Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-11-09
ENGLAND AND CHINA.
LORD CHARLES BERESFORD'S MISSION
TO Tue CELESTIAL EMPIRE.

II Is 10 DO For That Country What
Lord Cromer Has Done In Egypt.
E~nsIand's Policy In seeking to Con-
troll the Valley.
A correspondent of the New York
| Sun, writing about Lord Beresford's
mission to China, says: From a hint
dropped in his speech at Singapore the
| other day it is possible to learn the real
| objects of Lord Charles Beresford's visit
| to China. Ostensibly he goes out as the
representative of the English chambers
of to inquire into the present
position of British trade in the far east
and its future possibilities in the newly
opened markets. Iii reality it seems his
mission has a far wider scope and that
instead of visiting the Celestial empire
as a sort of superior commercial traveller
an odd employment anyway for an
energetic naval officer-he is charged
by the government to negotiate with the
provincial v%iceroys for the maintenance
of law and order through the Yang-tse-
Kiang valley.
Lord Charles Beresford practically
admitted his real objective in urging
that the waterways of China should be
developed under the protection of mill
tary police as a preliminary to RAILROAD
and commercial enterprises. That ap-
parently is the keynote of the policy he
is sent out to initiate. The aim Of his
mission may therefore be described as
the Egyptization Of central China.
What Lord Cromer has accomplished
along the Nile Lord Charles is going
to attempt along the Yang-tse.
The chances of his success are not
quite so hopeless as they may seem.
The provincial viceroys are practically
independent rulers. They raise their
W armies, collect their own taxes and
administer their own territories with
out consulting the central authority at
Picking. At the same time their position
is not one of absolute security. The re-
cent rebellion in the south is only a
sample of the dangers that threaten
them. The japanese war, the encroach-
ments of France from the south and
Russia from the north, and the general
debility of the whole realm have made
them think of a possible debacle which
might sweep the ground from under
them.
One may conjecture, then, that Lord
Charles first move will be to guarantee
to these local magnates the security and
independence which seem slipping away
from their shiftless hands. The quid
pro quo that Lord Charles apparently
has in view is permission granted to
British officers to raise, drill and dis
cipline the provincial armies. Just as
France has lent her military experience
to the negus Of Abyssinia and Germany
has organized the Turkish forces, so
Great Britain in the person Of Lord
Charles aims at controlling a Chinese
army that would protect the provincial
viceroys and at the same time make
the way smooth for British merchants.
If this is really Great Britain's new
policy in China, it is extremely signifi-
cant. Lord Salisbury has probably re-
allied by now that no good can be ex-
pected from Picking, either because
Russian influence is too strong or Eng
fish diplomacy too weak. Lord Charles
mission abstains from futile bargainings
with the tsung-li-yamen, d%isregards
the imperial court and considers the
provincial viceroys alone. The new pol
icy seems also to be an admission that
the open door can no longer be preserved
and that an outlet for British IN
must be sought in spheres Of influence.
With the control of the Yang-tse valley
assured to her, Great Britain can we'll
afford to leave Manchuria in the hands
of Russia. The Yang-tse valley under
the visible protection Of Great Britain
would throw open to the worlds trade
the wealthiest and most populous Sec
tion of China.