Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-12
The Manchurian
Question.
II-Japanese Rule in the South
BY FREDERIC j. HAsNN

| with guides, a series of sights" and
numerous curio shops. There is an
l"Astor House" hotel, there are paved
| streets, tramway and telephone
system, while the water works and
electric light plant are on the way.
| One sees progress on every hand. as
he will at every point in China where
the railway has touched, but an exam
ination of trade and political conditions
does not result very favorably.
Politically, of course, this city with
| it's surrounding territory Is Chinese.
The administration of affairs is in Chi
nese hands, and there is show of def
erenee to Chinese authority. In fact,
however, the japanese are in actual
control. By means of the ownership of
the South Manchurian railway and the
| two years of military occupation after
the end of the war, the Japanese man
aged to get their hands on everything
in Manchuria worth owning. They
have Ioosened their grip somewhat-the
severity of the military rule could not
last always-but they are in position to
| tighten their hold at any moment.
Although Japan has evacuated"
| Manchuria in a military sense, Japan
ese soldiers remain as railway guards,
as guards of mining concessions owned
| or operated by Japanese, and as con-
sular guards Southern Manchuria Is
| covered with Japanese consulates and
| consular agencies, each having vastly
more to do with internal affairs than
the name consul would indicate.
Police power administration of posts
and telegraphs, taxation and regula-
| tion of commerce, are all inherent in
the political sovereignty of a state.
| Japan exercises all these powers, in
whole or in part, in Southern Manchu-
ria, and at the same time protests that
II is living up to the terms OF the treaty
of Portsmouth, which promised to re-
store Manchuria "entirely and com
pletely to the exclusive administration
of China" Chinese sovereignty in Man
churia Is farce.
Japanese immigration into the coun-
try, which was very large Immediately
| after the war during the military re-
gime when Chinese were elected from
their homes and their property was
confiscated by the intruders, has fallen
off lately. The Japanese emigrants to
Korea and Manchuria have usually
come from the lowest classes of jap
anese society, and have proved hard
for even the japanese authorities to
handle The Japanese government,
| however usually supports its nationals
in their auarrels with the native peo-
pie, no matter what the merits of the
controversy. Mukden, being Chinese
city according to all law, has Chinese
police, Nothing could be more natural:
Long after the Japanese had evacuated
! the city the police were constantly re-
+ sisted by Japanese brawlers. The po--
lice used their weapons once or twice
to intimidate boisterous Japanese. The
! result was that under pressure from
| the Japanese consul general the Chi
nese police were forbidden to carry hre-
| arms during the day, although the jap
| anese railway guards carried rifles ana
bayonets on the streets all the tlmel
The Japanese immigrants have NOT
prospered in Manchuria as they and
their government expected they would.
They may despise the Chinese as weak
lings In q military sense and they
may f1out the political and commercial
rights of the Chinese government, but
they are forced to respect the Cni-
nese merchants shrewdness, the Chi
nese artisans skill and the Chinese
peoples faculty for patient impassive
resistance. The Japanese merchants or
the petty order who came over here
have been starved out by the superior
skill of the Chinese, despite the adVan-
tages in freight rates and immunity
| from texation enjoyed by the japanese.
| Agriculture has apparently made little
appeal to the Japanese immigrants, de-
| spite the great opportunities here. The
4 Japanese who come to Manchuria are
possessed with the get-ricf-quick fever
and they are not willing to bide their
| time and work with the patience of an
4 oriental to win his meager prize.
The Antung- Mukden railway, the
4 controversy over which recently re-
| suited in another victory for japan in
i its systematic invasion of Chinese SOW
ereignty, is an example of the method
/ used by the Japanese in laying founda-
| tions for further exploitation of Man.
churian territory. During the war the
| Japanese built a light, narrow-gauge
| railway from their base of supplies at
| Antung, at the mouth of the Yalu, to
connection with Mukden. After the
| war Japan insisted that China permit
the reconstruction and operation of the
road. The Japanese also demanded at
the same time general mining con-
| cesson on both sides of the right OF
! way China at last agreed to the re-
construction of the railway provided
| the work was done within two years
after Japan's military evacuation OF
| the country but refused to grant the
wholesale mining concessions. Then
| Japan, with peculiar perversity, neg
| lected to reconstruct the railroad for
which permission was given, but did
proceed to seize and operate some coal
mines on the right-of-way. The time
! limit for the permit to reconstruct the
railroad expired in December of last
year. When Japan applied for renewal
| China agreed that Japan might re-
construct the road as 1t was, that is a
light narrow-gauge track, but refused
to permit the building of Standard
| gauge ROAD TO connect Tie IuOuLn OL Inc
Yalu with the Manchurian system. The
| incident became a diplomatic issue of
some Importance, attracting the inter-
| est of the, whole world, and ended, as
usual, in a complete Chinese surrender.
Whereupon the Japanese, who are not
particularly burdened with funds at
| this time, announced that the recon-
struction would not be done for some
time. Yet while the negotiations were
on at Picking, a force of Japanese la.
borers protected by Japanese soldiers
actually began to work on the road.
This is the fashion in which Japan
builds railroads in Chinese territory
without Chinese consent.
But China cannot build railroads in
it's own territory without Japanese
consent and, what is more to the point,
| the Japanese consent cannot be OBJ
| tanned. The Japanese have prevented
the Chinese from building the Faku-
men railway and have extracted a
pledge from China not to build con-
nections between the Chinese Eastern
railway and the Manchurian railway
without having first obtained Japanese
consent.
The claim set up by Japan to adj
ministrative control and sovereignty
over residential concessions" and set
| Elements along the railway may be
extended indefinitely until 1t will swal-
/ low up all Manchuria- Russia set up
a claim to the entire city of Harbin
under the pretext of railway control
OF all connections, but in the Russian
agreement with China these claims
I ----.-- --a..oo1 Tanun bntUouar Ftof