Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-12-04
FRENCH SEIZURE
Of LAND BRINGS
CHINESE PROTEST
International Negotiations May
Follow Annexation to French
Concessions Ask Recall of
French ConSuI-GeneraI.
Associated Press CorrespondenceJ

! lleu- SIN, OCT, SUI rance as
/ gressive action in Selling a strip of
/ land from the Chinese and anneXing
/ It to the French concession, has arous-
/ ed the deepest Indignation among the
/ Chinese population in Tien-tsin, and
/ threatens to become a subject Of i'm
I portant International negotiations.
The land seized is somewhat over
one-half of a mile square, and lies i'm
mediately south of the Tien-tsin canal
which separates it from the old part
of the French concession. The strip
lies between the Japanese and British
concessions,
Immediately following the forcible
seizure of the land by the French
consul general, NJ. Henri Bourgeois,
and a body Of French troops and po-
licemen on October 20, indignation
meetings We're held in the Chinese
city, and crowd of 5000 Chinese
marched to the chamber of commerce
and demanded that influential COM
mittees be sent to wait upon various
officials to protest against China's
submission to Frances aggression,
Threats have been made that
French goods will be boycotted and
Chinese deposits will be withdrawn
from French banks, if the French per-
sist i'm retaining the land. Newspa-
pers are also advocating that addi-
tional Chinese coolies shall not be per-
mitted to go to France for agricultural
work unless the French government
restores the land.
France first began its effort to OBJ
tain an addition to its concession in /
Tien-tsn fourteen years ago A let /
ter was written at that time by the /
French government asking Tang Shao- !
vi, who was then the head of the Gus |
toms in Ten-tsn, to grant France a |
strip of ground over one mile square
located south of the old French con-
cession. The request was so unreas- |
enable in Tang Shao-yi's opinion that
he never wrote a reply. Twelve years |
later the French government MADE |
to the foreign office
that Tang Shao-yis silence amounted |
to consent, and consequently claimed .
title to the land which it had asked /.
for.
Meanwhile several French citizens /
had acquired land in the coveted dis
trict or at least pretended that they
had acquired property rights there
purchase from Chinese. The
French government put some police
men into the district. China protest, .
al lint fiuo1Iv poncoOtad IN pprD1it
four French policemen to remain rath-
er than have a prolongation of the
controversy. China continued to
maintain nine Chinese policemen
there.
Two years ago France became en-
phatic in it's demand that China grant
exclusive police rights to France and
sign over the coveted territory The
negotiations became acute in June of
he present year, when the French
at Picking. NJ. Comfy, urged
he immediate settlement of the claim.
The Chinene foreign minister, Lu
'heng Hsiang, temporized by saying
hat he would consider the matter,
)ut that China could not attempt to
give away the land without the cor-
sent of the people of Tien-tsin and
he affected property holders. There ,
S considerable difference in the
French and the Chinese versions of ,
he conference between M. Comfy and ,
Mr. Lu Cheng- Hsang. The French +
Jay that the minister of foreign affairs :
lgreed to grant their request, but the ,