been prevented from continuing the
exercice of his functions.

In addition to H.M.S. Thistle we
understand that H.M.S.S. Snipe and
Nightingale are also already at Chang-
sha or on their way to the port, while
an American gunboat will be hurried
up river with all possible speed.

The notification issued by the Chinese
Imperial Telegraph Company that
telegraphic communication with Chang-
sha is interrupted may mean nothing
more than that the officials wish to
reserve the line for their own use.

April 18.

We have received the following
telegram from our Hankow corres-
pondent :—

Hankow, April 16.

The riots at Changsha began on
Wednesday night, the cause being
the scarcity of rice.

On Thursday the stations of the
China Inland Mission, the Norweg-
ian Missionary Society and the
Catholic Mission (outside the city)
were destroyed by fire, and on Fri-
day the Wesleyan, the United
Evangelical Church and London
Missions were burnt.

The godowns and hulks of
Messrs. Butterfield & Swire and of
Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co.
were also set on fire.

All Europeans are safe.

The Governor of Hunan and his
son have been killed.

The troops have made common
cause with the rioters against
foreigners.

The city is burning and there are
24,000 rioters looting. The officials,
who are powerless, have fled.

The Customs House and the
British Consulate have not been
destroyed.

Our Peking correspondent tele-
graphs :—

Peking, April 17.

H.M.S.S. Snipe and Nightingale
are expected to arrive at Changsha
to-morrow (Monday). A French
gunboat is leaving Ichang for
Changsha. H.M.S. Thistle has not
been able to reach the town owing
to the shallowness of the Tungting
Lake.

The Governor of Hunan who was
wounded during the attack on the
yamèn is reported to be dead.

The rioters are apparently pro-
ceeding about their work in a
methodical manner.

The Waiwupu denies emphati-
cally that there is any serious dis-
order.

We are courteously informed by the
Japanese Consul-General that a tele-
gram dispatched from Yochow on
Saturday has been received from the

Japanese Vice-Consul at Changsha to
the following effect :—

... The situation is serious and
dangerous. All foreign shops and mis-
sions have been destroyed, including the
Japanese Consulate, and the offices of
Mitsui Bussan Kaisha. The offices of the
Nippon Yusen Kaisha were reported to
be still safe. In view of the fact that
there seemed no hope of order being
restored, that provisions were short and
that communication was being main-
tained with difficulty with Changsha,
the Vice-Consul decided in consultation
with the British Consul that it would
be better that all foreigners, including
the seventy Japanese residents in
Changsha, should be transferred to
Hankow."

Although telegraphic communication
has apparently been restored with
Changsha the messages that are coming
through do not enable us to reconstruct
the situation very clearly. While the
Japanese Vice-Consul, who has had his
Consulate destroyed, would seem to
have come down to Yochow on his way
to Hankow, Mr. W. M. Hewlett, the
British Consul, was at the time of his
last dispatch still at Changsha on board
one of the two steamers, the Siangtan
and the Kiangtan, belonging to Messrs.
Butterfield and Swire, which he
had detained for the purpose of
receiving the refugees. The steamer
was anchored a mile from the town. It
would seem that the Changsha officials
had notified the two foreign Consuls
early on Thursday that they found
themselves unable of protect the lives
and property of foreigners ; and this
intimation must have given the signal for
a general exodus from the mainland,
which enabled the foreign residents
to escape with their lives. All personal
effects, we learn, had to be abandoned.

Baulked of their prey, the rioters
set about the systematic destruction of
property. At an early stage of the
attack on the Governor's yamèn a certain-
number of the foreign drilled troops, of
whom there are said to have been 6000
in the town, offered some resistance to
theirioters; but the Provincial Treasurer
is said to have confined the rest to
barracks, presumably because he had
little confidence in them. At a later
period they are represented as having
made common cause with the rioters,
and may have introduced the element
of methodical procedure that is appar-
ently characterizing the work of whole-
sale destruction.

Fresh troops, as has already been
stated, are being dispatched from Wu-
chang to Changsha. The British gun-
boats Snipe and Nightingale are due to
arrive there to-day, while H.M.S.
Thistle, which failed in her first attempt
to reach Changsha, was to make an-
other effort yesterday from Yochow,
on the Tungting Lake.

In the town itself complete anarchy
reigns. All foreign buildings, with
the exception of the hospital, are
demolished, as far as is known, although
no definite information has reached us
regarding the offices of the Nippon
Yusen Kaisha and the premises and
newly erected tanks of the Standard
Oil Company.

A SAD ACCIDENT.

An unfortunate accident marred the
progress of H. M. S. Thistle up to
Yochow. As she was proceeding
during Thursday night under full
steam up the Yangtze she collided with
a junk, bearing refugees from Chang-
sha, which was being navigated without
lights. Three missionaries are re-
ported to have been drowned, their
nationality being given as German,
Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Winsloe,
who is now in port, has informed.
Herr von Buri, Consul-General for
Germany, of the sad mishap, but the
latter has received no further confirma-
tion of the incident. As far as is known
thre were only eight German mis-
SIONS IN CHANGSHA, MEMBERS OF THE
Liebenzell Mission, which is associated
with the China Inland Mission and all
these have been reported safe and sound
at Hankow, with the exception of Herr C.
Wohlleber and Herr O. Hollenweger
who were to remain on board the China
Navigation steamer until the last, party
of foreigners left the port. An uncon-
firmed report, however, says that three
American missionaries are missing, and
it is possible that these may be the
victims of the junk disaster.

According to the latest advices, con-
firmed by reports received by the China
Inland Mission, whom we have to thank
for having kindly placed the information
at our disposal, the situation around
Changsha is far from encouraging and
the position is regarded with some
anxiety.

Below we give the story of the riots as
told in the Chinese Press.

THE CHINESE ACCOUNT.

According to telegrams to the Chi-
nese Press, Governor Tsen Ch'un-ming
of Hunan lost his life in the rising and
died last Saturday of his wounds. It
is also said that he committed sui-
cide by swallowing gold and that before
his death he had sent a telegram to
the Government, blaming himself for
his inability to prevent the riot and
asking for due punishment on himself.
Many of his family also gave up their lives.
Taotai Lai Chêng-yu, the Police Intend-
ant, in trying to protect the Governor,
was seriously wounded. The insurgents
set fire to the Governor's yamèn, then
looted the Ta Ching Government Bank.
Many buildings, schools and Christian
Missions were set on fire and a great
glare lighted up the sky. The Govern-
ment has telegraphed to the Viceroy in
Wuchang, ordering him to dispatch troops
to Changsha to quell the insurgents.
The Changsha District Magistrate is also
reported to have committed suicide.
The rising is spreading and tele-
graphic communications from Hsiang-
yu to Yochow have been interrupted.

On the 13th the famine sufferers had
gathered outside the south gate and
were robbing rice shops. The Intendant
of Police, in trying to maintain order,
was wounded and had to retreat into
the city ; several thousand of the people
followed him to the Governor's yamèn
and did not disperse that night. On
the next morning all trade in the city
was stopped and rioters smashed the
gates and barricades of the missions,

troops into the city for protection, but as
local malcontents and evil-doers filled
the ranks of the rioters whom they
urged on, the rising culminated as re-
ported.

As to the causes of the trouble native
reports say that, owing to recent rains,
the price of rice rose considerably; the
depreciation of the copper cents and
cornering of rice by well-to-do mer-
chants also combined to bring about the
catastrophe. Changsha and Hankow
dispatches say that, owing to a large
influx of famine refugees from the coun-
try and from Hupeh, the price of rice rose
rapidly and gave rise to a rumour that
the stock of rice would be insufficient
for consumption. This rumour pre-
cipitated the rising. It is also stated
that since 1900 the lower classes have
not been progressing in intelligence, as
the more progressive section of the
people have been weakened in influence
and were separated by the officials, who
joined hands with some of the conserva-
tive gentry. Anti-foreign spirits have
been thus revived more or less. The
condition of the poor has been much
aggravated by hard times in recent
years. Disbanded soldiers added con-
siderably to the already large num-
ber of unemployed, and the
absence of some large industry
to absorb them was very apparent. The
inefficiency of the new troops and police
was also responsible for the trouble,
while the authorities also must be
censured for having taken no precau-
tions to lower the price of rice or to
enhance its supply.

April 19.

ORDER RESTORED.

We have received the following
telegram from our Hankow cerre-
pondent :—

Hankow, April 18.

During the rioting at Changsha
on Saturday the Japanese Con-
sulate, the Cash Mint, the Ta Ching
Government Bank, the Customs
House and the Post Office were
destroyed.

Three thousand Chinese troops
have arrived at Changsha. Many
Chinese have been killed

The Standard Oil and the Asiatic
Petroleum Companies' godowns
have been destroyed.

Later our Hankow correspondent
telegraphed :—

Hankow, April 18, 5.35 p.m.

The Changsha riot came to an
end this morning. The city was
quiet at noon.

Thus it would appear that the
worst is over and that normal
conditions are gradually being
restored. According to information
kindly given us by the Japanese Con-
sulate-General, a telegram dispatched
from Yochow on Sunday afternoon at
3.50 stated that the "Governor of
Hunan reports that the riot has now
subsidized," From this it would seem,
and the Chinese telegrams confirm the

Chen-ming's death are untrue. It is to
be hoped that they are, for the Governor
is well spoken of as an amiable official,
amenable to reason and not blindly
anti-foreign. At the same time it is
clear that he is in no sense a strong
man. It was further stated that
H.M.S. Thistle had left Yochow
to make another attempt to reach Chang-
sha but that none of the other foreign
gunboats had gone up. A second tele-
gram from Mr. Matsumara, Japanese
Consul-General at Hankow, dated yester-
day 11.20 a.m., read :—

According to the telegram received
by the Nishin Kisen Kaisha from their
branch office in Changsha and dated April
16, 10 a.m., order has now been restored
in Changsha. Many Chinese shops have
opened their doors. The buildings of the
firm escaped damage and the Japanese
teachers who have been left behind in
the native city are also safe.

Messrs. Jardine Matheson & Co.,
received a telegram yesterday stating
that their hulk had been burnt and the
godown looted and damaged, but ap-
parently not destroyed. This firm had
no foreign representatives in Changsha.

Messrs. Butterfield and Swire kindly
inform us of the receipt of various
telegrams, the first of which dated
Changsha, Friday the 15th, reports the
burning of the godown and hulk and
the escape of all foreigners on board the
C.N.S.S. Siangtan and Kian—not
Kiangtan as incorrectly stated by us
yesterday. Another telegram dispatch-
ed from Hankow on Sunday afternoon
reports the safe arrival of the Siangtan,
the Kian remaining as long as was
necessary at Changsha. All foreign
property is reported to be destroyed, but
no further trouble is expected.

We deeply regret to learn from the
Fathers of the Spanish Augustinian
Mission that they have received a tele-
gram from Hankow stating that the
Right Rev. Mgr. L. Tit. Perez,
Bishop of Corico and Vicar Apostolic
of Northern Hunan, the Rev. Father
B. Gonzalez, and the Rev. Father de
la Paz have been drowned. No further
details are yet known, but it is conjec-
tured that these may have been the
three who were reported drowned in the
sinking of the junk by H.M.S. Thistle.

THE CHINESE ACCOUNT.

According to belated telegrams to
the Chinese Press, dated the 16th, the
two companies of troops dispatched by
Viceroy Jui Chêng and some troops
sent by the Yangtze Admiral have
arrived in Changsha, and the situation
has calmed down. The Governor has
not been killed as reported, and as the
rioters have dispersed, peace is gradually
being restored. The Viceroy in
Wuchang has sent a telegram
to the Shanghai Taotai to the
effect that the report of the Governor's
death came from Admiral Chêng's
telegram based on a letter received from
the Commissioner of Customs. The
Viceroy says that when telegraphic
communication was restored last Sat-
day, two telegrams were received from
the Hunan Governor, which showed
that he had not been murdered, and
that his death was only a rumour. The
Governor said that the rioters

had been resumed. He, however,
stated that wild rumours were
afloat. The Viceroy says that two
companies of troops have been sent-
from Hupeh and another from Yochow
to assist in restoring order.

The Governor of Hunan has sent a
telegram to the Shanghai Taotai, say-
ing that, owing to floods last year in
Lichou and droughts in Changsha and
Hengchow, and also to the large quanti-
ties of rice exported, the price of rice
gradually rose, and Imperial permission
had been obtained to prohibit its export.
But the prohibition, in view of business
engagements could not be enforced
until twenty-one days after. The
ignorant people failed to understand
this condition and, incited by mal-
contents, they created a riot, burning
the Governor's yamên, Christian mis-
sions and schools. The Governor says
that the officials did their best to
maintain order, and the Consuls and
missionaries left the city under protec-
tion. Steps were being taken, he says,
to lower the price of rice and to arrest
the leaders of the riot. He also stated
that business was being resumed and
peace was restored.

It is stated that the Peking Govern-
ment has ordered Provincial Treasurer
Chuang Kêng-liang to act as Governor,
but that he has pleaded inability to as-
sume charge and applied for the appoint-
ment of a High Commissioner to cope
with the situation. It is also stated
that Viceroy Jui Chêng intends to take
troops to Hunan and quell the disturb-
ance himself.

THE STORY OF CHANGSHA.

It remains to assess the dam-
age: and, by the evidence of
those who know the province best,
the Hunanese, having had their fling
and vented their spleen, will now face
the consequences with resignation, if
not exactly with equanimity. Nineteen
years ago they discovered that the
burning of foreign property was a
costly entertainment: also that "the
burning of houses is in itself a lament-
able thing." It would be better,
they thought, to drive out the
foreigners and sell their property for
the revenue. Under pressure of want
and agitation the people of Changsha
have forgotten the first part of these
conclusions. But the anti-foreign spiri-
tus still keeps a strong hold upon them
in order to reach H.E.
Some little time before the Yangtze
riots of 1891 a writer in these columns
said :—

Its (Changsha's) grand peculiarity is
that like the forbidden city at Peking
and the kingdom of Tibet, it is one of the
few places left in the whole world which
no foreigner may presume to enter. It
is perhaps the most intensely anti-foreign-
ary city in China, a feeling kept up by the
literati with the full sympathy of the
officials.

If to-day the casual foreigner is not
received with showers of brickbats, as
was the writer of these lines, the anti-
foreignism of the gentry has undergone a
big change, and it would be
surprising to hear that foreign
appears that the gentry exercise some
influence of the city.

In the present gentry referred
from Hupeh and another from Yochow
seems scarcely pos-
moving spirit should
be behind the outburst, if
religion and prejudice
are most automatically to
be broken through.

April 20.

A telegram, dated Yo-
April 18, received by
Japanese Consul-
eously communicated
in the suburbs of
 ported to be "some-
although the town
H. M. S. Thistle,
ated, had arrived at
y at 4 p.m. and Mr.
the British Consul,
remaining on board
and gone ashore.
able to record that
m Changsha speak
he conduct of Mr.
situation and of the
by him to all the
ated in the city.

ACCOUNT.

A Chinese resident in
me of the outbreak
though the courtesy
Mission the follow-
out of the riots :—
outside the South
afternoon had
mutual agree-
able and officials
discussing the
high price
a view of the
ment on the part
it he did not con-
sh a sheng too ex-
emy cash a sheng, it
a very high price.
his callous indiffer-
g Governor towards
people, but nothing
until the Police
scene and ordered
those present. The
act and attacked
men arrested were
to the prison, the
ing the proportions
following. They
Governor's yamên and
still keeps a strong hold upon them
to reach H.E.
Some little time before the Yangtze
riots of 1891 a writer in these columns
said :—

was held in the
that evening, and
indicate that any
brewing, although
the people were
reality of rice and
the Thursday night
China Inland Mis-
bys the soldiers
guard attached
Changsha and told
the foreigner to
be ready to meet
the ten minutes away
seven-tenths of the total governing in-
fluence of the city.

clear away by a back door. They were

Natural causes combine to set the province of Hunan in a peculiar position. With an area equal to that of Great Britain, it produces nearly everything that its people require. Moreover Changsha is a proud city. Against its battleduced walls the last waves of the Taiping Rebellion broke and were driven back. And the citizens of those times, with the belief ingrained in them that the foreigners had given rise to the rebellion, were fully prepared, as soon as they had finished with the Taipings, to deal with the foreign devils also. This plan it was not found convenient to carry out: but it is not surprising that a good deal of the old feroceness should have continued to cling about the walls and gate towers, the temples, colleges and official residences which the Taipings, having destroyed so much of ancient China in other directions, were here powerless to injure.

Changsha is essentially to be called a fine city. It stands in a fine situation on the bank of the Siang river, surrounded by park-like country rising, across the river, into picturesque, though not mountainous, hills. As will be seen from the map that we publish to-day, it is oval in shape, though its length of some three to four miles from North to South is not very much greater than its breadth. It is well built and closely populated. Outside the South gate where the rioting began there is a dense cluster of suburbs; but at the northern end about, the British Consulate and the London and Roman Catholic missions, the ground is not much built over. The British Consulate was removed to its present quarters, in a new foreign-built structure, from a native house within the city, in the autumn of 1908; this, as we gather from the Customs report for that year, being part of the official plan for the establishment of a foreign settlement without the North gate. The new building that is being erected on the island on which the Customs residential quarters stand is designed as a Consular residence. This island, it may be mentioned, is 633 yards from the city bank and extends further in each direction than Changsha itself; but in the summer time, with high water in the river, it frequently becomes, for the nonce, two or three islands. A comprehensive scheme for bunding the fore-shores of the city and foreign settlement has been in execution since the year before last. And more than this, preparations have been made for the coming of the Canton-Hankow Railway which should, in time, do something to soften the old intransigence of Changsha.

### SURVEILLANCE AND OBSTRUCTION.

How practically the anti-foreignism of the Hunanese is demonstrated, may be gathered from the evidence of those who have lived for years, and until recently, in Changsha. To begin with, we are told, it is not possible for any foreigner, even for a missionary well known to the citizens by long continued residence, to move about the city without an escort of one or two soldiers. The ostensible reason alleged by the authorities for this surveillance is to

give effect to the treaty provisions requiring them to extend protection to foreigners to the best of their ability. But there is good reason to believe that the escort furnishes constant reports of the movements of his charge, and that if by any chance the latter escapes his vigilance, the soldier is severely punished.

Another point that calls for attention is the extreme difficulty encountered by foreigners in buying or even renting property. We know well that this difficulty is met with in many parts of China; but at Changsha the art of obstruction would appear to have been carried to the degree of a science. There is in the city an institution which keeps account of houses to let. To this institution prospective tenants must go to give a full account of themselves and intentions: and the foreign applicant's chances are all but hopeless. Only a year ago three middlemen who had negotiated the sale of land, some distance southward of the City, to the Standard Oil Company, were arrested and two of them so severely beaten that they died. But resistance in this particular is not confined to the official classes. It is not too much to say that any private owner who lets property to a foreigner runs considerable risk of being ostracized by his friends and relations as one who inclines to foreign ways and thereby dishonours his birth-right.

### SEEDS OF DISCORD.

On such a soil as this it is easy to imagine that anti-foreign propaganda, reinforced by general want, would rapidly take effect. The story of the full responsibility for the late riot has yet to be told. Possibly it never will be. So far as the severity of rice is concerned, it is impossible not to feel sympathy for the people. The exportation of rice from Changsha by the wealthy classes, at all times, is, in the opinion of our informants, a crying scandal, which has been accentuated in the present spring by heavy rains that ruined the young rice. An influx of famine-refugees from other parts of the province—possibly from Changtsein in the north-west, always a poor district, exposed to constant floods, where lately the people were reported to be selling their daughters—would add the last straw to the popular discontent.

But it is clear that the present trouble has been gradually working up for the past three or four years. During that time a steady under-current of animosity has been growing perceptibly, in particular among the student class. In February the same rumours of the partition of China that were signalled by our correspondents in other parts were rife in Changsha. That city, we believe it was said, was to go to the Americans, Siangyin to the British and Yochow to the Japanese. Shall we yet hear that another Chou Han, to whose inflammatory writings so much of the troubles of 1891 was due, has been at the back of the riot of 1910? We are told that the Customs Taotai Chu, who has been for many years in Changsha, is the centre of all obstruction. In this, indeed, he would appear to be no more than the mouth-

piece of the reactionary gentry referred to above. But it seems scarcely possible that some moving spirit should not be traceable behind the outburst, if the wall of conservatism and prejudice that will rise, almost automatically, to shelter him can be broken through.

April 20

According to a telegram, dated Yochow 7.10 p.m. April 18, received by Mr. A Ariyoshi, Japanese Consul-General, and courteously communicated to us, the situation in the suburbs of Changsha was reported to be "some-what threatening," although the town itself was quiet. H. M. S. Thistle, the same telegram stated, had arrived at Changsha on Sunday at 4 p.m. and Mr. H. W. Hewlett, the British Consul, and other foreigners remaining on board the C.N.S. Kian had gone ashore.

We are glad to be able to record that all the refugees from Changsha speak in high praise of the conduct of Mr. Hewlett in a trying situation and of the assistance rendered by him to all the nationalities represented in the city.

### A REFUGEE'S ACCOUNT.

From a missionary resident in Changsha at the time of the outbreak we have received through the courtesy of the China Inland Mission the following interesting account of the riots :—

The gathering outside the South gate on Wednesday afternoon had come together by mutual agreement between people and officials for the purpose of discussing the situation caused by the high price of rice, especially in view of the unexpected pronouncement on the part of the Governor that he did not consider one hundred cash a sheng too expensive. Rice at sixty cash a sheng, it may be stated, rules as a very high price. Feeling ran high at this callous indifference on the part of the Governor towards the welfare of the people, but nothing untoward happened until the Police Taotai arrived on the scene and ordered the arrest of some of those present. The people resented this act and attacked the Taotai, but the men arrested were taken under guard to the prison, the crowd, rapidly gaining the proportions of a formidable mob, following. They surrounded the Governor's yamen and in their determination to reach H. E. Tsen Chun-ming, part of the building was damaged.

The usual service was held in the Mission compounds that evening, and there was nothing to indicate that any special trouble was brewing, although it was known that the people were disturbed by the scarcity of rice and the events of the day.

At 1.30 a.m. during Thursday night the inmates of the China Inland Mission were aroused by the soldiers forming the permanent guard attached to each Mission in Changsha and told that a mob had already attacked the Norwegian Mission ten minutes away and was coming to them next. A hurried exodus was decided upon, but the mob had already reached the compound before the missionaries could get clear away by a back door. They were

been prevented from continuing the exercise of his func-

In addition to understand that E Nightingale are als sha or on their w an American gun- up river with all po

The notification i Imperial Telegrap telegraphic commu sha is interrupted more than that t reserve the line for

We have received telegram from o pon'ent :—

Ha

The riots at C Wednesday night the scarcity of ri

On Thursday t China Inland Mis ian Missionary Catholic Mission were destroyed by day the Wesley Evangelical Chu Missions were bu

The godowns Messrs. Butterfiel Messrs. Jardine, were also set on fi

All Europeans

The Governor son have been ki

The troops hav cause with the

The city is bur 24,000 rioters loo who are powerles

The Customs British Consultat destroyed.

Our Peking graphs :—

P

H.M.SS. Snip are expected to a to-morrow (Mon gunboat is lea Changsha. H.M. been able to reac to the shallownes

The Governor wounded during yamén is reporte

The rioters al ceeding about t methodical man-

The Waiwupu cally that there i order.

We are courteo Japanese Consul-G gram dispatched Sa

m from continuing the Jangarene. Viceroy. might have fared badly. if a cry had not been raised that more missionaries were left inside the building. Their pursuers left them to turn their attention to the Mission and the missionaries made good their escape to a yamén, where by the irony of fate Chou Han, the originator of the Yangtze riots of 1891, is serving his life sentence. Here they established themselves in the official's quarters and remained till the morning. At six o'clock the city seemed quiet again and as their escort reported the Mission deserted, the missionaries made their way back to view the wreckage of their station. The rioters had done their work thoroughly; practically everything was smashed to pieces or strewn about and damaged. A breakfast of some kind was procured, but towards ten o'clock a native Christian brought word that the rioters were once more on the move and were going to set fire to the foreign quarters. Once more an exodus had to be effected, this time with any portions of clothing that had been rescued from the débris. The missionaries went straight to the river front and were taken on board the C. N. S. Siangtan. Shortly after noon various buildings were fired. The Siangtan dropped down the river a short distance, and all the refugees who were going to Hankow that night were transferred to the I. C. S. Changwo, which left at about 9.30 that evening.

Some anxiety was felt regarding the fate of native Christians left behind; and at present little is known as to how they fared in the riots.

April 21.

No further news has reached us regarding the situation in Changsha, but a private message has been received in Shanghai to the effect that the Nor- wegian Mission at Ningsiang, forty miles west of Changsha, was destroyed by rioters on Saturday and that the mission stations at Yiyang, sixty miles north- west of Changsha, and Hsinhua, 120 miles to the south-west, were threatened There has, however, been no official confirmation of this report.

## OPIUM.

From a Szechuan Correspondent,

I have now travelled some 900 miles through territory which even as late as last year was covered with poppy. This year not a single plant can be seen anywhere either contiguous to the so-called great roads or off them.

I have made the most rigid inquiries from all sorts and conditions of men and received invariably the same replies. I have questioned Protestant and Roman Catholic missionaries of all nationalities, native Christians, Chinese residents all along the road and any number of promiscuous travellers as well as officials.

I thought in one instance that I had discovered a place where opium was being grown, for upon putting the usual question to a lady missionary in the farthest west of Szechuan she

formerly.

I said that some must then be grown, and asked whether she could indicate where. She replied in the course of various questions and answers that she had not seen any herself, that she did not know any Chinese who had seen any, but supposed Chinese who had been grown because she had not seen any. I was referred by this lady to a native merchant who travelled much in the district and who had very extensive business connexions and knew all about the question. I promptly repaired to his place of business and was informed in the most categorical fashion that not a single stalk was growing anywhere. In one place the local official in an informal and friendly chat volunteered the news that he had discovered one man who ventured to disobey the proclamation, that this unfortunate had been taught to obey by being fined heavily, bamboozed and by having his crop torn up by the roots and destroyed.

I found upon talking to the farmers a very wholesome fear of consequences, if they dared to disobey. The almost universal reply was, "We do not dare to grow any opium."

As a result of this absolute prohibition a few consequences are immediately apparent :

1. Land has depreciated 25 per cent. in value.

2. The price of opium has advanced as much as 800 per cent over last year.

3. The poppy acreage being devoted to cereals, foodstuffs are plentiful and cheap.

4. A traveller in countless villages and towns sees no sign of opium smoking; one has to hunt diligently to find a place where opium can be procured or smoked.

5. I saw in many cases the opium cooking vessels being used for cooking purposes.

I presume this transformation is one of the most wonderful ever seen. At the word of the Governor-General some seventy millions of people tremble and obey, and not one dares disobey an order which has at once reduced the income of half the population. I venture to think such a change could be effected in one year in no other country of the world. Only in absolutely autocratic China would this be possible.

The Chinese Government in opposing foreigners' requests for improvements and concessions has again and again based its refusal on the opposition of the people. This concrete example shows that the officials are only fooling foreigners—apparently a very easy thing to do—by such frivolous objections.

Talking in Chengtu, the capital of the Province, with a Taotai on various subjects I referred to a prominent mining case. The Taotai said that really the people objected and consequently the Concession had to be revoked. When he had finished speaking I said, "But the people also objected to being prohibited from growing opium." He smiled. I emphasized the fact that the officials would now have to send some

off foreigners. I said that it used to be a fengshui. The Taotai immediately replied, "Oh, we don't care for fengshui, and if ever the idols get in the way we pitch them out into the road or river."

When foreigners, and foreign officials especially, really understand the Chinese better, they will not give heed to the frivolous excuses which have so far satisfied them, nor suffer a device which is being so satisfactorily exploited even now by the Chinese in their disputes.

When the Chinese Government wants to put its foot down with its own people, it can do so and is abundantly able to keep it down.

## MISSIONARY JOURNALISM.

PIONEER PUBLICATIONS,

Missionary journalism in China falls under two headings which may be called Pastoral and General, the former being for Chinese Church members, the latter for the general reading public. Of the former class there are sixteen periodicals, ten of which are denominational organs, but read by Christians of other Missions, the rest interdenominational, though in some cases local in circulation. In this region Dr. Morrison and Dr. Milne were the pioneers, as in so many other things, publishing a (Christian newspaper in the Chinese language at Malacca as early as 1815. Their next successor seems to have been Dr. Y. J. Allen, who in 1868 published in Shanghai a "Church News and Globe Magazine". Then, from this distinctive- ly religious paper, he branched forth into a more general style, founding the "Review of the Times", or in Chinese the "Myriad Realms Gazette", which soon became d-servedly famous among the officials and literati, as well as among educated native Christians. Although assisted by several contributors, the magazine was as much coloured by Dr. Alle's strong personality as are now such English journals as the "Review of Reviews" or "Public Opinion", or the American "Outlook", by the personalities of their respective editors. And our Western Consuls will realize more than any Western merchants how deeply indebted to the late Dr. Allen are all foreign residents in China to-day. For many years, apart from the Consular Courts, his magazine was practically the only link between Chinese public opinion and the western world; or "East was East and West was West, and never the twain could meet", in the days of merely official diplomacy, and commercial intercourse in the igno- ble jargon of pidgin English. It was that veteran who, year after year, assisted by such men as Dr. Timothy Richard and Dr. Gilbert Reid, in his journalism acted as middle-man between the East and the West. Both diplomacy and commerce had have their set-backs from time to time in China, and residence in the interior has been rendered hazardous now and then by anti-foreign riots; but there was so much misunderstanding to be removed, and such deep-

From Chinese Press

Wuchang, April 14.

Riots have broken out at Changsha, the capital of Hunan, on account of a scarcity of rice. Some yamēns of lower officials have been destroyed, the buildings of three missions have been burnt down, and some rice shops have been plundered. All members of foreign missions are safe in the yamén of the Governor, which is besieged by the rioters. Viceroy Jui Cheng has dispatched two regiments to Changsha to suppress the riots.

April 15.

Viceroy Jui Cheng has dispatched two gunboats to Changsha. The situation there seems to have become quieter; the Governor is missed and the Provincial Treasurer is acting for him. The yamén of the Governor has been destroyed by fire, and telegraphic communication with Changsha is interrupted. All foreigners seem to be safe.

## Editorial

### THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

April 19.

ONCE more Chinese history has been punctuated with one of those sudden outbursts of popular frenzy which by their regularity tend inevitably to keep the country lowered in the world's esteem. Happily the Changsha émeute has been unattended, as far as is known, by severe loss of life or by any casualties among foreigners, save such as may have been accidentally drowned on their way to Hankow; but the outbreak is none the less serious owing to the rapidity with which it assumed an anti-foreign character and the thoroughness of the work of destruction. The city of the iron gates," as its inhabitants proudly term it in memory of its prowess in stemming the advance of the Taiping Rebellion after a siege of eighty days, has been strip-ped of its laurels in the last few days. Whatever the fate of the splendid temples and memorial halls by which it sought to honour its illustrious dead, the city itself has been besmirched by the black hand of pillage and incendiarism, while anarchy has held sway within the walls. The renown of the capital of Hunan has been limited

only by the boundaries or the Empire; wealthy beyond any other city of its size, fittingly embellished with public buildings and private residences, and adequately administered, it has contrived to live up to a glorious past. To-day it has plunged the country in disgrace. Deserting the traditions of sixty years ago, when Hunanese leaders and Hunanese troops stood for the integrity of the Empire, its people have revived the unenviable notoriety won for the province in 1891, when the excesses of its misguided citizen Chou Han fanned into flame the Yangtze riots. If it be urged that the damage wrought last week was the work of refugees from other provinces and that Chinese no less than foreigners were the victims of the mob's violence, the fact remains that mismanagement or worse paved the way for the riots, while incompetence and insubordination placed the town at the mercy of the rioters.

There can be little doubt as to where the actual responsibility for the Changsha riots rests. Thanks to the prestige acquired in Taiping days the gentry have retained in their own hands even more of the direction of the affairs of the province than is usual in other parts of China. Independence and aloofness have long been characteristic of the Hunanese, and certain intellectual qualities have tended to make them marked men among their fellow-countrymen. In Changsha it has been reckoned that the gentry wield twice as much authority as the officials, for it is noticeable that in the discussion of public matters the former always enjoy numerical preponderance. The institution of the Provincial Assembly strengthened still further the hands of the gentry, and it is

from them that the official administration receives its inspiration. By the opening of the city as a treaty port on July 1, 1904, under the Commercial Treaty with Japan, a blow was deal at provincial exclusiveness. The gentry of Changsha bowed to the inevitable but only to the extent that they were prepared to accept whatever the foreigner had to offer, while reserving to themselves the right to reject the foreigner himself. To the latter's presence in their midst they have continued to present uncompromising hostility, and every possible obstacle has been

placed in his way. When it was found that the treaty could not be so interpreted as to enable them to place the foreign settlement at some distance from Changsha, they proceeded to block by all possible means at their disposal the acquisition of land by foreigners. The strict letter of the treaties has been observed, but care has been taken to impress upon every foreigner setting foot in the town the fact that his presence is tolerated, not desired. Little time is required to infuse such a spirit into the populace at large, and there has been a marked change of late in the attitude of the people of Changsha from that which prevailed at the time of the opening of the port. The anti-foreign propaganda which has traversed the greater part of China, accordingly, found favourable ground in which to thrive. In the opinion of residents and others the elements of an outbreak have long been present in the city, and only the spark to fire the train was needed to bring about the explosion.

When that explosion did occur, both officials and foreigners, as well as the city of Changsha itself, were involved in the disaster. It will not have happened in vain, however, if the lesson be taken to heart both by Chinese officialdom and by Young China. This actual flash has come and gone. The riots in Changsha have subsided, and, though Chinese lives have been lost, the evil remains for the present circumscribed within the limits of the town. China as a whole is the sufferer, for not only has she lost in prestige, but she must be mulcted in part pecuniarily. Without the anti-foreign propaganda that has been carefully fostered in Hunan, the temporary scarcity of rice could have been overcome, as it was in May, 1906, unless indeed it had been directly caused by the officials. Four years ago official and private charity came liberally to the help of the sufferers, while strenuous official action was taken to bring in supplies. On the present occasion the desire and the

ability to help were alike wanting and some sympathy is, perhaps, needed for an ignorant and oppressed proletariat. Even the modern-drilled troops failed the authorities, and the excesses of a few famine sufferers sufficed

which reference is made below, it is evident that an anti-foreign movement was in preparation throughout Hunan. It has partly miscarried owing to the premature outbreak of riots in Changsha over a grievance between the people and the officials. But directly trouble had arisen, the hostility of the populace is turned, as by command, against foreigners.

It will be found that the following letter from our Changsha correspondent embodies the most authoritative account that has yet been received of the riots in Changsha.

Rev.66. Warren Changsha, April 19.

A GRAPHIC ACCOUNT.

Wednesday, April 13, to Friday, April 15, were days that will long be remembered in Changsha. The riots will be marked from the fact that a Governor's yamèn has been sacked and burnt, and a very extensive series of looting and burning of foreign property has been carried out as almost a by-play of the main aim of the riot.

That aim was to cheapen rice. It is the old, old story that our history books show us as occurring in the lands of the N' editerranean, and that Carlyle has so picturesquely taught us to connect with the French Revolution—a hungry mob is dangerous. Rice has been, of course, dearer and dearer on account of the Yangtze floods. For the same reason, the eaters of rice have been more numerous; for the refugees from Hupeh have been numbered by the thousand. The forbidding of export from Changsha had not the desired effect of dropping prices—if that effect was really desired by those who forbad the export. Promises of opening Government granaries were not fulfilled, and as the prices crept up, disappointment and anger grew. On Wednesday night, a rise from 82 cash a pint to 84 cash provoked the gathering of an angry mob. Some four or five officials were sent to speak good words. But one of the speakers resorted to that last refuge of a weak man—bluster and bluff. "Rice is not so dear here as at Hankow, or Canton, or in foreign countries." A howl of derision greeted the untimely speech. "Seize," shouted the official; and the order was left-handedly obeyed by the seizing of him on the part of the mob, instead of the seizing of the shockers by his runners.

The official, who was of no less rank than a Taotai, was dragged by the mob right through the city to the Governor's yamèn, with a crowd that grew rapidly. Soon after 8 p.m. all the immense space in front of the yamèn was packed with people and the first two series of doors and wooden divisions had been burst in. Messages were bandied to and fro, until at last the military were called into action. There was certainly some stabbing with bayonets—that deaths resulted was both asserted and denied. At any rate, messengers and fragments of the crowd broke off and scattered in all directions. Then followed beating of gongs and shouting of orders. Every house-door was set open and every lamp lighted. The city gates were all shut.

THE WORK OF DESTRUCTION.

The crowds that went south divided into two main streams. The western one reached the Wesleyan Methodist Mission, perhaps a little earlier than the eastern one would reach the Norwegian. The Methodist Mission door had not been opened at the first gong beating; so it was hammered at by the crowd. As soon as it was opened, attention was concentrated on the buildings rented by the Imperial Post Office and the Imperial Bank a little further on in the same street. The Post Office door was too substantial for such weapons as the crowd possessed. Not so the bank doors and windows. Showers of shattered glass were followed by showers of broken tiles, as the mob-leaders got on to the roof. One huge stroke, followed by a loud yell, announced that the doors were burst in. Then there was comparative stillness on the night air. It was only comparative and it only lasted while the maddened crowd could retrace the 50 or 100 yards back to the Mission. The Mission windows and lamps followed after the manner of the bank, and the largest chapel in the city within two minutes was a wreck. The missionaries, who had all got dressed, were able to leave quietly by the back door, while the crowd streamed across the lawns and looted and made a bonfire of the loot on the lawn. The missionaries—five ladies and four men—walked quite unmolested through the 200 yards of back streets between the compound and the City Gate. Then, there was a delay of twenty minutes or so, while the keys were being fetched. The refugees were taken into the shop that is used by the guard. While they were there, a police box was smashed up; but no attempt was made to molest them. The gates were opened and the missionaries went at once on to the C.N.S. Siangtan. News was taken to the British Consul (whose temporary consul has been outside the gates, with telephonic communication to the city). With the missionary in the house, telling the tale of the looting and burning, the Customs Taotai telephoned out that the premises were adequately guarded!

The eastern crowd had first reached the Norwegian Mission. There the same story of looting of houses and escape of missionaries was repeated. The Norwegians were in a much less convenient position for reaching safety. They spent some hours on the city wall and were well cared for by the official in charge at the North Gate. He himself helped in the cooking of some refreshments.

The nearest foreign neighbours were the doctor of the Yale Mission and his family, and one of the professors at the Government College with his family. Their house was rented, and was overlooked by the crowd. The two families were received first into the house of a Chinese gentleman, and after dawn made their way through the eastern gate, to a camp under the command of a friendly colonel.

Not much farther on was the China Inland Mission compound. There the crowd made rapid destruction, but once

more the missionaries escaped. As the day wore on refugees came from one place and another, until every European and American had left the city.

About 11 a.m., the mob fired the Governor's yamèn, and for the rest of the day volumes of smoke rose up as building after building caught fire. Rumour was busy; the Governor had been murdered, had committed suicide, was in hiding. Assuredly there was but little space for him to hide in his own extensive compound by nightfall.

At 2 o'clock a column of smoke rose over the Norwegian Mission, and a little later another marked the site of the China Inland Mission. There was no mistaking that mob rule was the only rule in Changsha.

That night the river side was attacked: the Custom House—not held by the mob to be Chinese property; the wharves and godowns of Messrs. Butterfield and Swire, and Jardine and Matheson, were all burned down. So was the Catholic Mission outside the North Gate, the Japanese Consulate inside the city, and the Normal College outside the South Gate.

ON THE STEAMERS.

During the night the C.N.S.S. Kian and Siangkiang arrived, and early on Friday morning a number of the ladies and others left for Hankow by the I.-C.S. Changwo. The three British steamers had been chartered by the Consul on behalf of the Government. Still, that does not alter the indebtedness of all on board to the great courtesy of the captains, officers—and not least the heavily overworked staff of Chinese servants.

The boats were first anchored about a mile or two below the city and were able to see and were seen by the looting crowds. Some of the best of the military officials—men who had some claim to be listened to, if only on account of their great help in guiding parties of refugees to safety—hazarded the opinion that the military would more quickly regain control, if the boats would drop ten miles or so further down, out of sight. That there was a turn in the tide was shown by the fact that two looters caught in setting fire to a Chinese-owned Hotel (which was patronized by foreigners) had been promptly bayonotted and hanged. So the Consul gave orders for our boats to get out of sight.

The Japanese community (with the exception of one or two who could not be reached) had gathered in the compound of the Nisshin Kisen Kaisha, and with the help of 200 soldiers—who had been drilled by Japanese instructors—held the compound safe and sound. They were now all on board the Siangkiang.

On Saturday morning, the Siangtan and Siangkiang, both crowded with foreign passengers, left for Hankow and the Kian stayed on alone. During the day reassuring reports came from some of the interior cities connected by telegraph with Changsha. But at 10 p.m., the whole missionary community of Siangtan with the exception of two gentlemen arrived on board the Governor's tender which had been placed at the disposal of the British

From our Notes on Native Affairs
in another column it will be seen
that the 500 troops referred to by Mr.
Hewlett simply decamped.

Our Siangtan correspondent writes
on April 18:

The outbreak at Changsha is ap-
parently over and we at Siangtan, only
twenty-five miles away, have not been
involved. There has been a good deal
of excitement and a great many rumours
but there has been no outbreak. The
real cause of the riot in Changsha would
seem to be the old anti-foreign feeling,
although the actual occasion was a
sudden rise in the price of rice. When
I came to Siangtan ten years ago rice
was selling at less than two thousand
cash a picul. It was selling at eight
thousand a picul when the riot occurred.
Wages have advanced very little in the
same time. A strong man at the head
of affairs in Changsha could have pre-
vented the trouble.

The acting Governor sent up a launch yesterday to take us all away from Siangtan. While none of us had any fear of any immediate trouble it was thought best to go away for a time until things quieted down. 'All have gone with the exception of two of us, and we are going too, if the necessity arises. No properties nor persons have been molested as yet.

The property here of the Steamship
Companies which suffered so much in
Changsha is unmolested and un-
guarded.

I wonder whether this will not
be a record year for riots on account
of Halley's Comet. There has been
trouble at Canton, Soochow, Hangchow
and Changsha, as well as at other places
already, and the Comet is not visible
yet. At this rate what may happen
when it does appear ?

April 26.

Further light on the information already received regarding the progress of events in Changsha is thrown by a letter, dated from that city on April 20, which has been received by the China Inland Mission and has been courteously placed at our disposal. From this we gather that the position had so far improved on the evening of Tuesday, the 19th, that Mr. W. M. Hewlett, the British Consul, felt justified in allowing the foreigners who had remained at Changsha on board the Kian to go on shore, and preparations were made to spend the night in such buildings as were available. At midnight, however, the acting Governor withdrew his promises of protection and at 2.30 a.m. the British Consul called upon all British subjects to leave the town, as the Peking Government had refused to recognize the acting Governor.

The few residents still remaining at
Changsha were, at the date of the letter,
on houseboats flying the British flag
and under shelter of the Commissioner
of Customs' house on the island.

Missionaries from Paaching were
expected to arrive shortly in obedience
to the summons to leave the interior.

No little anxiety is felt regarding
the state of affairs at Changtho on the
west side or the Tungting Lake. No
communication has been received from
this town for over a week. A British
gunboat had been sent from Changsha
to investigate the situation. All tele-
graphic communication with Changtho
has been interrupted, we understand,
since Sunday, April 17.

April 27.

From information received through
private channels that has been courte-
ously placed at our disposal we learn
that the reconnoitring party sent by
the British Consul at Changsha to
Changtho consisted of an officer and
a company of bluejackets with two
Maxims in a launch belonging to the
Governor of Changsha. A regiment of
Chinese soldiers, it is stated, has also
been dispatched to Changtho. Letters
from that town, dated the 20th, report
that no disturbance had so far oc-
curred in the district.

It was hoped that Admiral Sah would
arrive at Changsha last Saturday.

The report of riots at Piugkiang,
in the north-east corner of the province,
is now said to have been confirmed.

All foreign women and children in
Yochou have been sent to Hankow.

According to the "Hankow Daily
News," Mr. Bertram Giles, H.M. Vice-
Consul at that port, left on April 22
for Changsha to relieve Mr. W. M.
Hewlett, who had been summoned to
Peking to report on the situation.

In the riots at Ninghsiang, thirty
miles north-west of Changsha, the
sufferers were Norwegian missionaries
whose station was burnt down, while
they themselves had to flee for their
lives. At Yiyang both the Wesleyan
and the Norwegian Missions were
destroyed.

THE CORNER IN RICE.

From a letter written by a member
of Yale University Mission at Chang-
sha, which has also been courteously
placed at our disposal, we gather the
additional fact regarding the outbreak
of the recent riots that the officials
concerned had definitely promised during
March that the granaries would be
opened and rice sold at a cheap rate on
April 10. On April 8 this decision
was revoked and the opening of the
granaries was postponed for another
month. This step is attributed to the
gentry, who are said to have anticipated
considerable profits from a corner in

rice in view of the possibility of a famine
in the neighbouring province of Hupeh.

CHANGSHA AGAIN DISTURBED.

Late last night we were courteously
informed that a telegram had been re-
ceived from Hankow stating that
according to a telegram just arrived
from Changsha, under yesterday's date,
the situation at Changsha was again
"very serious."

This may be contrasted with a letter
received from Hankow yesterday by the
Asiatic Petroleum Company, dated the
22nd, in which the agent stated
that he had that day received a telegram
from Changsha stating that all was
quiet and requesting that more oil
might be dispatched. The only de-
duction possible is that the people are
still in a most disaffected state and the
officials scarcely able to control them.

RUMOURED RIOT AT NINGPO.

According to native rumours current
in the Settlement last night, a riot had
occurred at Ningpo, a school at the
Neimèn had been destroyed and the
Taotai had been killed. No confirma-
tion of this has yet been received.

NOTES ON NATIVE AFFAIRS.

April 23.

THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

According to Chinese information
though peace has been restored in the
city of Changsha, rice-robbing still
occurs now and then in the country.
Lately, when the Grand Councillors
prayed that a Government grant might
be issued for the relief of the poor
people of Hunan, the Prince Regent
observed that it was difficult to give
alms to a multitude for any length of
time, that purchasing rice from another
province might affect conditions there,
and that it would be far better
to transport the people to the
frontier regions for colonization. An
order has been sent to the Acting
Governor, H. E. Yang Wen-ting, to
report on the proposition. Ex-Governor
Tsen has been ordered to vacate his
post and await an investigation into
his conduct.

It is reported that there have been
risings in the Ninghsiang and Yiyang
districts, in Hupeh, and that schools, and
Christian missions have been burnt. The
cities are said to be practically in the
hands of insurgents and the situation is
most alarming. The Government pro-
poses to dispatch deputies to Hunan to
ascertain whether the officials were
responsible for the riots. Ex-Grand
Councillor Chu Hung-chi has been
directed to assist in the reorganization
measures.

### THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

According to Chinese dispatches Lai Chang-yü, the Police Intendant in Changsha, who was wounded by the rioters, succumbed to his injuries last Thursday. The Government has been discussing for the last few days whether to punish the officials or the people, but as opinion has been divided, no decision was arrived at. Owing to the unrest along the Yangtze, Admiral Chéng Wen-ping has obtained permission to bring the spring manoeuvres to an end in order to prevent any trouble arising. It is also stated that the British and German Consuls in Hunan have telegraphed to their respective Ministers in Peking, saying that some famished people have attacked the Christian missions and schools in Ningshiang and that the five hundred troops sent by the authorities to quell them, instead of carrying out their duty, threw down their arms and decamped as fast as they could.

### NINGHSIANG RISING.

A Chinese telegram says that over three hundred evil characters in the Ningshiang district, Changsha, have gathered together for an uprising. They put white turbans on their heads and, besides wrecking the Police Office, have burnt down two missions and two schools. The high authorities have dispatched troops for their suppression.

### THE CHANGSHA INDEMNITIES.

The "Sin Wan Pao" says that for the recent riots in Changsha, Great Britain has demanded an indemnity of Tls. 30,000,000 and Japan one of Tls. 5,000,000. The Hunan officials have telegraphed to their fellow provincials in Hunan, stating that the indemnities should be paid by ex-Governor Tsen and Provincial Treasurer Chuang. They base this contention on the precedent of the Mixed Court Riot in Shanghai when the then Taotai was made responsible for the indemnities to foreigners.

### THE CHANGSHA INDEMNITY.

It is stated that both the British and the Japanese Ministers in Peking have sent deputies to investigate the circumstances connected with the recent riots in Changsha, and when they had their last interview with the Waiwupu no claim was made for the payment of indemnities so that the recent report that Great Britain had claimed Tls.3,000,000 and Japan Tls. 5,000,000 was incorrect.

Editorial

## THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

April 26.

GENERALIZATIONS are rarely satisfactory, and in China they may be particularly misleading. But it is not difficult to realize at the present moment that there is a condition of things in this country approximating to a general situation, which requires only modification in degree to be applicable to the whole Empire. That situation is the steady growth of active antagonism to the foreigner on certain well-defined lines. In one way or another China has always been hostile to the foreigner, and a certain period of her history was spent in learning the lesson that nations can no longer live entirely to themselves to the rigorous exclusion of all that does not originate within their borders. With the passing of that phase there has ensued an era of unwilling toleration, amounting in the case of the simple peasantry to goodwill not untinged with humourous curiosity, liable to be broken here and there by more or less serious outbreaks. These culminated in the Boxer cataclysm, and it was hoped that the grave blow then dealt to China's prestige and to her amour propre would have cured her permanently of the worst folly attaching to her dislike of the foreigner. But the only change to be noticed is a greater readiness to accept what the foreigner has to offer in money or goods; the same dislike for the person of the foreigner remains and within ten years the lesson of the Boxer revolt has faded from the Chinese memory. Notably has this been the case during the last eight months, until at the present moment China finds herself nearing a possible crisis. There is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the information from Hunan. The province was preparing an anti-foreign outbreak on a considerable scale. No special conditions exist in Hunan that are calculated to provoke a rising against foreigners within its borders more readily than elsewhere; and we are forced to infer that the seeds of unrest to be found in that province have been planted in the rest of China, but that the temperament

of the headstrong Hunanese offered more favourable soil for the production of an early crop.

The seeds that have been thus sown are well known to all observers of contemporary affairs in China. When well germinated they have taken the form of the "partition" rumours; the people have been warned that the foreigners have agreed upon the partition of China, and they have been urged to band themselves together, even to practise the pursuit of arms, to withstand this aggression. The story has not been the fancy of an ignorant brain; for it has been supported by references to perfectly harmless movements of troops and ships, a clear sign that some measure of enlightenment has accompanied the wicked purpose of the fabrication. In its less bellicose garbs hostility to the foreigner has taken the form of a well-organized resistance to foreign enterprise, ranging from pin-pricks in and around the Shanghai Settlement and a general opposition to land purchase to the larger antagonism to railway and other concessions. Officially we are asked to attribute this regrettable state of affairs to the misguided patriotism of a populous nation that is just beginning to find itself, and to sympathize with the Government in its inability to cope with force majeure. But as a correspondent who has paid a glowing tribute to the suppression of opium in China reminds us, the success that has attended the efforts of the authorities to eradicate the opium habit must dispose once and for all of the fable of a powerless Government. The growth and smoking of opium have meant far more to the people of China than any dislike of foreigners. But the fiat went forth that the habit had to be suppressed, and though it may mean distress, degradation or death, the order is being carried into execution. If there had been any real desire on the part of the authorities to improve China's relations with foreign Powers and with their subjects in this Empire the same machinery that is suppressing opium could be brought to bear upon any latent hostility against the foreigner that there may be in China.

Recent events, however, indicate that this hostility to the foreigner

has rather to be regarded as an exotic that requires as much care and attention for the promotion of its growth among the common people as they in turn give to the plants from which they gain their exiguous sustenance. The upper classes, not the proletariat, have to be regarded as the hostile element in China. Whether their attitude be prompted by the consciousness of an impending loss of traditional prerogatives or by the instinct of self-preservation prompted by the unconscious fear of popular enlightenment must be left for the present an open question. It is the aristocracy of birth or of intellect, if by such a name we may indicate the student class of China, that is in the first place responsible for the "melon" rumour, that heads the opposition against railway and other enterprises under foreign supervision, and that ultimately prepares the ground for a rising such as that threatened in Hunan. It is not to be inferred, however, that there are no exceptions to this generalization. China lacks leaders, fortunately as much among the forces of evil as among those for good. With the latter in the absence of a strong man it is easier to swim with the current, and none dares to raise his voice against the policy of the day. But if further humiliations, further indemnities are to be avoided by China, it is imperative that some of her people be found to have the courage of their convictions and to be willing to stand forth to preach the gospel of self-respect.

THE
CHANGSHA RIOTS.

From Our Own Correspondent.

April 22.

Soon after the Treasurer had seen the Consul on Tuesday, April 19, and had assured him that full protection could be afforded, it was found that the city had been posted with anonymous placards, two sentences of which were :—

"Kill Governor Ts'en
Afterwards drive out the Missions."

The Consul, of course, withdrew the permission to stay on shore and recalled the four or five who had availed themselves of the permission. During that brief period on shore, no one was able to make a full perambulation of the city.

I am not at all sure that the following is a complete list of the damage done, but it is all I have been able to gather :—

A. Places completely burnt, with practically no salvage.

1. The Governor's Yamên, City, Centre.

2. The Customs' offices, Suburb, River, (i. e. West)

3. The Normal School for the central division of the province, (outside the S. gate), Suburb, S.

4. The Prefectural Middle School, City, S.

5. A Government Kindergarten School (near the Norwegian Mission—the fire here was, however, quite distinct from that at the mission), City, S.

6. School of Railways and Mining, Suburb, S.

7. Jardine, Matheson's Godown, Suburb, River.

8. Jardine, Matheson's Hulk, Suburb, River.

9. Butterfield and Swire's Godown, Suburb, River.

10. Butterfield and Swire's Hulk, Suburb, River.

11. Norwegian Lutheran Premises, Church, Double-house, etc. (foreign construction) City, S.

12. China Inland Mission, (Altered Chinese Property) City, S.

13. Liebenzell Mission (Church—foreign construction; houses altered Chinese), Suburb, S.

14. Roman Catholic Mission (Foreign building), Suburb, N.

15, 16, 17, 18. Four Chinese buildings specially connected with foreigners' requisites (i. e. hotel) Suburb, River.

The following were looted, some so that scarce two sheets of paper were left untown; others more lightly :—

1. Japanese Consulate, City, South.

2. Japanese Post Office, City, West.

3. Customs' officers, Indoor Staff and Harbour Master, Island opposite the city.

4. Custom's Outdoor Staff, Suburb, River

5. & 6. Two Police Stations, Suburb, South.

7. Customs' Chinese Official Quarters, Suburb, River.

8. Customs Chinese Bank, Suburb, River.

9. Imperial Bank, City, West.

10. Normal School, City, South.

11. Jardine, Matheson's offices, Suburb, River.

12. Butterfield and Swire's offices, Suburb, River.

13. Arnhold, Karberg & Co.'s offices, Suburb, River.

14. Standard Oil, Suburb, River (N. B. The oil was looted not burnt. It was required for further fires!),

15. Asiatic Oil, Suburb, River.

16. Anglo-American Tobacco Co. Head Office, Suburb, River

17. Anglo-American Tobacco Co., Agent's Home, Suburb, North

18. Brunner, Mond's Agency, Suburb, River.

19. London Missionary Society, Suburb, North,

20. Am. Episcopal, City, North.

21. Wesleyan Methodist, City, West.

22. United Evangelical, City, East.

23. Seventh Day Adventist, City, East.

24. Japanese Shops, About a dozen (?), Suburb, West.

25. Rice Shops—over 100.

26. "Tsien Tung" i.e. officially appointed gentry, almost the equivalent of our "J P."

I saw one or two of the heavily looted and one or two of the lightly looted places. The Outdoor Customs' Quarters were simply cleaned out—nothing was left. Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg's Agent had a nicely furnished house. There apparently everything was left, but nothing unbroken. Such a scene of fiendish destruction I have never seen before. Beautiful vases and the coolie's wooden bed-frame had been treated alike. Invaluable works of various technical subjects (some out of print) and pieces of music had been torn in pieces and then the leaves further torn up. A large Milner's safe had proved too hard a nut for the rioters. It is, I believe, the only safe in the city that has defied them. We were told that 100 men had been at the job—and well there might have been. The safe weighs 1½ tons. It had been thrown on one side. The handles were smashed off; one of the sides had had its outer casing bashed in; but the rioters had not understood the inner construction.

The Imperial Bank of China had suffered damages to the tune of some Tls. 2,000—but had kept its treasure untouched.

The Wesleyan Methodist Mission had received but one visit from the rioters and had, therefore, got off somewhat lightly. Still the "lightly" is only in comparison with others. A good many boxes of more or less damaged goods had been gathered. The Chinese soldiers did well in preventing the crowd from coming in. They gathered at the door with looted oil.

In some three or four cases, the street people offered their services to the rioters for looting, if they would desist from burning. Some places (e.g. the Yale Mission) have escaped untouched. The three hospitals were saved.

The city is reported quiet. There are three gunboats in port. H. M. S. Thistle, H. M. S. Nightingale and the

French river gunboat. The Admiral of the Yangtze is here and the Ts'u Yü.

Rice looting is reported from all parts of the north of the province.

At Ningsiang, thirty miles to the west, the yamên, schools, and Norwegian Mission premises, have been burnt. The missionaries have reached Hankow, so we hear, after much hardship.

At Yiyang, the "official" bank has been looted; the hsien magistrate and a colonel have been wounded by the mob; but up to Wednesday morning the mission premises were untouched.

At Liuyang, fifty miles east, there has been looting of rice shops and searching of all boats coming down the river. The missionaries had an awkward time coming down. Ladies and children have been recalled from most places, and men warned that there is risk in staying.

The newly-appointed Governor Yang (removed from the Hupeh Treasury) is eagerly expected.

April 25.

The newly-appointed Governor, Yang, arrived here yesterday afternoon. He came in a large Government yacht, accompanied by three cruisers. One Chinese cruiser at the port dressed itself with all the flags that could be strung. The foreign gunboats in the harbour contented themselves with the usual "Attention" salute. The Governor has remained on his yacht all to-day. There have been sundry dismissals of minor officials, e.g. the two hsiens (Changsha and San-hua) and the military official especially charged with the protection of foreigners. It is difficult to see what the mere squad of ten soldiers, practically unarmed, could have done against the mob of April 14 and 15, if they had wished to do anything. It is equally difficult to know whether they did wish to do anything.

Consular permission has not yet been granted to British subjects to go on shore.

To-day there are four Chinese cruisers and two torpedo boats, two British, one French and one German gunboat in port. The river, as viewed from the Yolu Hill opposite, is most unlike its usual empty guise.

Loot is turning up in most unlikely places—as it has become very dangerous to harbour it in ordinary Chinese houses.

There is a rumour that the Governor has been prevented from taking the seals to-day by opposition from the gentry.

Changsha, April 26.

THE NEW GOVERNOR.

At 6 a.m. the newly appointed Governor entered the city and received the seals. He has signalized his accession to office by the issue of the following proclamation.

PROCLAMATION BY GOVERNOR
YANG WEN-TING, APRIL 26, 1910.

.....It is well known that from of old the people of Hunan have been virtuous, and have not been given to riotous conduct; but recently, the price of rice has been very dear, and the poor are in need of food and are praying for a reduction in its cost. Unexpectedly, rascals came from other places, and the local blackguards took the opportunity of rioting and spoiling, and thus, both Chinese and foreign merchants and people suffered injury in a way that seems inconceivable. All honest people are far from such lawlessness as this. I have received the Imperial command to take up the governorship and honestly desire to protect all good people. The Treasurer and Provincial Judge have met with the leading gentry and have devised means for buying rice from Kiangsi and Anhui, and have bought from Saigon to the amount of 100,000 piculs. This rice is to be brought here as quickly as possible and will be sold at reasonable prices, to prevent the recurrence of calamity.

Following this are assurances that those who shall be proved wrongdoers are to be severely punished, and warnings to citizens to keep the peace.

RIVAL FAVOURITES.

There is a considerable amount of disappointment on the part of the local gentry. The Treasurer, Ch'uang Wen-liang, is a very popular official. It was the common desire of rich and poor alike that he should become the new Governor. He has been in office in this province for over forty years. Rumours as to his own attitude to the governorship are contradictory. Some have it that he was offered the office and very deliberately refused it; others assert as plainly that without the offer, he deliberately assumed, at least the functions of the office. At any rate, Hunan is supposed to be saying. "We will not have any other Governor, but this our Treasurer only."

The Governor himself is certainly aware that there is and will be some opposition to his coming. He has expressed a wish that foreigners should for the time being be withdrawn to Hankow. That seems to be an emphasized way of saying that he is quite uncertain of his power to protect even in the capital itself. No one is leaving Changsha for the present on account of this wish of the Governor. But all ladies and children are being brought away from the inland cities; and they are advised not to think of any return to their station till after the summer. A few men are left in other stations than Changsha.

Nineteen missionaries arrived to-day from Changteh. They report that there has been looting of rice shops and of a bank, but the mission premises are untouched.

EXCHANGE OF CONSULS.

Mr. Bertram Giles arrived here last night and, a few hours later, Mr. W. M. Hewlett left for Hankow. The two appointments have been happily timed. Mr. Hewlett has over and again hidden "his fortiter in re" beneath a "suaciter in modo" that has left no loophole of excuse for the opposition that has been offered by the Chinese officials. Mr. Giles is "fortiter in modo" as well as "in re" and in the present circumstances there is no cause to regret such a combination.

April 27.

H.B.M. Consul, Mr. B. Giles and Captain Woodbridge of H.M.S. Nightingale had an interview with the new Governor this morning at 11 a.m.

After the interview, the Consul felt justified in relaxing the prohibition against landing. We are now permitted to go into the city by day, but are still asked to sleep on board the houseboats by night. It is pretty evident that our safety will depend more on the vigilance of the Consul than on the ability of the Chinese officials to defend us.

The walls are well placarded with proclamations. Some of them are curious: e.g., one that announces it is the duty of officials to protect foreigners! The Customs Taotai, who is not yet dismissed—though rumour says his retention is by no means settled—has told all and sundry not to be afraid of the foreign gunboats, as they are merely come to protect foreigners.

In addition, the Taotai has issued a printed sheet of "instructions" (!) to the "honourable religion halls." They are, if you please, "to wait" until H.E. has appointed a deputy to examine all the buildings. The deputy in company with the missionaries will then measure the buildings, report on their length and breadth, their style—foreign or Chinese—their present condition, etc., and lastly a "just" assessment of the damages will be made, and the whole report will then be "respectfully presented" to the Taotai. A more pertinent document has hardly ever been sent out even by this most brazen-faced and anti-foreign official.

The Consul's attention has been drawn to this circular and doubtless the Governor was informed by the Consul this morning of his impudent subordination's vagaries. Whether the Governor can do more than his fallen predecessor to control the actions of Mr. Chu,

it would be necessary to leave the house for the boat. One of our members who had been down town to see what was going on, came up, and told me that we ought to be off. So we left the house, our neighbours doing all in their power to help us get away in safety. It was not far to go, and soon we were safe on the boat. Mr. Tsen, the good man who had been reconnoitring down town, gave us much help and instructed the boatmen "not to be tied up too closely, but to be ready to cast off as soon as ever the word was given from the bank."

It was a good thing that we left the house. We really did not take much luggage with us. Our packing was practically packing for Kuling, and we did not dismantle the house at all. The scholars of our Girls Boarding School also left the house, going to the homes of some of the neighbours. Their boxes also left, so a general impression was given, of course swelled quickly into a rumour, that the foreigners had left and taken all their belongings with them. This helped to keep the mob from coming up here. We were all right on the boat, and before long the crowd which had gathered to see us go had dispersed. Our neighbours, both Christian and non-Christian were all very kind to us. We have no enemies in this part of the town. The mob had the idea that all foreigners in China are simply rolling in wealth, and that to rob a foreigner's house is to open up a valuable gold-mine.

When they heard that we had taken all our things, they decided not to come. Those of our Chinese friends who happened to be down town at the time did not trouble to dispel any delusions of the sort in their minds. The carrying away of the scholars' luggage helped to give the idea of a big flitting on the part of the Missionaries in the Third Ward.

Meanwhile the excitement at the Government Bank continued. The Hsien came in his chair and was stoned by the crowd. When he entered the Bank, the mob pressed in at the door. In the crowd were many boatmen and raftmen from Paoching. These were up to any mischief going, and the Yiyang hoodlums took care that the Paoching undesirables should get into the Bank first, as they would not be easily recognized. As these Paoching rapscallions came out of the Bank, laden with bundles of copper cents, the Yiyang hooligans knocked them down, and relieved them of the money that they had stolen. The Yiyang hoodlums are enterprising and ingenious in their methods.

Shi Ta-jen than came upon the scene; his soldiers dispersed the mob, but not without Shi Ta-jen getting a nasty knock on the head with a brick.

The police and the soldiers, together with special constables employed for the occasion, were busy all the night searching for the robbers. Several arrests were made, and one man of the name of Tseng, a notorious bully and thief, was arrested, having on him a large quantity of copper cents, together with the ring belonging to the Manager of the Bank. He was promptly executed, and it is a satisfaction to know that he was a Yiyang, and not a Paoching man. "Dog eat Dog" is a bad motto.

The execution of the rascal did much to restore peace and confidence of the people in the ability of the authorities to cope with the situation. It also served to discourage would-be rioters. Search is still being made for robbers and bad characters. It is expected that in course of time other executions will take place.

We spent two nights on the boat, but have come home again now. Late on Tuesday night, four hundred soldiers from Changsha arrived at Yiyang, sent to guard the Mission Stations and to keep order. Fifty of them are now quartered in a large temple a few doors away from our Mission.

The situation here has been saved for the time. We hope that it will be possible to preserve peace and quietness, as the panics which prevail at such times are very disastrous.

I do not know how it fares with other cities in Hunan where there are Mission Stations but at present we are all right here. I hope that this will reach Shanghai in time to prevent the circulation of any report that this Station has been destroyed. The less of the reports which gave Shanghai such a bad name in 1900 the better.

I have tried to get off a telegram to Hankow, vià Changteh, but have not been successful.

At the Norwegian Mission in the City are the Rev. and Mrs. Fleischer, and at the Hospital the Rev. A. Hertzberg; other foreigners left some days since.

May 2.
THE HUNAN UNREST.

Acting Governor Yang Wen-ting of Hunan has reported to the Government that, owing to the scarcity of rice in the province, the poor people in Yiyang and other districts have also caused trouble, but were soon calmed. He states that steps have been taken to purchase rice to replenish the supply and asks that negotiations should be opened with the foreign Ministers on the indemnity question, as there is a great difference between the losses as ascertained by him and those claimed by the foreigners.

Another Chinese dispatch says that the Waiwupu has asked the Diplomatic Corps in Peking to withdraw their men-of-war from Changsha, so as not to cause apprehensions among the people. The Ministers, however, refused and replied that Acting Governor Yang had stated that the Chinese officials could not protect foreigners and that they had better protect themselves. The Waiwupu is surprised at this statement and has telegraphed to Governor Yang requiring an explanation of this announcement. It is stated that the foreign Ministers have demanded the opening of Hunan to commerce, but the Waiwupu refused the request. It is also stated that the large number of men-of-war in Changsha causes rumours to be spread among the people, many of whom are leaving the place.

THE
CHANGSHA RIOTS

From Our Own Correspondent

Changsha, May 2.

THE MOCKERY OF PUNISHMENTS.

Yesterday the judicial vengeance for the riots commenced. Two unfortunate wretches were taken through the city in baskets to be tumbled out in the enceinte at the Liuyang Gate, where they were executed.

There is a grim tale about one of the two, who was a poor barber, apparently without friends or family. One of the methods of appeasing the mob was the issuing of a proclamation announcing that if, in the first of the soldiers, any innocent people were wounded, they might receive Ls. 40 compensation on application to the Hsien; the heirs of any injured person who was killed are to have Ls. 200. Rumour has it that some of the souls went to the hsiens, showed their wounds, produced certificates of excellent character and received about three or four taels compensation. The unfortunate barber heard of this good deed; so he also went and baring his shoulder showed a bullet wound. "Where are you from?" was the first question "Outside the south gate" was the fatal answer.

May 13

One draws a veil over the details of the sequel. But it is needful to say plainly that that sequel stamps the new governor and his attendant officials as entirely un-reformed in methods of criminal jurisdiction. Young China chafes under the stigma of extra-territoriality; and it is well that young and old China should realize that it is a stigma. It is a mark of inferiority and as long as China bears it, it is as well for China to know that she is not considered the equal of the nations that inflict it on her. But as long as Chinese educated gentlemen—and such the officials are—sit on the bench and inflict hideous torture on the criminal, whom they try, so long will China be treated as an inferior nation.

The stories one hears of what is done at the Hsieh-t'ai's Yamên, where the criminals are tried, are frightful.

Meanwhile, the leading criminals and all their accomplices are quite safe. I have just this minute heard that at one shop, owned by a Chinese, but in the main supplying foreigners, the neighbours tried to keep the rioters off. "We have our orders," was the reply, "we have our orders, and we know where we are to burn, where to loot lightly, and when to destroy everything." That man will not be put to the torture to make him tell who gave the orders. It is not too much to say that there is no official in Changsha who does not know the leading man who gave those orders. He has made no secret of his views in the past—he hates and has made public his hatred, not only of foreigners, but of foreign-trained Chinese. He has opposed every school that has been burnt, and sundry others that the rioters tried to burn.

And we are offered the mockery of the trial by torture of a poor, friendless barber, and of a boatman caught with one tin of oil—while this man, and those whom he directed are absolutely devoid of any idea that they will be tried.

We have every reason to believe that our lives were preserved because, in 1902, the official who was guilty of aiding the rioters at Shenchowfu was beheaded. Our property will be as safe as our lives, if a few of the leading gentry of Changsha be sent to join their fellow-provincial Chou Han; and it be made known that men in high positions who advocate looting and burning will themselves be called to account for the deeds which have involved poor senseless barbers and boatmen.

## THE LOSS OF THE LIMA.

### HEROISM OF THE LATE CHIEF OFFICER.

The Secretary of the Imperial Merchant Service Guild has just received a communication from Captain J. Peters, of the str. Hatumet, who rendered such signal services in rescuing—amid circumstances of a very perilous nature—the greater portion of those on board the wrecked steamer Lima. It may be said that the Captains and Officers of both steamers were members of the Guild, Mr. Nicholson having been a supporter for many years. We under-

CHANGSHA,

(HUPEH.)

From Our Own Correspondent.

May 5.

### ANALYSIS OF THE RIOTS.

A few days' residence in the city has enabled one to take stock, and think out some of the causes that have been at work to produce the havoc that is visible, dotted about in every quarter of the city and in every suburb but one (the east). There is much to learn from various buildings that have not been destroyed, as well as from the different kinds of destruction which have been dealt out to

different classes of building. Three kinds of distinction can now be clearly made. First: the difference between the looting that occurred on the first night of the riot and that of the two following days and nights. Second: the difference between the treatment of property that foreigners had rented and that which they had purchased. Third: the difference between the treatment of foreign-style property in which the Changsha gentry had monetary interest and that in which they had none.

One compound only is left with the mark of merely the Wednesday night's riot; everything else that has been destroyed has either been re-visited or was visited for the first time on the Thursday or Friday. The Wesleyan Methodist Mission in the Hai-ch'ang Kai (Long West St.) was, perhaps, the very first Mission to be attacked. The mob after passing the Mission and insisting on its doors being opened had casted the pleasure of hearing glass break and doors smash at the Imperial Bank a few doors away. Then, having forced open the doors, they made no attempt to touch the treasure (which was very large), but just returned to the Mission and enjoyed themselves for an hour or two.

If that Mission alone had been attacked, the mob might have earned all the epithets for destructiveness that the English language possesses. They acquitted themselves in a way that would earn the commendation of their teachers and masters in the art of rioting, whoever these might be. But now when the compound is compared with all the other looted places, the unfortunate missionaries get no compensation whatever. They are laughingly told to realize how well off they are. The bookcases show the marks of fire and hatchet—but the books are left with a mere shaking. The desks were smashed up and burnt, but the private and Mission cheque books, ledgers, etc., which were in them are all safe and sound. Pictures and ornaments, doors and windows and most of the chairs were

unROWN on the bonfire which the mob began to make in one of the rooms, but which for the sake of their companions in the upper storey they transferred bodily—on the carpet on which it had been kindled—to the lawns in front. But the fabric of the house as a whole is uninjured. So with the chapel: the lamps and all the windows, most of the benches and all the ornamental texts are done for, but the building will be ready for use again as soon as the new woodwork is painted.

In all other looted Missions there is practically nothing left to mend. Not only were the backs of books broken, the pages were torn up one by one. In most cases the fragments of the buildings that remain must be pulled down—and this even when they have not been fired.

In other words, on Wednesday night there was a hungry mob that had a grievance, and had no recognized leader. On Thursday there were leaders and the programme was distinctly marked out beforehand. The stores of oil at the

For continuation, see back of hinged clipping in column 1.

"the fourth month of the present year" is indicated. On the twenty-first day of this fourth month (May 29) it is promised that the "black knights" are to be here. These "black knights" are at other times designated "righteous brothers"—a name which undoubtedly makes a claim of connexion with the "I ho ch'uan" which we have got accustomed to call "Boxers."

The new dynasty is to be known as the Pi Han. Several houses in the city have been marked with the "Pi" character. Whether this is in token of adherence to the revolution or a mark foretelling destruction, or a mere indication of a gathering place is not at all clear to those who are not in the secret of the movement.

Officials are referred to in one of these posters as "dog officials." They are described as doing nothing to relieve the starving poor and being indifferent to their sufferings, while on the other hand they are treating foreigners as though they were their ancestors. (Every reference to foreigners is of a strongly "anti" type.) The starving refugees are meanwhile offered Tsis. 10 a month if they will enlist in the regiments of the new dynasty.

Scholarship is apparent in all the posters; wit, too, is not absent. The street outside one of the burnt missions was paraded through the night by one of the city fathers arrayed in all the insignia of office he was authorized to wear. When morning light came there was a very laughable skit left on the walls he had been specially guarding, depicting his night watch and his peacock plume and announcing the downfall of the "Ch'ing" and the rising of the "Han."

Apparently no notice was being taken of these posters. At last on Wednesday, May 11, one of the unburnt mission compounds was billed with an announcement that it was to be burnt on the following day and the camps of the Hunan soldiers outside the city were to be burnt on the Chinese 8th.

The response was immediate. A strong guard of Hupeh soldiers was sent at once to the Mission, plaus, big proclamations were posted all over the city in the Governor's name. One announced a reward of $1,000 for the apprehension of any one found posting lawless placards, and $500 for information leading to such apprehension. Most significant was the closing sentence of another brief notice; the four Chinese words require a somewhat lengthy English paraphrase:

> "In cases where those who resist the authorities are killed, no inquiry will be made."

The soldiers have received most unmistakable orders to fire on any mob

that attempts to gather; and they are to fire to kill. Undoubtedly such orders will tend to save life. The "impossible" has a trick of happening in China—but it certainly seems impossible that a mob should seize and burn the barracks of soldiers receiving such orders. The very fact that announcements have been made involving the barracks shows that the present movement does not number the soldiers amongst its adherents; and, if it does not, how can it overthrow the dynasty?

YIYANG.
(HUNAN.)

From Our Own Correspondent.

May 9.

THE LATE RIOTS,

In the number of the "North-Chins Herald" for April 29 it is stated in two different places, that the Wesleyan and Norwegian mission stations of Yiyang have been completely destroyed, and that the rioters were masters of the situation in this place.

This has, providentially, not been the case. We received telegraphic news about the outbreak at Changsha on April 14. But as everything remained quiet here, work was continued as usual in the two Norwegian Stations, and the one Wesleyan mission station at Ninghsiang, midway between Changsha and Yiyang—only thirty miles from Yiyang. Most of our ladies were, therefore, sent off for Hankow under the escort of Dr. Vogt.

Several of the ringleaders from Changsha had now arrived from Ninghsiang, after having destroyed the mission station there, and they were now stirring up the bad characters of Yiyang. On Monday, the 18th, they started looting the Government bank, and the word went out that the mission stations were to be taken next. The magistrate, Gong Ching, and especially the district colonel Shi, did, however, master the situation and nip the outbreak in the bud. They captured several ringleaders and beheaded one. The people were forbidden to gather in numbers higher than three, and the soldiers were ordered to shoot on the spot anybody who started looting. This had a good effect, so the disturbance seemed to be quieting down again, when we were aroused at two o'clock in the morning of Friday, the 22nd, by English friends of a rescue party sent by the British Consul of Changsha, Mr. W. M. Hewlett, who has very kindly and carefully looked after and protected foreigners of all nationalities during these troubles. It was the Governor's launch, manned and owned by blue-

jackets from H. M. S. Thistle, where-
fore this launch was christened the
Thistledown. They carried with
them orders to fetch all foreign
women and children and bring them
safely to Changsha. Mr. and Mrs. C.
S. Champness with their child (of the
Wesleyan mission) had, therefore, to
leave in the Thistledown for Changsha,
from which place we brought our ladies
to Hankow and Kuling.

Having now returned to Yiyang, I
find the place quiet, our work in good
order and all well. Two out-stations
have, however, been rioted, and the
conditions in the district are not encour-
aging, famine sufferers being very
numerous and robberies occurring daily.
We do not, however, expect serious
trouble, unless a fresh outbreak should
take place at Changsha.

THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

The "Eastern Times" says that the deputies instructed by the British and Japanese Ministers to ascertain the damage done to their nationals, during the recent riots in Changsha, have reported that many of those who have suffered damages have left the city; the deputies have, therefore, asked that the object of their mission might be deferred till these parties had returned. The Ministers, it is stated, instructed the deputies to act in conjunction with the British and Japanese Consuls and take steps to communicate with those who had left and ask them to return to Changsha and submit reports of their losses, so that these may be included in the claim against China for settlement.

THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

A Chinese contingent says that both the British and Japanese Ministers in Peking have assured the Waiwunun of their amicable attitude in regard to the indemnity question for the Changsha riots, but they demanded the opening of that province to commerce. They also desired to secure navigation rights for their compatriots in that province.

THE CHANGSHA
RIOTS.

From Our Own Correspondent.

March 21.

THE HUANON SOLDIERS.

Yesterday morning the "Chinese Recorder" came to hand, and the first thing to catch the eye of anyone in Changsha was, naturally, the opening paragraphs on the Hunan riots. The writer of these paragraphs speaks about the Hunan soldiers as one might expect. At the time of the riots there were between four and five thousand well-drilled troops in the barracks. What were the troops about to let the mob burn down the yamén of their own chief commander in the province?

It so happened that yesterday evening was the first fine evening we have had for many a day, and the delight of the moonlight, with the off chance of seeing something of the comet, was sufficient inducement to loiter about on the river's brink. As luck would have it, just then a squad of soldiers from the "Ch'ang Pei Chun" ("Ever Ready" Regiment) who were patrolling the suburbs, having reached the end of their district, were released by the officer for a few minutes' rest. I was soon surrounded by the whole squad. I thought it would be a good opportunity to let your readers know what the Chinese "Tommy" thinks of his own and other people's actions on the three days of the riot; and so I "interviewed" them. This particular squad formed part of the troops who were hurriedly marched into the city on the evening of Wednesday, April 13—at the close, be it observed of an ordinary day's drilling and barrack duties.

It was about eight o'clock when they arrived in front of the Governor's yamén, to find the two first barriers down and a huge mob in possession of the open space. "Did you open fire?" "Oh no, no. We had most distinct orders not to fire." "Whose orders were they?" Here there was sufficient difference of opinion to show that there was no accurate knowledge of the source of the orders; but all agreed that the officers duly handed on those orders and they were not disobeyed. It may be quite correct in the moment of danger "not to reason why," but even the surviving members of the Light Brigade may have reasoned out their charge with all the whys and wherefores without in any way impairing the glory of their example. So Chinese soldiers reason a month after the riots on the orders that were given them.

"You see, Sir," they said, "most of
the people in that mob were lookers-on;
and many of them were hungry, poor

people who wanted rice to eat. If you
could have picked out the leaders, that
would have been a different thing.
We were so pinned in by the mob
pressing this way and that, that it would
have been a very difficult thing to fire."

"What about your bayonets?"

"Our bayonets were fixed and it was
impossible in the crushing but that
some of the people should get wounded.
That was what set the mob off to rouse
the city in the middle of the night."

"When this was being done, was
there a clear space left in front of the
yamén?"

"No, it continued just as full as
before. After that, we got knocked
about pretty badly."

A blood-stained hat was produced, and
the officer in charge was able to point
out a wound scar that had been given
him by brickbats. Through the night
on into morning, the soldiers stood
without a chance of even self-defence.

FINE DISCIPLINE.

It was about ten o'clock on Thursday
morning when men began to climb on
the roofs of some of the outhouses and
pour oil upon them. At last, the order
so long delayed was given and in a moment
every man on the roofs fell dead; and
for a time no man took their places.

What happened inside the yamén is
only known by rumour. But there must
have been an altercation between the
Governor on the one side, and the gentry
with the Treasurer and others of the
officials on the other. For, before long,
the Treasurer appeared and the orders
were distinctly given that there was to
be no firing, and the orders were con-
firmed by proclamations put out by the
Treasurer with the title of Governor.

Huge was the delight of the mob, and before the firing of the yamén was continued with, there was a great preliminary firing—of crackers! The newly self-appointed, or perhaps one ought to say gentry-appointed, "governor" left the scene; and then the soldiers were called on to face a terrible bit of discipline. For hours they were stood between the burning and the unburnt parts of the yamén, forbidden to fire, the butt of numerous brickbats and stones; until, at last, the General withdrew them and the mob found other employment in other parts of the city.

It is hard to conceive of Western troops in these days ever being called on to execute commands of such arrant folly. as the Hunan soldiers were subjected to. One may be forgiven and doubt whether the free soldiers of our freer western nations would fulfil such commands. But given the circumstances and the fulfilment, it is impossible to withhold the highest praise for the discipline that made the endurance an actual fact.

Without a word of belittling Hupeh

troops or any other, the Hunan soldiers
have won for themselves a right to
rank with their comrades from any
province for the way in which they
conducted themselves. In the one
moment in which they were allowed
to act, they acted with unmistakable
force; but for that moment it might
have been permissible to doubt of their
willingness to fire on their fellow-coun-
trymen—nay, their fellow-townsmen;
for many of the soldiers are Changsha
men. That one moment and the hours
before and after, showed, that they were
able and willing to obey whatever orders
their officers gave.

There was a rumour that got into
the Shanghai press that 500 of the
soldiers had decamped. Here in Chang-
sha, when the rumour first arose, there
were plenty of excuses offered on behalf
of men who had been treated by the
officials (a.b.—not their own regimental
officers) as these men had. The
"decamping" turned out to be marching
under proper orders to Ninghsiang,
Yiyang and Changsha on the west, and
to Luiyang on the east. Everywhere,
their coming resulted in a cessation of
the rioting and disquiet which in each
of these places had already commenced.
True, there was no actual fighting. It
good results are obtainable without, it
would be a very unwise criticism to ob-
ject to Hunan troops on the simple
ground that they had not fought.

One more word in their praise.
From April 14 to May 8, the British
Consulate was absolutely in the charge
of the soldiers. No European visited
the house. When the Consul returned,
there was not a flower bed disturbed,
not a scrap of anything missing. In
memory of what occurred ten years
ago, during the military occupation by
the soldiers of six nations of Chinese
property in Peking, the owners of
which had fled, is there any of us who
could throw a stone at the Hunan
soldiers?

But for these soldiers, I much doubt
whether this letter would be being
written in a house inside the city walls
of Changsha. At present we are doing
the only thing that it is impossible to
do with bayonets—sitting on them. As
yet there has been no official word of
real sorrow for what has happened. At
last, however, a rumour has been heard
that indemnity will not be the end of
the settlement. Yesterday one official
received news that the ex-Governor
Ts'en was blaming him. Similar news
is likely to come to others in the city
and to come frequently. When it does
come, we shall be indebted even more
than ever to the Hunan and Hupeh
soldiers who watch the streets night by
night and so let us sleep peacefully.

FROM DAY TO DAY.

The weather, which has been causing
great anxiety, has happily brightened

to-day. It has been the second completely fine day only for a month.

The Snipe has left us. The Bramble leaves us on Sunday. We are hoping a second British gunboat will soon be with us to keep the Nightingale company.

## RIOTS IN HUNAN.
### RENEWED INCENDIARISM.

Changsha, May 24.

Rioting began again on Saturday at Chuanchiaho, twenty miles south-east of Yiyang. The Lutheran Chapel and the shops in half the town were burned down.

The rioters, who are armed, are threatening Yiyang.—*Our Own Correspondent.*

# THE ANTI-FOREIGN PRESS.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Hankow, May 16.

OFFICIAL ENDORSEMENT.

The following article taken from the "Chung Hsi Er Pao," the principal native paper in Hankow, was issued with official consent on the 4th of the 4th moon. It was to be continued in the issue of the following day, but owing to foreign intervention the second half was confiscated by the Viceroy, only to be issued two days later.

It runs thus: "For everyone to read! The merchants of Hupeh urge the people to take shares in the Szechuan and Canton-Hankow Railways. The people must all desire to do their best, otherwise the project will collapse. We (the people) are in a sad plight. Why is this so? The projected Szechuan-Hankow Line will run from the southwest to Tibet and branches from the north-west to Shensi and Kansu. The Canton-Hankow Railway will run from Canton to Hankow with branches to Fukien and Kiangsi in the north-east and Kuangsi, Yünnan and Kweichou in the south-west. The facilities for transportation of goods, passengers and military will be greatly enhanced in whichever district the railway is completed first. If we build the line ourselves the great gain will be ours, so you see this is paramount. Other provinces construct their own lines. In Hupeh it was said a few years ago that

the lines of this province would be under official administration; this, however, was not credited by the people and they could not be induced to buy shares, therefore the work was not started. The officials, seeing that no capital was forthcoming locally, desired to contract a foreign loan to complete the work, the interest on which would have to be entirely paid by Hupeh. England, France, Germany and America, hearing of this, wished to advance capital. Why are you (China) so poor that everyone wishes to come to your aid? You say you have plenty of money, but you are unwilling to part with it. You also say you have money to loan, then why do not you use your own money to construct these lines. If you do not, the foreigners will come under false pretences and appropriate your interests, destroy your nationality, and cut off your supplies. England has used this diabolical system to obliterate Egypt, otherwise how could she have got it? Do you not believe this? If not, then you will see a repetition of the same in China. Everybody says so. They say they will lend you $40,000,000 at an interest amounting to $2,000,000 per annum. The truth of this arrangement will become apparent, when you realize that we get nothing out of it. We must first advance $2,000,000, and only when they receive this money will work be begun. They also say that the capital must be returned in annual instalments, when at the end of twenty-five years the railway will revert to us. Each year we have to pay as interest $2,000,000, which will total at the end of twenty-five years to fifty million dollars, and this merely for the construction of two railways. They only want $2,000,000 before they advance any capital, and each year advances must first be made. It is clearly evident that it is your money that is building the road, though they declare it is theirs. They will also supply engineers, so that the interest from labour will be taken from us. They will not alone take your money and labour, but when the foreigners come they will cause trouble by rape, plunder and murder, or by taking your goods and refusing payment. Even if you prosecute before a magistrate, you will get no satisfaction, as he will fear to intervene. The English acted in this way at the Tungkuanshan Mines in Anhui. How can we possibly endure such conditions? The foreigners also say that the material must be bought from them, which means further injustice to us. Whatever he orders must be accepted without question. Are we not eating bitterness? Even when they use Chinese iron they claim five per cent. They are acting like a drag net to sweep in all the

profits. All this is a mere item to
what is to follow.

The foreigners say that the railway must be mortgaged to them, so what is the use of our constructing it? The Customs has also to be mortgaged to them, so you see they take all our national resources. What money can the Hupeh Officials produce except it be by increasing the taxes and custom duties, or by imposing a poll, house, land, income or individual tax and other taxes ad lib. With such impositions how can we live, the rich will be skinned clean, and the poor will have to run for their lives. You men of Hupeh, is not this extermination? Their crookedness will be revealed when the time comes for you to redeem the railway; then where will you obtain the money. Even the officials will be helpless. It is self-evident that the railway will be taken in lieu of the loan and by some agreement the railway will become theirs for eternity.

At this time the foreign Powers will depute men to take up official duties, others will become railway police and the wealth will accrue to such officials. Here is the division of the "Melon" (China). Japan and Russia have followed this principle in Manchuria. Is not this destruction? This is certainly what is going to happen. Alas, for our neighbouring provinces! Oh! Hupeh, the heart of China, no matter from which part of the Empire you wish to travel, be it to the north, south, east or west, through Hupeh you must pass.

It is said that the Yangtze steamer traffic, outside the China Merchants is, divided among five foreign Powers. The northern people also say that the Peking-Hankow railway is mortgaged to England, and if the Szechuan-Hankow and (anton-Hankow railways are completed by them, they will come under their control and thus be built by us in vain. When they fix us like this, their soldiers, their people and their goods will have free access to all parts and where will we be when we want to rent a place?

The foreigners will usurp all the trade, so that you will not be able to exist, even within your own borders. Railway fares will be raised to an exorbitant price. Your monetary system will be rejected. You will be restricted in travel and trade. One word will cause trouble. Obstructions will be placed in the way of our soldiers using the railways for military purposes, thus our national existence will be throttled. Look! this is death and annihilation. The wealthy are unable to utter a cry. The foreigners are even going to control the source of our happiness and as to whether we enjoy any or not. We are a "big-eared" (prosperous) race. The poor are without redress. The rich and the poor are alike oppressed. It is immaterial what master comes, we must be the servants. Who knows how they will treat us! To judge from our previous experience, they will be extremely cruel.

The following will bear out my assertions: for instance India has been subjected to Britain, their literature

suppressed, their marriage prohibited. You have only to look among the Sikh policemen in China, and I will defy you to find any married among them. To whom also is the wealth of India given? Such is the position of affairs there. Now look at what France has done in Yünnan, cows, dogs and buildings all have to pay taxes, or observe Japan in Formosa, there births, deaths, marriages and traffic are taxed."

It is evident from the above that there is a strong anti-foreign feeling among the officials, as well as amongst the people, and our foreign Governments ought to do something to have it stopped, lest they have a repetition of the Boxer year.

AN APPEAL TO
OCCIDENTALS,

The following article reaches us from a Chinese correspondent at Soochow. Further reference to it, as well as to the "Chung Hsi Er Pao's" attack will be found in a leading article.

"Being asked by an enthusiastic Chinese gentleman who is deeply interested in recent affairs of China, to pen the following lines, the writer has much pleasure in responding to his request. Before entering upon the subject, let it be understood first of all, that in the following paragraphs we are not simply voicing the sentiments of a few individuals; we are acting as the mouthpiece of the wretched Hunan people, nay, of the whole nation at large. Our sole object is to acquaint the representatives of the various Western Powers, through the valuable columns of your paper, with the public opinion of China on the momentous problem, which we are going to discuss, and to remove to the best of our ability all misunderstandings that have been unnecessarily created. We respectfully entreat every intelligent citizen of Western countries in this Empire and abroad to pocket his prejudices and lend us his ears. That our pleadings on behalf of the Hunan people will not be listened to only to be cast to the winds, is our most sincere hope.

The story of the Changsha riot is too fresh in the public mind to be easily forgotten. The average man cannot recall this episode, enacted in the heart of China, without being deeply touched. All this trouble is to be traced to the scarcity of rice, which in fact has been the source of many similar outbreaks in the chequered history of this Empire. Hunan is primarily a province which abounds in rice. This staple food was originally sold in that province at the low price of 3,000 cash per "stone." Since last year the cost has been more than tripled. No one is ignorant of the fact that rice is the staff of life among our people, or, to put it in a Chinese phrase, food, which is equivalent to rice, is, "the heaven of the people." Now with such an enormous increase in the price of rice and remembering

the present economic status of our people, can we expect them to keep their body and soul together?

Unfortunately the local authorities were utterly incompetent to cope with the situation and to provide against such an emergency. What is worse, when those miserable people with empty stomachs assembled before the Governor's yamên, with their wild clamours but just demands, His Excellency instead of coming to their relief, dealt with them in a high-handed manner. Everybody knows that a hungry crowd of people, receiving such treatment in the hands of the so-called "father and mother of the folk," will not be content with lying down quietly on the roadside and waiting for death. The lion at bay is sure to turn round and struggle for life to the last moment, however futile the struggle may be. We need not be surprised, therefore, to find those poor folks burning houses, destroying property, and riding rough-shod over any man that came in their way, however absurd and foolish they may appear. They are not to blame; they should be pitied. It is simply the inevitable outcome of an irretrievable case.

Hardly had the smouldering embers of the Changsha riot been extinguished before news of foreign demands for fearfully immense sums of money as indemnities reached our ears. We were told that the figures went up to several tens of millions. Any intelligent and disinterested person can see for himself that even the treasury of the richest province in China is not rich enough to supply this enormous amount. How much less will the Hunan people with empty stomachs and well-nigh empty pockets, be able to do so. Driven by famine and sword, they are further threatened with the insatiable demands of the foreign Powers. This is nothing short of adding fuel to the fire. That the Hunan people are not alone to blame has already been emphasized. The reason for their inflicting damages to foreign property and buildings is not far to seek. These people live in the interior and as yet have comparatively little opportunity and privilege to be soundly educated and keep themselves constantly informed of the progress of the times as their more fortunate brethren on the coast. When they saw the frequent export of rice by the foreigners and the humiliation which China suffered in her diplomatic relations with the Powers, they came to the hasty conclusion that their depressed economic condition was due in large measure to the malignant influence of foreigners. In seeking for a remote cause, we find that the last year's rumour concerning the partition of China is still vivid in the minds of our people and has no small effect on the feelings of the Hunan people. It must not be misunderstood, however, that there was at bottom any anti-foreign spirit in the Changsha riot. Unable to secure fair treatment from the Governor, the rioters avenged themselves by attacking foreigners in the hope of goading the former on to action—to taking measures for alleviating their pangs of hunger. In other words they were simply resorting to the old method

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of playing off one party against another. True it is, that these ignorant people are responsible for the injury they did to persons without any connexion whatsoever with the incident, but the injured should at least sympathize with their ignorance and not change the whip into the scorpion.

During the time of the Kianggeh famine, thousands of our Western brethren freely opened their purses and devised every conceivable measure to relieve the sufferers, with such devotion as to excite the admiration not only of our own people but also of the whole civilized world. The people of Hunan were in the same circumstances as those victims of the Kianggeh famine except for the fact that the former had an outrageous movement to their discredite. But our Western brethren should realize that such outbreaks were engendered by hunger and ignorance. And we should assume a sympathetic attitude toward hungry and ignorant people. It is certainly not a very wise policy for our Western brethren to take advantage of the critical situation and demand enormous indemnities from our poor people. We do not believe that they are living up to the spirit of Christianity and we are led to doubt whether the missionaries in Hunan are acting in accordance with the original purpose for which they came to China. It will be a serious reflexion on the advanced civilization of the West, if our Western neighbours should insist on demanding a greater recompense for a lesser injury. We do not expect that the Westerners sojourning in Hunan are men of such calibre.

If the welfare of the Hunan people does not appeal very much to our Western brethren, has it not occurred to them that the preservation of their own interests in the Far East, commercial and political, lies in gaining the good-will of our people and raising themselves in the eyes of the Chinese. The Japanese have earned for themselves the enemy of our people through their unjust exploitation of our territory and other unscrupulous actions. Our Western brethren, we believe, are not likely to follow in the footsteps of the citizens of the Rising Sun. There are now hundreds of foreign missionaries and merchants sojourning in the province of Hunan and it is the wish of their respective Governments to contribute as much as practicable to their well-being and to maintain their good reputation as representatives of Christian nations. Should they persistently demand enormous sums of money from the Hunan people they would be committing a grave mistake. The Hunanese, as we all know, have been, are, and ever will be a sturdy, warlike people. In the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, most of the men who filled the ranks of Tseng Kuan-fan's army were natives of Hunan. During recent years these same people have been prominent revolutionists in their futile attempt to overthrow the reigning dynasty. Now, if foreign influence and demands should suddenly be brought to bear on them, a tremendous explosion would be the

only result, and the tragedy of 1900 would again be enacted in the very heart of China, where innumbly more lives and property would be destroyed. None of us would, of course, like to see the reappearance of such horrible scenes in this peace-loving country.

In writing the foregoing paragraphs we do not mean to condemn deliberately and unnecessarily the various Powers of the West. We are simply making a general appeal on behalf of the poor Hunanese to our Western brethren in the hope of lightening their burden and alleviating their sufferings. If the honourable representatives of the different Western nations will see their way clear to sympathize with our wretched people and not to take drastic measures against them, then these words of ours, crude and feeble as they are, have not been uttered in vain.

THE
ROYAL ACADEMY.

London, May 3.

SOME LIMITATIONS.

There are no epoch-making pictures in this year's exhibition of the Royal Academy; indeed, of late years we have almost given up looking for them in the summer show at Burlington House. But there is plenty of excellent work. As a rule the artists of to-day are not over ambitious in the choice of their subjects. Perhaps they know their limitations and their market too well. And hence there are few heroic canvases and few attempts at pictorial realization of great episodes in history and romance.

MR. E. A. ABBEY.

The notable exception is Mr. Edwin A. Abbey's great picture painted for the State Capitol at Pennsylvania. It reaches to within a few inches of the ceiling and must be fully twenty feet in height. It is a familiar subject, especially to Americans, and it cannot be said that the artist has introduced anything very novel into it. Perhaps he could not without violating historical accuracy. Penn is shown standing under the famous elm tree with the treaty in his hand, a group of Red Indians on one side and English Colonists on the other. As a decorative work it is admirable, and being placed at the end of a series of galleries so that it closes a long vista, it is seen to great advantage. The only other picture shown by Mr. Abbey is also illustrative of American history, and, although carried out on a much smaller scale, is even more effective. It is called "The Camp of the American Army, at Valley Forge, Feb. 1788," and shows a ragged company of recruits being drilled in the snow. This, by the way, is not the only picture which tends to remind us how completely the animosities of those days are now forgotten. There is also "The first Fight for Independence (Lexington Common, Mass., U.S.A.) April 19, 1775," a spirited painting by Mr. W. B. Wallen,

TWO DEAD ARTISTS.

To five of the works shown a interest attaches. They are the humouously exhibited works of Sir W. Q. Orchardson, R.A., and Mr. J. M. Swan, R.A., There are three portraits by Orchardson, far the most interesting being that of Mr. E. A. Abbey. The sub- jects of the others are Lord Blyth of Blythwood and Mr. Richard Atkinson Robinson, both presentation portraits. I have seen it stated in different quarters that on the one hand Mr. Abbey's portrait and on the other Lord Blyth's was the artist's latest work. Lord Blyth's certainly appears less finished; but against this it is pointed out that the artist has left out the second R in his surname in the portrait of Mr. Abbey, and it is said that this was the last touch he ever gave with his brush when he had risen from his sick bed to finish the portrait. Not one of the three shows any failing in the great painter's powers, though latterly he had not felt equal to painting any of the great subject pictures which he gave formerly. Mr. Swan's works are another of his admirable pictures of polar bears, called "The Cold North" and his original models for the colossal lions of the Rhodes Memorial.

MR. SARGENT'S LANDSCAPES.

Although Mr. Sargent sends but four rather small landscapes, none of which are accorded places of honour, he has amply justified the self-denying ordinance—from the point of view of his pocket—under which he has practically abandoned portrait-painting for a time at least. Nothing quite like them has ever been seen at the Royal Academy before. In them his characteristic method has been carried to a length which was hardly possible in portraiture. Looked at quite closely they appear mere daubs of paint plastered on at haphazard. Seen from the proper distance they resolve themselves into marvellously truthful and artistic renderings of nature. They are thus not seen to the best advantage when crowded in among paintings entirely different in method, while the surrounding pictures show to even less advantage in proximity to the Sargents. Perhaps the most wonderful of them is "Glacier Streams;" the subjects of the others are "Albanian Olive-gatherers," "Vespers" (a scene in a Corfu churchyard) and "A Garden at Corfu."

SUBJECT PAINTINGS.

Among the subject pictures most talked of will be Mr. Frank Brangwyn's "Wine", a Silenus-like figure with a huge flagon and grapes before him, magnificent in colouring, and marking a fresh departure of this fine artist, both in choice of subject and in treatment; Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema again shows but one small picture occupying the usual position in the centre of a wall in the long gallery. It is a picture of marble, classic maidens and green verdure of just the kind of which he has given us so many in recent years, showing no failing in technique but provoking the wish that the artist would give us something

EMPIRE DAY.

May 24.

ALTHOUGH Empire Day must,
this year, be shorn of much of the
outward splendour with which it
was to have been decorated, it is
permissible to believe that its in-
ward significance should be more
deeply realized than ever before.
That special efforts had been put
forth to render the day memorable
we may see from the accounts of

it was calculated that at least a
million children took part in the
various processions and festivities
with which the day was filled. The
explanation for this rapid growth
of enthusiasm is not far to seek.
Apart altogether from the ordinary
attractions of holidays and merry-
making, the idea of Empire Day
responds to an unspoken emotion
in men's minds, which began to
make itself felt about the time of
Queen Victoria's first Jubilee in
1887 and blossomed forth into a
new conception of nationality at
the Diamond Jubilee ten years
later. The past century was one
of expansion, the present must be
one of consolidation; and while the
merit of other workers is assuredly
not to be overlooked, we may feel
that it was a part of King Edward's
peculiar genius that he was among
the first to seize the psychological
moment for giving substance to the
idea after which the Empire was
groping. It is well remembered
how, as Prince of Wales, he threw
himself into the organization of the
successive Jubilee celebrations, and
in the splendour with which the
Coronation of 1902 was set can be
seen a purpose far deeper than that
of mere glorification of the Throne.
Those glittering processions, in-
cluding representatives from all
parts of the world, were a visible
embodiment of the heritage that
had fallen to the British race,
tending to bring home to all men
far and wide their honours and
their responsibilities.

That the honours will depend
upon the degree of manfulness
wherewith the responsibilities are
shouldered is a truth which the
observance of Empire Day year by
year has been specially designed to
inculcate. The doctrine of Im-
perialism, it may frankly be
admitted, is exposed to certain
dangers. Wrongly applied it may
degenerate into much that is obno-
ious, false sentiment, mere flatancy,
as foreign to the best English
traditions as it is opposed to the
true interests of Empire; and in
thinking of what King Edward
achieved for Imperial unity, it is
well to bear in mind those other
qualities that earned him the title
by which henceforward he is known
to history. The desire of those
who think Imperially is to be
strong; but for this reason alone,
that strength is the only guarantee
of peace; and while the present
circumstances of the world compel
Great Britain not to drop behind
in the mad and deplorable com-
petition of armaments, that competi-
tion was assuredly not of her
seeking nor of aught but her most
reluctant consent. Great navies

must be amassed, men and even
boys exercised in arms, because on
no other condition can we be sure
of being left in peace to pursue
the work of consolidation and
development within our far-reach-
ing frontiers. But beneath all
manifestations of Imperial solidarity
lies this fundamental belief, that
the possession of those frontiers is
in no sense to be regarded but as
implying the gravest possible duty.
That boy scouts are taught to drill
and to carry a rifle is but a secon-
dary portion of their training, which
above all else has been framed to
make them good citizens and
upright men. For like reasons the
Empire Day movement is specially
designed to apply to children, the
future men and women upon whom
will depend the task of carrying
on the Imperial ideal, not in
boastfulness and self-glorification,
but in that spirit of justice, freedom
and reverence on which we believe
that the foundations of the Empire
were laid.

THE UNREST IN
CHINA.

May 25.

IT has become a truism to state
that there is unrest in China. Any
insistence upon the fact would lend
colour to the charge of alarmist
tendencies, were it not for the
circumstance that the warning is
addressed not so much to an un-
protected community capable of
panic, as to foreign authorities who
are in a position, if they wish, to
compel China to take adequate
measures to cope with the situation.
From all parts of the Empire come
reports of actual disturbances or
the fear of them, the contributory
causes being variously apportioned
between the scarcity of rice,
additional taxation, the taking of
the census or some local difficulty.
In each case the trouble is between
the people and the officials; but
we have abundant evidence in the
history of China and more recently
in the story of the outbreak at
Changsha to prove that, given the
presence of foreigners in the neigh-
bourhood, such disturbances can
never be restricted merely to the
settling of scores with the officials
and gentry. At whose instigation
or by what means the fury of the
mob is deflected to the agreeable
pursuit of wreaking its vengeance
on the unoffending foreigner it
would be idle to speculate. In
isolated outbreaks this point is
rarely reached before the officials
or State properties have suffered;
and thus representations to China
on the part of foreign Govern-

CHANGSHA.

From Our Own Correspondent.

May 23.

On Saturday, May 21, rioting once more broke out in this neighbourhood. This time it has commenced at a fair-sized town in the country of Yiyang, named Ch'uanchiaho or Nienchiahso, situated at the mouth of one of the numerous streams into which the Tze River divides immediately after passing Yiyang. Ch'uanchiaho is sixty 1 south-east of Yiyang and more than twice as far from Changsha.

A rumour reached the city within twenty-four hours of the trouble. This evening the Yiyang steamer brought letters telling us that the Norwegian Mission premises, several shops and official buildings have been burned. About half the town is said to be destroyed. The evangelist fled. The rioters were armed. The leaders were a band of some thirty men. They had announced their intention of proceeding via Lanchi (where is another Norwegian chapel) to Yiyang. There are five missionaries at Yiyang. three Norwegian and two Wesleyan Missionary. They are taking all possible precautions, and even if the rioters reach the country town, there is every hope that the missionaries will not suffer harm.

Your contemporary, the "Shih Pao", is continuing to give early information that proves generally to be from a reliable source. Its issue of May 14 again names Messrs. K'ung and Yang as two of the leading gentry who were much mixed up in the riots. It says that the Governor is considering their case.

British interests are at present backed up by the presence of one of the two smallest boats of His Majesty's navy—H. M. S. Nightingale.

It would be an interesting puzzle to try to discover whether the naval authorities arrive at their view of the situation from information to be obtained from the Chinese officials or whether the Chinese official view is based on the British naval force. At any rate, when asked this morning whether two missionaries should journey to Yiyang in spite of the rumours that everything is quiet, the answer of the Governor was: "Nothing can possibly happen." The rumour that something was going to happen at Ch'uanchiaho was officially declared to be quite wrong—so it was. The thing had happened.

Material for the building of the new Provincial Assembly House arrived here on Friday, and was more just below the Consulate, so that all the City officials were able to see how it

had arrived. It had come towed by a colliery launch. If an American or British firm wishes to tow oil up with its own tugs, it is at once told that towing is absolutely forbidden on the Siang River. I have been asked more than once these last few days, what there is besides an indemnity that is needed to put things right.

THE CHANGSHA
RIOTS.

From Our Own Correspondent.

May 28.

COMPENSATION.

All Chinese papers and all Chinese conversation on the riots seem to be concentrated on the financial indemnity. Again and again we are told the sum that has been named by the British Government, or by the Japanese and British Consuls. Anon we get the much smaller sum which Chinese officials have found to be quite sufficient to cover all damages. A sordid controversy is carried on in which the foreigner poses as a grasping rogue, and the Chinese as a niggardly rascal. The whole controversy, however, is conducted by one side only. Whether the Chinese estimates of the damage have any official basis or not, I cannot say, but certainly all the talk about the estimates of the foreign Governments is based on imagination pure and simple.

The new Customs Taotai Tan, (recently removed from the Hengchow Taotaship) is the victim of impossible orders. The Foreign Office from Peking has directed him to settle up all claims in Changsha. The British Government directs all British subjects not to settle any of their claims in Changsha. This is evidently a case of a resistible force acting against an immovable object, and that is bad for the force.

This last day or two, the Taotai has been trying to comply with his orders by visiting the missionaries and merchants. Inasmuch as the majority of the missionaries in Changsha belong to other nations than Great Britain, the Taotai has met with some amount of success.

Some of the owners of destroyed property, including the China Inland Mission, which has suffered amongst the most severely, have refused any compensation; and they have been very properly and very heartily thanked by the Taotai. The general answer the Taotai has received has been that if the Minister of the person affected

would permit, settlement might be made direct. The offers of the Taotai were very tempting, and genuinely complimentary to the honesty of the people concerned: payment is to be immediate and the claim made will be accepted without demur. The Taotai has only called on one British missionary, and the conversation with him turned on the comet and the crops and any other subject that could stave off compensation until the guest was almost leaving; and then the forlorn hope of any answer but the only possible one, was duly trotted out to execution. The missionary, however, offered the Taotai to make proper arrangements next time to have the claim settled in Changsha. "Next time!" gasped the astonished official, "do you expect any more?" "Why not? This is my fourth experience." "How will you arrange it next time then?" "The day before the next riot you come round and everything shall be sold you at the price I would take for a bonfire of my goods. It will be at your option to leave out anything you think too dear. For the rest you can pay my price and you shall have a document that will at once satisfy the British Government that it has no claim against you."

What is the force behind the Taotai? Is it merely that of the Foreign Office? The Provincial Diet is restive and demands to be called together. Sundry hints have been thrown out that any agreement will have to be submitted to the Diet—woe betide it, if the Diet does not approve of it. Meanwhile the Governor has postponed the meeting of the Diet from June 7 to June 21, and has, moreover, demanded a clear month's notice before any subject can be discussed. The parties which have used the Diet as their monthpiece are arranging for other modes of ejaculation, and we are promised a discussion of indemnity and everything else in a few days. Perchance, the Taotai would fain give a good account of his stewardship to those who consider themselves his masters next week.

CHANGE OF OFFICIALS.

The Treasurer and Provincial Judge are awaiting the sanction of Peking to their resignment of their seals. The riots will thus have removed the Governor, Treasurer, Judge, two Taotais (Customs and Police) and the two Hsien magistrates. The Prefect is for the present at any rate, left in office. One would think the new officials would hesitate before continuing the policy that has landed their predecessors in obscurity. Except in the Governor, one fails as yet to notice a single sign of change. If Changsha ideas are allowed to rule, it will assuredly not be long before the "next time" comes along. We are glad to hear from Yiyang that no further trouble has broken out since the 20th.

To-morrow (May 29) is the day fixed for trouble in the city. Once more, somebody has run the risk of capture and has affixed revolutionary notices. On Thursday the two most important of the western gates were each placarded, "BLACK HORSE DAY REBEL."

Last night the south gate had a mysterious “wu” character. If anyone will look up that character in Giles, p. 1,383, he will see that it has for its symbolical animal the horse. The cyclical characters for May 29 are “Chia wu.” The connexion between “wu” and “black horse” and May 29 is clear. Whether the revolutionaries have anything in store for us on the morrow or not, you will know by the presence or absence of telegraphic news before you receive this.

## THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

### LEADERS TO BE DECAPITATED.

Peking, May 27.

A Decree has been issued ordering the dismissal of the Hunan Treasurer, the local Taotais and other officials; the degradation of the leading gentry and the decapitation of the Changsha riot leaders.—Our Own Correspondent.

## THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

May 31.

THE Imperial Decrees that mete out punishment for the Changsha riots are couched in terms of exemplary severity. All and sundry are named in the long indictment. The Governor and the Provincial Treasurer, the Provincial Judge and the Prefect of Changsha are referred to the Ministry concerned for determination of a penalty; the Police Intendant, the Taotai, two army Captains and the Police Magistrate are cashiered, while three of the gentry also are to receive penalties. It is found that the action of the civil and military authorities was "unsatisfactory," inasmuch as neither "took proper precautions before the occurrence or acted with discretion during the

outbreak." The gentry of Hunan are held, in the memorial of Viceroy Jui Cheng, to have cherished selfish motives and to have bred disorder, but only three of their number are to be made scapegoats for the rest. There are fulminations against evil characters and unruly people, and whatever measures of "reorganization" may have been suggested by the Viceroy are approved by the Government and ordered to be put into operation. If the Ministry that has to deal with the offending officials carries out its duties in the spirit of the Decrees, this chapter of the riots will have been closed satisfactorily. According to the system of decentralization in vogue in China the provincial officials are responsible for law and order in their territories. At Changsha they failed lamentably, and could only have expected to pay the penalty. The administrative system of China, however, is at fault and it is on occasions of crisis such as the present that its shortcomings are made most apparent. Where provincial responsibility breaks down, the control of the Central Government should step in until the old method can be restored on a satisfactory basis. As far as is known, however, the Peking authorities have contented themselves with the issue of punitive Edicts. The old conditions remain, and further outbreaks may be expected at any moment.

Side by side with the Decrees that set forth the punishment of the Hunan officials we were able to publish a Chinese report regarding a meeting held by various official, educational and mercantile bodies in the capital of the province on the subject of railway loans. This gathering, which presumably would regard itself as giving the lead to Hunanese thought, is said to have resolved that, in the event of any fellow-provincial expressing himself in favour of a foreign loan for railway construction, he should be disowned by the province and his ancestral graves razed to the ground. It is impossible to overlook the significance of a public resolution of this nature at the present moment. When the inner history of the Changsha riots is recalled, with their subtle discrimination between property owned by foreigners and property rented by foreigners, it will be seen that

the Hunan gentry have learned nothing and have forgotten nothing. Deprivation of official rank for three of their number is in such circumstances no solution of the problem with which the Central Government is confronted. A body of people strong enough to pass a public resolution directly opposed to the Government's policy immediately after such an incident as the Changsha riots is going to retain and exercise the same power over its officials that led to the impotence of those now degraded. Unless the new officials are to be given effective military support, the condition of the province will remain as unsatisfactory as it has been hitherto. The first act of any new régime established on these lines should be to deal summarily with the organizers of a meeting that presumed to advocate openly a breach of the peace in the event of a fellow-provincial supporting the policy of the Central Government.

The times in China are out of joint, and a Government alive to the situation would hesitate to encourage insubordination by overlooking the delinquencies of any class of men, however powerful locally. From a glance at the correspondence that reaches us from various parts of the country it will be noted that the same tale of dissatisfaction and unrest is heard everywhere. In our own immediate neighbourhood it is known that the Chinese officials view the situation with no little alarm. From Wuhu and throughout the Yangtze Valley come reports of agitation against the local authorities, and most observers are of opinion that if the rice crop fails, there must of necessity be rebellion, more or less concerted. The Government, therefore, needs to probe more deeply than is done in the Imperial Decrees that would write Finis on the Changsha riots. Currency reform is a step in the right direction; but it has been urged upon the Peking authorities for many years and now the measure, even if promptly put into execution, comes too late to cope with the existing crisis. Unless a firm hand takes control in the capital, there can be no confidence, no support in the provinces; and it must be doubted whether the requisite strength of character is to be found to day among the

Chinese. Of ability there is plenty among the students educated abroad, but they lack the experience and the prestige that would ensure instant effect for their recommendations. More is needed than mere money, in the absence of which, the Chinese Government would fondly persuade itself, lies the root of its present troubles. Nothing, therefore, could be more baneful than the advice recently tendered from, unfortunately, a foreign quarter, that China should obtain relief by the temporary repudiation of her indebtedness. Such a step can only add to her confusion. Her resources are adequate to her needs, if she knew how to avail herself of them. But without immediate foreign advice, financial and executive, it seems inevitable that the country must once more face one of those ordeals that have so often set back the clock in this Empire of so much latent strength.

## SQHENCHOW.

From Our Own Correspondent.
*Correspondent's Column*

May 21.

### THE POSITION IN HUNAN.

As I am now approaching a post office I shall write you a short note. My journey from Hankow has not been rapid, but I have been kept safe and well. Having passed within 30 li of Changsha it may surprise you, as it has me, to know that nowhere have I met with an uncivil word or hostile act from any person. I have had no official escort, nor needed any. Heretofore I have considered the people of Hunan hostile and purposely uncivil toward foreigners. I am wearing Chinese costume and eating Chinese food and perforce speaking Chinese, for no one about me knows a word of any other; still I am everywhere recognized as a foreigner. Yet no one exhibits any sign of hostility. During fourteen years past I have made considerable acquaintance, by travel and residence, with parts of seven Provinces, but I have never had less reason to suspect ill feeling and evil intentions on the part of the people about me than during the three weeks since I entered Hunan.

At Yochow the Harbour Master strongly advised me to return to Hankow. All the foreigners from Changteh had passed there the previous day on their way to Hankow, but I found that they had left their stations, not from any local necessity, but by reason of advice from the U. S. Consul on April 22. I, however, had talked with him on April 25, the morning I left Hankow, and he made no objection to my starting. - So I went on to

Yochow city and inquired of the missionaries for news. They knew nothing. The worst that could be said of the action of the four missionaries who remained at Yochow is that they acted adversely to the opinion of another nation's Consul. Arrived at Changteh I found all quiet and orderly. Work in the Mission chapels, schools, dispensary and hospital was going on about as usual under care of the Chinese helpers. I learned there that the only sign of unrest there had been was one day; a run was made on the branch of the Government Bank, but there was no disorder. Perhaps the best to be said of the missionaries' withdrawal from Changteh is that it did no harm. Had there really been any

serious condition of affairs the leaving of such a large party so precipitately might have aroused dangerous curiosity.

### THE CAUSE OF THE RIOTS.

I hope no offence will be taken where not intended when I take decided exception to the spirit of an editorial of April 26 in your paper concerning the Changsha incident. I do not believe there is any proof that the outbreak there was anything more than a local protest against government abuses. The gentry saw Tls. 10,000 of the Tls. 30,000 they had subscribed for famine relief coolly transferred by the Governor to the support of a Primary School. The starving people heard the Governor's scoffing reply to their cry for cheaper food "A hundred cash an oz. for opium is not too dear; 100 cash a cup for a drink of tea is not to too dear; why do you grumble at less than 100 cash for a sheng (there less than one quart) of rice?" You could hardly respect them if they did not do something. That school to which their money had been unjustly appropriated was the only Government school burned; the places sacked and destroyed were those which would most directly involve the Governor in trouble; no foreigner was touched and in only one instance, so far as I heard from refugees, pursued: the hospitals were spared because of the good they do to the people; Mr. Cameron was able to stay on with his charge of destitute orphans unmolested; no persecution of Christians has occurred in Changsha or elsewhere; yet we are asked to believe this outbreak of hostility to foreigners to be a fine opportunity for a vengeful effort to support our national honour

\*\* Our correspondent must be thought to write in ignorance of the notable fact, re-emphasized only yesterday in our Changsha correspondent's letter, that between the first and subsequent days' rioting at Changsha the outbreak changed in character. At first it was the work of a hungry mob. Subsequently it became an organized attack on foreign property, as evidenced by the respect shown for all buildings in which Chinese had any interest - ED.]

### FROM DAY TO DAY.

The weather here is better, though unsettled. A few days have been bright and warm, but most of them were dull or raining and cold. The price of rice decreases as we advance, also prospects for the next crop.

I have seen no opium fields so far.

The river was full at Changteh, but is falling. At this stage there would be nothing to hinder a good fast launch from running to Chenchow, or in my opinion clear to the Kueichow border. Doubtless they will come sometime.

marked than before, particularly in
fine sizes.

The season opened with a large
business on the basis of Tls. 950 for
best 9/11 and most of the best flosures
were soon engaged up to the end of
1909. We close at about 860 for the
same grade and some contracts have
been made for the new season at
same rates.

Yellow Silks.—Exports 15,995
against 13,396 the previous year.

This market has been very steady,
stocks are completely exhausted.

Wild Silks.—Exports 20,088 against
29,795 bales. The new crop harvested
last November was not so large as the
previous one, the shortage will chiefly fall
on the Raws.

The new Raws have slightly im-
proved in quality, at present there is
very little demand and stocks are
accumulating.

Tussil Filatures.—The boom reached
its height in January when Spinning
Girl 1 fetched 500/505 March-April
shipment. Since then demand from
America has quite fallen off and dealers
are becoming anxious about the future.

New Season.—The weather has been
unfavourable to the Shaoshing and
Haining districts which are earlier than
the others, and they are reported to be
damaged to the extent of 20 per cent.
The other centres of silk breeding have
done better, but everywhere the crop of
leaf is said to be inferior in quality to
last season.

The new crop is generally estimated
to be equal to last, the losses in the
above two districts being compensated
by increased production in other parts,
particularly the country around Nan-
zing.

Prospects do not point to any great
change in prices; Japanese reports point
to a crop slightly in excess of last.

BULLION.

Messrs. Samuel Montagu & Co.'s
circular, dated London May 19, con-
tains the following.

Gold.—The bar gold available
amounted to £700,000, of which
the Bank of England secured about
£200,000, and the remainder was
divided between India and the Contin-
ent.

The following amounts were received
by the Bank :—

May 12 £119,000 in bar gold.
" 13 9,000 "
" 17 10,000 "
" 17 24,000 in "Sovereigns
from Australia.
" 18 54,000 in bar gold.

Withdrawals were made as under :—
May 13 £ 5,000 in Sovereigns for
Batavia.
.. 14 50,000 in Sovereigns for
Java.
" 18 150,000 in Sovereigns for
Holland.
" 18 35,000 in Sovereigns for
South America.

The net efflux during the week is
£24,000.—

As pre-arranged, the sum of £100,000
which arrived from Egypt, was set
aside for the Indian currency reserve.

Silver.—The market shows no ani-
mation. Prices are maintained princi-
pally by speculative purchases for Indian
operators. Were these transactions
the outcome of a widespread movement
there would be naturally a certain
amount of competition to import life
into the market.

Such conditions, however, do not
obtain at the present time; supplies
are being mopped up, brought under one
control, and when delivered, not ship-
ped, but stored.

Quite apart from the question
whether such operations have the ele-
ment of success or not their very "one
horse" character generates a certain
amount of distrust as to the daily out-
look, and induces ordinary dealers in
silver to abstain from taking too con-
fident a view, and to confine themselves
chiefly to their daily needs.

The presence of a considerable and
increasing stock of silver in London,
largely called into being by a supposi-
tional demand for India at a later date
(either for coinage or for a larger
offtake upcountry) acts as a " wet
blanket" even though the future of
silver may turn out as rosy as certain
quarters anticipate.

The Monsoon has broken at Colombo
and in a few weeks time we may ex-
pect news as to Indian prospects.

The India Council Bills and T. T.'s
are less sought after; this week tele-
graphic transfers were secured below 1s.-
4d.—namely, 12 per cent at 1s 3½—.
The amount offered next week is re-
duced to forty lacs.

The quotations to-day are 1½d. below
those quoted a week ago.

Quotations for bar silver, p. oz. Std
May 13, 24⅛d. cash, 24⅛d. 2 mos.
Bank Rate 4 per cent.

May 14, 24½d. cash, 24½d. 2 mos.
Bar gold p. oz. Std. 77s. 9d.

May 17, 24½d. cash, 24½d. 2 mos.
French gold coin. p. oz 76s. 4-5d.

May 18, 24⅛d. cash, 24⅛d. 2 mos.
German gold coin 76s. 4-5d.

May 19, 24⅛d. cash, 24⅛d. 2 mos.
U.S.A. gold coin. 76s. 4-5d.

Average for the week, 24.837 cash
24.837 2 mos. 76s. 4-5d. nominal.

OUTPORTS, ETC.

CHANGSHA.

(HUNAN.)

From Our Own Correspondent.

May 30.

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES.

The fateful May 29 is passed and
everything was as peaceful as it was on
May 28. There are two ways of ac-
counting for this. One is to point to the
extraordinary precautions that were
taken by the officials; the other is to
deny that there was ever any need for
those precautions.

Whoever else scouted the revolu-
tionary posters, certainly the officials
did not. Some of us can bear witness
that we were so guarded as effectively

to prevent our being murdered while
we slept; the approaches to the city, the
streets and more especially the unburnt
mission property were all inspected every
half hour or so. It is difficult to know
what anybody attempting a revolution
yesterday could have done beyond yield-
ing himself up to inevitable torture and
death.

One of the officials, (it may be not
merely one) received a revolutionary
communication through the post. The
envelope bore a customary style of
address and the postmark indicated that
it had been posted at the General Office
on Saturday. But the contents were
anything but customary. The enclosure
was in the form of an order from
superior officers to an inferior. The
first two columns announced the high-
sounding titles and ranks of the two
writers. The rising was not to take
place just now—but it would not be
long delayed. When it came, foreigners
would be treated in accordance with
their treaty rights and their property
would be respected. Meanwhile, the
recipient was to hold himself in readi-
ness to change his allegiance and to
exhort the wealthy to advance money
to the new cause.

Seein? that nothing happened yester-
day, those who make light of the burn-
ing of a Governor's yamên and some
eighteen other places are bold now to
laugh at the whole affair and say that
the proclamations, etc., were a farce from
the beginning.

One of the keenest Western judges
of things Chinese hazarded a guess
when he first saw the proclamations: it
was possible that they were the work
of men who were anxious to withdraw
attention from themselves and their
connexion with the riots. Undoubtedly,
these men had all the skill and cunning
necessary for such an undertaking. As
yet there has been nothing to show that
this theory is wrong. Such a theory,
however, is a long way from the vacant
talk about there being nothing wrong
and that everything is at peace. Men
who say such things said just the same
two months ago. If only they had
told us at the beginning of April what
was going to happen in the middle of
that month, one could listen with more
patience to their forecast at the begin-
ning of June of what is to happen
during the summer months.

It seems a poor thing to decry the
watchfulness of the officials on the simple
ground that nothing has happened.
That, at any rate, is on the face of it the
aim and object of the watchfulness. In
just the same way, it has been argued—
and your correspondent must plead
guilty to having used the argument—
that because no foreign lives were lost
during the riots, there was no intention
on the part of the leading rioters to
kill foreigners. But the more one talks
with men who bore a leading part in
restoring peace to the distraught city,
the more one has to respect their fre-
quently expressed opinion that, after
the setting fire to the Governor's yamên,
when two of the leading gentry set out
from the yamên in their chairs at the
head of the mob (as was described in
your Chinese contemporary, "The

I be much more to the point than to do what he has done. There have been many and some very handsome contributions made to the Refuge Funds by the Chinese merchants of Changsha and much help is daily given to the poor. But in one respect, though there is much secret displeasure amongst the Chinese people of Changsha, as far as your correspondent knows, no Chinese voice of disapproval has spoken out. Every case of execution and of torture since the riots has been a case of some poor man or other. Will not this Chinese gentleman appeal for a more kindly treatment of unfortunate men who have done wrong, but who yet are men. There is little or no ground for the appeal he has made, there is much need for the appeal he has not made.

## THE SITUATION IN CHINA.

June 4.

THE receipt by the Legations in Peking of anonymous letters purporting to come from the party of progress in China places a far more serious complexion on the present situation than any report of isolated outbreaks or mere fears of impending disturbances. It is, of course, possible that these communications are an expression of the wish that is known to be father to the thought or they may be the lucubrations of a single disordered mind. In either case they must be read in connexion with what is known of the general condition of China; for even if they misrepresent the actual facts of to-day, they must be regarded as containing the possibilities of to-morrow. The burden of the message sent anonymously to the Legations is to the effect that an extensive anti-dynastic movement is on foot. From other sources it is known that in the circles from which alone such a document could originate China's present troubles are attributed to the Manchus. Calamity, to use the words of one of these anti-dynastic proclamations, is prevailing everywhere; deluge and drought follow one after the other; agitation and terror are spreading from near to far. For the people's afflictions the Manchus, it is alleged,

are to blame. Other attempts to rid the country of them, we are told, have failed, and in the end "war" must be declared upon the dynasty "with firearms and weapons." In these proclamations, however, it is specifically stated that the foreigner has nothing to fear, provided he does not attempt to interfere on behalf of the Manchus. Great stress is laid upon this point. "Military preparations"—for such is one of the high-sounding phrases used—must entail a conflict and unless care is taken by "neutrals" to stand scrupulously on one side "innocent blood may be shed through indiscrimination". There can be no doubt about the spirit in which this warning is issued and of the present intentions of the authors.

What, then, is the value of such communications? It is impossible to say at this juncture; but of one point we may be sure, that it would be folly and worse to ignore them altogether. Forewarned is forearmed; and no foreign resident in China of any experience will, in the light of past events, throw ridicule upon those in responsible positions for insisting upon all due precautions. So-called revolutionary or secret societies are a natural growth in China, and it is well-known that they have always aspired to achieve the objects that are evidently dear to the heart of the authors of the proclamations already quoted. Hitherto they have lacked adequate organization to carry out their aims; and on the one occasion, ten years ago, when they had become a real danger, they were deflected from their purpose by the shrewd statesmanship of the late Empress Dowager and their animosity was turned against the foreigner. To what extent the experience of the Boxer failure has been taken to heart we have no means of knowing. The party of progress and reform in Turkey kept its secret until it was prepared to strike a decisive blow. Young China may have emulated its example, or it may be on the eve of committing a suicidal blunder. Or again, as a further alternative, Young China may still be hopelessly disunited, without a leader and without organization, and may be taking no part in one of those foolish disturbances that can be so easily quelled in these days

of artillery fire, and are in their conception and execution doomed to ignominious failure. The fact remains that there is a strong undercurrent of unrest throughout the country, from Lanchou to Canton, from Peking to Tengyuch. Neither of the two warring interests, however, need have any anxiety regarding the strict neutrality of the foreigner, if he is let alone. His activity will be restricted to looking after himself, and his weight in the opposing balance is only to be feared, if either side "through indiscrimination" allows even an attempt to shed innocent blood or to attack innocent property.

For the moment the foreigner can only assume a disinterested attitude. He has found the Chinese Government and its officials as unsatisfactory to deal with as the people themselves have found them; but he can only take cognizance of constituted authority. What attitude Young China will adopt towards the foreigner, if ever it is called to the responsibilities of office, remains unknown. It can, however, not be ignorant of the fact that foreign interests require a régime of progress and reform in China. Possibly the most striking feature in the recent revolution in Turkey, apart from its conspicuous success, was the spontaneous acknowledgement, made by those responsible for the movement, of their indebtedness to Great Britain for the models on which they based their new administration. In Turkey there was no illusion regarding the need for foreign advice and foreign assistance. The success of the movement depended on the co-operation of the army, and the army owed its efficiency to German instructors. In the same way foreign aid has been sought for the navy and for administrative affairs. If the Chinese Government had acted on similar lines after the Boxer outbreak, it would probably have been saved the difficulties which it is now called upon to face. An enlightened administration can cope with a scarcity of rice, at least to the extent of preventing it from becoming the cause of a formidable outbreak. We may still hope that China will be saved from internal strife; but the foreigner cannot afford to ignore the possibility of serious troubles.

THE UNREST IN CHINA.

To the Editor of the

“NORTH-CHINA DAILY NEWS.”

SIR,—Your columns bear continual witness to the condition of unrest which obtains in China and which is certainly very widespread.

There is no doubt but that an efficient organization and capable, trustworthy leaders would find an immense amount of raw material ready to their hands in any uprising against the Government, but as far as my own knowledge goes I see no sign of these two essentials to a successful revolution. It may be such an organization exists. If so. I have no knowledge of it. This seems to be borne out by the fact that there have been, during the last two years, three or four attempts at revolution which have been more or less successful in their initial stage but have failed to press forward to reap the benefits of their first advantage. Witness the outbreaks at Hokow, on the Yunnan frontier, at Anking on the Kiangse-Hunan borders and latterly in Hunan.

The mass of the people, as far as my experience goes, are not unfriendly to foreigners. They can easily, however, be induced by the students and gentry to become bitterly hostile to foreigners. I have heard from many of them strong expressions of complaint against their own officials owing to the burden of taxation and the cost of living. The classes who are anti-foreign are the gentry, the students and, to some extent, the officials.

It will be remembered that in 1900 the Boxer outbreak began in the first place as anti-dynastic and only anti foreign in so far as they hoped to involve the Government with foreign Powers. The Empress Dowager, however, drew the sting of the movement as far as the Government was concerned by throwing in her lot with the Boxers and directing the movement against Westerners. What the outcome of the present unrest is likely to be it is exceedingly difficult to prophesy.

I am etc.

EDWARD S. LITTLE

Shanghai, June 6, 1910.

June 17

CHANGSHA.

From Our Own Correspondent,

June 7.

PUNISHMENT AND PRETENCE.

On June 1, the daily paper ("Changsha Jih Pao") gave as its first item, in largest type, the Imperial edict of May 27, dealing with four of the gentry, Messrs. Wang and K'ung, Messrs. Yang and Yeh. They had been impeach-

ed by Viceroy Jui Cheng for secretly fomenting sedition. Mr. Wang, an aged Hanlin, was severely blamed as the leader of these mischief-makers, who tried to put the blame of their own misdeeds on the late Governor; even daring to telegraph to Peking for a change of Governor. Mr. K'ung, also a Hanlin, and Mr. Yang tried to expulpate the late Governor; Mr. Yeh is found guilty of holding back 10,000 piculs of rice. Messrs. Wang and K'ung are handed over to their Board, which is ordered to report on the extreme penalty to which they have rendered themselves liable; Messrs. Yang and Yeh are summarily deprived of all rank and handed over to the local officials to be severely watched.

The next day, in smaller print, we had the Imperial Edict dealing with the various officials in the city. The Governor, two Taotais and five military officials were cashiered; the Treasurer, Judge and Prefect were handed over to the Board for their case to be considered; the two county magistrates were cashiered, and the colonel of the old military forces (Hsieh t'ai) was deprived of his button. It is not often that the whole of the officials in a provincial city have been dealt with in one fell swoop. It seemed as though Changsha had overstepped the mark and in measuring itself against Peking had made a mistake.

Two days later, however, came the decision of the Board, as to what the "extreme" penalty was which the two Hanlin had incurred; what the more ordinary penalty in which the judge and prefect were involved. The judge and prefect were degraded three steps; the two Hanlin were degraded five steps. In the case of the two officials the offence and the penalty were both nominal. Nothing serious was urged against either of them. They were not responsible for the defence of the Governor, nor for the sins of the mob. A mark of displeasure could not but be recorded against them; and so they are ordered to wear decorations of a lower rank than their offices (which they still retain) ordinarily entitle men to wear.

The case against the Hanlin is very different. It is perfectly true that the quotation made from Viceroy Jui's impeachment of these men does not put their offence as it might have been put. Nothing as yet has been said of the part any of these four men bore in the rioting that followed the burning of the Governor's yamen—it may be that there are rods still in pickle. But for what has been said, the punishment meted out strikes a foreigner as childish. They intermeddle with matters that of necessity belong to the Grand Council. Their interference has led to overwhelming disaster. The Council asks that Board for the "extreme" penalty. And then the

Council actually decrees that the Board announces this extreme penalty to be that Messrs. Wang and K'ung shall henceforth wear a brass button instead of a blue one. Has Changsha made a mistake? Is its strength provincial or imperial? Or as the question may be put, does the Grand Council of Regency, as well as the provincial officials of Hunan, stand in awe of the gentry of Changsha?

RICE.

Mr. Yeh has 10,000 piculs of rice, says the edict. The man in the street thinks that a small estimate of Mr. Yeh's stores. This man and that are picked out by rumour as possessed of immense stores. The officials put out high-sounding proclamations ordering these wealthy rice holders to produce their grain. But, in spite of the risk they are running of having to change the colour of their buttons, no one is paying head to the proclamations. Meanwhile, Changsha is growing hungry. The rice shops are beginning to stop business. They are ordered not to sell above a certain price; but inasmuch as they cannot buy the grain in husk at a price that allows of profitable handling, they are saying it is better not to handle. So, each man is asking his neighbour what is to happen. Hitherto, the very poor have been provided with a limited quantity of inferior rice each day at forty cash per "shen" (nearly two pounds). Now they are told by large proclamations that the supply is running short and beans and other "mixed" foods are to be used. There is an undertone of muttering that is becoming very distinct. Well will it be for the Changsha gentry if they listen to that cry batimes. The mob has been taught how to riot; the soldiers, how not to shoot. There is not much foreign property left to burn—if there were, the experience of the past two months would not lead to thinking that such burning would make rice cheap. If the mob once gets into its dull brain that there are stores of rice in the city, whether the idea be founded on fact or on fiction, there will be a bad quarter of an hour for some of the gentry.

COUNTRY RIOTING.

Once more, there has been a bubble of a rising. This time the country district to the south of Siangtan has been the scene. At a small town named Huashih ("flower shore") about twenty miles south of the country town, and some fifteen miles west of the river Siang, there has been some fighting. The provincial troops claim that they have scattered the rebels who are said to have worn yellow head-dresses and to have carried yellow flags. Before the scattering, a mission chapel belonging to the United Evangelical Mission was destroyed.

YIYANG.
(HUNAN.)

From Our Own Correspondent.

May 30.

A CORRECTION.

Will you please correct an error in
my correspondence of May 9 inserted
in your number for May 20 (page 438.)
There it runs: "As everything re-
mained quiet here, work was continued
as usual in the two Norwegian stations,
and the one Wesleyan Station at Ning-
hsiang, midway between Changsha and
Yiyang." Here one or two lines have
dropped out. It ought to have been :
"As everything remained quiet here,
work was continued as usual in the
two Norwegian Stations and in the
Wesleyan Mission Station here. But on
Sunday April 17, we were startled by
the news of our station at Ninghsiang,
midway between Changsha and Yiyang,
and only thirty miles from Yiyang,
having been looted and burnt to the
ground. Most of our ladies were,
therefore, sent off for Hankow."

FRESH RIOTS.

Later on we have had fresh troubles
in the district. It seems that after
Governor Yang had really seized the
reins and enforced order and tranquillity
in Changsha, then the "Boxer" leaders
have dived into the surrounding dis-
tricts in order to stir up the country
folk. In the Ninghsiang districts
they met with a rather hot reception.
The magistrate here, who was apparent-
ly caught unawares (or perhaps did not
exactly know how to interpret the signs
of the times in Changsha) when the
first storm was made on the police
station and the Norwegian Mission
station, afterwards dealt very roughly
and readily with the riotors. He caught
and beheaded one of the twenty-five
or twenty-six Boxers from Shantung,
who are reported to have been
called in purposely to organize and lead
the rising.

Afterwards the Ninghsiang Magistrate, Chang, drew the bands of Boxers, bad characters and members of the “bêh-ling-chiao” out of his district and into Yiyang. Here they soon gathered in alarming numbers among some mountains near the village Tsanghsipu, East of Yiyang. Between one and two thousand men were reported to be gathering here. After a vain attempt by some twenty modern and some twenty old-fashioned soldiers to surround and rout their camp, these outlaws suddenly struck down at Niengiaho, or Tsiengiaho, a flourishing little trading-place of some 300 shops, some fifteen miles South-east of Yiyang. Here they burnt more than half the town, including our mission chapel, knocked our colporteur and several other people on the head, and threw them into the river. After having burnt and looted this place, the robbers were going to take Nanchi, only five miles from Yiyang, next, and then to march on Yiyang.

The Magistrate was very anxious and
undecided. He wanted the missionar-

THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

CLAIMS FOR

COMPENSATION.

Peking, June 16.

The British and Japanese claims
in connexion with the Changsha
riots are identical and sympatheti-
cally couched. They barely cover
the losses sustained. The claims
will probably be settled in Chang-
ha.—*Our Own Correspondent.*

THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.

A Peking telegram says that the
Japanese Minister and the Waiwupu
have settled the question of the Chang-
sha riots on these conditions : That
the amount of indemnity for damages
should be determined by the Governor
of Hunan and the Japanese Consul in
Changsha ; that it should be paid by
the Ministry of Finance ; that an official
dispatch should be sent expressing
regret for the burning down of the
Japanese Consulate, and that the
Governor will order the provincial
authorities to afford due protection to
foreigners in future.

"THE Hankow Daily News" learns that Mr. Bertram Giles has been transferred to Changsha, as H. M. Consul, relieving Mr. Hewlett who comes to Hankow in Mr. Giles' place.

SIANGTAN.
(HUNAN)

From Our Own Correspondent.

June 24.

A PEACEFUL OUTLOOK.

It has been reported in at least two
Shan-hai papers that there had been
trouble in Siangtan and that the
Government troops had been defeated.
There is not the least foundation for such
a report. There has been no trouble of

any kind in Siangtan. With the
exception of a robbery in a village
seventy li south of here and an attack
on the country chapel in the same
place, there has been no trouble in
Hunan south of Changsha since the riot
there. It speaks well for the people
and officials that they have kept quiet.
Rice is scarce and has been almost at
famine prices and yet there has been
no outbreak. Your correspondent was
in Sianghiang, which is ninety li from
here, last week, and the magistrate has
put out a proclamation that the people
are to have but two meals a day from now
till harvest, and each family is limited in
the amount of rice it can have each day.
Yet there was no murmuring. The
prospects are fine for a good crop of rice.
There has been plenty of rain and not
too much. A flood has been reported
over in Changteh, but there has been
none in the Siang valley.

Five gunboats have been to Siang-
tan to see whether there was any-
thing to do. One French, one British,
one Japanese, one American and one
German.

MISSION WORK.

Two members of the Church Missionary Society recently spent a week here trying to buy land for their mission. Hunan is to have a resident Bishop and he expects to make Siangtan his headquarters. They found great difficulty in finding suitable land at a reasonable price.

A number of the men of the British
Missions having stations in the southern
part of the province have been given
permission by their Consul to return to
their work and have passed through
here on their way back. There were
those who never left their stations ; and
some of those who did, wished that they
never had. Consuls must do their duty
and so must missionaries, and unless
there is necessity for it, people should
not be compelled to drop all work at
the first alarm. It is your correspondent's
opinion that there was no occasion
for the alarm. Let none believe the
wild rumours about trouble in Siang-
tan or a rebellion in Hunan. Hunan
is as quiet as it ever was.

OUTPORTS, ETC.

CHANGSHA.

(HUNAN)

From Our Own Correspondent.

June 20.

THE VICEROY AND THE GENTRY.

The text of the Viceroy's Memorandum of impeachment of the gentry has at length reached us. It was reprinted in yesterday's Changsha daily from the "Eastern Times." It is noteworthy that this memorandum comes from Viceroy Jui only; that impeaching the officials was signed by Governor Yang as well as the Viceroy.

The influence of the gentry is significantly traced back to the reign of Hsien Fêng—when the great men of China were so largely recruited from Hunan. In those days, the Viceroy says, the great families and the officials were helpful to each other; but, other days other manners, and for some time it has been noteworthy that the gentry have assumed an unbecoming attitude and, instead of advising, have interfered.

On the fifth of the month (the day of the burning) the Viceroy received a joint telegram from seven of the gentry headed by Wang Hsien-chien, saying that Governor Ts'en was firing on innocent people. A request was added that an immediate change of Governors should consequently be made. This was an astonishing act of interference with matters that lay altogether beyond their ken; and showed clearly that the gentry of Changsha were using their influence secretly to foment the disturbances which were then at their height. The Viceroy goes on to say (I will give an abbreviated translation) that Governor Ts'en Chien-ming has been in Hunan for some years and, though his talents have been but mediocre, he has been just and has done fairly well—as most people in the province acknowledge. It has been well-known that he and the gentry have not agreed on things, but there has been nothing to cause an outburst on the part of the gentry such as this. Associated with Wang, were Yeh Te-hui, Ku'ng Hsien-chiao and Yang Kung. They were especially anxious to replace the Governor by the Treasurer, from no love to the Treasurer, but from a desire to ruin the Governor. After the Governor sent the seals to the Treasurer, the rioting went on as before. From this it can be clearly seen that the rioting was no affair of a hungry crowd, but was the work of bad characters who seized the opportunity offered by the mere crowd.

On the 4th, the Police Taotai was beaten, the Governor's yamên surrounded, and the Imperial troops were resisted and wounded. On the 5th when the Governor's yamên was burnt, affairs assumed the aspect of rebellion. Yet the gentry think it a matter to discuss whether a mob doing such things should be fired upon, and style such folk "honest people." On the 6th, the mob losing all sense of restraint resolved to attack the gentry and the

rich. Instantly, the gentry become very angry and request orders for the soldiers to fire without hesitation. At once an expectant Taotai, the Prefect and the district Magistrates make arrests and the rioters scattered, thus proving that had similar measures been adopted earlier, the riot would never have assumed the proportions it did. But what is to be thought of gentry who would resist the arrest of men for beating a Taotai and burning out a Governor, but who will have men arrested at all hazards who attack themselves?

All these circumstances (says the Viceroy,) I have investigated with the help of special deputies, and I have made inquiries of many others, which but corroborate their words.

"I find farther, that in the 2nd month, the question of rice importation was discussed by the gentry and officials together. At first it was decided to use any balances of public funds that were in hand for the gentry to purchase a store of rice; when it was found that no such stores were available, the suggestion was made that the wealthier of the gentry should contribute to a fund. Wang Hsien-chien is the man who led the objections to this, and, because of the delay he caused, there was a shortage. When the riot occurred, this man put all the blame on the Governor. The crowd was delighted and waxed more than ever a gry with the Governor. Ordinarily this man instigates lawsuits, is covetous and forgetful of righteousness; his reputation is that of a wolf—as is known even by the man in the street. Next, Kung Hsien-chiao is a man of whom no good is known, throughout the countryside his name is a byword. He fabricates rumours, stirs up affairs and reverses the position of right and wrong. He has an appointment in the bureau of education, but is indifferent to all matters connected with it. His son is a ne'er-do-well who, it is openly alleged, was one of the band of rioters; no proof of this statement is forthcoming, though it is true that the father cannot control the son. I beg that Imperial orders be given to the Boards concerned to determine the extreme penalty incurred by these two men. (This was granted, as you have already published. The extreme penalty was found to be a degradation of five steps).

Yeh Te-hui is an utterly bad man, forcing all whom he can into his crooked ways. He is the patron of actors and vagabonds. During this time of scarcity, he has boarded 10,000 piculs of rice, refusing to abate any jot of the highest price. He is a rich man without benevolence, a vulgar man without shame. Yang Kung is one whose position among the gentry is discussed freely by all. He privately purchased a Taotai's button, but his real rank is with the lowest of the low—one with whom no gentleman associates. The masons and carpenters look to him for guidance, men much mixed up, so it is said, with the riot. I think it would be well for Yeh and Yang to be degraded and handed over to the local magistrate for close surveillance.

In my opinion, however much the mismanagement of the officials had to do with the riots; they would never have happened but for the part played by the gentry. One is hardly surprised to hear from the "Eastern Times" that Yeh's month was filled with cursing of the Viceroy from the time he heard what was proposed, He and Yang started off for Peking, in spite of the "close surveillance" to which they were subjected. But Viceroy Jui checked them and sent them back.

Before the text of the Viceregal impeachment had arrived, but after the Edict based on it had been published, three members of the Diet took upon themselves to telegraph to the Princes and Ministers of the Grand Council on the subject. "Mr. T'an, the President: Mr. Fu, the Vice-President and Mr. P'eng (who describes himself as the member in constant residence) inform the members of the Grand Council that it is on the records of the Diet, that for months the gentry wanted the Governor to forbid the export of rice, and to commence a subscription list; but these suggestions were lightly passed over by the Governor, who when the pinch came had no suggestions to make and threw up his office—the most important in the province." How to exonerate him would be a puzzle, but Viceroy Jui rescues Governor Ts'en by throwing the burden on the gentry. Far be it from the memorialists to criticize Imperial edicts, but the duty of a Provincial Diet is to point out wrong even in the officials where wrong is manifest, hence the memorialists cannot refrain from speaking out. They request a fresh edict ordering further investigation and a just apportionment of blame.

The Edict came, but whether the memorialists took it to be a just apportionment of blame is another matter. They are told that the business of a provincial diet is contained in the regulations. Such an interference as their telegram with Imperial matters is unwarrantable. Governor Yang is ordered to dismiss any member of the Diet who interferes again in such a way.

The Governor opened the meetings of the Diet on Thursday, notwithstanding a letter that stated that the Diet was resolved to search into the sources of the riots and find them amongst the "agriculturists, workmen and traders" —a significant omission of the "scholars" from the four classes into which the population is divided in common phrase—a search which would be equivalent to searching for the sources of the Yangtze in its lower provinces. All has gone smoothly as yet, and no one has been dismissed to his home.

A RECRUDESCENCE OF BOXERISM.

In the trial of the three prisoners captured in connexion with the outbreak at Huashih (Siangtan), each confessed to having been instructed in the incantations and methods of Boxerism, in the expectation that they would thus be rendered invulnerable to the bullets of the troops. They said that most of their comrades fled, but they were stung by the reproaches

27

YIYA

(HUNAN)

From Our Own

A CORREI

Will you please tell my correspondence in your number for M. There it runs: "I have a quiet here, which as usual in the two Ns and the one Wesleya hsiang, midway between Yiyang." Here one dropped out. It once "As everything remains work was continued two Norwegian Sta- Wesleyan Mission St Sunday April 17, we the news of our static- midway between Cha and only thirty mil- having been looted ground. Most of therefore, sent off for

FRESH

Later on we have in the district. In the Governor Yang had reins and enforced or in Changsha, then they have dived into the tracts in order to get folk. In the Ns they met with a rich. The Magistrate here, Ily caught unawares exactly how to of the times in C first storm was in the station and the station, afterwards and readily with the one and beheaded one or twenty-six Boxers who are reported called in purposely to the rising.

Afterwards the Nis Chang, drew the ban- characters and men- ling-chiao" out of Yiyang. Here the alarming numbers mountains near the East of Yiyang. B thousand men were gathering here. Al- by some twenty in twenty old-fashioned and rout their can suddenly struck down Tsiengiaoh, a flourish place of some 300 miles South-east they burnt more than including our mission our colporteur and s on the head, and the river. After having this place, the rob- take Nanchi, only Yiyang, next, and Yiyang.

The Magistrate was undecided, He wan-

of a leader and stood their ground, and so rendered themselves liable to capture. The most guilty of the three was beheaded.

SIANGYIN.

Forty miles below Changsha, separ- ing it from Yochow, lies the county town of Siangyin. Rumour has been busy burning the city down, etc., but everything has been peaceful in the city. In the country, however, there have been some cases reported of rob-bery: they may be more serious, for a company of the 49th Imperial Regiment has been sent down, as well as a section of the Provincial troops, and also a special deputy from the Military Depart-ment.

Great praise is given to the Dis- trict Magistrate by the people at large for his constant care. He made personal investigation of the houses of the wealthier people, to prevent any hoarding of rice. One family was compelled to give up 1,000 loads, and from others a total was obtained of some 5,000 loads. This store is being sold to the poorest of the people (who have tickets permitting the purchase of a limited quantity daily) at fifty-six cash a "shen." The price in the ord-inary shops is now seventy cash. The prospects of the present crops are so far excellent, though they are backward, and the harvest, if (as it is hoped to be) a good one, will be late.

CHANGTEH.

News is printed in this morning's "Changsha Daily" of renewed floods on the Yuan, which will bring the bitterness of despair on the parts most heavily afflicted last year. Our own streets offer terribly sad sights, but they are as nothing to what is to be seen in the west of the province. It is reported that all the suburbs of Changteh have been badly flooded and the rice crop ruined, just as the wheat crops of the earlier months were ruined.

Just as this is being taken off to post, comes news that there has been trouble on the border of Siangyin county and also at some place in Yiyang. This local unrest is very distressing. The peasantry hardly realize yet that they cannot do against the troops of to-day what their grandfathers did in years gone by. If the troops keep loyal, it simply means more executions and more imprisonment.

June 21.

THE FAREWELL TO THE TREASURER.

At 1 p.m. to-day the principal streets of the city and its principal gate were blocked for miles with immense crowds of sight-seers. Every shop door was decorated with long lines of crackers, with a table of refreshments, and with lighted candles. A noisy procession wended its way along. It was composed of hundreds of the old-time "braves." There they were in their old time glory of scarlet and purple, and green with the old time bull's eye of white on breast and back and the big black "Brave" in the middle. They were even armed with the old time trident and heavy knife. There were banners of scarlet with all sorts of

eulogies emblazoned in gold; there were myriad-name umbrellas, then a crowd of buttoned gentry and lastly—hidden in the smoke of innumerable crackers—came a private chair in which sat in private dress, the hero of the hour, Ch'uang Ken-liang.

Forty-five years ago, Mr. Ch'uang, then a man of thirty-seven, entered on his rule of those very streets as the San-hua hsien. He has held office in this province ever since. By 1898 he had risen to be a Taotai; in May, 1906, he became the Provincial Judge and in April, 1908 he rose to the Treasurer-ship. For a few, brief, mad hours in April, 1910, he wielded the Governor's seals—and now he is a private citizen.

The most beloved of all the officials in the province, beloved by the people, as well as by the gentry, he has probably seen the entrance into Hunan of every official now holding office under its Governor. When he first took office, Tseng Kuo-fan was in the full plenitude of his power, P'eng Yu-lin had not run half his career, and Tso Tsung-t'ang had not quite gained his last victories over the Taipings, the victories that enabled him to announce to the Throne that the rebellion was at an end. Those were, indeed, the palmy days of Hunan, and to be the district magistrate of the richer half of the provincial capital at such a time was to have gained a good foundation from which to rise.

It is no wonder that a man with such a history behind him should be the idol of the people. He was the last link that bound them to the days when the gentry became the power they have been ever since. It would be unchivalrous to grudge Ch'uang Ken-liang his last brief hour of glory. How intensely interesting would be the meditations of that pinched, wizened man, who seems to have shrunk visibly and to have added a decade to his age in the past two months, as he passed out through the gate of the city.

In the ex-Treasurer's case the crackers and trumpets and banners and crowds may righteously be said to evidence the real respect and affection that is felt for a man whose career has been, as a whole, one of honourable service.

A few weeks earlier, however, those same streets of the city were echoing to a somewhat less vigorous blowing of trumpets and banging of crackers. It so happened that a British visitor from Hankow was just then passing through the streets and not unreasonably he was somewhat alarmed at the size and noise of the crowd that was bearing down towards him, for it was less than a month after the riots. He was consider-ably relieved to find it was only a method of honouring an official who was leaving his post. The fact was hidden from the visitor that the official had been degraded by an Imperial Edict from Peking. This magistrate had been the San-hua chih-hsien for a year or so and in those months had done nothing to distinguish himself from his prede-cessor who had left office with neither trumpets nor drums, crackers nor crowds. This particular method of demonstrating that "he's a jolly good

fellow" had, in the earlier case at least, very little to do with the "fellow." The inner meaning of it was a demon-stration of the particular kind of "anti-foreign" spirit which is fostered and developed in Hunan. The "foreign" must be restricted not to that which is merely outside the "four seas" but rather to that which is "south of the lake." A short time ago Changsha—which is to the province what Paris is to France, its flower, its essence or anything else of that sort you like—had decreed that Governor Ts'en was unfit to govern it. It gave a too vigorous emphasis to its judgement by burning the outer parts of his yamen. The wild burst of riot and misrule that followed was regrettable, unfortunate—it was the work of bad characters who took advantage of the turmoil and confusion that was e- necessary element of the deliberate expression of its judgement upon Governor Ts'en. If only Peking had confirmed Changsha's judgement on Governor Ts'en, Changsha would have had no particular objection to a fairly big indemnity, at least on one condition: Changsha would fix the figure. The hateful, unthinkable thing has been that Peking must needs degrade the officials of Changsha for not protecting the man whom Changsha had condemned. Hence, the telegrams of protest from the leading members of the Diet, and the crackers and banners of protest from the man-in-the-street.

Who is the real friend of Changsha? Is it he that applauds this bold front, or he who points to the utter hollowness of this braggart bravado? As the smoke and din of this day's crackers is the noisy cry of "No Hupeh workmen," "No foreign railway loan," "None but a Hunanese for such and such a Viceroyalty."

Fifty years ago Hunan did yeoman service for China. Until Hunan learns that the service of fifty years ago can but hinder the China of to-day, it will but be a drag on all the best interests of the empire. The worst thing that could happen to Changsha would be to grant its passionately urged request—that not even Peking itself should have the least say in what is to be done or not to be done in Changsha. As long as Changsha feels that way, so long must China be a kingdom divided against itself. A weak China cannot mean a strong Hunan.

"The Health and Vigour of an in-dividual depend upon the quantity and quality of the blood. When the tissues have been at work, there are thrown into the blood waste products, and if these be not eliminated but (through any cause) detained in the blood, they influ-ence nutrition and function and final-ly produce organic disease."—"The Humanitarian." In cases of Scrofula, Scurvy, Eczema, Bad Legs, Skin and Blood Diseases, Pimples, and Sores of all kinds, the effects of Clark's Blood Mixture are marvellous. Thousands of wonderful cures have been effected by it. Clarke's Blood Mixture is sold every-where at 2s., 9d., per bottle. Beware of worthless imitations and substitutes.—Aprx

the Changsha carpenters and masons from rioting. He has been punished for his failure to control his people by two months' degradation followed by the gift of one of the most, if not the most, important district magistracies in the province.

3.—The carpenters and masons have most meekly agreed not to interfere with the building of the British Conquerate; but in anything but meek language they informed the officials they would not put up with the using of Hupeh workmen in the rebuilding of the government schools (in the burning of which—so rumour says—they had a considerable share). The officials positively published this impertinent document in the Changsha daily paper!

4.—These same carpenters and masons have made a great to-do over the fact that the Catholics are using Hankow workmen to rebuild their burnt property. The Changsha men are "having the meat taken out of their mouths," etc.,; and the two district magistrates are implored to come to the help of these about-to-be-starved parishioners and send home the Hupeh "blacklegs."

5.—A foreign firm soon after the riot attempted to rent a shop for retailing its wares inside the city. A landlord was easily found, the price asked was guaranteed and all was arranged when the news leaked out that the new shop was not to be Chinese-owned. The whole scheme collapsed instantly and the pledged word of the Chinese Government that Changsha should be a treaty port was set at nought by the men who run the real government of Changsha.

And now comes the crowning touch: British subjects are to hurry up with their statements of claims for indemnity.

### VICEREGAL DISPLEASURE.

One element in the situation is likely to prove efficacious in postponing indefinitely the next riot, the presence of Viceroy Jui in Wuchang.

The members of the Provincial Diet before its assembly were known to be itching to take charge of the indemnity, search out the authors of the riot, etc. Notwithstanding the abject hint of the Governor that he had nothing to do with impeaching the gentry, the word "indemnity" has been utterly taboo, and the Diet has strictly attended to the Imperial Edict which its president and vice-president called down upon their heads.

It is most improbable that any official or any member of the "Gentry" will take any step that will involve them in the viceregal displeasure. As in 1900 we were quite safe as long as Chang Chih-tung was ruling at Wuchang; so now in 1910, we shall be quite safe as long as Viceroy Jui is in command.

If the Viceroy were removed, it is not too much to say that there is no official in Changsha who could control the situation.

The Changsha riots might have been, ought to have been, dealt with justly. There was no need for anything like vengeance—no fresh rights need have been claimed; no fresh

port need have been opened; no act of aggression need have been made. But Changsha should have been taught that she is but a provincial capital. When a foreign nation and the Chinese nation mutually agree to a certain course of action, the approval or disapproval of a provincial capital should matter nothing. If lawfully made treaties are in any respect unjust, let them be lawfully altered. If Changsha had been taught the lesson she so badly needs, it would have been an immense benefit to Changsha. Alas—it would seem the opportunity has been slipped!

Meanwhile we shall muddle along. Perchance Viceroy Jui can do what a Peking Legation might have done.

## CHENGTU.
(SZECHUAN.)

From Our Own Correspondent,

July

### A MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

A sad and serious accident, if indeed it be an accident, has happened near here. Prof. L. H. Bowling of the Government College, Chêngtu, has been drowned while descending the little river Min between this city and Kiating. Deceased left here over a week ago for Mt. Omei where he hoped to spend the summer with friends. No other foreigners were with him, only his Chinese servants. To reach the mountain the route lies two days by boat to Kiating, then a day or two overland. Bowling left here on Saturday, July 2, and the accident is reported to have taken place on Monday the 4th.

Various reports are afloat as to the cause and, it is very difficult to secure anything reliable even at this time. It is stated that the boat was anchored for the night at the little village of Hanyangpab, some eighty li this side of the city of Kiating, and near the small gorges. Bowling is said to have gone for a swim in the river and disappeared, no trace of him being obtained until his body was discovered some miles below Kiating. Other reports are to the effect that he was astride a log, that the log rolled and he fell in. Then search was made for his body and it was found almost where he fell in, being loaded down with some two hundred taels of syece. Both these stories are greatly discredited by those who know him best. He is said to have been an exceedingly timid man and could not swim at all. It would therefore seem very improbable that he would go swimming or venture out astride a log over deep water with so much silver upon his person.

Some report that there was a wreck and that as he could not swim he met his death. To this is added that the wreck was premeditated as the captain knew his passenger possessed silver. Indeed there is even a darker side at first quite widely current, that the captain and the cook made the attack, secured the silver and then threw the body overboard. The Viceroy has ordered an investigation and it is said that

the captain and others are under arrest; but the matter still is shrouded in mystery and seemingly likely so to remain. In the meantime it is definitely known that the body has been found and taken to Kiating, for burial. Prof. Bowling was an American citizen, but as the United States have no Consul here the matter is in the hands of Mr. Toller of the British Consulate,

Prof. Bowling was a native of Wisconsin and an undergraduate in Arts of the State University. He came to Chêngtu hardly a year ago to fill the chair of physics in the Government College. He was gentle and retiring in disposition and won many friends by his kindliness and modest bearing. He was but yet a young man, only twenty-nine years of age and might thus have given many years to China in her educational service. Grief over his death is general not alone among the foreigners, but among his students, many of whom were very anxious that his body should be brought here for burial.

### FOREIGN TRAVELLERS.

The Duke of Bedford's mission has been with us for a time. They have gone towards the Tibetan border in search of fauna and flora. A party of French engineers have gone in the same direction to span the route to Lhasa at Hokeo with a bridge. Report has it that electric light plants are to be started at Kuanhsien, that this city is to be lighted and an electric line begun in the near future. If it materializes as quickly as the steam line, we will have few accidents to record for many a decade.

## CHOUTS'UN.
(SHANTUNG.)

From Our Own Correspondent,

Tsinanfu, July 28.

### TIENTIN-PUKOU RAILWAY.

This letter is sent from Tsinanfu, where I am staying at present, in unpleasantly hot and steamy weather. The Pukou Railway Administration buildings here were duly opened the other day with considerable éclat. They are situated in what is termed the "Settlement", placed outside the walls of the western suburb. They are well situated, built in foreign style and are very handsome in appearance.

When the connexion from this city to Tientsin is completed, as it is hoped it may be this year, the journey from Tsinanfu to London should not take more than twelve days as compared with twenty-one at present.

### FROM DAY TO DAY.

The Rev. W. B. and Mrs. Hamilton have recently returned from furlough and are heartily welcomed by their colleagues and their many friends here and elsewhere. They have been attending the great Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in June last. They cordially concur in the verdict that it has been an unqualified success.

The rainy season is now upon us, and thunderstorms and heavy rainfall are the normal condition of these

THE CHANGSHA RIOTS.
Peking. Aug. 2.

The China Inland Mission has refused compensation for the destruction of its property at Changsha. The indemnity to be paid to Germany is Tls. 50,000, to France Tls. 40,000 while the other claims have not yet been settled.—*Our Own Correspondent*.

THE HUNAN RIOTS.

The Governor of Hunan has reported to the Emperor that, in consequence of the Changsha riots, the people are brought to a destitute pass and unless a large fund be raised to initiate some industry to provide work as a measure of relief, trouble cannot be aversed. The matter is ordered to be considered by the Ministry. The Ministry of Finance has commended that the indemnity of Tls. 880,000 be loaned from the bank, but it should be repaid by the Hunan province, without responsibility to the Ministry.

CHANGSHA INDEMNITY TO
JAPAN.

Peking. Aug. 17.

The Hunan Government has paid as an indemnity to the Japanese for the Changsha riots the sum of Tls. 110,000.—*Our Own Correspondent*.

April 16

## RIOT AT CHANGSHA.

Shanghai cables that a mob of the poor has broken out at Changsha, Hunan province. The insurgents made a raid on the shops of Chinese merchants. Commercial transactions are suspended. A later dispatch states that on Wednesday evening the mob assaulted the Government offices and foreign missions at Changsha which were destroyed. They made a raid on rice merchants' shops and took some rice and money.

In this respect Mr. Matsura, our Consul-General at Hankow, wires under date of the 14th inst. to the effect that according to the report of the British Consul-General at Hankow, the poor people in Changsha made a riot on Wednesday evening and assaulted the Governor's Yamen. They set fire to three Christian churches which totally destroyed. The situation threatens to become serious. British warships lying in Hankow will be dispatched to the scene of the disturbance.

## THE DISTURBANCE AT CHANGSHA.

### THE SITUATION SERIOUS.

In connection with the disturbance in Changsha, Hunan province, China, reported elsewhere, a telegram from our Consul there received at the Foreign Office reports that the disturbance in the place is becoming serious. The Provincial Governor's Yamen, Churches, schools and other buildings were destroyed by the mob who set fire to them. Danger impending, the authorities were going to shelter the Japanese residents at the Consulate and the Japan-China Steamship Company, when fire broke out in the vicinity of the consulate about 4 o'clock of Friday afternoon.

Our Consul was asked by the Governor to leave the consulate on account of the approaching danger stating that the force of guards was insufficient to protect him. Upon this the consul and other members of the consulate and their families took themselves to a vessel lying at anchor with important official papers and also took the residents with them, experiencing great difficulties in doing so. They intended to leave the place by a steamer expected to enter the port that evening. The consulate building was left to the care of the troops, but is said to have been destroyed by the insurgents afterwards. The insurgents are going to set fire to and destroy all steamship companies' buildings and the custom house. The place is in a state of war. The British Consul and foreign residents have withdrawn to Hankow by a steamer.

An official despatch from Vice-Consul Murakami was received, briefly relating the disturbance in Changsha, but its details could not be ascertained. Owing to the seriousness of its nature, Vice-Admiral Ijuin, the Chief of the Naval Board of Command, issued orders to the Commander-in-Chief of the Third Squadron to despatch a warship to the scene. The *Fushimi* now in Chengkiang or the *Sumida* in Shanghai will proceed to Changsha at once. There are 113 Japanese, including 30 women, in Changsha and so far none of them have been injured.

## THE DISTURBANCE IN CHANGSHA.

### FURTHER PARTICULARS.

As regards the riot in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, China, reported in our last issue, no accurate details about the later development

of the situation are to hand owing to telegraphic communication being interrupted by the mob who cut the telegraph wires connecting the place with other localities. Still, according to news from Hankow and other places the strength of the mob seems to be very formidable, and quite beyond the power of the troops stationed at the place, of whom there is only one regiment there. Reinforcements are being dispatched from Wu-chao and other places. The alleged murder of Governor Chan Chunmyon appears to be a fact. Three British warships have arrived at Changsha and the warships of Japan, America and Germany are now on their way thither for the protection of residents of their respective countries. Two Chinese gunboats have also been sent for the place of the riot. No injury to Japanese residents is reported so far.

A Hankow dispatch dated the 17th inst. says that the disturbance at Changsha is becoming more and more serious. Pandemonium has raged for several days past, and the streets have several times been the scene of riots. The rioters, after destroying the Governor's Yamen, churches and schools, made an attack on the Japanese and British Consulates, whose buildings were totally destroyed. Our Consul Mr. Murayama, being advised by the Chinese authorities to leave the consulate in view of impending danger, took the members of the consulate and their families and himself, together with important official papers, outside of the city wall with great difficulty and took refuge on board a ship chartered from a native. Other Japanese residents are also sheltered on board the same ship. The building of foreign residents have all been destroyed by the mob. The city is in a state of anarchy. The *Genko Maru* of the Nisshin Steamship Co. left Hankow on Sunday for Changsha with 500 troops of the Hupeh army on board. Preparations are being

MILITARY PREPARATIONS AT
CHANGSHA.

The Chinese troops stationed in Hunan province consist of a brigade and a half of troops trained after the new system, 300 guards of the provincial governor and 10,000 ordinary troops. Besides those there are some 40 small warships and 4,500 bluejackets, though trained after the out-of-date old Chinese system. These troops are of course stationed at several different localities of the province, in separate detachments, but at least a half of the entire force must be stationed at Changsha, which is the capital of Hunan and the site of the Governor's Yamen. And yet the whole city has been cast into a state of chaotic disorder and anarchy, as it appears from various reports to hand, in an instant at the mere rising

of a mob, mostly of poor people; a fact testifying the unreliable character of the standing troops stationed in the place. A well-informed authority says that Changsha is a central rendezvous of the Kolaohui revolutionaries that the present rising of the mob is very likely having been instigated, to some extent, by revolutionary elements.

DISTURBANCE QUELLED.

A telegram from Mr. Matsumura, our Consul at Hankow, under yesterday's date, states that according to a wire message from Changsha received by a members of the Nisshin Steamship Company on Sunday morning the disturbance in the capital of Hunan has been nearly quelled and the Chinese shops in the city have mostly returned to business. The buildings of the steamship company escaped falling victim to the ravage of the mob. The Japanese teachers who remained in the city are all safe.

Mr. Ariyoshi, our Consul General in Shanghai, wiring under yesterday's date, reports that according to a report from Yochou the Japanese resident in Changsha arrived at Hankow on Saturday last by the steamer *Shoko Maru*. A report from the Governor of Hunan says that the disturbance in Changsha has already been pacified. The foreign warships which left Shanghai for Hankow have abandoned their voyage up the Yangtze, except the British gunboat *Thisile*.

CHINESE NEWS.

THE RIOT IN CHANGSHA.

Mr. Ijuin, our Minister in Peking, telegraphs that the Waiwupu transmitted to him on the 18th a report from the Governor of Hunan reporting the pacification of the disturbance in Changsha. The Chinese authorities also informed him that Mr. Yang Wencheng, Treasurer of Hupeh Province, has been ordered to preced to Changsha in order to act as Governor of Hunan and to take measures to settle affairs after the disturbance.

JAPANESE PRESS.

The Changsha Riot.—The *Jiji* urges on the Peking Government the importance of the early restoration of order at that important tradal and political centre. As to the cause alleged for the riot, the paper finds one to be the suffering of the masses owing to the rising of the price of rice, and the other the activity of the revolutionists. The latter is the more likely one, in the paper's opinion, when it is remembered that this locality was made one of the centres of their activities by the rebels in Yunnan a few years ago. To these important points on the Yangtze have been directed the inciting efforts of the revolutionists. At any rate, the Peking authorities should expedite the suppression, for at this moment when they must maintain their rights vis-à-vis foreign Powers, while preparing domestic condition for the establishment of constitutional regime. The paper cannot but hope, in view of the present trouble, for the speedy construction of railways along the important inland centres. It is important both for military purposes and for the early development of the country.

The Tokyo Asahi cannot look upon the high price of rice as the true cause of the riot, for the effects of famine were not limited to that district alone and, moreover, this was the province which led the others in the prohibition of grain importation. The true cause may be, for instance, the unpopularity of the governor. Whatever the cause of the riot, the paper regrets deeply that it should have taken place in the centre of comparatively modern ideas in China, and that the foreign concessions there were temporarily exposed to anti-foreign outrage. This has not only furnished an occasion for a claim of damages from foreign Powers, including, to the paper's infinite regrets, this country. But what impresses the paper as most deplorable is the inefficiency of the Chinese army, of which a division was in garrison at the place of the riot. Not only has the entire division failed to protect foreign possessions but even the Governor's office from the ravages of the local mobs. The paper, avowing itself to be a friend of China, regrets that the occasion should have served only to expose the effectness of the new army of China. It fears that the Powers' respect for her national dignity and the belief in the trustworthiness of her army has been greatly reduced. The affair has, in the paper's opinion, also revealed the survival of anti-foreign feeling in inland China. It remains for China to expedite its suppression and to recover her credit in the eyes of the Powers.

THE CHANGSHA DISTURBANCE.

RESTORATION OF PEACE.

A Hankow telegram states that the troops of Hupeh army have arrived in Changsha and order has been restored in the place. A Shanghai dispatch says that the Japanese gunboat *Sumida* cleared the port of Shanghai for Hankow on Wednesday morning. The situation in Changsha continues quiet. According to a rumour there are some rioters at

high price of rice. The people appealed to the Governor to have the Public Granaries opened and the price lowered, but he was unwilling to do it, so there has been quite a little unrest, and for 2 or 3 days they have been congregating outside the South Gate. At last on Wednesday night, 13th inst., they surrounded the Governor's Yamen and declared they would kill him. They succeeded in breaking down the front part of the Yamen, but did not get in to the Governor. On Thursday night another attempt was made, and failing again in this, they attacked the Missions, report is, they said if one or two Foreigners could be killed the Foreign Guards would take up the matter and the Governor's life would be forfeited and so they would gain their end. This report we did not hear till after our place was destroyed.

The first place attacked was the Norwegian premises at 1 a.m. where they broke up everything, the missionary making his escape just as mob got in. Two of the soldiers of the Guard Room opposite our place saw the attack on the Norwegian Mission, and came over to urge us to get out as quickly as possible. It was then 1.30 o'clock. We arose and dressed as rapidly as we could, gathered together some money and ran out at the back door. Just as we went out, the Rioters came in at the front entrance. A crowd had also gathered at the back, and as we passed through they called out "Catch them and kill them." One of the crowd had also suggested that there were others inside, so, happily for us, their attention was turned away for the moment, and we were able to escape. The soldiers led us to a Yamen or Gaol; the place, by the way, where Chow Han is imprisoned, and we stayed there till 6 a.m. Up till about 4 o'clock we could hear the shouting and yelling. Then things quieted down, and at 5.30 the soldiers went over to look around a little (this must have been Thursday, the 14th) and it seemed quiet, so we went over to the Mission. We found the place in a dreadful condition. The house was broken down in many places, every window smashed, all the seats in both Chapel and Street-Chapel broken, as well as the desks and stools in the school, and the tables and chairs in the guest-rooms. Our clothes were nearly all torn to pieces or thrown around in such a way that they are spoiled, our sedan chairs, organ, stoves, typewriter,

dishes, lamps and everything that could be broken were broken. In the store-room they emptied flour, sugar, tapioca, currants, salt, coffee, tea, etc., into a heap on the floor. We managed to get some bread and butter and have a little breakfast and then, at the suggestion of Mr. Siao—one of the Evangelists—we started to pack up what clothes we could. While we were thus engaged Mr. Cheng, one of the elders of the Church, came and said the Rioters were burning the Norwegian place, and were coming over as soon as they had finished to the C.I.M. Both he and Mr. Siao, as well as the soldiers urged us to hurry off the premises, so we left; and the few things we had collected were sent down after us. Quite a few of our books were in a very good condition, but we had no time to get any of them. The Soldiers took us up on the wall, and round to the West Gate, from where we came on board the steamer *Siang-Tan* which had been held over by the British Consul. When we came on board we found the Liebenzell Friends there with many others. The Wesleyan Missionaries had had to escape about 2 a.m. and their premises were partly destroyed. Several others had also been in hiding all night. Shortly after we reached the steamer we could see the Norwegian Mission buildings in flames. Later on our place and the Governor's Yamen. About 5 o'clock our party was divided, and some came on board this steamer, which in the meantime had come from Hankow, and which was to be the first to leave for Hankow. The British Consul, the Commissioner of Customs and Representatives from most of the Missions remained on the *Siang-tan* to wait the arrival of the gunboat, which the Consul had telegraphed for. Dr. Keller stayed but he thought it best for to come on. Late in the afternoon some of our servants came to the boat and told us that our Chapel and house were completely burned up, but that the Hospital had been sealed by the officials. They also told us that the Liebenzell Mission property was destroyed, and the mob was preparing to burn it down. Word was also received that the rioters had looted the house of the Evangelist of the United Evangelical Mission, and that he was separated from his wife and children. Before we left Changsha, which was about 10 p.m., there were several other fires that we could see distinctly from the boat. But we do not know what places they were, probably the property of the Wesleyan Mission, the London

Missionary society, and the American Episcopal Mission, but there has been no definite word so far about them.

Hankow, April 16.

We arrived here safely last night at about half-past 9 o'clock. Our whole party—numbering about forty—have been most kindly received into the various houses here. The S.S. *Siang-tan* with the workers from the City of Siang-tan will probably reach here some time to-day. We hear that the price of rice has at last been lowered but whether peace will be restored now remains to be seen. Alas, for the Christians and Enquirers and the Missionaries still left in Hunan. May God preserve them from further danger.

May 7

## THE CHANGSHA RIOTS,

### ACTING GOVERNOR BLAMES THE BOXERS.

On the 20th April the Acting Governor of Hunan wired to Viceroy and Governors of provinces to the following effect:—

The bad characters have incited the starving people in Hunan on the pretence of the rise of price of rice and have burned the yamen of the Governor and Missions causing a big foreign case about which I have already reported to you. Now the magistrate of Ninghsiang has reported that there has also been a riot there in which missions and schools were buried and that a certain Chou Tsai-yun has been arrested and he is found to be a native of Hupeh and to have been at a certain place in the district of Siangyin in the 2nd moon where he met with a certain Lo, a native of Shantung and a member were burned and that a certain Chou of Ihotuan (Boxers) who has twenty-four of his partisans in Hunan and that the said Chou knows of a certain Chang of Kiangsi, We of Anhwei, Sun and Kao of Hupeh. They all wear blue gowns with the characters Chingpin (blue soldier) on the lapel. In the month of the 2nd moon they arrived in Hunan and waited for a

chance and seeing the circumstance
that the starving people are asking
for the lowering of the price of rice
they took advantage of it and caused
troubles in Changsha and after they
had burned the office of the Governor
and Missions they went to various
departments, sub-prefectures and de-
stricts and tried to burn Missions to
cause troubles. Therefore I have
caused all the subordinates to warn
the people against any rising and to
arrest the revolutionaries and to
protect foreigners but as they have
started troubles in Hunan it may also
be the case that some of these people
may be in other provinces to cause
troubles and therefore it is desired
that if there be any one suspicious
such person be strictly dealt with and
especially it is desirable that the
Governor of Shantung should root
out the members of the Ihotuan to
maintain the peace.—Sinwanpao.

THE AFTERMATH.

Peking, 26th April.—It is reported
that the British Government has de-
manded a compensation of 30 million
taels and the Japanese Government
5 million taels for damages incurred
by their respective nationals through
the recent Changsha riots. The
Hunanese Guild at Peking have wired
to their fellow provincials that the
officials should be made to bear the
above indemnity in the same manner
as in the case of the Mixed Court riot
at Shanghai.

Peking, 26th April.—Viceroy Jui
Chen of Hupeh has memorialised the
Throne applying for a grant of Tls.
500,000 for the purpose of reorganis-
ing Changsha affairs. Orders have
been given to the Board of Finance
to report on the application to the
Throne.

Peking, 26th April.—Since the
Changsha riots the Prince Regent
has frequently requested the Grand
Councillors to recommend the best
ways of abolishing corruption in the
administration of the Government
granaries.

None of the Grand Councillors expressed any opinions or offered any suggestion in the matter, but expressed a willingness to adopt whatever was proposed by the Prince Regent himself.

Changsha, 26th April.—The acting
Governor Yang Wenting arrived
Hunan on the 25th inst, and will
take up his office on the 27th inst.

Hankow, 23rd April.—The s.s.
Kian arrived at 3 a.m. this morning
with twenty three refugees, part of
her cargo had been delivered as called
for by the Chinese merchants at
Changsha and the remainder brought
back to Hankow. When the Kian
departed, the Consulate and the Com-
missioner of Customs houses were in-
tact; the former are guarded by the
military, the latter by gun-junks.
The Consul, Commissioner of Customs
and staff and four male missionaries
are living on house-boats moored on
the opposite side of the River under
the protection of the foreign ships
of war. The foreign ships of war
at Changsha are H.M.S. Thistle and
Nightingale, and the new French
Upper Yangtze gunboat from Ichang.
H.M.S. Snipe is reported ashore in
the Tungting Lake. H.M.S. Thistle,
after a race with a Chinese gunboat,
was the first foreign ship of war to
arrive at Changsha, her appearance
presented an unusual and impressive
sight to the natives, who were to be
seen scurrying form the the ill-fated
city in thousands. Changsha is de-
vastated, and the wanton destruction
of property continues.

Admiral Sah arrived by train
from Peking, travelling incognito,
on Wednesday and proceeded the
same evening on a gunboat to
Changsha.

Four Chinese gunboats are on
their way up, while H.M.S. Kinsha
and Snipe should have arrived yes-
terday afternoon. The Thistle is
returning as the water in the Siang
river is dropping rapidly.—China
Gazette.

YA-LI COLLEGE

AN ACCOUNT OF YALE IN THE FAR EAST.

The Buildings and Situation—Those
Who Are Carrying on the Work—The
Salaries and Expenses Paid.

In an interview with a representative of the NEWS, Dr. William H. Sallmon, '94, who is now in charge of the Bureau of Appointments in Yale, has given a very interesting account of the Ya Li College at Changsha, China. Dr. Sallmon returned last June from a visit of over six months to this Yale institution of the far East, during which time he was investigating and assisting in the work which is being carried on over there by Yale men.

The mission, which is now in its sixth year, is located on one of the main streets, near the center of the city of Changsha; a place of some 350,000 inhabitants, in the province of Hu-Nan. The town is situated on the Hsiang River about 250 miles South of Hankow. The College consists at present of a collegiate school, which gives an education somewhat comparable to the American high school, only more mixed, as in the German schools. There is also a dispensary and hospital with accommodations for twenty-five patients. The school building is in a warehouse reconstructed for the purpose, and the hospital is located in rented quarters across the street.

The mission owns a plot of ground outside the city walls, which was originally acquired for a campus site; but owing to the difficulty of obtaining a clear title to it, and because in the light of recent developments, other locations seem more desirable, it has been decided to give up the original piece of land, and to get hold of another plot of twenty acres in a more desirable neighborhood. The present agitation among the Chinese, however, resulting from a new feeling of patriotism, is making it increasingly difficult for foreigners to get possession of land in that country, and there are also many other obstacles to be overcome before the construction of the permanent college can be commenced. Money is in hand for the construction of the first recitation halls, the first professors' residence, and for the hospital buildings.

The work is being directed from New Haven by a Committee consisting of Professor F. Wells Williams, '79, Chairman; Professor Harlan P. Beach, '78, Corresponding Secretary; Dr. William H. Sallmon, '94, Executive Secretary and Treasurer; Professor Henry P. Wright, '68; Professor Williston Walker, 1901 H.; Secretary Anson Phelps Stokes, '96; Mr. Lewis S. Welch, '89, and Mr. Arthur C. Williams, '98.

This mission is the only one in the world which is equipped and manned by a single university. Other colleges have men stationed at different points and supported by them, but no other institution supports such a mission as the Ya-Li College at Changsha. An expenditure of $13,000 a year is required to support the mission, and this amount is provided entirely by graduates and undergraduates in all departments of Yale University. Every Yale dollar goes to China. The expenses of the Executive Committee are met by a few friends outside of Yale.

An account of the liberal arrangement which is made with the men who are sent over to China, by the Society, has never been made public, and may be of considerable interest. The allowance for expenses is more generous than that made by any other mission board. The salary for a married man is $1,200 a year; for an unmarried man, $800. For each child from one to seven years old $100 additional is allowed; from seven to fourteen, $200; and from fourteen to twenty-one, $300. Seventy-five dollars to each married man and $30 to each unmarried man is allowed every year for a health change during the Summer, when it becomes necessary for the missionaries to leave Changsha, and go to the hills of Kuling on the Yangtse River. An insurance of $10,000 is carried on the life of each missionary, the premiums being paid by the society. All traveling expenses are paid and a furlough is granted every seven years. For an outfit, furniture, etc., $500 is allowed to each married man, and $400 to each unmarried man. The expectation is that by this liberal provision for the health, comfort and safety of its representatives Yale will be able to send to the Orient men of superior training and ability. With such men and such backing there is every reason to hope and believe that the little Yale in China will one day become a great Yale just as the University here has developed from even a smaller beginning.

CHINESE THREATEN MISSION.

Wesleyan Mission Probably Destroyed.
Ya-li Believed to Be Safe.

A despatch received from Shanghai, China, yesterday afternoon, states that an outbreak of the natives has occurred in the city of Changsha and that the rioters have destroyed a mission situated there. The missionaries took refuge in the Yamen, which was subsequently attacked, but there was no loss of life.

Dr. William H. Sallmon, '94, Executive Secretary and Treasurer of the Yale Mission in China, gave the NEWS the following interview last night regarding this despatch:

> "The published despatch regarding the destruction by rioters of a mission at Changsha, the capital of the province of Hunan, in which is situated Yale's Mission in China, is confusing. Two missions are mentioned in the despatch, the Wesleyan and the China Inland. The Wesleyan is headed by the Rev. Gilbert G. Warren, who has four or five able assistants, all Englishmen. The China Inland is headed by Dr. Frank G. Keller, Yale '92, who also has several English assistants. Both of these missions have been extremely prosperous; the Wesleyan having completed and dedicated last year a handsome and commodious chapel. It rather looks from the despatch as if this fine property had been the object of attack by the rioters. The Yale Mission lies midway between the two mentioned, being about a mile from each. It is reassuring to know that there was no loss of life and that two British gunboats are hurrying to the scene, as the natives stand in awe of these gunboats.

> "It is probable that the outbreak was local, as no word has yet been received from the Yale men in Changsha. Those now in the field are: Brownell Gage, '98, his wife and three children; Dr. E. H. Hume, '97, his wife and three children; Mrs. Lawrence Thurston, widow of Lawrence Thurston, '98; William J. Hail, 1904, Yale's old champion long distance runner; Dickinson H. Leavens, 1909, and Miss Nina D. Gage, nurse. Dr. Fu-Chun Yen, who graduated from the Medical School last year, has just arrived in Changsha to take up his work at the Yale hospital. T. T. Giffen, 1907, is located in Changsha, as an instructor in one of the government schools."

The Yale Mission School in the Changsha Riots

Several letters from Yale men who were at the Changsha School during the riots last Spring were received too late to be printed before Commencement. They show the experiences of the Yale instructors in the exciting days of last Spring in Hunan. Excerpts from these letters follow:

I

The beginning of the trouble is described by D. H. Leavens, '09, who lives in the School compound.

The first intimation we had of trouble came Wednesday evening, April 13, when at bedtime Mr. Wang, the School proctor and general business manager, told Hail that there was great excitement in the city, that a mob was assaulting the Governor's yamen and trying to kill him. On me personally this did not make very much impression, and I did not realize the seriousness of the situation, so I slept peacefully until I was awakened between three and four in the morning by Hail and Mr. Wang and told to dress and be in readiness to clear out at any time. After dressing I went over to the Gages', where the other foreigners on our compound were already assembled. Hail and Latoulière (the postmaster) had not slept at all. About 1 A. M. one of the clerks from the post-office had rushed in to tell Latoulière that a mob was at the gates, and asked what to do; also that a mob was attacking the Government bank near by, as well as the Methodist Mission across the street. This was, naturally, not reassuring news, and at last, between three and four, the gate-keeper and Mr. Wang rushed up with the news that the mob was outside in our street. They had pounded on our gates, and the gate-keeper wisely opened up and set out lights, and they did not disturb the place, after the manner of college Sophomores, who usually treat a Freshman well if he opens up promptly. On the other hand, at the Hospital, where they were slow in opening the gates,

they smashed the sign boards but did no serious damage. Later, other rumors came in of attacks on the Wesleyan, Norwegian and China Inland Missions, with looting, but no foreigners injured. A chit finally came from Hume saying that the people of their compound had gone out under military escort to the soldiers' barracks at the northeast of the city, where Hume knows the General Yang. We sat around in the Gages' living room ready to clear out if Mr. Wang thought it necessary. He brought us Chinese gowns, which we put on over our regular clothes and thought might serve as somewhat of a disguise in the darkness. We did not wish to flee unless absolutely necessary, for there was no place to flee to as the city gates do not open until daylight. Fortunately there were two steamers due to sail at daybreak, and we got word that the Consul had ordered the English one, the *Siangtan*, to wait to rescue the foreigners.

So we had time to pack up, and I prepared my bedding and the most important of my clothes and little things, not attempting to fix up books, stationery and general supplies. After breakfast we called up the student committee to decide what we should do about having classes. At first the students thought they would be all right if we kept them there, but finally it was thought best to close the School for a few days, and for the students to go to their homes in the city. At about nine o'clock we all cleared out, leaving Hail, as someone ought to stay in the School. Gage and I walked down to the steamer escorting the ladies' chairs and were not troubled at all in the street. We found other people there, perhaps twenty or thirty in all, and more coming all the time. Here we learned the details about the attacks on the Missions and the situation began to seem more serious.

II

The following from Dr. E. H. Hume, '97, whose house is a rented compound about half a mile from the School and Hospital, describes a more exciting adventure:

At 1.15 we were awaked by a sharp rapping at our door and a servant rushed up to tell us that the constables—who are permanently located across the street from our house to serve us, as such constables can, in the way of escorting, and so on—had hurried over to say that the crowd was now after us, that the Norwegian Mission, very near by, had been attacked, as well as the China Inland, and that we better go out. I asked whether we might rush down to the steamer, and they said we could not possibly go on the street. When I asked where they wished us to go they said they could not tell but that we must do something. So we ordered the servants to break through the safety gate we have at the back, leading into the house of some people living in our rear—a gate known as the "Great Peace Gate." Every one hustled into a few clothes and we gathered some necessities for the children and, a few minutes later, found ourselves in our neighbors' house, while the people there, all kindness and realizing the situation, hid us in a dark room lying empty. The company which thus fled from our house consisted of nine foreigners, four of them babies. ... Our neighbors were splendid. They fitted us all out with Chinese clothes, including caps and shoes, and we certainly should have been able to fool a fair crowd where the light was poor. Well, the hours between 1.30 and 5 A. M. passed by, every moment seeming to be more strenuous than the last, for our servants were constantly coming in with news that the Norwegian Mission had been battered into, that the C. I. M. had been wrecked, and that passing rowdies had said at our gate "For-

FREDERICK N. JUDSON, '66
Appointed by President Taft a member of the recently organized Federal Commission on Railroad Securities

THE YALE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY

SUPPORTING THE YALE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL AND HOSPITAL
IN CHANGSHA, CHINA

WILLIAM H. SALLMON
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY AND TREASURER

Yale University, New Haven, Conn. May 19, 1910.

Letters dated April 13 to 17 have been received from our representatives in China telling of the riots in Changsha. All of the Yale families escaped harm, some of them undergoing thrilling experiences, the women and children, and some of the men, going on to Hankow, where they were most hospitably received. A few remained on the boats near Changsha in order to represent the Mission and to be of service if opportunity offered.

At last reports the three hospitals (Yale, China Inland and Norwegian), and the other property of the two Missions (Yale and Alliance) were practically unmolested, and valuable effects had been removed to places of safety by the trusty servants of our Mission. Dr. Hume's Chinese assistant, Dr. Hou, showed excellent prudence in having all the patients in the hospital removed and all the surgical and other instruments safely stored before the mob reached the hospital.

The property of all other Missions was looted and much of it burned. The fine new buildings of the Chinese Normal and Technical schools and the Yamens (official residences) were fired; the Custom House, and the warehouse of Standard Oil and British and American Tobacco Companies were destroyed.

The causes of the outbreak seem to be the conditions of discontent and destitution produced by the cornering of the rice supply, followed by the inflaming of anti-foreign feeling which is ever near the surface in the anti-foreign province of Hunan.

It is a matter of deep gratitude that our men were so marvelously preserved through the trouble, and that in spite of dangers and possible loss of property there has been no loss of life.

The Mission has enjoyed a most successful year. Drs. Hume and Yen, with Miss Gage, and their assistants in the hospital, have been taxed to their utmost, and the Collegiate School, under Messrs. Gage, Hail and Leavens, assisted by Mrs. Thurston, has been enlarged and filled to capacity. Fortunately the riots occurred towards the close of the school year. The students were dismissed to their homes without much loss in time, and the missionaries will proceed to their summer rendezvous. New recruits will start for the front this summer, Mr. Harvey and his wife sailing on June 25, and Mr. Latourette on July 5.

The Executive Committee expresses its gratitude for the many evidences of interest which have been manifested during these testing days, and bespeaks the support of all good Yale men in pushing forward this growing and promising enterprise.

# The Chang-sha Riots of 1910

BY WILLIAM J. HAIL

[Mr. Hail is a member of the Yale Mission in Chang-sha and the following article was written on shipboard where the missionaries sought refuge after the destruction of their buildings by the mob. Since this outbreak is apparently a manifestation of a widespread anti-foreign movement, this narrative by an eye witness is of historic interest.—EDITOR.]

THE city of Chang-sha has always been one of the most conservative of the most conservative provinces in the Chinese Empire. It was with great difficulty that foreigners were admitted, and ever since the port was opened to foreign trade the local authorities have been unwilling to carry out the provisions of the treaty by which it was open. There has been a constant struggle between the officials and the foreign consuls as to whether the city or only the part that lies outside the walls along the Siang River was the treaty port. The consuls have maintained that the foreign merchants were allowed to buy land and open up offices inside the walls, while the officials have contended that the port was only the river front, and no firms have been able to secure land in the city itself.

Besides this natural conservativeness of the people and officials, the general currents of progress have made themselves felt among the younger element, and the death of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor hastened the feeling that in the new order of things they were able to take full charge of all local affairs, and this has produced a feverish radicalism which is held along with the conservatism that has always prevailed. The provincial assemblies organized last winter proved to be both radical and conservative-radical so far as the introduction of self-government is concerned, and conservative in regard to all foreign and outside enterprises. Among the things that they forbade was the opening of the city to foreign trade, treaty provisions notwithstanding. Another matter that engrossed their attention was that of the proposed trunk line from Hankow to Canton, in which matter there was sympathy and co-operation with the fight of the Hupeh people against a foreign loan. There is a well-known and indomitable pride about the people that in-

cludes a profound contempt for the foreigner. The foreigner may be from another country or from another province. The feeling against him is nearly the same.

The influential people of the city are the members of some of the highest families in the empire, and they are Hunanese to the core. In their individual relations with the foreigners they are courteous, but there is always the same manifestation of pride and conservatism in all their dealings with foreign affairs, and they have, thru the Provincial Parliament, been a source of embarrassment to the officials as well as to the foreigners.

It is for this reason always uncertain in cases of trouble what the effect of that trouble will be on the foreigners who live in their midst. So it was in this instance. There was a threatened rice famine due to the unrestricted exportation of rice from the province. When the matter became acute by reason of the advancing price of the rice and there were rumors that the price was bound to advance still more, with the prospect that none at all could be had after a fortnight, we had apprehensions for our safety in case the situation should become acute. On the morning of the 11th of April, word came that the people were becoming uneasy and alarmed at the situation, and that they were bitter in their feelings toward the Governor of the province because he had not taken any measures to restrict the exportation of rice.

On the same afternoon there was a most unfortunate occurrence outside the city, where a number of the officials had gathered to consider the situation. In this section of the city a great many poor people live, many of them refugees from other parts of the province, where the floods of last summer had left them destitute. Among them were some people

THE CHANG-SHA RIOTS OF 1910

who were hungry and they set up the cry
for food. The same day and about the
same time the police magistrate spoke to
some of the people and is reported to
have told them that the price of rice was
lower here than in some other places in
China, and that there was to be no dis-
order of any kind, for in that event the
people would be punished.

These two things led to the organiza-
tion of a mob to go to the official resi-
dence of the Governor and express their
feelings toward him for the mismanage-
ment of their affairs. From what evi-
dence we are able to collect these people
started to the yamen about half-past

outbreak was meditated, because they
were battering at the gates of the post
office and of the Imperial-Bank just be-
fore going to the Wesleyan Mission.
The watchmen of the city had gone out
a little before this time, proclaiming that
there was a riot and commanding the
people of all the places on the streets to
open their doors and hang out lights, and
it seems that in none of these cases was
there a prompt compliance.

The foreigners of the three missions
above mentioned fled thru back doors
and either hid themselves in the city or
on the city walls, or managed to have
the West Gate opened and escaped to

CHANG-SHA WATERFRONT.

Customs House slightly to left of center with high flag pole. Steamship company's warehouse and hulk to right of center all burned on April 18. American Missionary and his wife in small boat escaping to steamer in foreground.

seven in the evening and remained there
until after midnight, being kept out of
the place by soldiers, who were furnished
with bamboo sticks and bayonets, but, so
far as I am able to learn, with little or
no ammunition. They appear to have
confined their rioting to that one place
until the time mentioned above, when
either they went elsewhere or else differ-
ent mobs were organized, for about one
clock there were attacks made on the
Wesleyan Mission in the western part of
the city and on the two missions near the
South Gate. In each of these cases it
seems rather clear that no anti-foreign

the steamer that was lying at anchor just
off the shore. Other missionaries hid
themselves in the residences of friends,
slipping out thru their back doors lest
they be seen by the rioters. Some re-
mained, but were prepared to flee on a
moment's notice, and it was amusing to
see the figures that emerged from the
hands of those who fitted them out with
Chinese garments. About four o'clock
word was brought in that there was a
truce, perhaps due to the coming of the
troops from outside the city. We
breathed freely and the ladies made prep-
arations for flight by the steamer which

THE CHANG-SHA RIOTS OF 1910

but there were only one or two more
actually fired during the afternoon, for a
stiff breeze sprung up, and various places
which were to be fired were saved by the
action of the neighbors, who prostrated
themselves before the rioters and begged
that innocent people should not be in-
jured or their property endangered. In
some cases they were successful.

But in the evening the work of de-
struction was resumed. The foreign
refugees had been divided into two par-
ties, the most of the women and children
going to the second steamer due to sail
the following day, and the rest remain-
ing near the city to await the coming of
gunboats. To insure against trouble the
steamers were moved a little lower down,
and from there enough could be seen to
infer that there was a great deal of dis-
order in the city and suburbs. Nearest
the steamer in the north suburb the Cath-
olic Mission blazed, and beyond, indis-
tinct in the mists of evening, were clearly
to be distinguished other fires that
seemed to be new. Late at night word
was brought that some of the schools
had been set on fire. During the night
the refugees on the steamer kept regular
watches and some of them discovered a
burning junk floating down the river. It
burned with a fierce blaze, which looked
as if the boat had been covered with
kerosene. It is suspected that this was
an attempt to set some of the steamers
on fire.

The following morning the launch that
had been put at the service of the Brit-
ish Consul took some of the men up to
the city to see what had happened dur-
ing the night. The first place that we
reached and passed was the warehouse of
the Standard Oil Company. There we
beheld a scene of animation. Men were
coming out of the door like bees out of
a hive, each one carrying a case or a tin
of oil. Some of these people were carry-
ing their plunder to the small houses of
the vicinity, but the most of them ap-
peared to be loading the boats that float-
ed at the water's edge.

Nearer the West Gate we saw that the
custom house and the jetties of the two
British steamer companies had been
burned, while the warehouses had been
broken into and looted. Strangely
enough, the Japanese jetty and the ware-

houses were untouched. On approach-
ing the custom house, as tho about to go
ashore, we saw a crowd of people stand-
ing about and viewing the work of the
incendiaries. Some of them were inside
the building looting. When word was
given that we were approaching, they
issued from the building and began to
scatter at full speed. When the launch
stopped they gathered at a respectful dis-
tance; but when the launch began to
move across the river they gathered at
the edge of the bank and started to cry
out: "Foreign devils! Kill them!"

In the afternoon all the men attached
to the Imperial Maritime Customs went
up to the same place with the intention
of staying there to defend the property
that yet remained uninjured. But in the
late afternoon the Consul decided that he
must take the precaution of moving the
steamers down the river and sent to tell
these men that they must return and not
imperil their lives by remaining where
they were. About five o'clock the two
steamers of the British companies and a
Japanese steamer moved down the
stream to a point 12 miles from the city,
where the passengers were, the next day,
again divided into two portions, one of
which went down the river to Hankow,
while the other waited for the gunboats
which were expected. The Japanese
community with their consul went down
to Hankow on the same steamer.

From the morning of the 16th till the
afternoon of the 17th those who re-
mained behind were engaged in watch-
ing for news from the city and for gun-
boats from Hankow. Whenever a steam
vessel of any kind appeared it was
stopped and inquiries were made, but no
important information could be gathered.
The previous afternoon the Japanese
shops were looted; but from this time
the authorities first began to take control
and several men were beheaded for loot-
ing, with the result that the trouble
ceased, and the reflecting and the timid
began to count the cost. A terror began
to seize upon the people as to what
might happen when the foreign gunboats
came. While we remained at anchor we
could see groups of people hastening in
chairs and afoot along the highway,
escaping from the city. Rumors reached
us from various sources that in many of

THE CHANG-SHA RIOTS OF 1910

We had assurances from the people of the city that all was peaceful and that it could never happen again. With light hearts we went to rest that night. But the next day no Governor came to see the Consul. He was busy consulting

the thought that these things might have been prevented altogether had the authorities taken proper measures of precaution as soon as the trouble commenced. From the testimony of trustworthy witnesses it seems clear that the

BURNING OF GOVERNOR'S YAMEN.

with the local gentry about ways and means of getting a supply of rice for the people lest there be a renewal of the same trouble in the future. This, together with the fact that there were disquieting rumors of difficulties in the country districts, that there were troops actually marching out across the country to neighboring towns, that at the moment the officials were punishing the rioters and incendiaries by decapitation, and had failed to find all the ringleaders, many of whom are still at large and willing to risk for a second time their already doomed lives in an attempt to embarrass the officials by killing foreigners on the streets of the city, the Consul posted a notification forbidding all British and Norwegian subjects from entering the city till further notice and requesting that the people of other nations observe the same care, lest by running into danger themselves they endanger people in other places thruout the province, where the residents are almost ripe for some form of trouble.

From the decks of the steamer nothing that would indicate danger was to be seen. But there lay the ruins of the destroyed buildings and jetties on the foreshore. It was a sad thing to contemplate. What was even more sad was

most of the destruction and looting could easily have been stopped had any of the officials been willing to take the responsibility into his hands. But there were the remains of costly buildings and valuable merchandise for the loss of which no insurance company will be responsible, but which will be repaid from the poverty of some of the very persons who have been crying for bread, who followed the rioters solely for that reason, and who in their ignorance were stirred up against the foreigners; or, in other instances, from the shops and small merchants, whose small profits will be swallowed up in this settlement.

On the morning of the 19th the Governor's flag appeared on the shore. It is a blue flag with a golden dragon. Many of those who have been for years in the country had never before seen it. The Governor was soon to come off from the shore to interview the Consul. But for hours he delayed. It was noon before his boat put out from the shore. We could see him board the gunboat and not one of us but would have given a great deal to be present to witness the meeting between him and the Consul. It was something after half-past twelve before the interview ended, and we inferred from the eleven guns that were fired in

THE
INDEPENDENT

THE INDEPENDENT

but there were only
actually fired during the
stiff breeze sprung up,
which were to be fired
action of the neighborhood
themselves before the
that innocent people
jured or their property
some cases they were

But in the evening
struction was resumed
refugees had been divi-
ties, the most of the
going to the second
the following day, and
ing near the city to a
gunboats. To insure
steamers were moved
and from there enough
infer that there was
order in the city and
the steamer in the no-
olic Mission blazed,
tinct in the mists of e-
to be distinguished
seemed to be new.
was brought that so
had been set on fire.
the refugees on the
watches and some of
burning junk floating
burned with a fierce
as if the boat had
kerosene. It is sus-
pected to be set on
fire.

The following mo-
had been put at the
ish Consul took some
the city to see what
ing the night. The
reached and passed
the Standard Oil Co.
beheld a scene of an
coming out of the
a hive, each one car-
of oil. Some of the
ing their plunder to
the vicinity, but the
peared to be loading
ed at the water's edge.

Nearer the West
custom house and the
British steamer co-
burned, while the
broken into and
enough, the Japanese

salute that it had been satisfactory. This
surmise soon proved correct, the Consul
himself coming over to the steamer with
the news that all foreigners were per-
mitted to enter and reside in the city;
that the officials would furnish the most
complete possible protection; and that
for those whose houses had been de-
royed they would undertake to rent
other quarters.

We went ashore in the afternoon and
some of us were led by curiosity to go
to some of the places where property
had been destroyed. But on the streets
all was quiet. The people were all at
their ordinary occupations. Nothing
seemed to remain as a testimony of their
two days' fury except charred wood and
fallen bricks and stones.

When we returned to the steamer we
found that disquieting rumors were once
more afloat. The masons of the city had
been especially active during the riots
and they had been the chief instigators
of the destruction of houses. The
greater portion of the houses destroyed
were built by masons from other places,
for which the local guild had borne a
grudge. They are suffering the most
from the decapitations that are going on
at present. Because of this the streets
were placarded yesterday with notices
stating that the Imperial Government
had seen fit to retain the former Gov-
ernor, who was hateful to the Hunan
people; and that in view of that fact they
should continue their attempt to assassi-
nate him and should smite the foreigner.
The Consul immediately sent word to the

officials and learned from them privately
that they had no real power to guarantee
protection. It was necessary for them
to give the assurances they gave in the
morning, but those were idle words on
their part. Our shore leave was recalled
and we were warned on no account to
enter the city again. The men on the
steamer who were willing to act as vol-
unteers were shown how to handle the
rifles that had been brought from the
consulate, watches were set, and the for-
eign people who were in the city were
summoned. The "Thistle" had moved a
few miles down the river, but returned
in the morning, preceded by a Chinese
launch that had been converted into an
auxiliary cruiser carrying two Maxim
guns and a number of bluejackets from
the "Thistle."

It is too soon to predict what will be
the result. Is it safe to think of enter-
ing the city soon, or should we remain
on houseboats, or escape to some other
place? Will the masons succeed in stir-
ring up the people to desperate actions
which may lead even to revolution? Will
the supplies of rice suffice for the de-
mands of the people? Will the presence
of the troops from Hupeh disaffect the
populace of this proud Hunan and goad
them to fury? Will the present dead-
lock and hesitation, whereby the Peking
Government refuses to change the Gov-
ernor and the people refuse to recognize
him end in compromise or in rebellion?
These are the greater questions that we
are trying to answer and we cannot now
find any clew to the answer.

CHANG-SHA, CHINA.

August 6, 1910

THE LITERARY DIGEST

From "China's Millions," Toronto.

THE WRECK OF THE CHINA INLAND MISSION PREMISES AFTER THE RECENT RIOTS.

CHINESE MISSIONS AS SCAPEGOATS

LABOR troubles similar to those with which the West is
plentifully familiar are said to be at the basis of the
recent riots in China. The destruction of mission-build-
ings in Hunan was not caused by a resurgence of antichristian
feeling but by the rise in the price of food. The natives wrecked
mission-buildings so that the Chinese officials, who were re-
sponsible for the higher cost of rice, should find themselves in
difficulties with the Government. This explanation is given by
the Rev. E. F. Mosher, missionary of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, who also speaks of another cause of complaint in
provinces which had recently been opened to foreigners:

"Laborers who were skilled in building foreign houses had been brought in from other parts of China to build the houses and business blocks for the foreigners. To this the laborers who lived in the district objected, and demanded that the masons and carpenters who had been brought in be sent home, and that the local men be allowed to do the work themselves."

In *The California Christian Advocate* (San Francisco), where Mr. Mosher's words are quoted, we read this comment on the situation:

"The rise in the price of rice has spread a sense of alarm among the common laborers. It is to be regretted that in all this attempted advance in civic and economic conditions the moral principles involved should in so great a measure be neg-

lected. In the advance of the price of rice there is greater
compensation to the rice-growers. That is so much to the good,
but the wage-earner should not be compelled to bear this burden.
Wages should also be advanced. That principle will hold good
the world over. In a world ruled by selfishness the principles
of justice and righteousness are fatally ignored. Mr. Mosher
states that the leaders of these riots only seek to annoy the
foreigners, not because they are foreigners, but because such a
method is an effectual way of getting the Chinese officials into
trouble. The fact is that China is in a transitional state. She
has long suffered injustice at the hands of her officials and at
the hands of foreign governments. Ten thousand missionaries,
filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ, wisely distributed in the
seething centers of China would mean the social, political, and
industrial redemption of China. The Government of China by
the inauguration of the provincial assemblies has gone too far
to turn back. The Chinese Government has evoked a condition
of things which can not be safely reversed. There is only one
way out. China must have a moral education. A new China
must have a new, a renewed, a regenerated spirit. The Church
of Jesus Christ, not the politicians, not the economist, not
simply the educational system, must bring in a new spirit into
China. Any attempt to patch the old civilization of China with
new industrial principles will not work. New cloth can not be
safely attached to the old. The whole fabric must be new. It
is not worth while to fill the old, worn-out pigskin civilization
bottles of China. Eaten up with injustice and wrong, with the
new wine of modern economics, modern industrialism, modern
politics without a new spirit, new system of ethics, and pri-
marily a new moral structure, China must have Christ before
she can successfully adopt and operate a Christian civilization."

THE GOVERNOR'S YAMEN AT CHANG-SHA AFTER THE RIOTS.

The rioters wrecked these buildings as a means of protesting against the advance of the price of rice.

Literary Digest
June 25

WHY THE HEATHEN RAGE

FROM A REPORT by the Rev. A. A. Gilman in *The Churchman* (New York) it appears that the riots which caused the destruction of missions in Changsha in the province of Hunan, China, were largely due to the increased cost of living and labor troubles among the native population.
Dr. Gilman writes:

"For several weeks there had been considerable agitation because of the high price of rice. A pint, which usually sells for thirty cash, had advanced to seventy cash. This price meant starvation to many of the common people, who were also suffering from a depreciated currency. In China, the Governor is expected to devise remedies for the people in an extremity like this. This time, the Governor seemed to care nothing for the cries of the poor (it appears now that his hands were tied), and the people, irritated into a frenzy, appeared, many thousand strong, in the court of the Governor, and demanded immediate relief. The Governor attempted to disperse the mob with soldiers. Infuriated, they tore the outer court of the Governor's yamen to pieces and then rushed through the streets and at-

Copyrighted by F. Bruckmann, Munich.

THE KISS OF JUDAS.

Anton Lang and Johann Zwink.—"Friend, wherefore art thou come? Dost thou betray the son of man with a kiss?"

tacked the post-office, the Government Bank, and the Wesleyan Mission, which are all near together on the West Side."

Other missions were sacked and burned. On the second day of the disturbance the mob attacked Dr. Gilman's quarters. Through the devotion of "one of our Hunanese Christians" the

four Chinese workers in the mission, against whom the mob seems to have been inflamed, were brought off in safety with their families of nineteen children. But,

"Everything that could be, was smashed; the altar, organ, benches in the church, our piano, bureaus, mirrors, book-cases,

ANTON LANG AS "CHRISTUS."

A simple, unspoiled man of thirty-five, whose bearing is marked by "strength, dignity, and loveliness."

crockery, were all destroyed. But a great deal was also carried off, to be a troublesome burden later, when search began. Through all this riot not a policeman or a soldier appeared to guard our property. This incident may help to show why even missionaries are unwilling, at present, to give up the protection of their home lands."

The animus of the rioters against the native workers in the mission is thus explained:

"They were all from the province of Hupeh, and one of the causes of the riot was the animosity of the Hunanese carpenters and masons toward the Hupeh contractors. These contractors, having learned foreign building in places nearer the coast, were chosen by the foreign firms and consulates to erect their buildings. The Hunanese workmen are very difficult to control, and these contractors had come to the point where they felt that they had to import Hupeh workmen in order to be sure that they could deliver the buildings according to contract. Our house was built by a Hupeh contractor, and many Hupeh men were employed on it. The Governor had a short while before put out a notice, in answer to a petition asking that these contractors be expelled, saying that these men were subjects of the same Emperor and agitation against them should cease. This agitation explains the development of a rice riot into an attack on all new-style buildings."

Of the damage and the escape of the fugitives Dr. Gilman says further:

"Before the rioting and burning ended, the Governor's yamen, the Imperial Customs House and three Government schools, two British shipping firms' storehouses and pontoons,

THE YALE ASSOCIATION OF
CHINA.

On Saturday evening, May 7, a meeting of the Yale Association of China was held in the Palace Hotel. Invitations had been sent out to fourteen Yale men in Shanghai and its immediate vicinity, but for various reasons some were prevented from attending. The dinner was quite informal. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—President, W. C. Sprague, Esq; First Vice-President, H. E. Chun Mua-yn; Second Vice-President, Dr. Edward H. Hume; Secretary-Treasurer, Professor M. H. Throop. The meeting ended in songs and nine cheers for the "Mother of men, old Yale."

Yale in China.

One of the most useful and interesting of the activities carried on by Yale men, is Ya-li College of the Far East. This mission in the city of Changsha, China, is unique in that it is the only one in the world equipped and manned by a single university.

The College at present consists of two departments, collegiate and medical, giving an education somewhat comparable to the American High School, though more mixed. The number of its students is about sixty.

Its buildings consist of a large warehouse, converted into a dormitory, and a hospital and dispensary. These are located near the center of the city which has about 350,000 inhabitants. Last year a lot near the school was utilized as a football field. At present the mission is purchasing ground outside of the city and in time hopes to lay the foundations of a larger institution.

An annual expenditure of $14,000 is required to support the mission

and this is almost entirely supplied by Yale graduates and undergraduates. Its instructors and officers are all Yale men.

The medical department has brought advanced views and Western methods into the awakening East and last year the total of cases which it attended reached 2,582, an increase of 100% over the previous year.

The collegiate department takes graduates from the Chinese public and Mission schools, and courses are pursued in Latin, German, and English, as well as in other branches. To the graduates of Ya-li College no recognition or degree of scholastic attainments can be offered because of the government's aversion to Christian schools. However, in time degrees may be granted.

In this period of transition in China, Western methods used by men, who are proficient in Chinese scholarship, are meeting the educational needs of China, in the branches where its own public schools are deficient.

"YALE IN CHINA."

1911

AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY MISSION TO CHINA

Indeed, they insisted on doing the very opposite of that. And, although this may seem like a denial of imitation, it is only another application of the principle.

Very few attempts have been made to trace the long evolution of any single literary species in the whole course of English literature in both its branches, British and American; and quite the best of them is the admirable history of English tragedy for which we are indebted to Professor Thorndike. It is significant that his investigations have led him to a conclusion almost the same as Brunetière's. In his final chapter he calls attention to "the extraordinary force that imitation has exercised in the creation of tragedy. It

seems, indeed, the generating power. Men are forever imitating, but they cannot imitate without change. In these changes, the variations due to environment—personal, theatrical, literary, social—arise the individual peculiarities, the beginnings of new species, the element of growth. ... Destroy the faculty of imitation, and the generation of new forms would seem to be well-nigh impossible."

If this assertion is well founded—and the more we study literary evolution the less likely we are to dispute it—then imitation is not only the solid foundation for an ample development of any art, it is also the strict duty of every artist in the formative period of his career.

# AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY MISSION TO CHINA

BY THE REV. LORD WILLIAM GASCOYNE-CECIL

Gascoyne is the family name of the Marquess of Salisbury. Lord William Gascoyne-Cecil is the second son of Lord Salisbury, the late Prime Minister of England. He is a graduate of University College, Oxford, is Rector of Bishops Hatfield and Rural Dean of Hertford. He is also the author of an admirable book on China, published last year, entitled "Changing China." He writes out of knowledge at first hand, for he has visited China several times. As the result of his visits there, he has become convinced that there is need of a great central university at Hankow. This university, in his opinion, ought to be denominational, with a central body of professors; but it should have grouped about it halls of residence, or "hostels," devoted to the object of supplying places of residence for the students and necessary discipline and supervision, and maintained by the various missions. The plan has the hearty and enthusiastic support of such representative men as Sir Robert Hart, for many years the head of Chinese Imperial Customs; Bishop Roots, of the American Episcopal Mission; Sir Ernest Satow, late British Minister to China; and the Faculty of the Yale Mission College in Changsha.—THE EDITORS.

WE are face to face with one of those changes in the condition of the world the effect of which it is not very easy to exaggerate. Hitherto the rule of the white man and Western civilization have been conterminous, and although Western civilization has been inspired by a religion of Asiatic origin, it has been possible hitherto to the white man alone. The Asiatic has approached it, and, as in India, has been in close contact with it, but has, for various reasons, been unable to assimilate it. He has even been repelled by it. So the East has always remained the sleepy, stationary

East, while the West, under the inspiring influence of Western civilization, has progressed and changed, and has advanced in wealth, in comfort, in power. Gradually a vital change in these conditions has been unfolded. The most recluse and exclusive nation in the East, Japan, has put aside her philosophy, her culture, her completely Eastern civilization, and has accepted Western civilization; not only has accepted it, but has so understood it, so mastered it, that in meeting in warfare one of the greatest of the Western races, Russia, she has defeated and humiliated her as much by Western military art as by

1911 AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY MISSION TO CHINA 83

recall an evening walk in that hot and
crowded city of Canton, and the sense
of peace that came over us as we passed
from the noise and smell to the supreme
quiet of the Presbyterian College, and of
the hospital where women learn to give
their sisters the help and comfort of West-
ern medicine.

And again I recall that wonderful work
which President Hawks Pott is doing near
Shanghai, where he is training boys who
will afterwards prove to be the guides of
their fatherland.

Or again, President Anderson's work
at Suchow, where he is molding the
young men of that district to be wise and
prudent leaders of the people.

Or, again, the great work that the
Methodists and Christians are carrying on
at Nanking. Boone College, Wuchang,
again, under President Jackson, adorns
China with knowledge and America with
a reputation for being the nation that
encourages enlightenment.

President Lowry, in Peking, is a fit
representative in the capital of China of
the zeal and energy of the Methodist
educator. While the Nestor among edu-
cators, Professor Martin, is no longer able
to stand in the forefront of the educational
world, still by his wisdom he encourages
those on whom the burden of the day
now rests.

Professor Sheffield shows at Tung-
chow the best example of that which we
should all desire—co-operation in educa-
tional work.

But why should I fill your pages with
examples of American zeal for education
in China, when the whole world knows
how Yale, in the face of persecution, has
most ably maintained its cause, at infinite
risk, in Changsha? America has indeed
done nobly, yet it would be idle to pre-
tend that enough, or anything like enough,
has been done.

After all, it is but the fringe of this sub-
ject that she has touched, and, if the work
is to be of lasting benefit to China, much
more remains to be done.

China is wandering and groping about
her, but she has found at present neither
educational nor spiritual light. I had the
privilege of visiting many schools in China
under the national authorities, and I never
saw anything that showed that China had

yet attained what she sought. The effect
left on my mind by what I saw was that
of a huge blind being seeking for and crav-
ing the light, yet unable to find what she
sought.

After my first visit to China I put these
matters before some friends at Oxford
and Cambridge, only to find that they
were but too thoroughly alive to the whole
difficulties of the problem—for there are
many difficulties—and yet were most
desirous of doing what they could to help
China in her need. They appointed com-
mittees who examined and discussed the
whole situation, and asked information
from every one whom they thought would
be able to give it. The plan that seemed
to commend itself was that they should
take the lead in founding an establishment
for higher education, or a university which
should focus all the disjointed and isolated
efforts that are being made towards
education; that it should not supplant, so
much as support, work that was already
established.

Two facts emerged from the very first;
namely, that the splendid work that the
missionaries have done in the past and the
great hold they have on the sympathies
of the men who are forming "Young
China" entitle them to receive, even if
they do not compel the home universities
to give, every consideration. The second
view was somewhat similar; namely, that
without co-operation between those inter-
ested in education no efficient work can
be done. With these two views before
them, the following scheme was evolved.
First, that the university should be pro-
vided on a dual basis in which the posi-
tion which the missionary bodies have
attained should be frankly recognized.
Second, that educational matters should
be controlled by educators. The final
plan evolved was that a university should
be founded which should consist of a cen-
tral institution which should teach but not
lodge its pupils, and, second, of hostels
or colleges which should lodge, feed, and
control the students and also give them
religious teachings.

In some ways the constitution of the
university would resemble that of the
United States. The university would
represent the Federal body, while the in-
dividual States would be represented by

1911 AN INTERVIEW

Indeed, they insisted opposite of that. And seem like a denial of another application of the very few attempts he had made to trace the long evolutionary species in the whole literature in both its broad American; and quite the admirable history of the for which we are indebted. Thorndike. It is significant that he has led him almost the same as Brathe's final chapter, he calls it, to extraordinary force that he exercised in the creating of

AN INTERVIEW
BY THE READER

Gascoyne is the familiar Cecil is the second son of graduate of University College, Hertford. He is also the entitled "Changing Chinese". As China several times. Asia is need of a great central power, be undenominational, with it halls of residence, or for the students and necessary missions. The plan has been by the American Episcopals. and the Faculty of the Yen Chuan. Where are face to face, those changes of the world. It is not very easy to explain the rule of the white man's civilization have been成功的, although Western civilization has been spired by a religion of Adonai. The Asiatic has not been able to assimilate it, but has, for alone. The American Episcopals have been repelled by it. They have always remained the

84

THE OUTLOOK

14 January

the hostels or colleges. The colleges would be self-governing, and would as a rule be controlled by some missionary or other body which had educational interest in China.

In every way it is hoped that the moral influence of sincere men would be brought to bear on boys during the most impressive period of their lives, and that boyhood should not receive that which is most dangerous to all youth, a confused idea of right and wrong.

The same missionary body, for instance, which had hitherto trained and tended the boy would still lead him while he trod the paths of higher knowledge.

We know even in the West how often the sudden rush of great ideas and wide views on the sensitive intellect brought up in beautiful but narrow surroundings has, instead of a beneficial, a pernicious effect. The narrow view is widened too roughly, the great ideas tend not to illuminate but to darken, with the result that the greatness of human knowledge produces a pessimist who can believe only in things material. But with the Chinaman the effect is far more extreme. His original ideas of right and wrong have been shaken by Western knowledge. Western knowledge and Western civilization are too often destructive and not constructive. They remove all the old moral landmarks, and, unless great trouble is taken, leave man in the desert of life without anything to guide him through its dangers. The great function of the hostels would be to build up character; they would therefore seek not only to preserve that which was good in the Chinese ethics, but, where destruction in the ethics is inevitable, they would try to replace it by ethics founded upon Christianity. It would be the primary duty of the hostel to teach religion as the foundation of all character. And, in pursuance of this aim, the hostels would be encouraged to found the preceptorial system, a system which is also very beneficial in securing thoroughness in intellectual culture.

On the other hand, the university would abstain from giving any religious teaching, though all its teaching would be absolutely sympathetic with the missionary work. In fact, the whole faculty would be in full sympathy with missionary ideals. The university would teach knowledge

from a Christian, but a non-sectarian, point of view, while it is hoped that the greater bulk of the hostels would be denominational. The university would be furnished with all that expensive apparatus which is at the present time necessary to understand the most advanced science, with laboratories and libraries and so on.

I understand that the educators of America have received the idea favorably, and that they will appoint a committee, as representative of the leading educational opinion as that which represents the English universities, to negotiate with them as to the appointment of a Board of Governors and Trustees to be the alternate controlling body. It is not, of course, suggested that the direction of the university should be in the home lands. The Home Board would appoint a Committee of Management to represent them on the spot. For no university for China can ever really serve China unless it is directed in China.

And here I may say that this university is not to be an alien but a national institution. From the first Chinese are to be associated with its management, and, when China develops professors of equal learning to the educators of the West, it is intended that the West shall yield to the East and the staff shall become Chinese.

Before any action was taken this scheme was submitted to the mission bodies in China. It was put before them in Peking and Hankow, in Nanking and in Shanghai, and was in all cases welcomed. Subsequently the Home Boards, both in America and in England were asked, and again the answer was satisfactory. I think I may say that the three points that attracted the mission bodies were, first, that no missionary body is to be asked to sacrifice convictions in this matter. Much as the mission bodies long for union work and co-operation, many have been deterred from taking any active steps by a fear that co-operation must be dearly purchased at the price of sincerity. Many feel that they cannot conscientiously agree with the teaching of their brother missionaries, and yet to express that disagreement to their pupils would be to render all union work inefficient, for nothing is so fatal to the usefulness of a teacher as to

1911

have his authority shaken by the sugges-
tion that the pupil must not always agree
with him. If, on the other hand, the mis-
sionary keeps silence and refuses to dis-
close to his pupil his real views on some
doctrinal subject, the result must be an
atmosphere of insincerity. And therefore
many a missionary has said, Much as I
long to co-operate, I cannot, at the price
of sincerity. But in the suggested uni-
versity the missionaries will not be asked
to make any such sacrifice. Each hostel
will definitely belong to a mission body,
which will have complete control over the
teaching given in that hostel.

The second point that attracted the mission body was that their funds would be relieved from the heavy burden that has been put upon them by an educational policy. Every mission body now finds itself cramped and confined for money. Nothing has so burdened them as the task of providing not only the building but the apparatus that is necessary for modern educational work. It has seemed to all incongruous that the subscriptions that are given, very likely by those who can ill afford them, for the furtherance of the Gospel of Christ are, in the end, devoted to the purchase of a machine to demonstrate some new law of electricity. But this is avoided by dividing the scope of action of the university from that of the hostel. The university would pay for all that was primarily educational, and would appeal for support, not to the missionary, but to the educational world, and thus the mission bodies would be relieved of this burden. They must, of course, in return expect that the educational matters will be controlled by educationalists.

The third point that attracted the mission
bodies was, no doubt, the old one—the
one which attracts all Christians, and yet
seems so far off—the opportunity of co-
operating with their brother Christians. I
suppose there is no one who has not had
a feeling of shame that Christians should
be unable to co-operate with one another.
When we see that labor can co-operate
to form vast trade unions, and that capital
can co-operate in the shape of huge trusts;
when we learn that the civil history of the
world has been the history of the increas-
ing power of co-operation, from the fam-
ily to the sept, from the sept to the tribe,

from the tribe to the nation, from the
nation to the empire, we turn—yes, I re-
peat it—with a feeling of shame to the
Christian world, and long that Christians
might develop some similar power of
co-operation which has made mankind
efficient in other spheres of activity.
This is possible if the two main lines of
this scheme are kept firmly in view—
namely, that the university shall be essen-
tially an educational body, controlled by
educators in sympathy with Christianity,
and whose desire it is to assist, not to
hinder, the wonderful work the mission-
aries are doing; and that the hostels, on
the other hand, shall be controlled by
missionaries or by other bodies whose
object it shall be to transmit to the Chi-
nese the great traditions of the West
which are undoubtedly founded upon
Christianity, and which therefore in most
cases must be taught by those who have
a sincere faith in Christianity. Though
most hostels should be controlled by mis-
sionary bodies, it would be unwise, for
a variety of reasons, to make this rule one
without exception. Bodies similar to the
Yale Mission would be heartily welcomed,
and other bodies might wish to have a
hostel whose influence would be doubtless
beneficial, and yet who would not be in
any sense a missionary body.

We Christians who are convinced of the
power of our religion are inclined to be
fearless in this matter. We do not trem-
ble at the suggestion that those who are
not Christians may come to the uni-
versity; we welcome them, for we are
convinced that, if only those who do not
believe are brought into contact with the
beautiful lives and true faith of sincere
and earnest Christians, the tendency will
be, not that Christians will desert their
faith, but that those who disbelieve will
accept Christianity. The bold Christian
speaks without fear; we have conquered
in the past, and we will win in the future.
We need no fortifications to protect our-
selves in the battle of life; it is the warrior
who fears and who knows he is the weak-
est that skulks behind the defending wall.
The conqueror asks for a fair field and no
favor.

Numbers would come to this univer-
sity as unbelievers, probably as hostile
to Christianity; many a Saul would be