New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-02-28
CHINA AND THE POWERS

| The purport of the British Japanese treaty
and of Secretary Hays note to Russia and
China, as affecting other powers and their
relations to China, is clearly To be perceived
through simple review of some salient
! incidents Of the last seven or eight wears
! Let us begin with the war between China
and Japan which was the beginning of a
new era for all that part of the world
At the close of that struggle a treaty NJ
peace was concluded. Japan exacted an In
demnity in money and territory, but so small
that, like Give, she might well have been as
! tonished at her own moderation In addition
! and this was by far more importapt-Japan
i enunciated the doctrine of the ''open door, in
emma Tor all nations on equal terms and in
| sisted upon It's maintenance. Thus japan was
the author of the open door" doctrine in
treaty which for broad and farseelng states
mahshlp and generous, world embracing benev-
olence will stand as a model. Unhappily. that
treaty was not permitted to stand Russia oh
1ected to it, partly the ground of Japan's
territorial indemnity, but chiefly because of the
open door" stipulation, which was of all most
repugnant to her and most dangerous to her
| selnsh designs She did not venture, however
to oppose Japan alone. From that course mill
tary prudence restrained her But in some
way she got two other European powers to ioin
with all three powers, TO modify that treaty and
leave the gates of China closed. Japan would
not have hesitated to fight for her rights and
Tor the welfare of the commercial world against
Russia alone, but she was not prepared to stand
against this triple alliance. So she Yielded
The next move was made by Great Britain
she had not been prepared 10 back I'D japan
in resisting the three powers and in maintain
ing the Treaty of Simonoseki But she per-
ceived the menace which the action of those
powers offered to her commercial interests In
China, and she began to negotiate for an omen
door agreement. In this she did not succeed
European suspicious, jealousies, animosities and
ambitions were too potent So she was com.
pelIed 10 be content with declaring that she was
in favor of the open door and the territorial
integrity of China. but that if other powers
would not maintain those principles she would
not be left behind in the scramble for narti
ton. and so she took possession of Wei-Hai-
Wei, and declared the whole Yang-Tse valley TO
be her sphere of influence" In turn, Germany
seized hlao-Chau and practically the bulk of
Shan-Iung, France extended her claims In the
south, and Russia began TO regard all Man.
churia, Mongolia Sungaria, Eastern Turkes-
tan and Thibet as her own, cynically taking
hhntary possession OF the very places she had
forbidden Japan to take and disregarding the
STATUS OF treaty ports. Finally, however the
United States took n hand in the game. and AT
least nominally succeeded where Great Britain
had failed. Secretary Hay secured from all
the powers even including Russia, formal as
sent and adherence TO the doctrine of the omen
door-such assent and adherence being first
given by Great Britain and Japan. the two
powers which had already committed them
selves to the principle. To what extent that
agreement would have been effective must re-
main matter OF speculation, for the Boxer
outbreak, which is directly traceahle TO Russia,s
pernicious interference in 1895. soon threw the