The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-22
CHINA IS NOW
 TAXING TIBET. Acquiring Real Power Over Her Dependency by Her
 Willy Policy.
DEFEATS STRIBEsSINGLY
Political Relations of the Two Countries Decribed
 John R. Muir.

part of the Chinese empire subject tc the emperor at Pekin. The recent
 treaty with Great Britain, engineered so admirably by Sir Ernest Satow, has
 disposed of any difference of opinion
 on that subject For about two cen
 turies China has exercised this sov- ereignty and 1t is universally under | stood that there is no disputlng her claim. But before China subtugated | Tibet it was an old warlike ntion do- ing much as 1t pleased in it's noun tain Businesses so that it would have
 required a large standing army to
 maintain Chiha's claim had 1t ever
 been disputed.
 The Tibetans seem to have submit ted readily to the protection of their
 more prominent neighbors on the east. seeming eager for the union, their mo-
 tive being, no doubt, better market
 for their commodities; and according
 ly both sides have done all in their
 power to heal breaches that interfered
 with trade, proving again that com
 merce is after all the factor which de-
 ternines international relatjQns. The
 trade of Tibet with China i5enormous
 and one Of our problems here is to dis
 cover which country has the balance.
 Tibet apparently has the advantage
 and, if So, the silver passing over into
 the country from China would be in
 itself sufficient argument with which
 to settle petty differences, while the
 Chinese find their dealings so proflta-
 ole that they have overlooked many
 breaches of their authority so that no
 loss in trade would result,
 The Chinese representatives in Tibet
 is the amban and his court Is in Las sa He Is little more than com
 mercial agent, as treaties made by him through Pekin for the Tibetans have
 been entirely ignored by the latter. He has no guard but a few ragged re- tainers, and one recently sent to T.as-
 sa was killed in cold blood by the IT.
 betans few days west of La Tsien
 Lu. Then there is an amban ats. Hsi
 Ming, in Kan Su, and taotal m this province who controls all the barbari- ans on this frontier. These officials put small, unimportant men in most of the cities and villages who are slnpos- ed to be officials, but most of them are hgureheads, with absolutely no au- thority over Tibetans.
 The real government of Tibet is to- day, as it always has been, in the hands or the "tu si' (trlbal chiefs). There is central government at Lassa under the dali lama, who Is the theocratic sov- ereign of the land, and he rules his own par of Tibet with absolute author- ity, being held In reverence by the rest of the country as the head of the church. Still many tribes have success fully refused to submit to Lassa and have remained independent.
 We begin to see now why Great Brit ain became suspicious of Russia. for even If China had dared to refuse the Bear Russia could have easily snap- ped the feeble bond that ties Tibet to China and by her diplomacy secured control of the dali lama. Had she suc- ceeded they would not have made the mistake China has made, but, no doubt, Tibet would have been garrisoned as Manehurla was and the people would have been helpless until India assumed the role of deliver as Japan did. One reason for China's success Is found in the fact that the tribes are disunited and at enmity among themselves. One of China's duties has been to arbitrate in these quarrels and for her success she is respected and feared more than for any other reason perhaps.
 Her plan now seems to be 10 get conn plete control, by one ruse or other, in one tribe at a time and in this she is succeeding; but if the whole country were united to throw off the yoke they could kill off every Chinaman in Tibet and resist every effort China could make to bring them to time in spite of the modern military progress shown in this province. We mean by this that the Tibetans united in their mountains would present a problem Tar beyond China's present strength. China Is SUD- posed to be sovereign in Tibet, but there is a tribe very near the frontier here which has never submitted and China dare not touch it. They live in the valley of the Nya Gnu, three days from Dawo, where we visited, and are known by the Chinese as Chang Chui." The Tibetans call them "Nya Ka." Their official comes from Lassa, as they recognize the dali lama, but the Chinese are very careful about entering the district. A recent encounter with this tribe ended in complete defeat for the Chinese.
 When Feng Ching Chai, the amban mentioned above, started from here two years ago there was blood in hls eye" and he was "after scalps." He reckon ed without his host and his lofty head was soon in the dust, A few years ago the abbot of the lamasery at u Tang was beheaded by the Chinese and the people did not forget. MT. Feng arriv- ed like a whirlwind and began to re- duce, the lamasery at Batang to 400 men and compel the rest to enter his army. Whatever the Chinese do in Tib- ct they will have to keep their hands off the lamas. If they ever succeed in Tibet they will have to break the power of the lamas. The world awaits the re- suit. Feng got frightened and started back to Ia Tsien Lu. The lamas fol- lowed him and, it is said, slew him in his sedan-chair, thus showing how much they respected and feared the nigh representative from Pekin. His body was taken to Chen Tu; he was by the emperor as sop to lls family and tn-daN ha sita Q crnd