The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-07-17

regime.
Foreign Imperlasts Dominating Chinese Eife
TURNING back to the question of tariff not only
the fixed in the treaties, but also the admin
tstraton of the Maritime Customs was placed under
the control Of foreign powers-especiany Great Brit
ain-'without the basis of any treaty. During 1850
at the time OF the civil in China British, one
American and Frenchman employed by the
Chinese officials as three members OF customs com
mittee assisting in the administration BY and by they
got its actual control being backed UP by their
ernments From 1854 to the present time, the chief
officers of the Chinese Customs House have been for
eigners who have been nomnaly appointed by the
Chinese government, but actually nominated by the
foreign ministers to China 1t not until 1898 that
the employment of foreigners in the Chinese Maritime
Customs provided in treaty In 1898 treaty
made between China and Great Britain, providing
that the post of InspectorGenera of Maritime Customs
shall continue to be filed by British subject long
the British trade shall continue larger than that of
any other country In the year the French, fol
lowing this example, demanded that the post of Drec
tor-General of the Chinese PostOfice be filed by a
Frenchman This was first refused and later granted
From 1860 to 1900 period of scramble for con-
cessions from China. According to the mostfavored
nation clause the position of China became that of
incompetent elder brother When the little brother
say, Great Britain, secured piece of candy cesson
the little sister say, France, demanded identical
piece, also cesson. Thus in 1888 Portugal secured
Macao; in 1885 France Indo-China in 1886 Great
Britain Burmah and in 1893 Great Britain and France
the southern part of Siam. In 1895 the Chino-Jap
anese War was ended in cedng to Japan Formosa and
in recognizing the complete independence of Korea
which had been a dependency of China.
In addition to these outright cessions, there
made during this period Observation-Disclosures mutla
ton by lease In this way, in 1897, the Germans got
Kiaochow-wan; in 1898, the British occupied Weiha-
wei and the whole peninsula of Kowloon, the French
secured Kwanchow{wan, the Russians possessed Port
Arthur and Talienwan. n
1t was these leaseholds together with other priv
leges that constituted the Sphere of influences"
For instance, find in the treaties of 1897 1898
such provisions the following: under no circum-
stances would the Yangtze Valley be coded any 9TH
than Great Britain any part the provinces
bordering on Tonkng- namely, Kwantung, Kwausi,
Yunan-cannot be aienated to any country except
France, and the materials or equipments needed to
build railways in these provinces only be bought
from France Germany has the right to build certain
railways in the province of Shantung, open mines
along the railways, and to have the first call of loans
and other forms of assistance in China undertakes
with foreign aid to develop the province; number
of privileges in the adjoining region of Port Arthur
and Talien-wan and along the railway in the North
shall be guaranteed exclusively to the Russians the
province of Fukien be ceded leased any
power other than Japan. These are spheres of in
fuences." But a scrutiny of the words used by the
Chinese government in the treaties shows that had
such intention. The Chinese phraseology carries
denial of any intention to ALLEVIATE any part of these
regions to anybody. r.
Such was the situation in China at the end of 1898
Germany had secured her foothod in Shantung; Rus
STA ready to make herself at home in Manchuria
France and Great Britain had taken ports in the south
west. France had special interests in Yunan. Great
Britain had asserted her claim to the Yangze Valley
sphere OF influence and considered the region adj
jacent to Honkong another sphere of interest japan
had earmarked Fukien province Only the United
States had as yet asked for nothing by way of terri
tory and had been given nothing except the substan
tia privileges based extraordinarily and treaty
tariff which were common to all treaty nations The
United States just beginning to penetrate China
and therefore enuncated the open door policy in the
Far Easta policy which would give the United States
at least an equality of commercial opportunity the
same as enjoyed by the older imperalist powers.
The Boxer Uprising.
DUT it this scramble for concessions during the
II latter half of the 18th century that led TO the
Boxer uprising in 1900. This uprising was the first