of the first-class Powers of the world, and as her natural resources, her shipping, her industries, and her mines become more fully developed these hardy islanders bid fair to play the same part in Asia that we ourselves have played in Europe. THERE are three guiding principles that ought never to be lost sight of in dealing with the amount of the indemnities to be exacted from China in the coming settlement: (1) That they shall be commensurate with the crime which has to be expiated; (2) that they shall be exacted from those who have been guilty of that crime, and not from those who have had nothing whatever to do with it; and (3) that they shall not be so excessive as to leave China crippled and enfeebled, without power of recovery from the terrible ordeal through which she has passed. All these points were carefully considered by Lord Elgin in 1860, and the despatch he then sent in justification of the burning of the Summer Palace is a valuable guide at the present moment: I might perhaps (he wrote) have demanded a large sum of money, not as compensation for the sufferers, but as a penalty inflicted on the Chinese Government. But, independently of the objection on principle to making high 1 This was written nearly a year ago, since when the indemnity question has been practically settled. But portions of it may still, I think, be of interest, so I have allowed it to stand. crime of this nature a mere money question, I hold on this point the opinion which is, I believe, entertained by all persons, without exception, who have investigated the subject: that in the present disorganised state of the Chinese Government to obtain large pecuniary indemnities from it is simply impossible, and that all that can be done practically in the matter is to appropriate such a portion of the Customs revenue as will still leave to it a sufficient interest in that revenue to induce it to allow the natives to continue to trade with foreigners. It is calculated that it will be necessary to take 40 per cent. of the gross Customs revenue of China for about four years in order to procure payment of the indemnities already claimed by Baron Gros and me, under instructions from your Lordship and the French Government. At that time China had no foreign debt, and the indemnities demanded were small; and yet Lord Elgin hesitated about the imposition of further burdens, which, he felt, would fall not on the Court or on the official classes, who were the guilty persons, but on the innocent peasantry. Now the foreign debt amounts to over 52,000,000l., and the Powers are insisting upon the payment of indemnities which will ultimately amount at the very least to a further sixty millions. How China is to meet them in her present exhausted and impoverished state it is difficult to see; and the wisdom of Lord Elgin's remark comes home with additional force- to appropriate such a portion of the Customs revenue as will still leave to the Chinese Government a sufficient interest in that revenue to induce it to allow the natives to continue to trade with foreigners.' In the same spirit M. Beau, the present French Minister in Peking, writing on July 1, 1901, to M. Delcassé, observes : -- Pour l'élaboration du plan d'amortissement, mes collègues et moi nous nous sommes inspirés tous de cette vue politique qu'il était de l'intérêt général d'alléger autant que possible les charges financières devant incomber à la Chine du fait du nouvel emprunt, et d'autre part de ne pas retarder l'époque de sa libération. Cette dernière préoccupation est d'ailleurs partagée par les Plénipotentiaires Chinois, qui désirent très vivement un amortissement rapide. Nous avons été conduits ainsi à rechercher le plan qui ménage le mieux les ressources très limitées de la Chine. C'est dans cet esprit que les études n'ont cessé de se poursuivre. Since Lord Elgin had to deal with the subject the larger portion of the Customs revenue has been hypothecated to meet the interest on the various loans which China has from time to time obtained; the whole of the province of Chih-li has been laid absolutely waste, and a terrible famine is ravaging the other northern provinces, owing to the stoppage of the tribute rice and of the other supplies of food from the coast, upon which a large section of the population habitually depend. China is a rich country, it is true-a milch-cow which might well supply sustenance in the way of legitimate trade to all the nations of Europe if it could only be opened up in a reasonable way; but if the milch-cow is bled violently after an exhausting illness she will die; and surely what is wanted for China now is nourishment and considerate treatment. The burdens she already has to bear are exceedingly heavy. Her debt at the beginning of last year amounted to 52,935,513l., contracted as follows: It will be noticed that up to 1894 the total debt amounted to less than a million pounds sterling; then the Japanese war brought heavy outlay and a subsequent indemnity, with expenditure for continually increased armaments, the necessity for which was constantly being enforced upon China by the Powers, especially by Great Britain. Now there will be an additional claim of at least 60,000,000l., swelling the total debt to over 100,000,000l., contracted in less than |
