
United States, have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the yamên’s
note dated the 3d instant. Inasmuch as the Imperial Chinese Government
decline to entertain the very moderate
[Page 438]
demands which at the present crisis it has been
the duty of the undersigned to address to the tsung-li yamên, with a
view to procure for foreigners in this country such security in respect
of life and property as they have a right to claim at the hands of the
responsible authorities of His Majesty the Emperor, and seeing that what
has unfortunately occurred at Ichang within the last few days proves how
unfounded is the assertion of the ministers of the yamên that the
outbreaks have been met with becoming energy and resolution, the
undersigned can see no possible advantage in continuing with his
highness and their excellencies the ministers of the yamên the
discussion of the several points at issue between them and the foreign
representatives. The undersigned, therefore, are about to acquaint their
respective governments with the very unsatisfactory results of their
united endeavors to induce the Government of China, through the imperial
department for foreign affairs, to do more than issue to provincial and
local authorities absolutely inadequate instructions, and then to
flatter themselves that they have thus amply fulfilled their obligations
to the governments and subjects of treaty powers; whereas, in realty,
neither the measures employed for the suppression of the outbreaks nor
the assurances offered for the protection of foreigners can be accepted
either as a satisfaction for the past or as a guaranty for the future.
As soon as the undersigned shall have heard from their governments they
will have the honor to communicate again to the ministers of the
tsung-li yamên. In the meantime they hold the Chinese Government
responsible for all injuries and losses which foreigners or native
Christians may have already suffered or may suffer through outrages
committed by Chinese, and they hereby place on record their unqualified
dissent from the contention of the yamên ministers that everything has
been done that could or ought to have been done in an emergency like the
present one.
With regard to the singular statement contained in the yamên’s note that
“joint notes” are not recognized by the international law of Europe, the
undersigned will content themselves by simply stating that “joint notes”
are invariably used in cases where a certain number of governments or
their representatives are pursuing jointly, as in the present instance,
the same policy, and where the ordinary and usual forms of individual or
identic notes are not deemed suitable on account of the gravity of the
situation. The end in view, namely, the security of life and property
for foreigners residing in China under treaty, being precisely similar
for all governments having relations with China, the undersigned beg
leave to signify to the yamên that they have no intention of adopting
any other form of communication until they shall have obtained such
formal guaranties as will enable them to consider their nationals
residing in China as being completely secure against further attacks and
outrages both now and hereafter.
The undersigned avail themselves, etc.
