Evening star., 1901-06-01
THE CHINESE INDEMNITY
OUR SUGGESTION THAT 1T BE CUT
DOWN WORTH CONSIDERING.
Chinn's Ability to Pay-Trade Facili-
Part of Money Claims.
From the Shanghai Mercury.

The suggestion made by the American
authorities that the allies should reduce
their demands for indemnity by 30 per cent
Is worth consideration. Experience shows
that indemnties are demanded for various
reasons. The first and most natural is that
the defeated party should pay the cost of
the war, especially If he has been in the
main responsible for bringing it about.
Public opinion recognizes the justice of
such punishment, and though we know of
instances In which, by skillful manipulation
OF reptile press, public opinion has been
entirely misied, there is, as rule, not
much fear that the broad outlines of an
international complication can long remain
hidden in haze of misrepresentation. An
other. and perfectly natural, though less
defensible ground for indemnity, may be
characterized as insurance against attack
In the future. The whole world stood
amazed at the immensity Of the amount ex
acted by Germany from France in 1871 and
at the time there is no doubt whatever but
that Prince Bismarck had in view this sec
ond reason for his demand Experience,
ohiy three or four years later showed him
that the hope that France would be Grip
pied had been mistaken one, and he was
within an ace of bringing about another
conf1lct In 1878 to repair the error made.
1t remained for President Kruger to sug-
eest third ground Tor indemnity. and that
broader and more indefinable than either of
the others. He discovered that while the
Jameson raid had done a few thousand
pounds damage, had necessitated the ex-
penditure Of a few thousand more and al
together had run up a bill of perhaps half
million. the damage done to the wounded
1eellngS OF his burghers required a solatium
or something like double that amount!
How does China stand with regard to
SUCH claims as these? That she has done
vast amount of damage to reign prom
erty is certain. and that more still has
hxr bal
equally sure. We do not propose to con-
slder the question of the right or wrong
OF the allies to take this last into consid-
Grafton. That the various overs have
peen put to great expense in the relief
o! the legations and the re establishment
OF peace cannot be denied Neither is
tnere any question as TO the moral shock
which the unparalleled series of r,assa
cres has inflicted on the civilized world
at large. and the countries most Intimately
concerned In particular. China n the
persons OF her ruling class always except
ing the viceroys up the river and few
other enlightened mandarins) has acted
the savage with such ferocity as to nut
her completely outside the paia of civilized
states ~ therefore. al indemnity be ex-
acted which, as far as possible puts It
out OF her power to do further harm
makes it impossible for her to rearn, for
example, she could not justly raise one
single syllable In protest against the Sc
verify of her sentence. She has made her
ped; she cannot complain If she is COM
PEELED to lie on it. Some of her journalists
point out the hardship involved in the fact
.nat not only Will the guilty north have
to pay. but that the innocent center and
south Will likewise be called on to bear
tnelr snare. onerous as 1t will be- of the
burden. We acknowledge the hardship
put We see no way out of the difficulty TN
less the American suggestion be adopted
mere are other considerations besides
the foregoing which have to be duly weigh
ed before it is possible to say what had
servedly held liable to the heaviest of pen
alties. as China is today. She may not
however. be able to pay such a fine not
withstanding it's abstract justice. Then.
evidently, compromise becomes necessary
In ordinary cases cession of territory takes
place: occasionally an alliance is forced
upon the defeated foe. and in other in
stances certain portion of the indemnity
Is allowed to stand over, the unpaid part
acting admirably as a lever when 1t is
necessary for any purpose to apply the
screw. This to the present time is the
position of Turkey vis-a-vis Russia But
none Of these are possible in the present
instance. By the self-denying ordinance
passed and published by all the powers,
even by Russia, the cession of territory
Is eliminated from the means by which the
allies are to be repaid. Nobody at the
moment wants to make an alliance with
China. and would not be permitted to il
ne did. The holding over of a portion of
the indemnity has already been mooted.
Indeed, long term Of years has been
suggested during which annual INSTALL
ments should be paid as funds permit.
There Is no very great objection to this
except perhaps that pointed out by one
OF our native contemporaries. VIZ, the GER
tainty that the addition to the taxes which
must follow would incense the people still
more against foreigners and possibly
against the native government, so that in
stead of settling down to steady develop
ment, the people would rise against their
own authorities or against the foreigners.
or both. This objection may or may not
be of much weight. But whether its gray-
ity be little or much the American sug-
gestion that the indemnity should be made
as light as possible is deserving of serious
thought. We want to live at peace with
1900 will be the deathblow to such super
stition as that of the Boxers. and the in
auguration Of an era of greater knowledge,
ing between the native and the foreigner
Nothing is SO likely to bring this about as
the civilizing effect Of trade. There is no
more certain means OF keeping the peace
between the people than that of the crea-
tion Of the relationship of dealer and GUS
toner. If, therefore, extended trade IA
cilities can be got by the abandonment OF
some of the money claims are prepared
to recommend that such a bargain be made,
and this for two reasons: the foreigners
would in the long run be the better for 1t,
while to China the advantages are both
immediate and remote: immediate mas
much as the adoption of the plan suggested
would tighten her present task immensely.
remote inaSmuch 1t would insure that
DEVELOPMENT of her resources by which she