Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-05-12
~ HANTUNG, which the peace
- conference has given to Japan,

~ HANTUNG, which the peace
conference has given to Japan,
~ was lost to China in 1897 when
a German squadron dropped anchor
in the bay of Kiao Chau. The oc-
cupation of the Chinese province by
the Germans stands as one of the
least cXcusable territory grabs of
modern times. The occasion for the
occupation of the province in the
name OF the kaiser was the murder
of two German Roman Catholic
missionaries by natives of Shantung;
this in the province of ConfuCius,
the great Chinese teacher and law
giver, where the natives were par
ticularly hostile to the teachings of
Christian missionaries.
The murdered priests belonged to
an order that had been expelled from
Germany a few years previously,
but the ethical aspect of the case
was accepted as an excuse to seize
the siXty-five thousand square miles
of Chinese territory, with Il native
population of nearly forty million
people. The men were Germans
that was enough. And besides, the
German foreign office already had
decided that Kiao Chau should be-
come a German possession, since it
was a fashion, in the '90s, for every
European power to take a slice of
China. The missionary incident was
looked upon as q fortunate circum-
stance.
All German Rights to Japan
The forced agreement which fol-
lowed the German occupation gave
the peaceful conquerer a 99-year
lease of all the territory surrounding
kiao Chau Bay, extending inland
thirty miles, with complete control
over the entrance to the bay and a
qualified protectorate over the rest
of the territory. This protectorste
gradually extended until it included
the whole of the province when
Japanese and British forces wrested
| the province from the Germans in
1914. BY the agreement reached at
Paris last week all German rights
are transferred to Japan.
New England's geographical and
historical relation to the rest of the
United States has been compared 10
Standings relation to China. 1t
forms almost the northeastern
stretch of the former Chinese EN-
pire. There is only one province
north of Shantung. Kiao Chow Bay
has a narrow entrance which af-
fords it good protection at the
mouth. At the point of the penin-
sula. formed by the bay. is Tsingtau,
the chief city. The province has
seven times the population of New
! England, although it is less than a
tenth larger.
Japan Wanted 1t Il Long Time
The Japanese have long had their
eyes on the province. Ever since the
Germans have had control of it an
army of Japs, disguised as native
| Chinese, but schooled in the secret
service of the mikado, has pervaded
the province, surveying. planning,
scheming. Germany realized the
menace when Russia and Japan
went to war in the Far East, and
would have helped Russia had she
dared. But she feared French and
| British interests in China. Had she
taken the dare the great war might
have been fought fifteen years ago.
Japan will find thoroughly Ger
manized province in Shantung. The
capital and leading city, Tsingtau
was even purged of the native popu-
lation by the ever efficient Teuton
| 1t became a German port on the
coast of China. The streets of the
city are German named, the houses
are German in architecture. German
| is the language of the city and much
of the province. The railroad which
the Germans built circling the bay is
| operated by German speaking China
/ men-or was, when the Japs took
it over in 1914. The formidable for
| tifications which guarded the en-
! trance of the bay were German built
and cost five million dollars. Until
Japanese siege guns razed them in
a bombardment lasting only q few