The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-09

S'SA' 'ue ENpTcSS mas Oeen lOTCeu " heep
iuans son In the background. because OF
the opposition to her disposition OF kuaua
tsu. and Tuan has seen, 1t Is reasonable
enough to believe. that this is golden op-
portunity to give the Empress dose OF
her own medicine.
In the fangtse provinces and southwark
to Burmah and Tongking the conditions
are those of repressed anarchy. conditions
having little. if any, relation to the trou-
b!es in the north. Old LII Hung Chang Is
still at Canton. and there, predict, he will
stay until he sees which "ay the cat VIII
jump at Pekin He has mads brave show
OF repressing violence. several hundred
heads having been struck off by his orcers
TO provincial officials. But such measures
do not go to the root of the trouble in he
south. though they would have been effec-
tive iwo months ago in the north.
The cause of unrest in the south lies
in the fact that no official knows where
he stands. II he protects foreigners he
may be punished from Pekln or he may
be mobbed locally; If ne does not give pro-
lection TO foreigners and complaint goes
to PekIn, he will be sacrificed. The result
CT such a situation is that the boasted
development OF the Yangtse is mere
Pigment Of railway c0ncessionaire's i'm
aginatiors, and British predominance is
a myth. nothing more. The Yangtse is no
more a sphere of British influence than
is the Mississippi Valley. She cannot
navigate the waterways OF this section
because France blocks the way; she can
not protect her citizens because she has
no effective consular system-three harried
consuls at Chung-kinE, Sumao. and Teng-
yush and one eunbeat that Is usually
stranded in the mud is the extent OF her
diplomatic and defensive equipment in
the Yangste.
Tactics Of the French.
French consuls. French engineers.
French missionaries are undermining even
the feeble hold that Britain still has there.
France appears to be piling up bill Of
costs against a day Of reckoning In the
future. Her claims for damages in south
ern China would on the basis OF the
Kiao- Chou and Port Arthur seizures. JUST.
fly her in demanding half dozen provinces,
including the most valuable parts of the
Empire. For Britain was good at choosing.
IL bad at keeping. when she selected the
Yangtse as her sphere Draw a line
westward from Shanghai. and below that
line you have the best watered. most pro.
ductive part Of China, peopled by the
most easily managed race. and, for these
reasons. the best market. l simply repeat
common opinion when l say that 1t is the
design Of France to press upward from
her base In Tongkng and meet Russia
half way when she is ready to come down
from the north.
Not only Britain. hut all countries, find
their interests opposed by the French POL
icy, which IL simply to tarrorize the Of
flcials and retard all progress. The Ameri-
can railway from Canton to Hankow, and
the FIVE roads radiating from Yunnan are
likely to remain mere lines on the map
for many years to GENE. Englishmen here
are des7ondent over the situation north
and south. In neither quarter do they see
any hope Of the strengthening of Britains
position unless the cooperation OF Ameri-
ca Is secured and more pushing polics
proposed. It is from EIgiishmen that I
have secured my Information regarding
the situation In the southern and central
provinces. and one told me almost tear
fully how he had to go to a French con-
sui to register lease, there being no
British representative within ten days
journey!
Il might multiply reports received here
of the terrible state rf this great totter
ing Empire. but IT. would be proftless.
Hundreds of lives have already been sacri-
feed. millions OF dollars worth of prop
erty have been destroyed, and no one can
say where it will s;i end. We hope for the
best and expect the worst"