Show I TliE CHiNESE CRISIS I By Archibald Colquhoun J J 1 Author of China in Transformation The Overland to China Etc I VI 1 IBritish Representatives Past and i Present fc The rapid growth and Importauce of v th foreign trade at Canton and the D numerous checks annoyances and ic I strlcllons to which the merchans wero subjected by the mandarin Induced I the Government of Great Britain to 1 send an embassy with the object of z P placing the trade with China on a I Jlnner footing and obtaining for It the open sanction of the Emperor Col I Cathcart was the first British Embas ador to China but he never reached f his destination tlylng In the Straits 1 P of Sunda and for four years nothing I further was done in the matter of a I mission to Peking E Tn 1792 Lord Macartney was sent as i E i Embabsador and was received with politeness by the Emperor who appeared ap-peared willing to give the promises desired received I with thanks the pres t cntp sent from the King of England and sent others In return He waived l Jn consideration of the customs famll IrJ f iar to the English Minister the usual I I ceremony of prostration exacted from r all who were received at his court 5 Nevertheless Lord Macartneys mis j Rkm was afterward described In Chi f neso ofllcIUl records as a trlbute f L henrfngr mission from the King off of-f England to the Chinese Emperor and I the promises protection to the for p eign traders I led to no result for the L I exactions of the mandarins went on I I t1 as before Various concessions were I i h tat iitI from time to lime I i but It I waa I prMfertly evident that the commerce fc was dependent upon the caprice of the 7 Ignorant local officials and therefor I f in 1S1G another mission was sent to F Peking under Lord Am mst to ob L tHin the assent of the Emperor to the 6 1aclng operations then In force auto 1 C au-to get permission to trade with some 1 L of the northern ports I was also I hoped that arrangements could he i f made for n Urltish resident at Peking 1 b LOUD AlI iErtSPS RKCKVTfON f These hopes were however cnclrely I fruftjated and the Ambassador never E had an audience al with the Emperor LI The difficulty was that the latter in 37 i fluenced by his Canton officials who I I were not anxious that the audience I should take place refused to forego f the nine prostrations or kowtow I v which were usually performed by all fcwho had audience with him and which T I were very rightly refused by Lord Am ui f hiMst JL was not merely a question of ceremony for this obeisance was to theta the-ta I Chinese as much a sign o fealty as theo I the-o I kneeling with closed palms between P 1 those of the liege lord would be to us I u f Such a prostration would have confirmed con-firmed their Ignorant belief that Great I Britain was u power over which they I f could claim suzerainty and whose k shIps and merchants could be taxed and oppressed without fear of reprisal Notwithstanding the ill success of this f mission it probably had an effect for t b during the following ten or eleven years there was hardly any Snterrup r lion to the trade at Canton and less I c L friction than formerly between man fc rtarlns and merchants The antifor 5 eign fooling at Peking however con i tlnuerl and Increased as was evidenced Ir by the expulsion from Peking of the 3 C very last of the Jesuit missionaries ft who for 200 years had been attached to h the court on account of their astro t nomical knowledge In 1S32 a strong untlforelgn edict ordered the expul I F don of traders and In 1MI the Anglo i Chinese war settled the question be I tween the British and Chinese Governments a f Govern-ments by the capture of Hongkong and the opening of live treaty ports Sir r h Henry Pottlnger signed the treaty and was at this time sole British plenipotentiary r plenipo-tentiary In China The outbreak of war again in ISnO C i led to the treaty of Tien Thin In 1833 t and to Lord Elgins mission to Peking On his way to Peking the British envoy 1 fr en-voy who was accompanied by Mr k afterward Sir Harry Parkes as I life r li-fe terpveter Capt afterward Lord Loch I as aidedecamp and Lawrence Oil f pliant as private secretary was py stopped although no objection had fc been raised to the mission Parkes F Loch and two other members of the i party went forward to ascertain the u t caune of their detention whereupon s they were seized subjected to many I Indignities being Imprisoned In cages and only released when an Anglo it French expedition was mlts way to F Peking 1 r Lord Elgin after the reprisals at C s Peking for this Insult to the British Hag executed the treaty of Peking one 1 f of the articles of which provides for I F the residence of a British Minister at y H the Chinese capital I C P OUR FIRST EMDASSADOR I The nrst to take up his residence in i Peking was Sir Rutherford Alcock In a I 3SCS and during the first years of his o i residence the Tsung11yamen was established I K es-tablished as an intermediary between in E the foreign Ministers and the Chinese W Government The Imperial Marltimb i OustoniH department was also a I reorganized B reorga-nized under foreign supervision the K Jlrst bond being Air JJoratlo Lay who E vas shortly afterward pucceeded by t i Mr now Sir Robert Hart both genIi gen-Ii V tlcmnn being junior members of the consular service Rutherford Alcock the Oral of our representatives at Peking fr Pe-king was also the most remarkable r f Originally a doctor who volunteered I for service In the Peninsula campaign I where he distinguished himself at an I early age he was appointed to thc con r t sular service In Japan and resided j there for many years writing during f that period a book called Mikado and I Tycoon which is f still a standard l t i work He rose by degrees to be Minis J I tr In Japan and paid several visits to SC Ifflilna and whpn the Ilrst British lega 1 E uoh was estatalshed at Peking he was l I selected for the post of Minister Al 1 cock was a man of singular foresight B and ability and his ambitions for the V X future of his country In the far East 1 hrousht him frequently into conlllct with the home Government who re I ii K I gardod him as extreme In his views iw It IHis strong views of diplomacy which m lid tHrong consider rather the estab I H lirhmcnt of a firm basis for future re lotions than the cultivation of present D m interests gained him alao a certain 1 ainoupt of unpopularity with the merchants mer-chants of the community but despite B the fact that he was not altogether a perKnna grata either at homo ior In P m China he was a great MlnlstQt and if worthily represented the Interests of If BrIUiln Alcock enjoyed a great ad tt antngi In dealing with lie I Chinese In a UR ha1iiK in Japan already studied and W breomc accustomed to an Oriental na 7 K tlon His knowledge of the world was It however not limited to the far East 1 m for his early experiences in the P < nln p Hula war and hlB wide and catholic < taHte for literature mall him a thorough I thor-ough man of the world Such a knowl oUfh tS m tdge of men and affairs IH Indlnpengablo mi for the iffectlve conduct of such a del g ratp matter as the protection of British m intorestP at Peking where besides the Public Oriental the Minister has to R watch the movements of I score of an Hlbltlous rivals all on the lookout for vJ I p vantages to be obtained from the Clu neae at some other nations expense WADE AND PARKES ML No greater contrast to this man of K Affairs and of action could be found L ant lan Mr Wade who succeeded Alcock1 as Minister at Peking He was n member mem-ber of the consular service and distin gulshudx for his knowledge of the Chinese I Chi-nese language nnd literature Wade was originally In the navy and might have been expected in consequence to be to a certain extent a man of action acton I Unfortunately he proved from first to last to be a sinologue and nothing more Those who know what Is Involved I in-volved In the acquisition of such remarkable markable proficiency as he attained in I the Chinese language are also aware of Its almost Invariable effect on the character char-acter and how it emasculates and destroys de-stroys the salien features in the European I Euro-pean maJdng him merely a bookworm and inspiring him with the desire for I subtlety and Intrigue at which he la I still a novice beside thetrue Oriental Wade was a man of kindly manners and good heart but In his timidity and irresolution and with his humanitarian C views which cou d not press with conviction I con-viction the trading Interst he was sent Ito I-to represent he succeeded In giving I away his country on almost every I polntr and reduced her prestige the most valuable thing perhaps that she had acquired In China 1 cannot vouch for the truth of Ihe story but if not I true it Is i still ben trovato which represents repre-sents Wade as saying that he would never be rJ party to subordinating the Interosts of 400000000 of people to those of 300000 The sinologue having proved a failure the next Minister to Peking was found in the person of Parkes who nftur his earlier service In China of which mention has been made was appointed Minister to Toklo and from thence after several years promoted to Peking Parkes had not been altogether a success In Japan where somewhat different qualities were desirable the velvet glove being more successful in proportion as it concealed successfully the Iron hand Parkes was rather of the uncompromising uncompro-mising typo having been educated in the rough and ready orderupagun I j boat school of policy lie was however l I how-ever although not an ideal Minister far more suited to the post than his predecessor Vade and was extremely popular with the communities at the treaty ports The Chinese who had be cqme accustomed to the gentle methods of the sinologue who made little or no objection to their tortuous diplomacy and would sit over the melon seeds and talk round a subject to their harts content were not pleased with tH change to a quick and determined I Minister and adopted in dealing with him a slow and weary method of etci nal prevarication and delay Had Parkes been supported boldly by his I Government he would probably have brought them to book by drastic measures mea-sures As It was however his hot l I spirit was broken and w8rn out by the I continual disappointments and the im j I possibility of redress He died at Poking Po-king practically a victim to the Chinese Chi-nese methods of diplomacy and as the sinologue and the man of action had both proved ineffective a trained diplomatist was appointed to Peking In I the person of Sir John Walsham BarL who had been for some time in the service ser-vice and held the post of Charge dAf I faires at more than one European capital Sir John Walshani whatever his attainments at-tainments may have teeui was absolutely I abso-lutely ignorant o the far East and j j I moreover was a disciple of the school of laissez faire and never did anything any-thing If he could possibly leave i undone I un-done He enjoyed the reputation of never answering a letter and ft may I be imagined that hewas Car from popular with the mercantile cdnnnunl I ty Nevertheless he was an English gcntlcirian and the virtues of his claps untainted with the faults of n sino I logue or with any aspirations after becoming be-coming a Machlavelli enabled him to uphold to a certain extent the dignity of his country SIR CLAUDE MACDONALD When he resigned In 1S97 he was succeeded suc-ceeded by Sir Claude MacDonald a soldier who had seen service at IronS kong and afterward in Egypt where he was attached to the stall of Lord l Croincr He was given a civil appointment appoint-ment on the west coast of Africa and after several years while on leave attracted the special attention of Lord Salisbury who appointed him to the vacant lOst at Peking I may be of Interest to note briefly the constitution of the legation staff at Peking and the division of duties among Its members The Minister Is assisted by first and second secretaries of legation whose functions nominally are to support their chief In all diplomatic diplo-matic work In effect however as the Minister Is not only I ignorant I of the Chinese language but In the case of lUacDojiald of the conditions and machinery ma-chinery of tho country and ecn of Its topograph he Is obliged totrans act all him business through the Chinese secretary who has therefore become practically Charge dAffaires and has usurped the functions of the Ilrst and second secretaries These gentlemen who are not even permitted by custom I I to do the clerical work of the legation or to understudy the Minister or rep resent him in the loss Important cas sat s-at the TnungIIYamcn are reduced to the organization of the social life of th5 community l The Chinese secretary has an assistant as-sistant and there arc always at Peking a certain number of student Interpreters Interpre-ters W ho having passed a preliminary examination are studying to qualify 81d lnS < ualr for the various consular posts at treaty ports and trading posts In the InteiIor Jt is not unusual to refer to Sir Robert Hart as one of our representatives Hi China but It must be understood that he is the servant of the Chinese Government Gov-ernment and as such his duty is to those who employ him Much of the unsuccessful diplomacy of this country Is no dpubt due to the fact that Instead ofproviding an adequate intelligence department they hove depended for Information on Sir Robert who without with-out being false to his own country was bound In honor to consult first the interests of thos who employed him Any account of our representatives in China would be Incomplete without a mention of the consular service among whom have been many distinguished men The absence of any policy on the part of the mother country which has had so disastrous effect on the Ministers Min-isters has reacted on tha service Men who have asked for protection for action on the part of the Government for any backing up to support them In times of difficulty have been denounced de-nounced aft timid tiinldpanlcmnongems and I have found their prospects Injured by their action Consequently there Is no spirit or initiative the only object be ing to plve as little toublcj as posslblo to the home Government and to cover tip the frultlesancKs of their existence by writing home a mass of detaila I British Interests are to be safeguarded safe-guarded In China reform IK needed huntd refoll nceder not only at Poking but throughout the whole service and that reform must begin by the establishment of a permanent perma-nent machinery for the Roveinment of our dependencies and the safeguarding of our Interests which will lender them Independent of the vicissitudes party politics |