Part 29 (1/2)
The inspectorate system has placed a set of cosmopolitan mercenaries in a position not only to govern but to prey upon the whole foreign trade with China. They are ever upon the _qui vive_ to seize and confiscate the merchandise of their own countrymen, and have caused the effectual closing of every port on the coast of China, except those opened by treaty. Property that may be unprotected by every legal right, or may be placed (through the owner's ignorance of inspectorate forms) in such a position as to incur some of the vexatious penalties attaching to every infraction of rules almost daily issued by the European Commissioners of Customs, or their Mandarin colleagues, _ad libitum_, is eagerly pounced upon and appropriated. In fact, it may safely be said that, instead of benefiting foreigners and their trade, the scheme acts directly against their interests; that it places a number of European and American adventurers in a position to a.s.sist the Mandarins in taking every advantage of each flaw in the treaty, while at the same time const.i.tuting a capital s.h.i.+eld behind which the still repulsive Manchoos can execute their anti-foreign plotting in safety.
3. The hostilities against the Ti-pings were caused through the unrighteous policy established by the treaty of Tien-tsin, the foreign inspectorate of Customs, the extortion of indemnity for the war, and the protection of the vile opium trade. This policy has been a great success, in so far as arresting and beating backward the only portion of the mult.i.tudinous Chinese whose progress afforded a prospect of change for the better. It has, with still greater iniquity, warred against and prevented the spread of Christianity; destroyed many thousands and tens of thousands of those who professed that faith, and has stopped the circulation and printing of the Bible in its full integrity by the Ti-ping Government, besides having caused the re-establishment of idolatry on the ashes of the destroyed Book, and the wholesale slaughter of those who only begged for our friends.h.i.+p and instruction. Through the wicked intervention of England, the former territory of the Ti-pings has been wrested from them, and the bleached bones of the victims mark the country thick and close for hundreds of miles. The starvation, the horrors, have been fully described; and now it is reported from China that many of the solitudes created where once happy villages of Ti-pings were found, have become infested with beasts of prey--wolves, panthers, and tigers.
As for having effected the slightest improvement in British relations with China, made the Manchoo authorities less unfriendly and illiberal, or rendered the least service to the general welfare of humanity, the past policy of the British Government has proved a lamentable failure.
By unjustifiable meddling, England has thrown China into a state of general anarchy. The cruelty and excessive corruption of the Manchoo officials throughout the country have always been sufficiently great to cause local insurrections and different regular systems of rebellion; but it was only to the great Ti-ping revolution (which proved its power so superior to that of the Imperial Government as to threaten the rapid extermination of the latter, and compel the a.s.sistance of England to save it) that people could look for success, and eventual pacification of the empire. Well, these urgently required results have been prevented by the policy in question.
Unable to depend upon the success of the Ti-ping movement, the disaffected Chinese have joined other rebellions, and at this day there are many desolating the country. In the north, a great amalgamation of the Yellow River rebels (an old organization, sometimes under allegiance to the Ti-ping king) or Nien-fie, with a force of Ti-pings, and a large body of Mohammedan rebels, has taken place. The army of this league is estimated at over 300,000 men; in the summer of 1865 they defeated the Tartar Generalissimo (of Pekin campaign memory) San-ko-lin-sin, who was afterwards killed by some country people with whom he sought a refuge--thus showing the state of feeling amongst the population. The northern rebels then seriously menaced Pekin itself, and at one time it was reported that they had captured the city; lately they seem to have moved more to the westward--probably to effect a junction with other revolutionists; but it is quite certain that the Imperialists are unable to subdue them.
Besides the league, there are two other formidable rebellions raging in the north of China--the Mohammedan rebels, who defy the power of the Government in Shen-si, Shan-se, Kan-su, and other parts of the empire.
To the south of these come the ”Honan filchers,” a horde of more than 100,000 banditti, who maintain, as they have done for years, an independent existence in the Honan Province. Away to the west, the large Tartar province of E-li, four times as large as Great Britain, has been wrested from the Imperialists by a rising of Mahommedans.
Along the western boundary general anarchy prevails: it would almost seem that as Russia advances into central Asia, the Mohammedans were moving towards China.
In the great province of Sze-chuan, the Ti-pings under s.h.i.+h-ta-kae, the I-w.a.n.g, or his successor, are still in power. At Hankow (treaty port) in Hu-peh, and at Kew-kiang in Kiang-si, the Imperialist troops lately revolted and set up the standard of rebellion. In Ngan-whui serious disturbances have arisen. Farther south, in Kwei-chow, Yun-nan, and Kw.a.n.g-si, the Miau-tze, or independent mountaineers, are steadily increasing in strength; in fact, every province of China is more or less the scene of formidable revolution or local revolt.
The Ti-pings, in strong force, under the s.h.i.+-w.a.n.g and other leaders, are making rapid progress on the borders of the provinces of Kw.a.n.g-tung, Kiang-si, and Fu-keen, and the Imperialist troops seem totally unable to interfere with them.
Referring to the distracted state of China, the _Overland China Mail_, June 29, 1865, truly states that ”there must be something in the conduct of the Imperial Government, and of the local Mandarins, which provokes a strong feeling of resentment against their authority in all parts of the empire.” Singularly enough, the same journal has always opposed the revolutionists who tried to alter a Government the people hate.
The _Times_, in its Chinese intelligence of June 21, 1865, referring to the successes of the Nien-fie League, states:--
”So far as we can at present see, the Nien-fie insurrection is likely to prove quite as formidable as was that of the Taepings.
Their leaders have substantial wrongs to avenge, and the people themselves have been subjected to so many hards.h.i.+ps at the hands of the local Mandarins that the slightest spark is sufficient to set the whole north of China in a blaze of rebellion.”
Those who have advocated interfering against such a movement as that of the Ti-pings, and supporting such a dynasty as that of the Manchoos, must have very curious reasons to plead for a justification--they have generally admitted the necessity for a change of government, and then amused themselves by resisting the change when offered.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP OF CHINA _Showing the locality of the different rebellions in that Empire, the line of retreat taken by the Ti-pings from their settled territory, and their present position Spring of the year 1866._]
The only policy which could have benefited China would have been, either an energetic protectorate established by England, and maintained with energy until the evil Government had been thoroughly and radically reformed in every branch; or, what would have been far better, the Chinese should have been left to themselves and allowed to choose their own rulers. If England had simply preserved her honour and remained neutral, China would have had a native, progressionist, and powerful Government at the present day. That huge empire has lasted more than 2,000 years, and the only deterioration its const.i.tution has suffered has been caused by the Tartar conquest. The resources of China are as great, the capacities of her people as vigorous, and the elements of her ancient civilization as durable as ever: once let the incubus of Manchoo maladministration be removed, that vast and intelligent people will rapidly establish a native Government which will inaugurate an era of progression and improvement. For some time the usurping dynasty has been tottering towards its fall; England would have done well to have avoided supporting the decayed and hopelessly corrupt fabric. She has served a dying despotism, too far gone to feel even grat.i.tude for her a.s.sistance, and has repelled a young successor who wished ardently to become of the same brotherhood as herself!
4. By her aggressive, meddling policy, England has alarmed the naturally suspicious and treacherous Manchoos. Making them feel towards the ”outer barbarians” the pa.s.sion of fear as well as hate, has, of course, only tended to make them more exclusive and repellant than ever. Every mail from China brings successive proof of the fact. Those who receive advices from the East cannot fail to notice such pa.s.sages as the following:--
The _Overland China Trade Report_, in its issue September 11, 1865, states:--
”Each succeeding mail takes some instance of Mandarin repellance towards foreigners. There can be no doubt that this feeling is the policy decided on by the Pekin Cabinet.... As bearing upon this point, reference is called to a notification ... issued by the Shanghae authorities, forbidding Chinese to hire foreign vessels.... The hand of Tseng-kwo-fan, the leader of the anti-foreign party, becoming visible in the present foreign policy pursued....”
The article then proceeds to notice the fact that the Mandarin policy of preventing the employment of foreign s.h.i.+pping, and encouraging that of native craft, simply tends to increase piracy by providing prey; and is further reprehensible because the Mandarins will not a.s.sist to suppress an evil which, were it not for the presence of British men-of-war, would destroy their entire maritime commerce. Mr. Hart, the Inspector General of Customs, endeavoured to induce the Imperial Government to allow Chinese to own vessels constructed after the foreign mode, but the hatred of foreign innovation, however beneficial, prevailed, and the authorities refused the much-desired boon.
Another instance of Manchoo repellance is the withdrawal of the concession formerly granted to foreign vessels to visit the ports of the Island of Formosa.
And again: the port of Wan-chew was open to foreign trade before the treaty of Tien-tsin, and became a place of much importance. Why it was not included in the list of open ports it is difficult to understand.
The foreign representatives and merchants lately endeavoured to obtain the concession of having it opened to foreign trade, and for a time were encouraged by Prince Kung to believe that their request would be complied with. But since Tseng-kwo-fan has come to the front, the concession is rejected, and the idea abandoned.
The notification referred to as prohibiting the employment of foreign vessels was issued by Lin, Imperial Commissioner, and acting Viceroy of Kiang-su, in which province Shanghae is situated. It seems to have proved very effectual, and very injurious to British s.h.i.+pping interest.
The last mail from China brought the _Overland Trade Report_, dated ”Hong-kong, October 15, 1865.” It contains these lines:--”The repellance and anti-foreign tendencies of the Mandarins are becoming more broadly marked as each month advances.”
The _North China Market Report_ states ”that the Chinese are rapidly learning to disregard the most important of the treaty stipulations.” In fact, all sources of information are unanimous as to the hostile feelings of the Manchoo Government England has done so much to bolster up.