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 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 CHINA AND THE CHINESE 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 CLASS OF 1876 
 1918 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DS 518.S61C7 
 
 The coming struggle in eastern Asia, 
 
 3 1924 023 039 112 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023039112 
 
THE COMING STRUGGLE IN 
 EASTERN ASIA 
 
MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited 
 
 LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK . BOSTON CHICAGO 
 
 ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd 
 TORONTO 
 
THE 
 
 COMING STRUGGLE 
 
 IN 
 
 EASTERN ASIA 
 
 B. L. PUTNAM WEALE 
 
 AUTHOR OF "MANCHU AND MUSCOVITE," '*THE EE-SHAPING OF THE FAR EAST,' 
 AND "the truce IN THE EAST AND ITS AFTERMATH" 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS &- A MAP 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED 
 
 ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 
 
 I 908 
 
 0<v.. 
 
S6I 
 
 ^^L 
 
 \3 
 
 Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, 
 
 bread street hill, b.c., and 
 
 bungay, suffolk. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 With the publication of the present volume is 
 brought to an end the author's series of political 
 treatises dealing with the Far East from the point 
 of view that Russo-Japanese rivalry has been the 
 mainspring of the events of recent years. 
 
 In Manchu and Muscovite, written in the year 
 1903, some of the results of the Russian occupation 
 of Manchuria were described, and the apparent 
 policy of Japan warmly approved. 
 
 In the second work, The Re-Shaping of the Far 
 East, written after the lapse of eighteen months of 
 stirring and historic happenings, a broader estimate 
 was attempted and the position of affairs in China, 
 Japan and Korea, as well as in Manchuria, was 
 detailed at some length. On this occasion the writer 
 was compelled to qualify his former approval of the 
 policy of Japan, and to point out that in Korea at 
 least she had been a grievous disappointment. 
 
 In the third volume, The Truce in the East and 
 its Aftermath, the author discussed the events and 
 reasons which led to the making of peace between 
 
vi PREFACE 
 
 Russia and Japan, and endeavoured to show that 
 the aims and ideals of the Japanese Government 
 had developed in a direction entirely different from 
 that which had been anticipated, and that conse- 
 quently the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 
 in a more comprehensive form than the original, 
 was a political error of the first magnitude. 
 
 Finally, the present volume — the fourth and last 
 of the series — contains a careful revaluation of the 
 old forces in the Far Eastern situation, as they 
 displayed themselves during the first half of this 
 year (1907). In the autumn of 1906, the writer, 
 starting from Korea and making first for Vladi- 
 vostock, travelled over the whole of the ground 
 described in Part I., and thus put himself in a 
 position to place before the reader an accurate, if 
 abbreviated account of the Russian Empire in Asia 
 as it exists to-day. From Russia it is natural to 
 turn to her great rival, Japan ; and accordingly a 
 minute and critical analysis is next made (in Part II.) 
 of the main features of the policy and plan of 
 campaign of the Japanese Government since the 
 conclusion of the great war. It may be that many 
 English readers will view with disfavour the grave 
 strictures which are here passed on England's ally ; 
 but the writer is convinced that the economic 
 situation which now obtains in the Far East is 
 sufficiently serious to justify the plainest speaking. 
 Lastly, in Part III., the wonderful and growing 
 change in China receives careful examination, and 
 certain aspects of the position on the Pacific — 
 
PREFACE vii 
 
 notably the attitude of the United States — are 
 clearly outlined. 
 
 The limitations of space have necessitated a 
 constant curtailment of the analyses made, for the 
 writer has collected sufficient evidence and sufficient 
 documents for a ten-volume treatise. But in spite 
 of this extreme condensation, it is hoped that the 
 main fact will stand out distinctly and unmistakably 
 — that it is oligarchic Japan which constitutes the 
 new problem in Eastern Asia. 
 
 B. L. Putnam Weale. 
 
 China, 
 August, 1907. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I 
 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 22 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 63 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE lOO 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 INTO MANCHURIA I38 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 1 56 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE VIEWED FROM HARBIN ... 1 78 
 
X CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 WESTERN MANCHURIA .... 10^ 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA ... 229 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST .... .254 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 INTO THE JAPANESE LINES ... 288 
 
 PART II 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 325 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 339 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 JAPANESE FINANCE 390 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, AND SHIPPING 422 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 468 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 GREATER JAPAN 500 
 
CONTENTS xi 
 
 PART III 
 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN I907 523 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS .... 548 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 576 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN . S98 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS . . 6n 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 625 
 
 INDEX .... ... 641 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 NICOLSK STATION To face page 71 
 
 THE NAVAL ANCHORAGE, VLADIVOSTOCK . , . . „ 71 
 
 TYPICAL RUSSIANS AT A TYPICAL STATION ... „ 76 
 A COMMEMORATIVE CHAPEL ALONG THE USSURI 
 
 RAILWAY „ 76 
 
 CLEARING AWAY THE FIRST SNOW, USSURI STATION „ 84 
 
 TYPES IN THE PRIMORSK „ 84 
 
 TYPICAL SCENERY IN EASTERN MANCHURIA ... „ 143 
 
 A STATION IN EASTERN MANCHURIA „ 143 
 
 A VIEW INTO MANCHURIA FROM NORTH-EAST KOREA „ 1 50 
 
 A NEW WAR SIDING IN EASTERN MANCHURIA . . „ 1 50 
 
 NEW HARBIN „ 173 
 
 "HOSPITAL-TOWN" HARBIN „ 173 
 
 A PARTY OF OLD-TYPE MANCHURIAN SOLDIERS IN 
 
 HEILUNGCHIANG PROVINCE „ 210 
 
 A MANCHURIAN FAIR AND TRAVELLING THEATRE „ 2IO 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF KIRIN CITY „ 230 
 
 LOOKING DOWN THE SUNGARI RIVER, FROM KIRIN 
 
 CITY „ 230 
 
 THE SUNGARI RIVER „ 244 
 
 TIMBER RAFT STARTING DOWN STREAM FROM KIRIN „ 244 
 
 ARRIVAL IN THE JAPANESE LINES ...... „ 296 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF JAPANESE COMMERCIAL AC- 
 TIVITY „ 296 
 
 PRIESTS IN CEREMONIAL DRESS OUTSIDE A NIKKO 
 
 TEMPLE, JAPAN „ 328 
 
 THE FAMOUS JAPANESE 1 1 -INCH HOWITZERS ON 
 
 EXHIBITION „ 474 
 
 NAVAL MACHINE GUNS CAPTURED AT PORT ARTHUR 
 
 ON EXHIBITION AT TOKYO „ 474 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CAPTURED RUSSIAN GUNS FROM PORT ARTHUR ON 
 
 EXHIBITION AT TOKYO .... ..... To face page 474 
 
 A GARDEN PARTY AT THE RESIDENCY-GENERAL IN „ 
 
 SEOUL „ 504 
 
 A KOREAN GENTLEMAN'S METHOD OF TRAVELLING „ 504 
 
 A MILITARY EXECUTION, KOREA „ S'S 
 
 THE NATIONAL METHOD OF EXECUTION, KOREA . „ ' S'^ 
 
 WARRIOR OF THE PURE CHINESE AGE .... „ 564 
 ACTOR DRESSED AS AN INVINCIBLE WARRIOR OF 
 
 THE GOLDEN AGE „ 5^4 
 
 IRRIGATION BY MEANS OF A PRIMITIVE BUT EFFEC- 
 TIVE SYSTEM „ 588 
 
 THE OLD — AND DISAPPEARING— METHOD OF INTER- 
 PROVINCIAL TRAVEL IN CHINA „ 588 
 
 CHARTS 
 
 DEPOSITS AND LOANS IN THE BANK OF JAPAN . . To face page /\,ch 
 
 DEPOSITS AND LOANS THROUGHOUT COUNTRY . . „ 406 
 
 DEPOSITS IN POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK .... „ 406 
 
 BILLS CLEARED AT VARIOUS CLEARING HOUSES „ 406 
 
 AMOUNT OF CIRCULATING NOTES „ 407 
 
 RATE OF INTEREST ON DISCOUNT „ 407 
 
 FLUCTUATION IN PRICES AND WAGES „ 407 
 
 NATIONAL DEBTS OUTSTANDING IN JAPAN .... „ 4I I 
 
 PRICES OF PRINCIPAL SECURITIES IN TOKYO ... „ 4II 
 
 PRICES OF JAPANESE BONDS IN LONDON „ 4H 
 
 SOURCES OF ORDINARY REVENUE IN JAPAN ... „ 413 
 TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF 
 
 COMMODITIES IN JAPAN „ 442 
 
 THE GROWING TENDENCIES OF JAPANESE TRADE . „ 442 
 
 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE IN JAPAN „ 416 
 
 MAP 
 
 NORTHERN ASIA ... End of Vol. 
 
PART I 
 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 
 
 There are several ways of reaching Vladi- 
 vostock, as indeed there are several ways of reach- 
 ing every land's-end port in the world. But there 
 is probably only one of them which should really 
 deserve time and study, and that has become so 
 out-of-date and so slow that few care to undertake 
 it. It is by travelling slowly down the Amur River 
 from the Trans-Baikal territories, just as Muravieff 
 and his lieutenants did almost exactly half a century 
 ago. This is the way which allows one to under- 
 stand the original and unchangeable Russian attitude 
 towards the Far East. If one could make this 
 tedious journey, and could then come back a second 
 time by steamer from Odessa and a third time by 
 the quick Trans-Siberian railway, one would com- 
 pletely understand the Russian Far East from the 
 Russian point of view — the point of view which was 
 the ultimate cause of the late war — and could then 
 burn one's maps. But as all this is too extensive 
 
 B 
 
2 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 and too expensive an education in a quick-moving 
 age, one must perforce be intensive and inexpensive, 
 and with one's visual sense as keenly on the alert 
 as possible, journey the travelled way. Up, then, 
 the Korean coast from the south, hugging the 
 shore, yet with blue water everywhere ; across, then, 
 straight as a bee-line, the vast Peter the Great Bay, 
 now leaving the land far below the horizon-line ; 
 until at last, in the fullness of time, you make the 
 island of Askhold, and in the dim dawn you are 
 boarded by a thick-spoken pilot, who guarantees, 
 all accidents excepted, to guide you through the 
 derelict mechanical mines which Governmental sloth 
 allows still to menace the peaceful shipping of 
 neutral and rival countries alike. You make another 
 island — Skryplevsky — and then great peninsulas of 
 mountainous land stretch out to embrace your 
 vessel. It is very calm, very peaceful here, yet the 
 Pacific floods in as if it wished mercilessly to engulf 
 the whole mainland. Your steamer swerves into 
 the Eastern Bosphorus, bending round and round 
 so sharply as to seem in danger of overbalanc- 
 ing ; and there, opening out into a silver sheet 
 of water, is the Bay of the Golden Horn. It is 
 Vladivostock. 
 
 The shore, rising higher and higher as you creep 
 in, and crowned with striking terraces of houses all 
 glittering in the sun, is an insistent invitation to 
 land. There is, also, that crispness in the air which 
 can only be found in the East in high northerly 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 3 
 
 latitudes, and which speaks of vigorous races of 
 men. As you gaze at this town, which climbs the 
 hill-sides and throws out long white tentacles ever 
 farther and farther afield, you have Port Arthur and 
 Dalny explained and perhaps palliated. People in 
 the forgotten days of before the war could not 
 understand why these places possessed their peculiar 
 formation and architecture, or why they had ever 
 been created at all. That was merely because the 
 observers arrived there after having started from 
 the wrong parallels of latitude. Had they come 
 down from the cold north — say from the Russian 
 Pacific seaboard — they would have understood that 
 these creations were only foolish to men of rival 
 civilisations, because their creators knew too little 
 of the real Far East and the forces it contained, 
 and were simply anxious to move south, ever 
 south. 
 
 But although the town is so near and Vladivo- 
 stock is still a free port, you cannot rush away as 
 quickly from your ship as even in hide-bound pro- 
 tective towns. Apart from the question of passports, 
 which is the lesser inconvenience, there are Customs 
 ofificers who must be satisfied about a number of 
 things before you may land and your impedimenta 
 be set free. Still it must be said that the Vladi- 
 vostock Customs officials are as unexacting as those 
 of the China coasts, and that four things alone 
 appear to claim their attention — tobacco, spirits, 
 arms, and revolutionary papers. The list appears 
 
 B 2 
 
4 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 alarming, and indeed at first sight forecasts many 
 inconveniences. But on first-class passengers very 
 little attention is bestowed ; on those of the second- 
 class only a little more, so that the full weight of 
 the heavy hands of these minor Government officials 
 falls on the steerage people, who have everything 
 roughly treated. From this it will be seen that the 
 revolutionaries, the suspects, and their friends, are 
 clearly people of the lower orders, who are not 
 respectable and who are elevated to decent rank 
 only in the foreign press. Still, with all this 
 searching and with all this tearing open of strange- 
 looking bundles, I was told that almost every ship 
 touching at Japan had someone on board carrying 
 in reams of prohibited literature and many other 
 confiscable things, and that the apparently close 
 search on entrance into the harbour is largely made 
 only for form's sake. It is the old story again. I, 
 who carried a heavy load of tobacco liable not to a 
 duty levy but to excise, had ample proof of this. I 
 had no intention of defrauding the Czar's depleted 
 coffers of their just quota, but it was my neighbour 
 who foresaw that one declaration of honest purpose 
 might necessitate others more inconvenient, and 
 who urged me to silence. Therefore the Custom 
 House man murmured the monotonous formula as 
 he gazed dreamily around him, only to have me 
 protest silently that I was innocent ; and I stood at 
 ease, safe in the knowledge that five hundred Manila 
 cigars were separated merely by a single thickness 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 5 
 
 of leather from his inquiring hands. I even thumped 
 exteriors of boxes with confidence, so as to round off 
 the situation. Brought back to his immediate sur- 
 roundings by these too violent demonstrations of 
 innocence, the dreamy minor official gazed at me 
 hesitatingly ; then deciding that to examine would 
 be but to add another trouble to this world of 
 troubles, with clumsy hands he resignedly affixed 
 little shreds of printed paper affirming that my 
 luggage had been duly inspected and passed. With 
 passport and luggage stamped nothing remains to 
 detain one. 
 
 Yet I discovered that less lucky deck-passengers 
 were even then being closely searched because of 
 an unfortunate find. A revolver had been dis- 
 covered in one package and immediately pocketed ; 
 then more firearms were brought to light ; and at 
 last a big basket, in which were quantities of 
 ammunition which no one would claim, was planted 
 down in the broad sunlight. It was plain from 
 these little indications that for some reason cheap 
 firearms were at a premium in these latitudes, and 
 that the operators in the now numerous " hold-ups " 
 which punctuate life in the Russian Far East, as 
 an aftermath to an unfinished war and an abortive 
 revolution, had no difficulty in smuggling in 
 supplies from abroad if the local markets did not 
 suffice to meet their constant demands. In ten 
 minutes a heap of miscellaneous contraband had 
 been discovered, and even our captain looked em- 
 
6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 barrassed. There was evidently a limit which 
 should not be exceeded. 
 
 An end comes to everything, however, and, tired 
 of speculating as to whether there was any truth in 
 the report that the Nagasaki "patriots " were planning 
 another rising on the anniversary of the last revolt 
 in this port of Vladivostock, we began moving 
 shorewards. It is the Shantung sampan-man who, 
 if you are not lucky enough to board a launch, is at 
 once disclosed to you as the bumboatman and 
 general carrier of the port, just as he is in China ; 
 and to the prosaic sampan I therefore transferred 
 myself and my belongings. It is well to remark at 
 once that from the very moment of landing in the 
 Russian Far East to the very moment of passing 
 into Chinese territory, the Chinaman is everywhere 
 the handy man who does the rough work along 
 all lines of communication. As he is a most 
 useful interpreter, it may therefore be said that a 
 knowledge of Chinese is able to perform the excep- 
 tional duty of carrying you everywhere in absolute 
 ignorance of the language of the lords of the soil, if 
 you so desire. Fast as the Russians come in, the 
 Chinaman follows still faster ; and although the pig- 
 tailed man is a mere bird of passage whose only 
 status is that of a money-making machine with no 
 rights and privileges, time alone will show whether 
 he may not ultimately regain land which was 
 originally his very own, when the Manchus ascended 
 the Dragon Throne and laid claim to everything 
 east of the Baikal territory. 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 7 
 
 With these reflections you are rapidly yulohed 
 across the beautiful harbour-waters into a thick 
 swarm of craft, which cluster, like fish awaiting food, 
 round the stone and wooden wharves which line the 
 shores ; and it is with difficulty that your sampan- 
 man forces a path so that you can clamber at last 
 to terra firma. Once on shore, too, there is much 
 the same crush ; for cargo hastily discharged from 
 steamer and junk is stacked mountain-high on every 
 available spot along this narrow water front. 
 Hundreds of carts, driven impartially by Russian 
 or Chinese, seek to load up and discharge in these 
 awkward places, and the din and shouting which 
 consequently arises tells of some prosperity. The 
 scrunch of all these wheels and the stamping of 
 innumerable hoofs raise thick clouds of dust which 
 sometimes become so opaque that the unending 
 lines of carts and horses pass by like dim silhouettes. 
 Spread along the water-front are the lucky steamers 
 which have purchased by the spending of many 
 roubles the right to discharge straight on to the town 
 jetties, whilst from less lucky craft heavy cargo-boats 
 move continually shorewards. All this exists for your 
 immediate discomfort, because you have stumbled 
 on the main artery leading from the water-edge up 
 into the town, and because Vladivostock — although 
 overstocked, like every other place in the Far East, 
 with all kinds of goods bought in anticipation of 
 the great post bellum boom which has never arrived 
 — cannot stop, although it wants to stop, the 
 unending arrival of still further supplies. 
 
8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Yet this wrestling mass of packing-cases, humanity 
 and horseflesh is a mere incident ; for once off the 
 water-front and beyond the cargo stacks the air 
 thins, the turmoil becomes less marked, and carriages, 
 swiftly driven, take the place of clumsy Russian 
 and Chinese carts. It is possible now to take stock 
 of your surroundings, for you have fitly debouched 
 on the main street of Vladivostock. The Svietlan- 
 skaya-ulitza — for such is its gracious name — is a 
 magnificent street of noble proportions which runs 
 roughly parallel to the harbour-edge fifty feet or so 
 above the water-line. Since it follows the curve of 
 the hills, it swings a little up and a little down ; yet 
 with this disqualification it is undoubtedly admirable 
 as a main thoroughfare. For the flanking buildings 
 are mostly designed in that ample style which 
 clearly shows that Russia stands for large ideas 
 which manifestly only require taming, co-ordinating 
 and re-sorting to be redoubtable in the severest 
 sense. Traces of the riots and incendiarism which 
 followed so few weeks after peace have almost 
 entirely disappeared from this and the other larger 
 streets, for all the buildings which were destroyed or 
 damaged by the rebellious soldiery and their insti- 
 gators have been restored ; while in addition many 
 people with war-profits to invest must have caught 
 the building mania, and have since been busy 
 raising fine modern structures of brick and stone 
 on every side. Almost everywhere there is some 
 sort of building going on, and where funds are not 
 sufficient to warrant a heavy expenditure, picturesque 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 9 
 
 Russian buildings of painted wood are being rapidly 
 added to the town. Along the main street you have 
 the residences of the Governor, of the Commander of 
 the port, and of many other magnates, whilst monu- 
 ments such as those raised in memory of the Czar's 
 Far Eastern voyage, and of the men who laid the 
 foundations of this distant vice-royalty, lend a stately 
 note of distinction which is lacking in the purely 
 trading centres of Asia. 
 
 The net result is that you have in the Svietlan- 
 skaya a street which in proportions has probably no 
 rival in the Far East. The cramping and con- 
 sequent meanness of the semi- European town 
 raising itself in the face of a silent native opposition 
 is here entirely missing ; it has been peremptorily 
 ordered in this wise by empire-builders, and in this 
 wise it is being carried out. Nor is this impression 
 due merely to certain architectural effects ; it is con- 
 tributed to just as much by a white man's bustle and 
 life which flows unendingly along as the main current, 
 to which the Eastern current, the Chino- Korean 
 bustle, is undoubtedly subordinate. This, and the 
 fact that horse-flesh has almost entirely replaced 
 man-flesh in all brute-strength work, confirm a 
 curious conviction of Europeanism. For once, 
 although you are still in regions which are purely 
 of the Far East, horses are doing all the hard work 
 and man-carriage is entirely absent. It is the 
 horse, well-fed and big, in the awkward but 
 picturesque Russian collar, which is slowly hauling 
 great loads of materials up and down the sloping 
 
lo RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 Streets ; in place of the usual rickshaw, it is the 
 Russian hack-carriage which carries you everywhere 
 for the sum of thirty kopecks a drive. The very 
 military messengers, instead of hurrying along on 
 foot or pedalling bicycles, gallop past you at break- 
 neck speed on shaggy Transbaikalian ponies. In a 
 word, the horse has here a European status — and 
 man as well, since he does not bend his panting 
 body under unnatural burdens. All the rest, the 
 Chinese carters and the Korean harbour coolies, are 
 bits of an ever-shifting and changing foreground ; 
 the real background is European Russia struggling 
 to rid itself of, or disqualify, Asiatic influences, and 
 to prove that Asia, like Siberia, can be subdued by 
 sheer weight of numbers. 
 
 These first impressions, however, are speedily 
 obscured by the sense of alarm which begins to fill 
 you when you discover that no matter what may be 
 the attractions and advantages of this Europeanism, 
 the hotels are not on the lordly scale of the town. 
 As a matter of fact these are, as usual, full to over- 
 flowing, and local opinion professes that they are 
 likely to remain so to the end of time. One of the 
 two only passable hostelries, the " Pacific," destroyed 
 during the military riots, is still in the hands of the 
 builders, and will not be completed for months to 
 come ; and as for the others, if you are so unlucky 
 as to land between the arrival and departure of 
 the European express trains, you will find them so 
 crowded with two rival streams of passengers, anxious 
 merely about their connections and caring nothing 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK n 
 
 about the outer world, that it is vain to crave 
 hospitality. Finally, when at last you succeed in 
 installing yourself in a caravanserai, you discover that 
 everything is on what is called in American hotels 
 " the European plan." You must go abroad to seek 
 your meals ; you must go abroad to get your boots 
 cleaned ; in fact you must go abroad for most things, 
 including even your bath. The Vladivostock rest- 
 aurants, moreover, like the Vladivostock hotels, are 
 none too good ; but their European air, conveyed 
 by a multitude of Russian waiters in orthodox dress, 
 for a time hides from your view their manifest short- 
 comings. Yet these very waiters speedily prove the 
 worst feature of the restaurants ; for after having 
 earned as much as fifteen or twenty roubles a day 
 during the war-times, they are in none too good a 
 humour now that things have so greatly changed, 
 and are careful to make you appreciate the fact. 
 And although prices seem reasonable at first sight, 
 experience soon proves that relatively decent life 
 is still two or three times as expensive here as any- 
 where else in the Far East. Dinner, which may be 
 taken at almost any hour before dark, is cheap — say 
 a rouble and a half — but since to eat you must 
 drink, you soon find that in the price of the liquor 
 is concealed that profit which makes life worth 
 living for the restaurateur. The cheapest drink, a 
 bottle of beer, cannot be obtained under a rouble 
 and a quarter ; wine is even more exorbitant ; and 
 as for the spirituous necessities of the ordinary man, 
 you soon learn to order them with a sinking heart. 
 
12 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 The traveller in Vladivostock who can come through 
 on a couple of pounds a day, leading a simple life, 
 must pray the prayer of those who have entirely 
 escaped fleecing. 
 
 In all truth, the somewhat bath-less, lavatory-less, 
 street-rushing, carriage-driven existence of Vladi- 
 vostock is vastly different from that of the rest of the 
 Far East, although it forms an integral part of it ; 
 and half a dozen hours ashore are sufficient to con- 
 vince you that everything is viewed from such a 
 new standpoint that contending policies between this 
 particular corner and the other corners of the East 
 are almost inevitable. The dominant influences, in 
 spite of the presence of huge flocks of Chinese, 
 lesser crowds of Koreans, and the beginnings of a 
 great Japanese invasion, are purely Russian. It is 
 the European standard raising itself in ignorant 
 opposition to the Asiatic. 
 
 And yet all the objections you may raise are mere 
 surface things — the strength of it all is greater than 
 anything else ; not connected, co-ordinated strength, 
 perhaps, but individual and latent. Of this I soon 
 had an excellent demonstration, on emerging from 
 one of the verandah-like restaurants which are such 
 a feature of the place. On the broad main street 
 the two-horsed hack-carriages, with their powerful, 
 picturesque drivers, lounging in their seats and yet 
 driving to perfection, were still streaming past as 
 unendingly as ever ; and there seemed just as many 
 people hurrying along, although they had been 
 hurrying in that wise from early morning ; when 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 13 
 
 suddenly a distant shout and a scufHe on a side- 
 walk advertised the fact that this flow of human 
 beings was being momentarily disturbe'd. In the 
 distance there were to be seen the black outlines of 
 two men staggering against one another ; then there 
 was a sharp report, too flat for a revolver shot but 
 very clean and heavy, and one of the men tem- 
 porarily disappeared. People paused a minute, 
 with indifference written large on their faces, to see 
 what the discussion might be ; and as I came up I 
 understood the peculiar sound of the sudden report. 
 For on the ground, wrestling with himself to over- 
 come the blindness which the blow had brought, 
 was an ordinary-enough, top-booted, blue-eyed and 
 yellow-haired Russian of the lower classes, with his 
 fur cap rolling on tKe pavement beside him, and the 
 blood slowly trickling down his face. Standing 
 over him, his lips white with passion, was c^ tall 
 Caucasian clad in his national dress, which had 
 been torn open by his efforts. It appeared that he 
 had merely given his opponent an enormous open- 
 handed slap — the unscientific blow of an easy-going 
 people preferring weapons to their hands in the 
 event of a crisis arising. 
 
 The man on the ground lay struggling quite 
 silently, a mere unconnected individual who inte- 
 rested no one, and the passers-by began moving 
 on with indifferent shoulder shrugs. It was the 
 ordinary street row, to which, however, one is un- 
 accustomed in the true East amongst white men ; it 
 was therefore interesting. "Watch him use his knife," 
 
H RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 casually remarked an old Port Arthur acquaintance, 
 when the Caucasian moved forward again ; and 
 I half expected to see one of those so-called 
 " Russian tragedies " of which the newspapers have 
 been so full that everyone has come to believe 
 them to be the natural life of a careless people. 
 But there was nothing of the kind. As they came 
 together the two men merely clinched again ; and 
 this time the Russian workman, having recovered 
 himself, savagely put forth all his strength, and half- 
 wrestling and half- striking, brutally flung his 
 opponent down on the hard stone with a tremen- 
 dous crash. Blood had now been drawn on both 
 sides ; and as the struggle continued in this uncouth 
 manner, the indifferent onlookers began to under- 
 stand that it was a real fight a loutrance, and every- 
 one protested and called for the police. The police, 
 however — that wonderful Russian police popularly 
 reputed so omnipresent and terrorising — was like all 
 other police in similar circumstances, not in sight ; 
 and as no one had sufficient energy to go in quest 
 of the strong arm of the law, the enemies were left 
 to work out their salvation unhampered. So they 
 calmly and resolutely continued the struggle, in a 
 curious, halting way which permitted each man 
 to recover and then go on again no matter what 
 injuries he received. The condition to which they 
 consequently reduced themselves in the space of 
 very few minutes was appalling, the workman being 
 knocked out no less than nine times and the 
 Caucasian three. Yet neither man had any science 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 15 
 
 nor any knowledge of how to use his strength — 
 it was mere untamed passion crudely applied with 
 brutal effects. I believe that they might still be 
 fighting had not the lost policemen finally appeared ; 
 even then, as they were being led off to the station, 
 they tried repeatedly to come to grips again. That 
 unimportant street fight was somehow a lesson in 
 the alphabet of this new world ; and one wondered 
 vaguely what this self-contained and purely animal 
 strength of a great nation might not one day mean. 
 Yet to counterbalance such a view and to make 
 you remember the limitations of this strength, you 
 immediately see something trivial and absurd going 
 on in the street, showing how much training and 
 education there has yet to be amongst Russians 
 before there can be any real progress. Street- 
 watering had now actively commenced, since the 
 hour of promenade was approaching, and the 
 Russian, a little like the Chinese, does things only 
 at the very last minute. Burly, bearded men 
 armed with old kerosene tins followed carts loaded 
 with small casks of water, and began filling their 
 impromptu utensils and scattering the water in a 
 manner which used to be highly fashionable in 
 the old days at Peking, but is now abolished 
 even there. It was childish. A single powerful 
 watering-cart could have watered that whole street 
 in a few minutes. Perhaps nobody had thought 
 of it, or that being nobody's business it was 
 attended in the easiest manner which could be 
 improvised. It is thus that the Eastern character- 
 
i6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 istics of a race that is not of the East are curiously 
 expressed. 
 
 Farther afield there were many sights to be seen, 
 singularly interesting to those accustomed to the 
 old Far Eastern point of view. On many of the 
 new buildings which were rapidly approaching -com- 
 pletion, Russian and Chinese bricklayers were to be 
 seen working amicably side by side, the yellow- 
 haired Russian as often as not listening to the 
 advice of his yellow-skinned comrade and carrying 
 it out ; whilst in every third or fourth carriage 
 Chinese or Korean fares lolled back in their seats 
 and gave orders to their picturesque-looking Russian 
 drivers in tones which along a more southerly coast- 
 line would have been called insolent merely because 
 they were peremptory. But the Chinese, since they 
 form an element no less important in the population 
 of Vladivostock than in the ordinary China treaty 
 port, and have to-day in their hands much of the 
 wholesale trade with Manchuria and the back 
 country, are here by no means a negligible quan- 
 tity. These Chinese come almost entirely from the 
 prefectures of Laichoufu and Tengchoufu, in the 
 Shantung province — prefectures which must now be 
 sadly depopulated if the numbers which flock both 
 to the Russian provinces and to Manchuria form 
 any index. The Chinese, indeed, are now literally 
 everywhere in thousands and tens of thousands ; 
 and each year adds to this great migration. But 
 although they are so numerous you feel in a 
 hundred ways that their position is really as peculiar 
 
1 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK I7 
 
 as your own, and that they come only to remain 
 strangers in a strange land. 
 
 These crowds of people from the opposite ends of 
 the great Eurasian Continent lead to a general 
 buying and selling, on a strictly cash system, which 
 must amount daily to a comparatively-speaking 
 enormous sum. Money, indeed, may be said to 
 change hands more rapidly in Vladivostock than 
 anywhere in the Far East, for the Russian is 
 always buying, and his example is doubtless in- 
 fectious. In the biggest store of the town, which 
 is of course no other than the giant establishment of 
 Kunst and Albers, the " Whiteleys " of the Russian 
 Pacific coast, it is reported that at least fifteen thou- 
 sand roubles pass over the counters daily in small 
 cash purchases. At this German establishment you 
 may purchase anything, from a post-card showing 
 the firm's original building of rough logs, put up by 
 its enterprising founders a few years after Muravieff 
 had sailed down the Amur, to a time-charter of a 
 great ocean-going steamship swinging in the anchor- 
 age ; and the Russian, appreciating this, has made 
 the Hamburg firm able to boast of a practical 
 monopoly in every species of dealing. It is by 
 merit, by industry, and by a thorough knowledge 
 of local conditions and needs that this has been 
 done ; and compared with this great house, with its 
 hundreds of clerks and its busy counters, its varied 
 wholesale and retail trading, there is nothing com- 
 mercially worth speaking of in Vladivostock. 
 
 The requirements of the civil population — a popu- 
 
 c 
 
i8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 lation now probably numbering at least twenty or 
 thirty thousand Russians, ten or fifteen thousand 
 Chinese and several thousand Koreans — have re- 
 cently caused the town to spread long tentacles of 
 white houses up the slopes of all the adjacent hills 
 and far out round the bay beyond the limits of the 
 township. In fact, houses which may be compared 
 to squatters' dwellings, since their owners refuse 
 point-blank to pay rates or to acknowledge any 
 authority other than their own, are going up every- 
 where in a somewhat surprising fashion, testifying 
 to the latent possibilities of the place. But the roads, 
 with the exception of the main thoroughfares and 
 those which are strictly military roads and which 
 are therefore of course excellent, are more than 
 usually vile even for Russian highways ; and some 
 climb the hills so steeply that carriages can hardly 
 proceed, whilst flights of wooden steps have to be 
 provided to enable even pedestrians to mount them. 
 Up these hill-sides you may waste endless tissue. 
 
 With all this growth and bustle Vladivostock 
 no longer becomes uproarious at night, as did its 
 sister town of Port Arthur in the old days. The 
 good spirits and the spending capacity of its in- 
 habitants would seem now to be much curtailed, for 
 although there are many cafSs chantants, with their 
 heavy complements of dubious people and their 
 many palm-itching waiters who refuse to forget the 
 war, the best efforts of the curious artistes win hardly 
 any applause. Champagne corks, also, seldom pop 
 
1 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 19 
 
 now ; and when that measure of measures of the inner 
 state of things amongst this light-hearted people 
 marks so low, it is a flaming sign for those who 
 have eyes to see that the good old days of a couple 
 of years ago have gone for ever. Even at 
 Baroufsky's — that famous circus which has managed 
 to live through all the vicissitudes of wars and 
 sieges, and which has duly re-opened with new 
 attractions and old faces — there is a sober air, an air 
 in fact of some lassitude, because audiences have 
 become lackadaisical. Yet if all accounts are to 
 be believed, the gallant proprietor — whose memoirs 
 would doubtless form a highly interesting sidelight 
 on the peoples and politics of the Far East — cannot 
 say that fortune has not smiled on him. In fact the 
 experiences of his circus form such a commentary 
 that they merit brief recital. After he and his 
 circus had been caught in the war-storm at Port 
 Arthur on the fatal night of the 8th of February, 
 he made his way north to Harbin, and although 
 his horses and his animals had all gone, in an 
 incredibly short time he gathered together a new 
 show which played all through the war at the great 
 Russian base, and is supposed to have credited its 
 proprietor with a net profit of nearly half a million 
 roubles. No greater commentary than this could 
 be made on the curious character of the Russian 
 people. Whilst epoch-making battles were being 
 fought and lost only three or four hundred miles to 
 the south in Manchuria, and Harbin itself might 
 
20 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 — - _ 
 
 have been threatened and gambled away, fortunes 
 were being made on every side by catering to the 
 banal side of life. 
 
 From these various peregrinations, it will be seen 
 that first impressions in Vladivostock point to the 
 fact that there is a curious pause — a moment of 
 doubt, of head-shaking, and possibly of repentance, 
 reflecting the general condition in the Russian Far 
 East. But this statement must be qualified by 
 the additional remark that the promise of future 
 strength, if the pause be successfully bridged over 
 and common-sense methods win the day, is greater 
 than ever. Admitting the confusion, the lack of 
 co-ordination and of organisation which are such 
 faults of the Russian system — a system which aims 
 at a dead level of uniformity and fails utterly in its 
 self-imposed task — the fact remains that through 
 everything there runs such an unexploited sub- 
 stratum of solidity and strength that people 
 must not be surprised if surface indications of 
 fundamental defects one day prove absolutely mis- 
 leading. A very careful study and re-valuation is 
 indeed necessary. Everything is perhaps told re- 
 garding this section of the great question when you 
 walk from one end of the vast main street to the 
 other. At one end stands the graceful statue of 
 Admiral Nevelskoi, on which are inscribed the 
 famous words of the Czar Nicholas I : " Where the 
 Russian flag has been raised it must never be 
 lowered." At the opposite end, where the railway 
 
I FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF VLADIVOSTOCK 21 
 
 line runs right across the thoroughfare on its way 
 to distant Europe, is a post on which is engraved in 
 massive letters the simple statement, " Vladivostock 
 to St. Petersburg, 9,922 versts." 
 The distance has been too great. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 
 
 Meanwhile, in front of you stretches the 
 beautiful blue harbour of Vladivostock, surrounded 
 by its pleasant hills all russet-brown in the brilliant 
 autumn, hills which proclaim by their symmetry 
 that there is no more cunning or majestic an artist 
 than Nature herself, and which invite you to con- 
 sider things in an aspect as ample as their own. If 
 you climb any one of these heights which rise so 
 stiffly immediately at the back of the town, the 
 immense advantages of the place, commercial as 
 well as military, are made plainly apparent. For, 
 to be prosaic and exact, here is a great land-locked 
 harbour, officially given out to be 14,950 feet long 
 and 2,800 feet broad in its narrowest parts, which 
 has twelve fathoms of water in the very shallowest 
 corners, and which has a double entrance, providing 
 also a double exit. The section of the harbour 
 given over to merchant steamers and called the 
 commercial zone is alone so vast that the minimum 
 ofhcial calculations allow that sixty steamers of five 
 thousand tons each could ride there at ease, 
 
CH.ll COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 23 
 
 leaving broad channels between them and plenty 
 of manoeuvring room for the navy, whilst the vital 
 entrances would not be encumbered in the slightest. 
 During the open season there have been, since the 
 war, almost always some twenty or thirty ocean- 
 going merchantmen riding at anchor in the harbour ; 
 and the space occupied by these craft has been so 
 insignificant that it is clear such numbers could be 
 trebled and even quadrupled without constituting 
 a danger to navigation, since the vessels which 
 frequent the port average a good deal less than five 
 thousand tons burden. The graceful main entrance, 
 fitly called the Eastern Bosphorus, because it 
 resembles so markedly the Turkish opening into 
 the Black Sea, is a splendid bow-shaped sheet of 
 water which slips round to the open sea through a 
 curl of hills and a frown of rising ground, in such 
 fashion as to leave the town completely hidden from 
 the open Pacific. There is no cramping as at Port 
 Arthur, which is a wretched harbour ; nor yet any 
 need for artificial breakwaters as at Dalny — ^break- 
 waters which have almost defeated their purpose by 
 making the harbour half ice-bound when the winter 
 blizzards blow. Here Nature, in a generous mood, 
 has done everything herself. The main entrance is 
 indeed ideal in every respect ; ideally broad so that 
 it cannot be blocked, yet ideally narrow so as 
 to hold the angry seas without ; and placed right 
 athwart it, like a guardian angel to lend it and the 
 town behind adequate protection, is massive Russian 
 Island, a great shrub-covered island which is a 
 
24 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 mighty fortress in itself, now crammed full of 
 soldiery. Far out to sea, say twenty miles or more, 
 is Askhold, the lighthouse island which you pick up 
 on coming in, an island once reputed so rich in gold 
 that adventurous Chinese miners came across 
 hundreds of miles of waste lands, long before 
 Muravieff sailed down the Amur, to devote them- 
 selves to the rapacious exploitation of the precious 
 metal. From this naval outpost of Askhold every- 
 thing is quickly communicated to Vladivostock ; had 
 Port Arthur possessed such a sentry, all history 
 might have been different. 
 
 The first weakness of the port from the purely 
 naval-military point of view is that vast indentation 
 on the coast called Amur Bay. This is amply 
 clear from any one of the heights behind the town. 
 For the outer shores of the Eastern Bosphorus 
 entrance simply form a big peninsula very much 
 like the Tiger's Tail of Port Arthur turned out- 
 wards ; and on the other side begins Amur Bay, an 
 enormous limpid sheet of water that cuts back 
 many dozens of miles into the mainland and con- 
 stitutes a clear military danger. A daring enemy 
 might easily penetrate here, and, acting resolutely, 
 could half isolate the great stronghold before the 
 full alarm were given. It is on this danger that the 
 genius of the Russian engineers has recently been 
 concentrated, and it is alleged that the fortifications 
 now shielding the Vladivostock shores of this vast 
 Amur inlet have been made so powerful as tp form 
 a death-trap for any invader, 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 25 
 
 The second weakness — this from the commercial 
 standpoint — is one that is often to be apprehended 
 where such good natural facilities exist. It is that 
 there is not sufficient flat land lying round the 
 harbour shores on which to build the extensive 
 warehouses which must be necessary in future 
 years if Vladivostock is to become a Shanghai 
 or a Hong Kong for this northern mainland. As 
 a harbour it is therefore much inferior to San 
 Francisco. Still, enjoying the natural privileges 
 it does, it has largely been the rigours of the winter 
 climate and the virgin nature of the vast territories 
 lying both behind it and to the north of it, which 
 have made the port progress so slowly compared 
 with many other Far Eastern places that have 
 recently grown up, like the gourd, in the night. 
 Although the port is situated in latitude 43° 6' north, 
 and is therefore only a quarter of a degree nearer 
 the Pole than Florence and Nice, its climate, 
 possessing an annual mean temperature of 4 '6 Centi- 
 grade, is as severe in winter as that of the Gulf of 
 Finland. In the month of January the Fahrenheit 
 thermometer often falls so low as thirty and even 
 forty degrees below zero, marking from sixty-two 
 to seventy-two degrees of frost ; and there are 
 local sagas which sing of a yet more terrible cold in 
 the early days. The annual freezing of the waters 
 of the port during some hundred and ten days, or 
 nearly four months, makes the employment of ice- 
 breakers a necessity during that period, and renders 
 all coast-wise navigation a sheer impossibility. 
 
26 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 Even then, the winter commerce which is made 
 possible by the use of these powerful ice-breakers, is 
 only of a temporising nature ; ice and an Arctic 
 winter are things which cannot be properly fought 
 by man. This practical reduction of the working 
 year to, at best, eight months means that it would 
 take the most energetic commercial nation forty 
 years to accomplish what could be done elsewhere 
 in twenty-five ; and as Russia has been the Power 
 at work, it may be said that the development of 
 the port is now that of only twenty years under 
 normal conditions. The development of the 
 German port of Tsingtao in 1918 — that is, twenty 
 years after the seizure — will probably be fully equal 
 to that of Vladivostock of 1906, and may, perhaps, 
 be even greater. 
 
 The present and future importance of Vladi- 
 vostock lies, however, in the fact that it is the one 
 natural warehouse for the whole Russian littoral 
 territory, generally known as the Maritime Pro- 
 vince. No other port can ever be so convenient or 
 so furnished with such natural and artificial advan- 
 tages. People talk of the Russian mistake in not 
 seizing Gensan in Northern Korea in 1898, instead 
 of Port Arthur, Yet Gensan, like Port Arthur, 
 would have been a detached port and would there- 
 fore have been a failure only a few degrees less 
 pronounced than the Liaotung port. Only a Power 
 that is primarily and solely a naval Power can afford 
 to hold such adjuncts to pure sea-strength as 
 detached coaling-stations. These things should 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 27 
 
 not be confused. Although many ocean-going 
 steamers do not hesitate now to carry supplies 
 during the short open season direct from Europe 
 and America to such ports as Nicolaievsk — which 
 lies about a thousand miles to the north of Vladivo- 
 stock, at the mouth of the Amur river — the difficul- 
 ties of such navigation must tend someday to make 
 transhipment into regular coasting vessels of con- 
 venient size, at such a point as Vladivostock, more 
 and more the custom. Already the Russian East 
 Asiatic Company has begun a regular coastwise 
 service which, without being excellent, is quite 
 tolerable ; and imitations must soon follow. The 
 narrow and treacherous channels of the Gulf of 
 Tartary will always make the entry of deep-draught 
 vessels even to Nicolaievsk a matter of anxiety 
 to shipowners, since shifting sand-bars can hold fast 
 steel-bottoms for an indefinite period and sweep 
 away all profits in demurrage. The new policy of 
 transhipment is therefore doubly advisable. The 
 complete establishment of networks of coasting ves- 
 sels — lines starting from Vladivostock and supply- 
 ing the whole Russian coast right up to Kamschatka 
 — will mean the commencement of that peaceful 
 Russian Far Eastern development which has 
 already been too long delayed. Such lines of 
 specially-built vessels not only could deal with 
 the coast trade, which has hitherto been insignifi- 
 cant, but might be designed to tap the whole Amur 
 river, a waterway which is now expensively exploited 
 by clumsy transhipment methods at Nicolaievsk, and 
 
28 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 whose real development has thus been retarded by 
 excessive conservatism and too many inconveniences. 
 What is needed on the Russian Pacific seaboard is a 
 general warehouse of the Shanghai- Hong Kong type, 
 in which will be concentrated every aid to natural 
 and artificial development ; that is, indeed, the first 
 necessity. 
 
 But Vladivostock has not only this coast trade to 
 count on ; it has the whole vast hinterland of the 
 Maritime Province to serve, an undeveloped area as 
 great as some first-class European countries. This 
 hinterland is very rich in natural resources, indeed 
 enormously rich in some ; and when it is added that 
 much of North-eastern and North-western Man- 
 churia can undoubtedly be more easily supplied 
 from the Russian sea-port than from anywhere else, 
 if common-sense methods prevail, it will be clear 
 that there is a commercial future of some promise 
 for this centre. The northern and southern sections 
 of the Ussuri railway — a railway now in process of 
 amalgamation with the hitherto unlucky Chinese 
 Eastern railway — possess a total rail-length of 716 
 versts, or say 500 miles, which taps the whole country; 
 and the ever-growing traffic, not only between the 
 two terminal points — Vladivostock and Khabarovsk 
 — but also between the small Russian townships and 
 villages already established in some numbers along 
 the line, points towards a sudden and marked expan- 
 sion in the very near future. Already there are 
 upwards of forty stations on the route, and large 
 quantities of lumber are beginning to be exported 
 
11 COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 29 
 
 to Vladivostock. This lumber trade alone might 
 give the sea-port special importance in years to 
 come, for there is no valid reason why much of the 
 woodless Chinese coast-line should not be supplied 
 with this commodity from these regions. Surely 
 the Russian Pacific seaboard has claims equal, if not 
 superior, to those of the American Pacific coast, 
 which is five thousand miles away, and which 
 nevertheless manages to thrive on a great trade in 
 timber with the Far East. As yet, however, with 
 all these possibilities which paint a rosy future, it is 
 well to realise the fact that Vladivostock's trade 
 in the past has been a shopman's or army sutler's 
 trade, if such expressions are permissible, rather 
 than the wholesale trade of a warehouse. port of the 
 type which should be aimed at. In other words, 
 the trade has been confined to certain limits. It 
 has been due rather to the Russian military or 
 imperial programme than to anything else ; it has 
 therefore been largely speculative and provisional, 
 and is an incident in the growth of the port rather 
 than a reason for that growth. The great quanti- 
 ties of flour which have come in year after year to 
 feed not only the soldiers and sailors, but the rural 
 and urban populations in the hinterland as well, are 
 absurd, because the American Continent should not 
 be drawn upon for such supplies when there are 
 vast areas suitable for wheat cultivation in almost 
 every direction behind Vladivostock. A compre- 
 hensive agricultural programme put in force by the 
 Government, facilitating emigration and the intro- 
 
30 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 duction of modern ploughing and reaping machinery 
 (as is now being done on a vast scale in Siberia), 
 would not only push forward this new land of the 
 Primorsk, but bind it to Russia by the only power- 
 ful bond which endures — the cultivation of the soil. 
 It is the cultivation of the soil, and that alone, which 
 really secures a nation's title to any portion of the 
 earth's surface ; and the ancient Chinese, who, 
 dozens of centuries ago, gave the farmer the second 
 place in their scheme of society, showed a just 
 appreciation of a basic fact which, if ignored in new 
 countries, must surely forecast a downfall. That 
 the Russian Government has attempted to push 
 emigration is undoubtedly true ; but its efforts in 
 this direction have not been continuous or well con- 
 ceived, and the people, seeing that their rulers were 
 rather half-hearted in the work, have become a 
 little half-hearted themselves. Everybody has been 
 wondering what is going to happen to-morrow, and 
 drift, drift has been the eternal policy.^ 
 
 This shopman's trade at Vladivostock has, of 
 necessity, comprised nearly every category, since 
 almost everything which is consumed in the town 
 and all the adjacent territory must perforce be 
 imported. Locally there are only bricks, matches, 
 lumber, and a bad brew of beer to be had, with 
 perhaps a little poultry and country produce to 
 swell the list ; and even of these last things a good 
 
 ' It is important to add that, since the above was written, the 
 Russian Government has begun to put into operation an emigration 
 scheme which may bring a million people into the country during the 
 next ten years. 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 31 
 
 deal comes from other places. Chinese junks, hugging 
 the coast-line wherever that is possible, sail all the 
 way from distant Shantung carrying full cargoes of 
 eggs, fruit, vegetables, and even such things as 
 chickens and cows (how these live en route no one 
 knows), and find buyers as quickly as they can 
 import their wares. This shows a very extra- 
 ordinary state of affairs. Even coal, an economical 
 necessity if the Russian Pacific territories are to 
 become self-supporting and entirely independent, 
 has not yet been properly discovered ; there are a 
 good many lignite beds which have been worked, 
 but lignite is not coal, and is no substitute for the 
 premier fuel. At one time it was hoped that the 
 Northern Saghalien mines would make good this 
 deficiency in the near future, but their present small 
 and restricted output, and the fitful manner in which 
 work proceeds, are hardly auguries for such a happy 
 turn of things. Coal of a good quality must be 
 discovered in the Primorsk itself, or else a serious 
 impediment to sound progress will always exist. 
 
 The close of the war, and the consequent dis- 
 appearance of all risk of seizure of mixed cargoes 
 at sea by Japanese cruisers, was probably mainly 
 responsible for the enormous speculative purchases 
 made by every trader in the town during the past 
 twelve months. This universal buying has led to 
 a perfect glut in every market in Vladivostock, and 
 there is now a wide-spread conviction that, until the 
 general position has been liquidated by the flux of 
 much time, everyone will be very hard pressed. Not 
 
32 Russia beyond lake baikal chap. 
 
 only will all normal profit-taking be impossible, but 
 normal development equally so. To-day it is said 
 that in Vladivostock you may purchase almost any 
 standard article by the shipload, at less than cost 
 price. Flour, kerosene, cotton, leather, timber, 
 wines, spirits, and a hundred other things — all are 
 there in mountainous stacks, and the Army Com- 
 missariat alone has sufficient flour to feed the entire 
 Ussuri garrison of 80,000 men for four years. The 
 amount of purchases made runs into many millions 
 sterling, and a conservative estimate places it at one 
 hundred million roubles. The rapid repatriation of 
 the entire Russian army of Manchuria, with the 
 exception of those East Siberian corps that are to 
 form the semi-permanent garrison along the ironway 
 and on both Russo-Chinese frontiers, was a railway 
 operation quite as surprisingly rapid as was the 
 evacuation of Southern Manchuria by the Japanese 
 forces. This sudden evacuation created an unex- 
 pected void which can only be filled by a huge 
 increase in the civilian consumptive demand, which 
 again can only be brought about by a heavy and 
 constant influx of Russian settlers and the coming 
 of many more tens of thousands of Chinese. 
 Locally the opinion is held that this influx will soon 
 come if the difficulties at home can be solved ; but, 
 in the meanwhile, although Northern Manchuria is 
 beginning to demand far more in general supplies 
 than has ever been the case before, and long goods 
 trains are always steaming off for the Sungari 
 regions, there is virtually a commercial deadlock in 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 33 
 
 Vladivostock, brought about almost entirely by 
 excessive over-trading.^ 
 
 With the exception of Chinese houses which hold 
 a special position as branches of China treaty port 
 establishments, not very much need be said ot 
 foreign firms in the Russian port, for the simple 
 reason that of such firms there are very few which 
 are permanently and enduringly established. There 
 was a single English firm before the war ; it 
 was forced to disappear immediately after the first 
 shots had been fired at Port Arthur, owing to the spy 
 mania and the unfortunate assumption that British 
 and Japanese had become identical terms. It will 
 never be re-established. There is still one large 
 American firm which undoubtedly does a very 
 considerable business of a special sort ; but it relies 
 mainly on the goodwill of Russian Government 
 departments, and is permitted to live, and presumably 
 to prosper, because of this favour. It is therefore 
 merely a euphemism to speak of it as an independent 
 American house. If there were one American firm 
 firmly established it would be permissible to sup- 
 pose that someday there might be a second, a third, 
 and even a host ; but unless the term " open port " 
 is given, by virtue of special arrangements, a 
 meaning synonymous to "open door," there will 
 probably never be a second or a third house of an 
 enduring type. That is the opinion of the leading 
 partner of this one American firm. The foreigner 
 has hitherto not been wanted by the Russian 
 
 1 This was written in the autumn of 1906. 
 
 D 
 
34 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Government or by Russian officials ; and it now 
 rests with the diplomacy of England and America 
 to see that equal opportunities be given to all, or 
 else the position will not be promising for aliens. 
 Similarly, there is in reality only one German firm, 
 which, having been there, from the Russian point of 
 view, ever since the flood, will presumably be 
 allowed to stay until doomsday, and continue trans- 
 acting, as it now does, a splendid business which 
 has allowed the senior partners to amass a fortune 
 of many million roubles in less than forty years. 
 There are other foreign agencies, of course, princi- 
 pally smaller German and Japanese shipping firms ; 
 but the main fact, with the exceptions which have 
 been named, is that the port has had (and may 
 continue to have, if the present opportunity is let 
 slip) a purely Russian character, and is for the 
 benefit of the Russians. The exceptions have been 
 allowed only because they were necessary. No 
 new foreign banking agencies may now be estab- 
 lished, and those which at present do business are 
 hidden under the cloak of the favoured firms. This 
 restriction of open financial competition must 
 ultimately prove a severe stumbling block to all 
 over-seas trade, for, although new people may cut in 
 on a small scale — and since the war seven minor 
 firms have done so — there is undoubtedly a feeling, 
 which is a relic of the past, that this must be quietly 
 and unostentatiously done, and that any advertising 
 of the fact may lead to ruin and death. It is 
 
n COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 35 
 
 necessary to reiterate that special diplomatic atten- 
 tion should be devoted to this whole question. 
 
 Likewise of foreign consuls there is no trace. 
 Commercial agencies may be and have been estab- 
 lished, and before the war there was an honorary 
 acting British commercial agent in the person of the 
 senior partner of the defunct British firm aforesaid. 
 Now, however, British interests, such as they be, are 
 in the hands of the commercial agent of our blood- 
 ally, the United States. But the position of even 
 this Government official is at the present moment 
 highly unenviable. He has all the responsibility, 
 with none of the authority or dignity which his rank 
 demands. That is, although he possesses consular 
 rank vis-a-vis his own Government, it is neither 
 officially nor privately recognised by the Russian 
 Government and its Far Eastern officials ; and con- 
 sequently the discharge of his duties is liable to be 
 attended with irritating disabilities which Washing- 
 ton diplomacy should be at immediate pains to 
 remove. There is no valid reason why foreign con- 
 suls should not have their usual locus standi at 
 Vladivostock, just as they have at a port such as 
 Odessa ; it is the survival of archaic ideas and the 
 non-employment of vigorous diplomacy on the part 
 of the interested Powers which alone permit such 
 an undignified state of affairs to continue. 
 
 As has been said, the American consular or 
 commercial agent stands alone in his glory, for the 
 other commercial agents are only honorary ; and to 
 
 D 2 
 
36 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 him come perforce all men from the outer world 
 of Anglo-Saxondom. Although several English 
 travellers, gifted with imaginations exceptional 
 among a prosaic people, have recently pictured the 
 American agency at Vladivostock as a splendid hive 
 of industry, with wide-awake American commercial 
 travellers flooding the offices with trade circulars and 
 soul-awakening commercial literature for distribution 
 amongst all classes of traders, and have in con- 
 sequence drawn a gloomy picture of British official 
 incompetence and commercial decadence, fore- 
 shadowing an inevitable decline and fall, for once the 
 strictures are entirely and absolutely undeserved. 
 That the American agency lavishes its best attention 
 on all matters brought to its notice may be taken 
 for granted ; but that such matters are many, or that 
 the American commercial world is desirous of fling- 
 ing imports of every variety into the little-known 
 Primorsk by the thousand-ton and is now busy 
 soliciting clients in a script which is practically 
 an unknown tongue, is merely grotesque. Cash 
 against delivery is here the cautious rule. Until the 
 commercial position is more clearly defined, and the 
 future Russian Government policy definitely out- 
 lined and fast bound by fresh international agree- 
 ments — not Japanese agreements, but those of in- 
 terested neutrals — all kinds of trading along the 
 Russian Pacific seaboard will remain absolutely 
 speculative and liable to the severest ups and downs. 
 Russian purchasers, filled with magnificent ideas and 
 convinced that the day is constantly drawing nearer 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 37 
 
 — as it undoubtedly is — when solid fortunes will be 
 carved out by sound trading, are quite willing to 
 deal on a lordly scale. But willingness is only the 
 first step ; payment is the second and third, and 
 trading, after all, is only trading when payment is 
 made according to accepted practices. 
 
 The stacks of cargo now choking every go-down 
 and all vacant land in Vladivostock are, therefore, 
 peculiarly symptomatic of the whole situation. 
 People believed too readily that the war-demand 
 was to continue for ever, and for some strange 
 psychological reason became enthusiastic when they 
 should have been the reverse. The result is that 
 local capital and local credit is tied up so tightly 
 that it will take some time and cleverness to undo 
 the knots without disaster. A man who happened 
 to travel in a train with me explained the whole 
 situation in a short story. He had gone down 
 to Vladivostock to collect a small sum of two 
 hundred roubles from a Russian firm employing 
 twenty clerks. He had been politely asked to wait 
 — for a few weeks — as money was scarce in that 
 particular firm, that not a rouble could be squeezed 
 out. " Twenty clerks and not two hundred roubles," 
 groaned the creditor in his desire for sympathy ; 
 "that is our Russian idea of business" ! 
 
 Still, with all this congestion, ship after ship swings 
 into the Vladivostock anchorage, and as often as not 
 vomits out a full cargo on to the over-crowded 
 water-front. Every three weeks or so, frozen meat, 
 direct from Australia, comes into the port by the 
 
38 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 hundred-ton to feed the soldiers, because the war is 
 reputed to have swept the hinterland bare of all 
 cattle — a state of affairs which apparently obtains just 
 as much in Northern Manchuria and Transbaikalia 
 as in the Primorsk. Thus a curious fact is brought to 
 light : that in a vast agricultural country such as the 
 littoral territory, which has been in Russian hands 
 for half a century, flour and meat are so lacking 
 that both have to be imported from regions five 
 thousand miles away — the Pacific States and 
 Australia— regions which themselves have only been 
 settled by Anglo-Saxons for the same length of 
 time, and yet have enormous surpluses to offer to 
 the rest of the world. As for the debated free port 
 question, as a matter of fact it does not matter much 
 whether Vladivostock remains a free port or not. 
 The great trade of the future is going to be with 
 Manchuria, and the bulk of the imports and exports 
 will be Manchurian. Arrangements will have to be 
 made with China which will promote this trade — 
 that is, by allowing the commercial tide to flow 
 through Customs Houses without hindrance ; and 
 therefore British and other real "open-door" trade 
 must ultimately be unrestricted. 
 
 For the moment the organisation of regular 
 shipping is still defective and tentative at Vladi- 
 vostock. The big company is the Russian- 
 Danish East Asiatic Company, which, owing to 
 the fact that nearly all Russian shipping in Far 
 Eastern waters was either captured or destroyed 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 39 
 
 during the war, has had to be hastily improvised in 
 the quickest possible way — a way which is both 
 expensive and unsatisfactory. A Government sub- 
 sidy, commonly reputed to amount to the handsome 
 sum of 700,000 roubles per annum, has permitted 
 the time-chartering of a number of Russian and non- 
 Russian vessels, and the organisation of main and 
 subsidiary lines which are designed to bring the 
 port of Vladivostock into rapid and constant com- 
 munication with all the principal Far Eastern ports, 
 and thus to minimise the loss of Dalny and Port 
 Arthur. But it is doubtful if the system is at present 
 well-worked. The desire to forestall all Japanese 
 competition, although a highly laudable one for 
 those exercising the right of eminent domain in 
 these regions, is apt to work out badly in practice if 
 the business basis is defective. Ships have been 
 very dearly chartered ; numbers of the routes, owing 
 to their clumsiness, can never hope to pay ; and 
 were it not for the heavy subsidy it is certain that 
 the freights and passage-money would be insufficient ■ 
 to pay the bare charter-parties of the company. It 
 is understood that ships of two thousand tons gross 
 receive about ^8,000 per annum plus various minor 
 charges and all running expenses, and that some of 
 the big vessels are paid on a still higher scale. The 
 new Tsagaru route, which places passengers on 
 shore in Japan thirty-six hours after stepping from 
 the Trans-Siberian express at Vladivostock, is 
 becoming popular ; but this and the Shanghai line 
 
40 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 are the only two whose continued existence would 
 seem to be justified at the present moment.^ 
 
 Yet with all these comments and criticisms of 
 disabilities and restrictions, the pregnant fact should 
 not be lost sight of that the general urgent necessity 
 of promoting a rapid maritime development in the 
 Russian Far East, centering at Vladivostock, has at 
 last been officially recognised, and that consequently 
 all shipping will have a much fairer field than any 
 new ventures ashore, no matter what shape Russian 
 Government policy finally assumes when the Duma 
 and the St. Petersburg coteries take up the Far 
 Eastern question and attempt to deal with it finally. 
 British ship-owners would do well to understand this 
 point, to grasp that there are opportunities which 
 cannot be neglected, and to seek to establish regular 
 services from China ports in preference to any other 
 trading. For, as has already been mentioned, the 
 Chinese guilds of Vladivostock form not so much a 
 collection of firms engaged in mere retail trade as a 
 powerful and growing group of wholesale dealers 
 who will ultimately be all-powerful ; they are simply 
 branches of houses long established in Tientsin, 
 Chefoo, Shanghai, and even so far south as Hong 
 Kong. These Chinese houses are fully alive to what 
 is slowly coming, and it is largely through their 
 hands that any regular direct importations, which are 
 not speculative but based on a sure knowledge of 
 
 ^ The correctness of this criticism is now proved by the fact that 
 the Russian Volunteer Fleet is to be engaged in this linking-up work, 
 and the temporary chartering system done away with, 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 41 
 
 the consumptive demand, are made and sent straight 
 through to inland markets. Such distant points as 
 Tsitsihar, the capital of the Heilungchiang province 
 of Manchuria, which is roughly a thousand versts 
 away, are being reached by them in the ordinary 
 way of business, and new Chinese firms are open- 
 ing up all along the Amur basin. It must not be 
 supposed, however, that these traders are old- 
 established Vladi vostock , firms which have merely 
 thrived and grown with the general expansion 
 which has come everywhere during the past decade. 
 Many are new people who have come tentatively 
 to such a distant point as this, and have succeeded 
 because of the recent immense influx of Shantung 
 Chinese into Manchuria, the Maritime Province, and 
 the Amur regions, and because of the demand which 
 has consequently arisen for manufactured articles. 
 Chinese junks consigned to these Chinese firms 
 from correspondents all over the Northern Chinese 
 seaboard are actually increasing in numbers every 
 month ; and accordingly, in this age of steam, the 
 curious sight is to be seen of clumsy Chinese sailing- 
 craft stealing up a thousand miles of dangerous coast- 
 line because suitable steam-shipping has not been 
 available. In spring and autumn the arrival and 
 departure of Chinese labourers — a sort of trooping 
 season which is renewed on a larger scale every year 
 — alone constitutes a big trade in itself In a single 
 train which arrived during October from Khabarovsk 
 there were i,ooo Chinese wishing to return home; 
 and during the same month thousands of other men 
 
42 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 could be seen collecting all along the Ussuri railway 
 in order to travel home before the frozen season 
 set in. The Chinese are going to be one immense 
 factor in the Russian Far East. 
 
 It will now be fully understood that in the near 
 future there are prizes to be won in this curious land, 
 where pure Europe of the Russian type impinges on 
 pure Asia of the Chinese type without the two 
 elements becoming fused in the slightest, as has 
 been the case elsewhere in the Far East. Although 
 Japan is fully alive to the advantages of the early 
 establishment of firm commercial foundations in these 
 regions, this whole Pacific coast trade belongs rather 
 to China, because of the very presence of Chinese in 
 such great and increasing numbers and of the fact 
 that in twenty years at most the enormous hinter- 
 land of Northern Manchuria will be fully settled 
 and will contain possibly thirty millions of people in 
 place of the present ten or fifteen. Regular lines of 
 well-appointed and quite modern Japanese ships are 
 already on the Vladivostock run, and are increasing 
 from month to month. There must, therefore, be 
 the same conflict here between China and Japan, as 
 shipping competitors for a great and growing trade, 
 as is now going on in Southern Manchuria and 
 Korea. A preliminary analysis shows that since the 
 war about seventy steamers have been arriving at 
 Vladivostock every month during the open season. 
 Of these seventy steamers at least twenty are always 
 Japanese, ten Russian, ten German, ten Norwegian, 
 and the remainder divided between the British, 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 43 
 
 Chinese, American, and Danish flags. A stroke of 
 the pen further divides those vessels into four classes 
 — these belonging to, or chartered by, the Russian 
 navigation companies, which include all the Rus- 
 sian, German and Norwegian ships ; those intent 
 on making Japan the principal supply centre, which 
 include all the Japanese ships ; those which have 
 been engaged in the special work of bringing sup- 
 plies from America and Australia to make good the 
 war-gaps ; and finally those making the normal 
 China coast connections, which include most of the 
 British and Chinese ships. The third class will 
 very soon disappear almost entirely, and then will 
 commence a struggle between the Russian sub- 
 sidised companies, the Japanese companies, and the 
 independent and self-supporting China coast boats. 
 The greatest credit is due to one British firm — 
 Butterfield's — for entering the lists single-handed, 
 and it is satisfactory to know that its enterprise is 
 already being rewarded by some financial success. 
 It is to be hoped that the China companies will 
 now link up proper connections and not let slip an 
 opportunity which will never return. To-day is the 
 day of liners and schedules ; nibbling will never 
 pay. Hitherto everything has been in Japan's 
 favour, because of the lack of independent enter- 
 prise. It remains to be seen whether this is always 
 to be so ; for the war gamble is now over, and a 
 new position has to be faced and fought inch by 
 inch. It may be that there are not to be as many 
 years' quiet as was first expected, but the world of 
 
44 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 commerce cannot live on expectations of war ; it 
 must live by trading alone. 
 
 Another Far Eastern war ? That brings one 
 immediately to the second part — which a short time 
 ago was the first and only part — of the subject, 
 namely, military Vladivostock. To many it even 
 now appears that this second part will ultimately be 
 as important to the world's Far Eastern commerce as 
 the first — indirectly, perhaps, in the case of neutral 
 trading nations, but directly as regards the rival 
 countries ; and because of the following facts. 
 
 The end of the war has left Vladivostock where 
 it was before Port Arthur and the Manchurian 
 adventure had deprived it of its former special im- 
 portance : that is, has made of it again the outlook 
 post, the advanced entrenched position of that great 
 White Russia which, in the face of immense physical 
 difficulties, has flung itself clean across Asia in order 
 to reach the Pacific and the unfrozen waters by the 
 directest possible route. This is felt vaguely as 
 soon as one has been a few hours in the town and 
 experienced the subtle electrical condition which is 
 always present, in spite of the co- existing lassitude, 
 an inseparable consequence of an unsuccessful war. 
 It is not merely the inevitable fact that across the 
 seas lies Japan, the potential enemy ; for Japan has 
 always been there, and has always been in a con- 
 cealed form the stumbling-block to the complete 
 carrying out of the Asiatic programme of imaginative 
 Czarism. It is not this alone which produces a 
 curious and vague alarm in the minds of all the 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 45 
 
 people around one. No ; the real causes of this 
 unrest are Southern Saghalien, the Tiumen river 
 line, and the powerful and ever-growing Japanese 
 fleet. For a glance at the map — even if the political 
 influence of densities of population be only vaguely 
 understood — makes it clear that Northern Saghalien 
 must always be a hostage in the hands of the owners 
 of Saghalien south of the fiftieth parallel, for the 
 simple reason that the Japanese island of Hokkaido 
 lies just below the former Russian convict-island, 
 and that again just south of that lies the main 
 island of Japan, an island which can empty at a 
 moment's notice hosts of soldiery across the narrow 
 straits of Tsugaru and Soya, and direct them at will 
 to seize this or that point. That is to say, the con- 
 quest of Russian Saghalien would be a matter not 
 even of days, but merely of so many steaming hours 
 from northern Japanese ports ; and once that con- 
 quest had been accomplished, Nicolaievsk and the 
 whole Amur delta, together with the frigid shores of 
 Okhotsk and the distant peninsula of Kamschatka, 
 would be virtually lost without a shot being fired. 
 
 Yet even this prospect does not concern Vladi- 
 vostock as acutely as the question of the northern 
 frontier of Korea. For, be it well understood 
 Vladivostock and the Ussuri regions are practically 
 independent of the Amur territories, since the latter 
 lie many hundreds of miles to the north, and the 
 quick road to and from Russia is directly to the 
 west — that is, through the neutral land of Man- 
 churia. But the Tiumen river and what it now 
 
46 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 means is something quite different for Vladivostock. 
 From this frontier waterway to the head of the 
 great Amur Bay is, as nearly as can be measured, 
 only ninety miles along fair roads, and the presence 
 of the Japanese on the Tiumen and their constant 
 activity there is as acutely felt in Vladivostock as 
 would be the movements of troops on the frontiers 
 in rival European countries. In other words, all 
 Japanese activity, expressed either in military-naval 
 manoeuvres — such as were held on the Tiumen in 
 the first days of October — or in road-making and 
 mountain- railway building, leads to uneasiness and 
 to indefinite beliefs which no amount of philosophy 
 will explain away or excuse.^ And here it is impor- 
 tant, and more than interesting, to note that such 
 feelings really mark a state of enlightenment on the 
 part of the Russians — an advance in clear thinking 
 which, had it been made thirty-six months ago, 
 might have saved the Port Arthur ddbdcle and all 
 the disasters of two sad years. For this uneasiness 
 proclaims that the Russian is no longer a firm and 
 faithful believer in mere fortresses and entrenched 
 positions, to make up for all other shortcomings, but 
 that he fully realises once more that the slow 
 strength which defeated the Napoleonic invasion of 
 a century ago is his only real power — the strength 
 of a population tied to the soil, deriving its title to 
 that soil from its cultivation and peaceful exploita- 
 
 1 It is an actual fact that during the first week in October, 1906, 
 reports received from the Russian outposts on the Tiumen river 
 caused the Vladivostock forts to be made ready for instant action. 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 47 
 
 tion, and called to arms as a last measure to defend 
 by every possible means its broad acres from invasion. 
 The paucity of the settled Russian population in 
 the Southern Ussuri regions, when compared with 
 the normal population which fertile land is capable of 
 bearing ; the presence of large Korean agricultural 
 communities in the interior ; the manner in which 
 the great Chinese immigration tide surges this 
 way and that ; and the unceasing audacity of the 
 hosts of Japanese fishing-boats which swarm along 
 the coasts ; the fact that European culture has not 
 yet succeeded in clearly and absolutely establish- 
 ing in any part of this territory that the Primorsk 
 is land definitely won to the Caucasian — these things 
 allow everyone to understand that although the title 
 of the Russians to this province may now be counted 
 clear enough in political documents, their continued 
 and permanent tenure of the country is not nearly 
 so certain. And while it is not suggested that 
 everyone is capable of reasoning in this way, or that 
 Russians are eternally occupied in so doing, it is 
 evident that some such ideas have percolated through 
 all minds and have educated them to the many 
 possibilities of the future. Strong, therefore, as is 
 Vladivostock of to-day in both natural and artificial 
 strength, it is surrounded by elements of weakness 
 which can be removed only by extraordinary endea- 
 vours, by extraordinary earnestness, and by the flux 
 of much time. In the first place, a wholesale 
 colonisation from Russia seems necessary ; secondly, 
 a wholesale and unrestricted inflow not only of 
 
48 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Russian capital and interests but of neutral Euro- 
 pean interests and neutral European money as well ; 
 and thirdly, the wholesale reform of the present 
 vicious bureaucratic system. Can such things be 
 hoped for with such careless owners ? It is too 
 soon to say. 
 
 Yet Vladivostock is strong, and even immensely 
 strong, as far as mere fortress strength goes, and 
 would undoubtedly cost many more thousands of 
 men than ever went down at Port Arthur or 
 Moukden, before it could be made to succumb. 
 It has no cramping, no lack of space, no Kinchow 
 Isthmus to be cut behind it, no foolish pseudo-naval 
 viceroy to play caprices with what should be done 
 and what should not be done. It may now be said 
 to be primarily a military base, a soldiers' home, an 
 entrenched camp, which has become a commercial 
 centre as well because of its magnificent harbour 
 and its railway facilities. Its batteries are to-day 
 complete and bristle with guns ; and although it 
 has passed through two distinct fortifying periods — 
 first by the completion of the old fortification scheme 
 made long ago ; and, second, by the additional 
 fortification scheme hurriedly knitted on during the 
 last half-year of the war, with all the knowledge 
 and experience which Port Arthur brought — the 
 work of adding yet more chains of positions, and 
 yet more dozens of heavy guns, is still methodically 
 proceeding and will continue as methodically for at 
 least ten years to come. The foolish idea expressed 
 by some that Port Arthur was over-fortified, and 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 49 
 
 that over-fortifying leads to weakness, finds no echo 
 in Russian quarters. 
 
 Over-fortifying ! The word is absurd to those 
 whose territorial title is insecure. If you have five 
 hundred cannon, try to mount five hundred more 
 and man them with another ten thousand soldiers— 
 that is here the mot d'ordre. Thus the whole of 
 that powerful island, Russia Island, which lies 
 athwart the main entrance, is now a citadel in 
 itself; and even at the present moment, when 
 sincere efforts have been made to demobilise all 
 the reserves and time-expired men and to leave 
 the smallest number of troops consistent with 
 safety, Russia Island alone is garrisoned by a 
 whole division of troops at war strength. The 
 fortress artillery of Vladivostock is reported, on 
 the very best authority, to possess many pieces of 
 the most modern and most powerful ordnance 
 which can be turned out by the Russian military 
 works, and which are furnished with all the latest 
 French and German improvements. The Shkott 
 and the Godolbin Peninsulas, as well as Russia 
 Island, now mount the very heaviest guns in 
 existence. The line of frowning batteries along 
 the shores of the Amur has been continually and 
 methodically extended until the fortification scheme 
 may be said to embrace nearly the whole of the 
 bay ; whilst the other great inlet on the coast to 
 the north of the harbour, Ussuri Bay, although ten 
 miles away, is now also comprised in the grand 
 scheme of defence. The total number of forts is 
 
 E 
 
50 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 given as seventy-six, mounting some five hundred 
 and eighty cannon of various calibre ; and when it 
 is added that even with the constant home-going of 
 troops there were at the last estimate thirty-eight 
 thousand men actually included in the garrison (not 
 including the extra Tiumen line of defence of Novo- 
 kievsk and Possiet), and that the military and naval 
 warehouses extending for thousands of feet along 
 the naval basin are stocked with everything neces- 
 sary for a three years' siege, it will be understood 
 that Vladivostock is at last really a first-class fortress 
 entitled to rank with the very strongest in the 
 world. I travelled on the military roads and ap- 
 proached within a stone's throw of a large number 
 of batteries, although constantly warned away by 
 military police, to see what could be seen. It is 
 true that there are no forts which hoist themselves 
 theatrically high in the air (like the celebrated 
 Golden Hill Forts of Port Arthur) until they appear 
 impregnable ; neither are there any grimly menacing 
 heights like the great Laotishan range distantly 
 surveying the scene. The highest ground in Vladi- 
 vostock must be the massive hills up which climb 
 the white tentacles of the new town and on the top 
 of which stand a signal station and a high Marconi 
 mast. But yet there is ample room everywhere, 
 and the mass of fortifying work is entirely different 
 from the Port Arthur ideal and entirely differently 
 designed. Port Arthur was manifestly a fortress 
 built to be besieged after it had been cut off by an 
 invasion of the Liaotung. It had therefore a com- 
 
n COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 51 
 
 plete chain of modern works enclosing it on the 
 land side, thus emphasising the fact that it was at 
 the best a detached and isolated fortress at the very- 
 lowest tip of a great block of neutral country — a 
 fortress which, once the command of the sea were 
 lost, would have to fight a life-and-death battle 
 unaided, and ultimately succumb of necessity to 
 starvation. Vladivostock is quite different. For 
 while the command of the sea has been lost by 
 Russia, and remains lost, the strength of the place 
 has increased. It is impossible now to harm it, or 
 to effect a rapid landing on the immediately ad- 
 jacent coasts, by acting from the sea ; it can be 
 safely approached only from Korea. To the distant 
 north there is a wild country ; to the south, to the 
 east, to the west, forts, forts, forts, spread out 
 over a great distance. The scheme of fortification, 
 therefore, comprises no great chain of works imme- 
 diately behind the town as at Port Arthur ; here 
 at the beginning there would be great open-country 
 fighting on the land side, just as in the case of a 
 European fortress such as Metz or Belfort, and an 
 enemy would Jiave to operate from distant bases. 
 Once the defending forces were finally driven into 
 the narrow ring of positions round the harbour, it 
 would then be only a question of starving them to 
 a surrender. The Vladivostock scale is, therefore, 
 several times bigger than that of Port Arthur, and 
 the forces which could be called upon to defend the 
 place would within one hundred and fifty hours be 
 at least three times as powerful as was the Port 
 
 E 2 
 
52 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Arthur garrison. It is said, indeed, that within a 
 fortnight there would be nearly a quarter of a 
 million men in and around Vladivostock. These 
 things are important to note. 
 
 But for the moment Vladivostock is a great 
 fortress and nothing else. For although its first 
 importance should be derived from the fact that it 
 is a seaport — a naval port, be it remembered, at 
 land's end after that great march across Asia — the 
 navy is practically non-existent. A single cruiser, 
 the Askhold, released from internment and disarma- 
 ment by the end of the war, lies forlornly in the 
 naval anchorage in company with half a dozen old- 
 fashioned or damaged torpedo craft ; and to the 
 observer, with the efficient Japanese fleet in his 
 mind's eye, this ruined remnant appears for all the 
 world like that immortal flotilla which lay rotting on 
 the road to Mandalay. 
 
 Nothing illustrates this naval debacle more clearly 
 than the fact that although more than a year has 
 passed since the ratification of the Portsmouth 
 Treaty, the adjacent waters are still so crowded 
 with both Russian and Japanese mechanical mines 
 that incoming and outgoing vessels have only one 
 fairly safe channel through which they dare to steer 
 under charge of a pilot. This is straight out of the 
 harbour for Askhold Island, or straight into the 
 harbour from the same place, thus giving the old 
 courses a wide berth. The whole of the enormous 
 bay of Peter the Great, which extends from Korea 
 right up to Vladivostock, is still notoriously unsafe 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 53 
 
 and has caused very many unrecorded disasters ; 
 but in spite of this deplorable state of affairs no 
 attempt has been made to sweep systematically for 
 mines and to remove as quickly as possible such 
 terrible dangers to merchant shipping. The rem- , 
 nants of the Russian Fleet in the Far East may lie 
 rotting at their moorings for all the attention that is 
 lavished on them ; and until the proposed Birilefif 
 naval programme puts new life into a discredited 
 service, the Russian Far East will labour under an 
 enormous disadvantage which no amount of faith in 
 the future can repair. 
 
 Still, certain things which are even now being 
 slowly done should be well noted. Thus the great 
 new naval graving-dock is being steadily built on 
 the harbour shores opposite the naval anchorage, 
 a coign of vantage which is extraordinarily well 
 hidden from the sea. When this dock is completed 
 it will be a magnificent piece of work and one of 
 the biggest docks in Asia. No pains, indeed, have 
 been spared. A modern aerial railway has been 
 rigged up, which conveys blocks of granite day by 
 day from the adjacent quarries straight to the new 
 dock and to the new wharves ; and provision has 
 been made to add to the existing scheme without 
 much extra trouble or labour. The total length of 
 this new granite dock is upwards of tseven hundred 
 and fifty feet, and the estimates have been so framed 
 as to allow battleships of 22,000 tons displacement 
 to be easily accommodated. It is clear from this 
 that during the coming decade improved Russian 
 
54 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Dreadnoughts are both to be built and to be 
 despatched to the Far East — if ways and means 
 can be found. When this new dock is ready by 
 1909, and the new machine shops and foundries are 
 established, adequate facilities will exist for dealing 
 rapidly with the repairs of a very large fleet. There 
 is already a 500-foot dry basin and a fine floating 
 dock which can take second-class cruisers, whilst 
 the naval depots are also on a big scale. Vladi- 
 vostock has thus in embryonic form all the elements 
 of a real naval port. 
 
 These actualities and possibilities are, however, 
 things which no one speaks of without misgivings. 
 There is too must unrest and indecision at the 
 present moment ; too much division oi authority in 
 every quarter ; too much confusion. Everybody is 
 asking questions and attempting to surprise the 
 secrets of the future, and believing very little in the 
 present. "What is really going to happen during 
 the next nine or ten years ? " men busily inquire. 
 Is it possible that the rival forces can go on gather- 
 ing strength without actually coming to blows 
 again ? Does the present British Alliance merely 
 give a period of repose to Japan so as to enable 
 the final shock to be the more complete, or has the 
 beginning of peace really come ? These are some 
 of the inquiries which are always on everyone's lips, 
 and which follow you morning, noon, and night. It 
 is acknowledged that the breath of kings is great ; 
 but it is equally well believed that the aspirations 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 55 
 
 and lusts of whole nations are uncheckable by mere 
 paper arrangements. 
 
 In such circumstances it is small wonder that a 
 new Vladivostock journal — so new that its issues 
 were just now only numbered in dozens — a paper 
 which is called something translatable as " Ussuri 
 Life " — is already in hot favour because it has made 
 the Japanese question its only issue. It is peculiarly 
 significant that everyone should like this new 
 journal ; bureaucrats, officers of both services, purely 
 commercial people, men of the streets, all read its 
 comments with pleasure, and earnestly believe with it 
 that the Japanese war has only been postponed until 
 the most convenient moment. The infiltration of 
 this idea all over Eastern Siberia, and then all over 
 Russia, may have most serious consequences. For 
 though the Russians are in a sense a slow people, 
 they are highly dangerous when they become 
 obsessed with an idea ; internationally they have yet 
 to be properly understood, for as a rule they do 
 not think exactly as do other nations. Far greater 
 attention is now devoted to everything in connec- 
 tion with Japan than would generally be supposed ; 
 and every item of news bearing on the special Far 
 Eastern situation created by the aftermath of the 
 war is immediately telegraphed both from Europe 
 and from Far Eastern points to Vladivostock and 
 quickly published. Good telegrams— that is, tele- 
 grams dealing frankly with things as they are, 
 viewed from the Russian standpoint — ensure in 
 
56 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Vladivostock a speedy sale of street copies which 
 are hawked about everywhere by small Korean 
 boys dressed in semi-Russian attire ; and although 
 much of the knowledge which is thus distributed is 
 a bad training, since isolated facts unsupported by a 
 full recital of a clear sequence of events are often 
 misleading, it seems undeniable that in this portion 
 of his Empire the Russian in the street is acquiring 
 a sort of liberal education simply through the agency 
 of newspapers. One morning I was struck for some 
 reason by the insistence and fierceness of the news- 
 boys' cries — these little Koreans have good lungs — 
 and I succeeded in having the telegrams which were 
 arousing such attention quickly translated. They 
 were all concerned with the mission to London of 
 Mr. Takahashi, Vice-Governor of the Bank of 
 Japan, and they dwelt upon the certain fact that no 
 new Japanese loans could be floated for some time 
 to come, because everyone, even in England, was 
 becoming suspicious of Japanese issues and Japanese 
 plans for the future. Men and women appeared 
 delighted at the news, for on all sides it is earnestly 
 believed that more loans would allow a large increase 
 in Japanese armaments to be made, and that this 
 would inevitably be followed by increased activity 
 in both Korea and Manchuria, and thus be only 
 the preface to a general advance all along the line. 
 
 Yet in spite of this suspicion and nervousness, 
 the authorities are doing their very best to allay all 
 discontent in the army, and to deal with the inner 
 canker which, according to the Czar, really made 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 57 
 
 peace necessary. All conscripts who have any 
 claim to be set free are set free at once, and the 
 Far Eastern units are thereby being made weaker 
 and weaker. Almost every day, for months past, 
 home-going detachments have marched through 
 Vladivostock with bands gaily playing and long 
 trains of baggage carts following behind. These 
 detachments of sturdy, deep-chested, healthy, 
 bronze-faced men, who would make such magnificent 
 material for battlefields if they were but properly 
 led, assemble at the railway station and are 
 despatched to their homes in Siberia and Russia 
 amidst lusty cheers from their less lucky comrades. 
 I noticed that on such occasions regimental officers 
 were always present in large numbers, and that they 
 sought to place themselves on the best relations 
 with the discharged men. This is evidently due to 
 some new order. And so far from any restless 
 spirit now pervading the army in the Far East, 
 inquiries in many directions and ocular evidence 
 tend to prove that the spurious military agitation 
 which led to the Vladivostock dmeutes — spurious since 
 most of the men were only fighting and mutineering 
 for free drinks and cared nothing for such an 
 unknown thing as constitutionalism — has quite died 
 out, and that the revolutionaries, who have deve- 
 loped into mere terrorists and calumniators, appear 
 to have become as much despised and feared by the 
 mass of decent population which they have sought 
 to leaven as did the famous "sections" of Paris in 
 the last days of the Revolution. By this it must 
 
58 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 not be understood that Liberal and Democratic 
 ideas are on the wane even in such a far distant 
 point of the great Empire as Vladivostoclc ; for 
 the exact contrary is the case. It is rather that 
 constant pandering to the basest instincts of the 
 lowest classes and constant crimes against the lives 
 and rights of private persons have finally dis- 
 credited the revolutionaries, and made them 
 detested as impossible and cruel people. This is 
 not to be wondered at when some of the recent 
 literature which has been emptied into Vladivostoclc 
 is examined. A whole cargo-load, said to originate 
 from Nagasaki, where there is a revolutionary 
 centre, was recently seized, and consisted in the 
 main of an extraordinary set of pamphlets full of 
 the most scurrilous and defamatory attacks on the 
 House of Romanoff which no decent person would 
 tolerate, no matter what may require redressing in 
 the Russian Empire. The authors sought to prove 
 — and thereby to gain converts to their theories as 
 to the rights of man — that the present Czar has no 
 right to the Throne on which he sits because the 
 whole dynasty is illegitimate and the Romanoffs a 
 race of mere usurpers. The whole reprehensible 
 theory of the pamphleteers turned on a fantastic con- 
 struction of a dirty story belonging to the dim past. 
 It will thus be understood that it is scarcely respect- 
 able to be associated any longer with the Far 
 Eastern " patriots." Evidence such as is afforded by 
 these pamphlets proves conclusively that, if the 
 bureaucracy is rotten, the revolutionaries are still 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 59 
 
 more so. A cleaner breed will have to be born before 
 there can be any hope of winning the day. To 
 abandon the bureaucracy in favour of such demented 
 doctrinaires would be jumping out of the frying pan 
 into the fire, and no one in the Far East now really 
 believes in the extremists. The Kadets are the 
 favourite political party in Vladivostock, but as no 
 representatives are sent to the Duma, the delibera- 
 tions of that body, and what they may bring about, 
 are locally not very much believed in. 
 
 The combination of these various factors which 
 have been briefly touched upon^— commercial over- 
 speculation ; naval and military doubts and con- 
 fusion ; a much-swelled population ; a revolutionary 
 propaganda ; the nearness of what is called the 
 Japanese threat ; and the intermingling of a purely 
 European population, knowing nothing of the real 
 East, with tens of thousands of Chinese and 
 Koreans — ^has made extraordinary incidents in 
 Vladivostock matters of no moment. Two remark- 
 able bank robberies which were very few days old 
 in the beginning of October, 1906, illustrate this 
 convincingly, and merit brief mention as interesting 
 sidelights on the general situation. In the first 
 case, at the dinner hour, which is in the middle of 
 the day, a few men armed with revolvers went to 
 the local branch of a very old and respected 
 Russian bank— the Siberian State Bank — which is 
 situated rioht in the middle of the main street of the 
 town, closed the doors, and by terrorising with their 
 glittering barrels the few employees who were 
 
6o RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 in the premises, were able to put the entire con- 
 tents of the safes into gunny sacks without any 
 alarm being given. Whilst this was actually going 
 on people began coming to the bank (which is on 
 the first floor) to draw money. They were merely 
 stopped on the staircase by two polite ruffians, 
 also armed with revolvers, who said that if all 
 would wait quietly for a few minutes they would be 
 allowed to go into the bank unmolested, and 
 transact their business. There was to be no shoot- 
 ing. It is said that there were two policemen not 
 more than fifty yards away in the street below, 
 whilst there was a picket of soldiers only a little 
 farther off. In less than ten minutes the whole 
 gang came silently and quickly down the staircase, 
 bowed to the trembling people who were waiting in 
 fear of their lives, waved them to go upstairs, and 
 jumped into hack-carriages with their loaded gunny 
 sacks. From that day the daring rascals have not 
 been heard of This incident occurred on the 
 Svietlanskaya — the Piccadilly of the town. 
 
 The second coup was even more boldly executed, 
 and showed a calm. disregard for everything which 
 has never been eclipsed even in that land of 
 sensational " hold-ups," the United States. On a 
 certain day towards the end of the month, an officer, 
 wearing a captain's uniform, presented himself at 
 another bank and notified the chief cashier that he 
 proposed the next day to draw a large sum of 
 money for a regiment quartered on Russia Island, a 
 regiment of which he was the paymaster. He 
 
II COMMERCIAL AND MILITARY VLADIVOSTOCK 6i 
 
 requested that everything should be made ready 
 so that there might be no delay on the morrow, 
 when he would return with the regular army order 
 for the sum named. Twenty-four hours later he 
 duly turned up, accompanied by his guard of 
 soldiers with fixed bayonets to escort the treasure, 
 and presented an army order which was com- 
 plete and perfect in every detail. The money, 
 said to amount to upwards of ;^ 10,000 sterling, was 
 of course paid over to him in notes ; the chest in 
 which they were placed was slowly carried by the 
 soldiers of the escort to an army cart outside, and 
 on the officer's orders, the whole party marched off, 
 and was swallowed up in space. Very soon it was 
 discovered that the whole thing was an elaborate 
 fraud from beginning to end, and that officer, 
 soldiers of the escort, and army order had been 
 created by a robber genius. It was a wonderful 
 affair, and delighted everyone with a love for the 
 picturesque and romantic, because it had so much 
 local colour. In Germany they go mad over a 
 Koepenick incident ; in Russia there are such 
 incidents every month. What struck everyone as 
 being peculiarly neat and clever was the fact that all 
 the many seals, signatures and counter-signatures 
 required on army orders by the omnipotent and 
 laughed-at bureaucracy — to prevent all possibility of 
 frauds such as this — were complete and perfect in 
 every respect, and exactly as they should have been. 
 No one could imagine how this could have been 
 effected without collusion, and as there is always 
 
62 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CH. ii 
 
 collusion, people ended by becoming nervous. 
 Certainly the Russians are a marvellous people, 
 who have not yet ceased astonishing the world. 
 
 It will perhaps have been understood from this 
 incomplete description of a locality that may still 
 make memorable history, that many developments 
 are taking place, although amid much confusion. 
 Inevitably much must be made, and much heard, of 
 this window which looks out so curiously on to the 
 immense Pacific. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 
 
 The plan to construct a railway within the con- 
 fines of the Russian Pacific province — that is 
 directly to link up the Amur river with the fine 
 Pacific harbour of Vladivostock — is ofificially stated 
 to date from the year 1875. It was thus very 
 early felt that it was a vital necessity to develop 
 Vladivostock as fast as possible, as soon as the 
 transfer of the Government offices and workshops 
 had been made from Nicolaievsk to Vladivostock, 
 thus converting the latter harbour into the chief 
 Russian port on the Pacific. Until then, Nicolaievsk 
 had occupied the premier position, and had been 
 first chosen simply because it lay at the mouth of 
 the Amur. It was not, however, until 1887 that it 
 was definitely decided to proceed with the surveys 
 of the Ussuri railway, which were successfully com- 
 pleted in the year following. In 1891 the projected 
 route of the South Ussuri railway — the southern 
 section of the 500-mile line — was approved by the 
 Council of Ministers sitting in St. Petersburg and 
 received the special sanction of the Emperor ; and 
 
64 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 on 19th of May of that year the construction of the 
 station of Vladivostock was solemnly inaugurated 
 by the present Czar (then only Czarevitch), on 
 his grand Far Eastern tour, and the first train 
 was despatched for a distance of two and a half 
 versts over the completed track. From the very 
 beginning, therefore, the great railway movement 
 in the Russian Far East has received the personal 
 attention of the Czar. It has been an imperial 
 dream, splendid in its conception, but faulty and 
 disjointed in its execution. 
 
 In less than three years the southern section of 
 the new railway — the section from Vladivostock to 
 the village of Grafskaya — was completed ; and 
 thereupon the construction of the northern section 
 — from Grafskaya to Khabarovsk, the Amur capital 
 — was sanctioned and commenced. The whole line 
 was hurried on so quickly that the first train actually 
 ran through from Khabarovsk to Vladivostock in 
 September, 1897. Thus in little over six years 
 721 versts of iron-way were constructed through 
 wild and little-known regions and in the face of the 
 most menacing physical and climatic difficulties. 
 Eighty miles a year is anywhere no mean railway 
 building performance ; in Siberia it is extraordinary. 
 Khabarovsk, the centre of administration of the 
 Amur province, was in this way placed in direct 
 and rapid communication with Vladivostock, " the 
 Queen of the East," and the pivot-point of the 
 whole Pacific movement. It was a notable achieve- 
 ment, even in the eyes of neutrals ; for without 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 65 
 
 rails no real progress in such bleak and distant 
 territories can be made. And since the Ussuri 
 railway is now in actual process of amalgamation 
 with the Chinese Eastern railway, and the long- 
 projected Amur line — an additional 1,500 miles of 
 rail — not only has now been officially sanctioned, 
 but is already being surveyed, the railway question 
 in the Russian Far East, and the renewed develop- 
 ment which it must ultimately bring about, is of 
 special interest. This question will, therefore, be 
 specially considered, for it has already entirely 
 changed old conditions, and is fated to change them 
 still more remarkably, in spite of the disasters of 
 the war, if present indications may be trusted. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the trains which now 
 leave Vladivostock for Khabarovsk, only a decade 
 since the first pioneer locomotive rattled over a 
 hump-backed track, are good, without being in any 
 way excellent. That is to say, whilst the materials 
 are, generally speaking, first-class, the up-keep is 
 very defective, and dirt and carelessness succeed in 
 undoing half the good accomplished by Russian 
 workshops, Russian workmen, and Russian 
 engineers. No better evidence of this could be pro- 
 vided for the open-eyed inquirer than that which is 
 afforded him at the very start. Vladivostock station, 
 which was originally an excellent building opened 
 by the Czar himself, has been reduced to such an 
 exceptional condition of dirt and dilapidation by the 
 coming and going of troops during the two anxious 
 years, that polite and genteel passengers may well 
 
66 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE- BAIKAL chap. 
 
 feel, when they are about to entrain, as if they had 
 inadvertently stepped into an abandoned emigration 
 camp. Once installed in your coupd, however, these 
 first disabilities are removed and you have an instant 
 sense of relief. For, curiously enough, the Russian 
 understands one thing rather better than other men 
 — good springs. Not only does this apply to the 
 seating, but to the carriage-springs as well. Every- 
 thing in Russian carriages is comfortable for long 
 travel — except the dirt. There is indeed no gain- 
 saying the fact that, were Russian rolling-stock 
 only better kept, it would occupy a premier position 
 in the railway world. And a point which has not 
 been sufficiently noticed in discussions regarding the 
 Russian railway performance during the war, is that 
 all Russian rolling-stock aims at lightness and 
 resiliency rather than that massive solidity and 
 strength which one would expect of the people ; 
 and these qualities, in combination with the broad 
 gauge-rails, mean that Russian trains can be 
 singularly easily handled and are, from the military 
 point of view, ideal. All Russian passenger coaches, 
 excepting those on special trains, are short and 
 stumpy in comparison with their great height, and 
 withal very light. The maximum dead-weight 
 capacity of even big goods trucks has hitherto been 
 fifteen tons, while the ordinary truck is limited, as 
 often as not, to 750 poods, or, say, twelve tons. 
 Russian engineers are still emphatic in their 
 declarations that a steel rail, running only seventy- 
 two pounds to the yard, is their ideal, and is suffici- 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 67 
 
 ently heavy for all their work. But they have a 
 reservation ; it is that the ties or sleepers should be 
 of inordinate size and closely spaced. They affect 
 indeed the biggest ties that can be cut. In vast 
 territories where timber is to be had for the asking, 
 this can be quickly and cheaply carried out ; and 
 therefore instead of constantly demanding heavier 
 and heavier rails which are really only necessary for 
 high-speed travelling, Russian engineers are simply 
 putting down thicker and thicker ties. A cursory 
 inspection of the Ussuri railway discloses the fact 
 that the new type of sleeper is simply a half-tree of 
 some fourteen inches in diameter very deeply 
 embedded in the ballasting ; and, thanks to the 
 climate, such a sleeper possesses a very long life. This 
 arrangement, with a well-metalled road-bed, is held 
 to be sufficient to give the track the durability, 
 resiliency, and strength of a line provided with rails 
 running twenty pounds heavier to the yard. And 
 seeing that Russian engineers have built about 
 20,000 versts of single-track railway during the past 
 fifteen years, and that their special work, such as 
 bridge-construction, is held by competent experts 
 to be some of the best in the world, there is no 
 reason to doubt that optimism in their own methods 
 is justified by concrete results. So superior in 
 every respect, except in purely time-table work, is 
 Russian railway work to that of the Japanese, that 
 some of the criticisms made during the war regarding 
 Russian railways now appear not only peculiarly 
 harsh, but also|peculiarly foolish. Russian railways 
 
 F 2 
 
68 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 may indeed be said to have the future of their 
 country in their hands. 
 
 Seated in the train, and comforted by the immed- 
 iate proximity of a rough and ever-ready dining-car, 
 furnished with a long table running down the whole 
 length of the carriage, at which you may eat and 
 drink at ease the live-long day, life soon assumes 
 rosy tints. You puff out of the troubled, yet 
 thriving town of Vladivostock to find yourself 
 immediately running along the shores of Amur Bay. 
 Far across this splendid inlet wooded heights are 
 seen stretching away in the blue distance ; whilst on 
 the bosom of the limpid waters, sparkling with the 
 sheen of diamonds in the bright sunshine, are junks 
 and small steamers making their way up to fishing 
 villages and to the little river Suifun which falls 
 into the bay. At Sedanka, verst i6, numbers of 
 Russian villas dot the country-side, and lend a 
 peaceful aspect to the scene. In this neighbourhood 
 such persons as are furnished with an abundance of 
 this world's goods, procured through governmental 
 complacency, live during the two hot summer months, 
 and enjoy their Far Eastern exile amid pleasant 
 woods and cooling streams, and a panorama which 
 could not easily be surpassed. Every station, you 
 now note, has its quota of soldiery idly watching 
 the in-coming train, and as the regimental shoulder- 
 straps of the men meet your eye, the battalion 
 distribution becomes clearer, and the function which 
 Vladivostock plays is more specially emphasised. 
 Detached bodies of infantry and cavalry, always 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 69 
 
 with their regimental headquarters either in 
 Vladivostock or in Nicolsk, are distributed along 
 the entire line, making continuous the chain of 
 armed men which reaches out both to the Man- 
 churian and Korean frontiers. There are soldiers 
 everywhere along all lines of communication. 
 
 The country in this region is, generally speaking, 
 not under cultivation. It consists mainly of rolling 
 hill and dale, cloaked in thick undergrowth, and 
 having only a few slender wind-bent trees, standing 
 out conspicuously on the higher slopes. Oc- 
 casionally there are patches of land which have 
 been cleared and ploughed : but this is the excep- 
 tion rather than the rule, for nature is very wild and 
 it has hitherto not been profitable for man to attempt 
 to conquer her. Cart-roads, however, thread the 
 country and lead to many quaint little Russian 
 peasant homesteads, which are quite European in 
 appearance. Yet somehow such farmyards seem 
 queerly out of place ; they have been very daring 
 to have come so far, but will such transplanting be 
 really successful ? Instead of Russian carters and 
 Russian horses at work, it is still merely the China- 
 man from prosaic Shantung who is the master of 
 the road, and it is still the Mongol or Trans- 
 baikalian pony that he drives. In spite of Russian 
 immigration, kitchen-gardening in this broad belt is 
 almost entirely in the hands of the Chinaman, who 
 is thus engaged as usual in feeding the strong 
 men who have come from afar ; and the rewards 
 of this labour are so great that means are still 
 
70 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 always found to circumvent the regulations which 
 attempt to debar him from tilling the soil. At all 
 the bigger stations there are rows of Russian 
 peasant women clad in prints and with their 
 heads tied up in gay handkerchiefs. In their home- 
 made baskets these women display for sale cooked 
 fish, bottles of milk, great hunks of bread, and even 
 roasted chicken and game-birds. The saying which 
 still obtains in some countries that you have but to 
 scratch the Russian to find the Tartar may be true 
 in some senses ; but if it is meant to imply that the 
 Russian is a semi-Asiatic who is perhaps merely 
 returning chez lui by pushing forward this great 
 Eastern movement, nothing more absurd has ever 
 been imagined. For when you contemplate these 
 blue-eyed, flaxen-haired, fair-skinned women and 
 girls bartering their wares to the masses of low- 
 born Chinamen and Koreans desirous of devouring 
 food, you are able fully to realise that, con- 
 trasted with pure Asiatics, the Russian peasant 
 women are as purely Caucasian as the purest Anglo- 
 Saxon. The Caucasian pride of race and belief in 
 its absolute superiority could never be more clearly 
 illustrated than by the manner in which such women- 
 folk deal with all these people whom they rate 
 beneath them. There is perhaps some foolish 
 comfort in this fact after the implied inferiority 
 of the Manchurian battle-fields ; and to witness 
 these vigorous, full-bosomed women deal out 
 sweeping blows, and drive back, by their menacing 
 demeanour, the hordes which seek to rush their 
 
in ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 71 
 
 positions, invites some applause. After all, such 
 mothers cannot be breeding an inherently inferior 
 race of men. If they are, the West must ultimately 
 go down before the East. 
 
 Running steadily past these unimportant little 
 stations at a speed which, although you carry the 
 Czar's mails, never exceeds eighteen or nineteen miles 
 an hour, in the fullness of time you reach Nicolsk, 
 which is exactly 102 versts, or 68 miles, inland from 
 Vladivostock, and is the first and only really im- 
 portant township along the whole 500-mile line to 
 the Amur. Nicolsk is important for a great number 
 of reasons, many of which you may easily and 
 rapidly discover for yourself ; but chief of all, the 
 place is important strategically. In fact, if people 
 still remember anything of the nomenclature of the 
 late war and the vital points of the South Manchuria 
 Railway, it is the Tashihch'iao, or junction town, of 
 the Ussuri system. And, therefore, were it occupied 
 by an enemy, it would have much the same 
 effect on Vladivostock as did the cutting of the 
 Manchurian Railway, south of Newchwang, have 
 on Port Arthur. For at Nicolsk the railway 
 bifurcates, one line running due west towards the 
 Manchurian frontier and the Chinese Eastern 
 railway — that is, on the road to Europe — and the 
 second due north to Khabarovsk and the Amur. 
 Until now the line has been merely making 
 its way inland, west by north. The occupation of 
 this junction would, therefore, not only have the 
 effect of isolating the great Russian stronghold, but 
 
72 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 would entirely disorganise and cripple all intercom- 
 munication between the Russian Pacific Province, 
 Manchuria and the Amur, and begin that splitting 
 up, which, once commenced, is almost impossible to 
 arrest or amend. In a word, the seizure of Nicolsk 
 would be a Moukden for the whole of the Russian 
 Far East. In such circumstances it is astonishing 
 that rumours should have only recently spread 
 amongst well-informed people that Nicolsk was 
 being fortified very strongly ; and although this is 
 not exactly the case, since it is obviously absurd to 
 fortify a mere town standing like Mafeking in the 
 open on a broad veld, it is an undoubted fact that the 
 chains of unending hills far to the south and to the 
 south-west of the town are being slowly armed and 
 turned into redoubts, thus making the Russian coast 
 fortification scheme, which originally strictly applied 
 only to Vladivostock and Possiet Bay, extend over 
 an enormous area. But, as will be appreciated 
 later on, the turning up of earthworks and the 
 blasting away of rock are only pis-allers in these 
 regions. Something else must come to insure real 
 security. 
 
 As the town of Nicolsk glitters before you in the 
 afternoon sun, a mile away from the station build- 
 ings, there is, however, but little suggestive of war's 
 rude alarums in its appearance. Indeed, it is peace- 
 ful in the extreme — so very pleasant and so curiously 
 and essentially Russian in its aspect, that even had 
 Aladdin's wonderful lamp been rubbed, no better 
 surprise could have been brought to one's eyes. 
 
in ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 73 
 
 For where the Englishman goes in Asia he merely 
 pushes clear a space for himself and allows the 
 Asiatic hordes to build around him. With the 
 Russian, backed by his immense weight of numbers, 
 it is different. He assimilates, and by assimilating, 
 really dominates. The gaudy domes of Orthodox 
 churches stand out conspicuously above the dead- 
 level of the plain, and the great white splashes 
 of houses, which have spread out amazingly during 
 the past two or three years, together with the large 
 crowds of lusty men and women assembled at the 
 station, proclaim how much the place, which was 
 originally only a military camp, has already changed 
 in character. Although no posi bellum statistics are 
 available, it is computed that this town alone has 
 now a civilian population of twenty thousand souls, 
 most of whom are Russian ; whilst, in addition, 
 it serves as a supply base for more than two 
 divisions of troops guarding the frontier line. 
 Originally only a training-ground for recruits, a 
 natural movement has of late changed its character, 
 just as in the case of Vladivostock. For while the 
 Korean frontier is over a hundred miles away — that 
 is, the Tiumen river boundary— the theoretical 
 frontier of the Kirin province of Manchuria is not 
 more than fifty miles off It is not generally known 
 that the strip of Russian territory running down to 
 the Tiumen river from Vladivostock and Nicolsk is 
 so narrow, being hemmed in by the eastern Kirin 
 or Manchurian frontier, that in places it is actually 
 only forty miles between the old Chinese boundary 
 
74 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 line and the ocean. The expression " between the 
 devil and the deep blue sea," which is now applied 
 to this command by Russian officers, is peculiarly- 
 appropriate ; for as Chinese territory in this lost 
 corner could be violated without danger for many 
 years to come, a hostile force could hurry, quite 
 unseen, from Korea, through the Kirin hills, until it 
 arrived within a single day's march of Nicolsk 
 itself It would then be within practical range 
 of isolating the whole important area before any 
 counter movements could be developed on a large 
 scale — perhaps terminating the first trick by a 
 master stroke. It is true that Russia has always 
 maintained a fairly close watch on this unknown 
 portion of the Manchurian boundary-line, but as her 
 frontier guards have hitherto consisted of very small 
 detachments of Cossacks, no effective barrier to large 
 bodies of troops has existed. If she is now seeking 
 to repair this deficiency by the methodical con- 
 struction of redoubts, and by the stretching of many 
 miles of telegraph and telephone wires, no one can 
 as yet construe such actions into offensive opera- 
 tions. From the Russian point of view everything 
 now is defensive. 
 
 The town of Nicolsk has thus acquired special 
 importance. Its streets and its life — although it is 
 a supply base — are far more dominated by civilians 
 than is Vladivostock, and there are only a couple 
 of regiments actually in garrison in place of the 
 thousands of recruits who once thronged its squares. 
 It is like the ordinary Siberian town — that is all. 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 75 
 
 As a base, too, it is peculiarly admirable. The hill 
 and dale, which are such features of the landscape 
 from Vladivostock up to within a very few miles of 
 the town, have now all disappeared, and in their 
 place is merely a great rolling South African plain, 
 as flat as your hand, continuing in every direction as 
 far as the eye can reach. At a rough estimate this 
 plain must contain many millions of acres suitable 
 for wheat cultivation, for the flat country continues 
 almost unbroken up to the Manchurian frontier and 
 for yet more dozens of miles due north towards Lake 
 Khanka. The urban population of Nicolsk may in 
 years to come grow rich as handlers of the proceeds 
 of enormous harvests, for although as yet farming is 
 a negligible quantity, people are beginning to under- 
 stand possibilities at which they contemptuously 
 scofled only three short years ago. They under- 
 stand too well that the future is uncertain, and that 
 all kinds of entrenching have become good. Agri- 
 culture, then, must shortly receive a great impetus. 
 Outlying hamlets, with old-fashioned Russian wind- 
 mills scattered here and there, are even now growing 
 up on the great plain, and Russian peasantry are 
 beginning to till and to sow, and to dream of big 
 harvests. 
 
 Were this Pacific province exactly like Western 
 Siberia — that is, were it virgin soil with no living 
 souls in the neighbourhood for hundreds and thou- 
 sands of miles around — possibly Russian colonisation 
 and Russian agriculture would have made greater 
 strides in the past forty years than has been the 
 
76 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 case. But there has been an impediment. This is 
 the curious fact that for the past thirty years a 
 respectable Korean population, scattered here and 
 there, has been thriving so exceedingly by all manner 
 of farming that more Korean immigrants are con- 
 stantly arriving. The presence of these people can 
 now scarcely be helped, because the Russian Govern- 
 ment accepted the situation at the beginning of the 
 occupation of the Maritime Province and extended 
 to all Korean immigrants their benevolent protection. 
 These began their curious invasion many years ago, 
 when both Eastern Kirin and the Primorsk were 
 entirely unsettled, merely because they were driven 
 by stress, and there was no one to stop them. 
 Neither Russia nor China cared much at that time 
 about such a movement ; neither could they foresee 
 what new questions might ultimately be raised by it ; 
 and up to within ten or fifteen years ago there were 
 probably not more than five or six thousand squat- 
 ters in Russian territory. But there is reason to 
 believe that these figures have lately been enormously 
 increased ; and although no precise data can be 
 gained, it appears that more and more Koreans are 
 now continually crossing the boundary line to escape 
 the Japanese. Not only are they to be found 
 scattered along the valleys and plains of Southern 
 Ussuri, but colonies of them have found their way 
 as far north as the Amur river, where they live in 
 separate communities, preserving all their natural 
 customs. There is such a colony just below Blago- 
 vestchensk on the Amur ; no one knows how they 
 

Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 77 
 
 got there. The presence of many thousands of 
 these people in the immediate vicinity of Nicolsk, 
 and the fact that greater numbers come in every 
 year to do the harvesting work, has undoubtedly 
 hindered the development of Russian agriculture. 
 For in this respect the Russian is much the same as 
 every other European. He cannot enter the com- 
 petitive field permanently side by side with Asiatics ; 
 he inevitably goes down in the struggle. If the 
 whole of the enormous Nicolsk plain is to become, 
 as it should become, a highly important Russian 
 granary for the whole of the southern regions of the 
 Pacific province, this matter will require scientific 
 treatment. For the time being no one who has seen 
 the kind and considerate treatment of these Korean 
 settlers at the hands of the Russians can help con- 
 trasting it with the treatment being now accorded to 
 Koreans in their own territory south of the Tiumen 
 river by the Japanese. Here the Koreans are 
 almost wealthy, and so different and so much more 
 manly in general appearance than their stay-at-home 
 brothers, that the dullest onlooker cannot but be 
 struck by the almost extraordinary and inexplicable 
 difference. The men are turned from cringing 
 beings into upstanding mortals with a rugged man- 
 liness about them. They are also possessed of a 
 confidence and a good humour which seem to prove 
 convincingly that, although a simple people, the best 
 results can easily be obtained from them if they are 
 well handled. Their womenfolk, too, are on excellent 
 terms with the Russian peasant women, and are 
 
78 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 quite changed in many characteristics ; they seem to 
 possess the same superiority over other Eastern 
 women living in hot latitudes, as has been remarked 
 in the case of the Manchu women. The fact that 
 they are Turanian in stock no doubt does something 
 towards differentiating them ; yet this alone cannot 
 explain all. Freedom, good treatment, and a non- 
 interfering Government have just as much influence ; 
 and everything found in Russian territory goes to 
 prove that the contention of the Canadian missions 
 of Northern Korea — that an Anglo-Saxon system 
 would revolutionise the country and the Korean 
 people in five years — is absolutely true. From the 
 window of a Russian railway carriage a new aspect 
 of the Korea question may thus be focussed, an 
 aspect which is eminently embarrassing to those who 
 have too blindly worshipped the political panorama 
 and paid attention to nothing else. 
 
 The train slips away from Nicolsk station, and 
 now the railway line suddenly bends sharply almost 
 due north so that you may travel the straightest 
 possible route to the great Amur. To the south- 
 west the second line of metals may be seen heading 
 for the station of Grodekov and the Manchurian 
 frontier ; and as you thus slowly travel in the fading 
 twilight something of the grandeur of Russian 
 schemes — something of their all-embracing nature, 
 which is so careless and impatient of tiresome and 
 petty details — is impressed upon you. It is so 
 immense, this Russian Empire, so unending, so 
 really great, and, best of all — instead of being split 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 79 
 
 up into small component parts as is its only real 
 rival, the British Empire — it audaciously stretches 
 without a single break from the thirtieth degree 
 east of Greenwich to within sight of the shores of 
 the Americas. Where you now sit travelling slowly 
 northwards you are still nearly nine thousand 
 versts, as the crow flies, from St. Petersburg ; it 
 should therefore not greatly surprise you that the 
 rich alluvial plains around you lie fallow. There 
 are lines of hay-ricks on the horizon-line, it is 
 true, but the patches of yellow stubs, showing 
 where corn cultivation has extended, are few and far 
 between. 
 
 At the siding of Dubinsk, twenty versts from 
 Nicolsk, you reach one of the last stations at which 
 there are signs of the frontier military activity. 
 Here are extensive barracks providing quarters for 
 the reserves of the advanced lines which lie far 
 to the south ; but north of this station — that is, 
 on towards the Amur — the ever-growing distance 
 from the important Korean-Manchurian borders 
 renders useless further military concentration, and 
 the stations immediately lose almost completely 
 their former military aspect. As you steadily move 
 due northwards the line suddenly begins to bend 
 and curve as it climbs the watershed of the Lake 
 Khanka basin, and at verst 185 — the versts are 
 reckoned from the starting place, Vladivostock — the 
 important village of Chernigovka is reached. This 
 village, or rather collection of Russian villages and 
 hamlets, has grown quickly during recent years, and 
 
8o RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 it is now estimated that, with all outlying farm- 
 houses, there are four or five thousand men and 
 women settled in the immediate neighbourhood of 
 the station. A large steam flour-mill has been 
 erected, and the impetus it has given to agriculture 
 is so marked that new mills are shortly to go up to 
 encourage greater efforts. The Government is 
 responsible for this enterprise. Indeed, everything 
 worth having here has been promoted by the 
 Government ; and had the people only Anglo- 
 Saxon energy there is no saying what they might 
 not make of their Eastern Empire. 
 
 As you continue slowly and monotonously to- 
 wards the north, with methodical halts every now 
 and then, the enormous possibilities of this country 
 become more and more patent to you. For be- 
 tween the stations of Chernigovka and Spasskaya, a 
 distance of nearly forty versts, there is a region 
 which, compared to the rest, may already be called 
 densely colonised by Russian peasant settlers, who 
 have been unwillingly dragged from the homeland. 
 The wide cultivated areas are intersected by 
 meadows and roads running in every direction, 
 whilst the whole horizon is dotted both with 
 pleasant villages, built after the Little Russian 
 style, and with picturesque windmills. They look 
 almost unreal and unbelievable in such latitudes, 
 and yet it is no mirage ; it is again the handi- 
 work of the Russian Government. It is com- 
 puted that Southern Ussuri contains a fertile area 
 of at least five thousand square miles which might 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY gi 
 
 be wholly given up to wheat cultivation, and which 
 would easily allow of a Russian rural population of 
 half a million or a million souls. The Russian 
 Government has not been oblivious to this possi- 
 bility ; and ever since the war, in addition to 
 inviting settlers from European Russia, induce- 
 ments have been offered on a generous scale to 
 time-expired soldiers of the East Siberian Corps to 
 settle in the Far East permanently. As a result of 
 these offers, which include a free grant of land, 
 about 9,000 young men actually took their dis- 
 charge in the Pacific province ostensibly to become 
 permanent settlers. But unfortunately the system 
 soon proved defective. These voluntary settlers, 
 instead of being immediately forced to take up 
 the land allotted to them and to have their families 
 brought out, were allowed to remain in the towns 
 and there to gamble or drink away their bounties. 
 Of course, no sooner were they without funds than 
 they presented themselves at the Government 
 offices, and demanded as their inalienable right 
 that they should be repatriated to their own 
 villages and not allowed to die exiles in such a 
 horrible country. This illustrates in a minor way 
 how the Russian Government, although constantly 
 attacked for its grandmotherly legislation and its 
 centralised bureaucratic system, has of necessity 
 become what it is, because of the very character of 
 the agricultural classes. The character, of these 
 classes, who practically form the whole nation, is 
 such that without Government help and Govern- 
 
82 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 ment overseeing they would, as often as not, allow 
 themselves to be starved to death. The principle 
 of collectivism and mutual interdependence is so 
 ingrained in the Russian character that real indi- 
 vidualism and self-help are seldom thought of, and 
 if you were suddenly to take away the old system 
 nothing but chaos could result. In a single month 
 I saw again and again crowds of able-bodied, but 
 needy men besieging Government offices and 
 Government officials in the Pacific province, and 
 demanding as their right not only that they should 
 be taken care of at once, but that they should be 
 given money and sent home. 
 
 Once north of Spasskaya, there is another change 
 in the character of the country, and broken and 
 marshy land becomes more and more frequent. 
 The dryness of Southern Ussuri is slowly dis- 
 appearing. Lake Khanka, that strange sheet of 
 water across which the theoretical boundary line 
 between Russian and Chinese territory is traced on 
 maps, is now near, and moisture is in the air. This 
 curious lake, which is sixty miles long and not much 
 less in width, has been but little explored. It lies 
 on the flank of two empires, and along its Man- 
 churian shores the dense forests and tall mountains, 
 which stretch sheer across to the great Sungari 
 valley, immediately commence ; whilst on the 
 Russian side, except for a few oases, the same 
 wilderness exists. You begin to understand some- 
 thing of the nature of the conquest so lightly under- 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 83 
 
 taken forty years ago. It has been too great a 
 task to complete as quickly as was desired. 
 
 At one place the railway comes to a point within 
 a very few miles of Lake Khanka, but although 
 Russians and Chinese indulge freely in fishing 
 along its shores, and, before the railway was built, 
 sledges carrying passengers from Khabarovsk to 
 Vladivostock used to cross its glassy surface in 
 winter, the whole region is still terra incognita and 
 the proximity of the railway alone gives it life 
 and blood. 
 
 From here onwards to the station of the Ussuri 
 the track traverses a vast steppe-like plain, con- 
 stituting the so-called Prikhankoisk depression, 
 which still lies desolate and untouched by the hand 
 of man. It has been supposed that at some remote 
 date the extent of Lake Khanka was much larger 
 than it is now, and that this depression, as well as a 
 considerable portion of the surrounding country, 
 formed a part of the lake, which must then have been 
 amongst the biggest inland sheets of water in the 
 world. During the severe rainy season this whole 
 locality becomes transformed into an immense water- 
 basin, and all idea of agriculture has, therefore, 
 hitherto been quite impossible. The richness of 
 this belt, however, is such that the Government — 
 when it has sufficient funds and courage for the 
 purpose — proposes to drain the whole plain, an 
 undertaking which, according to an expert's opinion, 
 would not be difficult. The carrying-out of this 
 
 G 2 
 
84 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 scheme would secure an additional area of several 
 hundred thousand acres suitable for wheat cultivation 
 and give room for many additional thousands of 
 settlers. 
 
 The station of Ussuri, immediately to the south 
 of the river of that name and verst 327 from 
 Vladivostock, is soon reached, and you pass from 
 Southern into Northern Ussuri. The Ussuri river 
 itself is a most important waterway, rising in the 
 vicinity of Lake Khanka and navigable by steamers 
 along its entire course until it falls, a broad, swirling 
 sheet of water, into the Amur. This river not only 
 has given its name to the whole of these regions, 
 but served to develop the country before the day of 
 the railway in a way which would have been im- 
 possible had there been only the rough roads to 
 rely on. Here, as further south, new Russian 
 settlements are at last being slowly established; 
 but the immense unbroken stretches of plain 
 heaving away in every direction proclaim that it 
 must be the work of many years before the country 
 can be more than sparsely inhabited. At the stop- 
 ping places there are always the same little crowds 
 of Russians, roughly dressed and long-bearded, and 
 impartially mixed with Chinese and Koreans. All 
 regard the train as a living friend, and the same 
 constant buying and selling of the necessities of life 
 goes on gaily. Yet you feel instinctively that you 
 are rapidly becoming lost in the heart of a continent, 
 and that these little clusters of peasant people, lead- 
 ing exile lives in such distant spots, surrounded by 
 
Wfr"j:.M' "■' 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
■.•* ■' ,.i "■ 
 
 «« 
 
ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 85 
 
 more energetic Asiatics, who come only to disappear 
 again with all the money they have easily earned, 
 have something pathetic about them. In winter, 
 when an arctic cold has shut down on everything, 
 the monotony of the life is said to be appalling. 
 
 The Ussuri river is crossed by a splendid steel 
 bridge towering high above the waters ; and beyond 
 this the character of the country again undergoes 
 a change. The line now runs through a region 
 covered with scanty woods of foliage trees, and the 
 scattered settlements of Russian peasants and 
 Cossack communities become rarer. At the station 
 of Muravieff-Amursky, named in honour of him 
 whose genius and daring added this province to 
 Asiatic Russia, there is, however, a growing town, 
 and ten versts farther on Imma, or Grafskaya (verst 
 387), the one important point in Mid-Ussuri, is 
 reached. The river Imma flows into the Ussuri 
 river a couple of thousand yards away from the main 
 station, and is the first of three rivers, the Imma, 
 the Bikin, and the Khor, all navigable for small 
 steamers, which have had much importance in pro- 
 moting the development of the country. When 
 their future possibilities are better understood they 
 will doubtless play a still more important r6le. 
 These rivers all flov/ into the Ussuri from that great 
 watershed, the Sikhoti-alin, a massive and largely 
 unexplored mountain range lying between this 
 Ussuri belt of country and the now distant Pacific 
 coast, and thus practically making half the country 
 useless for colonisation, since the mountainous 
 
86 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 districts are savage and forbidding. The course of 
 these rivers is, practically, from due east to due 
 west, and they thus tap and drain a vast region of 
 wild country lying on the eastern flank of the rail- 
 way, which would otherwise be quite impenetrable, 
 and place it in water communication with the Amur. 
 Were it not for this generous river system, with 
 which Nature has endowed these regions, all 
 development in the past would have been very 
 difficult ; as matters now stand there is no reason 
 why in a very few years these waterways should not 
 contribute very considerably to the rapid progress 
 of the whole Pacific territory by serving as valuable 
 feeders to the railway. Already there are quite a 
 number of small steamers and barges engaged in 
 the growing lumber traffic ; and, as has been the 
 case in Siberia, the existence of railway facilities 
 side by side with water facilities has tended to bring 
 about a sudden expansion as soon as settlers have 
 been sufficiently numerous. In the days before the 
 coming of the railway, this important Ussuri river 
 system actually permitted mails and passengers to 
 be taken straight through from Khabarovsk to the 
 lower or southern end of Lake Khanka, entirely by 
 water. From thence to the head of the little Suifun 
 river, which empties itself into Amur Bay, it was 
 necessary to go by post- carriage ; but once the 
 Suifun was reached, small steamers took up the 
 carrying work and conveyed mails and passengers 
 straight through to Vladivostock. Thus, with the 
 exception of a hundred odd miles of road travel — - 
 
ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 87 
 
 from Lake Khanka to the Suifun — the entire 
 distance between the capital of the Amur province 
 and the free port was covered on water in from 
 seven to ten days, long before the railway came. In 
 winter, sledges made an even more rapid passage 
 possible on the glass-like surface of the rivers and 
 on the snow-clad roads. It is astonishing to 
 remember how rapid communication was, before 
 modern inventions came into use, between inland 
 points in Russia and Siberia. The post-road system 
 was the most perfect in the world for rapid travelling 
 over long distances. 
 
 Of the broad belt of country lying between the 
 Ussuri plains and the Pacific Coast little is even 
 now really known. Difficult passes lead over the 
 mountains to the sea, but they are seldom used. 
 The Sikhoti-alin ranges, sweeping in great stretches 
 hundreds of miles long from a point not far from 
 Vladivostock right up to the vicinity of Nicolaievsk 
 and the Amur mouth, are largely covered with dense 
 primaeval forests along whose fringes only trappers 
 and explorers have wandered. These trappers have 
 principally been the Pacific Coast aborigines, either 
 Goldi or Gilyaks, whose numbers, never very great 
 because of the incessant struggle for existence with 
 Nature, now appear to be rapidly diminishing. 
 Chinese traders at such points as Vladivostock and 
 Khabarovsk supply these people with stores and 
 clothing on trust at the beginning of each hunting 
 season, and receive in return the most valuable part 
 of their proceeds of the chase. Many of the most 
 
88 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 costly pelts, such as silver-haired sables, and silver 
 and blue foxes, as well as ermine, are obtained in 
 these regions, and shipped direct to the European 
 fur-markets ; whilst coarser furs, such as bear 
 skins, otter skins and wolf skins, are both used 
 locally and exported in very great numbers. It is 
 only after the winter hunting season that much of 
 these strange Tungus-natives is to be seen ; 
 generally a few degenerates dressed in a mixed 
 Russo-Chinese garb are the best that are noticed 
 at some of the railway stations, but they have 
 nothing interesting. Little, indeed, would their 
 insignificance appear to have changed since the 
 days when Russian explorers, half a century 
 ago, traversed the country. The accounts of a 
 Russian scientist, Veniukof, whose travels through 
 these regions and whose reports made in the year 
 1858 induced the Russians after they had come 
 down the Amur to demand in the Peking Treaty of 
 i860 — in addition to the left bank of the Amur — 
 the whole of the Pacific province from China, show 
 how little hold Peking ever had on these regions. 
 Veniukof, starting frorh the mouth of the Ussuri, 
 accompanied by a few Cossacks, not only explored 
 the whole river to its source, but secured a 
 complete account of the country right down to the 
 Tiumen river. He found everywhere the same 
 story — the scattered Tungus hunters and river- 
 fishermen trembling under the menace of the small 
 Manchu posts, which had been established along the 
 waterways for the joint purpose of extorting sables 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 89 
 
 as tribute and of seeing that no intruders made 
 their way into the country. A few Chinese 
 fugitives from justice, who were hidden away in 
 distant corners, were also met with ; whilst in the 
 extreme south was a scattering of Chinese farms, 
 closely guarded by armed men, where that precious 
 plant, ginseng, which requires peculiar climatic con- 
 ditions, was raised in quantities. The Goldi fled in 
 terror in their birch-bark canoes at the approach of 
 the small Russian exploration party, not because 
 they feared white men, but because the Manchu. 
 tax-collectors would beat them to death for giving 
 help to strangers. But in spite of this, these Tungus. 
 natives in the end supplied the bulk of the informa- 
 tion which, coupled with the evidence of his own 
 eyes, allowed Veniukof to see how slight a hold 
 the Manchus had on the country. Beyond a few 
 hundred natives, a few hundred Chinese fugitives, 
 and a few dozen Manchu guards distributed in small 
 posts, there was no one in a territory measuring 
 many hundred thousand square miles. It was 
 obviously open to annexation. 
 
 But here is a short portion of Veniukof's 
 account, which is singularly interesting not only 
 because of its naivete, but also because of the 
 picturesqueness and poetry of its diction : 
 
 " Early on the 1 3th June we left the post at the mouth 
 of the Ussuri. Rapidly we passed the Khoekhtsi range 
 (Khukchir-Khurgin) on the right bank of the river. This 
 range, it would appear, is a ramification of a mountain 
 chain which extends eastward from the mouth of the 
 Ussuri, and separates the tributaries of the Amur (Dondon) 
 
90 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 from those of the Ussuri (Ky) and the coast rivers (Fish 
 River). These rivers probably rise where this chain joins 
 the coast range, known as Sikhoti-Alin. The mountain 
 ridges everywhere are steep and covered with forest, where 
 we find elm, walnut, oak, black and white birch, aspen, 
 ash and bird-cherry and a few cedars. There are neither 
 pines nor firs. Vines and jessamines are found in a few 
 spots, and on the southern fringe of the forest surrounding 
 the Khoekhtsi, apples and even bergamot pears, the 
 vegetation, in fact, reminding one of the most favoured 
 parts of Central Europe. Beyond the Khoekhtsi Mountains, 
 both banks of the Ussuri are formed by a uniform grass 
 plain with a few groves of oaks, elms, aspens, and willows. 
 For a distance of almost fifty miles, following the course of 
 the river, the banks are inundated in July and are there- 
 fore little adapted for settlement. To compensate for this 
 the lakes and swamps abound in game. In the lakes are 
 also found fresh-water turtles, which are eaten by the Goldi 
 of the vicinity. A great many of the eggs of these turtles, 
 which they bury in the sand at the margin of the lakes, are 
 destroyed by birds of prey. The abundance of fish in the 
 shallow places of the Ussuri is really wonderful. At 
 times, when we passed unruffled and shallow parts of the 
 river, numerous carp, gamboling on the surface of the 
 water, would sometimes jump into our boats. Fish con- 
 stitutes the chief article of food among the neighbouring 
 Goldi. They do not, however, make much clothing from 
 fish-skins, but use coarse cotton stuffs. The name of 
 Yu-pi-da-tzi, i.e. ' Fish-skin Strangers,' given to them by 
 the Chinese, had therefore but little significance. 
 
 " On the second day of our journey it began to rain, and 
 this rain continued for forty-five consecutive days. These 
 rains, which owe their origin to the neighbouring sea, con- 
 stitute a peculiarity of the climate in the valley of the 
 Ussuri. They cause that river and some of its tributaries 
 to have a superabundance of water. To me this copious 
 fall of rain was very inconvenient ; it greatly interfered 
 with our labours, and necessitated the seeking of our night's 
 quarters early, so as to have time to dry our clothes before 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 91 
 
 retiring to rest. The banks of the river are occasionally 
 sandy, but for the most part covered with clay-mud, and 
 walking along them was rather a difficult task. The rains 
 caused the grass along the river, which until now had been 
 soft, to get tough. As these rains occur every summer 
 about the same period, future settlers will have to mow 
 the grass first in May, and afterwards in September. The 
 river forms here numerous branches, enclosing islands. 
 The rivulet Ky enters the Ussuri from the right, twenty- 
 two miles above its mouth. Near its mouth stood yet in 
 1855 the village of Kinda, indicated on the map of 
 Maximowicz ; it has since been burned down, and the 
 Goldi have removed to the left bank of the Ussuri, and call 
 their two poor huts the village of Khungari. During the 
 first two days of our journey we found only three villages 
 viz., Turme, Jacha (Jaoda), and Khungari, having in all but 
 eight houses. One or two Chinese families have joined the 
 native Goldi. 
 
 " In the evening of the third day we came to the mouth 
 of the Khoro, or Kholo, erroneously called For on former 
 maps. This river rises in high mountains at a distance of 
 two hundred and fifty miles, has a very rapid course, and 
 on entering the plain divides into several branches ; it 
 carries along with it large masses of stones and trunks of 
 trees, in an immense volume of water, and enters the 
 Ussuri by five mouths, the two northern of which are 
 particularly rapid. The temperature of this current was 
 (in June) three degrees (Reaumur) less than that of the 
 Ussuri. As we approached the Khoro we could see the 
 localities on its right bank well adapted for settlements, 
 and partially occupied by Chinese and Goldi. The village of 
 Khoicha, forty miles above the mouth of the Ussuri, extends 
 along both banks of the river for four miles, but the whole 
 village only contains nine houses, dispersed in the forest. 
 At the time of our visit, half of the inhabitants were absent. 
 We availed ourselves of this opportunity to visit one of the 
 houses, the doors of which were not locked. The house- 
 hold furniture consisted of a few vessels of wood and clay, 
 some fishing implements, and a large cauldron fixed on the 
 
92 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 hearth. In a store-house, built on poles to preserve it 
 against rats, we saw a swan hanging, and found traces of 
 peltry. A small temple which stood apart attracted my 
 special attention. On a wall inside was a very bad painting 
 of a deity, probably by some Chinese artist. A small box, 
 into which incense is put from time to time, stood in front 
 of this temple. To me this discovery was very interesting ; 
 for at the time of the Jesuits not the least trace of public 
 worship existed among the ' Yu-pi-da-tzi.' The bonzes 
 found nothing to attract them to a country where neither 
 wheat nor rice was being cultivated. But in spite of this 
 the gods of China have found their way to these regions. 
 
 " On the i6th June, we met at the mouth of the river Sim 
 a young Orochi, from the Khoro, who had also been on the 
 sea, among a family of Goldi. He told us that in a canoe 
 made of the trunk of a tree we could ascend the Khoro to 
 its source, which lay in the midst of high mountains, whence 
 the sea might be reached on foot in four days. From the 
 Goldi we heard that the Khoro in its upper course receives 
 a tributary, the Chernai, whence there is a portage to the 
 Samalga, a considerable river flowing into the sea. 
 Maximowicx ascertained that there was a path from the 
 sources of the Khoro to a rivulet falling into the Amur, 
 and called Pakhsa (called Peksha by Admiral Nevelskoi). 
 The Chinese who go from the Ussuri to the Amur to buy 
 sables take this road, from which we may calculate upon 
 the region being populated. 
 
 " On the following day, 17th June, heavy rains in the 
 morning made it necessary to make a halt about noon in 
 order to take measures against our provisions being 
 soaked. On this occasion, I, for the first time, got an 
 insight into the relations between the Goldi and the 
 Manchus. The Goldi fishermen near whose tent we 
 landed were very much frightened when they saw us. At 
 first they were inclined to run away, but finally thought it 
 best to submit to the decrees of Providence and to the 
 arbitrary conduct of the Manchu, for such at first they 
 took us to be. They were greatly surprised when, in 
 return for a large fish they brought us, we presented them 
 
in ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 93 
 
 with two or three yards of daba. A woman who, until 
 now, had remained in concealment with her boy, three 
 years old, came forth and celebrated our generosity in a 
 song. A great many children, shy as they usually are, 
 surrounded us without fear. Among these poor people, I 
 observed a man whose face and figure differed considerably 
 from the usual type of Goldi and the Tunguzians in 
 general. He was muscular and rather corpulent, and his 
 large beard and moustaches gave him the appearance of a 
 Russian peasant in foreign dress. His eyes were large 
 and round, but the large space between them indicated 
 Mongolian race. Possibly exceptions of this kind may 
 have existed among the Goldi when our Cossacks first 
 came to the Amur. The Goldi (of the Ussuri) has, how- 
 ever, no very clear idea of the history of his tribe. He has 
 heard that there are Russians who have come to settle on 
 the Amur, but is afraid to ascertain for himself for fear of 
 the Manchu. When he pays his ordinary tribute to the 
 Manchu official at Turme — and this consists of all the 
 sables he may be possessed of — he returns, and in con- 
 junction with some family related to his own, sets to work 
 to secure the necessary food and clothing for the winter. 
 He goes to the forests to hunt, and returns before the 
 inundation, so as to have time to dry a suflScient supply of 
 fish to last through the winter. On the occasion of our 
 visit a great number of fish already hung around the 
 birch-bark tents, and all were engaged in its prepara- 
 tion. . . . 
 
 " On the 27th June we were overtaken by some Goldi 
 twelve miles from the Tsifaku, who were going in their 
 birch-bark canoes from the mouth of the Ussuri to the 
 Imma. They had left Turme three days after us, and were 
 the only people during the whole of our journey who 
 brought us news of the Russians. According to their own 
 statement they were on a visit to some relatives on the 
 Imma, but it almost appeared as if they had instructions 
 from the Chinese officials at Turme regarding ourselves. 
 At all events we saw them subsequently in company of 
 the Chinese at Imma. They asked whether the Governor 
 
94 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 General intended himself to explore the Ussuri, and 
 whether the Russians were coming in the ensuing year to 
 settle along it. When they were told such would not be 
 the case, they communicated our answer to the Manchu 
 official commanding at Imma. 
 
 " At our night's quarters between the Bikiri and the 
 Nishan we had plenty of leisure to observe the customs of 
 the Goldi whom we met there. One of them having seen 
 silver in our possession proposed to exchange it for sable ; 
 and when I asked what he was going to do with the metal, 
 he told me that his old mother was near her death, and 
 that he wished, according to custom, to place a silver 
 bracelet round her wrist on her death-bed. Another Goldi 
 had his tail cut off as a sign of mourning for a deceased 
 mother. The Goldi are addicted to polygamy, and in 
 many instances from a feeling of duty. One man of 
 thirty, with a very large family, had three wives, two of 
 whom had become his by the death of his younger 
 brothers. He thought it incumbent upon himself to 
 distribute fairly his favours amongst all, and the eldest 
 of them, as it were the mother of the family, exacted 
 obedience from the two others. Like all other nations 
 amongst whom polygamy is in vogue, the Goldi are very 
 jealous. It was only by special favour that our host 
 permitted me and the interpreter to remain in the tent 
 during his absence. Our people he kept as far away as 
 possible. On our departure he expressed himself in 
 flattering terms about the good conduct of the Russians. 
 The Manchu act differently. . . . 
 
 " Since leaving Imma, we had been accompanied by 
 four Chinese, with a Manchu soldier at their head. These 
 formed our escort by order of the officer commanding at 
 Ittima, and acted as spies upon our doings. They were 
 very polite, but always preceded us and forbade the Goldi 
 to accompany us, as I was at that time looking out for a 
 guide. They succeeded very well in foiling my endeavours, 
 and I found only one man not altogether disinclined to 
 serve us as guide. He was an old man from the village of 
 Choborka to whom life has become indifferent. 'The 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 95 
 
 Manchu,' he said, ' interdict us from rendering you assist- 
 ance, and anyone acting contrary to their orders would of 
 course fare badly. But I am so old that I should be quite 
 willing to accompany you or to die, had I not a pain in my 
 left leg. I know you are the heralds of other Russians, 
 who will come to free us from the Manchu yoke, but as 
 long as these wild beasts remain here, it is dangerous to be 
 your friend.' I subsequently ascertained that the fears 
 of this old man were by no means exaggerated. On our 
 approaching the tent of a Goldi dwelling above the 
 Sungachan he trembled with fear, thinking we were 
 Manchu ; but when I asked him a few questions and 
 tendered payment for some millet, he told us he had cause 
 to fear the Manchu. His father, his mother, and his two 
 brothers, driven to desperation by the Manchu collector of 
 tribute, had strangled themselves. These collectors come 
 once or twice annually, and by the aid of the stick extort 
 all the sables these poor people may be possessed of Not 
 putting trust in any of their assertions, they continue the 
 beating after all the furs have been given up to them, in 
 the hope of getting at concealed treasures. Afterwards, 
 on my return, I heard that five Manchu had ascended the 
 Ussuri, and called the Goldi to account for communicat- 
 ing with us. A sincere old Goldi here said to me : ' Look, 
 five men were able to beat above a hundred, and they 
 wanted us to go to Khoektsir, at the Ussuri mouth, where 
 they had a station, so that they might deal with us more 
 severely ! ' " 
 
 In these regions at least the Russian advance of 
 i860 brought an immense change for the better and 
 permitted the wretched aborigines to breathe more 
 freely. 
 
 From the Grafskaya the railway runs always 
 within a few miles of the Ussuri river until it 
 reaches the Amur; and therefore it may be said 
 that nearly the entire northern section of the line is 
 
96 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 practically in sight of Chinese territory, for the 
 Ussuri river forms, just as does Lake Khanka, the 
 boundary line. Yet although Chinese are met with 
 in ever-growing numbers all along the railway, they 
 are still mainly birds of passage growing rich at 
 Russia's expense. The left, or Chinese, bank of 
 the Ussuri is still practically untouched and the 
 Kirin provincial authorities, in whose jurisdiction 
 lies all this region, content themselves with des- 
 patching small frontier parties, who make the usual 
 perfunctory visit to various points without much 
 solicitude for whatever may be actually going on. 
 This carelessness is perhaps excusable when it is 
 remembered that after crossing Ussuri river and 
 going due west towards the Sungari valley there is 
 only the wild country of which mention has been 
 already made. This unconquered land is prac- 
 tically uninhabited and " Yu-Pi-Ta-Tzu," or Fish- 
 Skin Tartars, have only succeeded in peneivating 
 the mountain and forests for short distances by 
 following the course of mountain streams. Difficult 
 tracks actually exist, by using which it is physically 
 possible to travel over this belt ; but only two 
 explorers have succeeded in doing so. Thus both 
 sides of the Ussuri valley are hemmed in by formid- 
 able barriers making it necessary for Russian 
 settlements to be strictly confined to the plains 
 along the river courses. There are enormous 
 areas, however, in this comparatively-speaking 
 narrow belt, which have not yet been touched ; 
 and it is not too much to say that, immediately 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 97 
 
 adjoining the Ussuri river and its affluents — and 
 not including the country south of Lake Khanka 
 — there is room for a Russian rural population of 
 several million souls. The peasants who have 
 already come complain, however, that the damp- 
 ness of the climate of the Northern Ussuri or the 
 Nicolsk regions is such that their corn is too often 
 rotted before it is ripe ; that it has drunk too much 
 water and become impossible food-stuff. In fact 
 this corn has become named " drunken corn," and 
 it is said that the flour made from it is so much 
 less nourishing than the Russian variety that it has 
 to be mixed with imported flour. To combat this 
 evil in the regions immediately adjoining the Amur, 
 the Russian settlers have for years past been 
 lighting immense forest fires that have swept 
 hundreds of thousands of acres bare of all trees 
 and undergrowth and have thereby already 
 brought about a marked improvement in the 
 climatic conditions. Calculations show that no 
 fears need be entertained that such a destructive 
 policy is wasteful from the lumbering point of 
 view. It is alleged that there are reserves of 
 lumber in the Pacific province sufficient for all 
 local requirements and for a great export trade for 
 centuries to come ; and the long lumber trains, 
 which are even now met with all along the railway, 
 and the deep-laden barges on the rivers, prove that 
 the big trade is already beginning. 
 
 Moving onwards, with the country becoming 
 wilder and wilder and even more picturesque as 
 
 H 
 
98 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 the Amur is approached, the landscape at last 
 assumes an aspect entirely different in every way 
 from that of Southern Ussuri. At the station of 
 Bikin, on the river of that name, dense moist vege- 
 tation is to be seen on all sides. Many spots in 
 this immediate neighbourhood have been settled by 
 Orenburg Cossacks for a number of years past, and 
 these communities are now held to be agriculturally 
 the most successful settlements in the whole pro- 
 vince. Too much importance cannot be attached 
 to these Cossacks, who, because they hold their 
 land on military tenure, are always available for 
 military service. Already they are sufficiently 
 numerous to provide a division of cavalry ; it is 
 hoped to treble their numbers in ten years, and 
 gradually to build up great reserves of fighting 
 men. The taiga, or primaeval forest, which ad- 
 vances so menacingly on the railway, is being 
 cleared away in huge patches, and steadily the 
 area of the settled country is being extended. 
 Ever and anon in the distance the outlying spurs 
 of the Sikhoti-Alin range can be discerned, showing 
 that this belt is as yet only an oasis in a desert. 
 For miles and dozens of miles from here onwards 
 dense forest land is ranged on both sides of the 
 railway, and not until the third river of these three 
 westward-flowing streams, the Khor, is reached, 
 does the country open out once more. Settlements 
 begin to appear, and although these have not the 
 same growth as those farther to the south, it is quite 
 evident that progress is at last being generally 
 
Ill ALONG THE USSURI RAILWAY 99 
 
 made. More and more passengers climb off and 
 on the trains, and station-sidings show long lines of 
 trucks loaded with merchandise. Beautiful meadows 
 studded with oak-groves now lend variety to the 
 landscape, and cattle grazing at ease wander over 
 the broad stretches. Thus, with the country always 
 broadening out only to be shut in again by the 
 taiga, and with a constant animation and bustle at 
 the stations, verst after verst is slowly laid behind. 
 And at length, thirty-six hours from Vladivostock, 
 you see heavy clusters of houses which can scarcely 
 be the conventional Cossack or peasant settlements. 
 Then there is a glitter of distant water, a respect- 
 able-looking town rises up, and, as you slip into a 
 large station, there are unaccustomed crowds of 
 civilians and soldiery awaiting your arrival. It is 
 Khabarovsk and the Amur — verst 716 by the 
 iron-way from Vladivostock. 
 
 H 2 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 
 
 The town of Khabarovsk stands pleasantly 
 enough, on commanding river-banks, high above the 
 great Amur, and surveys, as does a conqueror who 
 has required nothing but courage to penetrate and 
 subjugate trackless wilds, the world of waters which 
 sluggishly flow beneath. Around the straggling 
 town, which stretches out hesitatingly and untidily 
 in every direction, is untamed nature, forest and 
 dreary waste, alternating with long-backed moun- 
 tains that sink away until they touch the distant 
 horizon. Everything is on an immense scale here — 
 is spread out with cool disregard for distances. Yet 
 it is but natural that there should be this disregard ; 
 to the north there still lies one quarter of Asia. 
 
 Strategically this distant administrative centre, 
 so hidden away from the outer world and so little 
 known, has had, and still has, the highest signi- 
 ficance for Russia. For it stands at the junction of 
 three important waterways formed by the middle 
 and lower Amur and the tributary river, the Ussuri 
 — those last links of that marvellous Siberian river- 
 
CH. IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE loi 
 
 system which has done so much for Russia ; and 
 Khabarovsk is, in a sense, the sole key to all those 
 hundreds of thousands of square versts of territory 
 contained in the great coast province and the Ok- 
 hotsk seaboard, which, now that the command of the 
 sea has been temporarily lost, can be safely reached 
 in times of national danger only by hundreds 
 and hundreds of miles of river-travel. Ignoring 
 the neutral and non-independent Trans- Manchurian 
 Railway, the Amur river still remains the real road 
 from Siberia to the Pacific Ocean. And therefore 
 the memorable, if flamboyant message of the Town 
 Council of Khabarovsk, telegraphed to the Czar 
 from this lost corner of Asia during the last stages 
 of the Portsmouth Conference, to the effect that 
 their town formed the real bar to the surging 
 yellow flood which could not be stemmed, is not 
 incapable of appreciation. Khabarovsk, then, has 
 immense importance, not so much for what it is, 
 since the town is mainly a collection of admini- 
 strative buildings, as on account of what it stands 
 for. It stands for the mastery over the Amur, 
 which was temporarily lost to the Manchus for a 
 century and a half, from the days of the Nerchinsk 
 Treaty to those of the Treaty of Aigun — a 
 mastery which may yet be lost again. It stands 
 as a toll-house on the great waterway which 
 is more than two hundred miles long, and which, 
 when winter has gripped it, is converted by nature 
 into a rapid and perfect sledging route. It stands 
 as an important, yet unimportant, capital of a 
 
I02 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 province belonging to that Greater Russia which 
 has been dreamed of for so long, because it aimed 
 at reaching the warmer seas. 
 
 The history of the town, too, in spite of these 
 various important considerations, is extraordinarily 
 brief. It was not until the year 1880 that it 
 supplanted Nicolaievsk, lying six hundred miles 
 down-stream at the mouth of the river, as the 
 administrative centre of all these Pacific territories. 
 The first idea had merely been to gain the Pacific — 
 to make a window — and Nicolaievsk, owing to the 
 geography of the coast, became that first window. 
 But once the transfer had been decided on, so 
 appropriate did Khabarovsk seem for governing 
 these inhospitable latitudes, being almost equi- 
 distant from Nicolaievsk and the then newly estab- 
 lished port of Vladivostock, that in 1884 the whole 
 of the regions beyond Transbaikalia were boldly 
 detached from the Government of East Siberia, to 
 which province they had belonged, and a separate 
 Amur oblast, or Government, established, with a 
 Governor-General seated at Khabarovsk and vested 
 with supreme control, under the immediate eye of 
 the St. Petersburg Council of the Empire, over a 
 territory measuring more than a million and a half 
 square versts. Thus did Khabarovsk, insignificant 
 and unknown, become a vice-regal seat ; before that 
 change it had been a mere hamlet. The Amur 
 Government under this system is, moreover, now 
 divided for administrative purposes, although the 
 whole forms but one military district, into the Amur 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 103 
 
 province proper and the Primorsk, or Pacific pro- 
 vince ; and this oblast, or Government, has as an 
 unprofitable dependency Northern Saghalien, and 
 meets on the shores of the sea of Okhotsk the 
 theoretical boundary line of that still more ex- 
 tensive territory, the Yakutsk Government. One 
 seldom realises that the Russian flag floats over 
 nearly the whole of the great Eurasian continent 
 from the fiftieth parallel to beyond the Arctic circle. 
 It also controls the territory beyond Lake Baikal — 
 that is, Transbaikalia. Eastern Siberia, with Irkutsk 
 as capital, is therefore only the military ally of 
 this region, an ally because the two Siberian 
 Governments of Irkutsk and the Amur surround 
 or embrace Northern Manchuria, and therefore 
 play exactly the same parts towards this important 
 Chinese territory as do Germany and Austria to 
 Russian Poland. Understanding something of the 
 underlying hazards of such unfortunate geography, 
 since Northern Manchuria has always been a 
 potential danger point, the whole Russian idea four 
 years ago of making Admiral Alexieff Viceroy of 
 the Far East, with three exchangeable seats at Port 
 Arthur, Harbin, and Vladivostock, was from an 
 administrative, diplomatic, and military point of 
 view simply — and, be it added, foolishly — designed 
 to remove the inevitable weakness to the Russian 
 dominions beyond Lake Baikal which arises from 
 the fact that Northern Manchuria juts out, and 
 therefore practically isolates the various component 
 parts. That Admiral Alexieff, confident that Chinese 
 
I04 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 opposition counted for nothing, should have applied 
 the same facile reasoning to Japan and have im- 
 mediately turned his attention to Korea, seeking by 
 various discreditable intrigues to bring that country 
 under his influence, is also geographically under- 
 standable, although the neutral world may have 
 called it politically heartless. For Korea — from the 
 ordinary Russian standpoint, which is the inevitable 
 point of view of a great land Power vainly striving 
 to become a sea Power — played the same rSle 
 towards the lost territory of Kuantung (the Port 
 Arthur leased territory) and the Russian Pacific 
 province as did Northern Manchuria to the other 
 regions. It formed, indeed, another species of 
 Poland ; it so separated the two strong places of 
 Port Arthur and Vladivostock as to make each a 
 source of weakness rather than of strength ; and 
 because of the silent and little-known rivalry which 
 it soon generated between the two, it allowed 
 neither to be what it should have been in the face 
 of such a determined rival as Japan. If only the 
 unfortunate and misshapen peninsula of Korea could 
 have been lopped off by the gods and dropped into 
 the bottomless Pacific, no Far Eastern wars would 
 have been known during the past fifteen years. 
 Perhaps some day it will appear clearer to everyone 
 that the accidental shape of the earth's crust exerts 
 too exalted an influence on the affairs of men. Only 
 when there a universal recognition of the fact will 
 that influence be artificially restricted. 
 
 The town of Khabarovsk, hidden far up the 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 105 
 
 broad reaches of the Amur, can therefore be clearly 
 connected in this wise with the recent grand up- 
 heaval. Its isolated inhabitants may really claim, 
 as they to-day still vehemently allege, to have seen 
 something of the fate which might have overtaken 
 them, had there been further weakness on the part 
 of Russia's rulers — a last collapse inspired by 
 previous collapses. Although more than a thousand 
 miles away from the Manchurian battlefields, and 
 therefore on the surface only as actively affected 
 by Liaoyang and Moukden as was Vienna by Sedan 
 and Metz, it was instinctively realised in these 
 regions at the close of the war, that if Saghalien 
 were ceded and an indemnity paid by the Czar 
 in order quickly to close an unhappy chapter in 
 Russian Asiatic history, the Amur river would be 
 virtually lost. For the presence of the smallest 
 hostile gunboat squadron at the river mouth even 
 to-day would paralyse the whole great waterway 
 and disorganise the shipping, which alone gives life 
 and blood to the little groups of defenceless river 
 settlements. A Japanese Saghalien might have 
 meant that any day ; for the Straits of Tartary 
 dividing the erstwhile convict island from the main- 
 land are in places so narrow that when the iron 
 hand of winter bridges the short and treacherous 
 chasm, an icy platform is formed, over which 
 conquests could be easily directed in a few hours, 
 and the strategic point of Nicolaievsk reached in 
 a morning's tramp. The steps soon to be taken 
 to remove this great potential weakness will need 
 
io6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 to be watched and understood ; for if Japan is 
 intent on entrenching wherever she has a foothold, 
 Russia is still more determined to be strong where 
 she is now palpably weak. Yet she needs time, 
 much time. Everything to-day tends to show in 
 a hundred ways that her latent strength still lies 
 so limp, thanks to the enormous distances and the 
 lack of general development, that decades will be 
 necessary to do in her vast territories what others 
 in their narrower domains can arrange in years. 
 The empire across the Ural can only be slowly 
 and painfully built up, or else it will clatter down. 
 
 Yet for the moment there is nothing more busy 
 or bellicose about Khabarovsk than there is at 
 Nicolsk, and people are quietly sleeping again 
 after the recent excitement in their wooden town. 
 The principal street, named Muravieff-Amursky — 
 the name follows you everywhere in these latitudes 
 until you almost weary of it — is fine without having 
 anything of the great life and animation which so 
 characterise Vladivostock. Indeed it seems absurd, 
 after Vladivostock, that this straggling village should 
 still be the administrative capital of the whole 
 country. Composed mainly of old-fashioned wooden 
 buildings, the town has a half-unreal Western- 
 American appearance, which is somehow added to 
 by the rough coats, fur caps, and top boots of its 
 citizens. It is a Russian backwoods town and 
 nothing else. Still there are some fine Government 
 buildings of brick and stone, and some picturesque 
 churches which always give Russian expansion its 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 107 
 
 special note — that it is in the first instance a 
 Government movement and not a people's move- 
 ment, and that only when the Government is tired 
 and disheartened, as is now the case, do the sturdy 
 people come to the rescue. Khabarovsk is being 
 converted by the people from a Government village 
 — as it used to be contemptuously called — into some- 
 thing far more profitable. It is growing steadily, 
 though almost imperceptibly, and when the Amur 
 river railway is an accomplished fact it cannot fail 
 to forge ahead as surprisingly as Vladivostock has 
 done recently. 
 
 Great herds of Chinese, coming from afar, are 
 beginning to collect and build themselves houses ; 
 and such newcomers hardly ever think of returning 
 to the distant homes of their ancestors as they have 
 always done in days of yore at their New Year 
 season. There is too much immediate profit for 
 that ! Lured by the scent of the rouble, after many 
 years of pecking and stealing they have definitely 
 settled down as shopkeepers and miscellaneous con- 
 tractors on a large scale. Further, as the develop- 
 ment of the back country is being slowly brought 
 about by the influx of Russian settlers and by the 
 gradual investment of increasing sums of Russian 
 capital, such enterprises as timber-felling, fishing, 
 hunting, and farming are monthly growing in 
 importance, fostering at the same time the gradual 
 growth of other industries. Russian and Chinese, 
 meeting and yet not mixing, are planning for their 
 mutual benefit, and by hewing and building, trading 
 
io8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 and exchanging, at a moment when the all-powerful 
 Government is largely disheartened, they have im- 
 perceptibly and unconsciously begun that movement 
 known as sound progress. And yet with all this, 
 the noble statue of Muravieff, which is set command- 
 ingly on a splendid eminence overlooking the river 
 and on passing which all Russians still take off their 
 hats, is a sign for those who would note things that 
 Russia, although she has here set her mark, must 
 properly justify her pretensions before these regions 
 really become her very own. It is not even necessary 
 to journey in one of the Amur steamers of the day, 
 which can travel 2,000 miles from Nicolaievsk to 
 Stretensk, to be convinced that the river-banks play 
 exactly the same part toward this whole region as 
 does the narrow belt of country lying on either side 
 of the Ussuri railway to the Pacific province. These 
 banks alone are slightly colonised ; the rest is mere 
 waste and forest land, a limitless area covering 
 hundreds of thousands of square miles, whose very 
 geography is hardly known. 
 
 In the year 1897, when the last Russian census 
 was taken, the total number of inhabitants of the 
 relatively populous Pacific province, comprising the 
 three districts of Khabarovsk, Ussuri and Southern 
 Ussuri, was estimated at only 171,780 people in all 
 (123,216 males and 48,564 females), making of it 
 one of the least populated of Siberian oblasts. 
 Another feature, the predominance of males over 
 females, has also had a highly unfavourable influence 
 in the past ; and the great percentage of consuming 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 109 
 
 town population, compared with that of productive 
 rural population, has been an additional source of 
 weakness. And although this coast province popula- 
 tion is now estimated to amount to 350,000 people 
 in all — that is, has doubled in exactly one decade — 
 it must be remembered that at least ten thousand of 
 this total must be credited to the wandering and 
 semi-savage aborigines of Gilyak or Tungus race ; 
 whilst fully eighty or ninety thousand are Chinese 
 or Koreans, who cannot as a rule be classed as 
 permanent, or, from the Russian point of view, 
 welcome residents. 
 
 Even more thinly distributed than this is the 
 population of the Amur territory proper — that is, the 
 territory lying on the left bank of the river, and 
 extending from Khabarovsk to the Trans-Baikal 
 boundary which we are now considering. According 
 to the census of 1897 this population amounted 
 only to 118,570 people, a great number of whom 
 were non- Russians ; and although it is assumed that 
 in the interim these figures have likewise been 
 doubled, still the fact remains that at the time of 
 the making of the last census this population was so 
 slight as to work out exactly to "03 persons to the 
 square verst, or say one inhabitant to every fifty 
 square miles of country. It may therefore be 
 called virgin territory in the fullest sense of the 
 word. And, like a great part of the village popu- 
 lation of the two Ussuri districts, the riverine 
 inhabitants of the Amur gain their livelihood not so 
 much from agriculture (which indeed stands at a 
 
no RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL , chap. 
 
 very low level) as from fishing, trapping, hunting, 
 and the management of lumber stations which 
 supply the river steamers with wood fuel, as well as 
 from the maintenance of post stations for the 
 winter overland traffic. Such occupations do not 
 bind the inhabitants to the soil as does agriculture ; 
 and in fact it may be said that in the main the Amur 
 river population simply consists of a living chain of 
 Russian men and women strategically distributed 
 by the Government along the entire course of the 
 great waterway in small settlements twenty or thirty 
 versts apart, so as to serve as a permanent line of 
 communication extending from Transbaikalia to the 
 sea. If these settlements have become productive 
 in any sense of the word, it is owing to Russian 
 capitalistic enterprise. In summer the increasing 
 number of steamers engaged in general commerce 
 which ply up and down the river, a number now 
 approaching nearly two hundred, and further 
 strengthened by twice that number of big tow- 
 barges, gives much work in lading and unlading, 
 and in cutting and stacking the great reserves of 
 fuel which must be accumulated at many points ; 
 whilst the lighting and buoying of the river — a 
 formidable undertaking in itself — likewise entails 
 much vigilance and labour. In winter, although 
 this water-borne traffic and bustle necessarily dis- 
 appear, there is ample work for the local popu- 
 lation in the up-keep of the post stations and the 
 massing of fodder for the thousands and tens of 
 thousands of animals employed in the post-service, 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE in 
 
 which makes it possible to communicate from one 
 centre to another at the rate of two hundred and 
 fifty miles a day by a galloping sledge express. This 
 winter road-communication between Nicolaievsk, 
 Khabarovsk, Blagovestchensk, Stretensk, and dozens 
 of other small towns and villages is indeed a great 
 undertaking ; and it is only this traffic both to and 
 from the sea and between the riverine settlements 
 going on summer and winter alike which has been 
 responsible for the fair results attained under a terrible 
 climate handicap. No one has properly realised 
 that as land carriers the Russians have always been 
 the first people in the world. Their surprising 
 railway work during the war was simply a re- 
 statement in modern form of this old-time land- 
 carrying supremacy 
 
 In all this great and rich, yet largely undeveloped 
 region of the Amur, the one commercial town of 
 importance — omitting Nicolaievsk, which is as much 
 a sea-port as a river-port — is Blagovestchensk, whose 
 name is of unhappy memory. Blagovestchensk 
 derives its importance largely from the fact that it is 
 the centre of — or, more properly speaking, the 
 " jumping-off " spot for — the extensive mining opera- 
 tions now being carried on along the tributaries of 
 the upper Amur — operations which have already 
 made a large number of Russian and Chinese 
 millionaires, and which promise to grow in import- 
 ance from year to year. Although the gold has so 
 far been won mainly from gravel deposits, stretching 
 over vast areas, quartz-mining has now com- 
 
112 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 menced and is said to have a great future before it. 
 To-day Blagovestchensk has a population of at 
 least 50,000 people — Russians, Chinese, and Koreans 
 impartially mixed ; that is to say, it possesses roughly 
 twenty per cent, of the whole river population. And 
 as soon as this thriving centre has been placed in 
 rail communication, on the one hand with Stretensk, 
 lying 750 miles higher up-stream, and on the other 
 hand with Khabarovsk, 550 miles below, its popu- 
 lation may even exceed that of Irkutsk. Already 
 there are a respectable number of industries and 
 factories, and the rich prairie-lands lying for hundreds 
 of miles along the course of waterways such as the 
 Zeya — which falls into the Amur alongside the town 
 — have lately begun to attract an extraordinary 
 stream of emigration. A short way down-stream 
 from Blagovestchensk there is a large Manchu agri- 
 cultural population living on the Russian side of the 
 Amur, which is quite distinct from the ordinary fleet- 
 ing Chinese population of these regions. These 
 Manchus live in large villages, where they have 
 been settled for many decades, and form almost self- 
 governing republics. The Aigun treaty of 1858, 
 entered into by Muravieff and the Chinese frontier 
 authorities, specifically laid down that this indigenous 
 population was not to be molested or interfered with 
 in any way, and was to be allowed to retain, without 
 payment of taxes, all the land pre-empted before the 
 coming of the Russians. There is thus a Manchu- 
 Chinese population of ten or twenty thousand souls 
 on the Russian side of the Amur, living peacefully 
 
iv KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 113 
 
 and quite separately from the newer strata of Russian 
 settlers, and communities of strangers have lately 
 begun to expand suddenly and surprisingly in num- 
 bers. This little-known fact tends to show a danger 
 which undoubtedly exists ; namely, that Chinese 
 colonisation may be able ultimately to regain regions 
 which were lost in the. past through the impotence 
 and incompetence of China's rulers. In the same 
 way on the mid-Amur there are quasi-independent 
 communities of Koreans, who for some strange reason 
 emigrated to this country, more than a thousand miles 
 from their ancestral homes, as far back as 1872. All 
 these curious groups of Manchu, Chinese, and Korean 
 agriculturists have thriven exceedingly, where the 
 more masterful Russian settlers have sometimes 
 been in danger of starvation. It is astonishing to 
 notice how everywhere east of Lake Baikal this 
 curious competition between the white men and 
 those of Mongol race still goes on. The final solu- 
 tion has not yet been arrived at, though during the 
 past forty years every means has been attempted 
 by the Russian authorities to popularise the Russian 
 colonisation of the Amur — to make the peasant and 
 Cossack communities self-supporting and reasonably 
 contented with their lot, and to promote a constant 
 stream of emigration. But in spite of the great 
 inducements which have from time to time been 
 held out, no progress such as has now to be noted 
 behind Lake Baikal has been possible. 
 
 The first settlers were all Cossacks from Trans- 
 baikalia, who, merely because their Government 
 
114 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap 
 
 willed it, submitted gallantly enough to the semi- 
 compulsory fate of being posted in small bands in 
 the heart of an utterly unknown country, where 
 there was nothing but great rivers bordered by 
 dense uninterrupted forests, so that they might 
 form that living chain to the sea which Russian 
 statesmen deemed necessary in order to cement 
 with flesh and blood what had been so lightly 
 obtained by treaty. But the mortality among these 
 first comers was so great, and the stories of the 
 sufferings and endless hardships which they had to 
 endure through the long winters were so haunting, 
 that for years it was impossible to induce peasantry 
 who held no direct benefits from the State, as did 
 the Cossacks, to continue the emigration. Slowly, 
 however, the improvements in the river service and 
 the gradual growth of the settlements brought about 
 a change for the better in the ordinary conditions of 
 life. And from the early 'eighties peasant families 
 have been transported in some numbers both from 
 Russia and Siberia to the Amur as a regular matter 
 of course. Still, even to-day the difficulties to be 
 overcome before the Amur has more than a nomin- 
 ally Russian character are officially admitted to be 
 immense. It has been calculated, for instance, by 
 competent Russian statisticians that the utmost area 
 which is available for colonisation along the two 
 thousand miles of waterway is only twelve million 
 dessiatin (the dessiatin is roughly two and a half 
 acres), and that in order to ensure life in the bitter 
 winter, at least half the present enormous wooded 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 115 
 
 area must be preserved by an iron forestry law. 
 Consequently it is held that in all this vast region 
 there is only room for 600,000 village settlers. 
 Therefore, although such towns as Stretensk, Bla- 
 govestchensk, and Khabarovsk may grow vastly with 
 the coming of the railway, the Russian banks of the 
 Amur river and the country to the immediate north 
 can never hope to have more than a million white 
 inhabitants. In other words, these Russians will 
 still continue to constitute, as they have constituted 
 in the past, a solid and cunningly devised communi- 
 cation-belt between Transbaikalia and the sea ; but 
 the real goal and the real settling place can only be 
 the maritime territory — an area which might pos- 
 sibly be made to support some five or six million 
 Russians. That region alone can become a piece 
 of the New Russia so ardently dreamed of by 
 Muravieff. 
 
 Muravieff — yes, in these regions it is always 
 necessary to hark back to that name. For although 
 half a century has gone by since the daring Count 
 of the Amur sailed down these turgid waters in 
 his improvised flotilla of flat-bottomed barges, and 
 effected his great and sensational conquest without 
 firing a single shot, the personality and ambitions of 
 this man still remain the guiding beacons, because 
 here time flows by so uneventfully. Elsewhere 
 there are conquests, triumphs, victories, defeats and 
 tragedies which rapidly succeed one another and 
 punctuate the days ; and which by their wide shocks 
 remove each generation from the one which has 
 
 I 2 
 
ii6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 preceded it, and thereby give birth to new aims 
 and ideals. Here there is only the silence of un- 
 conquered nature, in which men slowly move to 
 their destinies ; each individual almost majestic 
 because of his isolation, yet fearful of the shadows 
 around him and still more fearful of the warmer 
 world to the south in which he always believes that 
 dense masses conspire. Thus Muravieff's famous 
 prikaz, or order of the day, issued to his beloved 
 Cossacks half a century ago, when it was deemed 
 politic to publish officially the great news of the 
 annexation of the Amur territories, has not needed 
 to be engraved in many places, as has actually been 
 done, to have the people remember. They will 
 always remember. This, prikaz paints in simple yet 
 vivid prose, with something of that rude and abrupt 
 eloquence which Russians know so well how to 
 affect in order to reach their audiences, the hopes 
 and fears of an ice- and land-bound people. In 
 studied exclamations the message reads : " Com- 
 rades, I congratulate you ! Our efforts were not in 
 vain. The Amur has become the property of 
 Russia. The Holy Orthodox Church prays for 
 you ; Russia is grateful. Long live the Czar Alex- 
 ander! May the newly-acquired territory prosper 
 under his mighty protection ! Hurrah ! " 
 
 The exultation of this first message was thus 
 marked because Russia had at last reached the 
 unfrozen Pacific by the shortest route then open — 
 the water route — and had at last obtained a clear 
 and open title to regions which she had in vain 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 117 
 
 attempted to secure by decades of raiding expe- 
 ditions — expeditions, indeed, lasting during the 
 whole of the latter part of the seventeenth century 
 and ending always in unconditional retreat. Until 
 the Amur route was opened, Russia could reach 
 the frigid seas of Okhotsk only by the Yene- 
 seiesk- Yakutsk roads lying nearly a thousand miles 
 to the north, and cut off from the more desirable 
 latitudes by the Yablonoi and Stanovoi mountains. 
 The occupation of the Amur gave a new line of 
 communications to the sea, second only in general 
 excellence to those masterpieces of modern man — 
 railways. Yet in spite of this natural pride in a 
 success which came so tardily, Baron Korff, the first 
 Governor- General of the Amur oblast, appointed in 
 the middle 'eighties, when Khabarovsk had re- 
 placed Irkutsk as the administrative centre of the 
 Far Eastern territories, did not hesitate to strike a 
 new note radically different from the first cry of 
 exultation uttered by Muravieff At the very first 
 meeting of local notables over which he presided — a 
 meeting convened to consider how best the develop- 
 ment of this great country could be advanced under 
 the new rigime — he began his speech with solemn 
 words. The isolation and the brooding quiet of 
 nature had already greatly impressed the sensi- 
 tive Slav imagination, and had made the resi- 
 dents in thefee climes feel how much labour and 
 how much earnestness they would have to expend 
 before there could be any permanent success. Baron 
 Korff's opening words were not so much the key- 
 
ii8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 note of a speech as the text of an altruistic sermon. 
 " Power lies in love and not in force," he began ; 
 and so thoroughly did he reach his audience that on 
 one of the towering cliffs that rear themselves again 
 and again high above the Amur, an immense iron- 
 covered cross, visible in that clear atmosphere for 
 dozens of miles up and down the river, was imme- 
 diately erected and his words engraved on it. It may 
 be said that Muravieff's prikaz, his famous statue at 
 Khabarovsk, and this later message of Korff's tell 
 with simplicity and truth the whole story of the 
 Russians on the Amur, so long as the influence of 
 other events did not touch them. They were con- 
 tent with their peaceful victory and with peaceful 
 aspirations. 
 
 Those were quiet years, when the Russian pioneers 
 on the Amur had ample time to take stock of their 
 surroundings, and to see how absorbingly interest- 
 ing both ethnologically and historically was all this 
 curious realm of river, mountain, and grassy plain 
 over which they had so lightly acquired the rights 
 of eminent domain. The native tribes who lurked 
 in twos and threes at river mouths and fled in their 
 frail birch-bark canoes, or on their fleet reindeer, at 
 the first sight of these curious white men, were 
 gradually approached and tamed. There were so 
 few of them, in spite of the immensity of their un- 
 conquered land ! A return which was compiled in 
 those early days of half a century ago, and which 
 divided the various tribes and inhabitants into their 
 proper groups, disclosed that in an area a dozen 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 119 
 
 times as great as that of the British Isles, there 
 were only about 23,500 inhabitants. This old 
 enumeration of wandering peoples with uncouth 
 names sounds almost biblical ; it is reminiscent of a 
 state of things which is fast disappearing, and will 
 soon be forgotten. On the upper Amur there were 
 260 Orochons ; a little down-stream 3,000 Manyargs 
 and Birars ; not far from them were grouped in 
 agricultural villages, whence they viewed their 
 neighbours with distrust, about 2,000 Daurians. On 
 the lower Amur and Ussuri there were 3,560 men 
 and women of the Goldi tribe, 1,100 of the Mangun 
 tribe, and 1,000 Semagers, otherwise known as 
 Negidals and Kile. On the seacoasts were 1,000 
 Orochis ; on Saghalien, 1,000 Orokes and 1,000 
 Ainus ; whilst roaming over the eastern part of the 
 country and more powerful in their tribal organisa- 
 tion than any of the other races, were 8,000 Gilyaks. 
 Finally, in certain of the Ussuri districts were found 
 a total of some 1,500 Chinese fugitives from justice 
 — men who had fled from Manchuria, whither they 
 had been exiled from China for various offences to 
 labour in chain-gangs on the post-roads until they 
 died. To these Chinese the Russians, following 
 the example of the natives around, gave the name 
 of Mantzi, which, though historically incorrect, had 
 so survived and had become such a Russian tradi- 
 tion that in 1900 the soldiery of the avenging 
 Russian armies which entered Manchuria to restore 
 order called all Manchurian-Chinese " Mantzi " 
 and nothing else. 
 
I20 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 All these curious and little-known tribes of the 
 Amur and coast provinces had remained probably 
 for countless ages at the same low state of civilisa- 
 tion in which the first Russians of the MuraviefF 
 period found them. Leading a wandering existence, 
 and, like the Mongols of present-day Mongolia, 
 living for the most part in yurts, or tents of skin or 
 bark, as their sole habitations, these children of 
 nature, divided by differences of speech, customs, 
 and clothing from one another, resembled in a 
 marked fashion the Indians of the far north of 
 America. Their most intimate companions were 
 their small ponies, their reindeer, and their droves 
 of dogs ; and availing themselves of a primitive yet 
 ingenious harpoon, they were accustomed to obtain 
 from the countless rivers and streams the greater 
 part of their slender food supplies. Yet although 
 addicted to a crude Shamanism as their sole 
 religion, in features and in many characteristics, all 
 such Tunguzian natives of the Amur may be said 
 to be a step nearer to the Caucasian than the more 
 southerly inhabitants of Eastern Asia, for they 
 belong to the north-western branch of the great 
 Ural-Altaic family, and their languages are Turanian. 
 Roving summer and winter in the midst of virgin 
 nature, they had many of the attributes of the beasts 
 of the forests around them. They were timid, 
 yet cruel on provocation ; kindly, yet suspicious ; 
 inclined to look on all men of superior civilisation — 
 as bitter experience had taught them to look on 
 their erstwhile Manchu suzerains^as mere task- 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 121 
 
 masters, without bowels of compassion, desirous of 
 extorting only as many precious sables as possible 
 at the close of each hunting season. Of literature, 
 they had, of course, no trace ; yet, while without 
 traditions of their past, they could readily improvise 
 songs not altogether devoid of artistic arrangement. 
 On nearing home one of the native guides of 
 Veniukof — the Russian traveller of whom mention 
 has already been made and who first explored the 
 Ussuri — began spontaneously to sing a song of the 
 rapid river which he should not much longer navi- 
 gate, of his being soon at home again where a 
 pretty wife was awaiting him and where his mother 
 was fretting at his absence. And he introduced 
 into this endless strain — which according to circum- 
 stances was joyful or plaintive — the Russians whom 
 he had newly come across, the country traversed, 
 the difficulties surmounted, and the lurking animals 
 who though unseen might devour him. Most feared 
 of all these forest animals, the Russians soon found, 
 was the bear. The curious inhabitants of these 
 woodlands respected the bear accordingly, and made 
 him play a part in their religious notions. Bear- 
 captures were succeeded by bear-dances, which were 
 important festivals amongst some of the tribes ; and 
 the skull, bones, and ears of dead bruins, properly 
 exposed, were counted powerful antidotes against 
 the conspiracies of evil spirits. Child-like, yet 
 cunning and skilled in every branch of woodman's 
 craft, these people were brought with little difficulty 
 to an appreciation of the fact that henceforth they 
 
122 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 must dwell under the shadow of the throne of the 
 White Czar. It was no great hardship, this change 
 of nominal masters — indeed, it was a change for 
 the better, for the Russians soon showed themselves 
 infinitely kinder than had been the Manchus or their 
 tax-collecting lieutenants. The natives had always 
 been accustomed, as long as they could remember, 
 to a vague suzerainty such as in their eyes the 
 Russian dominion now appeared to be. Although 
 they had lost all their earlier traditions, and could 
 remember as their masters only the Manchu 
 sovereigns, reigning at Peking, Russian scientists 
 soon ascertained that this Manchu domination had 
 not always existed. Near the mouth of the Amur, on 
 a bold cliff rising high above the river, some monu- 
 ments and the remains of a temple were discovered, 
 and on these monuments Chinese and Sanskrit in- 
 scriptions were deciphered, showing that the ruined 
 temple had been called the Monastery of Eternal 
 Repose, whilst the half-broken tablets lying on the 
 ground near by were engraved with the habitual 
 Buddhist incantation, " Oh precious Lotus ! Amen ! " 
 Near these relics of a distant past were the remains 
 of ancient walls ; whilst elsewhere another Chinese 
 inscription was found, reading " The great Yuan 
 spreads the hands of force everywhere." It has 
 never been properly authenticated to which emperor 
 this inscription refers ; but the probability is that 
 it speaks of some one of the Yuan or Mongol 
 dynasty of eight centuries ago. A manuscript of 
 1678, preserved in the Library of the Siberian 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 123 
 
 Department, mentions that it had come to the 
 knowledge of the writer in his travels that Russian 
 warriors (Cossacks of the seventeenth century ?) 
 found a great bell weighing six hundred and sixty 
 pounds on this very locality, half buried in the 
 ground ; and that the natives living there had said 
 that very long ago a Chinese emperor had come 
 to the Amur by sea and erected the bell, and 
 left these various monuments in commemora- 
 tion of his voyage. Of how far afield to the 
 north the Chinese or Mongol emperors or their 
 envoys once reached, there is otherwise but little 
 record. 
 
 Isolated in this far-off corner of Asia, the first 
 Russians on the Amur after the Muravieff treaties 
 were in the position of anxious pioneers half 
 vanquished by distances rather than self-satisfied 
 conquerors. They lived always with the remains of 
 the old dread of the Manchus, whose word com- 
 manded such enormous masses of men. Indeed, at 
 that time they feared the vanishing power of the 
 Chinese as much as their forbears on the Dnieper 
 and the Don had feared and at the same time 
 courted the declining Roman Empire. In his 
 History of the Decline and Fall, Gibbon has 
 shown how during the first age of monarchy the 
 two ancient Russian cities of Kiefif and Novgorod 
 were no more than camps or fairs, the most con- 
 venient stations where barbarians might assemble 
 for the occasional business of war or trade. Travel- 
 ling down waterways in their canoes until they 
 
124 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 gained the Black Sea and made the Constantinople 
 shores, the Russians of those days existed on 
 sufferance, because Rome was weak, and yet 
 managed to exchange their furs and the hides of 
 their cattle for the cargoes of corn, wine, and oil 
 of which they stood in such need. It was much 
 the same on the Amur. Established where they 
 were solely because of the weakness of China, the 
 first Russians moved with caution and fear, and 
 although a dozen centuries had gone by since 
 the Don and the Dnieper resounded with the 
 clamour of Russian oarsmen bending under the 
 weight of the first Russian expansionist movement, 
 the very same quantities, values, and methods, 
 under only slightly changed forms, were to be 
 found amongst their descendants in the Far East. 
 Clumsily yet doggedly they familiarised themselves 
 with their surroundings, and impressed on them 
 a little of that civilisation which is so distinctive 
 that Pobyedonestseff has exclaimed that Russia 
 is not a Power but a world in herself. But they 
 could do nothing more. 
 
 For many years, indeed, there was no ulterior 
 motive. It was the collapse of China in the strange 
 war of 1894-95 — China, the mysterious, lying across 
 the Amur border — and the corresponding rise of 
 Japan, which changed the general attitude of peace 
 towards all men into one of aggression. After the 
 intervention of 1895 had driven Japan from Southern 
 Manchuria, the directors of Russia's foreign affairs 
 began at once to urge the immediate necessity of a 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 125 
 
 policy of pure extension southward, hand in hand 
 with a policy of consolidation in the territories they 
 had already held for forty years ; otherwise they 
 feared that they would once more be driven back 
 and excluded from reaping benefits and privileges 
 which they had always ardently longed for. It is true 
 that, side by side with the general Amur policy, Russia 
 has never ceased in a minor way to hanker after a 
 more perfect position on the Pacific. But this 
 side of her policy, evidenced by the acquisition 
 of Saghalien in 1887 — or rather by the enforced 
 recognition by Japan of her sovereignty over the 
 whole of that island — was tentative and speculative, 
 and could probably have been arrested by firmness 
 such as the Japanese displayed in the 'sixties by 
 absolutely refusing to allow Russian admirals to 
 hoist the northern tricolour over the strategically 
 important island of Tsushima. Indeed, the tentative 
 nature of this policy is well understood when it is 
 remembered that the prime movers in such affairs 
 were always Russian admirals — seamen knowing 
 only the Pacific coast and largely unacquainted with 
 the sole real source of Russian strength, which lies 
 on land. 
 
 This speculative or isolated, tentative portion of 
 Russian Far Eastern policy — that is, the spasmodic 
 naval activity not only along the whole Pacific sea- 
 board but around the island groups fringing the 
 northern" mainland as well — must be counted of 
 very old origin. It may also be held natural in the 
 case of a mighty untamed empire, which, although 
 
126 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 possessing the greatest unbroken stretch of terri- 
 tory in the world, had always been cut off from all 
 but Arctic or land-locked seas. That Russia, a 
 mere land giant, should with convulsive movements 
 stretch out her arms towards wider seas, is almost 
 pathetic in its suggestiveness. This Russian 
 naval activity in the Far East actually began as 
 early as 1741 with the ■ discovery by Behring and 
 Tchirikoff of the territory of Alaska — a discovery 
 which soon led to a dim realisation of the future 
 importance which the general configuration of the 
 northerly Asiatic coast-lines would have on the 
 destinies of nations. The Russian annexation of 
 Alaska at length led to the foundation of the old 
 Russo-American Company in 1797 by the Emperor 
 Paul, and began that now almost forgotten joint 
 Russian and American fishing and trading activity 
 on the Northern Pacific which endured until the 
 purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867 
 for a million and a half sterling. It was this trade 
 alliance which formed the basis of the Russo- 
 American friendship that was such a feature on 
 the Pacific during the early part of the last century, 
 and which so few people now understand. Russia 
 was in those days much fascinated by the American 
 as well as by the Asiatic coast-line ; and, had her 
 statesmen understood sea-power, might have seized 
 California from Spain — her mariners landed again 
 and again on those shores — and thus have become 
 an American as well as an Asiatic Power. 
 
 Yet for all this enterprise the old-time Russian 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 127 
 
 maritime activity on the Northern Pacific was, as 
 has been said, purely speculative and fortuitous, and 
 none too clearly connected — if, indeed, connected 
 at all — with the gradual development and forward 
 movement of her people which was slowly absorb- 
 ing the Asiatic Pacific hinterland. The corps of 
 gallant Russian navigators in the Far East, whose 
 first leaders were men of the stamp of Behring, 
 mariners steeled to all privations and filled with the 
 most grandiose ideas, continued their examination 
 of the Asiatic shores of the Pacific without too 
 much encouragement either from home or from the 
 Governor of Eastern Siberia, and sought by their 
 constant efforts not only to implant Russian in- 
 fluences in places from which Russian naval expan- 
 sion might possibly be directed, but perhaps to 
 secure for their indifferent Emperor rights of 
 eminent domain in the most diverse territories — 
 rights which might be found highly valuable in 
 years to come when the bureaucracy really under- 
 stood. In 1848 — years before Muravieff, Governor- 
 General of Irkutsk, had dared to travel down the 
 Amur — Admiral Nevelskoi, then only a Captain, 
 was spurred to follow the direct example of the 
 navigators who had founded posts along the Kams- 
 chatka and Okhotsk seaboards ; to move down the 
 line of least resistance and to establish victualling 
 stations in convenient anchorages, far to the south 
 of Okhotsk— that is, off the present Maritime 
 Province, although that province ostensibly be- 
 longed to the Manchus and formed, indeed, an 
 
128 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chaP. 
 
 integral part of Manchuria. It was on this quest 
 that Nevelskoi founded Nicolaievsk at the Amur 
 mouth as early as 185 1, and went cruising and 
 sounding in other directions. Every mile to the 
 south meant a better climate and less ice ; better 
 opportunities for settling and for influencing the 
 destinies of the Far East, whose vast possibilities 
 were very early appreciated by a few clever 
 Russians. Indeed, even sixty years ago, they had 
 understood much. Two years after Nicolaievsk had 
 been founded, naval posts were established hundreds 
 of miles down the Pacific seaboard in Castries Bay 
 and Port Imperial ; and although the outbreak of 
 the Crimean War in 1854 found an Anglo-French 
 fleet attempting to destroy all Russian influence on 
 the Pacific by bombarding and burning such stations, 
 the final miserable ill-success. of this fleet of British 
 and French frigates in the Far North — a powerful 
 Anglo-French squadron was actually beaten ofil 
 with heavy loss in an attack on Petropavlovsk — 
 encouraged Russian admirals to renew their efforts 
 directly the Treaty of Paris had terminated one of 
 the most disastrous chapters in Russian-European 
 history. 
 
 Therefore Admiral Putiatin took up the work 
 where Admiral Nevelskoi had left it off. In 1859 
 he actually obtained the right from the Koreans to 
 establish a coaling station at Port Hamilton ; and 
 although he soon showed himself a fit predecessor 
 of Admiral Alexieff by sailing round to the Pechili 
 seas in the same year and demanding from China 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 129 
 
 the cession of the whole of Manchuria for the help 
 which he proposed to give in crushing the Taipings, 
 yet by this abortive and disowned action he un- 
 doubtedly opened the eyes of his own people and of 
 European diplomatists to the fact that a persistent 
 naval activity was fated to effect much along the 
 seaboard of Far Eastern Asia. 
 
 From the mass of incidents happening subsequent 
 to i860, the three most important events may 
 be mentioned to show how the Russian maritime 
 position in the Far East was finally rounded off and 
 reduced to definite and sensible limits. The refusal 
 of the Japanese in 1864 to listen for one moment to 
 the Russian proposal that the important island of 
 Tsushima should be ceded ; the sale of Alaska to 
 the United States in 1867 ; and the exchange with 
 Japan of the barren Kurile Islands for the southern 
 portion of Saghalien, over which the Japanese had 
 persisted in claiming sovereignty — these gave the 
 new aspect in final terms and left Russia in the 
 position of a Pacific Power created solely by the 
 Russo-Chinese treaties of Aigun and Peking. She 
 was then well entrenched, and had she contented 
 herself with the Amur province all would have been 
 well. Once secure on the Asiatic coasts she was 
 willing to abandon her American possession, to 
 minimise the importance of her Northern Asiatic 
 stations, and to shift everything of importance to the 
 shores facing the Sea of Japan. This made her of 
 necessity the rival of Japan. Not until decades 
 afterwards, with the conclusion of the China-Japan 
 
 K 
 
I30 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 war, did the speculative naval movement begin 
 anew ; and in this movement history showed that it 
 could repeat itself with curious and menacing fidelity. 
 It is important to note that from 1895 onwards, 
 while the land movement and the land plans were 
 safe, the naval activity became more and more 
 speculative until it found its natural nadir in such 
 disasters as the complete and unconditional retreat 
 from Korea and the Port Arthur ddbdcle. It was 
 the inevitable end. 
 
 Yet it must be well understood that whilst the 
 wreckage of the war is being cleared away in the 
 lost spheres and on the lost coast-lines, and Japanese 
 influence there substituted for Russian influence, 
 the Russian Pacific seaboard, which was acquired 
 by a legitimate treaty with China half a century 
 ago, has already been greatly benefited from an 
 economical standpoint and is destined to be re- 
 invigorated. Thus Nicolaievsk, 623 miles below 
 Khabarovsk, has grown in the same astonishing and 
 rapid manner during and since the war as Vladi- 
 vostock, and is fated, if present indications do not 
 mislead, to become historic in several ways. In 
 1902, the author of that excellent book, In the 
 Uttermost East, visited this far-off town, which is at 
 one and the same time a river and coast port, and 
 gave in his pages a brief and singularly uninviting 
 description of it. " The town, which is perched on 
 the rugged slope of the northern bank of the Amur, 
 consists mainly," he writes, " of a broad street or 
 road with an off-shoot down to the pristan (jetty) 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 131 
 
 and a few parallel green tracks. The main street 
 contains half a dozen well-built wooden structures, 
 including the Church, the Russo-Chinese Bank, and 
 some merchants' stores. There are a few shops and 
 residences of officials, the rest are lone houses, 
 straggling away into the scrub and forest, out of 
 which the site of Nicolaievsk has been carved. At 
 the foot is the collection of wooden wharves which 
 in the autumn present quite a busy scene. An 
 Amur steamer is in ; three or four steamers bringing 
 provisions, tea, flour, etc., for the winter, are lying 
 in mid- stream ; huge lighters, which I am told 
 were made in England, are being tugged ashore ; 
 while a small fleet of schooners rides at anchor 
 higher up stream waiting for their annual load of 
 fish for Japan." That, five years ago, was Nicolaievsk. 
 Yet, although this meagre description brings out 
 well the distance which separates the Pacific town 
 from the civilised world, it is to-day in other respects 
 utterly misleading. Five years ago it may have 
 had at the full season only two or three thousand 
 inhabitants ; to-day, including the military, there are 
 supposed to be more than twenty thousand Russians 
 in the town. This growth has been directly fostered 
 by the total evacuation of the adjacent island of 
 Saghalien during the last months of the war, and by 
 the decrees of the Portsmouth Treaty. For although 
 the Portsmouth Treaty reinstated Russia in the half 
 of the island north of the fiftieth parallel, the old 
 position and the old manner of viewing the convict 
 realm have gone never to return. In the near 
 
 K 2 
 
132 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 future Northern Saghalien will be something quite 
 different from a mere land of horrible exile for 
 murderers and political offenders ; it is to be 
 developed on the most liberal terms by private 
 enterprise. Capitalists are to be invited to do much 
 as they please, and the Russian Government, having 
 failed, will watch to see if its sons have not more 
 ability to work out problems when they are left 
 alone. All the Saghalien garrison, the officials, and 
 the "free commands" — the convicted criminals who 
 have earned by their good conduct a measure of 
 liberty — have meanwhile migrated to Nicolaievsk, 
 thus quadrupling the population of the town by one 
 movement alone, and inviting by their action thou- 
 sands of their countrymen to come and contribute to 
 the growing activity of the Amur mouth. And in 
 this wise, with commercially-minded Chinese begin- 
 ning to flock to a place where a rapid expansion has 
 become inevitable owing to the results of the war, 
 Nicolaievsk has already a European population ex- 
 ceeding that of any English city in Asia. The enor- 
 mous and victorious preponderance in numbers which 
 Russia possesses is brilliantly exemplified in this 
 small case. Twenty thousand Russians are nothing ; 
 twenty thousand Englishmen gathered together in a 
 corner of the world would soon have it known that 
 the centres of influence were shifting. 
 
 The drawing in or concentration which has of 
 necessity come all over the Russian Far East owing 
 to the naval dibdcle has therefore had good land 
 effects already. The Amur river traffic has never 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 133 
 
 been so brisk as it was last summer. Cargoes have 
 been poured up-river in unending streams to such 
 places as Blagovestchensk, and a great impetus has 
 begun to be given to an industry almost stricken by 
 the war — the fishing industry. Before the war it 
 was computed that several million poods (say a 
 hundred million English pounds or so) of trout were 
 annually caught in the Amur and Saghalien fisheries ; 
 yet in spite of these enormous catches hardly any of 
 the fish found its way out of Russian territory. 
 This is because fish is one of the necessities of life 
 in these northern climes, owing to the lack of other 
 things, and must be possessed in endless quantities 
 if men are to live and to prosper. It is therefore 
 caught and stored on a Gargantuan scale. An 
 immense local business in drying and preparing 
 for the Russian markets everything given up by the 
 seas and the rivers therefore goes on during all 
 the summer ; and even in the dread winter fishing 
 through ice-holes is continuous. The bitterness 
 with which Russian fishermen and Russian fishing 
 companies insist that their discredited diplomatists 
 shall fight against any Japanese fishing invasion 
 can therefore be readily understood. Here fish 
 are almost the loaves of other climes ; and to the 
 natives and those who have lived long in these 
 regions, fish oil and fat are the main essentials of 
 life. 
 
 The eyes of the entire Russian Far Eastern 
 population, and especially the Amur river population, 
 are, therefore, fixed perforce on the future ; and 
 
134 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 every man and woman waits with growing impatience 
 and anxiety to see the steps which St. Petersburg 
 must order if the heritage of Muravieff is to be 
 preserved and increased, as is so ardently desired. 
 Everything waits on distant European Russia ; for 
 the Russian Far East left to itself can effect nothing. 
 It is too far off, too undeveloped, too lonely, for 
 great actions. 
 
 It has just learned of the first steps with grim 
 satisfaction. These first steps are, of course, rail- 
 ways and soldiers. For the end of the Manchurian 
 adventure has necessitated a re-stating of the whole 
 Amur position and a careful reconsideration of all 
 those questions which should have been properly 
 decided years ago. Russians have had to blot out 
 with a great black stamp such as their press censors 
 use, a big piece of political geography which they 
 considered almost permanent. The forgotten Amur 
 railway scheme — it is officially called forgotten, but 
 there is some casuistry in the use of the word — 
 has been remembered, and no sooner remembered 
 than it has been sanctioned by the Council of the 
 Empire and the Czar, and is now a cut-and-dried 
 project which will be carried out immediately. The 
 surveys have been commenced from Khabarovsk, 
 from Blagovestchensk, and from Stretensk. These 
 surveys will be continued right through the Arctic 
 winter until it is reasonably certain that they will be 
 completed before the end of next year. And once 
 they have been completed and funds have been 
 found, the construction will doubtless be pushed 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 135 
 
 on with that ferocious rapidity which characterised 
 the building of the Manchurian railways, when, 
 with a long interim of riot whilst the Boxers were at 
 work, 2,277 versts (or i,6oo English miles) were 
 absolutely completed in five years. But the task of 
 building approximately the same length of rails 
 along the Amur banks — the actual steamer course 
 is exactly 2,066 versts between Stretensk and 
 Khabarovsk, and the rail distance must be greater 
 — will be much harder. The Amur winter is so 
 severe that the ground even in the two hot summer 
 months never unfreezes two feet below the earth- 
 level, and in January the cold becomes so intense 
 that the drivers of post-teams, as they gallop along 
 the snow, have to dismount methodically every half- 
 hour to break away with heavy blows the great 
 lumps of ice which collect around their horses' 
 nostrils and threaten them with asphyxiation. In 
 such circumstances all work must cease for at least 
 four or five months every year ; and, therefore, if 
 the vital Amur river railway — vital to the Russian 
 consolidation scheme — is constructed by 19 15, that 
 is in eight years, it will be a most notable achieve- 
 ment. Hundreds of rivers and streams flowing 
 into the main waterway will have to be bridged, and 
 a permanent way raised high above the flood-level ; 
 and savage mountains will have to be circumvented 
 or pierced. It is true that all materials can be more 
 easily brought here than in the case of most rail- 
 ways, since river transport will be available along 
 every foot of the entire course, and that river 
 
136 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 transport is already well organised. But this alone 
 can be no complete compensation for the many 
 natural difificulties which will have to be overcome.. 
 Even though work is begun and pushed on from 
 half a dozen starting-points, an average of a mile 
 a day for each year of seven months along the 
 entire route is the maximum which can be accom- 
 plished. 
 
 When this railway has been fairly begun, it will, 
 however, serve to emphasise the fact that the 
 territories lying below Khabarovsk — that is, the 
 lower Amur territories with Nicolaievsk as a final 
 point — form really a separate belt. Below 
 Khabarovsk the Amur takes a sudden and almost 
 inexplicable bend due north, and continues in 
 this wise until it empties itself into the broad and 
 treacherous estuary at the head of which stands the 
 thriving fishing and transport town — the warehouse 
 of the lower Amur, of the Okhotsk Sea, and of 
 Saghalien — Nicolaievsk. These regions cannot be 
 expected to grow very much in importance until 
 they are connected by rails with the Ussuri and 
 the mid- Amur. It is quite uncertain as yet whether 
 such an extension is really contemplated or not ; 
 the expense would be enormous and even the 
 military results small. The waterway is a good 
 enough railway in itself, yet steel has lately shown 
 itself such a factor that it is held the only bond 
 which really unites. Each town along the Amur — 
 Stretensk, Blagovestchensk, Khabarovsk, and 
 Nicolaievsk — will soon become an important military 
 
IV KHABAROVSK AND THE AMUR PROVINCE 137 
 
 centre ; with rails and soldiers everything is to be 
 cemented tight. 
 
 From these few remarks it will be understood 
 that the Amur oblast, or Government, as surveyed 
 from the picturesque town of Khabarovsk, will offer 
 immense possibilities in the immediate future. The 
 enormous distances, the climatic difficulties, the un- 
 happy past, the self-contained nature of the Russian 
 Empire, the cast-iron ideas of the bureaucracy, 
 the political unrest at home — all these are un- 
 doubtedly obstacles which time and patience can 
 alone overcome. But against those things must 
 be set the hardihood and grim tenacity of the 
 Russian race. As a nation they are a race of men 
 who are the sons of men — of that there is no doubt. 
 If they will only be guided in a certain direction 
 and become intensive instead of merely extensive, 
 the hardihood of the race and the unparalleled natural 
 riches of their territory will finally work out an 
 extraordinary solution. Whether this solution will 
 end in another anabasis — straight down to the south 
 from Khabarovsk — it is too soon to say. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 INTO MANCHURIA 
 
 When the traveller has arrived at Khabarovsk 
 it is not necessary for him, in order to enter Man- 
 churia, to retrace his footsteps, and, descending the 
 venturesome Ussuri railway, which has just been 
 ascended, to branch off at Nicolsk and proceed to 
 Harbin by rail on the Chinese Eastern Railway 
 system. For it is possible to take steamer direct 
 from Khabarovsk to Harbin ; that is, to travel the 
 great water-route which makes the Amur belong 
 geographically to the Northern Manchurian pro- 
 vinces, and thus escape all railway travel. It is 
 possible to do this, but at the same time, be it 
 well noted, highly unprofitable. For the Amur 
 must be slowly ascended in a somewhat dirty little 
 steamer to a point a few miles above the big 
 Cossack village of Michailo-Semenovskaya, where 
 after circumventing some huge islands round which 
 eddy great muddy currents, the Sungari mouth is 
 at last reached. Up the Sungari one may then travel 
 in a shallow-draft stern-wheeler of only a couple 
 of hundred tons, far beyond Harbin and indeed 
 
CH. V INTO MANCHURIA 139 
 
 almost as high as Kirin City, which is a thousand 
 miles up-stream, and in the very heart of the coming 
 country. This route is therefore a tedious one. If 
 you adopt it, you may possibly gain some additional 
 knowledge concerning the surprising manner in 
 which Chinese agriculturists have gradually des- 
 cended the great Sungari valleys, until their culti- 
 vated patches now cover vast tracks of land which 
 only twenty years ago were howling wildernesses, 
 hardly trodden even by the feet of the ever- 
 wandering Fish-skin Tartar aborigines, who were 
 then the lords of these regions. You would see, 
 too, many junks constructed at Kirin City, the 
 inland dockyard of Manchuria, slowly floating down- 
 stream, charged with those precious burdens of 
 grain and other agricultural produce which are so 
 eagerly bought up by the frost-bound Russian 
 settlers of the Amur. Thus you would certainly 
 appreciate more fully in minor ways how, side by 
 side with other problems which Russia has to solve 
 in coming years, there is also this great question — 
 the slow movement northward to the Amur regions 
 of millions upon millions of hard-headed Chinese 
 settlers who, by combining with one another and 
 by the very intensiveness of their methods, form 
 a solid phalanx which no Russian moujiks, officially 
 transplanted by their Government, can ever break. 
 
 But, as has been said, this river route is tedious 
 and unprofitable if you value comfort. You would 
 spend nearly a week on a craft on which crawling 
 and jumping things speedily become your most 
 
I40 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 intimate and detested companions ; and you would 
 eat of a lurid cooking which is an insistent proof 
 that the antithesis of what Brillat-Savarin made 
 gospel is reached without effort in these dreary- 
 latitudes by pleasant individuals of uncertain origin, 
 who delight in believing — for the sum of thirty 
 roubles a month — that destiny has willed that they 
 should be chefs. In such circumstances rails are 
 infinitely preferable. Once more, therefore, you 
 enter stuffy compartments heated to burning point 
 to please their many cold-fearing patrons ; once- 
 more you dispute your place with others in dumb 
 pantomime and ill-sounding Russo-Chinese words ; 
 once more you grumblingly pay the 'ordered sums 
 which custom demands and are then bowingly 
 franked forward ; and thus retracing your steps and 
 adding to your notes, in due course you are back 
 again in Nicolsk and Southern Ussuri. To the 
 north-west you will see that second important set of 
 rails which carry you abruptly across the Man- 
 churian frontier after a short run of 115 versts, 
 or 75 miles. And from here your studies must 
 be resumed. 
 
 For these miles which you now cover are not 
 without interest, if you have the present position of 
 Far Eastern politics and the future possibilities in 
 your mind. Until you reach the station of Grodekov 
 — which under the old system marked the begin- 
 ning of the Chinese Eastern Railway, the Man- 
 churian line, and the end of the Ussuri system 
 proper, although the actual Manchurian frontier 
 
INTO MANCHURIA 141 
 
 is somewhat farther on — you run through that vast 
 plain which one day may suffice to nourish millions 
 of people, though of what nationality is for the 
 moment uncertain. Just now you merely have 
 ample proof that much work must be performed 
 before definite results can be obtained, Patches of 
 the plain are already cultivated, it is true, but the 
 cultivators of these little lots are the same small bands 
 of Koreans who through their industry are quickly 
 becoming comparatively rich men, and are now slyly 
 bringing in brothers from across the Tiumen 
 boundary line, so that their kith and kin may 
 share in their prosperity. Russian villages are 
 almost non-existent here near the Chino-Korean 
 border ; and this region still continues to be almost 
 a piece of No-Man's Land, over which the Russian 
 flag flies principally because it was hoisted when 
 there was no one to contest its display. 
 
 The little railway garrisons, whose existence as 
 the most important part of a general scheme had 
 almost been forgotten in the more placid regions of 
 the Amur, begin again to be seen ; and once more 
 at every station and new war-siding the same groups 
 of stalwart men lounging about in their loose uni- 
 forms and long top-boots proclaim for your edifica- 
 tion that they alone constitute Russia's strength. 
 This military aspect, which is so quickly forced on 
 you in the southern district of the Pacific province, 
 is in strong contrast to that of* Northern Ussuri. 
 Khabarovsk itself, which is the nominal capital 
 of all this huge territory, has as yet only the same 
 
142 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 force as was there before the war — two weak 
 regiments of infantry ; and although divisions of 
 other troops are soon to be massed along the 
 Amur, for the time being the concentration of such 
 units of the Eastern Siberian Corps as remain 
 in the Pacific Empire is entirely in the extreme 
 south, making it appear curious that such a far- 
 off centre as Khabarovsk should still have supreme 
 control. It is plain that Vladivostock has become 
 the natural capital of the Russian Far East ; 
 whether the bureaucracy will have the originality 
 and the decision to make it the de facto capital 
 is quite another question. 
 
 In due time Grodekov is reached, and this great 
 plain entirely ceases. Grodekov has a few more 
 sidings than the ordinary first-class station, making 
 it more convenient for the handling of big bodies of 
 troops ; and it has numbers of engine-sheds and rail- 
 way buildings, and a stronger garrison ; but other- 
 wise it is much the same as any other halting-place. 
 Gaunt and hungry-looking hills now lurch nearer 
 and nearer the railway, until at last, overwhelmed 
 by them, the line plunges again and again beneath 
 them. The series of tunnels which mark the 
 immediate proximity of the Manchurian frontier has 
 commenced, and you climb stiffly up an ever- 
 steeper gradient. Sometimes, hemmed in on all 
 sides by these natural barriers, you halt for a few 
 minutes in a narrow valley for your engine to take 
 breath and water ; and then you understand that 
 this frontier, although it is for the time being no 
 
a 
 
 H 
 < . 
 
V INTO MANCHURIA 143 
 
 frontier, is as all true frontiers should be — either a 
 mountain mass behind which a nation can fitly 
 shelter its individuality, or else a broad sea able 
 to inspire fear even in the breasts of such men 
 as Napoleon. 
 
 Twenty-four versts, or seventeen miles, from 
 Grodekov you reach at last the theoretical dividing 
 line between the Czar's Empire of the East and 
 the desired lands of Manchuria. At Pogranitchnia, 
 the uncouth name of the frontier station, there 
 is one thing only to note. It is that the green 
 and black uniforms of the specially recruited Man- 
 churian frontier guards have suddenly commenced. 
 In the big barn-like buffet-room there are always 
 dozens upon dozens of Russian officers whiling 
 away the time, and such men belong not only to the 
 special Manchurian railway guarding corps, but to 
 ordinary line regiments as well. The engineer 
 corps, also, is now well represented, for the war 
 being over and done with, the complete and proper 
 survey of the whole of that portion of Manchuria 
 which remains under the Russian heel, covered by 
 the thin mask of the Portsmouth Treaty, has at last 
 been commenced. Many men have been detached 
 for this work, which has now been going on for 
 over a year ; and an amiable engineer captain, with 
 whom I conversed over a glass of cognac, assured 
 me without troubling to preface his remarks with 
 small talk— there is only one subject and none 
 other — that they were not going to be caught nap- 
 ping again. His own triangulation marks already 
 
144 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 dotted the hill-sides of this whole frontier district, 
 and forty versts to the east another captain 
 commanded another band of map-makers. 
 
 But, miracle of miracles, the Manchurian frontier 
 meant that the market prices of every necessity of 
 life had suddenly dropped in a most pleasing manner. 
 Beer, which is a valuable commodity not to be 
 drunk lightly in Russian Far Eastern territory, since 
 it may cost anywhere from one hundred to five 
 hundred per cent, above its legitimate price, was 
 now to be had at ordinary rates ; whilst all sorts of 
 half-forgotten delicacies of the normal Far East 
 stood openly arrayed in martial order along the 
 restaurant shelves. These facts cannot be easily 
 explained ; but it seems evident that Chinese terri- 
 tory means even now cunning Chinese traders, 
 unhampered by regulations; dealing at close prices, 
 and so embarrassing the Russian restaurateurs, that 
 even they become reasonable in their turn, thereby 
 leaving the traveller with a few dollars in his pocket 
 for further use. 
 
 This railway entrance into Chinese territory is 
 not marked by the presence of any Chinese troops 
 on the other side of the dividing line. Of such 
 gentry there is, indeed, still not a trace. The 
 Ninguta Deputy- Lieutenant- Governor, in whose 
 hands lies the task of overseeing the whole of this 
 important frontier, contents himself — at irregular 
 intervals, when he can arouse himself from a lotus- 
 like existence in his lost corner of Kirin province — 
 with despatching deputies, who make perfunctory 
 
V INTO MANCHURIA 145 
 
 visits to various points and exchange with Russian 
 officials and Russian officers the handshake of 
 enforced amity. The goodwill of this Tartar 
 General is, however, much cultivated, and everyone 
 speaks in friendly terms of the Fu Tu t'ung, the 
 one Chinese word which appeared here to be under- 
 stood. I was told at this frontier that the Chinese 
 officials had become as suspicious of Japanese 
 activity across the Korean border as the Russians 
 themselves, and that special intelligence was ex- 
 changed between Russian and Chinese officials as 
 soon as it was obtained. 
 
 It was very late at night v/hen we began thread- 
 ing our way down through the frowning mountain 
 ranges of Eastern Kirin ; and although I settled to 
 sleep, content in the book-knowledge that for a 
 hundred versts we would be passing through nothing 
 but the same wild country, destitute for the moment 
 of any geographical, statistical, political, strategical, 
 or general interest, it was willed that I should be 
 aroused suddenly and have a new fact engraved on 
 my memory, necessitating a revision of data which 
 were exact only thirty months ago. For hardly had 
 I thrown myself down to sleep when we stopped 
 with a jerk at a radietz, or siding ; and I was rudely 
 aroused by two young Dragoon officers, handsomely 
 dressed, entering my compartment and settling down 
 to talk. Sleep in such circumstances was difficult, 
 and pricking up my ears I prepared to glean such 
 details as a diligent perusal of Marlborough's 
 Russian Self-taught in Three Weeks — or is it three 
 
146 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 days ? — might reasonably warrant. Fortunately 
 one word of suspicious familiarity rescued me 
 from a test which might have been embarrassing. 
 Hunghutzu, spoken repeatedly with the curious 
 guttural Russian intonation, allowed me to forget 
 my embryonic linguistic acquirements, and to make 
 me almost entirely master of the situation. Here 
 the Baconian method immediately proved its in- 
 herent strength. Hunghutzu are bad men and 
 robbers ; soldiers are good men and brave ; and as 
 my two bobbed up anxiously every now and then 
 to peer fixedly through the windows at the dim 
 mountains and hills, which majestically passed by 
 in endless procession, their strategy was rapidly 
 disclosed. They spoke of hunghutzu ; they even 
 appeared alarmed after the manner of men who 
 have reason to fear ; and since hunghutzu presumably 
 do not stand amiably along a railway track so that 
 they may be seen, it must be their handiwork 
 which was sought. I was right. An exclamation 
 from one of them made both men jump to their feet 
 and hurriedly abandon their endless cigarettes, and 
 through the portion of the window which their 
 persons left free, I saw a great red glow rise and 
 fall. Flames ! The train kept on at its methodical 
 pace up grades and down others with mechanical 
 indifference, and as we approached nearer and 
 nearer to a deep valley it was plain that a huge 
 forest fire had been started, and was steadily ad- 
 vancing on the track. It was a suggestive picture. 
 The train, containing up to now indifferent and 
 
V INTO MANCHURIA 147 
 
 sleeping people, suddenly became wide awake, and 
 a tremor of excitement passed along the corridors. 
 We might be attacked and even held up. In a 
 quarter of an hour or so we stopped at a station 
 on whose earthen platform oil-soaked torches stuck 
 in sockets were wildly blazing ; and in this lurid 
 light I saw a troop of brawny Russian cavalry, 
 standing by their horses, muffled in greatcoats and 
 with carbines in hand. The officers hastily put on 
 their coats and hurried out to receive reports. It 
 transpired then that the trouble had been started at 
 the next sub-station, or new crossing-station made 
 during the war. The railway wood piles there had 
 been fired by unseen hands, and some out-houses 
 destroyed in the same way ; but although the alarm 
 had been immediately given, no trace of the mis- 
 creants had been found. The mounted patrols 
 which had at once been turned out, had nevertheless 
 been fired on in the dark from all directions. It 
 was plain from this that hunghutzu were actually 
 about in some force, although it was not to be 
 understood what cash profits they would draw from 
 such midnight forays. Everybody was very much 
 excited and pessimistic about our chances of getting 
 through. When we reached the next station the 
 wood-piles had burnt out and the forest fires had 
 disappeared beyond the hills, but the officers got 
 off preparatory to scouring' the country as soon as 
 daylight came, and gave the impression that much 
 activity on their part would have to be met if this 
 curious warfare was renewed at night-time. From 
 
 L 2 
 
148 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 these and other indications which cropped up 
 later, it was plain that the status of hunghutzu 
 as a robber meriting attention had been much 
 improved by the war. This is easily understand- 
 able when it is remembered that by the time the 
 war was reaching its last stage both belligerents 
 had armed large numbers of these men with the 
 very best weapons, and were employing them in 
 raiding, scouting, and intelligence work in many 
 areas. The great majority of these hunghutzu have 
 never been properly disarmed, and although in 
 Southern Manchuria the Chinese authorities have 
 enlisted as many as possible in the newly-raised 
 corps, in Central and Northern Manchuria hundreds 
 if not thousands of them remain in the field and 
 commit depredations on every side. Thus men 
 who were a negligible quantity before 1 900 and were 
 not redoubtable in any way before the war, have 
 now become a real source of danger, for educated 
 by the battles of the war they do not fear to make 
 determined attacks whenever they see an oppor- 
 tunity for carrying off booty. With the coming of 
 daylight one was able to see that the Russian 
 authorities were in a nervous mood in this area, for 
 block-houses built during the war to protect bridges 
 and other weak links in the great steel chain had 
 recently been reoccupied by small pickets of infantry- 
 men, serving to emphasise the fact that the raiding 
 hunghutzu were being closely watched and a warm 
 reception prepared for them whenever it was possible. 
 All the many Chinese travellers on the train talked 
 
V INTO MANCHURIA 149 
 
 of their free-booting countrymen in awesome tones, 
 and said that whereas formerly they only went in for 
 petty pilfering, now desperate armed robberies, in 
 which everyone who resisted was mercilessly shot 
 down, had become the order of the day, making the 
 railway the only safe means of getting about the 
 country if valuables were carried. All the hunghutzu 
 were Shantung men, they said, who had come into 
 Manchuria quite recently, and who had probably 
 been Boxers six years ago during the great up- 
 heaval. Desirous of providing amusement I told 
 them the beautiful and romantic tale by M. Alex- 
 andre Ular in his book, Un Empire Russo-Chinois. 
 In this account M. Ular was pleased to state that 
 the Manchurian hunghutzu belonged to a special 
 race of men who had been established in lonely 
 Manchurian valleys as separate republics for many 
 decades past. Nobody had ever heard of the lonely 
 valleys where flourished this Rider Haggard-like 
 race ; but most of the men knew from bitter ex- 
 perience that hunghutzu are exported in embryonic 
 form from the prosaic Laichoufu and Tengchoufu 
 prefectures of Shantung, and only develop into 
 robbers because they find that there is so much 
 easy living after one successful coup, owing to the 
 disorganisation of the country, the division of 
 authority, and the vast distances. 
 
 Meanwhile we had laid many versts behind us, 
 although our stops were many owing to the number 
 of the stations. The system which was adopted by 
 the Russians in order to give increased capacity to 
 
ISO RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 the railway during the war was simply to add a new 
 station as nearly as possible half-way between all 
 the old stations. As the average distance separating 
 the stations in this railway area, the Harbin- 
 Grodekov section, was, as nearly as can be worked 
 out, from eighteen to twenty-four versts, the addi- 
 tion of the new crossing stations has meant that at 
 distances varying from nine to twelve versts (say 
 six and a half to eight and a half miles) a new set 
 of sidings and railway buildings are now to be 
 found. Had the war continued, Prince KhilkofPs 
 plan was to subdivide once more, and by this 
 addition of some two or three hundred stations from 
 the Ural to the Pacific, to attempt to bring about 
 an additional fifty per cent, increase in the carrying 
 capacity of the railway. But this important question 
 will be dealt with separately. 
 
 Once you are well past the river Hurka (Mu-tan- 
 chiang in Chinese), which is 183 versts from Pogra- 
 nitchnia and the Manchurian frontier, the character 
 of the country changes and becomes even wilder 
 than heretofore. Until now the hills have not been 
 densely wooded, and the valleys whenever they 
 broaden out have showed signs of Chinese cultivation. 
 This fact is worthy of notice for the following con- 
 siderations. All the country lying immediately to the 
 west of the Russian Pacific frontier and the north-west 
 of the Korean Tiumen frontier is dotted with Chinese 
 villages which are connected with one another by 
 rude Manchurian cart-roads. Those roads, even 
 though they be only rough tracks impassable during 
 
A View into Manchuria from North-East Korea. 
 
 I 
 
 A jSkw War Siding in Eastern Manchuria. 
 
V INTO MANCHURIA 151 
 
 the summer rainy season, are quite good enough for 
 general lines of communication of mobile expedi- 
 tionary forces. Therefore it may be said that all 
 districts lying to the east, to the south-east, and to 
 the south of Ninguta are fairly well settled by 
 Chinese and easy to travel through. They can 
 therefore be easily invaded. But once across the 
 river Hurka and the marshy valleys through which 
 that meandering waterway runs — that is continuing 
 west on to Harbin — the nature of the country 
 changes, and continuous ranges of mountains thickly 
 wooded and menacing in aspect continue right up 
 to a point only fifty miles east of Harbin itself. 
 That is to say, between the Sungari valley and the 
 Ninguta districts, pursuing your path along the 
 railway track, there is a solid belt of mountains and 
 hills covered with dense forests, a belt which is at 
 places a hundred and a hundred and fifty miles 
 broad. Should another war ever come, it requires 
 no knowledge of military strategy to understand 
 that this configuration will inevitably suggest the 
 adoption of a certain course to the mind of the 
 Invader. A hostile force penetrating here from 
 North-western Korea would simply require to en- 
 trench across the railway track east of Ninguta, and 
 by so doing the Southern Ussuri regions would be 
 completely cut off from the great base of Harbin, 
 and the quick road to Russia lost. That is a very 
 important consideration. 
 
 Perhaps it is this, and not only the rapidly-grow- 
 ing lumber industry, which has made many of the 
 
152 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 Russian railway settlements in this forest • belt grow 
 very considerably during the past two and a half 
 years. From Hailin (written Khailine in the Rus- 
 sian railway tables), which marks verst 313 from 
 Harbin, right up to Hsialin (Siaoline), verst 74 from 
 Harbin, there are strong garrisons of railway guards, 
 and in many cases growing settlements of people 
 engaged in lumbering near the railway track. 
 Three years ago, before the war, there was but little 
 of this activity, despite the highly-coloured accounts 
 published by men who knew nothing of the East, 
 and who still glowingly described the progress 
 which Russian absorption had already made. To- 
 day it is impossible to deny that some of the 
 numerous Russian lumbering settlements in this 
 region are actually on a dividend-paying basis, 
 entirely apart from the Government support ; and if 
 the train service is improved and this industry 
 fostered, it may develop into one which may mat- 
 erially clarify things by promoting closer intercourse 
 with many other parts of Manchuria, and so do 
 away with that isolation which is so dangerous to 
 territorial integrity. At many stations, such as 
 Khantaheza, Kiaolinza, Toudokheza, Chitoheza, 
 Imianpo, Oudzimi, Maorshan, &c. (these incorrect 
 Russian transliterations are adhered to in order to 
 avoid confusion), log-felling has been carried out 
 over large areas, and Russian settlements have been 
 established in clearings such as the pioneers in 
 western America must have made in the old days. 
 Amidst the stumps of these trees Chinese have seen 
 
INTO MANCHURIA 153 
 
 their opportunity, and have already commenced plant- 
 ing and sowing on a large scale. Around one station, 
 where the number of railway guards and lumber- 
 men with their wives and families must have created 
 a large demand for fresh food stuffs, enormous 
 patches of cabbage and other vegetables were to be 
 seen. Caravans of Manchurian carts massed together 
 showed that more Chinese were continually coming, 
 and as the near approach of winter was already 
 heralded, new villages of log and adobe were being 
 constructed. Thus this lumbering conducted by 
 Russian and Chinese labourers is slowly opening up 
 areas which have hitherto been entirely unproductive. 
 And as there are many millions of acres of finely- 
 timbered country, this unusual Russian energy need 
 not be stigmatised, as it has been, as "rapacious 
 exploitation." There is enough timber in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of the railway for centuries 
 to come. Yet the fact that Russian locomotives 
 burn wood-fuel means the sacrifice all over Man- 
 churia of great quantities of timber which might be 
 applied to more useful purposes. At all these 
 mountain stations in the lumbering belt enormous 
 reserves of logs, sawn and chopped into short blocks, 
 have been accumulated, and whole train-loads of 
 this wood-fuel are being continually moved down to 
 Harbin. Although it will not matter for many 
 years to come, in the end this policy will be found 
 to have been economically wasteful. Already in 
 certain places along the Amur, wood is becoming 
 perceptibly scarcer owing to the demands which the 
 
154 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 large fleet of steamers and the settlers have made 
 during the past quarter of a century; and it seems 
 absolutely necessary that coal deposits should be 
 discovered and worked so as to avert the evils which 
 a complete disforestation of the country lying in 
 immediate proximity to the waterways and railways 
 would ultimately bring about. It is necessary, how- 
 ever, again specially to emphasise the curious manner 
 in which Chinese settlers immediately avail them- 
 selves of any opportunity which may be offered them 
 to squat on newly cleared land. All along the line, 
 right until the great Sungari plain was reached, 
 groups of men could be seen from the train burning 
 tree stumps and firing the grass and undergrowth 
 preparatory to ploughing up the land, making it 
 their very own by the simple process of squatting 
 on it. The Chinese settling movement, about which 
 more will be presently said, is extending along the 
 entire course of the Trans-Manchurian railway, and 
 has done more than anything else to convince Rus- 
 sians who are willing to use their eyes that it is folly 
 for them ever to expect to compete with such an 
 enterprising and insistent population. 
 
 You note these little indications as you pass by ; and 
 the monotonous run continues until the great limitless 
 Sungari plain is reached at last. Immediately you 
 slip down on to that plain from the rough-timbered 
 country through which you have been passing for so 
 many hours, the great fields, which make this 
 Sungari region one of the richest granaries of High 
 Asia, begin and continue without a break, until, pass- 
 
V INTO MANCHURIA 155 
 
 ing Station after station filled with Chinese, you finally 
 stop short in the very centre. This centre is Harbin, 
 the stomach of the late war — a stomach whose 
 strength largely saved the Russian army from the 
 disgrace which the head almost brought about. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 
 
 It is best to arrive by night at Harbin, for then 
 dark shadows hide what is crude and jarring in the 
 place, and the choking clouds of dust, which never 
 cease to rise when the great wheeled traffic of the 
 day is thundering by, lie peacefully sleeping on the 
 ground. In the glare of modernity afforded by the 
 spluttering arc-lamps, only the wonderfulness of the 
 place is apparent. The endless lights signalling to 
 one another across many square miles of conquered 
 plain, signal yet more insistently to you, and would 
 have you realise quickly that theirs is a message 
 which is worth some understanding. For a great 
 sleeping city lies before you ; a city only nine years 
 old, and yet built with the fashionableness of 
 Europe ; a city misunderstanding the real East, 
 although geographically its slave ; a veritable 
 enigma amongst cities. Only three short years 
 ago the Harbin station was a mere makeshift affair, 
 built of brick, it is true, but still a structure of the 
 roughest kind, marking merely one single step in 
 advance of the first railway buildings, which had 
 
CH. VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 157 
 
 been hastily hammered together as soon as it had 
 been decided that this should be the concentration 
 point, the great inland distributing centre in the 
 general scheme which was slowly being evolved by 
 the gods in the machine. 
 
 The full-grown station came quickly during the 
 war. That is the immense surprise ; fifty times 
 more was done by the Russians during the war, 
 when all normal development might have been 
 thought to be impossible, than had ever been done 
 before. It is the war which has converted Harbin 
 into the most populous European city in Asia, a city 
 having at the latest computation 80,000 Russian 
 inhabitants. The war, in undoing Russia in some 
 places, has strengthened her in others. The station 
 as you survey it may seem a trifle bizarre ; that is 
 only because the ordinary man does not expect to 
 find an enormous Government building in the "new 
 art '' style in a place which has become a household 
 name only because it served as the commissariat 
 base during many months of fighting, and thereby 
 saved the Russiam Manchurian armies from starva- 
 tion. Everything about this station of the Chinese 
 North-West is Part nouveau, exterior and interior ; 
 and the very luggage depository into which the 
 great, bearded Russian porter packs your traps has 
 graceful, long-waisted green woodwork, which 
 seems ridiculous and out of place in what is no 
 better than a camp. But the magnitude and 
 modernity of the place appear still more marvellous 
 when you force yourself to remember once more 
 
iS8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 that you are in almost exactly the central point of 
 a country which was utterly unknown ten years 
 ago — a country where normal development has 
 been twice arrested, and where for two long years 
 everything was strained to death along all lines of 
 communication to swell the Czar's field armies. 
 In such circumstances how so much has been done 
 must always remain an enigma. In the immense 
 and lofty railway restaurant, furnished with great 
 mirrors and costly marble work, hundreds of 
 people of all classes sit quietly eating and drinking, 
 oblivious to the surprise they furnish, and officers 
 of twenty different corps rub shoulders with twenty 
 types of civilian men and women. I n one corner of 
 the unending platforms which follow the sidings, a 
 battalion of infantry, muffled in long great coats and 
 loaded with kit, stands silently awaiting some train ; 
 and at the ticket offices long lines of stolid Russian 
 soldiery and Chinese workmen, mixed impartially 
 together, clamour for their tickets. Amidst the 
 slow clanking of the shunting locomotives, which 
 never cease moving along the countless tracks, you 
 realise something of the immensity of the work 
 which can here be so easily undertaken, and was 
 actually undertaken during the war ; whilst outside 
 the station, on the great open square where a 
 division of troops might manoeuvre at ease, masses 
 of hack-carriages drawn up in solid phalanxes, yet 
 filling an insignificant fraction of the available 
 space, give an inkling of the rush of traffic which 
 filled the streets only a few months back. It is 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 159 
 
 true, of course, that as a giant junction and point of 
 concentration Harbin is inferior to such a European 
 monster as, say, the Cologne station ; but in sidings, 
 in immense lengths of rails stretching conveniently 
 away into all sorts of corners, so that the handling 
 of troops and supplies may be facilitated on an 
 unlimited scale, it has but few compeers even in 
 Europe — a German officer assured me of this. A 
 little investigation soon proves that everything has 
 been done in this respect to provide for armies yet 
 more formidable than were those immense forces 
 which were massed at the front when peace came. 
 There are dozens and dozens of miles of sidings ; 
 and it is said that during one stage of the war a 
 whole army corps was entrained at Harbin and 
 left on the rails pending the receipt of marching 
 orders, without affecting the ordinary traffic. Like 
 Gargantua, Harbin can eat at one sitting what 
 others could not consume in weeks. 
 
 The town of New Harbin, lying in front and 
 around the great railway station, has grown in much 
 the same extraordinary manner as the railway and 
 the special railway accommodation. Immense build- 
 ings, standing in their own grounds, are becoming 
 the order of the day ; and broad streets of noble 
 dimensions and numbers of great squares add to 
 the commanding aspect of the town. It seems im- 
 possible to believe, as you contemplate these masses 
 of brick and masonry in the indistinct night, that it 
 was in 1897 that the two pioneer Russians rode 
 into the place and camped on the bare veld. And 
 
l6o RUSSIA BEYOND LAk£ BAIKAL CHAf. 
 
 as you remember that many difficulties have had to 
 be overcome which do not exist elsewhere in the 
 world, you are lost in astonishment at the character 
 of Russian resources. Despite all corruption, all 
 carelessness and ineptitude — things on which the 
 neutral world is never tired of expatiating — the 
 great country lumbers continually forward, gathering 
 greater and greater strength merely from its own 
 onward movement. Soon I was to discover that 
 every part of Harbin has grown in this way — 
 even Old Harbin, nine versts away, which everyone 
 thought abandoned just before the war. Yet it too 
 has been resuscitated by the bustle of the struggle, 
 and is now stretching out across the dusty plain to 
 meet the other growing cities. Driving away in 
 the silent night and contemplating this extraordinary 
 expansion makes one curiously anxious to under- 
 stand the future. If so much was done in days of 
 defeat, what could not be done in days of victory ? 
 
 By early morning I had made my arrangements. 
 An efficient guide had been found, and the situation 
 explained to him in one word. I wished to see 
 everything. " Everything ? " he had queried in 
 that deep Russian tone coming straight from the 
 chest which denotes serious surprise. " Every- 
 thing," I had answered ; and with his imagination 
 tickled, perhaps, by that all-embracing word, he led 
 the way into the street. We passed along silently 
 — we were in Pristan or riverine Harbin — my 
 guide doubtless reflecting on the arduous task 
 which was in front of him. Soon istvostchicks 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN i6i 
 
 trotted up, looking at us inquiringly, because we 
 walked. No true Russian would do this, and the 
 drivers, hoisting their animals to a sudden halt, 
 called to us that their prices were now low. But 
 my guide, in his desire to acquire merit, had 
 suddenly formed definite ideas ; for that word, 
 " everything," had made him serious and realise 
 the nature of his duty. Some time therefore passed 
 before he saw horseflesh which he adjudged good 
 and fit, for the Harbin hack carriage has no tra- 
 ditions, and is not graced by uniformed or respect- 
 able drivers. The Harbin " whip " may indeed be 
 described as a hard case who has taken to carriage 
 work because a good many other things have failed ; 
 and in such circumstances the horses have certain 
 points of resemblance to their masters. At the very 
 last moment we met what the fates had obviously 
 driven our way — a pair of powerful Russian greys 
 attached to a rubber-tyred vehicle of some excel- 
 lence, which the bankruptcy of the proprietor had 
 thrown on the public streets. But it was first 
 necessary to explain ; and no sooner had the driver 
 heard that word of ominous comprehensiveness than 
 he too paused and scratched his head. He proved, 
 however, to be a person of some enterprise and de- 
 cision ; and finally a price per hour was named at 
 which he declared himself willing to explore the 
 whole world. Only ten minutes' grace was asked 
 to give the animals on whom this burden was to 
 fall a few more mouthfuls of grain ; then we would 
 really drive for ever. As we strolled down to the 
 
 M 
 
i62 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Sungari bank my guide assured me, with a grimness 
 of intent which I did not then appreciate, that I 
 would have a first and last opportunity of witnessing 
 that in one department Slavism has nothing to 
 learn, not even after the war — that is horseflesh and 
 its management. It would be a test. 
 
 The Sungari has benefited by the war to the 
 extent of having a high pontoon bridge added for 
 the convenience of the carriages and travellers who 
 constantly cross the river. During the war, owing 
 to the danger of the great steel railway bridge 
 succumbing to the destroying energy of dynamite if 
 innocent-looking civilians were allowed indiscrimi- 
 nately to walk across it, an absolute prohibition was 
 placed on approaching the bridge ; and any one 
 daring to break the order after the famous affair 
 with the Japanese spies who were executed was 
 mercilessly shot down. Therefore something had 
 to be provided in its stead, and hence these pon- 
 toons. Now the traffic continually crossing — men, 
 horses, and carriages — clearly shows that the left 
 or Heilungchiang bank of the Sungari (Harbin 
 is on the Kirin province side) has independently 
 acquired a certain importance. A glance at the 
 river and the river shipping, however, amply proves 
 that as the railway now provides direct and unin- 
 terrupted communication much more cheaply than 
 was ever before the case, the former importance of 
 the great Manchurian waterway has considerably 
 decreased. The little stern-wheel Russian steamers 
 which ply between here and the Amur, and which 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 163 
 
 can even venture up-stream as high as Kirin City 
 when the river is very full, have diminished rather 
 than increased in numbers, and the owners of those 
 that remain are reported to be in a parlous way finan- 
 cially. The immediate prospect of railway communi- 
 cation being added all along the Amur banks com- 
 pletes their discomfiture ; and although it is certain 
 that the industry will ultimately revive, riverine ship- 
 ping in Manchuria for the time being has small pros- 
 pects. Yet on the other hand the Chinese junks have 
 grown greatly in numbers, for the simple reason 
 that they are still the main carriers of grain and 
 other food-stuffs which flow towards Manchurian 
 towns in enormous quantities from all over mid- 
 Manchuria. Now, however, with the pause which 
 has come in the great Harbin flour-milling industry, 
 a pause which will presently be alluded to in full 
 detail, they too have entered on a period of depres- 
 sion. The resources of the country still overpower 
 the demand. 
 
 At length, with everything ready for a drive of 
 exhaustion, we sprang into our carriage, and with a 
 chirrup and a suppressed shout our driver, as if he 
 too had caught the idea, was off like the wind. 
 Clinging tightly to a carriage in Harbin is an occu- 
 pation in itself; and some of the ruts which are 
 encountered show you in a convincing manner that 
 Russian carriage springs are made of a steel which 
 one day should be famous. Even on the most 
 important streets, up and down you slam in this extra- 
 ordinary manner until all sensations are benumbed, 
 
 M 2 
 
i64 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 and you come back to rudimentary feelings of 
 exhaustion ; Russian roads, like Chinese roads, are 
 mere tracks. Along Mill Street, which runs parallel to 
 the river,, flour-mill after flour-mill, constructed of red 
 brick, is passed. All these big establishments now 
 lie almost entirely idle after the great efforts of the 
 war ; for American flour, which was rushed in such 
 enormous quantities into Vladivostock immediately 
 after peace, has made Manchurian steam-milling un- 
 profitable for the time being. All along the streets of 
 Pristan, or the Sungari town, good-looking and sub- 
 stantial red-brick buildings are rapidly replacing the 
 primitive wooden structures which date back to the 
 founding of the settlement ; and enterprising owners, 
 convinced that the town will never do much for 
 them, are seeking to improve their properties by 
 laying broad pavements of stone or concrete in front 
 of their houses, and abolishing the rotten wooden 
 boarding which serves as a side-walk in every 
 Siberian town. There is thus a spirit of some per- 
 sonal enterprise in the air. You pass out of the 
 long Sungari streets to enter the heart of the 
 riverine town, and then, moving away from the river 
 neighbourhood at breakneck speed with the utmost 
 unconcern, you add your little clouds of dust to the 
 bigger clouds that have already been gathered by 
 the growing traffic. Harbin dust is something which 
 must be seen at its best to be believed — that is, when 
 the air is nut-dry. Some have complained of the 
 Peking dust in the old days ; and others, more 
 recently, who went to the great Liao plain in search 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 165 
 
 of news thought that when dust storms blew they 
 there experienced mother earth at her worst. 
 Yet none of these really knew. For dust to be 
 really dust must be kept moving slowly and more 
 and more thickly ; once you have moved it in 
 Harbin it effects the conquest of the air unaided. 
 So inordinately thick are these dust-clouds that look- 
 ing back from rising ground the riverine settlement 
 is enveloped in a thick grey mantle of seeming battle 
 smoke, through which the faint outlines of tall 
 buildings and taller smoke-stacks can just be traced. 
 It is well in such circumstances to follow the prac- 
 tice of the natives, who rigidly exclude dust as 
 a subject of general conversation. 
 
 Formerly the real business quarter of Harbin was 
 that known as Pristan, which grew up quite naturally 
 and unconcernedly, because it was in immediate 
 proximity to the river, and, therefore, astride of the 
 best line of communication before the advent of the 
 railway. But the proper organisation of the railway 
 and the building of New Harbin nearer the great 
 station have changed the old conditions of thirty 
 months ago. Now, the banks, the newspaper 
 offices, the important new shops and firms, have 
 been established in the New Town, and the com- 
 mercial centre is slowly being shifted to where there 
 is more room and wider streets. Still, most of the 
 flour-mills and a number of small factories and 
 miscellaneous establishments remain in Pristan ; 
 whilst the enormous quantity of provision shops — 
 there are whole streets of Chinese " stores " in 
 
i66 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Pristan, where everything imaginable may be pur- 
 chased — point to the fact that the heterogeneous 
 community remains where it has always been, near 
 the river. These endless blocks of shops and stores, 
 varying from the small wooden shanty constructed 
 before the Boxer year to the new double-storied 
 red-brick building of yesterday, are indeed a wonder- 
 ful feature. Enough is said when it is mentioned 
 that during the war the population of the town 
 swelled to such an enormous size that it was reputed 
 to include three thousand people battening on the 
 army by catering to its every need. Those happy 
 days of such buying and selling and insensate 
 rouble-making have now gone never to return. 
 Hundreds of shops which only yesterday were 
 doing a thriving business are half closed, whilst 
 from the looks of the top-booted and fur-capped 
 proprietors who stand at the doors of many others, 
 business, if not dead, is sadly languishing. By no 
 one in the world was the Czar's decision to make 
 peace at any price so cursed as by these hundreds of 
 provision shops, drinking saloons, and dubious-look- 
 ing restaurants ; they were counting on the war going 
 on for ever, and by immense ingenuity, notwithstand- 
 ing the military monopolisation of the railway, they 
 somehow succeeded in stocking themselves with 
 every manner of thing. The rivers and the post- 
 roads brought what could not be conveyed by bribery 
 on the railway ; and thus everything was for sale — 
 at a price. 
 
 Rapidly threading such streets, you finally 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 167 
 
 debouch on the great desolate-looking tract of 
 Sungari plain, through which the railway open-cut 
 runs. This immense barren space and the railway 
 open-cut divide the two towns of Pristan and New 
 Harbin. And yet so quickly are things still expand- 
 ing in this strange city that in a very few years — 
 or even months — the invading lines of red -brick 
 buildings will have joined hands, and the twin city 
 will be made one. 
 
 And just here in the vacant zone was a little 
 thing which one might have passed a hundred 
 times without notice. It was simply a wooden 
 shanty standing near a pump and adorned with 
 a big sign in Russian — "WATER." The lucky 
 owner who had had the inspiration to sink that well 
 a few years ago and pump up water, had in the 
 course of forty months amassed a big fortune. No 
 public water is to be had for miles around, and the 
 enormous stream of wheeled traffic passing between 
 the two towns has had to pay toll to that one man 
 whenever animals have needed watering. My guide 
 merely spoke enviously of this pump, which no one 
 had thought of imitating. It was one of those 
 small details which are at once the explanation and 
 illustration of many other things amongst the Rus- 
 sians. Competition is not instinctive with the 
 race, and everybody is indiiferent and lazy ; if they 
 were not. Port Arthur would never have been lost. 
 
 We galloped on, our driver urging forward his 
 animals unsparingly as they warmed to their work ; 
 and with a clatter and a dust-cloud which advertised 
 
i68 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 that our mission of investigation was one which was 
 at least being enthusiastically prosecuted, we passed 
 across the long wooden railway bridge leading over 
 the open-cut. It was through this gateway that 
 more than a million of the Czar's soldiery and a 
 quarter of a million of horses arrived from distant 
 Europe during the war in great numbers of trains 
 a day. 
 
 New Harbin, laid out on that lordly scale which 
 in these days is possible only when an enormous 
 block of prairie land has been acquired at a nominal 
 price from the sovereign owners, was now before 
 us ; and the remarkable development which has 
 been brought about by the indirect effect of the war 
 was even more plainly apparent by daylight than it 
 had been the night before. Not only have entire 
 streets and districts of well-built houses arisen 
 — necessarily well-built owing to the unparalleled 
 severity of the six months' winter — but immense 
 piles of exceptional proportions are now rising on 
 all sides. The spending of all these millions of 
 money, for building in Harbin is very dear, is ample 
 proof that Russian treasury figures, reckoned like 
 those of other national treasuries, cannot be said to 
 represent to-day the true financial condition of the 
 nation. Otherwise it would be absurd for a country 
 on the verge of bankruptcy and the suspension of 
 specie payments — about which belated newspapers 
 arriving just then in Harbin were speaking — to 
 spend money in the lavish manner in which it is 
 being officially spent in a place so unimportant to 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 169 
 
 the real well-being of the Russian Empire as Har- 
 bin. Again, it might also be argued that if Russian 
 speculators were convinced of this approaching in- 
 solvency, which affords such delight to the critics, 
 they would not be inclined to sink vast sums in 
 buildings which cannot be looked on as productive 
 for some years to come. As your carriage swings 
 round the great mass of solid red-brick buildings — 
 a permanent market which is to be called " The 
 Moscow Bazaar " — which is being erected by a 
 powerful group of Moscow merchants, these ques- 
 tions are forcibly presented to your inquiring 
 mind, and become more and more tantalising as 
 the chorus-singing of hundreds upon hundreds of 
 Shantung coolies, engaged in sinking foundations 
 for yet more rows of new houses in many other 
 districts, smites upon your ears. Everywhere build- 
 ing is going on. In the neighbourhood of the 
 palatial Russo-Chinese Bank, vast edifices become 
 the order of the day, until the impressions created 
 in Vladivostock, in Nicolsk and elsewhere grow 
 stronger and more fixed. Russia, in spite of all her 
 faults, understands some things a good deal better 
 than most people suppose ; and the domination of 
 the magnificent and the large is certainly one of 
 these. Past such streets, bustling with a gay life 
 which is infectious, you gallop on, until at last you 
 swing out of New Harbin. Now costly examples 
 of the singularly picturesque Russian architecture 
 are to be seen on the outer roads, belonging to 
 some of the higher officials resident in the town ; 
 
170 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 then, once more leaving behind you the settled 
 area, you emerge on the open veld. Straight in 
 front, in the far distance, is Old Harbin — the town 
 which, although forming an integral part of this 
 Harbin railway octopus, has a railway station nine 
 versts away from the central station in the New 
 Town. That shows you how distances are measured 
 here. 
 
 This open veld, which is nothing but the un- 
 touched Sungari alluvial plain, is cut through by an 
 immensely broad series of cart-ruts, leading to Old 
 Harbin, which for want of a better name is called 
 the highway, and which has been made so broad by 
 the continuous traffic passing along it that a dozen 
 vehicles might drive abreast without inconvenience. 
 On either side stretches the virgin prairie-land of 
 Kirin province — rich flat land that has never yet 
 been touched by the Chinese mattock or by the 
 plough. Far in the distance can be seen a blur 
 of townlets, also forming an integral part of Harbin, 
 and rising like oases in a conquered desert ; and 
 along this highway, looking like the merest atoms 
 lost in a sea of desolation, come all sorts of vehicles 
 and drivers — Russian peasant women seated in 
 broken-down Russian country carts with their 
 heads tied in picturesque handkerchiefs ; Chinese 
 carters urging with their heavy whip-cracks mixed 
 teams of mules, donkeys and ponies ; smart-looking 
 Russian cavalry officers driving typical American 
 buggies ; fat burgesses in plain hackney carriages of 
 wood — all the various types which go to make 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 171 
 
 Up one of the most original populations in the 
 world. Over these heavy roads Old Harbin seems 
 to lie a good way off ; and our driver, desirous of 
 easing the tedium of the journey, turned right 
 round on his box and performed the strange feat 
 of driving backwards at a hand gallop, so that he 
 might regale us with stories of the night perils 
 in this amiable neighbourhood. The admixture in 
 Harbin of Saghalien bradyagi, or escaped convicts, 
 long-coated adventurers from the Caucasus, and 
 Siberian ne'er-do-wells attracted to Harbin by the 
 scent of the war had apparently been highly unfor- 
 tunate, and, once night had fallen, all wayfarers were 
 systematically robbed of all they possessed. The 
 Harbin istvostchicks, who dwelt in great numbers in 
 the small outer suburbs, had at length been forced 
 to resort to the method of coming home at night- 
 time in bands of dozens of carriages for mutual pro- 
 tection ; but even this was proving of no avail, as in 
 the last case of armed robbery the bandits had 
 stampeded the main body by a heavy revolver fire, 
 and had then calmly cut off the stragglers and taken 
 everything from them, including even their horses. 
 
 Regaled by tales of such occurrences, which, after 
 all, are perhaps only natural incidents in the growth 
 of this unprecedented place, we finally entered Old 
 Harbin, where in the winter of 1897 there was but 
 one solitary Chinese distillery, and no other build- 
 ing for many dozens of miles around. Before the 
 war Old Harbin was decaying fast, since it had served 
 its first purpose ; to-day it has again a population 
 
172 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 of several thousands, and contains all the important 
 offices which deal with the sale or lease of the rail- 
 way lands lying round the town. The buildings, it 
 is true, are not imposing, and are mainly of wood or 
 the rough brick which was procurable in the early 
 days of seven or eight years ago. Still so great is 
 the pressure in the other towns that even this one- 
 horse outskirt has a future before it ; and land 
 values have begun to appreciate in a way which 
 shows that speculators foresee the day when Harbin 
 will be a town of a hundred square versts. To the 
 north of Old Harbin there is another considerable 
 suburb called Alexieffskaya, which is a typical 
 Russian village filled to overflowing with people 
 of the lower orders. Old-fashioned windmills raise 
 their sails over the townlet, and in the disordered 
 yards of this peasant settlement farm-animals roam 
 at ease. This curious suburb has simply grown up 
 owing to the fact that during the great boom many 
 classes of peasant people came into Manchuria by 
 rail and, finding that they could squat on land 
 just outside the limits of the railway concession 
 without any questions being asked, promptly 
 founded small towns. 
 
 Having seen what little there was to see in 
 this corner of the plain, we once more bent back, 
 and driving now due south along a broad track 
 on which large parties of Cossacks in fatigue-dress 
 were riding with mobs of horses, we at length 
 crossed the railway line on its way east to Vladi- 
 vostock. And here we entered the outskirts of the 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 173 
 
 separate hospital town, Gospidal-Gorodok, which is 
 a complete and self-contained settlement in itself, 
 well planted in the midst of the breezy plain. Here 
 hundreds of acres of ground are covered by enor- 
 mous blocks of bungalow-hospitals, sometimes con- 
 sisting of permanent structures of red brick, and 
 sometimes of German army huts made of patent 
 asbestos. At the doors of some of these buildings 
 still lounged a few last victims of the war clothed in 
 the loose Red Cross clothing of the Russian army ; 
 whilst army nurses and army doctors hurried to and 
 fro. The railway, passing so close, permitted trains 
 during war-time to be shunted on to sidings within 
 a stone's throw of these wards ; and nurses and 
 doctors being on the spot in great numbers, it was 
 but the work of a moment to transfer crippled men 
 from the carriages to the base hospital. It is thus 
 evident that if Russia did bring on the war, and did 
 neglect in the first instance the care of the wounded, 
 as soon as her ponderous system got into working 
 order, no expense or trouble were spared to provide 
 for the innocent victims on a scale commensurate 
 with the requirements of such death-dealing battles 
 as Liaoyang, the Shaho and Moukden, when from 
 twenty to sixty thousand wounded and sick were 
 sent back to Harbin for treatment in an endless 
 stream of trains. A rapid inspection is sufficient to 
 prove that in this hospital town all modern require- 
 ments have been met, kitchens and disinfecting 
 plants, operating rooms and store-houses, being 
 regularly distributed in every division, whilst 
 
174 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 immense avenues have been left between the 
 various buildings to ensure that each group of 
 hospitals is isolated from its neighbours. A couple 
 of versts' hard driving brings us to the end of the 
 central avenue, and beyond this settlement is the 
 seventh division of Harbin, Corpusnoi-Gorodok or 
 " Army Corps Village," which is much the same in 
 outward appearances as the hospital town. It is a 
 military town separated from the rest of the city, and 
 its stiff lines of brick buildings lose themselves in 
 the distance. Division after division of troops could 
 be housed here, and since the whole of the Sungari 
 plain lay at the disposal of the Russian Head- 
 quarters Staff during war-time, barrack after barrack 
 was added to those already existing as fast as 
 Chinese labourers could build them. Everything 
 has been designed on a vast and ample scale. 
 There is room everywhere ; in fact too much room, 
 for on surveying these immense works one cannot 
 escape the feeling that unless everything is overseen 
 with an iron German discipline, and an inordinate 
 attention paid to detail, the size alone must lead 
 to that confusion which is so fatal to military 
 efficiency. 
 
 We drove quickly through this separate military 
 town, in which are now billeted six regiments of 
 infantry, some battalions of railway guards, some 
 artillery, and some cavalry — a big force in other 
 countries, but one hardly even noticed here ; and 
 having understood something of the capacity of the 
 place, once more we headed back for the new 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 175 
 
 commercial town. It seemed as if our explorations 
 must now be ended ; but I had overlooked the fact 
 that there is also a Chinese town, a commissariat 
 town, and the germ of a trans-Sungari town. 
 
 So night had already fallen before we had com- 
 pleted our extensive survey. From Corpusnoi- 
 Gorodok, or the army corps suburb, we had driven 
 to the Intendanz-Gorodok, or the commissariat 
 suburb, and surveyed a mass of buildings, from 
 which had been directed the marvellous work of 
 feeding over a million soldiers. From thence we 
 had gone on and glanced at Futatien, the purely 
 Chinese town, which, although three or four years 
 ago it was only the miserable mud village of the 
 Chinese squatter type, is now fast developing, 
 thanks to the acquisition of millions of the all-con- 
 quering rouble, into a respectable Manchurian town, 
 with gaudy Chinese signposts and much gold and 
 paint- work. Finally, with our horses fairly foundered, 
 we had driven over the Sungari pontoon bridge, 
 and glanced at the possibilities of the far side of the 
 river, where land may still be acquired for a few 
 shillings an acre. In an expiring canter we fetched 
 up home. Then only did the yellow-bearded driver 
 step slowly from his ■ seat, stretch himself with an 
 immense sigh, and grin with satisfaction. It had 
 been money well earned, and his greys, as they 
 stood with drooping heads and quivering legs, pro- 
 claimed that we had travelled at least fifty versts 
 with but one long halt. It was time to pay without 
 that anger in one's heart which one generally feels. 
 
176 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 This time there had been no bleeding : the last 
 kopeck of value had been extorted. 
 
 And yet with this long drive behind us, my guide 
 still argued that we must not lose too many minutes 
 in idling or eating, but must see Harbin at night to 
 obtain certain final points of view. Then we might 
 claim to have seen everything of the outward aspect 
 in a day. With the gloom of the over-tired — for 
 twelve hours on those roads is something which 
 must be experienced to be believed — we ate, and 
 with upbuttoned coats sallied out once more. The 
 air, almost warm a couple of hours before, had 
 suddenly become bitingly cold, and the endless 
 rows of restaurants, drinking saloons, and other 
 night haunts were now brightly lighted. Waiters 
 and drawers stood, after their wont, idly at the doors 
 of these many establishments — for habit speedily 
 becomes a second nature — waiting for those thick 
 swarms of guests that now never come. Femmes 
 galantes, speaking all the languages of Europe, 
 crowded these caravanserais, and the thin scraping 
 of violins and the deeper notes of wind instruments 
 added a suggestive background to this nocturnal 
 vista ; for without the Great Three, Wein, Weib 
 und Gesang, life to the Russian has only half its 
 joyousness. 
 
 Yet for all this assumed gaiety, these endless 
 caravanserais are mere ghosts of the war. All 
 the king's horses and all the king's men have dis- 
 appeared, vanished — excepting a sober handful who 
 do not count — and only the tawdry and evil-smelling 
 
VI THE WONDERFUL CITY OF HARBIN 177 
 
 saloons and the famished women remain in Harbin. 
 Bitterly did my guide express the wish to me that 
 these allies of the Russian army, who had contri- 
 buted so much to its temporary undoing, should be 
 photographed and pilloried in cold print, so that 
 the alleged non-efficiency of the men might be 
 understood. Yet why? Such repining is surely 
 foolish. In this matter, as in all else, the law of 
 compensation does not fail to act. There is far 
 more strength than weakness visible at Harbin ; 
 and with the Russians, jamais les arbres verts n'ont 
 essay^s detre bleus. 
 
 N 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE VIEWED FROM 
 HARBIN 
 
 From what has been written it will be understood 
 that Harbin played a remarkable rSle during the 
 late war. It was not only the stomach of the 
 Russian Army, digesting everything that was given 
 it to digest, but its existence, its facilities, its great 
 resources, and its vast energy made of it something 
 so surprising that all calculations regarding both the 
 winning of the campaign of Southern Manchuria 
 and the vanquishing of Russia — thereby possibly 
 extinguishing Czarism in the Far East — were set at 
 nought. It was not merely the Siberian railway, as 
 too many have supposed, which saved Russia when 
 she was in a terrible dilemma ; it was Harbin and 
 what it stood for. Just as without the facilities which 
 Dalny provided for the Japanese, even the slow in- 
 vestment of Port Arthur would have been almost 
 impossible, so without Harbin the Russians would 
 never have dared to send a million men to Man- 
 churia. And it is therefore from this practical point 
 of view that certain things will be considered. A 
 
CH. Vii THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 179 
 
 glance at the past will disclose the tendencies of the 
 future more quickly than anything else ; at the 
 present moment, therefore, retrospection is not only 
 illuminating, but absolutely necessary. 
 
 At the outbreak of war Harbin was in a more 
 parlous position than has been supposed. The 
 colossal expenditure, so carelessly entered into by 
 the builders of Greater Russia during the rapid 
 construction of the Manchurian railways, was at 
 last being rigidly curtailed ; and as Harbin had 
 been created and developed by the direct and 
 indirect influence of these railway disbursements, 
 and of the land and building gambling which they 
 engendered, its growth might have been suddenly 
 arrested once those influences had been removed. 
 There was one liquid asset, and only one, in the 
 town, apart from the railway. That asset was the 
 milling of flour, an industry which has been so 
 profitable that, in the space of four or five years, 
 several respectable fortunes had been made by 
 Russian millers. The vast Sungari plain lying 
 round Harbin and possessing an area of several 
 million acres of the richest soil, had, for years 
 before the coming of the Russians, been attracting 
 great crowds of Chinese squatters, drawn either 
 from the Southern Manchurian province or from 
 Shantung ; and these, having no restriction placed 
 in their way by Chinese officialdom, had been 
 steadily and methodically bringing more and more 
 land under cultivation. Grain was so cheap, and 
 the demand so slight, that in the decade ending 
 
 N 2 
 
i8o RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 with 1900 it had often been necessary for these 
 squatters to burn down half their crops — thereby 
 enriching the soil — because there was no market for 
 them. For years these men were accustomed to 
 live in the hope that the desired increase in the 
 consumptive demand, which would make Man- 
 churian farming profitable, would somehow come at 
 last. Chinese settlers on the Sungari plain were 
 therefore in the droll position of being unhappy 
 because their soil was too rich and the outer world 
 too inaccessible for their crops to have value. The 
 very Manchurian pigs were all grain-fed, a state of 
 affairs which may be said to be contrary to every 
 inborn instinct of the Chinese farmer, who regards 
 his pigs as mere farm scavengers, fated to live on 
 offal and dirt. 
 
 The presence of an increasing number of Russian 
 inhabitants in the settlements on the Amur river, 
 however, soon began to attract the commercial 
 instinct of men who are traders before they are 
 anything else. Junks began to make a regular 
 business of sailing down the Sungari river deep- 
 laden with grain, and offering for sale at ridiculous 
 prices along the Amur river fat cargoes of excellent 
 cereals. This trade had only begun to grow to 
 considerable proportions in the later 'nineties, and, 
 had not the Chinese Eastern Railway been built 
 and Harbin founded, it is quite certain that steam 
 flour-mills would have been erected by Russian 
 speculators along the course of the Amur river to 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE i8i 
 
 deal with the bulk cargoes of grain that were con- 
 stantly being received from the Kirin province of 
 Manchuria. 
 
 The founding of Harbin brought about a change. 
 Somebody understood the vast possibilities of this 
 fertile region ; a small steam flour-mill was erected 
 at an expenditure of a very few thousand roubles ; 
 grain which only cost twenty kopecks a pood of 
 thirty-six English pounds was ground and sold at a 
 gross profit of five hundred per cent. ; and Harbin's 
 future as a flour centre was soon established. 
 Reckoning the present market rate of the Imperial 
 British quarter of eight bushels, or 504 pounds, of 
 wheat at twenty-eight shillings, it is seen that 
 English wheat is worth two shillings per thirty-six 
 pounds, or, in Russian terms, ninety-five kopecks a 
 pood. Harbin grain was, therefore, originally about 
 seventy-five per cent, cheaper than the market rate 
 of grain in England. 
 
 By 1902 there were four Harbin mills in opera- 
 tion, and although Sungari grain had risen over 
 200 per cent, in value owing to the sudden demand, 
 that is, to sixty kopecks a pood of thirty-six pounds, 
 at the time the price seemed well established for 
 very large operations. The beginning of the war 
 consequently found more mills going up, and as the 
 town seemed in danger of having too many estab- 
 lishments in close proximity to one another, the last 
 step to be taken in this industry was thought of. 
 Instead of confining their activity to Harbin, specu- 
 
i83 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 lators began putting up plants at railway stations 
 which lay in the centre of grain districts ; and thus 
 in due course large flour-milling facilities were 
 possessed not only by Harbin but also by other 
 points along the railway. The position, then, when 
 the war was in full progress, was that instead of the 
 Russian commissariat department having to rely on 
 a 6,000-mile single-track railway, badly constructed 
 and indifferently ballasted, for one of the most im- 
 portant items of soldiers' food supplies, flour (as 
 was at one time a constant but quite erroneous con- 
 tention of eminent military authorities), the follow- 
 ing Russian-owned mills were in . operation in 
 Harbin : — 
 
 
 
 
 Daily capacity in Poods. 
 
 Sungari Mill 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 io,oco 
 
 Zozulinsky Mill 
 
 
 
 7,000 
 
 Manchu Mill 
 
 (No. 
 
 I and No. 
 
 2) 6,000 
 
 Driezen 
 
 
 
 
 2,500 
 
 RifF 
 
 ... 
 
 
 3.SOO 
 
 Nowalski . . . 
 
 
 
 7>ooo 
 
 Tourkim . . . 
 
 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 Kloudineff . . . 
 
 
 Total 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 47.000 
 
 This makes nine mills with a capacity per twenty- 
 four hours of nearly 1,700,000 English pounds. 
 
 In addition to these nine Harbin mills there were 
 nine other flour-mills in operation along the railway 
 — all in Kirin province, with the exception of the 
 first. These were distributed as follows : — 
 
VII 
 
 THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 
 
 183 
 
 
 Capacity per 
 
 
 Distance from 
 
 Mills. 
 
 24 hours. 
 
 
 Harbin. 
 
 
 Tsitsihar 
 
 . . 2,000 poods . . 
 
 253 versts 
 
 west 
 
 Achido 
 
 .. 2,500 
 
 y 
 
 • 39 
 
 y> 
 
 east 
 
 Imiampo 
 
 .. s,ooo 
 
 » 
 
 . 156 
 
 /) 
 
 )} 
 
 Hailin 
 
 .. 7,000 
 
 » 
 
 • 313 
 
 J} 
 
 )) 
 
 Ninguta 
 
 ... 2,000 
 
 » 
 
 • 360 
 
 )i 
 
 » 
 
 Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu 
 
 .. 7,000 
 
 )) 
 
 . 221 
 
 » 
 
 south 
 
 Shuangchengpu 
 
 r6,ooo\ 
 ••\4,oooJ 
 
 J> 
 
 • 47 
 
 » 
 
 }) 
 
 Kirin City ... 
 
 ... 5,000 
 
 Dods 
 
 • 300 
 
 a 
 
 >j 
 
 Total 
 
 ■ 40,500 p( 
 
 
 This makes nine additional mills with a total 
 capacity of^o.soopoods, or 1,458,000 English pounds 
 per twenty-four hours. With the exception of the 
 Kirin City mill, which belonged to the Tartar General 
 of Kirin province, every one of these mills lay along 
 the railway track, and their outputs were, therefore, 
 immediately available for military use. In the case 
 of the Kirin City mill, the 180,000 pounds which it 
 could turn out daily made the Russian force, whose 
 base was Kirin and whose advanced lines met the 
 Japanese advanced lines south of Heilungchiang, 
 quite independent of Harbin. All the other mills 
 outside Harbin were also specially useful, because 
 they permitted the railway guarding forces and 
 lines of communication both east and west of the 
 main base to be fed practically on the spot, without 
 having to draw supplies away from Harbin and the 
 main armies. They also allowed constant shipments 
 to be made to the Pacific province forces. Thus 
 
i84 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 there were eighteen respectable steam flour-mills in 
 Central and Northern Manchuria having a maximum 
 output per twenty-four hours of 3,150,000 English 
 pounds, or roughly i ,400 tons a day ; and it will be 
 observed that in this calculation no account is taken 
 of Chinese mills, in which the motive power is 
 supplied by draught animals — that is, the ordinary 
 Chinese stone-milling establishments — and which 
 turn out a coarse flour quite suitable for military 
 bakehouses. In 1900 much of the flour consumed 
 in Peking by the native troops from India was 
 milled in this way, and the flour was reasonably 
 good for the making of chupattis. A rough 
 Russian estimate, made during the war, placed 
 the number of big native flour-mills In Kirin 
 province at 400, 160 of which were at the im- 
 portant town of Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu, a point sixty 
 or seventy miles behind the main Russian armies 
 at the time peace was made. Had it been necessary, 
 therefore, Chinese supplies could have supplemented 
 the output of Russian mills to a very considerable 
 extent without exhausting the country for many 
 months. The amount of grain locally available was 
 literally enormous, and the demand so stimulated 
 the supply that new ground was being broken 
 every day during the latter part of the war. The 
 military position, however, never demanded any 
 extraordinary measures. During the whole of 1904, 
 and indeed until the crushing battle of Moukden, 
 the Russian commissariat arrangements were con- 
 spicuously defective, because the armies in Southern 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 185 
 
 Manchuria had been foolishly looked upon as mere 
 expeditionary forces, which had to improvise for 
 themselves and live on the country as best they 
 could, rather than as armies organised on a European 
 basis. It was not until the re-organisation of the 
 whole of the Siberian railway, the completion of the 
 Circum-Baikal railway, and the decision of the 
 St. Petersburg General Staff to prosecute the war 
 on a maximum scale, that the position was materially 
 changed. The fall of Port Arthur and the deter- 
 mination to push on the war energetically as a war 
 of exhaustion, may be said to mark the moment 
 when the commissariat organisation of Harbin took 
 proper shape, and a sound scheme was evolved for 
 the regular and systematic feeding of a million field 
 combatants. The entire Harbin flour output was 
 then taken over by the military authorities ; and 
 assuming each soldier's daily allowance of flour to 
 be i|- lb. a day, the Harbin mills alone placed at 
 the disposal of the commissariat 2,000,000 rations 
 per twenty-four hours. As far as flour was con- 
 cerned, then, sufficient quantities were locally avail- 
 able to feed every Russian soldier east of Lake 
 Baikal on the day peace was signed, for the mills 
 outside Harbin could have almost doubled the 
 number of flour rations actually available daily. 
 Whether supplies would have continued to be 
 sufficient had the war gone on and the general 
 mobilisation order of the whole Russian Empire, 
 which the Czar threatened, been carried out, so 
 that almost every one of the thirty-two Russian army 
 
i86 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 corps were represented in Manchuria, is a question 
 which will presently be considered. The available 
 evidence points to the fact that they would have 
 been almost wholly adequate, and that the Russian 
 soldier would have been well found in bread to the 
 very last. 
 
 Next to flour, the most important item in the 
 soldier's dietary may be said to be meat. If reason- 
 able rations of flour, meat, vegetables, salt, sugar, 
 and tea can be supplied to the Russian soldier, he 
 lacks nothing in the way of luxuries, since he is 
 a simple, healthy fellow who never asks for much ; 
 and as the only rations which bulk heavily are the 
 two first mentioned — flour and meat — it is well to 
 inquire whence came the enormous quantities of 
 meat necessary to feed a ration-strength which on 
 September ist, 1905, roughly amounted to 1,200,000 
 men. During the earlier stages of the war the 
 provision of meat was managed in much the same 
 way as that of other supplies. Whilst all the important 
 engagements of the year 1904 were being fought, 
 cattle supplies were being drawn by the Russian 
 forces not only from the rich country west of the Liao 
 river — the Liao Hsi — but also from Mongolia ; and 
 excepting for some salted meat in casks despatched 
 irregularly from Russia to the Liaoyang and Moukden 
 bases, most of the meat consumed by the Russian 
 Manchurian armies in this year was Chinese or 
 Mongolian beef or mutton. The year 1905 brought 
 a marked change. Not only were Chinese supplies 
 in Southern Manchuria becoming exhausted before 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 187 
 
 the battle of Moukden was fought, but the difficulties 
 of foraging grew more and more intensified. It was 
 the proper organisation of the commissariat system 
 at the true base, Harbin, which did away with the 
 necessity for a hand-to-mouth policy in the field. 
 This organisation had been unduly delayed, it is 
 true ; but no sooner had it been attended to than it 
 showed its general excellence. 
 
 The chiefs of the supply service at Harbin 
 adopted early in 1905 a three-fold system in order 
 to provide meat in sufficient quantities to meet the 
 immense daily field demand. First, contracts were 
 placed in Mongolia for large numbers of sheep, and 
 these contracts were carried out mainly by Buriats 
 from the Irkutsk and Chita districts. Here it is 
 necessary to remark that in the last stages of 
 the war Russia was singularly fortunately situated, 
 both geographically and ethnologically. In the 
 large Buriat population of her Transbaikalian 
 territories she possessed an ally of extreme value. 
 These Buriats are pure Mongols ; they profess 
 Lamaism, and have only been sufficiently Russianised 
 to enable them to become good intermediaries 
 between Chinese Mongols and the local Russian 
 inhabitants and traders in the great land-frontier 
 commerce which centres at Irkutsk. The traffic 
 between Asiatic Russia and Mongolia along the 
 Kiachta-Urga camel-caravan routes, mainly spring- 
 ing from the great brick-tea trade, made this new 
 work easy to accomplish ; and consequently to-day 
 in Harbin you may be shown a caravanserai called 
 
i88 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 " The Buriat Millionaires' Hotel," from which 
 prosaic centre an immense commerce in fresh meat 
 supplies was carried on during the war. The Russian 
 commissariat authorities had thus simply to sign 
 contracts for so many thousands or tens of thousands 
 of head to have them driven in by independent 
 contractors from Mongolia. Mutton, like flour, was 
 always obtainable locally in enormous quantities 
 without placing any demand on the railway. 
 
 The second method of meat supply was to place 
 contracts with Russian civilian contractors in Harbin, 
 for the supply of many thousands of tons of fresh 
 and salted beef, leaving the manner of carrying it 
 into the great commissariat base entirely in the 
 hands of such army speculators. The biggest of 
 these contractors kindly placed at my disposal his 
 ample experience, and it is interesting to be able to 
 record exactly the methods generally pursued, 
 Investigations conducted by these civilian con- 
 tractors, in conjunction with Chinese speculators, 
 soon proved that beef, unlike mutton, could not be 
 procured sufficiently cheaply, or sufficiently rapidly, 
 or in sufficiently large quantities, in either Manchuria 
 or Mongolia for the requirements of the great 
 Russian army, and that it was therefore necessary 
 to go much farther afield. A rapid telegraphic 
 investigation in both Eastern and Western Siberia 
 soon disclosed the fact that big supplies could easily 
 be drawn by the train-load from three important 
 Siberian agricultural centres — Tomsk, Omsk, and 
 Kurgan, which lie 3,633 versts, 4,433 versts, and 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 189 
 
 4.933 versts respectively, west of Harbin. Thus 
 the first centre was about fourteen days away by 
 slow military train (travelling ten versts an hour) 
 the second centre eighteen days away, and the third 
 over twenty days. Winter, however, is an opportune 
 ally in these regions, since from October to May, 
 carcasses sewn in canvas can be transported for 
 weeks without fear of putrification. As for the hot 
 months the idea had been mooted, and would if 
 necessary have been put into operation, of diverting 
 the special Siberian refrigerating trains — engaged in 
 ordinary times in the transport of Siberian butter 
 for the English markets — for this special war-work. 
 Meat bought in immense quantities and delivered 
 at the stations of Tomsk, Omsk, or Kurgan, cost 
 Rls. 5*26 a.^oodoi thirty-six pounds ; and this meat 
 was actually laid down in Harbin within twenty-one 
 days at a cost, including all charges, of Rls. 7 2. pood 
 during the whole of the war. This compares very 
 favourably with the present market rate for 
 Australian dead meat in Vladivostock, which is 
 Rls. 8 '60 -a. pood. The war, therefore, was a very 
 cheap one for the Russians in meat as in flour, and 
 in spite of the enormous demand Siberian meat 
 hardly rose in price during the whole of 1905. The 
 large contractor in question was only one of many 
 engaged in this profitable traffic ; and the fact that 
 his net profit made in eight months, with a mode- 
 rately close scrutiny of accounts, amounted to two 
 million roubles — ;^2o8,ooo — is sufficient to show 
 that the quantity handled — figures which I am not 
 
igo RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 at liberty to publish at this moment — was immense. 
 It may be said, then, that no difficulties whatsoever 
 were experienced in providing beef rations for 
 upwards of a million men, owing to the adoption of 
 this simple plan of sub-letting army contracts to 
 civil contractors at Harbin, who had merely to 
 arrange with the military communication bureaux 
 for the placing of railway waggon space at their 
 disposal. It depended largely on the number of 
 trucks which could be set apart for this purpose as 
 to how much meat could be brought to Harbin from 
 Siberia. The Tomsk, Omsk, and Kurgan centres 
 would not have become exhausted for several years, 
 and the Siberian meat supply was, therefore, looked 
 upon as inexhaustible and wholly sufficient for all 
 army requirements. 
 
 The third method in vogue in the matter of meat 
 supplies was the periodic dispatch of large consign- 
 ments of salted army-meat in casks from army 
 depots in European Russia ; but this method fell 
 more and more into disuse as the advantages of 
 sub-letting all contracts to civilian contractors at 
 Harbin became clearer and clearer. It was found 
 simpler not to strain the Army Service Corps 
 excepting at the actual front ; and therefore, as has 
 always been the case in the Russian army, civilian 
 contractors managed the base supplies. The minor 
 articles of the soldier's ration — tea, salt, sugar, and 
 vegetables — were very easily furnished. Brick-tea 
 was brought direct from Irkutsk by rail, to which 
 point it had been brought as usual by camel-caravan 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 191 
 
 from Peking ; salt was obtainable locally in very 
 large quantities ; vegetables — beans, cabbages, and 
 peas — are raised on an enormous scale all over 
 Central Manchuria and were, therefore, easily to be 
 had ; sugar alone had to be brought from Russia, as 
 well as tobacco and all hospital stores. 
 
 From this brief survey it will be seen that the 
 strain thrown on the Siberian railway by the pro- 
 visioning of the immense forces, which Russia had 
 succeeded by the close of the war in assembling in 
 Manchuria, was of the slightest. Flour was available 
 locally in sufificient quantities to issue daily rations 
 to over a million men ; meat was obtainable in live 
 stock driven into the camps from Mongolia, and was 
 supplemented by the supplies of civil contractors sent 
 over the railway from three points, varying from 2,500 
 miles to 3,500 miles from Harbin ; whilst three other 
 important categories — tea, salt and vegetables — 
 were all purely Far Eastern products. The railway 
 could thus devote at least two-thirds of its strength 
 in the last stages of the war to the transport of 
 armed men and the accompanying vast supplies of 
 munitions of war. 
 
 For two months after the crushing battle of 
 Moukden the strain imposed by these categories 
 was, however, almost intolerable, because Vladi- 
 vostock had to be vastly strengthened and prepared 
 for an arduous siege. Consequently as many as ten 
 trains a day were at one time leaving Russia 
 bristling with guns and bursting with warlike stores, 
 and were steaming straight for the great Pacific 
 
192 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 fortress. But by June of 1905 everything that could 
 be thought of had been dispatched to Vladivostock, 
 and the train traffic became a normal and persistent 
 flow of men and military supplies directed towards 
 Harbin, as the base of the great forces massing 
 south of the Sungari. This improved and greatly 
 accelerated Russian train-service was undoubtedly 
 the great feature of the war, and has opened the eyes 
 of military students to the extraordinary nature of 
 rail-power and the role it is now destined to play in 
 the future history of Asia. Nothing, not even sea- 
 power, can afford to ignore this latest and most 
 startling demonstration of purely land-strength ; for 
 there can now be no doubt that had the war con- 
 tinued, the Siberian railway would have permitted 
 Russia within an additional six months to have 
 assembled an overwhelming numerical superiority 
 in the field that no amount of valour, cunning and 
 determination on the part of the Japanese could 
 have nullified. Six months' more war would have 
 meant, according to the calculations of the commis- 
 sariat staff, that the ration strength of the Man- 
 churian forces would have been raised to 1,700,000 
 men, and the problem which the Harbin head- 
 quarters' staff had actually begun to work out in the 
 last days of the war was whether the proper and 
 methodical feeding of such a great force was a 
 military possibility. The balance of expert opinion, 
 with the experience of a year and a half behind it, 
 was strongly in an affirmative, and presently the line 
 of reasoning and the calculations which permitted 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 193 
 
 such a view to be taken will be duly set forth. For 
 the moment it is necessary to say a few words on 
 the actual working results of the railway. 
 
 The outbreak of war found both the Siberian and 
 Manchurian railways admittedly in a bad state to 
 deal with the serious work which confronted them. 
 Both railways, although purely strategic in concep- 
 tion, had in the first instance been planned on a 
 false scale owing to the serious mistakes made by 
 the Russian Far Eastern agents in their calculations 
 regarding Japan's military strength. It is not too 
 much to say that a number of facts patent to civilian 
 observers had been ignored or only superficially 
 understood by Russian military experts. Mistakes 
 were not only made concerning the number of men 
 Japan could actually place in the field ; nor yet did 
 they extend merely to a non-appreciation of the 
 wonderful flexibility of her apparently limited and 
 rigid military system. They comprised, for instance, 
 a culpable vagueness regarding the re-armament 
 and consequent improvement of the Japanese 
 artillery during the year 1901. It was held that 
 Japan could only place 250,000 efficient soldiers in 
 the field, and that her artillery parks, even for such 
 a relatively small body of men, would be proved 
 inadequate and defective. When it became clear 
 that this estimated number of men was being slowly 
 trebled and even quadrupled, and that the artillery 
 had been most secretly and expeditiously improved, 
 the call on the Russian railways immediately began ; 
 and thus from an early stage in the war to the very 
 
 o 
 
194 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 last days, the strain which was put on the railway 
 was immense. For the number of trains which 
 could be handled at the beginning was only twelve a 
 day, or six in each direction, owing to the non- 
 completion of a number of things which should have 
 been finished long before Russia's military advisers 
 permitted an appeal to arms to be made. During 
 the first six months of the war an energetic treat- 
 ment of the situation by Prince Khilkofif brought 
 about a perceptible improvement ; and at the time 
 the battles of Liaoyang and Shaho were fought, the 
 traffic passing over the Siberian and Manchurian 
 lines mounted to nine trains a day in each direction, 
 or eighteen in all. The laying of new sidings and 
 crossing-stations was methodically pursued during 
 the whole of the latter half of 1904, and the Circum- 
 Baikal railway pushed on and completed with such 
 energetic haste that by the beginning of 1905 such 
 an improvement had taken place that the number of 
 trains had risen to twelve in each direction daily. 
 Three months later the number had been further 
 increased to fourteen per diem, and by May and 
 June the maximum was attained. Thirty-two trains, 
 or sixteen in each direction, were theoretically 
 handled over the whole length of the Trans- 
 Siberian railway every twenty-four hours, although 
 there was constant irregularity owing to congestion. 
 On some sections nineteen trains in each direction 
 were actually managed for short periods ; but this 
 result was only obtained where the economic con- 
 ditions were exceptionally favourable, and was found 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 195 
 
 harmful in the long run. Sixteen pairs of trains was 
 the reasonable maximum. It is curious, looking at 
 such results, to remember the constant and unreason- 
 able scepticism of expert military opinion during the 
 war regarding the possibilities of the Siberian rail- 
 way. It is a well-known railway axiom that, given 
 the necessary economic and other conditions, it is 
 possible for any single track to handle twenty trains 
 a day in each direction, provided an average speed 
 of ten miles an hour is maintained and that crossing 
 stations are established at every five-mile point. 
 In the United States much more remarkable results 
 are obtained in iron-ore districts by the so-called 
 "string method," where trains are dispatched with 
 only a three minutes' interval between each ; the 
 constant flow is consequently so enormous that prac- 
 tically limitless quantities of material can be dealt 
 with. Such a policy, although it was adopted on 
 several occasions on the Manchurian section, was 
 not possible in the case of the whole of the Siberian 
 railway. It was necessary above all for the railway 
 authorities to avoid congestion — a danger which 
 might have brought about most disastrous results, 
 Having this point always in view, the Russian 
 engineers at first disregarded the question of speed 
 entirely, and sought to secure only that the arrival 
 of trains in Harbin should be unending and regular, 
 and that the return flow of empty trucks should be 
 just as perfect. It is not surprising, then, to find 
 that at one time the average distance covered per 
 twenty-four hours by troop-trains and supply-trains 
 
 o 2 
 
196 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 fell as low as one hundred and seventy-six versts, 
 —a speed, including stoppages, of only seven and 
 a half versts, or, say, five miles an hour. This state 
 of affairs, which made it necessary for six weeks to 
 be consumed on the road between European Russia 
 and Harbin, was eventually remedied, and the 
 average speed of all trains raised to upwards of 
 eight miles an hour. A further improvement would 
 doubtless have come had the war continued, for 
 the Siberian and Manchurian railway staffs had at 
 length quite settled down to work, and were 
 handling with ever greater ease a traffic which they 
 would have considered an impossibility in the days 
 before the war. The addition of crossing stations 
 and sidings, the building of water towers, the 
 accumulation of fuel reserves at the necessary 
 points, the improvisation of repair shops — all these 
 were proceeding methodically according to the plan 
 laid down by Prince Khilkoff, the masterly Minister 
 of Communications, who is spoken of to-day in 
 terms of amazement by every Russian railway 
 engineer in Manchuria. 
 
 As has been said, however, the lack of facilities 
 for handling a heavy traffic was, in the first instance, 
 very marked. The stations in Manchuria west of 
 Harbin were nearly all thirty versts, or nineteen 
 miles, apart ; and although in Siberia this distance 
 fell to twenty versts (say thirteen miles) and even less 
 in sections running through well-developed country, 
 it may be said that before the war the average 
 space between consecutive stations from Chelia- 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE igy 
 
 binsk to Harbin was nineteen miles The first cor- 
 rective measures took the form of estabHshing a 
 sub-station or crossing station between every pair 
 of original stations. As soon as the Circum- Baikal 
 railway had been thrown open to traffic and the 
 railway staffs completely reorganised, these extra 
 facilities permitted the scheme of sixteen pairs of 
 trains a day to be adopted and speedily put into 
 operation. The extension of sidings and the diver- 
 sion of more and more locomotives and rolling- 
 stock from European Russia for this special war 
 work allowed the loads of trains arriving at Harbin 
 to be further increased some fifty per cent, by 
 giving two locomotives to every train. The 
 standard Russian goods locomotive was a sixty- 
 ton engine, hauling as a full load forty covered 
 goods-waggons of the old model, each waggon 
 having a capacity of 750 poods ; in English figures 
 this means forty waggons of a twelve-ton capacity 
 each (sixty-two poods to the long ton). Thus the 
 Russian supply train hauled by one locomotive 
 brought theoretically 480 tons dead-weight to the 
 front ; with two locomotives the load was increased 
 to 720 tons. To allow for underloading, the single 
 locomotive supply train was calculated by the staff 
 to bring approximately a minimum of 600 tons. 
 But the passenger locomotives, a large number of 
 which were diverted for this war work owing to the 
 unavoidable shortage in goods locomotives, were 
 somewhat more powerful, being of eighty tons' 
 weight and able to haul, at a maximum speed of 
 
198 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 forty-five versts an hour, twenty eight-wheel pas- 
 senger coaches. A single passenger locomotive 
 was therefore almost able to do the work of two 
 ordinary goods engines ; and as there was a large 
 and constantly growing number of new standard 
 trucks being brought into service — having a gross 
 capacity of from i,ooo to i , 500 poods (say from fifteen 
 to twenty tons) — an attempt was made to divide up 
 locomotive work on a common-sense basis, and to 
 fix a standard for the dead- weight to be carried 
 by each supply train. In fact the whole of the 
 Siberian and Manchurian railways, with all their 
 resources, were at last scheduled simply as a 
 military transport agency, and everything became 
 subordinated to the one idea, the feeding of the war. 
 The great distances, however, and the enormous 
 number of trucks which were requisitioned— up- 
 wards of 60,000 being finally in use — made this a 
 work of immense difficulty. In spite of all efforts 
 to keep rolling-stock in movement and to avoid 
 the ever-threatened congestion, it was at last 
 found necessary to break up old waggons that had 
 travelled as far as Manchuria and to ship home the 
 steel parts whenever they were worth keeping. All 
 efforts were made to keep every class of rolling 
 stock within the numbers which had been laid down 
 by the Ministry of Communications as the greatest 
 which could be spared from the home system with- 
 out paralysing the immense transportation work 
 which goes on in the agricultural provinces of Rus- 
 sia after the harvests ; but it was found that large 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 199 
 
 quantities of rolling stock were lost by wastage, 
 and that for every 10,000 men that were despatched 
 to the Far East, a large increase in the numbers of 
 waggons left on the Siberian railway was inevitable. 
 Sidings could not be cleared, and for many months 
 after the war dozens of miles of trucks remained 
 stranded between Cheliabinsk and Harbin. For- 
 tunately about five hundred locomotives and thirty 
 thousand trucks and carriages can be built every year 
 in the Russian Government works, and more than 
 half a million railway employees are actually found 
 on the Government lists. Yet in spite of these 
 formidable figures and of the immense sources of 
 Russian reserve strength, the fact that twenty-five 
 per cent, of the quarter of a million goods-waggons 
 of the Russian Government system were actually 
 being used for the prosecution of the war, made it 
 clearly apparent, late in the summer of 1905, that 
 the unending military activity of the Siberian 
 and Manchurian railways had begun to influence 
 adversely the whole economic life of European 
 Russia by diverting the major part of the railway 
 energy of the country to purely warlike uses. How 
 long could this policy have been continued ? Could 
 the Siberian railway have borne any additional 
 strain .'' And what was the maximum amount of 
 work it was capable of performing? These are 
 some of the questions which to-day attract attention 
 in Manchuria. They cannot of course be answered 
 satisfactorily or finally, since that can be achieved 
 only by experiment and practice, and not by theory ; 
 
200 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 but a general survey of the various considerations 
 may perhaps be ventured. In the first place the 
 Russian Government, on the advice of the railway 
 authorities, had absolutely determined completely to 
 monopolise the Trans- Ural railway system for mili- 
 tary purposes, and to make the entire train service a 
 purely military one. Thus the civilian inhabitants 
 of the whole of Siberia, had the war continued, 
 would have been forced to rely on the old post- 
 roads — as they had to do ten or twelve years ago — 
 for all communication with the outer world. This 
 policy, had it been carried into effect, would have 
 given the military authorities two or three more trains 
 in each direction every twenty-four hours, since at least 
 two trains a day remained to the end of the war set 
 aside for civilian and railway service requirements ; 
 and by adding another 400 locomotives and another 
 12,000 trucks to the Siberian railway, it would have 
 been possible to standardise each supply-train into a 
 double-locomotive train of sixty waggons carrying 
 a minimum dead-weight of 600 tons, or a largely 
 increased number of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. 
 But much more could not have been done, owing to 
 the unsatisfactory economic conditions prevailing in 
 many sections of the railway — at one place there 
 was a lack of water, at another a lack of fuel, at 
 a third a lack of repair shops, and so on. Still, 
 a plan was actually in course of preparation to add 
 a large number of new crossing stations, which in 
 turn might have permitted an increased train-service. 
 But it is extremely doubtful if this enormous work 
 
vn THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 201 
 
 could have been carried to a successful conclusion 
 in less than twelve months ; and by that time, had 
 the war continued, decisive results would already 
 have been arrived at on the Manchurian battlefields. 
 The fact, however, must never be lost sight of, that 
 once the final Russian re-inforcements, approximately 
 from half a million to three-quarters of a million 
 men, had been conveyed to the front — an operation 
 which could have been successfully completed in six 
 months by despatching eight troop-trains eastward 
 every twenty-four hours — almost the entire strength 
 of the railway could have been devoted to supply 
 work ; and bearing in mind the local Manchurian 
 food supplies, it is not too optimistic to believe that 
 sixteen double trains would have been ample for 
 that duty. Indeed, it is now believed that this 
 service could have kept well found in every particular 
 an army possessing an approximate ration-strength 
 of two million men. That is to say, Russia could 
 actually have waged war on a scale double the size 
 of the maximum actually obtained. When it is 
 remembered that nearly a million Japanese were 
 almost entirely supplied by a narrow-gauge system 
 running eighteen trains in each direction every 
 twenty-four hours, and that these trains were only 
 composed of eight-ton trucks, with a maximum to 
 each train of sixty trucks (say three hundred and 
 sixty tons per train-load), it will be understood that 
 the Russian broad-gauge system, giving alone an 
 immediate advantage of a forty per cent, greater 
 capacity, and the enormous Russian superiority in 
 
202 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 army reserves, must have meant in the end that 
 Japan could have been crushed or forced to an 
 absolute and acknowledged impasse by sheer weight 
 of numbers and nothing else. For there can be 
 little doubt that the Russian system could have 
 succeeded in transporting two million men to the 
 front, and could then have been able to furnish them 
 with 8,000 tons of dead-weight of supplies during 
 every twenty-four hours. No such extraordinary 
 results could ever have been accomplished by Japan, 
 for during the war Japan was still only a pupil 
 in railway matters. The praise of the railway as an 
 engine of war merits to be written in the Russian 
 tongue. 
 
 Little less remarkable than her railway per- 
 formance was Russia's hospital performance center- 
 ing at Harbin. In the early stages of the war the 
 sufferings of the wounded, owing to lack of proper 
 facilities and the defective organisation of base 
 hospitals, provoked immense indignation amongst 
 both officers and men of the Russian army, and led 
 almost immediately to a vast improvement. The 
 area now known as Hospital Town in Harbin was 
 then set apart, and the construction of permanent 
 hospitals was methodically begun on an enormous 
 scale. By the time the battles of Liaoyang and 
 Shaho were fought a number of patent German 
 transportable hospitals of asbestos had been erected ; 
 by the time the battle of Moukden was fought, the 
 whole of the Harbin Gospidal-Gorodok was com- 
 plete ; and after this battle some 60,000 wounded 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 203 
 
 and sick men were quickly passed through this 
 giant hospital without confusion or strain. The 
 methods pursued in this matter were identical to 
 those followed on the railway. Every effort was 
 constantly made to avoid congestion — to have the 
 channel always free — and to entrain all suffering 
 men as soon as they could be moved. In this 
 work the proximity of the Primorsk, or the Pacific 
 province, and the Trans-Baikal territory was most 
 useful. As soon as they had been sufficiently 
 treated, the wounded were sent off in thousands to 
 hospitals established in centres along the Ussuri 
 railway, whilst others were despatched westwards 
 to China in Transbaikalia, where ample facilities 
 existed, and even as far as Irkutsk, where any 
 number of invalids could be received. The Harbin 
 hospitals were therefore constantly cleared and 
 constantly available for fresh armies of wounded. 
 Just before peace was concluded, it was authorita- 
 tively stated that, together with the emergency 
 hospitals at the front, 90,000 wounded men could 
 have been handled without delay. The immense 
 scale of everything in these Harbin hospitals has to 
 be seen to be properly grasped ; nothing before has 
 ever been attempted on such a basis, and compared 
 to them the hospital results of campaigns such as 
 that in South Africa fade into insignificance. 
 
 Yet the Russian army, unlike that of the 
 Japanese, where such immense care was taken for 
 the prevention of disease, was practically left to 
 shift for itself in sanitary matters when in the 
 
204 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 field ; but by one of those curious ironies of fate, 
 the Russian ranks were almost entirely free from 
 disease when tens of thousands of Japanese were 
 being sent home suffering from that grievous com- 
 plaint called kakke, or beri-beri. The full Russian 
 hospital statistics are not yet complete, and are not 
 likely to be for some time to come ; but a cursory 
 inspection of the Harbin hospital returns reveals the 
 fact that except for venereal complaints and a few 
 thousand fever cases, there was relatively speaking no 
 sickness of any consequence in the Russian army 
 during the whole war. This speaks volumes for 
 the physique of the rank and file, which is indeed 
 well-known among all the armies of the Powers to 
 be the best in the world ; for it is safe to say that 
 no other European army would have been able to 
 bear the hardships inseparable from campaigning in 
 a country like Manchuria, where there are such 
 extremes of temperature, without a fearful sick list. 
 The recoveries from gunshot wounds were also a 
 remarkable feature. The returns go to show that 
 fully sixty per cent, of the wounded were able to 
 rejoin the ranks well within six weeks, and that 
 only twenty per cent, had to be sent home, crippled, 
 to be discharged. The Japanese rifle is now pro- 
 nounced by Russian surgeons to be an absolute 
 failure, and all wounds inflicted at any, excepting 
 the closest, ranges were so easily treated that a 
 complete cure was always certain once the patient 
 had been safely brought to the base hospitals. In 
 fact, the Japanese rifle has now been nicknamed 
 
VII THE RUSSIAN WAR PERFORMANCE 205 
 
 the "Kill or Cure Rifle"! More dangerous were 
 the shell wounds, for the Shimose bursting charges 
 which were used were so powerful that the steel 
 shell-cases were shattered into thousands of frag- 
 ments, dozens of which might be found in the body 
 of a single man. Yet with all this, there is now no 
 reason to doubt the Russian statement that on the 
 whole the Japanese casualties were the greater ; the 
 proportion of Russian killed to the Russian wounded 
 is probably largely responsible for the idea that 
 the Russian losses so greatly exceeded those of 
 the Japanese. But the Russian proportions were 
 different to the Japanese on all questions ; indeed, 
 it is necessary to consider everything on the Russian 
 side from a different point of view. The Russian 
 army was an army of roysterers, if ever there was 
 one; a discontented, drink-loving, virile, healthy mass 
 of men whose strength lay chiefly in their extra- 
 ordinary animal health, and whose weakness sprang 
 mainly from a complete lack of education ot any 
 kind. Yet it was a great army, and might have 
 proved itself even greater had Linievitch been 
 allowed to stake everything on another throw. 
 
 Russians are after all Russians and nothing else ; 
 but admitting that much of their strength, and much 
 of the real genius which so many of them possess, 
 tends to be frittered away because of racial non- 
 chalance and sloth, the fact will always remain that 
 in latent strength and reserves of men and materials 
 their superiority is so vast that no one in the world 
 can afford to ignore them or their future. Harbin, 
 
2o6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CH. Vii 
 
 a town which grew up Hke a mushroom, in the end 
 did far more for the Russian cause than constant 
 efficiency from the very beginning might have done 
 for a Power of Hmited strength. Here in this lonely 
 town were stored or were quickly accumulated such 
 masses of energy, materials, and men that with all the 
 world on the side of the Japanese and the money- 
 bags of Europe held wide open to them, an absolute 
 stalemate in the field was quickly reached, although 
 everything in the first instance had been in favour 
 of an overwhelming Japanese victory and an over- 
 whelming Russian collapse. It is well to ponder 
 over these facts and to attempt to understand some- 
 thing of their future meaning ; for the key to the 
 peace of East Asia still lies, as it always has lain, 
 north of the fortieth parallel. The moral of Harbin 
 is an extraordinary one, and the more it is realised 
 the more patent does it become that no conclusive 
 decision has yet been arrived at. The Russian 
 behemoth is just as unconquerable as it ever was ; 
 and Asia does not contain in all its hundreds of 
 millions more than a fraction of the vital force 
 necessary to subdue it. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 WESTERN MANCHURIA 
 
 The Manchurian post-train, or daily service train, 
 now guaranteed to steam thirty-two versts every 
 sixty minutes and to average, including all stops 
 and delays, the fair speed of twenty-two and a half 
 versts an hour, snorts at the great Harbin station 
 preparatory to starting. And the first bell having 
 clanged once, and the second bell twice, and the 
 third bell thrice, a few last hasty embraces are 
 exchanged. The time has certainly arrived when 
 the train will move forward — in a few minutes — and 
 therefore prepare yourselves with hearty, resounding 
 good-byes for your departure. Russian trains, how- 
 ever, are dignified creatures with a proper sense of 
 the immense distances which they continually cover, 
 and they can surely never become mere hissing, 
 spitting things chained to time-tables, and released 
 by a wave of an anxious station-master's hand for 
 a mad dash over a specific distance in a rigidly 
 specified time. Rather are they like camels, who, 
 having eaten their fill of wood and water, peacefully 
 
2o8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 move forward through deserts that were entirely 
 unconquered by the science of man only a few years 
 ago. Perhaps it is meet and proper, then, that the 
 warning bells should clang without too much 
 meaning, except such as may be conveyed by the 
 slow echoes so soon lost in the huge expanse of 
 station. Well do we, who are now accustomed 
 to the habit of your music and have analysed 
 somewhat the genius of your composers, know 
 that there is always time for another glass of 
 tea even after our departure has been finally 
 announced ! 
 
 Seats, however, are at a premium, if you are 
 westward bound. For the Harbin military evacua- 
 tion having been completed, the civilian exodus has 
 commenced ; and all those good people, who are 
 the necessary complement to a great Russian 
 military base, having become somewhat tired of 
 waiting for the millennium and its commercial boom, 
 are now moving gruntingly homewards. They 
 have borne the hardships of a campaign with gaiety, 
 and in fact do not hesitate to say that they want 
 them again ; and now they are morosely returning 
 in great bands to their ancestral homes in south- 
 eastern Europe, fully convinced that there is some- 
 thing radically wrong in the feminine variability of 
 Government policies, and that this Manchuria is 
 really after all a tedious and tiresome country. 
 They return home, then, with their many doubtful- 
 looking bundles ; they crush in upon the inquiring 
 traveller with their scent-laden persons ; they make 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 209 
 
 the carriage resound with their acrid laments at the 
 narrow space provided. Soon distance will assert 
 its mastery, and they must all be impressed, no 
 matter how limited their understanding, with the 
 immensity of the uncompleted and defeated pro- 
 gramme. In twenty-four hours they will all have 
 lapsed to the state of insignificance which springs 
 from the fact that they form part of a lusty yet 
 ignorant population amounting only, even in the 
 twentieth century, to seven persons per square 
 verst in the greatest unbroken stretch of empire 
 the world has ever known. 
 
 Thus moralising, you have crossed the great 
 steel bridge over the Sungari River, which was 
 such a precious link in the long chain during the 
 war, and now, apparently leaving all civilisation 
 behind, you are progressing methodically over an 
 endless steppe made dreary by the dull autumn 
 tints. Here the country is very different from 
 Eastern Manchuria and the section between the 
 Pacific province and Harbin : it is absolutely flat 
 and sad of aspect ; Russian railway settlements are 
 of the most meagre sort ; and the railway guards 
 are grouped in smaller detachments. It is true that 
 there are the same innumerable watch-towers with 
 their curious signal beacons of twisted straw and 
 twigs piled high as in mediaeval times, kept ever 
 ready to flash the alarm whenever a hunghutzu 
 attack develops itself. Between Harbin and the 
 Transbaikalian frontier there are no less than 
 876 versts, or 580 miles — the distance as the crow 
 
 p 
 
2IO RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CBAP. 
 
 flies between Paris and Berlin ; and although there 
 are some fifty stations and sidings in this section, 
 these merely serve by their momentary animation 
 to emphasise the fact that the third of these great 
 Manchurian provinces — the province of Heilung- 
 chiang — is only just emerging from the wild state 
 in which it has remained ever since Genghiz Khan 
 — reputed to have been born in the Kinghan 
 mountains — swept out the country with every 
 Tartar capable of bearing arms eight centuries 
 ago. The real re-conquest of the country is not 
 being effected by the Russian railway for the benefit 
 of Russians, but is slowly being brought about by 
 the indirect agency of that railway for the direct 
 benefit of the Chinese — a very different thing. 
 Three years ago, before the war, Chinese cultiva- 
 tion began to cease twenty or thirty miles imme- 
 diately west of the Sungari river. It continued, it 
 is true, in patches for some miles farther on ; but 
 these patches belonged to squatters who were 
 just beginning to come into the country ; and 
 Chinese villages, those signs that immovable 
 ancestor-making of the type so abundant in the 
 eighteen home provinces is about to commence, 
 had quite ceased. This condition of things is 
 already completely changed. In three years the 
 cultivated belt has been advanced many miles, and 
 is still every month progressing farther and farther 
 to the west. The Tartar General at Tsitsihar, the 
 nominal ruler of these 140,000 square miles of 
 province, an area many times as great as England, 
 
.i 
 
 A Party ok Old-Type Manchiirian Soldieks in Heilunolhiam, I'kovince. 
 
 A Manchurian Fair and Travelling Theatre. 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 211 
 
 has been aiding this work to the best of his ability. 
 During the past year his deputies have been continu- 
 ally sent into the thickly populated portions of Kirin 
 province, and have already induced many thousand 
 Chinese families to emigrate en masse to the country 
 west of the Sungari. This policy will be steadily 
 persisted in — it is the only step the Chinese can 
 take ; and although funds are unfortunately not 
 sufficient to permit of hundreds of thousands of 
 people being systematically brought in from the 
 densely-populated provinces of North China, as 
 should be done, Kirin province will be drawn on 
 by Heilungchiang year by year in a constant effort 
 to populate — and therefore to regain — an untamed 
 territory. In the train I found a most intelligent 
 Chinese bannerman in the employ of this Tsitsihar 
 General, who showed from his conversation that the 
 question of populating the country as a weapon 
 against assimilation is perfectly well understood by 
 the Chinese authorities ; only the eternal want of 
 money has prevented the taking of proper whole- 
 sale measures. This official deplored again and again 
 the lack of funds, and the not less constant lack of 
 good men, needed to create the New China where 
 the New China is so needed, if outlying territory 
 is not to be ultimately lost. But, he asked of me, 
 what could actually be done ? Every Chinese now 
 understands perfectly well the inner aspect of the 
 Manchurian question ; but the weakness of the 
 Central Government ever since the Japanese war 
 of 1894, a weakness which has driven them from 
 
 p 2 
 
212 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 one pis-aller to another, and the fact that each 
 provincial magnate has hitherto been practically left 
 to work out by himself the best solution he can in 
 his own sphere, quite unaided by the Throne — these 
 things are responsible for the lugubrious state of 
 affairs to-day. As I gazed around in the train and 
 watched the flood of better-class but dull-headed 
 and uneducated Russian camp-followers clumsily and 
 unendingly moving down the corridors, it seemed 
 doubly curious that a nation like the Chinese, 
 boasting of thousands and tens of thousands of 
 educated men, the intellectual superiors of all but 
 the keenest European brains — for many Chinese 
 can be intensely clever — should be reduced to a 
 state of bondage very similar to that imposed by 
 Austria on Northern Italy for so many years. Man 
 for man, in the class room, in the industrial field, 
 and indeed on every kind of ground, observers are 
 never tired of saying that the Chinese can hold 
 their own against all comers. Yet, as a nation, four 
 hundred millions of them have for so long been a 
 negligible quantity that only European rivalry, and 
 much Anglo-Saxon altruism added thereto, has kept 
 them from sharing the fate of the Poles. For there 
 is no gainsaying the fact that Manchuria — a country 
 hardly inferior to France and Germany in territorial 
 expanse — has yet to be freed from foreign control ; 
 and therefore the late war, from the strictly Chinese 
 point of view, is looked upon as an almost complete 
 failure. As you travel through the province of 
 Heilungchiang and realise that as soon as you have 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 213 
 
 left the cultivated belt behind, the railway, and the 
 railway alone, still dominates the country, for the 
 simple reason that it is the only living thing, and 
 that the Chinese colonisation is merely beginning to 
 come, you fully grasp how vain it is to hope that a 
 campaign fought in Fengtien province, a region as 
 many hundreds of miles away as Sedan is from 
 Austria, should materially help in the solution of the. 
 great question of what is to become of a belt of 
 territory which, because it lies between Transbaik- 
 alia and the Primorsk, must remain threatened until 
 it is full of men and possesses a powerful and effi- 
 cient army. Until, then, the northern province of 
 Heilungchiang has a Chinese population of at least 
 twenty millions — it has now hardly three — and until 
 one per cent, of the inhabitants has been trained to 
 bear arms, it will be a hostage in the hands of the 
 controlling Power, although that Power's only claim 
 to control is based on one of the most evanescent 
 things in the world — militarism. Before such a 
 Chinese population can be hoped for, even with 
 wholesale colonisation, at least fifteen or twenty 
 years must elapse ; and in that interval anything 
 can happen. 
 
 In the meantime, however, you are going steadily 
 on in your camel-like train, which, though slow, is 
 indirectly so masterful ; and you are now plodding 
 through vast arid stretches of land which never 
 seem to end, and which once served as trysting 
 places for the hordes of Genghiz Khan and other 
 earlier Tartar conquerors. No sooner have you 
 
214 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 left behind each Httle station-oasis with its fictitious 
 activity, than the train and those gUstening ribbons 
 of steel which have been stretched by the genius 
 of man so cunningly that in political documents they 
 have the aspect of chains, remain the only things. 
 There is nothing else excepting immensity, making 
 the cup-shaped earth meet the lowering horizon 
 .everlastingly without a single break — an immensity 
 which, if long contemplated, soon crushes you down 
 with a sense of man's ant-like insignificance. 
 
 The station names — ill-transliterated, but not so 
 ill as many others, since . here they are dissyllabic 
 Mongol names and not clean-cut monosyllabic 
 Chinese words — stand out, too, somewhat romanti- 
 cally, and give the wilderness a special character. 
 Agneda, Sartou, Tsitsihar, Boukhedou — these are 
 the names of old Mongol camel-caravan halting 
 places ; whilst farther on, near Transbaikalia, the 
 sidings near those dismal, tideless stagnant sheets 
 of water, which Sven Hedin might have re- 
 discovered for all our accurate knowledge of them, 
 have names such as Chata-nor, Kuku-nor, Dalai-nor, 
 which speak even more eloquently of an unknown 
 past shrouded in the desert dusts, which have been 
 so easily and so deeply piled above all memories by 
 the action of the elements. The geography of a 
 country makes its politics ; and here everything is 
 proclaimed as belonging to the distant past or the 
 distant future. 
 
 Two hundred and fifty-three versts of this travel- 
 ling brings one from Harbin to Tsitsihar, the 
 
viii WESTERN MANCHURIA 215 
 
 provincial capital of Heilungchiang ; and for a 
 moment the desolate impressions of a few hours 
 before disappear. For the station of Tsitsihar, 
 which lies a few miles away from the only important 
 town of this untamed region, has grown very con- 
 siderably of late, and is now a goods depot of much 
 importance, which must develop year by year. The 
 Chinese crowds, which have been so thin for many 
 miles past, once more reappear, and there is 
 concrete proof that this animation has been brought 
 about directly by the railway, and by no other 
 agency, for the sidings are crowded with goods- 
 waggons, and hundreds of coolies are loading and 
 unloading. Until 1900 and the Boxer business, 
 Tsitsihar was simply a rather insignificant provincial 
 capital, which, because it was the seat of a Manchu 
 official — a Tartar General — having equal rank to a 
 Chinese Viceroy, had slowly gathered a trading 
 population. But that population was then not more 
 than twenty or thirty thousand ; now it is believed 
 to be at least one hundred thousand, and to be 
 growing monthly. The spread of agriculture all 
 along that Sungari affluent, the Nonni river, which 
 flows past Tsitsihar and places the town in direct 
 communication with Harbin, Petuna, Kirin City, 
 and a number of other important trading points in 
 Kirin province, many hundreds of miles distant, has 
 also had at last a most important economic effect 
 in conjunction with the railway. For althougJi 
 there is a great desert blank along much of the 
 railway track, going back due east from here, 
 
2i6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 far south of the line — that is, in the Mongolian- 
 Manchurian neutral grass-lands — Chinese agricul- 
 ture has been advancing with rapid strides, and 
 soon the Nonni belt will be linked up with the 
 centres of the province. All the rich grass-land is 
 being rapidly taken up by Chinese settlers, and so 
 amazingly and so quietly has this natural movement 
 been going on that there is no doubt that, to the 
 south-east of Tsitsihar — between the Gobi Desert 
 and Central Manchuria — a new Chinese province is 
 being slowly formed, which will soon have to receive 
 official recognition. This will ultimately mean that 
 the hitherto distant and almost inaccessible province 
 of Heilungchiang will be bounded on the south by 
 a. Chinese cultivated zone possessing a population 
 iof many millions, instead of being hedged in by 
 more waste land inhabited by nomad Mongols and 
 their flocks and herds. This fact may have much 
 importance in the future, if the present movement 
 iprove continuous ; it is, therefore, worthy of special 
 comment. For already the last remaining vestiges 
 of old Heilungchiang are disappearing, and are being 
 ii-eplaced by the signs of China proper. It must 
 ibe well understood that when the Manchus came 
 to the Peking throne in 1644 they laid no claim 
 ito this territory, except in the manner which was 
 then the fashion all over the world. That is, being 
 all-powerful in China, the Manchus claimed the 
 suzerainty of everything lying round the confines 
 of the old Empire which they had just conquered. 
 At various times during the seventeenth century. 
 
viii WESTERN MANCHURIA 217 
 
 whilst they were consolidating their Peking power, 
 the Manchus, as is well known, sent great armed 
 expeditions over the China borders to the north 
 into Mongolia, to the west into Central Asia, even 
 as far as Nepaul, and to the south into Indo- 
 China and Burmah, in order to assert this vague 
 suzerainty. In time certain practices grew up which 
 confirmed the Peking pretensions ; and the regular 
 despatch of tribute from the adjacent princedoms or 
 kingdoms as a testimony of their submission was 
 accompanied by the periodic departure of Manchu- 
 Chinese commissions to investigate the conditions 
 of the neighbouring territories, and to fill with awe 
 the courts of humbler monarchs. 
 
 In the case of Heilungchiang, there were at 
 first absolutely no relations between the Manchu 
 court at Peking and the Tartar tribes, who thinly 
 populated some of the more fertile lands of these 
 regions three hundred years ago. The most 
 northerly command in Manchuria was in those days 
 at Ninguta, itself originally a frontier post of the 
 small Manchu Empire founded by Nurhachu at 
 the close of the fifteenth century. The original 
 Manchu Empire was nothing but a poor yet 
 ambitious principality in the mountains and hills, 
 a baby " Empire " extending from such little 
 Manchu.. walled villages as Ninguta and Omoso 
 down to big captured cities, such as Liaoyang in 
 Southern Manchuria. The Manchus were then 
 merely uncouth mountaineers of Tungus-Turanian 
 stock, who, because of their military virtues and 
 
2i8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 their alliance with warlike Mongols, were able, when 
 the great decay had set in in China during the 
 declining years of the Ming dynasty, to translate 
 themselves as an all-conquering horde to Peking — 
 the Mecca of Eastern Asia. There they permitted 
 themselves to be thoroughly civilised by the Chinese, 
 and by this astute step cemented their hold on what 
 was then the richest homogeneous empire in the 
 world. For years they were too busy to think much 
 of the Manchuria which they had so lightly aban- 
 doned in pursuit of their greater ambition, and such 
 officers as the frontier General at Ninguta and his 
 colleagues must have contented themselves with 
 simply exacting tribute from all those semi-savage 
 nomad tribes which their mounted expeditions could 
 reach. This tribute was mainly paid in sables and 
 other precious skins, which were greatly valued by 
 the Manchus ; and so it may be supposed that in 
 their desire to please their Peking masters, the 
 Manchurian frontier officials in those old days des- 
 patched their expeditions ever farther and farther 
 afield. In this way they probably reached not 
 only Heilungchiang but also the then unknown 
 Trans-Amur territories, and steadily extended the 
 tribute-paying area from year to year. They 
 experienced no difficulty or resistance in carry- 
 ing out such a policy, because all the people they 
 came across were consanguineous. Tribes such 
 as the Daurians, Solons, and Fish-skin Tartars, 
 are indeed nothing but branches of the curious 
 Manchu family, and speak languages which, as 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 219 
 
 venturesome Jesuits proved many decades ago, are 
 mere Manchu patois, as similar to the former 
 Moukden Manchu as the did provenpal was to polite 
 French. The Manchus were, therefore, no con- 
 quistadores of these lands. They were simply 
 suzerains who demanded tribute from their weaker 
 neighbours, because that was the ancient method 
 of enforcing fealty. 
 
 It was the seventeenth century Russian advance 
 which made the Manchus change their role. As is 
 well known, the Russians under Yermak crossed the 
 Urals towards the end of the fifteenth century. In 
 1587 Tobolsk was founded; in 1604 Tomsk; in 
 1619 Yeneseisk ; in 1638 Okhotsk on the Pacific 
 Ocean. Thus in a century and a half the entire 
 vast country from the Ural to the Pacific, a sheer 
 6,000 miles, had been overrun and partly subjugated 
 by daring Cossacks. But the Russians had moved 
 eastwards far to the north of the Amur, and the 
 Yablonoi and Stanovoi mountains interposed im- 
 penetrable barriers between their settlements and 
 those of their nearest civilised neighbours. Divided, 
 then, merely by a thousand miles of inhospitable 
 country, the Russians in the north and the Manchus 
 in the south were in the seventeenth century 
 following the chase, levying tribute and laying the 
 foundations of empire, each race knowing nothing 
 of the other's existence. Little could they have 
 dreamed that their irresistible gravitation towards 
 one another was three centuries later to provoke 
 a great world-problem in which almost every 
 
220 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 great nation must sooner or later be indirectly 
 involved. 
 
 For the gravitation soon began. The inhabitants 
 of the rising town of Yakutsk, engaged in the great 
 Moscow fur-trade, soon heard reports from the 
 aboriginal reindeer Tungus and other indigenous 
 peoples, whom they had gradually subjugated, of 
 semi-civilised races dwelling far to the south, races 
 who tilled the soil and bartered in silver and gold, 
 and who therefore possessed much magnetism for 
 civilised adventurers. Cossack expeditions were 
 organised to go in quest of this El Dorado, and in 
 1643, after suffering great hardships, the first band 
 of Russian adventurers actually reached the Amur 
 river and discovered Daurian villages — exactly one 
 year before the Manchus ascended the Peking 
 throne. But owing to the hardships and the 
 natural difficulties encountered nothing much was 
 done by the first comers. Had they boldly hoisted 
 their flag the land would have been theirs, and 
 half Manchuria would have been Russian for all 
 time. 
 
 Seven years later, however, the movement began 
 anew. Khabarof, a wealthy Siberian, whose name 
 has been rightly preserved in the capital of the 
 Amur, heard that the true route to these southerly 
 and therefore desirable regions was through the 
 Trans- Baikal territories ; and on his promising to 
 send back to Yakutsk all the tribute in furs which 
 he might collect, numerous Cossacks were placed at 
 his disposal. In 1651, after preliminary recon- 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 221 
 
 naissances during the previous year, he reached the 
 Amur and began to descend it in rude barges. 
 The Daurians, already alarmed by the first comers, 
 attempted resistance, and heavy fighting resulted, 
 in which the Cossacks were constantly victorious, 
 and the terrified inhabitants were induced to swear 
 allegiance to the Czar. Fifty tribute-collecting 
 Manchu horsemen appeared on the scene at this 
 critical juncture — the first meeting of the Manchu 
 and the Muscovite. The rivals to the overlordship 
 instinctively exchanged blows ; the Manchu horse- 
 men were worsted and fled south bearing absolute 
 tidings of this dangerous Cossack activity, about 
 which much had already been rumoured. Peking 
 now quickly decided on action, and Manchu forces, 
 mobilised at Ninguta, were slowly set on march for 
 the Amur, with the result that in the spring of 
 1652 a severe conflict was fought near the mouth of 
 the Sungari, in which the Cossacks were again vic- 
 torious. Year after year this curious frontier con- 
 test was continued with such forces as could be 
 collected together in such lonely regions, but no 
 decisive result was reached. Yet Cossack posts 
 and forts were slowly built on the Amur, and the 
 upper waters of the two great rivers — the Argun 
 and the Shilka — gradually fell unmistakably into 
 Russian hands owing to the settlement of Trans- 
 baikalia. 
 
 In 1 67 1, the Manchus, thoroughly alarmed at 
 this movement, which was so insidious and which 
 refused to be arrested, at last organised Heilung- 
 
222 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap, 
 
 chiang as a separate Manchurian province. They 
 obtained the formal submission of the native tribes 
 and began to establish themselves as the de facto 
 rulers. A large force was despatched to Aigun on 
 the upper Amur, and by systematic action from this 
 base during the next few years all Russian posts on 
 the lower river were burned and destroyed. By 
 1683 only a single Russian settlement remained — 
 the historic stockaded town of Albazin, a few dozen 
 miles above Aigun — and round this entrenched 
 Cossack position the last acts of the seventeenth 
 century contest were played. Albazin was fitfully 
 besieged by Manchu forces ; it succumbed, but was 
 retaken and rebuilt by the Cossacks ; and finally its 
 fate was inexorably sealed by diplomacy. 
 
 The ever increasing frontier complications made 
 it appear desirable both to Moscow and Peking to 
 arrange definitely the frontier of the two Empires 
 so as to stop these constant disputes, and after 
 various pourparlers Russian and Chinese pleni- 
 potentiaries met in 1689 at Nerchinsk, on the banks 
 of the Shilka, to draw up a final treaty. The out- 
 come as regards Russia was the Portsmouth Treaty 
 of the seventeenth century ; the Amur adventure 
 was entirely disavowed, the Cossacks were all with- 
 drawn, and in the Nerchinsk instrument the 
 Stanovoi mountains practically became the southern- 
 most boundary of the Asiatic Empire of the Czar 
 of Muscovy. Although Transbaikalia with its 
 Buriat Mongol tribes remained Russian, it will be 
 seen that the Chinese had won all along the line, for 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 223 
 
 the Amur had been successfully isolated, and the 
 Manchu frontier officials could settle down to sleep 
 once more after half a century of extreme anxiety. 
 In the preamble of that now forgotten Nerchinsk 
 Treaty, phrases occur which are of some interest to- 
 day in Southern as well as Northern Manchuria. 
 The preamble runs : " In order to suppress the 
 insolence of certain rascals who cross the frontier to 
 hunt, plunder and kill, and who give rise to much 
 trouble and disturbance ; to determine clearly and 
 distinctly the boundary lines between the two 
 Empires of China and Muscovy ; and lastly to 
 establish peace and good understanding in the 
 future, the following Articles are mutually agreed 
 upon." And in the Articles which follow, the 
 evacuation of the Amur territories is laid down in 
 terms open to no misconstruction. In those days 
 there were no railways. 
 
 It must now be clear that during the next few 
 years a second Nerchinsk instrument will become 
 necessary, a treaty applying to the south as well as 
 to the north ; for it must be beyond controversy that 
 until China has obtained the entire control of the 
 railway system of Manchuria the nominal military 
 evacuation called for by the Portsmouth Treaty will 
 be entirely unavailing. 
 
 Except, however, that they looked upon the sable 
 hunt with envious eyes, and that they had already 
 decided that a policy of isolation would alone secure 
 their position in China, there is no doubt that the 
 Manchus were really completely indifferent about 
 
224 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 the Amur and the fate of the Tungus tribes inhabiting 
 those dreary wastes. Heilunchiang was formed into 
 a province simply to serve as a buffer territory. For 
 a century and a half it did serve as such, but in the 
 late 'fifties of the last century Muravieff once more 
 changed the position. After having expended 150 
 years in consolidating her power in Siberia, Russia 
 once again moved forward down the Amur — 
 tentatively at first — to see what progress had been 
 made and whether it was really possible to establish 
 direct water-communication between the Pacific 
 fishing-settlements of the Okhotsk and Kamschatka 
 shores, and the consolidated Trans-Baikalian and 
 Irkutsk Governments. The advance was made in 
 the guise of exploring expeditions. Muravieff's 
 object, it is important to note, was therefore quite 
 different from that of the seventeenth century 
 Cossack adventurers. These had merely wished for 
 plunder and for expansion because they were land- 
 rovers who had always been in the advance guard of 
 the Muscovite movement ; and they moved south 
 because for climate and geographical reasons the 
 natural Russian expansion must always be in that 
 direction, once Asia has been completely crossed. 
 Muravieffs movement was from due west to due 
 east, and was based on purely strategic reasons. It 
 succeeded marvellously because he found all along 
 the great river that the passage of a century and a 
 half had left the Chinese exactly where they were 
 when the Treaty of Nerchinsk had been concluded. 
 No progress had been made at all, and Muravieff 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 225 
 
 made his first treaty, giving him the left bank of the 
 Amur, solely with the Aigun frontier officials — and 
 not with Peking — on the exact spot from which the 
 movement exterminating the Cossack adventurers of 
 the seventeenth century had been directed. History 
 indeed takes some curious revenges, for in 1900 
 the Boxers permitted the Russians to do with the 
 Chinese settlements on the Amur exactly as had 
 been done with their own so many decades before. 
 And now the end of the war and the new bustle in 
 China will soon make a fresh decision inevitable 
 between the old actors. 
 
 For the same actors are all there precisely as 
 they were two and a half centuries ago. Chinese, 
 Russians, Manchus, and Tartars have hardly 
 changed. The very natives whose appeals for help 
 eventually brought strong Manchu forces into the 
 field in 1650, and thus laid the foundations of the 
 great Russo-Chinese question, are actually to be 
 found to-day living in small communities to the 
 north of Tsitsihar. These aboriginal Tartars, called 
 Daurians or Daurs in Russian reference books, and 
 Ducheri in translations of Chinese texts, are nothing 
 but the Ta-hu-li natives who now live in small 
 villages along the upper reaches of the Nonni. 
 Daurians or Ducheri is merely the incorrect trans- 
 literation of the Chinese phonetics Ta-hu-li ; and these 
 Ta-hu-li share with the Solon Tartars of Hailar (on 
 the Trans- Baikal frontier), and the Fish-skin Tartars 
 of the lower Sungari, the honour of being the last 
 purely Manchu-speaking peoples in the world. The 
 
 Q 
 
226 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Daurians or Ta-hu-li of to-day, numbering only a 
 few thousand, are divided into two tribes or hordes, 
 with their centres at Mergen and Butekha (on the 
 upper Nonni River), and are under the jurisdiction 
 and protection of the Tsitsihar Military Governor. 
 They are known officially as the Muerken and 
 Pute'ha tribes ; but apart from the fact that 
 proclamations are posted for their benefit in Manchu 
 script, and that Manchu-speaking officials specially 
 trained for that purpose are in their midst, there is 
 nothing to distinguish them from the new Chinese 
 settlers. An official engaged in the collection of 
 sables, which is still rigidly enforced, stated to me 
 that each tribe furnishes about 12,000 skins a 
 year as tribute for Peking, after which payment 
 they are exempt from further taxation. At the 
 station of Tsitsihar I succeeded in talking to some 
 of these curious lineal descendants of a vanishing 
 race. The men are small but well built ; their 
 hands and feet have the true Manchu characteristics 
 — being far smaller and far better shaped than 
 those of the Chinese — whilst the long nose and 
 the rounder eye proclaimed an entirely different 
 ancestry. It was curious that round us as we 
 talked should surge commercial Chinese in their 
 hundreds and Russian soldiers in their dozens. 
 From the struggle between commerce and militarism 
 — each insistent as to its rights — will spring the 
 ultimate and irreversible solution. 
 
 Once more, to the musical clanging of bells, the 
 train moves onward slowly and pensively, as if it, a 
 
VIII WESTERN MANCHURIA 227 
 
 senseless thing, could grasp the hidden gravity of 
 the country's dilemma and understand the delibera- 
 tion which is necessary. We crossed the broad, 
 sluggish Nonni River ; we lumbered a little faster 
 over the vast wastes which so quickly take the place 
 of the cultivated lands, and soon we discovered the 
 outlying ranges of the Kinghan mountains, which, 
 although they rise to a level of several thousand 
 feet above the sea, have, except in the immediate 
 vicinity of the Amur, only the appearance of rugged 
 hills. These frigid table-lands, in which the mercury 
 can fall as low as sixty-five degrees below zero on 
 the Fahrenheit thermometer, thus recording nearly 
 100 degrees of frost, are indeed inhospitable and 
 profitless regions, and could never be desired for 
 what they contain. 
 
 Near the mountains, on the mountains, across the 
 mountains, there is not a living soul except such 
 people as inhabit the lonely stations. Were it not 
 for the caravan route, which lies not very far from 
 the railway track, the whole country would have 
 been quite unknown up to the time when the Russian 
 engineers commenced their railway surveys. Some- 
 times, it is true — beyond the mountains, and, 
 therefore, not far from the Russian frontier — rough 
 Chinese, in the company of skin-clad Mongols with 
 clean-shaven pates, stand idly at the stations watch- 
 ing the train ; whilst riding camels and carrier camels, 
 these last either attached to long awkward carts or 
 heavily loaded with chests, are halted near by. But 
 generally there is no one in the station bases except- 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CH. viii 
 
 ing those condemned to such isolated existence. 
 Across the Kinghan mountains it is now almost 
 Mongolia and not Manchuria, and there is nothing 
 to note ; and in this growing loneliness you are glad 
 to pass Hailar, the last Russo-Chinese town of any 
 importance, and to reach Manchuria station, the 
 Transbaikalian frontier-post. Just before this is 
 reached, however, a short branch-line leads to some 
 coal-fields which have been discovered almost on 
 the shores of the Dalai-nor, and which are now 
 producing a poor quality of coal for the railway. 
 Then, almost on the banks of the Aigun river, which 
 forms the boundary line, is Manchuria station ; 
 and abruptly, with an exactly similar landscape 
 before you, you are in the Russian Government of 
 Transbaikalia. 
 
 There is nothing to show that there is any 
 difference in the mastership of the soil, except a 
 few typical Russian peasants. The Transbaikalian 
 frontier is a frontier only in name, and for many 
 decades, perhaps even longer, it must remain so. 
 That is, until China has become fully grown or 
 has disappeared. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 
 
 As has already been pointed out, the future of 
 Harbin — to take the particular before the general — 
 must be accounted a somewhat momentous question, 
 not so much for what this strange city is as for what 
 it stands. It is the last citadel of the great Russo- 
 Chinese struggle — the " Manchurian adventure," as 
 Monsieur de Witte phrased it ; it is all that remains 
 of that immense gamble in railways, territories, tens of 
 thousands of men and hundreds of millions of roubles, 
 which has probably no exact parallel in any other 
 period of the world's history, and which in its old form is 
 now inevitably over and done with. It is the new form 
 which merits consideration. Will Harbin collapse 
 and become only a congeries of decaying townlets 
 on a vast alluvial plain, the chief of a string of 
 Russian railway settlements stretching across Man- 
 churia? Or, on the other hand, will it thrive and 
 possess finally a world-importance in the eyes of 
 those who measure destinies in absolute terms ? 
 There seems only one answer ; if liberality is to be 
 
230 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 the keynote of the new Russian poHcy and a leaf is 
 to be taken from England's Asiatic history, Harbin 
 and the belt of which it is the central point will 
 thrive greatly and finally possess a world-importance. 
 It is inevitable. Indeed, with Vladivostock, Harbin 
 will now share the strange honour of forming a 
 species of vanguard in a curious warfare which may 
 develop at the least expected moment from the 
 political-commercial stage once again into , a bloody 
 military struggle. For the idea that Russia will 
 ever fall back willingly and entirely on what must be 
 her second line of defence — the hinterland of the 
 contact-zone, the Amur and the Amur railway — may 
 be dismissed at once as chimerical, for her with- 
 drawal would only be the signal for a fresh Japanese 
 advance. It has been said of Russia that she only 
 draws back so as to jump better ; but it must be 
 remembered that it has never been said of her that 
 she adheres eternally to the " accepted facts " of the 
 diplomats. How can she ? The forecasts of Hague 
 Conferences are mere Utopia for the Utopians. 
 
 The first thing, then, which it is necessary to 
 realise, is the general excellence of the location of 
 this central town, this point d'appui, and the splendid 
 communications which nature and science have 
 together given it. Harbin lies on the right or 
 eastern bank of the Sungari, about 500 miles above 
 the great Manchurian river-mouth, opening into the 
 Amur, and is some 400 miles down-stream from the 
 provincial capital of Kirin province, Kirin City. It 
 is therefore not only the strategic centre between 
 
. ' ;-\w*iiSjMBfc !-»«■'''*' ii. 
 
 r 
 
 General View of Kirin Cnv. 
 
 Looking Down the Sungari River, from Kirin City. 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 231 
 
 the eastern and western frontiers — it is approxi- 
 mately equidistant from Transbaikalia and the 
 Russian Pacific province — but it is the middle point 
 of a water route running north and south, and 
 therefore linking the line of defence and the first 
 line of communication, the Trans-Manchurian rail- 
 way, with the second line of defence and the second 
 line of communication, the Amur and the projected 
 Amur railway. That is very important. For apart 
 from the fact that Chinese or Russian enterprise 
 must shortly build branch railways running north 
 and south, which will connect the northern Russian 
 boundary with the Russian-Manchurian railway 
 sphere, it is essential to remember that this amber- 
 coloured Sungari river, which binds the two Pacific 
 coast routes together, is so full of water in spring 
 and summer that it would be possible to sail a 
 shallow-draft vessel straight from the upper Yangtze 
 to the Amur by way of Vladivostock and Nicolaievsk, 
 reaching the Sungari and Harbin in a very few days' 
 steaming. In plain words it is physically possible 
 to travel 3,000 miles by water from the heart of 
 Central China to the heart of Central Manchuria, 
 where Russia is still morally entrenched. Few 
 people have realised that remarkable fact, which 
 may be as important in war as in peace : for if 
 another war arises, waterways in spring and summer 
 will play a part far different from that which they 
 took in 1 904-1 905. 
 
 The second point is this. The Sungari, apart 
 from draining an immense plain, has along its 
 
232 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 thousand odd miles of length many important 
 tributaries which make regular water communica- 
 tion possible with very distant points in Central and 
 Northern Manchuria. Chief of these tributaries is 
 the Nonni River, which is actually navigable by 
 small craft four hundred miles above the point 
 where it falls into the Sungari ; whilst the rivers 
 Hurka and Tung and a host of lesser streams can 
 be used by junks or small native boats for dozens of 
 miles in many different directions. The Sungari, 
 therefore, although inferior to the Yangtze as a 
 great waterway, drains an area which in square 
 miles cannot be so very much less than the Yangtze 
 drainage-area proper ; and when it is mentioned that 
 the thirty million acres of land immediately adjoin- 
 ing the Sungari and its tributaries are of the richest 
 description, it requires no knowledge of agriculture 
 to perceive what the future will bring. As wheat is 
 the principal crop, Manchurian flour, ground by 
 steam-mills, must inevitably supply half the eastern 
 world. Further, Chinese agriculture in Northern 
 Manchuria will soon not be merely confined to 
 winning over to the mattock and the plough the 
 whole of the thirty million acres above mentioned ; 
 it will steadily invade the vast area of North- 
 eastern Mongolia — the Inner Mongolia of the 
 geographers — and will bring all the rich grass- 
 country lying to the east of the Gobi desert under 
 painstaking cultivation. Already it is calculated 
 that the Chinese agricultural belt is advancing on the 
 Mongols and their wandering flocks at the rate of 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 233 
 
 thirty li or ten miles a year. In fifteen or twenty 
 years the spade and the mattock will have captured 
 millions of acres and bound them tight to the 
 Chinese system in bounteous crops ; and much of 
 the harvest of these fields will be available for 
 export. 
 
 Thus a wheat-belt, contemptuous of political and 
 geographical labelling, will grow up in these lati- 
 tudes to be almost as remarkable as the Canadian 
 North- West or the ever-expanding West Siberian 
 grain districts ; and this belt will be exploited in 
 times of stress by those who, without possess- 
 ing any legitimate right of eminent domain, have 
 their money-bags lying ready and their soldiers in 
 the immediate background. Harbin's railway com- 
 munications are already so good and complete, and 
 so much superior to those possessed by any other 
 portion of the Chinese Empire, that Nature's gifts 
 will be commanded by that which the science of 
 man has invented. For the time being Russia 
 controls the routes ; but Japan is very close and is 
 coming closer every month. 
 
 By the Vladivostock route, the sea lies 500 miles 
 away ; by the Newchwang route, 400 miles away ; 
 and although both Newchwang and Dalny are to be 
 ignored, because they are now reached only by 
 Japanese lines, it needs only an extension of the 
 purely Chinese railway system from Hsinmingtun 
 northwards to give Harbin a neutral Chinese ice- 
 free port, such as Chinwangtao, with which to 
 speculate. Until purely Chinese lines are con- 
 
234 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 structed in Manchuria, the poHcy of the Russian 
 railway authorities must be to make Vladivostock 
 the great outlet and inlet of Northern Manchuria, 
 and if possible to crush the Japanese by indifference. 
 Even though commercial treaties may say that the 
 two nations have become friends, the Russian rail- 
 way tariffs will be adjusted to that end ; and already 
 it has been announced that 20 kopecks dipood is the 
 maximum charge to be levied for the Harbin- Vladi- 
 vostock haul and vice versa. And although the 
 railway running westward into Siberia is not going to 
 be neglected, it has already been fully decided that a 
 Chinese entente cordiale is what must be really 
 aimed at and fostered at the expense of everything 
 else. The Trans-Manchurian line is to be Russo- 
 Chinese in deed as well as in name. In such 
 circumstances, a great trade will easily grow up, and 
 it is therefore incumbent on everyone to take 
 advantage of the silent rivalry which must rage 
 between the Russian and Japanese railway spheres 
 in Manchuria. Neutral traders and others may 
 profit greatly by rival policies. 
 
 The railway authorities are still practically 
 supreme all over Manchuria ; indeed this must be 
 so, since some authority must replace that of the 
 departed military. In Harbin independent Russians 
 even speak bitterly of the "railway-octopus" which 
 dominates their town, a great deal of the country 
 around, and the thousand-mile strip of railway zone. 
 The railway is everything, and now that the war is 
 over and the niilitary have dispersed, the great 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 235 
 
 railway bureaux resume their old position of 
 absolute masters. Chinese officialdom rules only 
 the agriculturists and nothing more. This is under- 
 standable when it is remarked that the railway con- 
 cession at Harbin alone measures over a hundred 
 square versts, and is so shaped as to comprise all 
 the land on both banks of the Sungari and as much 
 in the immediate proximity of the railway as to make 
 the growth of independent settlements entirely 
 impossible. At every important station, big blocks 
 of land have been pre-empted in the same way by 
 arrangement with the Chinese local officials, and 
 therefore everything is in favour of a supply 
 supremacy which cannot be touched by diplomacy 
 no matter what arguments are used. For so long as 
 the original Russo-Chinese Railway Convention 
 remains in force, Russia is not acting ultra vires in 
 insisting on her old privileges ; and although it may 
 be contended that it is absurd that she should retain 
 the practical ownership of a hundred square versts 
 of territory in Harbin alone — territory which cost 
 her just four hundred thousand roubles in purchase- 
 money eight or nine years ago and which is now 
 worth a hundred millions — there is no one who can 
 bring arguments to bear which will in any way 
 change the present state of affairs. It is even 
 useful and convenient for Japan ; it forms a pre- 
 cedent which she is only too willing to follow. 
 
 This Harbin railway land, which has now such 
 great value, may be acquired on special leasing 
 terms from the railway authorities in regular lots. 
 
236 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 each measuring 3,600 sagene, of which a good 
 number have already been taken up ; but the 
 procedure is cumbrous and fitly illustrates the nature 
 of the difficulties which must be overcome before 
 English and Russian ideas find a common meeting 
 ground in other parts of Asia. For instance, 
 anybody may apply for, and be given immediate 
 possession of, a lot of Harbin land on undertaking 
 to pay a ground-rent amounting to fifty kopecks per 
 sagene per annum during a period of three years. 
 But here comes the curious point. At the end of 
 the first year, a fresh application must be filed for 
 permission to purchase the leasehold of the occupied 
 lot for the full term of years during which the 
 Russo-Chinese Railway Convention is in force (36 
 years) ; and thereupon, if it can be shown that 
 buildings to the value of 50,000 roubles have been 
 erected, or that a business to the value of 50,000 
 roubles per annum has been created, the applicant is 
 entitled to obtain title-deeds for the whole lot by 
 payment in cash at the rate of ten roubles per sagene, 
 or 36,000 roubles for one of the specified lots. It 
 therefore requires at least ^8,000 of capital to 
 become a land-owner in Harbin ; but the Russian 
 railway authorities are under the impression that the 
 opening of the town to international trade — a step 
 which has already been agreed to — must be followed 
 by the influx of large numbers of individuals who 
 will gladly accept conditions of this nature, and that 
 possibly settlements as distinctive as the Kitai 
 Gorod or Tartar City of Moscow will in time arise. 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 337 
 
 Yet, in spite of such delusions, it must not be 
 forgotten that a town which can already grind 
 nearly a thousand million pounds of flour a year and 
 will one day grind very much more, must have 
 international importance. There is practically no 
 limit to the amount of grain which will be available 
 in a very few years, and directly there is such an 
 incentive as an uninterrupted demand for wheat, 
 Chinese agriculture will spread like a prairie fire far 
 into the barren Heilungchiang province and still 
 farther into the grasslands of Mongolia. Wherever 
 there is a demand, it has always been proved that 
 the Chinese will meet it somehow ; and the growth 
 of this Manchurian milling industry will bring fresh 
 waves of Chinese men and women in from Chili and 
 Shantung, just as the opening of the Canadian 
 North-West and the growth of the milling industry 
 there has drawn thousands of American farmers 
 across the British-American border. 
 
 Russians are alive to this prospect — too much 
 alive, in fact ; and like all peoples whose imagina- 
 tions somewhat exceed their business capacity, 
 they are mentally many years ahead of the times. 
 The favourite topic of the hour is the organi- 
 sation of a Manchurian Flour Trust, with an in- 
 definite number of millions as capital, which will 
 swamp the whole of Eastern Asia with Manchurian 
 flour and include even such an unpopular country as 
 Japan within its scope. This is the use to which 
 Russia in Manchuria will be put. So far this idea 
 has not been developed very brilliantly or very 
 
238 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 profitably ; only about five thousand tons of flour 
 have been shipped out of the country by a syndicate 
 of Harbin millers, and the movement is lagging for 
 want of support. Incidentally it may be remarked 
 that the idea that a huge trade is to grow up in this 
 Harbin staple which will extend all over Eastern 
 Asia is t6o all-embracing in its comprehensiveness, 
 for the simple reason that Chinese flour, like 
 Chinese rice, may not be exported beyond the con- 
 fines of the Chinese Empire, except under special 
 Government permits during special periods, and 
 that its movements, even between treaty port and 
 treaty port, have to be safeguarded by special pre- 
 cautions. Therefore Manchurian flour has one field 
 and one field only — the eighteen provinces of China 
 — and even to reach that field by the Vladivostock 
 route special Russo-Chinese Customs arrangements 
 will be necessary. It is true that Article XIV 
 of what are known as the Kiachta Regulations 
 for the land trade between China and Russia — 
 regulations appended to the Russo-Chinese Treaty 
 of 1 88 1, which was entered into when the evacua- 
 tion of the Turkestan-Chinese province of Hi was 
 agreed to — specifically laid down that " gold and 
 silver ingots, foreign coins, flour of all kinds, &c., &c., 
 will be admitted free of export and import duties." 
 But it is highly doubtful how far a treaty entered 
 into for the specific purpose of regulating trade on 
 the north-western frontiers of China — i.e., Kuldja, 
 Kashgar, the two slopes of the Tienshan mountains 
 and the Kiachta-Urga traffic — was meant to apply 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 239 
 
 to the totally new set of conditions brought about by 
 the railway invasion of Manchuria, It is obvious 
 that a new convention is now as necessary as was a 
 commercial treaty in 1881 when the occupation of 
 the Chinese province of Hi — " temporarily occupied 
 since 1871 by the Russian armies," to use the 
 language of the protocol — was finally terminated. 
 If the export of Manchurian flour to the Amur 
 regions is permitted, and the operation of the 
 Kiachta Regulations thus extended, it will be an act 
 of bounty on the part of China, and will not afford a 
 loophole through which the export of Manchurian 
 flour all over the Far East irrespective of country 
 can be conducted. In the main, Manchurian trade 
 can only be a China trade and from that point of 
 view alone it should be considered.^ 
 
 Here, moreover, the question of price enters into 
 consideration, if that which practically fed a million 
 Russian soldiers is to feed millions of flour-eating 
 Chinese. The tariffs for the various grades of 
 flour milled in Harbin throw some light on this 
 question : — 
 
 Quality o Roubles 1.70 per /w^ of 36 lbs. 
 
 „ No. I „ I.S5 
 
 » jj 2 
 
 » » 3 
 
 I. » 4 
 
 Refuse 
 
 1.40 
 
 1.30 
 
 1. 10 
 
 •90 
 
 > It is now certain that a new Russo-Chinese Commercial Treaty 
 will soon be concluded, and that the Imperial Chinese Maritime 
 Customs (Sir Robert Hart's services) with open customs houses along 
 the frontiers. Customs commissioners are already being appointed. 
 
240 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 If we reduce these rates by ten per cent, and 
 assume that the parity between the Mexican dollar 
 and the rouble which now exists will continue, a 
 fifty-pound bag of the best quality of Manchurian 
 flour is worth Mexican $2.10 in Harbin, and the 
 worst quality (No. 4) $1.40. Harbin flour as an 
 article of Chinese consumption may be said, then, to 
 vary in price from $1.40 to $2.10 per fifty-pound 
 bag. It could not be placed all over China at a 
 price less than twenty-five per cent, higher. At 
 these rates could it compete with American flour ? 
 This question is most interesting as a concrete 
 example of what can be done and what cannot. 
 
 The answer is found by turning to the Chinese 
 Customs returns. The average invoice price of 
 American flour landed on the China coast is 
 Haikwan taels 3.25, or Mexican $4.85 per picul} 
 By a simple calculation, therefore, the fact is dis- 
 closed that the fifty -pound bag of American flour only 
 costs Mexican $1.85 when landed in China in large 
 quantities. The best quality of American flour, after 
 paying heavy transportation charges, is therefore 
 materially cheaper in the Far East than the best 
 quality of Manchurian flour on which no transporta- 
 tion charges have been paid ; whilst the poorest 
 grades of Manchurian flour which are delivered by 
 the Harbin mills, although certainly cheaper in Man- 
 churia, would probably be very little so after having 
 been transported by rail and by steamer. This fact 
 is very significant. 
 
 1 A Chinese standard measure exactly 133 J English pounds. 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 241 
 
 It will thus be seen that, although Central 
 Manchuria is now in a position to mill and export 
 nearly half a million tons of flour a year, and in a 
 few years will have millions of tons to offer, for 
 the moment there is commercially no profit to be 
 made, since the rise in price of Sungari grain by 
 nearly 200 per cent, in the space of a few years, 
 owing to the enormous Russian demand, has made 
 American and Manchurian prices in the Far East 
 almost equal. The secret of this, however, largely 
 lies in the fact that Russian business methods are 
 poor, and that most of the Harbin mills are under 
 a heavy burden of debt. Were this burden of debt 
 removed, the still comparatively cheap price of 
 Sungari grain would undoubtedly permit of a great 
 Far Eastern trade. It is commonly understood in 
 Harbin that the Russo- Chinese Bank — ^the channel 
 through which all Russian activity in Manchuria 
 has been directed — has millions of roubles locked 
 up in mill-mortgages at heavy rates of interest ; and 
 this, coupled with the fact that war accounts will 
 take years to settle, cripples what some day cannot 
 help being an enormous industry. In Japanese 
 hands the Harbin mills would immediately become 
 a very considerable source of wealth, and would 
 soon produce an annual profit exceeding that of the 
 Japanese tobacco monopoly. The Russian idea of 
 forming a giant Russian trust which would deal 
 directly with the whole industry, and be at one and 
 the same time a producer and a universal supplier 
 for the whole Far East, just on the same grand scale 
 
 R 
 
M2 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 as such an institution as the Standard Oil Company, 
 appears to be quite workable under the present 
 rdgime. A general liquidation must take place, 
 however, before any successful plans can be formu- 
 lated ; and without expert help those plans can 
 never be drawn up. For several years things will 
 merely continue to drift along disjointedly. 
 
 The general necessity for a settling-up in Harbin 
 is indeed everywhere noticeable. The " carrying- 
 over account" from the war is of enormous pro- 
 portions, and is being only very slowly diminished. 
 The Chinese Eastern Railway Co., for instance, 
 has very large sums due from various departments 
 of the Russian Government (principally from the 
 Department of Communications) for war services, 
 and ended the year 1906 with a nominal debit 
 balance of thirty million roubles, half of which arose 
 from the cost of the railway guards, and a consider- 
 able portion of the remainder from unliquidated debts 
 of the Russian Government. Being large creditors 
 in one direction, the Harbin Central Railway 
 Administration have themselves become large 
 debtors in another. It is understood that the in- 
 debtedness of the railway, like that of the milling 
 industry, to the Russo-Chinese Bank is enormous^ 
 and that this has made it necessary for the Bank to 
 refuse all other advances in Harbin and other points 
 in Russian Manchuria. 
 
 The railway and the mills, therefore, having 
 borrowed all the money they can, have by this 
 policy helped to arrest the normal development of 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 243 
 
 Harbin and the railway belt. Nobody, no matter 
 what security is offered, can obtain credit locally. 
 Floating capital is tied up, and although there is an 
 abundance of money in small sums in the hands of 
 the people, and especially in the hands of the 
 millions of Chinese living on the Sungari plain, all 
 contractors and speculators, who secured, on paper, 
 such large profits from the Russian Government 
 during the war, are still waiting for a complete settle- 
 ment to be made, and have in many cases barely 
 enough money to live on. It is always so under the 
 Russian system. Without Jewish enterprise and 
 its ability so to arrange business that Government 
 indebtedness is only discharged after long periods, 
 the Russian Government could not exist in the 
 present circumstances for a single day ; and the 
 constant outcry that Jewish speculators prey on the 
 Government and impoverish the people is seen to 
 be a rather foolish one, when an investigation is 
 made of the conditions under which Russian business 
 is done. Apart from the flour-milling, timber-felling, 
 and the railways, there are no enterprises of any 
 importance among the Russians in Manchuria. 
 Yet there is an enormous future for up-to-date 
 ship-building and iron-working establishments ; for 
 Harbin is the most convenient site imaginable for 
 the pushing of the development of Manchurian 
 riverine commerce, and the Chinese would be 
 willing to purchase every class of steam river- 
 vessel if only there were someone to build and sell 
 them. As it is, steam shipping on the Sungari is 
 
 R 2 
 
244 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 languishing in the same way as the flour-mills, 
 although shallow draft steam-vessels could largely 
 replace all native shipping, and grow as rapidly as 
 steam shipping has recently done in Chinese waters. 
 
 As a matter of fact, therefore, no progress is being 
 made by the Russians in Manchuria — except in the 
 matter of building, which is still going on in Harbin 
 in the extraordinarily rapid fashion which has been 
 such a characteristic of the place ever since the first 
 Russian occupation. The motive power for the 
 Russian Far East comes from St. Petersburg and 
 Moscow ; when that is stationary nothing is done. 
 Never has this been so well demonstrated as at 
 present. 
 
 Most prominent among these new buildings are 
 the edifices known locally as " The Moscow 
 Bazaar," which are intended to form permanent 
 emporiums where Moscow cotton and woollen 
 fabrics will be sold — according to the plans of 
 the promoters — in enormous quantities, and thus 
 actively compete with British, American, and 
 Japanese stuffs. The first idea is to form this 
 Central Manchurian depot ; the second is to establish 
 mills in Harbin itself, and gradually to train Chinese 
 to the work on a large scale. 
 
 But just as is the case with the flour-mills, so is it 
 with Russian cotton manufacturers. In the pro- 
 ducing centres of Russia, such as Lodz and Moscow, 
 certain fabrics may actually be a good deal cheaper 
 than, those of rival manufacturing countries. But 
 the voyage to Manchuria, either by land or by sea, 
 
The Sungari River. 
 
 '^^ lu 
 
 Timber Raft Starting Down Stream From Kikin. 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 245 
 
 destroys that advantage — about this there is abso- 
 lutely no question — except in the case of certain 
 classes of fabrics which have really no competitors. 
 It is impossible to bring goods in large quantities 
 by rail from Moscow to Manchuria without paying 
 heavy freight charges which eat up profits ; and the 
 Odessa- Vladivostock sea route is almost as costly as 
 it is clumsy. It may be taken for granted, then, 
 that the wholesale trade expansion in Manchuria 
 which is contemplated by the " Moscow Merchants " 
 will be just as slow in developing as the Hour-mill 
 trust. Until Siberia is densely populated and 
 industrialism has begun to replace agriculture, no 
 fears need be entertained that the geographical 
 position of the Asiatic dominions of the Czar will 
 destroy free trade in the northern regions of the 
 Chinese Empire. 
 
 At this juncture it is interesting to mention a 
 highly important fact which seems to have escaped 
 the notice of publicists and which has a constant 
 influence on Russian policy. This is that Moscow 
 occupies a very special position in the councils of 
 the still autocratic bureaucracy, because of its 
 financial strength and because it disposes of the 
 only really great sums of accumulated wealth in the 
 Russian Empire. Moscow bankers and Moscow 
 manufacturers, combining with one another, can, 
 and often do, dictate the fiscal policy of the Empire. 
 Thus the question of the closing of the free port 
 of Vladivostock, the question of heavy railway 
 rebates on everything coming from Russia to Man- 
 
246 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 churia, and the question of doubling the Siberian 
 railway — all these must practically be decided in 
 Moscow. The Russian Government is under heavy 
 obligations to these powerful groups of bankers and 
 manufacturers because of financial accommoda- 
 tion given during the war ; and therefore it will be 
 necessary to study very closely from year to year the 
 developments which take place in Asiatic Russia 
 owing to this constant influence. 
 
 The commercial position among the Chinese in 
 Russian Manchuria is also curious. Just as in Vladi- 
 vostock, so here most of the Chinese guilds and 
 Chinese banks are new creations, which have sprung 
 up with mushroom growth during the war. Very 
 great sums in rouble currency are held by them, and 
 are being only slowly and cautiously remitted to 
 Chinese centres. I was told, indeed, that the Kirin 
 province of Manchuria had made 140 million roubles 
 by the war; but although there is a large demand for 
 sycee and coined silver, as a matter of fact very little 
 has recently come into the country. Such bar-silver 
 as has arrived has been imported via Vladivostock 
 from Hamburg. The Kirin provincial mints have 
 again begun to coin bar-silver into dollars and half- 
 dollars as fast as possible ; but the demand for coined 
 silver is practically inexhaustible in Manchuria, and 
 importations of millions and ten of millions of 
 Mexican or Hong Kong dollars — the latter coin is 
 well known, as in Northern China it defeats the 
 Mexican — are needed to relieve the rouble con- 
 gestion. What, then, is now principally wanted in 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 247 
 
 these regions is a free-trade bank unconcerned with 
 pohtical movements and possessing a name familiar 
 to Chinese trading classes. In the first place the 
 establishment of such a bank would lead immedi 
 ately to the deposit by Chinese dealers of many 
 millions of roubles, both for safe-keeping and for 
 transfer to the home provinces ; and in the second 
 place it would also be largely patronised by the 
 Russians, who are highly dissatisfied with the present 
 financial facilities and who require a proper banking 
 channel through which to direct their activities. 
 
 In the opinion of the writer, consequently, a 
 fortune awaits the first British bank to establish 
 itself at Harbin. Chinese trade demands such a 
 bank ; and the accumulated sums of capital now 
 being jealously and secretly hoarded would be 
 released, and would thus bring about a revival of 
 Manchurian trade. The enormous agricultural 
 wealth of the Sungari valleys is as yet not even 
 dimly understood ; neither has the fact been properly 
 appreciated that individually the Russian is a liberal- 
 minded fellow who has a respect and a liking for 
 rapid business methods — and he knows that these 
 cannot be found among his countrymen for many 
 years to come. 
 
 Thus there are opportunities at present which 
 should not be neglected. The year 1907 opens 
 in Manchuria with the Chinese thoroughly alive to 
 all those dangers of which so much has been made 
 in the press. The Chinaman does not want Man- 
 churia dominated either by Russia or by Japan ; 
 
348 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 he knows that the latter country brings method to 
 bear where the former country fails, and that a new 
 persistence will have to be defeated quite different 
 from that encountered before the late war. Already 
 the Chinaman sees that, whilst each act of the 
 Japanese is carefully put into agreement with the 
 general policy by the publication of specific regula- 
 tions, every additional step tends to deprive him of 
 the monoply which should be his in his own 
 country, but which will be slowly plucked from him 
 by the methodical building-up of artificial conditions 
 in which free competition has no fair chance. 
 
 The Chinaman does not wish either Russian or 
 Japanese nroney to dominate the commercial situa- 
 tion ; he wishes for hard silver, coined or uncoined, 
 as the principal exchange medium, just as it is in the 
 home provinces. Of the two competing paper 
 issues he at present prefers the Russian, because its 
 exchange is not attended with those irritating con- 
 ditions which the Japanese know so well how to 
 impose. The minted dollar, however, would sweep 
 the market if it were introduced in sufficient 
 millions ; and the pioneers in its introduction would 
 soon find that normal Manchurian conditions are the 
 same as normal Chinese conditions, and that the 
 artificial conquest which the two rivals have been so 
 intent on making would be rapidly undone if only 
 normal forces were unloosed to combat the abnormal. 
 Just as with the shipping trade of the Russian 
 Pacific Coast, it should be understood that the time 
 has now arrived when such places as Odessa, 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 249 
 
 Batoum, Moscow, and St. Petersburg — where there 
 are large English commercial coriimunities — should 
 be drawn on for Russian-speaking recruits to aid 
 this new work. In other words, to deal properly 
 with the Russian Far East it is necessary for British 
 firms to have Russian-speaking Englishmen on the 
 spot, and thereby be able to deal with things not 
 only from the point of view of China and the 
 Chinese, but also from that of Russia and the 
 Russians. Much of English commercial failure in 
 Siberia — in strong contrast to the great German 
 success — has sprung from the fact that instead of 
 possessing men well-trained in the language of 
 their patrons, reliance is placed on interpreters who 
 are, as often as not, incompetent to carry out their 
 duties. If there were no close trade relations 
 maintained between the British and Russian 
 Empires this policy might be excusable ; but as the 
 very reverse is the case, and as Russian raw stuffs 
 are exchanged against English manufactured stuffs 
 in large quantities, there are hundreds of English- 
 men in Russia whose services could be secured to 
 bring about the essential linking-up between the 
 great British trading centres of the East and Russia 
 in further Asia. 
 
 Before the war the speculative nature of the 
 whole situation and the sure signs that it had no 
 elements of permanency were sufficient to preclude 
 anything being done. All that is now changed ; and 
 now is therefore the time to lay those foundations 
 which through their enduring and satisfactory nature 
 
250 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 may alone profoundly modify all Russo- British 
 Asiatic relations. Sound methods of commerce and 
 finance, and the creation of a new community of 
 interests, are what are immediately wanted ; other 
 things will develop very soon after the first steps 
 have been taken. 
 
 For in Harbin the pause — the moment of doubt, 
 of repentance, of misgiving — is even more marked 
 than in purely Russian centres such as Vladivostock 
 and Khabarovsk. Harbin is, after all, in Chinese 
 and not in Russian territory ; and the Russian 
 authorities, however much they may have wished to 
 impress the world with the fact that their military 
 domination has rendered China's rights of eminent 
 domain entirely fictitious, have as a matter of fact 
 never been able to ignore these rights in practice. 
 Thus, although at least one English traveller who 
 has visited Harbin since the war has written that of 
 Chinese authority there is no trace, this is quite 
 incorrect. There are two big Chinese Yamens in 
 the very centre of the town, one representing the 
 Kirin Tartar General, whose jurisdiction includes 
 everything on the right bank of the Sungari, and the 
 the other the Heilungchiang Tartar General, whose 
 jurisdiction begins once the Sungari river is crossed. 
 Each Yamen is in charge of an official having 
 Taotai rank, and has numerous small officials 
 attached ; and each has contingents of military 
 and civil police who not only guard the official 
 residences but patrol those streets where the Chinese 
 are most thickly congregated. At the railway 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 251 
 
 Station there are also Chinese police representing 
 not Russian but Chinese authority, and emphasising 
 a fact which Peking is most anxious not to have 
 obliterated by the lapse of time — that the Russian 
 Manchurian railway is a joint Russo-Chinese enter- 
 prise for which Russia supplied all the capital, with 
 the exception of the five million Kuping taels which 
 China deposited with the Russo-Chinese Bank, who 
 were the nominal concessionnaires, because at the 
 time she had insufficient funds to contribute her 
 share. 
 
 It is well to remember now — twelve years after the 
 event — that the original Chinese Eastern Railway 
 Co., organised in St. Petersburg, was always 
 nominally presided over by a Chinese president in 
 Peking, and that Russia maintained a special financial 
 agent—who was a delegate both of St. Petersburg 
 Ministry of Finance and of the Railway Company 
 in Peking — for the express purpose of advising the 
 Chinese Government month by month of everything 
 that was done, and of submitting periodic statements 
 of accounts. The fact that all this became obscured 
 by the unfortunate political situation created by the 
 retreat of the British fleet from Port Arthur in 
 1898, in no wise changes the character of the original 
 arrangements, to which gradually there must be a 
 return. It is peculiarly appropriate, then, that the 
 present Russian Minister accredited to the Peking 
 Government should be no other than the original 
 financial agent through whose hands passed all the 
 initial arrangements, for Harbin and Russian 
 
253 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Manchuria must at last gradually assume the status 
 it was originally intended to possess. The presence 
 of the Japanese — not as nominal partners of the 
 Chinese, but as a quasi-Government department — 
 on the Southern Manchurian railway is the one 
 thing which now alone compels Russia to take safe- 
 guarding measures ; but even these safeguards might 
 be done away with if Japan could be induced to 
 modify her stand in the province of Fengtien, and 
 to carry out the pledge which Baron Komura 
 himself gave in Peking at the end of the year 1905. 
 The Russian authorities, whilst they necessarily 
 still dominate the situation, are anxious to conciliate 
 the Chinese in every way possible, and are ready to 
 evacuate, as they evacuated the province of Hi 
 in 1881, after six years' occupation. For the time 
 being, whilst a certain number of Russian troops 
 remain in Harbin and whilst the slow liquidation of 
 war accounts goes on, a special aspect must obtain ^ ; 
 but by 1908 that will have almost entirely dis- 
 appeared. Meanwhile the mood of the local Russian 
 press is pecuiliarly symptomatic. Every newspaper 
 in far-off spots is necessarily imperialistic and 
 expansionist in its tendencies, and editorial utterances 
 in the outposts of an empire are generally couched 
 in extreme terms. The Harbin newspapers are no 
 exception to the rule ; they all play on the same 
 strings. There are no less than four Russian journals 
 
 ' The total evacuation of Manchuria, with the exception of 30,000 
 railway troops, was duly carried out by Russia in accordance with the 
 Portsmouth Treaty, before the ist April, 1907. 
 
IX THE FUTURE OF RUSSIAN MANCHURIA 253 
 
 and one Chinese, and all five look upon Japan as the 
 common enemy. They are, generally speaking, 
 ill-informed and pessimistic in tone regarding Russia's 
 future in Manchuria ; but they one and all recognise 
 that that future depends on China's friendship. 
 
 The situation is therefore interesting from every 
 point of view, and the manner in which a solution 
 to the problem will be worked out will depend, not 
 on the Japanese, but on no other people than the 
 Chinese themselves. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 
 
 Once past Manchuria station you are well within 
 the boundaries of the Siberian province of Trans- 
 baikalia. Once you have run the thousand odd 
 versts which separate the Manchurian frontier from 
 the great lake, you are suddenly circumventing that 
 lake on that splendid tour de force the Circum-Baikal 
 railway ; and once you have done that, you are 
 in the Irkutsk Government, and you have lost 
 everything that binds you to the East. For to all 
 intents and purposes you are in Europe now — the 
 new Europe which Russia, alone of all Caucasian 
 Powers, has known how to create in Asia. It may 
 be that Siberia is still labelled by the geographers 
 as of old ; ethnologically it has already become 
 almost entirely European, and the Ural Altaic races, 
 never very numerous, are either being quickly blotted 
 out by that process known as assimilation, or are 
 being pushed back into the profitless wastes of Central 
 Asia. It may take twenty or thirty years for this to 
 be generally understood, since the world abandons 
 old-fashioned or preconceived ideas with difficulty ; 
 
CH.X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 255 
 
 yet within that space of time the indisputable fact 
 will at last be grudgingly admitted, that European 
 Russia does not end at the Ural but at the Baikal. 
 
 Thus the construction of Siberian railways has in 
 twelve short years — short, because so many great 
 events have been crowded so rapidly into them — 
 entirely altered old quantities ; and the Siberia of 
 the story-books has already disappeared never to 
 return. Siberia, then, must now be looked upon 
 simply as the exact Russian equivalent of the old 
 American Far West or the new Canadian North- 
 West. It is a new land, that is all, and should 
 not be invested in imagination with any other 
 characteristics. Railways, a great movement of 
 virile men and women, agricultural machinery, 
 houses of brick, wood, and stone, and all the inven- 
 tions of a marvellously inventive age— in a very 
 short interval these can make an unconquered 
 country, which is uninhabited by inferior races, and 
 which is gifted with a wholesome soil and climate, 
 a new piece of Europe, as European as the countries 
 of the old world, as white as the whitest. Such 
 countries are as deeply moved by the old sentiments 
 and the old tendencies of the bigoted Caucasian, 
 and are as tightly bound to his rigid social structure, 
 as the most fervid believers in the Aryan tradition 
 can desire. It is, therefore, a fact of some inter- 
 national importance that while the Russian Govern- 
 ment was failing in its design to hold by the sword 
 a great stretch of neutral territory leading to the 
 sea, and from this vantage ground to menace other 
 
256 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 territories and perhaps even to add them to that 
 military dominion, the Russian people, like the 
 moraine of a glacier, should all the time have been 
 slowly but irresistibly moving onwards to the East, 
 until the whole vast region from the Ural to the 
 Baikal has become not only colonised, but so 
 densely inhabited in places that it no longer 
 possesses a colonial aspect ; has, in fact, become 
 European Russia pure and simple ; and has gained 
 a position from which it must influence, by its own 
 dynamics and unled by any military imperialism, 
 the fate of the whole Asiatic world. It is a dim 
 understanding of all this which accounts for many 
 things so noticeable since the war, and which makes 
 men desire that the future should come more 
 quickly than is humanly possible. 
 
 The next step in this great Siberian settling 
 movement is the natural corollary of the first. It 
 is that Siberian industrial and manufacturing centres 
 should arise — also from the Ural to the Baikal — 
 making the newer land as self-contained as the 
 older in manufactured articles, as it already is in 
 almost every class of raw products. When that 
 next step has been taken — a step which it may be 
 assumed will come gradually, yet rapidly, during 
 the next fifteen or twenty years, possibly with the 
 aid of much foreign capital — the potentiality of 
 Russian strength in the Far East will have been 
 augmented by so many hundred per cent, that it 
 would be rash to attempt to state the increase in 
 mathematical terms. In other words, Russia will 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 257 
 
 then be many times as strong as she is at present ; 
 many times as able to exert her influence in peace 
 or in war ; many times more able to become a real 
 competitor, whether she will or not, in the unending 
 struggle of man, because everything will rest on 
 a sound and legitimate basis. In the past her 
 influence has been forced forward by quite unnatural 
 processes ; has been dictated by the Government from 
 a distant capital ; has been exerted at severe cost 
 to the parent land ; has, in fact, been an ante-dating 
 of history. And although this movement has possibly 
 directly benefited Siberia in a remarkable and 
 somewhat unlooked-for manner, it has severely 
 strained the home resources, has discredited the 
 Government, and has led to a sudden desire to 
 discard expansionist methods of this kind, which 
 inevitably make such severe . calls on the nation's 
 reserve strength. It is now the avowed policy of 
 those Russian statesmen in whose hands are con- 
 fided the destinies of their country, to step aside, as 
 it were, and to allow natural forces to play their 
 own part. In other words, the Siberian and Far 
 Eastern policy now to be adopted will be that of 
 merely keeping pace with the natural onward march 
 of the Russian people, strengthening the movement 
 by the building of railways, backing it' by various 
 consolidating measures, but still in no wise playing 
 the old part of blind leaders of the blind. 
 
 The success of this natural onward march of the 
 Russian people, which seems absolutely assured, 
 will mean that Czarism will no longer have to rely 
 
 s 
 
2S8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 for support, in moments of stress in the Far East, 
 on such distant centres as St. Petersburg, Moscow, 
 and Kieff; Tomsk, Omsk, and Irkutsk will soon in 
 the ordinary course of events have taken the places 
 of these European centres, and Siberia — placed on 
 the very flank of Mongolia and Manchuria, and 
 stretching out long feelers down the course of the 
 Amur to the rest of the north-eastern mainland of 
 Asia — will be as fully competent to forward its own 
 interests as Canada must be at some moment during 
 the first half of the present century. When that 
 time comes, Russia will in no sense have to rely on 
 two slender ribs of steel six thousand miles long to 
 connect her with her Far Eastern possessions. It 
 will then be merely a question of unloosing the 
 masses of men in the regions west of Lake Baikal, 
 which is but seven hundred miles from the Man- 
 churian frontier, and calling on centres (distant at 
 most only one or two hundred hours by rail from 
 the possible battlefields) to feed and arm those 
 masses, in order to make absolute defeat impossible. 
 This is a most important consideration ; for when 
 this new state of affairs has been created, diplo- 
 matists will have to recast their data and once 
 more work out their calculations afresh, although a 
 revision of them has hardly been completed. And 
 now, without further ado, a few special words must 
 be said about the forces at work in Siberia, and 
 about their influence and remarkable nature. These 
 forces are simply colonisation, communications and 
 natural resources ; when they have been considered 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 259 
 
 and properly understood, they add a new aspect to 
 the whole future of Asia. 
 
 It must be said at once that the student who 
 surveys Siberia after some travel immediately notes 
 four important facts about the country, all of them 
 conducive to a solid, remarkable and permanent 
 growth. The first is that the area available for 
 profitable settlement is stupendous — working out to 
 probably two million square miles, or considerably 
 more than a thousand million acres of land, which is 
 exactly six times the extent of Manchuria, itself a 
 country the size of France and Germany. This 
 area is sufficient to nourish a minimum of a 
 hundred million Russians, assuming that the popu- 
 lation reaches the same proportion per square mile 
 as in the European provinces, and that wastefulness 
 continues as heretofore to be one of the chief 
 Russian characteristics. Yet even this great area 
 does not include two and a half million square miles 
 of frozen tundras and equally inhospitable lands — 
 the country north of latitude 65° — which, although 
 continuously frozen, except for a summer which 
 comes only to disappear with lightning rapidity, is 
 capable of supporting an additional population of a 
 large number of millions devoted to such pursuits as 
 catde-raising, mining, lumbering, and following the 
 chase. Thus the barren Governments of Yakutsk 
 and Yeneseisk — from which inhospitable centres, be 
 it remembered, the seventeenth century Cossack 
 movement into Manchuria was directed — already 
 contain a million and a half souls. It is impossible 
 
 s 2 
 
26o RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 not to assume that lumbering and mining on a very 
 large scale — the latter must certainly come, since 
 minerals form the greatest potential wealth of this 
 northern country — will lead to the building of rail- 
 ways as undreamed of as was the Yukon line a 
 couple of decades ago. The construction of such 
 railways will have the same effect as it always has 
 amongst vigorous populations. New centres will 
 suddenly arise along the whole length of the per- 
 manent way ; these centres will imperceptibly com- 
 municate their activities and their aspirations to 
 vast outlying stretches of land ; and little by little a 
 new world will be built up, which will purchase what 
 it lacks by a free barter of those things of which it 
 possesses a super-abundance. According to geolo- 
 gists it seems certain, for instance, that ultimately 
 the world will be supplied with gold — once South 
 Africa, Australia, and the United States have been 
 denuded of their stores of the precious metal — from 
 Siberia. And although until now gold in Siberia 
 has been won mainly from fickle gravel deposits, 
 experts all incline to the belief that once a real 
 beginning in quartz-mining has been made, Russia 
 will rapidly take her place as the premier gold- 
 producer of the world. 
 
 It is not, however, with such aspects of the new 
 Siberian question that the inquirer can at present be 
 concerned ; they are casually mentioned merely to 
 show that although more than half of Siberia is at 
 present looked upon as a profitless and cold-killing 
 waste, it can remain such a waste only so long as 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 261 
 
 climatic and geographic difficulties succeed in post- 
 poning that great development which the restless 
 activity of man now everywhere decrees. The pro- 
 posed Alaskan-Siberian railway to bind all the 
 Americas with all the Russias by tunnelling beneath 
 the Behring passage, although not to-day approved 
 of by the St. Petersburg autocracy, must some day 
 come ; and it is calculated that that railway will do 
 for the immense Government of Yakutsk— a 
 province possessing an area of one and a half 
 million square miles, or fifty times the area of Great 
 Britain — something almost as remarkable as the 
 Trans-Siberian railway has done for the great 
 agricultural belt which it now traverses. But it is 
 this latter belt which first merits consideration — the 
 two million square miles of territory that have been 
 so surprisingly thrown open to colonisation by the 
 simple act of hammering slender steel rails on to 
 wooden ties and thereby directing an unending flow 
 of energy towards the rising sun. For it is this zone 
 which must exert the greatest influence. 
 
 Of the three principal divisions into which the 
 railway belt of Siberia naturally falls — -Western 
 Siberia, including the territorial divisions known as 
 the Governments of Tobolsk and a portion of 
 Tomsk ; Central Siberia, including the main portion 
 of the Tomsk province ; and Eastern Siberia, in- 
 cluding the Governments of Irkutsk and Trans- 
 baikalia — by far the richest agriculturally are the 
 two first- named. It may be said that from 
 Cheliabinsk, which is the first Trans- Ural railway 
 
262 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Station, to a point several hundred versts east of 
 Tomsk — let us reckon it three thousand versts, or 
 two thousand miles — there is a belt of agricultural 
 land which probably has no equal in the world, not 
 excepting even the great North-West of Canada. 
 And not only is this region fertile in the highest 
 degree, but it is bountifully supplied with a natural 
 developer superior in many ways to the railway. 
 This is the remarkable Siberian river-system, which 
 has evidently been placed by Nature for the 'express 
 purpose of developing the land and of serving as 
 a series of giant feeders to any railway system 
 traversing the country from west to east. In other 
 words, the great rivers Ob and Irtisch, and that still 
 more remarkable stream, the Yenesei, after rising in 
 water-sheds far to the south of the Trans-Siberian 
 railway, flow slowly towards the north in an ever- 
 increasing volume of water, until at last, as mighty 
 rivers unsurpassed anywhere, they fall into the 
 Arctic Ocean, nearly three thousand miles from their 
 source. The Yenesei is navigable by large steamers 
 for a distance of two thousand miles ; the Ob and 
 Irtisch — the latter being the most important tribu- 
 tary of the former — for a hardly less extensive range. 
 Thus — taking in conjunction with one another these 
 waterways, their tributaries, and the canal system 
 already constructed — it may be said that all agri- 
 cultural Siberia can be reached by steamer from the 
 sea. This astounding fact, although much modified 
 by the long period during which the frosts imprison 
 both land and water, has been but little appreciated 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 263 
 
 generally, nor has its direct influence on the recent 
 great wave of Siberian development been fully- 
 realised. Whilst the railway has advertised Siberia, 
 it is the rivers which have done much of the real 
 work. Again, farther to the east — and therefore, 
 from the configuration of the Northern Siberian 
 coast-line, still more exposed to the iron hand of 
 winter — is yet another river, the Lena, which, 
 although its economic possibilities have also been 
 largely ignored in the past, must ultimately exert, 
 though to a lesser degree, the same progressive 
 influence which has already distinguished its sister- 
 streams lying farther to the west. The Lena, like the 
 Yenesei and the Ob, mounts from the Arctic Ocean 
 to the very heart of Siberia, its watershed being 
 formed by the massive mountain ranges enclosing 
 the western shores of Lake Baikal. 
 
 Provided, therefore, with a river system such as 
 few countries enjoy, Siberia needed only the 
 necessary impetus — an impetus given by the con- 
 struction of the Trans-Siberian railway — to forge 
 most rapidly ahead. For the completion of the 
 railway allowed the Russian Government to see for 
 itself what a magnificent outlet existed on the 
 endless steppes for its fast-breeding agricultural 
 population which had always been clamouring for 
 more and more land ; and this was no sooner 
 perceived than great efforts were made to promote 
 wholesale emigration to every part of Siberia. It is 
 curious at this moment to reflect that these vast 
 steppe-lands of Western and Central Siberia once 
 
264 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 served as the outlet for many different races leaving 
 Central Asia during the great migration of nations — 
 a hegira which, beginning with the colossal move- 
 ments of the Huns, continued until the great Mongol 
 invasion of South-eastern Europe in the thirteenth 
 century had been checked. That the twentieth 
 century should see an immense return flow of men 
 of Aryan race directed all over Northern Asia from 
 the Ural to the Okhotsk Sea, invests contemporary 
 history with a romantic interest it but seldom 
 possesses. For just as the original migrations led 
 to sharp and unending rivalry between nations 
 of rival blood-stock, so it is permissible to suppose 
 that something of a similar nature is fated to ensue 
 before the final mastery along all fringes of the 
 Russian Empire of to-day is definitely decided. 
 
 In such circumstances the Russian Government 
 had no sooner begun to complete its Siberian 
 railway plans and to map out possible extensions, 
 than the peasant emigration movement took full 
 shape. As early as 1889 a law was passed with 
 regard to the free emigration of the village and town 
 populations of European Russia to the State 
 reservations of Siberia, designed to provide all 
 settlers with ample arable land and to give them 
 every possible facility. At first this law only applied 
 to Western Siberia — that is, the Governments of 
 Tobolsk and Tomsk — but in 1892 it was extended 
 to cover all Eastern Siberia as well. The emigrants 
 who quitted their homes, on the fulfilment of all the 
 necessary conditions, received per head a grant of 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 265 
 
 fifteen dessiatins of land (about forty English acres), 
 every man, woman, and child counting ; and in 
 addition they enjoyed the right of remaining tax- 
 free for a period of three years. After the first three 
 years, such emigrants have only to pay half-taxes 
 for an additional three years, and thus only become 
 liable to the full levy at the beginning of the seventh 
 year. This generous treatment is enhanced by the 
 lightness of even the full land-tax, which amounts 
 only to 271 roubles per lot of fifteen dessiatins, or 
 say six shillings a year for forty acres. Beside 
 this a further privilege exists, permitting all young 
 men to postpone their military service for three 
 years — that is, until they have set their farm in 
 order ; whilst small loans and grants of seed and 
 timber are also made to the poorest classes of 
 emigrants. 
 
 In the statistics of the last census (1897) the 
 effects of this commendable Government encourage- 
 ment began to be evident. In 1853, forty- four 
 years before this census, there were less than 
 3,500,000 inhabitants in Siberia; in 1897 there were 
 7,091,244, or a net gain of more than one hundred 
 per cent. This, however, is nothing. The really 
 surprising results will be disclosed only in the census 
 to be taken in the current year, when it is believed 
 that the population of Siberia will be shown to 
 approximate fifteen million souls, or a further increase 
 of at least one hundred per cent, in ten years. 
 Should the present emigration movement continue 
 unabated, there is no reason not to assume that 
 
266 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 before the end of the next decade — 1917 — there will 
 be thirty million Russians in Siberia, mainly concen- 
 trated along the railway belt ; and by 1930 or 1940 
 Russia will have fifty millions of hardy people 
 to respond to her call — the new population of a new 
 land, as enterprising, as responsive and as vigorous 
 as such a population must always be. 
 
 Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of these 
 settlers do not enter Siberia by rail ; great crowds 
 come by steamer up the rivers Ob and Irtisch, 
 and in a lesser degree up the Yenesei. From 1897 
 to 1904 — the beginning of the war — it is calculated 
 that about 200,000 emigrants were annually entering 
 the country in this way, whilst the number of those 
 conveyed by the railway sometimes exceeded 100,000 
 a year. During the war there was, of course, a lull ; 
 but this was not so marked as has been supposed, 
 and it is understood that the returns of the steamers 
 plying on Siberian rivers show but little falling off 
 during either 1904 or 1905. During 1906 there 
 was unparalleled activity ; and the fact has been 
 already published in Russian organs that the excess 
 of emigrants over an average year was more than 
 a quarter of a million. Probably half a million 
 Russians will from now onwards annually enter 
 Siberia. 
 
 A last factor which should not be lost sight of is 
 the astonishing birth-rate prevailing amongst the 
 Siberian rural population. The ordinary increase 
 of population by excess of births over deaths for the 
 whole Russian Empire is about eighteen per thousand 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 267 
 
 per annum ; but there is reason to believe that this 
 is much exceeded in Siberia, where the heavy town 
 death-rate of European Russia is entirely lacking, 
 and where the general conditions are more conducive 
 to fecundity than in the home provinces. This 
 Slav fecundity must, indeed, come to exert the most 
 profound influence on the future of Siberia and 
 Eastern Asia. Already the Russian rate of increase 
 resembles the prolificness of the negro races, whose 
 populations can be doubled by child-birth twice 
 as rapidly as is the case amongst the white in- 
 habitants of temperate climes. There is now no 
 reason to doubt the statement of Russian statisticians 
 that the annual increase by births in Siberia is almost 
 three per cent, of the population — i.e. nearly thirty per 
 thousand people — and that this rate is well main- 
 tained. Thus from 1897 to 1907 it is officially 
 believed that the excess of births over deaths in 
 Siberia caused the population to rise from seven 
 millions to nearly nine and a half millions, and that 
 emigration will necessitate an additional five millions 
 of people being included in the grand total of 1907, 
 the census year. 
 
 It may be assumed, then, for the purposes of 
 argument, that Siberia already has a population of 
 fifteen millions, the vast majority being orthodox 
 Russians, who have been drawn into the country 
 during the past five decades. The condition of this 
 population is quite different from that of the older 
 land. Russian observers have not hesitated to 
 declare that the leading element in this emigra- 
 
268 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 tion movement is composed of a class of men who 
 appear to ^be nearly related to those enterprising 
 Russians who, in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seven- 
 teenth centuries, wandered far beyond the limits of 
 the narrow Czardom of Muscovy — to the Steppes, 
 to the Don, to the Yaik, and to Siberia — and settled 
 there as free Cossacks, thus strengthening Russian 
 civilisation in new countries where little or no 
 encouragement was given to them. The emigrants 
 of to-day are naturally more peaceful, more inclined 
 to satisfy simply their homely wants ; yet at the 
 same time they are singularly enterprising and 
 energetic, being, indeed, the pick of their breed. In 
 the main they are men'who have become dissatisfied 
 with the existing order of things behind the Ural, 
 who have felt themselves neither fit nor willing to 
 submit to the legal forms and ever-increasing 
 authority of the law in European Russia, and who 
 seek, therefore, a wider and a freer world. All 
 these traits give them a striking similarity to those 
 earlier conquerors who developed and expanded 
 Russian power ; and it is accordingly not surprising 
 to find that during the late war the Japanese generals 
 were unanimously of the opinion that the Siberian 
 regiments were the best in the field against them, 
 and that had they been well led, nothing could have 
 broken them. 
 
 In these circumstances it has been only natural 
 that until now the Siberian towns should not have 
 developed at the same rapid rate as the agricultural 
 districts around them. Emigrants have gone to 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 269 
 
 conquer the lonely steppes and have never desired 
 merely to languish in towns. Siberian capitals have, 
 therefore, tended to remain mere over-grown villages, 
 and Vladivostock — with its insistent Europeanism — 
 has more of the great city about it than the main 
 administrative centres of Siberia, which were founded 
 as stockaded outposts, endlessly at war with the 
 Tartars, more than a couple of centuries ago. In 
 1897, Tomsk, the largest Siberian town and the 
 provincial capital of the most populous region beyond 
 the Ural mountains, had only just over fifty thousand 
 inhabitants ; Irkutsk was of about the same size ; 
 Omsk, another important centre, had under forty 
 thousand inhabitants ; and of the remaining towns — 
 Tiumen, Barnaul, Krasnoyarsk, etc. — there was not 
 one with thirty thousand inhabitants. The passage 
 of ten vigorous years has, of course, effected a 
 noticeable improvement ; but still none of the great 
 Siberian centres have one hundred thousand inhabi- 
 tants, and, with the exception of Irkutsk, which is 
 bent on rivalling the modernity of Vladivostock, they 
 continue, as has been said, mere over-grown villages. 
 The inevitable change, however, is now fated to 
 come sharply and suddenly. Just as the Siberian 
 peasant has commenced to use, on an ever-increasing 
 scale, the most modern agricultural machinery, so 
 there are also signs that the towns are changing 
 from prairie settlements to centres boasting the refine- 
 ment of French or Austrian cities. Curiously 
 enough, too, this change is coming fastest nearest 
 the debateable zones. Irkutsk has far less of the 
 
270 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 uncouth Siberian country-town about it than any of 
 the corresponding Government centres of Western 
 Siberia, and Blagovestchensk is American rather 
 than Russian. Just as in Russian railway travelHng 
 you have either the very best or the very worst, so 
 in the Siberian town there is no intermediate stage 
 between the settlers' natural roughness and the 
 imported refinement of Paris. But although this 
 change is now to be discerned, there is still very 
 little to show that these Siberian market-places and 
 entrepots for interprovincial or interregional trade 
 have seriously entered upon the next phase of their 
 proper development — that of becoming important 
 industrial manufacturing towns, able and competent 
 to play the same part towards the whole of Siberia 
 as do Moscow, Lodz, and other great Russian 
 centres, to the Empire behind the Ural. All the 
 amenities and many of the necessities of polite life 
 are still carried into the country from Europe by the 
 railway, which has in this respect merely taken the 
 place of the post- carriages which used to swarm on 
 the old Siberian post-roads. 
 
 In agricultural produce, it is true, Siberia has no 
 superior. Its butter, its beef, its mutton, and its 
 wheat have already international fame ; its factories 
 and its workshops have as yet hardly any importance. 
 The distillation of spirits, the brewing of beer, the 
 tanning of hides, and the milling of flour alone 
 engage the attention of Siberian urban populations 
 on any large scale ; the rest has not been touched. 
 That is to say, what may be classed as only ele- 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 271 
 
 mentary in the progress of modern man has been 
 attempted ; the working of iron and steel and other 
 metals, the spinning of yarn and the weaving of 
 cloths — all these may be said generally to be non- 
 existent, although there have certainly been some 
 half-hearted attempts to give them birth. But the 
 extraordinary nature of the untapped resources of 
 the country make one pause in wonder the more 
 one examines the few statistics which are available 
 to the ordinary inquirer. Six or seven years ago 
 there were 4,139 flour-mills in the Tomsk Govern- 
 ment alone. Further, in the regions far south of 
 the railway — regions which the student of geography 
 and even the traveller might readily suppose to be 
 an immense barren and profitless empire in itself — 
 experiments conducted over several years have 
 shown that both climate and soil are highly favour- 
 able for the cultivation of beetroot on an immense 
 scale ; and several large sugar refineries are already 
 in operation in the Minusinsk district, a couple of 
 hundred miles south of the mid-Siberian section of 
 the railway. Indeed, as researches are slowly 
 carried out by the Government, the fact is becoming 
 more and more clear that, with the solitary excep- 
 tion of silk, Siberia contains in superabundance 
 everything which makes for a nation of enormous 
 wealth ; and if one includes, as geographically- 
 speaking one should include, the Kirghiz border-land, 
 Turkestan, within the boundaries of Siberia — or let 
 us say (since this name is rapidly losing its older 
 meaning) of Asiatic Russia — then even silk must be 
 
272 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 added. For it is well known that from Andijan, or 
 the Turkestan-Chinese frontier, to the deserts sur- 
 rounding the lonely sea of Aral, cotton and silk 
 cultivation is beginning to be carried out on a scale 
 which makes it certain that Russia will soon be a 
 premier producer in both these staples. 
 
 Here it is again necessary for the reader once more 
 mentally to brush away some haziness of ideas, 
 unavoidable before the construction of the Asiatic 
 railways, and to realise that from the Russian shores 
 of the Behring Straits — that is, some degrees north 
 of the sweep of the Arctic Circle — straight down to 
 the south-west across three-quarters of the longi- 
 tudinal projection of Asia, until the frontiers of Persia 
 and Afghanistan are reached, there is nothing but 
 the New Russia, which must eventually exert a 
 profound influence on the history of the world, simply 
 because the great masses of Europeans who are 
 slowly collecting in it will always seek to extend their 
 dominion. This stretch of territory measures nearly 
 6,000 miles diagonally ; and within it are to be found 
 resources fully as great and fully as varied as those 
 of the United States and Canada combined. It may 
 be true that territories in the southerly latitudes of 
 this embryonic Empire are already occupied by races 
 which have decayed from their past magnificence — 
 all those Turko-Turanian peoples who attained the 
 zenith of their power and the acme of their culture 
 immediately after the descendants of Ghenghiz 
 Khan had founded the various mediaeval Empires of 
 High Asia. But these races are neither numerous nor 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 273 
 
 capable of great expansion by the operation of the 
 birth-rate ; while experience is already showing not 
 only that the great Russian wave is capable of 
 sweeping over the Kirghiz border-land, south of the 
 Omsk section of the Trans-Siberian railway, and of 
 submitting all these Asiatic nomads to relentless 
 pressure, but also that self-supporting Russian 
 emigrants of the very best type are steadily making 
 their way into Turkestan in ever-growing numbers 
 and are devoting themselves to such pursuits as the 
 cultivation of cotton on a large scale. Similarly in 
 Transbaikalia — the little-known region east of Irkutsk 
 and west of the Manchurian frontier — although there 
 are great numbers of Buriat-Mongols, lands are 
 steadily being pre-empted by Russian peasants on a 
 constantly increasing scale; and the administrative 
 centre of the whole region, the town of Chita, has more 
 than trebled and almost quadrupled its Russian popula- 
 tion since the beginning of the construction of the 
 Manchurian railway. This remarkable increment in 
 the urban populations during the past decade is most 
 noteworthy, and sharply differentiates the character 
 of such Russian towns from that of the trade marts 
 founded by England in those Asiatic territories 
 which she holds by right of conquest, or in which she 
 has settled on a far less secure commercial tenure. 
 It is the fact that the standard of such Russian 
 populations has hitherto been low — so low, indeed, 
 as to resemble that of Asiatic urban populations 
 rather than that of vigorous northern European 
 populations — which has militated against their 
 
274 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 exerting that influence and spreading that culture 
 which would otherwise be expected of them. But 
 as this standard is now being perceptibly heightened 
 from year to year, and as a general recognition is 
 spreading of the fact that in the past Russia has been 
 too much a world unto herself, a gradual increase in 
 the unconscious influence exercised by these gather- 
 ings of hardy men must be expected. 
 
 The effect of this will be two-fold. Already it 
 has been remarked in Northern China and Man- 
 churia that so far from the disaster of the late war 
 having lowered Russian prestige, it has actually 
 confirmed the Chinese belief that Russia is a Power 
 which, owing to her snowball qualities, cannot be 
 looked at or judged as are other European nations. 
 In other words, there is an impression, which 
 amounts almost to a conviction, amongst all classes 
 of Chinese — who, possibly owing to the fact that 
 they have been closely tied to the cultivation of the 
 soil during an unbroken stretch of forty centuries, 
 seem to have their subconscious geographical under- 
 standing on a higher plane than many other peoples 
 — that Russia is something apart from the rest of 
 the European world, and that in her hands lies the 
 solution of many present-day problems. That a 
 renewed fear of Japan should arise at the same time 
 does not detract in the slightest from the strength of 
 this conviction. Indeed, on the contrary, it adds to 
 it ; for amongst Chinese officialdom there is enough 
 common-sense to realise that any lessening of 
 Russian pressure on Northern Manchuria, through 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 275 
 
 fresh successes on the part of Japan, would simply 
 tend to increase Russian pressure farther to the 
 west, and would thus increase the risk of the dis- 
 appearance of China beyond the Great Wall. We 
 have said that the effect of the heightening of the 
 standard of Russian urban populations in the 
 Asiatic Empire will be two-fold. The first effect — 
 an effect which is naturally noticeable in the Russian 
 Far East — is of course that, unaided by the gradual 
 unfolding of any official expansionist programme 
 such as has been the propelling force in past years, 
 these urban populations have begun to voice certain 
 sentiments and gradually to insist upon receiving 
 that consideration which Anglo-Saxon cornmunities, 
 immediately they have been firmly founded in new 
 countries, have always demanded. In other words, 
 by an unconscious process, the burden of empire is 
 being imperceptibly transferred from the unequal 
 and treacherous shoulders of Russian officialdom to 
 the far sturdier shoulders of the Russian people. 
 Popular clamour, as in truly free countries, may 
 soon supply the keynote of policy, for the Russian 
 people are really a democracy living under the form 
 of autocracy, whilst Japan is the exact contrary ; 
 and with the faces of the inhabitants of this New 
 Russia perforce turned in two directions, southwards 
 and eastwards, that clamour must na,turally express 
 two main desires — a desire for closer inter-connec- 
 tion with Asiatics, and a desire for the recognition 
 of rights which the Russians believe to be theirs by 
 inheritance, because Yermak, the Volga pirate, with 
 
 T 2 
 
376 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 his hosts of Cossacks, was the first real white 
 empire-builder in Asia, and because Russians alone 
 can colonise amongst Asiatics. 
 
 The second influence will be a natural corollary 
 of the first. The Russian Asiatic communities will 
 tend to become self-supporting ; to become manu- 
 facturers and industrialists on a large scale ; to 
 become the refiners of the immense masses of 
 wealth which the exploiters, the rural populations, 
 are beginning to lay bare. There is no reason, 
 indeed, why within a very short period the New 
 Russia should not be swept by an astounding wave 
 of industrial prosperity such as came over the 
 United States as soon as the effects of the Civil 
 War had been fully dissipated. Everything is now 
 ready — except, perhaps, large sums of capital ; and 
 if Russia is wise and encourages a rapid introduction 
 of neutral money, as did the United States during 
 the reconstruction period of the 'sixties and 'seven- 
 ties, the last influence which is necessary for 
 consolidation will have been set in motion. 
 
 Perhaps nothing so clearly proves the general 
 accuracy of this hasty and imperfect sketch of the 
 main outlines of these tendencies as Russia's new 
 railway policy, which will be slowly rather than 
 quickly developed. Students of Russian affairs too 
 hastily concluded that after the war the Czar would 
 again grasp his ruler, and do as his august father is 
 reputed to have done when the bureaucrats could 
 not agree as to the route of the Trans-Siberian rail- 
 way — namely, rule a straight line across Asia and 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 277 
 
 order a railway to be built along the line. In the 
 present case it has been assumed that the ruler-line 
 would run parallel to the old railway, which would at 
 once be made a double track in order to double 
 Russia's means of protecting her outlying posses- 
 sions. No such thing, however, is to be attempted, 
 at least for the present. The war has shown con- 
 clusively that at least a million soldiers can easily 
 be concentrated east of Lake Baikal by means of a 
 single-track railway ; and as many things which 
 were lacking at the beginning of the war are now in 
 first-class order, there is no reason not to assume 
 that — together with the forces being permanently 
 maintained in the Far East — Russia could not mass 
 twice the force she had actually massed in Manchuria 
 by September, 1905, in half the time it took her to 
 do it in that case. In other words, the single-track 
 railway, thanks to its exceptional siding facilities and 
 to the strategical disposition of all those many 
 factors which go to make up perfection in the 
 handling of an immense through traffic, is from a 
 military stand-point quite self-sufficient. What, then, 
 is purposed to be done ? Merely to tighten up and 
 improve the Russian Asiatic railway network in 
 such a way as to bind together what is now discon- 
 nected, and thus to make Siberian internal develop- 
 ment more rapid. This is a very important 
 decision ; for it involves a move which cannot be 
 met by potential enemies in the same way as could 
 railway building which was frankly aggressive. 
 One of the steps which have immediately to be 
 
278 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 taken is the building of the Amur river railway. 
 The completion of this railway will simply mean 
 that an important link in the Imperial chain which 
 was overlooked — " forgotten," Russian officialdom 
 somewhat naively calls it — will have been forged. 
 In 1 89 1, when the Czar in person cut at Vladi- 
 vostock the first sod of the Ussuri railway, nothing 
 probably was farther from the thoughts of Russian 
 statesmen than the Manchurian railways. In those 
 now far-off days China was looked upon as a sleep- 
 ing giant whom everyone would be extremely ill- 
 advised rudely to arouse. Japan's defeat of China 
 four years later was that which made the Trans- 
 Manchurian railway inevitable ; and as soon as it 
 became inevitable, it was built. It was in the first 
 instance merely a Russian Roland for the Japanese 
 Oliver. The completion of the Amur railway will not 
 only place the Amur towns of Khabarovsk, Blago- 
 vestchensk, and Stretensk in rapid communication 
 with one another, as has already been shown, but it 
 will bind the Kaidolovo-Stretensk section of the 
 Siberian railway, which now suddenly ends on the 
 Upper Amur, to the Pacific Province railway system. 
 This Kaidolovo-Stretensk section, which turns due 
 north from the main Trans- Baikal Hne and continues 
 until it reaches the Amur, has ever since it was con- 
 structed been largely a railway in the air ; and 
 although it was actually used during the war to 
 forward large quantities of supplies to the Amur 
 river, down which they might travel in steamers and 
 barges to the field forces, its usefulness was limited 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 279 
 
 to the ice-free season. Its extension along the 
 Amur will, therefore, have much importance. 
 
 Turning to Siberia proper, or the regions traversed 
 by the railway from Cheliabinsk, which lies at the 
 foot of the Urals, to Irkutsk, which is but twenty- 
 five miles west of Lake Baikal, the following pro- 
 gramme, it is authoritatively stated, has been 
 decided on. The first extension is the building of 
 a new railway-link which will connect the town of 
 Tiumen — which lies to the north of the Trans- 
 Siberian railway and is at present the terminus of a 
 second railway from European Russia — with Omsk. 
 This extension will, therefore, have much the same 
 effect as that of doubling the line from Cheliabinsk 
 to Omsk — a distance of 750 versts — and will not 
 only be more economical than mere track-doubling, 
 but will naturally aid the development of the country 
 far more than the mere addition of a second line of 
 rails along the Siberian main track. But from Omsk 
 due east to Tomsk, a further distance of 800 versts, 
 the Trans-Siberian railway is to be boldly doubled, 
 so as to provide an outlet towards Europe for the 
 enormous agricultural energy which is stored up 
 round the great river-system lying between Kansk 
 and Achinsk. The doubling of the track in this 
 Omsk-Tomsk section, coupled with the other step 
 which has been mentioned, will thus have the 
 practical effect of leaving a rail-length of only 1,500 
 versts, or one thousand miles, of single track between 
 Tomsk and Irkutsk. 
 
 It is proposed to extend the track-doubling very 
 
28o RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 slowly in coming years eastwards from Tomsk to 
 Achinsk, a distance of 325 versts, as soon as the 
 development of the country warrants it ; then on 
 from Achinsk to Krasnoyarsk, a further 160 versts ; 
 and finally from Krasnoyarsk to Kansk, another 230 
 versts ; leaving the remaining 800 versts eastwards 
 to Irkutsk as it now is, and not troubling about 
 the Lake Baikal to Kaidolovo section in Trans- 
 baikalia. 
 
 But the last mentioned extensions eastwards from 
 Tomsk are not contemplated at present ; they are 
 only outlined to show the piecemeal policy of keep- 
 ing pace with the natural development of Siberia 
 which is now in high favour in Russian Government 
 circles. To recapitulate, it may be said that the lines 
 which are actually to be built as soon as possible are 
 (a) the Stretensk- Khabarovsk extension, say 2,200 
 versts; (d) the Tiumen-Omsk junction-line, 550 
 versts ; (c) the Omsk-Tomsk track-doubling, 800 
 versts; or a total in all of 3,550 versts. Yet although 
 1,500 versts of road between Tomsk and Irkutsk — 
 and from thence on to the Russian Far East — will 
 remain a single-track line, plans will lie all ready 
 permitting these sections to be doubled with the 
 greatest possible rapidity at any unexpected 
 moment ; and it is believed that by accumulating 
 the necessary materials at each sectional head- 
 quarters, and by drawing on the large rural popula- 
 tions for great numbers of labourers in each district, 
 it would be an engineering possibility to double the 
 remaining track at the rate of thirty or forty versts 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 281 
 
 a day. Thus, when the new extensions and im- 
 provements have been completed, it will be merely 
 a question of a few months' high pressure work, such 
 as was expended on the Circum-Baikal railway, to 
 give the Trans-Siberian railway the full value of a 
 double track along its whole great length. 
 
 More important, however, than such a consumma- 
 tion is the new scheme which is to be put into opera- 
 tion as soon as the war settlement has been fully 
 completed, and which has the highest importance in 
 view of the fresh possibilities it opens up. This is 
 nothing less than the connection of the Trans-Siberian 
 railway with the Merv-Tashkend railway in Turke- 
 stan, better known perhaps as the Trans-Caucasian 
 railway system. It is proposed to run this new line 
 from Tashkend via Semipolatinsk to Tomsk, a dis- 
 tance of about 2,000 versts, thus tapping a great 
 region at present effectively isolated. This large 
 work, should it be undertaken shortly, will tend to 
 emphasise the fact that Russia not only encloses the 
 Chinese Empire on the north and on the north-east, 
 but on the west as well, and that all the Russian 
 dominions in Asia really form one homogeneous 
 whole, requiring only to be knitted together and 
 properly developed to be completely independent of 
 the mother country. The building of such a railway 
 as the Tashkend-Tomsk line would, however, have 
 great strategic as well as industrial, commercial and 
 general importance ; it would allow the strong armies 
 which Russia maintains in Turkestan and Central 
 Asia to be transferred to the East by an independent 
 
282 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 railway operation which would not encumber the 
 Siberian railways until within a comparatively 
 modest distance of Lake Baikal. In the event of 
 such a deplorable thing as the dismemberment of 
 China ever occurring, or in the event of a new Far 
 Eastern war, such a railway might prove invaluable. 
 In the first case it would permit of the rapid occupa- 
 tion of Kuldja, Hami and all the slopes of the 
 Tienshan mountains, and from such points prepara- 
 tions could be made for a movement carrying the 
 Russian flag far into Central Asia. In other words, 
 such a railway would facilitate in a most signal 
 fashion an advance all along the line from Andijan 
 to Lake Baikal, that great south-easterly advance 
 which may yet come if China ever finds herself in 
 serious difficulties again. With such a railway, the 
 mobile Turkestan forces might be transported at a 
 moment's notice to Tomsk or elsewhere, and their 
 garrison duties in the Khanates of Central Asia 
 taken over by bodies of reservists from Russia, who 
 would enter the country by the Krasnovosk section 
 of the Turkestan railways. 
 
 From an industrial point of view, also, the influence 
 of this railway would be hardly less remarkable. It 
 would allow a raw product, such as cotton, which is 
 beginning to be raised in great quantities in this 
 south-western corner of Russia's Asiatic dominion, 
 to be quickly carried to the great Siberian centres, 
 thereby allowing textile manufacturing to be com- 
 menced on a scale commensurate with the future 
 greatness of the country. These points are now 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 283 
 
 well understood by Russian officials, and it is only 
 because the immense sums of capital which are 
 necessary to complete this comprehensive pro- 
 gramme are lacking, that there is still so much 
 delay. The 3,550 versts of extensions, to which 
 extended reference has already been made, call for 
 the immediate spending of at least 200 million 
 roubles, or more than twenty-two millions sterling ; 
 the Tashkend-Tomsk line, which in many sections 
 would be a difficult line to construct, would probably 
 cost approximately the same sum, whilst its comple- 
 tion would necessitate the immediate taking in hand 
 of the doubling of the Trans-Siberian railway from 
 Tomsk eastwards, for the increased development 
 and intercommunication in Asia would bring about 
 a greatly increased traffic. Already this Siberian 
 railway traffic has grown to such proportions that 
 there are now five express trains a week from 
 Irkutsk, all of which are overcrowded, whilst the 
 ordinary traffic and the goods traffic have more than 
 doubled since the war. What the St. Petersburg 
 Government is only waiting for now before it puts 
 its plans into execution is a very new thing ; it is the 
 mandate of the Duma to carry out a definite scheme 
 of the Japanese type. Until that mandate is 
 obtained, extreme caution will be the keynote in 
 Russian policy ; and although railway building is a 
 necessary step in the methodical forward movement 
 of Siberia, no such sums as ^50,000,000 sterling— 
 the sum now needed for the complete railway pro- 
 gramme—can be spent until fresh borrowings in 
 
284 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 neutral countries can be undertaken, with some 
 guarantee from the representatives of the Russian 
 people that a policy of consolidation rather than one 
 of expansion is really contemplated. 
 
 A step emphasising that very important fact — 
 the present self-sufficiency of Siberia — is, however, 
 being already ordered by the military authorities. 
 This step is designed to make Siberia ultimately 
 independent in the manufacture of all warlike stores 
 and munitions. The details of this important 
 scheme are still kept secret, and it would be foolish 
 to suppose that arsenals, small-arms and munition 
 factories, clothing and general equipment establish- 
 ments, can be suddenly created by army orders. 
 But the first steps are being taken by the founda- 
 tion of artillery dep6ts, on a very large scale and 
 with a number of special establishments attached, 
 both at Irkutsk and at Chita, the provincial centre of 
 Transbaikalia. These depots will contain some 
 1,200 giihs, comprising many pieces of the heaviest 
 ordnance, which were transported to the Far East 
 during 1905 but which were never used during the 
 war ; they have been kept until now at Harbin. 
 With these guns will of course also be great reserves 
 of ammunition. Further, investigations are now being 
 conducted at the Petrovsk Ironworks in Trans- 
 baikalia with a view to converting these works to 
 army uses. They were established very long ago — 
 to be exact, as far back as 1790 — principally with a 
 view to supplying iron to the Nerchinsk mines and 
 to the many Siberian gold-mines belonging to the 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 285 
 
 Government. The works are now fitted with the 
 most modern appliances and are to be greatly- 
 enlarged and improved, doubtless with the intention 
 of eventually turning them into an arsenal. A pro- 
 ject is also on foot to establish a small-arms and 
 ammunition factory either at Irkutsk or at Tomsk, 
 or at both, so that both the forces in the Russian 
 Far East and the great reserves of men in Eastern 
 and Central Siberia may have not only their military 
 storehouses in their midst but also the necessary 
 factories and arsenals as well. When it is remem- 
 bered that centres such as Irkutsk, Omsk, Tomsk 
 and a dozen others have now great numbers of 
 tanneries and establishments for turning out clothing 
 on a wholesale scale, it is not hard to believe that in 
 the near future the Siberian soldier, from the sole 
 of his feet to the crown of his head, will easily be 
 fitted out for field service by his new country and 
 kept supplied with all he needs from his native soil. 
 The numbers of this Siberian soldiery must also 
 be considered. Before the war the organisation of 
 the only two Siberian army corps existing was of a 
 provisional and defective character. Infantry 
 divisions did not exist, and cavalry divisions were 
 not included in the army corps, which had also fewer 
 guns than similar European bodies. As the war 
 went on, the organisation of the Siberian army corps 
 was gradually improved, and their number increased 
 from two to seven. But the infantry battalion dep6t 
 system, designed to keep the units at the front 
 supplied with men, was likewise merely provisional 
 
286 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 during the war, and as it worked badly, it is under- 
 stood that the entire Siberian miHtary system is now 
 being thoroughly reorganised and much expanded. 
 The great increase which took place during the 
 present year in the peace establishment of the 
 Russian army — the annual draft being raised to 
 559,000 men, or an increase on the former establish- 
 ment equivalent to fifty per cent. — will be reflected 
 in Siberia, where the population provides an annual 
 contingent of young men which cannot fall far short 
 of 100,000. Indeed, young men are so numerous 
 that it has been calculated that Siberia alone could 
 even to-day provide ten army corps. The actual 
 number of troops which Russia will retain per- 
 manently in Eastern Siberia, Transbaikalia and the 
 Amur military province, is now stated to be fifteen 
 field and reserve divisions, each of sixteen battalions, 
 or a total of 240 battalions in all, compared with 136 
 mobile battalions which she had in the Far East in 
 1904. The Russian cavalry strength in East Asia 
 has likewise been increased, whilst the artillery has 
 been made very powerful indeed. There are now 
 no less than sixty-three batteries, ten heavy mortar 
 batteries, and forty-six siege batteries, whilst the 
 Vladivostock fortress artillery has been raised to 
 twelve battalions. With the 25,000 Manchurian 
 railway guards added to these figures, Russia will 
 permanently possess a force of a quarter of a million 
 men beyond and around Lake Baikal : and within 
 six weeks this force could be strengthened to half a 
 million by drawing on the Siberian reserves. 
 
X THE BACKGROUND OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST 287 
 
 It will thus be seen that Russia, the shipless 
 and land-locked Power, depends now on nothing but 
 the efforts of her people ; and those efforts must be 
 closely studied, not so much in the real Far East or 
 at home, as in the great Empire in the making 
 between the Ural and Lake Baikal. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 
 
 There is something almost tragic, after one has 
 become saturated with Slavism — its enormous 
 inherent strength and its equally enormous failures 
 — in the simple act of entraining at Harbin for 
 Southern Manchuria and the Japanese lines. For 
 as you stumble forward in the dusk over the 
 treacherous railway metals — for the southward-bound 
 trains leave at night — you gain a sudden conviction 
 of the truth of the saying that all the world's a 
 stage, and all the men and women merely players. 
 Here, as it were, you survey from draughty wings 
 the discarded scenery of what has been an act of 
 one of the most eloquent and quick-moving tragedies 
 probably ever acted. It is so recent, this Man- 
 churian tragedy, that its meaning is none too clear. 
 You dimly feel that it has been great ; but how great 
 we cannot yet know. A war is a terrible act of 
 surgery without anaesthetics ; when the operation 
 has been on such a scale as the Manchurian conflict, 
 its psychology should be closely studied until the 
 after-affects have entirely disappeared. 
 
CH. XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 289 
 
 The Russian train for the Japanese lines is 
 discreetly drawn up in the dark, far from the glare 
 of the great station, and leaves quite silently, as if 
 it, too, were ashamed of its task. Passengers on 
 this train are few and far between. The Chinese, 
 because of the hunghutsu, have decided that all 
 travel had best be postponed for a term ; and as 
 for Russian passengers, why should they wish to 
 survey the scenes of a chapter of disasters, which 
 ended with the last disaster of the Portsmouth 
 surrender ? 
 
 Yet Russian passengers there are — a few women, 
 more men, and some officers going south to 
 Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu, the terminal station. They find 
 the train with difficulty because it is so shamefacedly 
 hidden away ; and at last, with a single mournful 
 blast from your ponderous locomotive, you are off^. 
 " It is the Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu train," people hunting in 
 the dark for trains for happier destinations say in a 
 curious manner. They mean perhaps Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu, 
 the last citadel of a crumbled railway empire. That 
 is the sous-entendu which it is not necessary to speak 
 aloud, but which these Russian Manchurians have in 
 their minds. In the train, too, you will be quick to 
 discover that amongst the few passengers there is a 
 new feeling — a feeling which you have not met with 
 in all your previous four thousand versts of travel 
 by rail and by road. A pensive sadness, which is 
 quite understandable, seems to have replaced the 
 hopes and fears which are to-day manifested in the 
 coast province, on the Amur, in the purely Russian 
 
 u 
 
290 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 sphere of Manchuria, in Transbaikalia and else- 
 where. This is no longer an ordinary railway 
 journey ; it has suddenly become a pilgrimage at 
 the end of which will rise the flaming sun of Japan. 
 To Russians the suggestiveness of this short voyage 
 is immense. 
 
 The passengers are not tongue-tied, even though 
 you be an Englishman, which means to them a cool 
 and calculating ally of a still more cunning rival. 
 They will speak indeed very freely ; for although 
 you are separated by the decrees of privileged parch- 
 ment, they know that you are bound to them by 
 certain ties which no men, not even statesmen in 
 their studied re-shaping, can upset — ties which one 
 day must assert themselves. Such ties are deep- 
 embedded in colour, in religion, in speech, in a 
 hundred small things which are nowadays too soon 
 forgotten in the excitement of contemporary history- 
 making. It is curious, and perhaps a little incon- 
 gruous, that as a direct result of a great modern 
 clash of arms in Asia, men in these latitudes should 
 suddenly wish to remember that many ages ago, 
 when the world was very quiet and very young, a 
 vast migration of white-skinned peoples took place, 
 which carried the peoples from Asia into Europe, 
 made Europe, civilised Europe, and finally in the 
 fullness of time gave birth to a lust consuming all 
 these peoples to conquer, not only all vacant or 
 partially vacant land throughout the world, but also 
 their own densely-populated cradle, Asia itself 
 Now, many centuries after the time when Europe 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 291 
 
 was pleased to learn the secrets and philosophies of 
 the East, Asia in turn is learning — better than men 
 have ever imagined would be possible — ^the very- 
 accomplishments matured in temperate climes by- 
 its old-time emigrants. These various accomplish- 
 ments Asia is now fitting and adapting to the 
 necessities of the Eastern hour ; it is already re- 
 buffing, and is perhaps intent on further rebuffing in 
 a manner which no foreigner to these lands may- 
 know, the aspirations which have been natural to 
 the white man ever since his vigour impelled him to 
 follow the path of conquest. It is with such reflec- 
 tions that you journey to Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu, the 
 frontier of the disrupted railway province ; and in 
 the early morning, having crossed the upper bend of 
 the Sungari river, you reach the last verst of 
 Russian control. 
 
 Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu, a station of the first-class of the 
 old Russian Manchurian system, seems very big 
 and very lonely in the morning air, because for the 
 moment it is the terminus of a line leading to 
 nowhere. Massed together, as if to lend what 
 comfort they can to one another, are a few last long 
 strings of Russian passenger- coaches and goods- 
 waggons, drawn up like the Old Guard which was 
 too proud to flee. In the station there are hardly 
 any Chinese — no bustle, no movement, although the 
 Chinese city of Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu has a quarter of a 
 million of inhabitants. Those who are there are a 
 few carters waiting for fares ; and these have the 
 unchangeable aspect of men tiding over on a falling 
 
 u 2 
 
292 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 market. Farther away are a few Russians and 
 some railway-guards ; beyond this again some 
 Cossack cavalry in bivouac, who form the rear-guard 
 of the remnants of the Russian field-force, falling 
 back before the Japanese railway advance. Section 
 by section the railway has been handed over along 
 the one hundred and twenty all-important miles 
 lying behind the lines of Linievitch's grand front of 
 August, 1905. Here, on the spot, one wonders 
 whether Monsieur de Witte, at Portsmouth, really 
 understood the railway question, for these last miles 
 of line have immense strategic importance ; for they 
 are the key to the Upper Sungari, and the Upper 
 Sungari is the key to the great Sungari wheat-plains. 
 The deserted aspect of Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu station 
 reflects the mood of the hour. According to the Peace 
 Treaty, it is to form the terminal point of the 
 Russian and the commencement of the Japanese 
 system ; but nothing having as yet been settled by 
 the Delimitation Commissioners, the Chinese are 
 suspicious, the Russians are standing aloof, and the 
 Japanese are holding back. In the deserted buffet- 
 room, designed to seat hundreds of people, I ate my 
 breakfast in gloomy silence. The Russian res- 
 taurateur, in whose hands remains the dubious right 
 of feeding the travelling public, eyed each mouthful 
 wistfully from the discreet middle distance. Times 
 had indeed changed : gone for ever were those 
 rouble-spending crowds which once thronged his 
 rooms. During the last stages of the war, he assured 
 me, he had been feeding sometimes as many as a 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 293 
 
 thousand officers a day, and just before peace had 
 been signed a whole new army corps had arrived in 
 forty trains. I hastened this dismal meal, paid for 
 the last time in rouble currency, and took my leave. 
 Outside waited a Chinese carter, the proud possessor 
 of a Russian carriage and two weedy Transbaikalian 
 ponies, which had doubtless been purchased from 
 their erstwhile owners for a mere song. Jumping in, 
 with a prayer that hunghutzu would not swallow us 
 up once we were out of sight of the soldiers, I 
 signalled for the advance. The Japanese lines lay 
 to the south— how far I could not exactly learn ; it 
 was necessary to drive a vague distance along a 
 deserted highway. We started off at a gallop, and 
 soon our only sense of companionship was afforded 
 by the sight of the shining metals of the deserted 
 railway strip. The road ran exactly parallel to this, 
 and for an hour or so it was my fortune to con- 
 template a 1 very modern development of war — a 
 captured railway section lying derelict until the new 
 owners officially come to terms with the old. 
 Travelling in an abandoned Russian carriage parallel 
 to an abandoned Russian railway would indeed have 
 been bereft of all exhilaration had it not been for 
 the threat of lurking hunghutzti. For there was 
 not a soul on this highway ; nothing ; only the 
 silent metals of the railway and the singing of the 
 lonely telegraph posts. Somehow it was unpleasant 
 as few things can be ; it was some of the discarded 
 scenery of the great tragedy. 
 
 Presently, however, as we drove rockingly along. 
 
294 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 dots began to appear — blue dots hurrying along in 
 Indian file (which is also Chinese file) — and my 
 carter, hoisting his weedy animals to a halt, scanned 
 these oncoming figures with anxious eyes. " Pas- 
 sengers," he said at last with a slow grunt of 
 satisfaction, showing what he had at first half feared ; 
 " passengers from the south," he added. So he 
 drove on once more, cracking up his steeds to an 
 ambling gallop over the dusty plain ; and, as we 
 reached these hurrying dots, we found that they 
 were wayfarers as anxious as ourselves as to the 
 safety of these unpatrolled and deserted highways. 
 Each man carried a big bundle on his back, each had 
 his head encased in a travelling cloth ; they were thus 
 manifestly disclosed as passengers from the south. 
 "How lies the road to the south, elder brother ? " 
 chanted my carter to their leader in the vernacular. 
 "Is all quiet?" "All is quiet on the road to the 
 south, and a train has just come in," came the 
 reassuring reply. "But we travel many together, 
 and we have some guns and some swords," he added 
 in a warning tone, as if he were not quite sure that 
 a carter who drove a Russian team attached to an 
 old Russian carriage and had a white man and his 
 traps for his dubious cargo, was not somewhat to be 
 feared. Armed they certainly were, as he justly 
 observed ; for the forty or fifty Manchurian louts 
 hurrying on his heels had each a stout quarter-stave 
 and a cloth bundle hiding some weapon. It was like 
 old times, this — we were in happy hungkutzu-\a.n6i, 
 where everybody goes duly prepared to be robbed. 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 295 
 
 Passing these travellers from the south, Chinese 
 mercantile assistants whose masters, with nominal 
 peace in the land, are more alarmed than ever at 
 the outlook, we at last saw signs ahead which showed 
 that we were entering the Japanese lines. First 
 of all I caught sight of a pair of red trousers moving 
 over a field and disappearing behind some trees in 
 order carefully to survey me unseen. That was a 
 Japanese gendarme, I knew, for once seen never 
 forgotten. Then from across the plain — far to the 
 south — came the thin shriek of a narrow gauge 
 locomotive. The gauge-changers were steadily 
 at work, I knew, shifting the gauge metal by metal 
 from the Russian five-foot mark to the Japanese 
 measurement, which is- three feet six inches. Full 
 of confidence now, we climbed out of the sunken 
 roadway and slapped with irregular jumps and 
 kicks straight across the unploughed fields to 
 reach the railway track. The telegraph poles grew 
 closer, and square blocks, standing motionless, 
 showed that closed waggons had been pushed 
 forward and left standing on the track. We hurried 
 on ; and there, standing alone in solitary glory, we 
 came upon the last Russian carriage, drawn up 
 fifty yards to the north of a dozen stumpy little 
 Japanese waggons. It was fixed immovably into 
 place by the stacking of spare rails behind it ; ten 
 yards to the south was a rough piece of boarding, 
 hammered on to an uprooted tree and covered 
 with Japanese hieroglyphics. This was the line 
 of demarcation between the two railway spheres — 
 
296 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 the Russian railway carriage, abandoned and ponder- 
 ously shut in a pile of rails, marked the Russian 
 side ; the piece of Japanese boarding covered with 
 Japanese lettering showed the limit of the Japanese 
 advance. It was just exactly seven miles south 
 of Kuan-Cheng-tzu station as near as could be 
 measured on a scale map. The scene was an 
 historic one ; but as I drank in the details the red 
 trousers skirmished nearer and nearer. We must 
 move on. 
 
 So we cantered down on to the line of motionless 
 Japanese waggons, and on arriving discovered a few 
 little Japanese half asleep inside. This station — it 
 was the temporary Japanese terminal station — had, 
 we learned, only been established eighteen hours 
 before. The rails were hardly yet settled to their 
 new gauging, and Japan, since there was plenty of 
 time, was obviously in no hurry. I dismounted and 
 pushed on to discover further signs of life. Along 
 the banks of a sheltered roadway I found them — 
 numbers of hawkers and open-air restaurateurs, 
 just completing their first arrangements. They also 
 had just arrived — in the early hours of the morning. 
 From villagers near by they had purchased great 
 stacks of kaoliang stalks, and with borrowed spades 
 and mattocks were now rapidly evolving a rough- 
 and-ready village of "lean-to " huts, where travellers 
 from the north and from the south, who would 
 doubtless soon be arriving in numbers, "might eat and 
 refresh themselves. I was in luck ; I was the very 
 first man to come through to this new station. 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 297 
 
 Yesterday, even, one had to go to a point twenty- 
 miles further to the south. 
 
 I gleaned these details in short gulps of the verna- 
 cular amidst the clatter of the rising village ; and 
 looking keenly around me I slowly accustomed 
 myself to this new atmosphere, so different from 
 Slavism, and sought to assess the different values 
 current in the rival Manchurian sphere. • It was 
 borne on me afresh that the Russians must be 
 pure Europeans, for here I had now a feeling that I 
 had just got back to Asia. Incidentally I noted that 
 by the time the rice-pots were boiling two impromptu 
 opium-divans had opened to business, and weary 
 shop-assistants travelling between Manchurian marts 
 were busy inhaling the dream-giving narcotic. I 
 thought of the agitation of the Anti-Opium League 
 in far-off England, and of the diatribes of those who 
 are not to this our Eastern world accustomed. 
 Opium, be it remarked, is the secondary staff of life 
 where beats hot the sun and foul malarial stenches 
 rise ; and so may it be, with the permission of Allah, 
 to the end of time. And munching my little millet 
 I listened to the new gossip of the road. It needed 
 but little to assure me that the Japanese, the 
 liberators of yesterday, were already in hot dis- 
 favour. How they were cursed ! 
 
 As we talked on, exchanging our news and views, 
 there was more flutter of red ; but this time it was 
 not trousers of a prowling gendarme. There was a 
 clatter of geta, or Japanese clogs, some gay 
 laughter ; the red heralded the coming of mikoshi, 
 
298 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 or the erring sisterhood of Japan. These fore- 
 runners of the coming invasion, who had advanced 
 so fearlessly with the taking-over of the railway, 
 came laughing down the lane in search of diversion 
 and news. After their tiresome journey seated on 
 railway sleepers anything was good ; and therefore, 
 spying a white man seated on the ground beside his 
 traps, they forthwith garrulously demanded news of 
 the great and profitable Beyond towards which they 
 were bent on journeying as quickly as possible. 
 They were on the way to the Russian markets, so 
 long closed ; what, therefore, of these markets ? In 
 the Mongol- Russian they demanded information of 
 what was really going on amongst the Russians, 
 and by their questions disclosed the fact that they 
 were of the old brigade which had frequented the 
 country before the war, and now, apparently, wished 
 ardently to frequent it again. I opined to them 
 that things were bad, and told them with illustrative 
 gestures of the great demobilisation which was 
 following the military withdrawal and was choking 
 the home-going trains. Little people such as they, 
 I supposed, were at heavy discount. The magnetic 
 north, however, lured them on ; and, most persistent 
 of Japanese, these little fragile-looking mikoshi 
 crowded into the carriage I had just vacated, with 
 their small bundles and baby satchels for sole 
 baggage, all anxiety to be first in the northern field. 
 Marking thus these new quantities, I found my 
 local bearings ; understood that a slow construction 
 train would lumber south in the middle of the 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 299 
 
 night, and made my necessary arrangements. Then 
 further investigations were possible, for there was 
 much time. 
 
 In a little brick guard-house, once belonging to 
 Russia's Manchurian railway guards, I ran to earth 
 the gentleman of the red trousers and several of his 
 confreres, who remained safely ensconced here in 
 reserve, the watchful ears and eyes of advancing 
 Japan. A room had already been fitted up as an 
 office by these diligent servants of an all-powerful 
 Mikado — how orderly are the Japanese ! — a tele- 
 graph instrument was noisily clicking, and on the 
 walls were telephones. They offered me the 
 freedom of their premises, and we discussed politics 
 and men in scraps of sundry languages. The 
 gauge-changing and the railway had been practically 
 completed up to this point ; in ten days this station 
 would be officially open to traffic, and would remain 
 so until the slow hand of diplomacy had decided 
 exactly what the Portsmouth Treaty meant when it 
 said that Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu station was to be the 
 dividing point between the rival systems. They — 
 the few gendarmes, and a few secret-service men — 
 were compiling preliminary reports of what the 
 Russians were planning and doing seven miles to 
 the north ; could I tell them anything of interest ? 
 How different from the carelessness of the 
 Russians ! 
 
 I told them such trivial things as any man might 
 have gleaned by keeping his eyes and his ears wide 
 open ; and informed them that in my humble 
 
300 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 opinion we were sitting almost in the very centre 
 of the second of two spots which, if hostihties ever 
 broke out again, would decide during the first thirty 
 days of the war what the end of that war would be. 
 The other spot was the Tiumen river crossing 
 beyond the camp of Nicolsk. Thus exchanging 
 unimportant scraps of news and of opinion, I 
 realised afresh how intent is Japan on entrenching, 
 as she has never entrenched before, on this impor- 
 tant Asiatic mainland ; how intent on being strong 
 and ready for all eventualities. 
 
 By the late afternoon, a mile or two to the south 
 of this, the organisation of this growing station had 
 been marvellously advanced. Great stacks of 
 materials had been dumped down by fresh con- 
 struction trains, and Japanese shift-bosses were now 
 directing large gangs of Chinese coolies who were 
 raising a mud platform. Exchange banking of a 
 sort had also started, and a little Japanese, carrying 
 a Japanese sword in a cloth cover, and furnished 
 with a fat leather portfolio, was exchanging Japanese 
 bank-notes against Russian notes — at a profit of 
 twenty per cent. Spying me, he forthwith did a 
 deal. Henceforth, he explained, nothing but 
 Japanese notes were current ; I had better buy. 
 Trading had likewise commenced — not the petty 
 retail trading of the Chinese, but wholesale dealing. 
 For news had been already carried into the big city 
 of Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu the night before that at last 
 trains from the south were coming through, and 
 Chinese dealers had accordingly despatched large 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 301 
 
 caravans of grain to the temporary station so as to 
 have the first call on the empty waggons flowing 
 back. Hundreds of long Manchurian carts, laden 
 with wheat and the great Manchurian staple, beans, 
 had now arrived and were already discharging their 
 cargo ; and in very little time mountains of sacks 
 began to grow up, proclaiming what a future 
 railways in this great agricultural country would 
 have, were they under the absolute administration 
 of clever and open-minded people. In such hands 
 Manchuria in twenty years might almost have the 
 importance of India ; for Hong Kong proves that the 
 possibilities contained in Anglo-Chinese commerce 
 are many times greater than those in Anglo-Indian. 
 There is no limit indeed to what is possible ; but in 
 Japanese hands there will be wholesale and restric- 
 tive discrimination. 
 
 I stood deeply impressed with these new signs of 
 a coming traffic so suddenly springing up, and 
 reflected on the divergent ambitions of Russia and 
 Japan as expressed on the two sides of a narrow 
 neutral strip of seven miles. Japan's ambition is for 
 profit — immediate and unmistakable — profit in land- 
 holdings, in commerce, in prestige, in everything. 
 Russia's ambition is, or has been, merely territorial ; 
 it expresses itself in a lumbering and happy-go-lucky 
 individualism, where the Japanese have entrenched 
 themselves. The freedom of the veld is now to be 
 exchanged for the cramping influences of a system 
 based on the control of human beings by mathe- 
 matics — by a reductio ad absurdum of what was 
 
302 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 originally clever, inasmuch as it was suited to the 
 needs of an isolated nation. These things are 
 forcibly borne in upon the traveller immediately he 
 enters the Japanese lines ; and although there are 
 compensations for the loss of Russian freedom in 
 exactitude — a substitution of definite ideas, definite 
 data, and definite plans — which contrasts strongly and 
 favourably with the confusion of Slavism, the com- 
 pensations are not sufficient for the curious irritating 
 restriction which has been referred to. You have 
 been swallowed up by a machine. You know that 
 everything, even the little gendarmes in red trousers 
 in their improvised quarters, is held tight by Tokyo ; 
 that everything is watched over, fostered and 
 directed on a set plan from Tokyo ; that everything 
 is slowly being bound by regulations and by red-tape, 
 so that those who penetrate within this system shall 
 soon abandon all hope of fair play and equal 
 opportunity. And as to these is added the Japanese 
 desire to benefit to the maximum possible, in the 
 shortest possible space of time, it is not to be 
 wondered at that the disabilities of the new system 
 strike the local inhabitants with greater force than 
 they do the observer. For in the Japanese sphere 
 of Southern Manchuria, as well as in Korea, the 
 Japanese system not only must control everything, 
 but must be made to benefit pecuniarily from such 
 control by diverting all possible profits from the 
 pockets of the local inhabitants, as well as from the 
 pockets of neutrals, to those of its own people. It 
 must spend little and account clearly and definitely 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 303 
 
 for every farthing spent ; and for every such farthing 
 it must attempt not only to receive a penny in return, 
 but also to lay the foundations of a great future 
 prosperity for the Japanese immigrants into the 
 country. 
 
 A combination of all these facts, which are already 
 vaguely realised by one of the shrewdest populations 
 of the world in money matters, the Chinese, has 
 made all Manchurians incline to dislike the Japanese 
 bitterly and to regret the late war as much as only 
 three years ago they welcomed the idea that help 
 from an unexpected quarter was to terminate the 
 period of Russian domination. The very coolies at 
 this improvised station, seven miles south of 
 Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu, engaged in the prosaic task of 
 raising a mud platform, showed their anger, contempt 
 and resentment in a hundred ways. 
 
 " Look at them," cried one man, as soon as he 
 had assured himself by glancing round that his 
 audacity would not be punished ; " Look at them 
 and their little bodies, their little heads, and their 
 slowness. They only understand one way, which is 
 their way. If you tell them anything, how long do 
 they take to understand, how unwilling are they to 
 listen ! They are -polite to one another, but rude 
 and rough to us. They pay hardly enough to allow 
 us to buy our day's food. Truly the Russians are a 
 thousand times better." Thus a spokesman of the 
 sentiments of those few millions of Manchurians 
 who, because of the criminal weakness of the Central 
 Government of China, are to be dominated over by 
 
304 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 two rival nationalities, whose geographical position 
 and financial and political development will permit 
 neither of them to be even ordinarily altruistic. It 
 is, indeed, a strange position. 
 
 Boarding my train from the self-same mud plat- 
 form, I journeyed towards those coasts, the command 
 of which Russia has irretrievably lost. There is no 
 comfort as yet on the Japanese sections of the 
 Manchurian railway, and in the war-stained carriages 
 which still do service hard benches are the only 
 furniture. The speed, too, is slower than that of 
 the worst Russian trains ; the halts are interminable ; 
 and passengers, except Chinese of the roughest 
 class, who can be herded like cattle, are neither 
 present nor wanted. All along the line, however, 
 bands of Japanese are steadily coming, coming, 
 coming, and settling in ever greater crowds in the 
 abandoned Russian houses belonging to the railway 
 settlements. Forty miles south of Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu, 
 at Kungchuling, which was Linievitch's head- 
 quarters at the declaration of peace, five hundred 
 Japanese men and women were already established 
 a few days after the restored line was open to traffic ; 
 and now more were continually coming through day 
 by day. Thirty-five miles south of this again, at 
 Ssupingkai, marking verst 550 north of Port Arthur 
 and the exact point where the armistice agreement 
 was signed by the delegates of Field-Marshal Oyama 
 and General Linievitch after the Portsmouth Treaty 
 had been arranged, I found more Japanese squatters 
 pouring in and preparing to lay the foundations of 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 30^ 
 
 the monopoly in trading which it is hoped the ceded 
 railway will ultimately establish. 
 
 South of this point, again, the railway had been 
 ripped up by the Russians after the Moukden retreat, 
 and the rails carried away ; but although the com- 
 munication link was thus severed, the whole of this 
 area was in firm and menacing Russian occupation 
 when peace was signed. Indeed the second of the 
 three powerful lines of Russian works which made 
 the possibility of further Japanese successes ex- 
 tremely unlikely, consisted of a continuous series of 
 low- lying and well-knitted hills far to the south of 
 Ssupingkai — positions which can be scanned from 
 the railway and whose excellence as a defensive line 
 is materially added to by the general nature of the 
 terrain in which they lie. For the land here consists 
 of undulating country, which is very scantily popu- 
 lated and which, owing to the somewhat friable 
 nature of the soil and the immensely heavy summer 
 rainfalls, is split up in many directions by broad 
 water-courses — water-courses that are perpetually 
 dry excepting for one short month, when they serve 
 to carry off the surface water. No better vantage 
 ground for Russian soldiery and for the tactics in 
 which they are so pre-eminent could have been 
 chosen ; and having knitted these far-flung positions 
 together with strong earthen redoubts, furnished 
 with the heaviest artillery. General Linievitch was 
 undoubtedly justified in telegraphing to the Czar in 
 the confident terms of which he repeatedly made use 
 during the Portsmouth Conference. No man, seeing 
 
 X 
 
3o6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL cHAP. 
 
 the setting of the great battle which was never 
 fought, but for which everything had been prepared, 
 can hesitate to say that the Japanese Generals were 
 something more than merely cautious not to risk 
 another engagement, of even greater dimensions than 
 the battle of Moukden, with so much against them. 
 History will need to pay a greater tribute than has 
 yet been paid to Anglo-Saxon moral support, of 
 which President Roosevelt was the final mouthpiece 
 during the late war. It indeed saved Japan from 
 an impossible position — a position from which there 
 might have been no escape whatsoever except 
 in military disaster and in national and financial 
 ruin. 
 
 Pushing on slowly in the train, with ample time 
 to drink in such suggestive details, one at last reaches 
 the remains of the station of Chou-an-miaotzu, which 
 lies just fifteen miles north of Changtufu, the most 
 advanced Japanese position when the armistice was 
 signed. The region around this station, therefore, 
 was also in firm Russian possession until Monsieur de 
 Witte was magnanimous enough to cede it, and about 
 four miles further on the remains of the advanced 
 Russian lines begin to be seen. Stumpy little hills 
 and undulating country are still the rule, showing 
 that the Russians had a defensive belt of the very 
 highest value extending in three successive lines 
 from the Japanese outposts at Changtufu back fifty 
 versts to Kungchuling, where General Linievitch 
 presided in person. Many critics — doubtless know- 
 ing little of Manchurian topography and equally little 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 307 
 
 about the class of country on which previous 
 experience had shown Russian soldiers are at their 
 best — have ventured the opinion that Russia, having 
 been driven out of the mountainous regions of South- 
 eastern Manchuria without too much difficulty, 
 could not have expected to have remained firmly 
 seated in the face of repeated Japanese assaults in a 
 country less favourable for a defensive policy, 
 that is, in this highly interesting area. Such criti- 
 cism is surely prejudiced. By August, 1905, thanks 
 to the almost superhuman exertions of the railway, 
 Russia had at last obtained a numerical superiority 
 in the Kungchuling, Ssupingkai and Chou-an-miaotzu 
 districts, and that superiority was being quickly 
 increased. Further, not only had she obtained the 
 advantage of numbers, but she had massed artillery- 
 parks infinitely more powerful than those possessed 
 by the Japanese. This numerical and gunfire pre- 
 ponderance was made more menacing by the 
 superiority of positions, for Nature had at last come 
 to the rescue, and had arranged a most advantageous 
 battle-ground on which the Russian forces could lie 
 impregnably entrenched in deep and secure forma- 
 tions reaching back nearly forty miles, until such a 
 moment had arrived when an advance in over- 
 whelming strength could be made on the enemy. 
 Only on the Russian right wing, extending far across 
 the theoretical boundary line of Mongolia, was it 
 possible for the Japanese to attempt a flanking move- 
 ment — the " round-up " of the newspapers ; for the 
 Russian left wing lay quite secure in mountainous 
 
 X 2 
 
3o8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap, 
 
 positions south of the Heilungchiang districts which 
 could not be turned. 
 
 It was on the Russian right wing, then, that the 
 Japanese had been concentrating their efforts up to 
 the time peace was made ; they had been ceaselessly 
 extending and extending their formations in the hope 
 that the completion of their plans would allow their 
 armies massed west of the railway {i.e., on the Mon- 
 golian side) to swing in and " round up" the entire 
 Russian army. But this strategy was defeated before 
 it was well developed by the constantly growing 
 numerical superiority of their adversaries. As fast as 
 the Japanese extended their left wing the Russians 
 extended their corresponding right wing still faster, 
 and the enormous cavalry strength Russia at last 
 possessed — about 40,000 sabres in all — permitted 
 her to maintain a preponderance of mobile observa- 
 tion-corps posted far out to the west, on the 
 Mongolian grass-lands, thus making any repetition 
 of Nogi's fast turning movement, which distinguished 
 the battle of Moukden, quite out of the question. 
 It is now an open secret that General Baron 
 Kodama's ultimatum to the Japanese Palace Councils 
 held in Tokyo during the momentous month of 
 August, 1905, was simply "Two hundred thousand 
 more men at once, with reinforcements to follow, or 
 peace on the best terms which can be secured." 
 Japan could undoubtedly have sent 200,000 more 
 conscripts of a sort ; but it is doubtful whether her 
 finances would have stood the beggar-my-neighbour 
 method of warfare which Russia's preponderance in 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 309 
 
 reserves of men and materials, and the indecisive 
 nature of the campaign in Southern Manchuria, had 
 at last made necessary. For had 200,000 more men 
 been sent, a grim battle would have been risked as 
 soon as the last reinforcements had arrived ; and 
 the Japanese leaders, relying on the dash and 
 heroism of their battalions, would have attempted to 
 secure another doubtful victory of the Liaoyang type. 
 But these leaders, with that genius for taking de- 
 tached views which is so peculiarly Japanese, knew 
 perfectly well that Linievitch, a tough old soldier of 
 many campaigns, would act quite differently from 
 Kuropatkin, and would stand firm to the very last 
 gasp. The highest Japanese Staff officers have 
 reluctantly confessed this to me. 
 
 Such a battle, it may therefore be assumed, would 
 have meant losses twice as great as those incurred 
 at Moukden and the necessity of further reinforce- 
 ments, totalling several hundred thousand more men, 
 being sent all through the winter of 1905- 1906, 
 and would have heralded a spring campaign on 
 a still greater scale than that attained in the spring 
 of 1905. Financially it would have meant doubling 
 the Japanese monthly military expenditure — raising 
 it from Yen 65,000,000 a month, which it attained 
 after the battle of Moukden, to Yen 120,000,000, 
 and thus making the total cost of the war at least 
 twice what it has actually been, Yen 2,000,000,000. 
 From every point of view, therefore, the prospect 
 must have been not only grave, but actually terrify- 
 ing to those who really knew how things stood ; 
 
3IO RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 and the final doubtful victory which Baron Komura 
 secured at Portsmouth must in the circumstances be 
 classed as the most remarkable of all the remarkable 
 things done by the Japanese soldiers, sailors, finan- 
 ciers, and statesmen during two epoch-making years. 
 Had even such a weak and opportunist diplomat as 
 Monsieur de Witte been properly informed, as he 
 should have been, of these considerations, England's 
 ally would have been glad to abandon all claim to 
 Saghalien and to agree to a far less advantageous 
 position in Southern Manchuria. Of this there can 
 to-day be no doubt, and it would be well if a general 
 appreciation of the significance of what Japan accom- 
 plished by her masterly diplomacy were had by 
 all observers. For the safe-guarding steps she is 
 now so intent on are dictated principally by the 
 necessity of hastily securing after the war what she 
 failed to achieve by her successes in the field, and 
 only managed to obtain from Russia owing to the 
 collapse and the discredit of the Russian War party 
 and the increasing disorders in the provinces of 
 both European and Asiatic Russia. The grave 
 disqualifications inherent in a policy based upon 
 a desire to make permanent capital out of meretri- 
 cious successes are therefore to be discovered every- 
 where among the Japanese in Southern Manchuria ; 
 and critics who profess surprise that Japan should 
 have given the neutral world to understand one 
 thing and should now be acting radically differently, 
 show that in their studies they have not grasped 
 what is fundamental and vital in the whole matter — 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 
 
 that under cover of the Portsmouth and Anglo- 
 Japanese Treaties (instruments which render all 
 retaliation impossible for a term of years), Japan 
 is securing all those things which she failed to gain 
 by her prowess in the field. 
 
 Seldom has such an extraordinary aftermath of 
 war been seen ; and it is possible only because 
 of the great distance which separates Europe and 
 America from Manchuria, and because of China's 
 singular impotence. Many Russians now know and 
 appreciate these facts and bitterly regret the evil 
 day when Monsieur de Witte, with his eyes con- 
 stantly over his shoulders on the spectre of revolu- 
 tion, suddenly discarded the traditional Slav policy 
 of procrastination — which would undoubtedly have 
 won the day — and adopted what he thought was 
 masterly and open-hearted treating which would 
 gain for him and his country the sympathy which 
 was so sorely needed. Never has fate been 
 more ironical and cruel, for everything has worked 
 out differently. It is interesting to reflect on these 
 matters, seated in a hard-benched railway carriage 
 halted on the exact spot where the Russian and 
 Japanese outposts hidden in man-pits faced one 
 another for so many weeks, separated only by five 
 hundred paces. And when to the evidence of one's 
 eyes are added subsequent investigations on the 
 spot, reinforced by unpublished and confidential 
 data, it only needs one thing more to make absolutely 
 certain there can be no mistake. That one thing 
 is the frank expression of opinion on the part of 
 
312 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 Japanese Staff officers, which has ah'eady found its 
 way into most of the chancelleries of Europe, and 
 has made diplomatists finally realise that most of the 
 post-bellum reshaping of the Far East has been 
 due to an intangible moral force which they cannot 
 combat. 
 
 At the station of Changtufu — not to be confused 
 with Changchun, which is the popular and incorrect 
 designation of Kuan-Cheng-tzu — the limit of the 
 zone which the Japanese had actually occupied, 
 thanks to the impetuosity of their soldiery, is 
 reached. Changtufu marks exactly verst 500 from 
 Port Arthur ; and as Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu marks verst 
 660 from the same place, it is seen that Japan 
 by her Portsmouth diplomacy actually gained 160 
 versts, or 106 miles, of additional track on the 
 highly important Central Manchurian railway. Just 
 a few miles to the north of this station is a small 
 mass of hills where a powerful Japanese force was 
 entrenched, armed, it is believed, with some of the 
 famous Port Arthur 11 -inch howitzers. This was 
 the most advanced Japanese line in the immediate 
 vicinity of the railway zone : though to the west, 
 that is on the Mongolian wing, flanking forces had 
 been thrown much farther forward. It may be said, 
 then, that legitimately Japan could therefore only 
 claim the railway as far north as Changtufu. From 
 this terminal point — up to which during the last 
 stage of the war the Japanese military supply trains 
 were running continuously at the rate of one train 
 every ninety minutes of the twenty-four hours — 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 313 
 
 and from other points farther to the south, light 
 D^cauville railways, now torn up, were spread out 
 to the various field armies and furnished them from 
 day to day with supplies. Immense preparations 
 had been made by the Japanese military authorities 
 for the battle which was never fought ; and even 
 now, as one travels down the line fifteen months 
 after the signature of peace, the work of shipping 
 home these enormous army supplies still goes on 
 unendingly. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the Japanese fully 
 realise that the greatest of the minor victories 
 won by Baron Komura in the conference chamber 
 was really the cession of the 106 miles of railway 
 to the north of the occupied zone ending at 
 Changtufu station. Among neutrals, however, 
 nobody appears to have understood what an im- 
 portant influence this cession may have on the future 
 of Manchuria — nobody, except perhaps a few 
 Russian experts, who shake their heads gloomily 
 when the matter is mentioned. Briefly, it means 
 that the key to the Sungari wheat-plains will prac- 
 tically be in Japanese hands, as soon as they have 
 completed the reconstruction of the whole railway 
 up to Kuan-Ch'6ng-tzu. For at Kungchuling, which 
 is sixty railway versts south of Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu, one 
 passes from the basin of the Liao river to that of 
 the Sungari ; and from Kuan-Ch'dng-tzu to Kirin 
 City, which commands the crossing of the upper 
 Sungari, is only seventy miles due east by road, 
 which will soon be covered by a railway. Further, 
 
314 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 as Japan can easily enter this vastly important 
 Kirin province from north-eastern Korea owing to 
 her domination of the " Hermit Kingdom," she will 
 always be able to menace from two sides what must 
 continue to be a strategically vital point so long as 
 Russia depends on the Trans-Manchurian railway 
 for her communication with Vladivostock, the 
 Pacific province, and indeed the whole Russian Far 
 East. For the occupation of Kirin City by a 
 mobile Japanese force would bring Harbin and the 
 Trans-Manchurian railway into danger, and would 
 make them as much hostages in Japanese hands 
 (unless overwhelming Russian defensive forces could 
 be assembled with lightning rapidity) as the occupa- 
 tion of Nicolaievsk directed from Saghalien would 
 surrender the whole region of the lower Amur. 
 The Russians in Manchuria understand this very 
 well ; and consequently whatever popularity Mon- 
 sieur de Witte enjoyed as the creator of the railway 
 empire has now completely disappeared. 
 
 Yet the Russians in Manchuria have been very busy 
 explaining to one another exactly why the principal 
 Russian Peace Plenipotentiary acted as he did in the 
 matter. They say that it was due — as usual, they 
 add smilingly — to a mistake. The Russian Head- 
 quarters Staff in the field had furnished, it appears 
 from such gossip, full particulars regarding the 
 Chinese nomenclature of the lines actually occupied 
 by the rival forces, and the advanced line of hills, 
 named Kuang-cheng-ling, was confused by Monsieur 
 de Witte with Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu — hence the cession 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 315 
 
 of the additional strip. The explanation, ingenious 
 as it is, is quite incorrect. Two important members 
 of the Peace Commission have assured the writer 
 that the true and only explanation is that as 
 the Japanese gave way in their original railway 
 demand — that they should be ceded the line right 
 up to Harbin — the Russians had likewise to make 
 some small concession. They are now tardily 
 proving how ill-advised was that concession by 
 fighting for the retention of Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu station, 
 and by urging the Chinese authorities to build the 
 branch railway from thence to Kirin City on their 
 own initiative, in contravention to the Japan-China 
 Peking Treaty of December, 1905. 
 
 South of Changtufu one enters a region which, 
 as the railway has been working regularly ever 
 since the conclusion of peace, is already showing 
 eloquent signs of Japanese development. At 
 K'aiyuan — 471 versts from Dalny, and only twenty 
 miles south of Changtufu — the neighbourhood of 
 the station is completely Japanese in appearance, and 
 carpenters, bricklayers, masons and navvies are hard 
 at work incessantly adding to the Japanese process. 
 Tiehling (re-named Tetsurei), another twenty miles 
 to the south, had already a Japanese civilian popula- 
 tion of 3,000, which is being added to at the rate of 
 several hundreds a month. Tiehling has been made 
 the divisional headquarters of the strong Field 
 Division which Japan is at liberty to maintain in- 
 definitely in the heart of Manchuria because of the 
 allowance of fifteen soldiers per kilometre, agreed 
 
3i6 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 to in the Portsmouth Treaty. Never was there 
 such an incentive to railway building. Indeed the 
 vagueness of the Portsmouth Treaty in all essential 
 details — a vagueness which justifies the condemna- 
 tion pronounced by Professor de Maartens, that it is 
 one of the most loosely drawn international instru- 
 ments in existence — renders a dozen vital provisions 
 open, not only to constant misconstruction, but to 
 dangerous abuse. For, on the face of it, every 
 additional kilometre of railway built in Manchuria 
 in years to come will allow Japan to increase her 
 armed strength by the addition of fifteen soldiers. 
 At the present moment it is true nothing may seem 
 more remote than the likelihood of China agreeing 
 to such extensions ; but history has afforded ample 
 proof of the fact that fortuitous events can com- 
 pletely change China's decision in matters as to 
 which she has hitherto appeared very determined. 
 Even at present, however, Japan is entitled to 
 maintain, outside the limits of the leased territory 
 of Port Arthur, approximately 12,000 soldiery; 
 within the Port Arthur reserve she may maintain as 
 many men as she pleases, and has already announced 
 her intention of concentrating a division there. 
 The bridging of the Yalu, and the unification of the 
 Moukden-Antung railway with the Seoul-Wiju 
 railway, will mean that a third division, one of the 
 two which will permanently garrison Korea, and 
 whose headquarters will be at Seoul, can rapidly be 
 brought into the country. There is, therefore, so 
 far as the capability of the railway is concerned, 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 317 
 
 nothing to prevent Japan from steaming three 
 divisions of troops into Kuan-Ch'eng-tzu during one 
 night, without any more notice being attracted, until 
 after the event, than by a similar movement in 
 Japan itself. In such circumstances there is clearly 
 no possibility of the present Manchurian settlement 
 being a permanent one, and this unsettled state of 
 affairs will continually militate against the proper 
 development of China. 
 
 The very bands of Japanese settlers now streaming 
 into all Manchurian towns south of Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu 
 seem fully alive to these considerations. They 
 come not as ordinary men and women, but rather in 
 the guise of conquerors who are to take up the work 
 which their soldiers abandoned until a more pro- 
 pitious moment should permit of a resumption. 
 Possessing very often nothing more than the clothes 
 in which they stand and small bundles of bedding, 
 they have confessedly to gain a livelihood in any way 
 that seems feasible ; and the majority of ways which 
 are chosen do not earn for Japan much more than 
 the outspoken contempt not only of the onlooking 
 Europeans but of the very humblest Chinese. 
 Prostitution has attained enormous proportions, and 
 every railway settlement which has a few hundred 
 males has almost half as many females who seek not 
 only the custom of their own compatriots but that of 
 the Chinese as well. This mark of inferiority, 
 coupled with the political aspirations of which every- 
 one openly speaks, has made the local Chinese 
 amazed that a nation boasting such soldiery should 
 
3i8 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL chap. 
 
 present so deplorable a contrast in times of peace. 
 In the matter of prostitution the Japanese appear to 
 be following scrupulously in Russia's footsteps, and 
 every word that was written in Manchu and 
 Muscovite regarding the intolerable state of affairs 
 created by the Russian occupation of the Manchurian 
 provinces might almost be penned anew regarding 
 the Japanese. The atmosphere of Manchuria may 
 have something to do with converting all alien spheres 
 into mere yoshiwara ; but the scandal of such a 
 condition of things should induce Japan, instead of 
 making high-sounding declarations abroad regarding 
 the honesty of her intentions, to turn and deal 
 practically with what is virtually a canker, causing 
 the heroes of yesterday to be the laughing-stocks of 
 to-day. 
 
 As you jolt clumsily southward in your slow- 
 moving train, every mile nearer the sea brings more 
 and more signs of Japanese activity. A year ago — 
 that is a few weeks after the conclusion of peace — 
 Moukden, although strongly held by Japanese 
 military forces, had but few Japanese civilians. To- 
 day it is acknowledged that there are 4,000 of such 
 gentry, and that the formal opening of the principal 
 Manchurian city to the world's trade will be the 
 signal for thousands more gradually to push in. 
 None of these people are what Europeans would 
 call " settlers " ; indeed it is grotesque to speak of a 
 floating urban population, representing many of the 
 worst elements, as emigrants who are going to 
 identify themselves permanently with the prosperity of 
 
Xt INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 319 
 
 the country to which they journey. More correct 
 would it be to term them camp-followers, who hope, 
 because of the new conditions which Japanese 
 diplomacy has forcibly established in the railway 
 zone, to gain a livelihood less precarious than that 
 which they earned in their own country. They are 
 therefore not an over-spill of population occurring 
 naturally as the result of undue crowding in Japan ; it 
 is mere foolishness for such a view to be advanced, 
 as it constantly is. The migration of these people is 
 simply the natural aftermath of Japanese diplomacy 
 which, because Japan's strength proved unequal 
 to the immense task of really defeating Russia, 
 had to find avenues of hope for a disappointed people, 
 when the concrete results of the war failed to give 
 any openings of a legitimate nature. These so- 
 called settlers, as a matter of fact, propose to live on 
 the Chinese of Manchuria ; and in this aim they are 
 supported by the attitude of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment. Protests from abroad will be entirely un- 
 availing, because Japan covers each step by 
 regulations and agreements which give an aspect of 
 frankness and permanency to all her acts. It is the 
 intangible which is most noticeable to neutral 
 observers — the silent championship and pushing of 
 Japanese interests by ways and means which cannot 
 be alluded to in diplomatic documents, and which 
 even if objections were raised would be at once justi- 
 fied by the firm reply that they were not in conflict with 
 any written or unwritten undertaking. The whole 
 Japanese Manchurian railway policy — under which 
 
320 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL CHAP. 
 
 term may be included everything occurring in 
 the railway zone — is to extract to the last farthing 
 every advantage which can be extracted, and when 
 that has been done to leave the husk for anyone that 
 cares to pick it up. What the ultimate and indirect 
 result of such a policy will be, no one can yet 
 venture to say ; but the most natural result would 
 seem to be another war, for it cannot be supposed 
 that the Chinese will always acquiesce as they are 
 forced to at present. 
 
 Southward from Moukden the traffic increases. 
 The Fushun coal mines, lying in the vicinity of 
 Moukden, are beginning to have much importance 
 under Japanese exploitation. Even in the matter of 
 coal mines, Japan has acted and is still acting ultra 
 vires. The Portsmouth Treaty provided only that 
 properties belonging to the Chinese Eastern Railway 
 in the ceded sections should pass to Japan ; it did not 
 agree that Chinese owners of mines should be 
 expropriated. Now, it is within the certain know- 
 ledge of the writer that the Fushun coal-bearing 
 belt lying all round the upper Hun river did not 
 belong to the Chinese Eastern Railway or to the 
 Russo-Chinese Bank. Of three areas which had 
 been staked out and fitfully worked, only one 
 was really the property of Russian concessionnaires, 
 the other two belonging to Chinese groups not 
 concerned in any way with Russian enterprise. One 
 group borrowed money, or attempted to borrow 
 money, on its own security from the Russo-Chinese 
 Bank just before the war ; the other group remained 
 
XI INTO THE JAPANESE LINES 321 
 
 perfectly independent until it found the Japanese in 
 firm possession of its property. It is reasonable 
 to suppose that the Japanese have been made 
 acquainted with these details ; yet relying on the 
 impotence of the Chinese capitalists in question, 
 they have purposely shut their eyes and drowned all 
 protests by pointing to the Portsmouth Treaty. 
 The indefensibility of such actions must be patent to 
 all observers ; and it must inevitably find its own 
 reward, no matter whether the expropriated Chinese 
 are compensated or not. It has been the habit in the 
 past to raise a storm of protests directly Russia acts 
 illegally and harshly ; it is time to show that Japan, 
 in a subtle, polite, and circumspect manner, is to-day 
 doing the same kind of thing in Korea and in 
 Southern Manchuria, but in a far more final fashion 
 than the careless Russian officials, acting dis- 
 jointedly and very often on their own authority, 
 ever dreamed of. 
 
 At Liaoyang, Haicheng, Tashihch'iao, and right 
 down to the re-leased territory of Port Arthur, it is 
 the same story — the Japanese are found treating the 
 Chinese of Manchuria as a conquered nation, and 
 imposing their own system as quickly and as unmis- 
 takably as possible. Liaoyang has five thousand 
 Japanese, Dalny ten thousand, Antung eight thou- 
 sand, Newchwang twelve thousand ; and it is merely 
 a matter of time for yet more thousands of men and 
 women, with nothing to lose and everything to win, 
 to push into the country and settle in the towns. 
 The Chinese are not afraid to say that the methods 
 
 Y 
 
322 RUSSIA BEYOND LAKE BAIKAL ch. xi 
 
 of all these newcomers remind them of those of 
 the Russians immediately after the Boxer year. A 
 policy of grab is the order of the day ; and as no 
 redress is possible, the Manchurians, for the time 
 being at any rate, have to be as philosophical as the 
 Koreans. 
 
 It is indeed an extraordinary experience, this 
 entry into the Japanese lines after traversing the 
 Russian sphere of influence ; and it is an experience 
 which teaches much. 
 
PART II 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF 
 EASTERN ASIA 
 
 V 2 
 
CHA.PTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 
 
 It cannot be said that there has been any lack of 
 literature during the past few years from which to 
 gather a clear understanding of latter-day Japan. 
 There has, indeed, been a surfeit of books on the 
 subject, and in these Japan has been treated from 
 every possible point of view. Admirers, friends, 
 enemies, critics, students, correspondents, tourists — 
 all have reduced their impressions to book-form, and 
 have shown the world what in their estimate are the 
 salient features of a surprising country. Japan has 
 been treated as the Garden of Asia, where nothing 
 but beautiful scenery abounds, where the people are 
 charming and courteous, where quaint arts and 
 cunning industries flourish. She has also been 
 treated as the silent home of a silent nation — a 
 nation of an indescribable reserve, yet highly danger- 
 ous, undoubtedly hiding in secret depths an ardent 
 desire for the hegemony of Asia and to this end 
 quiedy and steadily planning the downfall of the 
 Caucasians in the Far East. Some who write full 
 of those first impressions of which men have been 
 
326 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Sternly warned to beware, and who seek to anticipate 
 the scepticism which their panegyrics may arouse, 
 protest that they cannot understand why critics 
 should see below the surface that which does not 
 please them, when the surface itself is at once so 
 beautiful and so curiously sad. The critics, on their 
 part, wring their hands with exasperation at the 
 strange spectacle of a whole world being deluded by 
 that which is but a mirage cast over an entire 
 country by mere scenic effects, and insist that there 
 is only one point of view worthy of study — which is 
 their own. There are also books by Japanese 
 authors, who are at great pains to show the con- 
 structive skill which has been lavished on their 
 country by its leaders during the past four decades, 
 and who, after they have gone as far as that, 
 abruptly stop short and make no attempt to outline 
 the inevitable sequel to the story of modern Japan, 
 which must be far more interesting than the 
 story itself. 
 
 Thus there has been every kind of book on Japan ; 
 some good, some bad, and many indifferent. But 
 curiously enough there has not been one single book 
 which floods the reader with light ; which allows 
 him to see rising up in front of him, illumined so 
 brilliantly that every detail is clear, the islands of 
 Japan with all their beauty and all their sadness ; 
 which shows him the exterior of a people on whom 
 still presses heavily the heritage of the past ; which 
 allows him to grasp what immense detail-work has 
 been lavished, and is being lavished in an ever- 
 
I INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 327 
 
 increasing ratio, in order to adapt the scientific 
 forms of the hustling West to the dreamy traditions 
 and the fatalistic submission of the East ; which 
 shows him even darkly how Japan of to-day must of 
 necessity be quite different from every other country 
 of the modern world ; and finally, which establishes 
 in clear language the vastly important fact that the 
 pseudo-Europeanism of the day is busy arranging 
 the entire population in tiers, the topmost of which 
 contains those who really understand Europe ; the 
 next those who half understand and half hesitate ; 
 the next those who have witnessed some external 
 features of the much-lauded Westernism and instinc- 
 tively feel its opposition to their own culture ; and 
 finally, below these, the many millions of different 
 degree who understand only that they must not 
 understand, and who, with heredity and climate 
 influencing their every act and thought, are frown- 
 ingly moved forward by their leaders to a goal which 
 is as yet only dimly perceived. 
 
 Viewed in this, the true light, there is in Japan 
 something more fascinating than in any romance, for 
 she is the unknown quantity, x, of a disconcerting 
 equation. There have been other countries which 
 have learned speedily, and which in a generation or 
 two have severed almost every link with their past. 
 But there has never been an Eastern nation which, 
 with Prussian precision and by a process of selection 
 and elimination, has done exactly what eclectic Japan 
 has done. And indeed, rapidly passing the coun- 
 tries of Asia before one's mind, it must be patent 
 
328 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 that for any other country to achieve exactly what 
 Japan has accomplished is absolutely impossible; In 
 decades ta come either China or India may in 
 modern ways and in modern strength be contrasted 
 with Japan as Goliath was with David ; but still 
 there can be only one David— ^one nation which has 
 acted and will continue to act as Japan has done. 
 The thing is beyond imitation; for modern Japan, 
 as she has been created by her leaders, is really 
 based on a structure painfully evolved in centuries 
 past — a structure possessing peculiar attributes due 
 to environment, race mixture, climate, geography, 
 and those other factors the importance of which has 
 been so correctly explained'by Buckle in his History 
 of Civilisation. It is, as it were, as if to the old 
 building made of beautiful and precious woods, and 
 furnished with fine mattings, exquisite paintings and 
 gossamer-like silks, steel beams and stout pillars had 
 been fitted, with much concrete and fire-proof brick, 
 together, with all those modern improvements which 
 affect the exterior of things. But so far the net 
 result has been only to dim the interior ; to add, 
 perhaps, a few signs of the West, but not really to 
 alter what is, what has been, and what must be. 
 Nothing, indeed, is changed; and although the 
 masters of this house march out clad much as other 
 men are clad, and now use half the things which 
 other men of the East do not use, their serving- 
 world remains the same — is bound to the past by 
 ties which cannot be severed — believes in that 
 past — and agrees only to the material changes 
 
I INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 329 
 
 because the Emperor has sanctioned them, and 
 because such changes contribute to material 
 prosperity and place the country on equal terms 
 with the arrogant West. 
 
 This allegory might be continued indefinitely, but 
 the essential point is that the change, although at 
 first one of necessity, has become one of convenience. 
 It is now looked upon entirely as such, and only as 
 such is it welcomed. Yet the transformation is not 
 an absolute one. It is merely a modification, 
 an improvement, a betterment, bringing Japan's 
 external appearances and external forces more into 
 line with those of the West ; and each step has to 
 have some absolute justification shown before it 
 is taken, and must be certain to bring material 
 benefit in the near future before it is endorsed. The 
 changes of a nation mean the expenditure of money ; 
 and therefore the Government of Japan, and not the 
 people of their own volition, since they understand 
 but little, order and carry them out. Each step 
 accordingly is calculated to strengthen the Govern- 
 ment, although it may appear to obscure the past 
 traditions on which that Government has hitherto 
 really relied. For the Government of Japan, having 
 been wise enough to understand at least a quarter 
 of a century ago what the future contained, has so 
 shaped its internal policy as to be in every sense far 
 more powerful to-day than it ever was before ; that 
 is to say, it secures a gain in new directions to 
 compensate for what it has lost or is about to lose in 
 the old. This point, however, need not detain us 
 
330 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 here, since it will be amply dealt with presently. It 
 has been mentioned simply to show the natural 
 tendencies of a change such as has been outlined, 
 when all the knowledge remains in the hands of 
 those who occupy the uppermost tier, and when 
 the only redoubtable opposition in ordinary times, 
 though not in extraordinary crises, can come not 
 from the masses, who are largely indifferent, but 
 from the half-emancipated. 
 
 As far as concerns the outer world — that is, the 
 mainland of Asia, the Pacific island groups, and 
 ultimately Europe and America — the important 
 points in the curious and continued evolution of 
 modern Japan can only be its external results ; that 
 is, the main interest lies in ascertaining how far the 
 intensive advance in Japan itself will indirectly 
 promote extensive movements, thereby obliterating 
 old trade channels and finally changing the political 
 geography of Asia. Such extensive movements 
 need not at first be anything more than a general 
 commercial and maritime competition aiming at 
 gaining for Japan an absolute commercial and 
 maritime supremacy in the regions of Eastern Asia. 
 Yet even this may give rise to the enunciation, first, 
 of a new kind of Asiatic Munroe doctrine, and then 
 possibly of a new Drago doctrine, so framed as to 
 constitute Japan the champion of the entire Far 
 East and, therefore, to give her the first traces of that 
 hegemony, any desire for which is so fiercely denied 
 at the present moment. Of course much time and 
 many struggles may be necessary before such far- 
 
I INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 331 
 
 reaching results can be accomplished ; and a 
 natural corollary of such a consummation would have 
 to be the extinction of China, or, at least, the 
 emphasising of the fact that the Chinese Empire is 
 simply a convenient geographical expression allowed 
 to remain for considerations of policy. Such a con- 
 summation would also mean the end of Russia in the 
 Far East as a land Power ; the final solution of the 
 mastery of the Pacific ; the retirement of England as 
 the great trader by sea ; and the closing of all open 
 markets beyond the Indian Ocean. It may seem 
 almost absurd to contemplate such results to-day ; 
 but if China remains an inert mass, if a compromise 
 with Russia is effected by Japan before the other 
 Powers have determined on their Asiatic attitude, 
 and if the Japanese birth-rate continues to advance 
 in the same extraordinary manner as lately, many 
 things not dreamed of may come about. Already 
 the population, although still smaller than that 
 of United Germany, is advancing at the rate of 
 800,000 souls a year. To-day there are about 
 50,000,000 Japanese ; between the time of the 
 termination of the present Anglo-Japanese alliance 
 and the end of the first half of this century, there 
 may be one hundred millions. A highly-organ- 
 ised country possessing such reserves of strength 
 and wealth — for all true reserves of strength and 
 wealth can only be in human flesh and blood — and 
 furthermore, possessing for purposes of offence and 
 defence geographical advantages over Europe and 
 America which no amount of genius or combination 
 
332 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 can offset, may aspire to anything unless barriers of 
 great strength are raised in its immediate vicinity. 
 Without such barriers the conquests of Alexander 
 could be paralleled in months instead of years ; and, 
 with China once prostrate, a spear-head could be 
 forged with which to pierce the flank of all Asia. 
 
 Not only, then, does Japanese material progress 
 merit some examination, but the Japanese aspira- 
 tions, or the things which may directly aid in giving 
 birth to such aspirations, should also be understood. 
 But it must not be assumed from what has already 
 been said that in such respects the Japanese are 
 different from any other men ; indeed, it is their 
 similarity to other nations,' rather than their dis- 
 similarity, which must slowly engender aspirations 
 of the kind referred to. For to the ordinary man, 
 not animated by altruism or hero-worship, there can 
 be no good reasons, except reasons of expediency, 
 why England should continue to hold India by 
 the sword, or America the Philippines, or France 
 the blistering empire of Indo-China. And the 
 ordinary man may sanely claim that if Russia could 
 wrest the whole Maritime province of Manchuria, 
 and Japan take Formosa from China — both of 
 which seizures have occurred comparatively recently 
 — there is no reason why the twentieth century 
 should not be marked by similar razzia, which, what- 
 ever their original motives, could soon be changed 
 into a permanent occupation of the invaded terri- 
 tory. The zones of Korea and Southern Manchuria 
 are cases in point. The real question, however. 
 
I INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 333 
 
 which above all concerns the Caucasian is this : — Are 
 the Japanese primarily inspired by the same inner 
 feelings of antipathy and disgust for the white man 
 as are other Asiatics ? A writer as gifted in under- 
 standing some of the subtleties underlying the rela- 
 tions between Asia and Europe as is Mr. Meredith 
 Townsend argues that this must be and is the case. 
 The question, however, is most difficult to answer 
 for a large variety of reasons. Yet it may fairly be 
 said that just as in India — from which field Mr. 
 Meredith Townsend mainly gathered his materials 
 — so in a somewhat lesser degree there is and must 
 be among the Mongolian races the same instinctive 
 antipathy for the white-skinned man as the latter 
 on his part feels for his brown-skinned or yellow- 
 skinned brethren. How far this antipathy is really 
 a political force cannot as yet be properly estimated 
 either in the West or the East ; but just as the 
 Americans of the Pacific Coast insist on the exclu- 
 sion of all Asiatics, be they Chinese or Koreans or 
 Japanese, so will the Japanese, above all other 
 peoples of Mongolian race, exclude the white man 
 from participating in the exploitation of the wealth 
 of Eastern Asia. If teachers and experts are 
 needed, Japan is prepared to supply them ; if ships 
 and materials become necessary, Japan is prepared 
 to manufacture them ; if men or things of no matter 
 what sort are desired, Japan silently holds the 
 opinion that they should be sought for elsewhere 
 only when she has been asked and found wanting. 
 Many observers in the Far East understood this 
 
334 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 before the late war ; but Russia was then the 
 immediate danger and the immediate enemy, and it 
 was the hope of the optimists that the question 
 would only trouble a future generation. 
 
 A condition of affairs, such as has just been out- 
 lined, is necessarily only the first stage, and will be 
 almost negatived, in the opinion of apologists, by 
 the many cross-currents which may be discovered 
 on every side. Thus at the present day Japan 
 needs much money, and for it she must go abroad 
 and in a friendly way solicit European assistance ; 
 accordingly, for the time being at any rate, she 
 must become more and more Europe's debtor. But 
 Japan is shrewd enough to know that accommoda- 
 tion is given to her merely as a money-making 
 affair by European financiers who are careful to 
 secure, as in the case of the last Conversion Loan, 
 a large profit for themselves and are then content to 
 leave all other considerations to futurity. Again, 
 she needs the goodwill of the world, because if she 
 loses it entirely Russia will immediately be the 
 gainer ; therefore she must move slowly ; but she 
 knows, also, that goodwill is largely a matter of 
 interest and that it possesses no permanent value. 
 Similarly, she needs to attract tourists to her shores, 
 since they both advertise her and yearly leave 
 inordinately large sums of money behind them 
 which are almost equivalent to a free gift of specie. 
 For a dozen reasons, therefore, it is only natural 
 that she should constantly keep a careful watch on the 
 susceptibilities of the world ; and accordingly, while 
 
INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 335 
 
 quietly furthering her great development-schemes 
 and her various ambitions, she is continually hold- 
 ing herself in check — withdrawing things that might 
 arouse antagonism and substituting others less 
 objectionable. This is what is even now being 
 observed, and what is being carried out with 
 supreme cleverness. But in spite of this, for Japan, 
 as for any other country, there is always one path 
 which must be pursued relentlessly, because it is the 
 one which leads to the greatest material profit and 
 which the country's leaders, after careful considera- 
 tion, believe they can most safely follow. What 
 that path is will presently be made as clear as is 
 at present possible ; here it is only necessary to say 
 a few last words concerning the love for Asia, as 
 opposed to Europe, which the Japanese, in common 
 with all other Asiatics, must feel. The ways of 
 Asiatics differ from those of Europeans in every 
 respect, beginning with the process of thinking and 
 ending with the process of acting, and the 
 Japanese are no exceptions to this rule. Although 
 in the upper classes they are beginning to change 
 much more than is generally understood, such 
 changes mainly consist, as has already been said, in 
 the adaptation of European methods and modern 
 conveniences to Japanese needs, rather than in 
 any basic alterations of a peculiar system. The 
 Japanese, of course, are already proud of the fact 
 that they are at heart the most European of 
 Asiatics ; that they understand Europe and the 
 Europeans far better than any other men of non- 
 
336 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Caucasian stock ; that their government system, in 
 outward form, is the closest copy of Western 
 institutions which has ever been made in the East. 
 Yet all this makes no difference, except in a modify- 
 ing sense, to the fundamental considerations, and at 
 heart the Japanese is just as proud of his own un- 
 alterable individuality as is the Anglo-Saxon of his. 
 The talk recently largely indulged in, to the effect 
 that Japan is destined to be the bridge connecting 
 the East with the West, and that this is indeed 
 her dearest aspiration, becomes, therefore, peculiarly 
 significant. If Japan is to be that bridge, it follows 
 that the West may have to burn its boats and 
 rely on other less convenient methods of crossing 
 great wastes of waters, whether it wills it or not. 
 The gateways to the East may then be entirely 
 changed, and with such a change nothing which 
 might follow could be deemed surprising. Of 
 course this bridging expression has been used by 
 Japanese writers in a purely figurative sense ; but 
 fio-ures of speech are often illuminating and tend to 
 show the inner workings of the minds of those who 
 use them. For it is certain from present indications 
 that if Japan remained a mere teacher of the East — 
 a passive force — she would meet with failure. 
 Immediately opposite her, on the shores of the 
 Asiatic mainland, are the Chinese, so clearly the 
 intellectual superiors of the Japanese that they have 
 already convinced all observers of the fact. As 
 thinkers and scholars, the Chinese are indeed far 
 more able than the men whom the world now thinks 
 
I INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY 337 
 
 worthy to be their constant schoolmasters. But 
 in calculated action the Japanese are undoubtedly- 
 just as far beyond the Chinese, and must remain so 
 for very many years. 
 
 It is, then, as an active force that Japan is the 
 more redoubtable ; her action is immensely stronger 
 in the concrete results it yields than a study of her 
 passive state would lead one to suppose. It is as 
 an active force that she is to be feared ; in diplom- 
 acy, in independent thought, in genius of the type 
 in which the Chinese abound, she is remarkably 
 deficient. But in calculated, consistent, and per- 
 sistent action she has no equal — not even in 
 Germany, which has hitherto served as the model 
 for human-machine power — and it is therefore from 
 this point of view that she must be studied. The 
 extensiveness of her activity will be regulated only 
 by the success or non-success of her present intensive 
 movement. If she succeeds by the end of the 
 present term of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance — the 
 year 191 5 — in completing the internal reorganisation 
 which she is now quietly undertaking ; if she 
 succeeds in fostering industrial, maritime, financial, 
 military, and naval growth along the exact lines 
 which she has laid down, it will be time to secure 
 — by force, if necessary — the creation of a powerful 
 and efficient China. For unless such a buffer State 
 exists, the first explosion which occurs in Eastern 
 Asia will be a golden opportunity which not even 
 great and clean-minded statesmen, such as Japan 
 undoubtedly possesses, could resist. The next step 
 
 z 
 
338 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CH. I 
 
 forward would then be taken, and a Greater Japan 
 would arise overnight. 
 
 It is with the intention of making this clear that 
 that which follows has been written. It is one of the 
 strange revenges which the whirligig of time alone 
 can bring, that forty months after the day when 
 Japan leaped forward against Port Arthur to avenge 
 a wrong which all the world understood, it has 
 become necessary to doubt seriously whether the 
 apparent brilliant success which has distinguished 
 British foreign policy since the close of the Boer 
 War is not based — at least in Eastern Asia — on 
 false assumptions and a reprehensible desire to avoid 
 direct responsibility. 1 1 is too early, both fortunately 
 and unfortunately, to be able to insist in quite 
 absolute terms on the deductions which now will be 
 made ; but, right or wrong, these deductions should 
 be pondered over and understood, so that the 
 educative effect of recent history may be utilised 
 without delay. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 
 
 What has just been written by way of introduc- 
 tion to an attempt to arrive at a just and proper 
 valuation of Japan and the Japanese, allows one 
 without further delay to attack in an earnest spirit 
 the specific question of the governing of the country. 
 It will require but little argument to establish in 
 all clearness the fact that the government of 
 Japan to-day is an odd compound of purely oli- 
 garchical and bureaucratic elements, shrouded by 
 certain borrowed parliamentary forms which have 
 been sufficiently advertised to confuse and even to 
 delude superficial foreign observers, but which, 
 nevertheless, have as yet no true meaning. In Japan 
 it is to-day as true as it has always been in every 
 Eastern country, that the man counts for every- 
 thing, and not the forms or the institutions ; and 
 this being so, it should be well understood in 
 those regions of the world likely to be affected by 
 events in Eastern Asia, that the course of those 
 events may largely rest in the hands of a very few 
 men, and not in the hands of an intelligent 
 
 z 2 
 
340 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 proletariat. Now, it is the case that the citizens of 
 all really free countries — and especially all Anglo- 
 Saxons— view with distrust closely akin to fear a 
 country where such a state of affairs obtains as that 
 now existing in Japan. It is this, indeed, which 
 makes men distrustful of such nations as Russia and 
 Germany ; for the excellent qualities of the citizens 
 of these nations preclude them from being dis- 
 trusted on their own account. It is the reign of 
 bureaucracy and of militarism, making such nations 
 Internationally mere machines, which causes them 
 to be feared ; and if Japan has hitherto escaped 
 being classed in the same category as the two 
 nations just mentioned, it is because she has hitherto 
 been very weak and very dependent internationally, 
 and has indeed been almost entirely engaged in con- 
 structive and educative work within her own borders 
 — work so elementary that it appeared to have but 
 little outer significance. Her approaching in- 
 dependence gives the signal that she can no longer 
 be viewed in this light ; and it is incumbent on 
 statesmen both to take note of the fact and perhaps 
 to adopt mechanically the same mental attitude 
 towards her as towards those European nations 
 which are looked upon on all sides as potential 
 centres of disturbance constantly needing the closest 
 scrutiny and study. This preliminary statement 
 may seem for the moment an exaggeration ; yet it 
 will soon be justified. 
 
 In these circumstances it is unfortunate that writers 
 who have lately summed up certain external aspects 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 341 
 
 of Japan should have prefaced their remarks with 
 introductory passages regarding the government of 
 the country which have been misleading. Instead of 
 confining themselves to such basic facts as are within 
 the purview of every observer, they have too often 
 indulged in generalisations sometimes not wholly 
 distinguished for that scrupulous accuracy which 
 should be maintained in such matters. An instance 
 in point is that of Dr. Hulbert/ who in his recent 
 authoritative book on Korea writes as follows : — 
 
 The world has been entranced by the splendid military 
 and naval achievements of Japan, and it is only natural that 
 her singular capacity for war should have argued a like 
 capacity along all lines. This has led to various forms of 
 exaggeration, and it becomes the American citizen to ask 
 the question just what part Japan is likely to play in the 
 development of the Far East. One must study the factors 
 of the situation in a judicial spirit if he would arrive at the 
 correct answer. The bearing which this has on Korea will 
 appear in due course. 
 
 When in 1868 the power of the Mikado or Emperor of 
 Japan had been vindicated in a sanguinary war against 
 many of the feudal barons, the Shogunate was done away 
 with once for all, and the act of centralising the government 
 of Japan was complete. But in order to guard against the 
 possibility of insurrection it was deemed wise to compel 
 all the barons to take up their residence in Tokyo, where 
 they could be watched. This necessitated disbanding the 
 samurai or retainers of the barons. These samurai were at 
 once the soldiers and scholars of Japan. In one hand they 
 held the sword and in the other a book ; not as in 
 mediaeval Europe, where the knights could but rarely read 
 and write, and where literature was almost wholly confined 
 
 ' Dr. Hulbert is an American, resident in Korea, who has been 
 intimately connected with the agitation to secure the annulment of the 
 Japanese " Protection " Treaty. 
 
342 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 to the monasteries. This concentration of physical and 
 intellectual power in the single class called the samurai 
 gave them greater prestige among the people at large than 
 was ever enjoyed by any set of men in any other land, and 
 it consequently caused a wider gulf between the upper and 
 lower classes than elsewhere, for the samurai shared with 
 no one the fear and the admiration of the common people. 
 The lower classes cringed before them as they passed, and a 
 samurai could wantonly kill a man of low degree almost 
 without fear of consequences. 
 
 When the barons were called up to Tokyo, the samurai 
 were disbanded and forbidden to wear the two swords 
 which had always been their badge of office. This brought 
 them face to face with the danger of falling to the ranks of 
 the lower people, a fate that was all the more terrible 
 because of the absurd height to which in their pride they 
 had elevated themselves. 
 
 At this precise moment they were given a glimpse of the 
 West, with its higher civilisation and its more carefully 
 articulated system of political and social life. With the 
 very genius of despair they grasped the fact that if Japan 
 could adopt the system of the West all government 
 positions, whether diplomatic, consular, constabulary, 
 financial, educational or judicial, whether military or civil 
 would naturally fall to them ; and thus they would be 
 saved from falling to the plane of the common people. 
 Here, stripped of all its glamour of romance, is the vital, 
 underlying cause of Japan's wonderful metamorphosis. 
 With a very few significant exceptions, it was a purely 
 selfish movement, conceived in the interestof caste distinction 
 and propagated in anything but an altruistic spirit. The 
 central government gladly seconded this proposition, for it 
 immediately obviated the danger of constant disaffection and 
 rebellion, and welded the State together as nothing else 
 could have done. The personal fealty which the samurai 
 reposed in his overlord was transferred, almost intact to 
 the central government, and to-day constitutes a species of 
 national pride which, in the absence of the finer quality, 
 constitutes the Japanese form of patriotism. 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 343 
 
 From that day to this the wide distinction between the 
 upper and lower classes in Japan has been maintained. In 
 spite of the fact of the so-called popular or representative 
 government, there can be no doubt that class distinctions 
 are more vitally active in Japan than in China, and there is 
 a wider social gulf between them than anywhere else in the 
 Far East, with the exception of India, where Brahmanism 
 has accentuated caste. The reason for this lies deep in the 
 Japanese character. When he adopted Western methods 
 it was in a purely utilitarian spirit. He gave no thought to 
 the principles on which our civilisation is based. It was the 
 finished product which he was after and not the process. 
 He judged, and rightly, that energy and determination were 
 sufficient to the donning of the habiliments of the West, 
 and he paid no attention to the forces by which those habili- 
 ments were shaped and fitted. The position of women has 
 experienced no change at all commensurate with Japan's 
 material transformation. Religion in the broadest sense is 
 less in evidence than before the change ; for, although the in- 
 tellectual stimulus of the West has freed the upper classes 
 from the inanities of the Buddhist cult, comparatively few of 
 them have consented to accept the substitute. Christianity 
 has made smaller advances in Japan than in Korea herself, 
 and everything goes to prove that Japan, instead of digging 
 until she struck the spring of Western culture, merely built 
 a cistern in which she stored up some of its more obvious 
 and tangible results. This is shown in the impatience with 
 which many of the best Japanese regard the present failure 
 to amalgamate the borrowed product with the real 
 underlying genius of Japanese life. It is one constant and 
 growing incongruity. And, indeed, if we look at it rationally, 
 would it not be a doubtful compliment to Western culture 
 if a nation like Japan could absorb its intrinsic worth and 
 enjoy its essential quality without passing through the 
 century-long struggle through which we ourselves have 
 attained to it ? No more can we enter into the subtleties of 
 an Oriental cult by a quick though intense study of its 
 tenets. The self-conscious babbHng of a Madame Blavatsky 
 can be no less ludicrous to an Oriental pundit than are the 
 
344 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 efforts of Japan to vindicate her claim to Western culture 
 without passing through the furnace which made that 
 culture sterling. . . . 
 
 It is difficult to foresee what the resultant civilisation of 
 Japan will be. There is nothing final yet, nor have the 
 conflicting forces indicated along what definite lines the 
 intense patriotism of the Japanese will develop. . . . 
 
 Although this expression of opinion is very- 
 interesting, it is too general to be of real value i; and 
 therefore in the sober recital of facts which follovs^s 
 extreme attention is given to the necessity of making 
 clear, once and for all, the rea,l governing of Japan 
 and to show the enormous power placed in the hands 
 of a few. This, together with the matter which 
 follows in later chapters, should make the whole 
 position easy to understand and may perhaps in some 
 measure dissipate certain misconceptions which 
 still linger owing to the glamour cast by the late war. 
 
 In 1869, when the Emperor of Japan had fully 
 come to his own again and the Shogunate was swept 
 away, he took an oath that public matters should be 
 decided by public assembly, it being understood that 
 a certain period was to be allowed to elapse, during 
 which a general re-organisation would take place, 
 before the oath was actually put into execution. 
 Here it is necessary to remark that there is nothing 
 to show that this imperial undertaking was a definite 
 pledge to the Japanese people that parliamentary 
 institutions exactly similar to those existing in the 
 liberal countries of Europe were to be established in 
 
 1 It is very significant, however, that this and other passages in Dr. 
 Hulbert's book should have aroused the bitterest feelings in Japan. 
 
11 THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 345 
 
 Japan. It is, indeed, extremely likely that the maxi- 
 mum which it was thought necessary in 1869 to 
 concede was something very similar to that which 
 the Czar has recently conceded in Russia. A Duma 
 may have been, and probably was, thought of ; but 
 never a British Parliament or an American Congress. 
 The balance of proof would seem, indeed, to incline 
 in this direction from the simple fact that the first 
 Japanese Parliament [Kogisho), called in 1869, was 
 not so much a deliberative assembly as a peaceful 
 debating society whose sole function was to give 
 "advice" to the Imperial Government. It was 
 composed solely of persons, representing each of the 
 Daimiates, who were chosen for the position by the 
 Daimyos. It is true that, with the final abolition of 
 Daimiates in 1871 and the inauguration of pre- 
 fectural government in the provinces, the means of 
 electing a deliberative asse^vcihly ipso facto disappeared ; 
 but this does not weaken the contention that the idea 
 contained in the imperial oath was far different from 
 what has been generally understood. Perhaps, 
 however, it would be well to give in a summarised 
 form the so-called " charter oath " which the Emperor 
 took on the 17th April, 1869, before his Court and 
 the assembly of Daimyos. The five short Articles run 
 as follows : — 
 
 1. A deliberative assembly shall be formed and all 
 measures decided by public opinion. 
 
 2. The principles of social and political economics 
 shall be studied by both the superior and inferior classes 
 of the people. 
 
346 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 3. Every one in the community shall be assisted to 
 persevere in carrying out his will for all good purposes. 
 
 4. All the absurd usages of former times shall be dis- 
 regarded, impartiality and justice generally displayed, and 
 the workings of nature adopted as the basis of action. 
 
 5. Wisdom and ability shall be sought after in all 
 quarters of the world for the purpose of firmly establishing 
 the foundations of the Empire. 
 
 It will be seen from these Articles that the same 
 extreme caution was observed, and the same severe 
 limitations tacitly imposed, as have recently been ob- 
 served in the Czar's decrees relative to the establish- 
 ment of the Duma. Nothing definite was promised 
 beyond the fact that a deliberative assembly would 
 be created, and that all measures would be decided 
 by public opinion. This last point should be care- 
 fully borne in mind ; for it will shortly be seen that 
 in the Japan of to-day, over and above the 
 parliamentary assembly, public opinion, when it is 
 bitterly against the Emperor's ministers, causes them 
 to resign as a species of apology for their policy— 
 an apology perfectly understandable to the masses, 
 and entirely distinct from the formal vote of want of 
 confidence passed by the Diet. 
 
 The disappearance of feudalism {i.e., of the 
 Daimiates) actually served to strengthen rather than 
 weaken the so-called clan-power which upheld the 
 new imperialism in Japan. It was the two powerful 
 clans of Choshu and Satsuma, leading a number of 
 smaller clans of western Japan, which in the first 
 instance had brought about the Restoration ; it was 
 these same clans which had presented to the 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 347 
 
 Emperor an elaborate memorial asking him to take 
 over the direct administration of all the feudal lands ; 
 and in such circumstances it was only natural that 
 the cleverest adherents of these clans, which now 
 surrounded the throne, should gradually secure the 
 reins of power. Nobles and samurai belonging to 
 the dominant clans were fully imbued with the idea 
 that the new grouping round the throne — instead of 
 round a Shogun — must not be construed into any 
 real diminishing of the power of the feudal aris- 
 tocracy ; and the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 — which 
 was led by the great Saigo Takamori himself, the 
 idol of the samurai — was nothing but an armed 
 protest by the extreme conservative wing of the clans 
 against the quasi-progressiveness of the more liberal- 
 minded statesmen of the new Japan, who, it must 
 be remembered, were also clansmen, though of a 
 less uncompromising type. The victory of the 
 Government over the Satsuma adherents was in 
 itself a warning to the Government that great 
 slowness was essential to its own welfare ; and 
 consequently the cry for some sort of parliamentary 
 institutions fell on deaf ears. 
 
 This agitation had been begun in 1874. It was 
 accompanied by much fanaticism on both sides and 
 by such frequent attempts at assassination that at 
 last the whole movement assumed too dangerous an 
 aspect to be neglected. It was plain that the time 
 had arrived when the clan party would have to make 
 some concession, which would nominally give others 
 than the favoured few a share in the government of 
 
348 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 the country and in the prizes to be won. Accordingly, 
 on the 1 2th October, 1881, an Imperial Rescript was 
 issued definitely promising a Constitution, and indeed 
 undertaking the inauguration of a constitutional 
 rdgime within ten years. In 1889 the Japanese 
 Constitution was made public, and in 1890 the first 
 session of the Imperial Diet was convoked. Here 
 it is necessary, in order to understand properly the 
 real internal situation in Japan, to insert the whole 
 text of the much-misunderstood Constitution, which 
 is a copy not so much of Anglo-Saxon models as of 
 the German scheme. But the document must speak 
 for itself: — 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF JAPAN. 
 Chapter I. — The Emperor. 
 
 Article i. The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over 
 and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages 
 eternal. 
 
 Article 2. The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to 
 by Imperial male descendents, according to the provisions 
 of the Imperial House Law. 
 
 Article 3. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable. 
 
 Article 4. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, 
 combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and 
 exercises them according to the provisions of the present 
 Constitution. 
 
 Article 5. The Emperor exercises the legislative power 
 with the consent of the Imperial Diet. 
 
 Article 6. The Emperor gives sanction to laws, and 
 orders them to be promulgated and executed. 
 
 Article 7. The Emperor convokes the Imperial Diet, 
 opens, closes, and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of 
 Representatives. 
 
 Article 8. The Emperor, in conseqtrence of urgent 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 349 
 
 necessity to maintain public safety or to avert public 
 calamities, issues, when the Imperial Diet is not sitting. 
 Imperial Ordinances in the place of law. 
 
 Such Imperial Ordinances are to be laid before the 
 Imperial Diet at its next session, and when the Diet does 
 not approve the said Ordinances, the Government shall 
 declare them to be invalid for the future. 
 
 Article 9. The Emperor issues, or causes to be issued, 
 the Ordinances necessary for the carrying out of the laws, 
 or for the maintenance of the public peace and order, and 
 for the promotion of the welfare of the subjects. But 
 no Ordinance shall in any way alter any of the existing 
 laws. 
 
 Article 10. The Emperor determines the organisation 
 of the different branches of the administration, and the 
 salaries of all civil and military oiiScers, and appoints and 
 dismisses the same. Exceptions especially provided for in 
 the present Constitution or in other laws shall be in 
 accordance with the respective provisions bearing thereon. 
 
 Article 11. The Emperor has the supreme command of 
 the Army and Navy. 
 
 Article 12. The Emperor determines the organisation 
 and peace standing of the Army and Navy. 
 
 Article 13. The Emperor declares war, makes peace, 
 and concludes treaties. 
 
 Article 14. The Emperor proclaims the law of siege. 
 The conditions and effects of the law of siege shall be 
 determined by law. 
 
 Article 15. The Emperor confers titles of nobility, rank, 
 orders and other marks of honour. 
 
 Article 16. The Emperor orders amnesty, pardon, 
 commutation of punishments, and rehabilitation. 
 
 Article 17. A Regency shall be instituted in conformity 
 with the provisions of the Imperial House Law. 
 
 The Regent shall exercise the powers appertaining to 
 the Emperor in His name. 
 
350 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Chapter II.— Rights and Duties of Subjects. 
 
 Article i8. The conditions necessary for being a 
 Japanese subject shall be determined by law. 
 
 Article 19. Japanese subjects may, according to 
 qualifications determined in laws or ordinances, be appointed 
 to civil or military offices equally, and may fill any other 
 public offices. 
 
 Article 20. Japanese subjects are amenable for service 
 in the Army or Navy according to the provisions of 
 law. 
 
 Article 21. Japanese subjects are amenable to the duty 
 of paying taxes, according to the provisions of law. 
 
 Article 22. Japanese subjects shall have liberty of 
 abode and of changing the same within the limits of the 
 law. 
 
 Article 23. No Japanese subject shall be arrested, 
 detained, tried, or punished, unless according to law. 
 
 Article 24. No Japanese subject shall be deprived of 
 his right of being tried by the judges determined by 
 law. 
 
 Article 25. Except in the cases provided for in the law, 
 the house of no Japanese subject shall be entered or 
 searched without his consent. 
 
 Article 26. Except in the cases mentioned in the law, 
 the secrecy of the letters of every Japanese subject shall 
 remain inviolate. 
 
 Article 27. The right of property of every Japanese 
 subject shall remain inviolate. 
 
 Measures necessary to be taken for the public benefit 
 shall be provided for by law. 
 
 Article 28. Japanese subjects shall, within limits not 
 prejudicial to peace and order, and not antagonistic to 
 their duties as subjects, enjoy freedom of religious 
 belief 
 
 Article 29. Japanese subjects shall, within the limits of 
 law, enjoy the liberty of speech, writing, publication, public 
 meeting and association. 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 351 
 
 Article 30. Japanese subjects may present petitions, by- 
 observing the proper forms of respect, and by complying 
 with the rules specially provided for the same. 
 
 Article 3 1 . The provisions contained in the present 
 Chapter shall not affect the exercise of the powers apper- 
 taining to the Emperor, in times of war or in cases of 
 national emergency. 
 
 Article 32. Each and every one of the provisions 
 contained in the preceding Articles of the present Chapter, 
 that are not in conflict with the laws or the rules and 
 discipline of the Army and Navy, shall apply to the officers 
 and men of the Army and the Navy. 
 
 Chapter III. — The Imperial Diet. 
 
 Article 33. The Imperial Diet shall consist of two Houses 
 — a House of Peers and a House of Representatives. 
 
 Article 34. The House of Peers shall, in accordance with 
 the Ordinance concerning the House of Peers, be composed 
 of the members of the Imperial Family, of the orders of 
 nobility and of those persons who have been nominated 
 thereto by the Emperor. 
 
 Article 35. The House of Representatives shall be com- 
 posed of Members elected by the people, according to the 
 provisions of the Law of Election. 
 
 Article 36. No one can at one and the same time be a 
 Member of both Houses. 
 
 Article 37. Every law requires the Imperial Diet. 
 
 Article 38. Both Houses shall vote upon projects of law 
 submitted to them by Government, and may respectively 
 initiate projects of law. 
 
 Article 39. A Bill which has been rejected by either the 
 one or the other of the two Houses shall not be brought in 
 again during the same session. 
 
 Article 40. Both Houses can make representations to the 
 Government as to law or upon any other subject. When, 
 however, such representations are not accepted, they can 
 not be made a second time during the same session. 
 
352 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Article 41. The Imperial Diet shall be convoked every 
 year. 
 
 Article 42. A session of the Imperial Diet shall last 
 for three months. In case of necessity, the duration of 
 a session may be prolonged by Imperial Order. 
 
 Article 43. When urgent necessity arises, an extraordin- 
 ary session may be convoked, in addition to the ordinary one. 
 
 The duration of an extraordinary session shall be deter- 
 mined by Imperial Order. 
 
 Article 44. The opening, closing, prolongation of session, 
 and prorogation of the Imperial Diet, shall be effected 
 simultaneously for both Houses. 
 
 In case the House of Representatives has been ordered 
 to dissolve, the House of Peers shall at the same time be 
 prorogued. 
 
 Article 45. When the House of Representatives has 
 been ordered to dissolve, Members shall be caused by 
 Imperial Order to be newly elected, and the new House 
 shall be convoked within five months from the day of dis- 
 solution. 
 
 Article 46. No debate can be opened and no vote can 
 be taken in either House of the Imperial Diet, unless not 
 less than one-third of the whole number of Members there- 
 of is present. 
 
 Article 47. Votes shall be taken in both Houses by ab- 
 solute majority. In the case of a tie vote, the President 
 shall have the casting vote. 
 
 Article 48. The deliberations of both Houses shall be 
 held in public. The deliberations may, however, upon de- 
 mand of the Governmeut or by resolution of the House, be 
 held in secret sitting. 
 
 Article 49. Both Houses of the Imperial Diet may re- 
 spectively present addresses to the Emperor. 
 
 Article 50. Both Houses may receive petitions presented 
 by subjects. 
 
 Article 51. Both Houses may enact, besides what is pro- 
 vided for in the present Constitution and in the Law of the 
 Houses, rules necessary for the management of their 
 internal affairs. 
 
THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 353 
 
 Article 52. No member of either House shall be held 
 responsible, outside the respective Houses, for any opinion 
 uttered or for any vote given in the House. When, how- 
 ever, a Member himself has given publicity to his opinions 
 by public speech, by documents in print or in writing, or 
 by any other similar means, he shall, in the matter, be 
 amenable to the general law. 
 
 Article 53. The members of both Hou.ses shall, during 
 the session, be free from arrest, unless with the consent of 
 the House, except in cases of flagrant delicts, or of offences 
 connected with a state of internal commotion or with a 
 foreign trouble. 
 
 Article 54. The Ministers of State and the Delegates of 
 the Government may at any time take seats and speak in 
 either House. 
 
 Chapter IV. — The Ministers of State and the 
 Privy Council. 
 
 Article 55. The respective Ministers of State shall give 
 their advice to the Emperor, and be responsible for it. 
 
 All Laws, Imperial Ordinances, and Imperial Rescripts of 
 whatever kind, that relate to the affairs of the State, require 
 the counter-signature of a Minister of State. 
 
 Article 56. The Privy Council shall, in accordance with 
 the provisions for the organisation of the Privy Council, 
 deliberate upon important matters of State, when it has 
 been consulted by the Emperor. 
 
 Chapter V. — The Judicature. 
 
 Article 57. The Judicature shall be exercised by the 
 Courts of Law according to law, in the name of the 
 Emperor. 
 
 Article 58. The judges shall be appointed from among 
 those who possess proper qualifications according to law. 
 
 No judge shall be deprived of his position unless by way 
 of criminal sentence or disciplinary punishment. 
 
 Article 59. Trials and judgments of a Court shall be 
 conducted publicly. When, however, there exists any fear 
 
 A A 
 
354 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 that such publicity may be prejudicial to peace and order, 
 or to the maintenance of public morality, the public trial 
 may be suspended by provision of law or by the decision 
 of the Court. 
 
 Article 60. All matters that fall within the competency 
 of a special Court shall be specially provided for by law. 
 
 Article 61. No suit at law, which relates to rights which 
 are alleged to have been infringed by the illegal measures 
 of the executive authorities, and which come within the 
 competency of the Court of Administrative Litigation 
 especially established by law, shall be taken cognisance of 
 by a Court of Law. 
 
 Chapter VI. — Finance. 
 
 Article 62. The imposition of a new tax or the modifi- 
 cation of the rates of an existing one shall be determined 
 by law. 
 
 However, all such administrative fees or other revenue 
 having the nature of compensation shall not fall within the 
 category of the above clause. 
 
 Article 63. The taxes levied at present shall, in so far 
 as they are not remodelled by new law, be collected accord- 
 ing to the old system. 
 
 Article 64. The expenditure and revenue of the State 
 require the consent of the Imperial Diet by means of an 
 annual Budget. 
 
 Any and all expenditures over-passing the appropriations 
 as set forth in the titles and paragraphs of the Budget, 
 or that are not provided for in the Budget, shall subse- 
 quently require the approbation of the Imperial Diet. 
 
 Article 65. The Budget shall first be laid before the 
 House of Representatives. 
 
 Article 66. The expenditures of the Imperial House 
 shall be defrayed every year out of the National Treasury, 
 according to the present fixed amount for the same, and 
 shall not require the consent thereto of the Imperial Diet, 
 except in case an increase thereof is found necessary. 
 
 Article 6j. Those already fixed expenditures based by 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 355 
 
 the Constitution upon the powers appertaining to the 
 Emperor, and such expenditures as may have arisen by the 
 effect of law, or that appertain to the legal obligations of 
 the Government, shall be neither rejected nor reduced by 
 the Imperial Diet, without the concurrence of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 Article 68. In order to meet special requirements, the 
 Government may ask the consent of the Imperial Diet to 
 a certain amount of Continuing Expenditure Fund, for a 
 previously fixed number of years. 
 
 Article 69. In order to supply deficiencies, which are 
 unavoidable, in the Budget and to meet requirements 
 unprovided for in the same, a Reserve Fund shall be pro- 
 vided in the Budget. 
 
 Article 70. When the Imperial Diet cannot be con- 
 voked, owing to the external or internal condition of the 
 country, in case of urgent need for the maintenance of the 
 public safety, the Government may take all necessary 
 financial measures by means of an Imperial Ordinance. 
 
 In the case mentioned in the preceding clause, the 
 matter shall be submitted to the Imperial Diet at its next 
 session, and its approbation shall be obtained thereto. 
 
 Article 71. When the Imperial Diet has not voted on the 
 Budget, or when the Budget has not been brought into 
 actual existence, the Government shall carry out the Budget 
 of the preceding year. 
 
 Article 72. The final account of the expenditures and 
 revenue of the State shall be verified and confirmed by the 
 Board of Audit, and it shall be submitted by the Govern- 
 ment to the Imperial Diet, together with the report of 
 verification of the said Board. 
 
 The organisation and competency of the Board of Audit 
 shall be determined by law separately. 
 
 Article 73. When it has become necessary in the future 
 to amend the provisions of the present Constitution, a 
 project to that effect shall be submitted to the Imperial 
 Diet by Imperial Order. 
 
 In the above case neither House can open the debate, 
 unless at least two-thirds of the whole number of Members 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 are present, and no amendment can be passed unless a 
 majority of at least two-thirds of the Members present is 
 obtained. 
 
 Article 74. No modification of the Imperial House Law 
 shall be required to be submitted to the deliberation of 
 the Imperial Diet. 
 
 Article 75. No modification can be introduced into the 
 Constitution, or into the Imperial House Law, during the 
 time of a Regency. 
 
 Article 76. Existing legal enactments, such as laws, 
 regulations or whatever they may be called, shall, so far 
 as they do not conflict with the present Constitution, 
 continue in force. 
 
 All existing contracts or orders that entail obligation's 
 upon the Government, and that are connected with 
 expenditure, shall come within the scope of Article 6t. 
 
 This document is neither too long nor too difficult 
 to understand ; as the Magna Carta of a so-called 
 constitutional country, it should possess great interest 
 for all Anglo-Saxons. In the very first place it is 
 necessary to call attention to the large powers vested 
 in the Emperor. Not only is the Emperor the 
 supreme commander of the Army and Navy, but he 
 determines the war and peace standing of both ; he 
 declares war and makes peace and concludes treaties ; 
 he lays down the organisation of the different 
 branches of the administration and determines the 
 salaries of all civil and military officials ; and by a 
 continued policy of dissolving the Diet and issuing 
 Imperial Ordinances in place of law, it is quite 
 possible for the Emperor constitutionally to govern 
 the country through his Ministers for very many 
 months without the aid of parliament. That is to 
 say, the Japanese Diet can be dispensed with for an 
 
n THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 357 
 
 indefinite period, and would be dispensed with in 
 times of necessity, all the provisions regarding the 
 voting of supplies remaining in abeyance in the 
 meanwhile. In the same way, the second Chapter of 
 the Constitution, which defines the rights and duties 
 of Japanese subjects, can mean at one and the same 
 time everything or nothing. It depends solely on the 
 manner in which the various clauses are interpreted. 
 Indeed, it may be remarked briefly and somewhat 
 cynically, that Japanese subjects are given by this 
 instrument the legal right to live, to pay taxes, and 
 to march through life in much the same manner as 
 before it. In the third Chapter the vital question of 
 the Imperial Diet and the nature of its organisation 
 are dealt with, and it is in this Chapter, even with its 
 cautious and non-committal phraseology, that the 
 fact is abundantly made clear that the Diet possesses 
 no real control over the government of the country. 
 So important is this Chapter, and so important is the 
 question of the powers of the Diet, that everything 
 else in the Constitution, so laboriously constructed 
 by Marquis I to, becomes insignificant beside it. 
 
 For if we examine this important section clause 
 by clause, and refer for confirmation or refutation to 
 various other clauses in succeeding Chapters, we 
 shall be forced to admit that whilst many of the 
 recognised forms of parliamentary procedure have 
 been adopted by Japan, the essential checks to 
 autocratic or bureaucratic power are entirely missing. 
 This can soon be demonstrated. In the first place 
 the Japanese Diet is composed of two Houses — a 
 
358 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 House of Peers, and a House of Representatives 
 elected by a very restricted number of franchise- 
 holders ; but the House of Peers is composed both 
 of the members of the orders of nobility, and of 
 those persons who have been nominated thereto by the 
 Emperor in person. Here, then, is the first indica- 
 tion of the influence which can be brought to bear 
 by the Government whenever it is necessary to 
 secure the sanction of the Diet to any particular 
 measures laid before it. Both Houses can be 
 "packed.'' Take first the case of the House of 
 Representatives. The following table shows that 
 there are approximately only three-quarters of a 
 million citizens possessing the legal right to vote in 
 a population of fifty millions of people : — 
 
 
 
 
 Number of 
 
 Number of 
 
 
 
 
 Voters to each 
 
 Voters for every 
 
 Year. 
 
 
 Total No. of Voters. 
 
 Representative. 
 
 1,000 inhabitants. 
 
 1 890 . . . 
 
 
 •• 4S3>474 
 
 1512 
 
 ir5o 
 
 189I... 
 
 
 .. 452,156 
 
 1507 
 
 11-38 
 
 1892... 
 
 
 .. 460,914 
 
 1536 
 
 "■53 
 
 1893 ■•■ 
 
 
 ■• 457,309 
 
 1523 
 
 "•35 
 
 1894... 
 
 
 .. 464,278 
 
 1548 
 
 11-22 
 
 189s •■■ 
 
 
 .. 467,887 
 
 1560 
 
 11-42 
 
 1896... 
 
 
 .. 467,607 
 
 1559 
 
 II-3I 
 
 1897... 
 
 
 .. 467,401 
 
 1558 
 
 11-19 
 
 1898... 
 
 
 .. 501,459 
 
 1672 
 
 11-88 
 
 igo2 (Au! 
 
 i) 
 
 •• 983,193 
 
 2615 
 
 22-22 
 
 1903 (Mai 
 
 -ch) 
 
 .. 951,860 
 
 2532 
 
 20-96 
 
 1904 (Ma 
 
 rch) 
 
 - 757,788 
 
 1999 
 
 16-69 
 
 [The sudden increase in the number of franchise-holders 
 in the 1902 registers was due to the lowering of the 
 property qualification ; the decrease in 1904 was due to 
 the restoration of the land-tax from 3-3 per cent, to the 
 original 2-5 per cent, of the assessed value,] 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 359 
 
 It will be seen from this interesting table that in 
 spite of the lowness of the qualification, less than 
 two thousand voters, on an average, elect each 
 Representative to the Lower House of the Japanese 
 Diet. The qualification is the payment of a direct 
 tax of not less than ten yen {£ i sterling) per annum 
 and may be possessed by all males over twenty-five 
 years of age. Direct taxes may be said to be only 
 of three kinds — land tax, income tax, and business 
 tax — and of these three kinds the land tax contributes 
 at least seventy-five per cent, of the total. As the 
 vast majority of the urban population of Japan is 
 composed of small wage-earners paying no direct 
 taxes at all, it follows that by far the greater part 
 of the Japanese electorate is in the country districts. 
 In other words, although there is a specific provision 
 made for the return of one Representative for every 
 130,000 inhabitants in "incorporated cities," the 
 peasant class in Japan can still largely outvote the 
 towns.^ Now this farmer class is the most loyal to 
 the old ideas, and is disposed to look upon the Diet 
 with the contempt of men of the old rdgime. These 
 men, anxious not to have their land overburdened 
 by taxation, constantly court favour with the Govern- 
 ment, and are therefore largely on the Government's 
 side and easy to influence. It follows, then, that as 
 a first step the Government can in case of necessity 
 easily influence the elections in the rural districts by 
 the simplest means, and thus secure that a majority 
 
 ' It has been authoritatively stated to the writer that a certain 
 treaty port in Japan with less than 130,000 inhabitants, but more than 
 50,000, has only seventy-six voters. 
 
36o THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAR 
 
 of the Representatives elected will not act in oppo- 
 sition to it. But there is still a further point. 
 So far parliamentary ideals have not taken a suffi- 
 ciently definite shape in Japan for Representatives 
 to be sent to the Lower House with any definite 
 mandate from their constituents. Once they have 
 been elected, they can act much as they please ; 
 it rests with the Government to conciliate them ; 
 and the consequence is that members are actually 
 purchased by the Government during each session 
 in a manner which would arrest much attention in 
 Europe, but is so usual in Tokyo as to escape all 
 comment, although of late the newspapers have 
 tardily begun a campaign of criticism. 
 
 The Lower House of the Japanese Diet being 
 thus constituted, and from its very organisation 
 affording the greatest temptations for non-consti- 
 tutional government, it is only natural to expect 
 that the Upper House is as far removed from being 
 a citadel for the maintenance of definite rights as 
 the assembly of Representatives ; and fifteen years 
 of practical experience has amply shown that this is 
 the case. 
 
 In the first place, as in all monarchical countries 
 which have sought both to imitate the British House 
 of Lords and to improve upon it, the Constitution 
 of Japan has made of the House of Peers a strong- 
 hold of the dominant clans and of the system of 
 non-party government. Under the Constitution 
 the House of Peers consists of (i) Princes of the 
 Blood ; (2) Princes and Marquises, all of whom sit 
 
THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 361 
 
 by virtue of their rank when they reach the age of 
 twenty-five ; (3) Counts, Viscounts, and Barons, 
 above the age of twenty-five, who have been elected 
 by the members of their respective orders and whose 
 numbers must not exceed one-fifth of each order ; 
 
 (4) Persons above the age of thirty years who have 
 been nominated members by the Emperor for meri- 
 torious services to the State or for erudition ; and 
 
 (5) Representatives of the fifteen highest tax-payers 
 in each prefecture, nominated by the Emperor. The 
 term of membership under {3) and (5) is seven years ; 
 under (i), (2) and (4) for Hfe. There is one further 
 important provision — that the number of non- titled 
 members, consisting of persons directly nominated 
 by the Emperor and persons elected by the pre- 
 fectures, shall not exceed the aggregate strength of 
 the titled members. 
 
 It will be understood from this statement that the 
 House of Peers is even more capable of manipulation 
 by the Government than the House of Representa- 
 tives. In fact, it is the Government, since it always has 
 by law a clear majority of nobles, who are, with a few 
 notable exceptions, entirely devoted to the old idea 
 of clan-rule. Therefore while fully able to check, 
 and even to suborn, the House of Representatives 
 in order to have the business of each session ex- 
 peditiously and apparently willingly attended to, the 
 Government of Japan is under no real necessity 
 to do so, since the House of Peers can always be 
 confidently counted on to discredit any obnoxious 
 action of the House of Representatives, such as a 
 
362 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 vote of censure or a refusal to vote supplies. It is 
 the fact that the Japanese Government is anxious, 
 mainly for international reasons, to adhere to all 
 common forms of parliamentary procedure, which 
 induces it constantly to seek a majority in the Lower 
 House, for as has been shown this is not at all 
 necessary. 
 
 The very language of the Constitution shows 
 clearly that the Japanese Government, instead of 
 being the servant of parliament, as is the case in 
 every truly constitutional country, is in reality its 
 master. Articles 38 and 40 have a curious sound to 
 Anglo-Saxon ears. The first says : " Both Houses 
 shall vote upon projects of law submitted to them 
 by Government and may respectively initiate pro- 
 jects of law." The second reads : " Both Houses 
 can make representations to the Government as 
 to laws or upon any other subject. When, however, 
 such representations are not accepted, they cannot 
 be made a second time during the same session." 
 The small and unimportant role really played by the 
 Diet is peculiarly emphasised by the language of 
 these two Articles. 
 
 It is now necessary to note carefully the last clause 
 of the third Chapter of the Constitution (Article 54) 
 and the two short clauses following,',which carry one 
 into the fourth Chapter. Read in conjunction with 
 one another, these clauses are both interesting and en- 
 lightening. Article 54 says : " The Ministers of State 
 and the Delegates of the Government may at any 
 time take seats and speak in either House." Article 
 
n THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 363 
 
 55 reads : " The respective Ministers of State shall 
 give their advice to the Emperor and be responsible 
 for it. All Laws, Imperial Ordinances, and Imperial 
 Rescripts of whatever kind that relate to the affairs 
 of the State, require the counter-signature of a 
 Minister of State." Article 56 runs: "The Privy 
 Council shall, in accordance with the provisions for 
 the organisation of the Privy Council, deliberate 
 upon important matters of State when it has 
 been consulted by the Emperor." These coldly- 
 worded clauses, which tell so little and mean 
 so much, practically compress into the smallest 
 possible space the whole story of the Japanese 
 system of government, upon which has been merely 
 superimposed, for purposes of nominal reform, the 
 Western methods of parliamentary representation. 
 For it will be observed from Article 54 that not 
 only do the Ministers take their seats in either House, 
 but that the Delegates of the Government may do 
 so as well. That is, the bureaucracy has a consti- 
 tutional right to interfere directly in debates, and to 
 introduce, in the persons of permanent officials, an 
 entirely new element into parliamentary procedure. 
 For such Government Delegates, being clothed with 
 proper authority, can play a most useful rSle in 
 many different directions ; and although the duties 
 of such officials have been confined ostensibly to 
 answering questions in public assembly or in com- 
 mittee-rooms, there can be no doubt that they have 
 also performed other services of an extremely 
 doubtful nature, which have indeed been dealt with 
 
364 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 scathingly in the vernacular press. But, most impor- 
 tant of all, it is now generally admitted that, by 
 Articles 55 and 56, a Japanese Ministry is respon- 
 sible not to the Diet, but only to the ETnperor in 
 person — in other words, that it is over and above the 
 parliament ; and, secondly, that the chief members 
 of the Privy Council, who are no other than the far- 
 famed Genro, or Elder Statesmen, are as much 
 responsible for the real government of the country 
 as the Ministry which happens to be nominally in 
 power. In fact, just as the Ministry is over and 
 above the Diet, so are the Genro, from the very 
 nature of their duties, which consist in surrounding 
 the Emperor and giving him last words of advice, over 
 and above the Ministry. Thus the Genro, through 
 the influence they exert with the Emperor, who has 
 the supreme voice, are able to dictate to a Ministry 
 responsible to the Emperor alone exactly what the 
 policy of that Ministry should be in every critical 
 matter. 
 
 From this it follows naturally enough that a change 
 of Ministry in Japan is something entirely and radically 
 different from a change of Ministry in any country 
 where the parliament is really supreme. The change 
 in Japan simply implies failure on the part of the 
 responsible Ministers to control the never-ending 
 intrigues of the various bureaucratic groups, or 
 inability to carry out Government measures without 
 arousing widespread popular discontent, which, as 
 will have been already understood, is something 
 quite different from the discontent of the Diet. The 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 365 
 
 Ministers therefore sacrifice themselves without 
 sacrificing their measures, a very material difference 
 from ordinary practice. Yet this is in accordance 
 with the ordered procedure of the East, which can 
 never dissociate the individual from his official 
 actions and which makes personalities become odious 
 whilst unpopular work is suffered to remain. This 
 remarkable state of affairs is intensified by the fact 
 that among those who surround the Emperor, there 
 are such large numbers of highly-placed bureaucrats 
 and military and naval officers, that constant changes 
 of Ministries are rather welcomed than otherwise, 
 although they upset the country, as a simple means of 
 giving every man a chance of distinguishing himself 
 above his fellows and thereby of attracting the special 
 attention of the Emperor and of earning special 
 rewards. Thus the curious combination of Ministerial 
 irresponsibility to the Diet with responsibility to the 
 nation at large is deemed very suitable, since it 
 permits endless intrigues to go on which possess a 
 departmental rather than a national importance, 
 and which leave the curious structure Marquis I to 
 named the Japanese Constitution virtually unharmed. 
 Pursuing the same detailed investigation of the 
 various clauses of this Magna Carta, in Chapter VI, 
 which concerns itself especially with finance, the 
 last proofs necessary to establish the entire ineffec- 
 tiveness of parliamentary control in Japan are forth- 
 coming. (It will have been noticed that no mention 
 has been made of Chapter V of the Constitution. 
 This is because the section in question relates solely 
 
366 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA Chap. 
 
 to the judicature, and has therefore nothing to do 
 with governmental matters.) For while it is 
 stipulated that the raising of national loans, etc., 
 requires the consent of the Diet (Article 63), and 
 that the national revenue and expenditure also 
 require the sanction of the Diet by means of an 
 annual Budget (Article 64), the five Articles 
 running from number 67 to number 71 show the 
 manner in which it is entirely competent for the 
 Government to act should it be considered necessary 
 to ignore the Diet. Article 67 places certain ex- 
 penditure beyond the control of the Diet and solely at 
 the discretion of the Emperor and his advisers ; the 
 next Article permits one session of a Diet to pledge 
 the country to a recurrent expenditure in any given 
 direction for any number of years by a single vote 
 — an expenditure which obviously would be designed 
 for the special benefit of the Government ; the third 
 of these five stultifying clauses provides a " Reserve 
 Fund " for current deficits ; the fourth permits 
 Imperial Ordinances to take the place of Budget 
 votes in urgent times ; and the fifth and most 
 surprising clause states that "When the Imperial 
 Diet has not voted on the Budget, or when the 
 Budget has not been brought into actual existence, 
 the Government shall carry out the Budget of the 
 preceding year." This extraordinary Article can 
 therefore be quickly interpreted to any meaning the 
 Government may desire. If, for instance, the House 
 of Representatives were to prove entirely recalcitrant 
 and to refuse absolutely to vote the Budget, under 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 367 
 
 the Constitution the Diet may be dissolved and the 
 Budget of the preceding year carried out. It is 
 abundantly clear, therefore, that the Diet has no real 
 control over the nation's finances ; and that by a 
 series of adroit moves, providing no national outcry 
 is raised, the Government of Japan can act legally 
 under the Constitution as arbitrarily as the Czar 
 and his advisers have done in Russia unhampered 
 by such a document. 
 
 This is a remarkable conclusion to arrive at ; but 
 minor indications have already shown it to be true. 
 For example, although the Government has taken 
 good care, in order not to impair its foreign credit, 
 to secure that the vital question of the yearly 
 Budgets has never become openly acute, it has been 
 alleged again and again that only a system of 
 "influencing" obstreperous members of the House 
 of Representatives could have secured this end 
 during recent sessions, and that by the use of simple 
 arithmetic the Government computes exactly how- 
 much an unpopular Budget will cost. No greater 
 proof could be had of the occult influences at work 
 than the fact that the crushing Budget^ of the 
 fortieth year of Meiji (the financial year of 1907- 
 1908), amounting to upwards of six hundred million 
 yen and therefore several times as great as the 
 largest ante-bellum Budget, was passed en bloc by the 
 House of Representatives in less than three hours. 
 
 1 It will be observed that under the Constitution this crushing 
 Budget might be repeated year after year without the consent of the 
 Diet. 
 
368 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Further, although Article 72 of the Constitution 
 provides an extra-parliamentary check on the 
 disbursing of public moneys, by laying down that 
 the final accounts of the revenue and expenditure of 
 the State shall be verified and confirmed by a 
 special Board of Audit, no pains and penalties attach 
 to a Ministry which is discovered to have disbursed 
 illegally and without due sanction. Thus the Board 
 of Audit has now finally stated that the Katsura 
 Ministry, which was in office during the war, dis- 
 bursed several million yen illegally ; but that 
 anything is to follow from this verdict is not 
 apparent. Finally, to close this analysis, the last 
 Chapter shows how modifications or amendments of 
 the Constitution may be secured ; but these clauses, 
 with the control which the Government possesses 
 and will make the greatest efforts permanently 
 to retain, are largely nugatory.^ 
 
 In all these circumstances, then, what is the real 
 Government of the country ? It may be said to be 
 the groups or coteries of men who owe allegiance 
 
 ' No mention has been made of another very important means 
 possessed by the Government in maintaining perfect control over the 
 people. This is the Japanese police system — undoubtedly one of the 
 most detestable in existence. It is far more wide-spread than the 
 vaunted Russian system, and its espionage penetrates every secret. 
 Whence the Japanese police derive their extensive powers it is hard to 
 say ; many of their actions must be held unconstitutional, even in 
 such a country as Japan. They are able to forbid public meetings ; 
 to summon newspaper editors to their offices and to rate them soundly 
 for their opinions ; to invade stock and produce exchanges and to call 
 " bulls " and " bears " to account ; to open letters ; to effect domiciliary 
 searches ; to threaten private individuals ; whilst so-called " police- 
 dogs" — Anglice spies — are always ready to trump up cases under 
 official instructions. The whole system is a disgrace to Japan. 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 369 
 
 to the various Genro, or Elder Statesmen, and who 
 combine together in such fashion as to retire and be 
 elected to office by a system of rotation, which goes 
 on just as regularly as it did in the days immediately 
 after the Restoration, although the so-called Con- 
 stitution has now been in force for seventeen years, 
 and nominally the country should be governed on 
 purely party-government lines. This branch of the 
 subject is so important that further explanation is 
 necessary for the sake of clearness. 
 
 First of all, the Genro, or Elder Statesmen, may 
 be said to be those statesmen still alive who, 
 beginning to play small parts at the time of the 
 Restoration, when they were young men, automati- 
 cally succeeded their elders as years went by and 
 those older men had died ; then took their places as 
 responsible Ministers during the first great recon- 
 struction period, which may be said to have ended 
 in 1900 ; and finally vacated such substantive 
 appointments in favour of younger men in order 
 that they might surround the Throne as the chief 
 members and real controllers of the Emperor's 
 Privy Council, thereby securing continuity of policy 
 and the preservation of the old clan-rule under the 
 modern and sanctified forms of the West, which had 
 finally been adopted so as to allow Japan to enter 
 the family of nations. At the moment of writing 
 there may be said to be five Genro, although some- 
 times other less important members of the Privy 
 Council are spoken of as such. These are : Mar- 
 quis Ito, Marquis Yamagata, Count Inouye, Count 
 
 B B 
 
yjo THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Matsukata, and Marquis Oyama— the order of pre- 
 cedence is not necessarily the order of importance. 
 There are thus two military members, Marquis 
 Yamagata and Marquis Oyama ; two financial 
 members, Count Inouye and Count Matsukata ; and 
 one advocate of nominally constitutional govern- 
 ment, Marquis I to ; and the whole policy of the 
 Government of Japan consists in harmonising these 
 three elements — the military, the financial, and the 
 nominally constitutional. Of the five Genro there 
 can be but little doubt that the cleverest and most 
 erudite is Marquis I to ; and the next point is that 
 the Emperor is cognisant of this fact, and, recog- 
 nising that civil authority must ultimately be 
 supreme, inclines always to take Marquis Ito's 
 political advice. But the Restoration was only 
 consummated owing to the loyalty of the two 
 militant clans of Choshu and Satsuma, and the 
 throne of Japan owes its present secure position 
 to the unswerving loyalty of the first clan, the 
 clan of Choshu. It is clear, therefore, that the 
 Emperor as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
 Navy^ — in both of which services the higher officers 
 have in the past been largely drawn from these two 
 dominant clans and the smaller clans which are 
 affiliated to them — must preserve a species of 
 balance of power between the two rival elements, the 
 civil and the military, by allowing matters to move 
 slowly and naturally, and would be ill advised to 
 sacrifice the loyalty of the military party to obtain 
 doubtful results with what is largely unorganised 
 and only " in the air." It will be understood from 
 
11 THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 371 
 
 this that the Emperor of Japan has during past 
 years shown himself possessed of the highest 
 ability in being able to determine at each crucial 
 period whose advice he should accept ; and, without 
 flattery, it may be said that he is worthy of the 
 extreme respect of political students for the manner 
 in which he has invariably acquitted himself in a 
 most difficult position. 
 
 Of these five Elder Statesmen, three belong to 
 the clan of Choshu — Marquis Ito, Marquis Yama- 
 gata, and Count Inouye ; one to the clan of 
 Satsuma — Marquis Oyama ; and the fifth, Count 
 Matsukata, born at Kagoshima, may be said to have 
 been only "affiliated" to these clansmen because of 
 his marked financial ability, which indeed has largely 
 helped to make modern Japan what it now is. But 
 whereas Marquis Yamagata, the leader of the mili- 
 tary faction, is "well-born," Marquis Ito is of the 
 humblest origin, and may be said to have raised 
 himself to his present position solely through his 
 ability ; his case is, therefore, specially interesting. 
 Finally, whilst Count Matsukata has played by far 
 the more distinguished rSle in the making of 
 financial Japan, it is not he but Count Inouye who 
 is the ultimate referee in financial matters — the 
 former statesman being rather the departmental 
 expert, the latter the decisive judge in decreeing 
 how far the Government can afford to go in any 
 given direction in the spending of public moneys. 
 
 From these few remarks regarding the Genro, 
 certain features of the real Japanese Government 
 system should now be somewhat clearer. The four 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 chief Genro---ior Marquis Oyama's inclusion in this 
 favoured circle is recent, and he is but the echo of 
 Marquis Yamagata's voice — actually represent a 
 balance in favour of the civil party as opposed to 
 the military ; but in view of the fact that so long 
 ago as the 'eighties both a Chinese war and a 
 Russian war were considered inevitable if Japan was 
 to take her proper place in Asia, the military-naval 
 faction, of which Marquis Yamagata is the much- 
 respected and astute leader, has never ceased to 
 exert the most profound influence on the whole 
 course of Japanese politics^an influence indeed 
 which only permits itself to be temporarily modified 
 when the financial members are able to show good 
 reason why such modification should take place, or 
 why time must first be gained before putting large 
 plans into operation. The military-naval faction 
 may therefore be said to be the backbone of the 
 Japanese nation, whilst the financial and consti- 
 tutional elements are but foreign graftings which 
 shape with the general growth. And as the military 
 and the navy are entirely in the hands of adherents 
 of the dominant clans of Choshu and Satsuma, it is 
 clear that the old clan-rule is still supreme and is 
 only swayed by the less uncompromising bureau- 
 cratic elements, of which Count Inouye and Count 
 Matsukata are the leaders, when routine work is 
 quietly proceeding ; whilst Marquis I to is content to 
 depend on his small personal following and his great 
 personal influence with the Emperor to secure that 
 common-sense shall dictate constant compromises. 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 373 
 
 In such circumstances the composition and dura- 
 tion of Japanese Ministries depend on a dozen 
 considerations which never enter into the calcula- 
 tions of statesmen in really constitutional countries. 
 The mere fact that a Japanese Ministry is responsible 
 only to the Emperor and not to the Diet, and that 
 the Emperor in turn only exercises something 
 closely akin to a casting vote in the deliberations of 
 his Genro, makes all Japanese Ministers the humble 
 juniors of the Elder Statesmen, and forces them 
 indeed to arrange endless compromises behind the 
 scenes before the perfunctory work of inviting the 
 approval of the two Houses of the Imperial Diet 
 is attended to. Thus it is always almost absolutely 
 certain that any vital measure, such as the annual 
 Budget or a Biir dealing with some acute foreign 
 question, will be passed by the Diet, for the simple 
 reason that it is not presented to the Diet until there 
 is absolute agreement among the real wielders of 
 power in Japan, and that if the only possible source 
 of trouble — the House of Representatives — were to 
 prove fractious, a dissolution would promptly 
 follow an unfavourable vote. That such dissolu- 
 tions largely stultify the declarations of the Con- 
 stitution has hitherto not caused much concern ; but 
 as soon as the Japanese press becomes more power- 
 ful and the growing middle-class waxes richer, there 
 must be great trouble, or else Japan will not really 
 be worthy of being called a modern nation. 
 
 A further circumstance also tends to accentuate 
 the fact that a Japanese Ministry is simply composed 
 
374 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 of the personal retainers of the Emperor, retainers 
 who are merely vested with certain authority to 
 carry on the business of the country. The fact is 
 that owing to the small salaries which Ministers are 
 paid by the State, the Emperor sets apart for the 
 use of the Premier a sum sufficient to double the 
 nominal stipend ; and in the case of Ministers and 
 Vice- Ministers, relatively larger sums are diverted 
 from the Privy Purse so as to secure that the rank 
 and dignity of Government officers may be fitly 
 maintained. And as under the Constitution (Article 
 id) the Emperor appoints and dismisses all civil and 
 military officers, and determines their salaries, it 
 may be said that almost the entire body of office- 
 holders in Japan, from the Prim.e Minister and the 
 great Army chiefs to the lowest clerk and most 
 junior subaltern officer, consider themselves the 
 retainers of the Emperor, and are inclined to look 
 with a disdain bordering on contempt on the 
 parliamentary edifice erected under the Constitution 
 of 1889. 
 
 This state of affairs, unfortunate in itself, is 
 further aggravated by a number of deplorable 
 circumstances to which specific reference must now 
 be made. The condition of political parties is so 
 debased in Japan that eveiything possible has 
 already been said about them quite openly in the 
 Japanese press ; here, however, it is only necessary 
 to give a few of the more interesting and significant 
 details. As has already been mentioned, it was 
 solely the agitation of embryonic political associa- 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 375 
 
 tions which at last convinced the Government that 
 nominal concessions must be made to the nation at 
 large, and which secured in 1881 the promulgation 
 of the Imperial Rescript promising constitutional 
 government within a period of ten years. The 
 first political party was organised in 1874 by Count 
 Soejima, Count Goto, and Count Itagaki — then all 
 commoners — and it was they who conducted this 
 agitation for the establishment of constitutional 
 government. This party called itself the Liberal 
 Party, but it was rather a democratic association 
 than a party with any very definite propaganda ; 
 and it was not until Count Okuma organised the so- 
 called Progressive Party in 1882 that definite 
 programmes of reform were adopted. The very 
 first meetings of the Diet were, therefore, the signal 
 for the fiercest struggles between these two political 
 parties, uniting as one in the face of a common 
 enemy, and those Representatives who were content 
 to follow blindly — for a price — whatever Ministry 
 happened to be in power. The result was a 
 constant readjustment of Ministries which took 
 place almost month by month during the first ten 
 years of Japanese parliamentary life. By 1900, 
 however, Marquis I to had become so convinced 
 that some change must be made if the whole system 
 of constitutional government was not to fall into 
 open disrepute that he took upon himself to 
 organise the Seiyukai, or so-called Constitutional 
 Party, and in the following year he formed his 
 fourth and last Ministry from the members of this 
 
376 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 association. This Ministry was designed to be one 
 such as should really obtain in liberal countries ; but 
 although the personality of Marquis I to commanded 
 an overwhelming majority in the Lower House, the 
 Upper House soon asserted itself and refused to 
 pass his measures. And even though the Emperor 
 issued a Special Rescript to the House of Peers 
 ordering them to reconsider its position, Marquis 
 Ito's last attempt to make real party -government 
 possible, ignominiously failed actually in the same 
 year that it had been attempted. The old forces 
 were too strong and too defiant. And with the 
 military Ministry of General Count Katsura firmly 
 in office from 1901 until the end of the war, we 
 come immediately to the present period. 
 
 The two principal political parties of to-day 
 remain the same as before the war — the Seiyukai, 
 which was formed by Marquis I to, and the 
 Shimpo-to (the Progressive Party), which was the 
 creation of Count Okuma. Both of these statesmen, 
 however, have now resigned the leadership of their 
 respective parties. But whereas Marquis I to 
 remains the adviser of his Constitutional Party — 
 his appointment to the Residency-General of Korea 
 made it inevitable that he should resign the actual 
 leadership — the case of Count Okuma is quite 
 different. He has practically abandoned all active 
 part in politics in open disgust, as he holds that 
 things have gone from bad to worse. From first to 
 last Count Okuma had been an advocate of true 
 representative government ; and this of course early 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 377 
 
 brought him into open conflict with the uncom- 
 promising conservative elements in the country. 
 Although he was a full Minister more than a quarter 
 of a century ago — in the 'seventies and 'eighties he 
 was in charge of the Treasury — it was not until he 
 became Minister for Foreign Affairs, and undertook 
 the important work of revising the treaties con- 
 cluded with the Powers before the Restoration, that 
 his name came conspicuously and dramatically before 
 the public. It was no other than Count Okuma who 
 proposed, before the promulgation of the Constitu- 
 tion, to secure Japan's tariff and judicial autonomy 
 by permitting foreign assessors to take their seats 
 in Japanese Appeal Courts ; and his immediate 
 reward was an attempt at assassination which nearly 
 succeeded and actually caused him the loss of one 
 leg. After this it was some years before he re- 
 entered active political life ; but in 1 896, after the 
 Chinese war and the conclusion of the revised 
 treaties with the Powers, he made one more 
 attempt to become a factor in the government of the 
 country. He was Foreign Minister again for a 
 brief period in 1896, and finally Premier in 1898 ; 
 but it was soon clear that he could not face the 
 strong opposition always brought against him, and 
 accordingly he relapsed again to his old position as 
 the uncompromising leader of the Progressives — 
 a leader necessarily devoted to destructive criticism. 
 So far from any attempt being made to win him over 
 to the side of the old rdgime, every effort has been 
 made to secure that he shall never enter the charmed 
 
378 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 circle of the Genro, so that his enforced isolation 
 may destroy the cause he advocates. 
 
 Perhaps it is this which has at last caused Count 
 Okuma, after thirty years of political warfare, to 
 retire definitely from public life and to abandon the 
 leadership of the Progressive Party. In a somewhat 
 remarkable manifesto, issued on the occasion of his 
 retirement, which took place only last year, the 
 members of the Progressive Party show that were 
 the electorate more enlightened, the position of the 
 present Government could be made untenable, and 
 a complete change of programme insisted on. But 
 the manifesto must be allowed to speak for itself : — 
 
 " Whereas the Japanese Empire — owing to the victory of 
 the late war — ^has secured rank among the Great Powers of 
 the world, the situation at home and abroad has largely 
 added to the responsibilities of the Empire. This change 
 in the order of things demands many new undertakings 
 and improvements, the principal of which are noted 
 below. 
 
 1. Whereas the improvement — diplomatically speaking 
 — of the position of the Empire since the war has given a 
 great advantage to the Empire in dealing with diplomatic 
 questions, Japanese diplomacy remains as inert as ever, 
 many questions of an important nature concerning Russia, 
 the United States, China, and Korea still remaining 
 unsolved. This is a matter to be deeply deplored. The 
 authorities should be more alert in their negotiations with 
 other Powers. 
 
 2. Whereas it is out of the question to readjust the 
 national finances and strengthen national credit by any 
 other means than by framing a Budget with care and 
 precision, maintaining a permanent equilibrium between 
 revenue and expenditure, at the present moment, when the 
 essential part of the postbellum undertakings have to be 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 379 
 
 planned, it is urgent that the Government should not be 
 allowed to resort to such an irresponsible act as to frame a 
 Budget which is only of a temporary character. It is 
 necessary to effect administrative reforms, to readjust the 
 national system of taxation and the National Debt, thus 
 placing the nation's finance on a steady basis. 
 
 3. Whereas the principle of extreme uniformity impedes 
 the progress of education, the authorities should at once 
 exercise themselves for the development of education 
 without prejudice in public and private schools. A defec- 
 tive system of education only tends to distress students, 
 and is calculated seriously to impair their healthy develop- 
 ment, physically and mentally. The relation and connec- 
 tion between lower and higher schools should be well 
 regulated, and the path for a higher course of study should 
 be open to all ambitious youths. 
 
 4. Whereas the improvement of harbours, the construction 
 of new railways and the improvement of existing lines are 
 matters of an urgent nature ; and whereas it is of equally 
 urgent importance, in developing the national resources, to 
 extend the steamship services and to improve legislation 
 relating to the emigration of labourers abroad ; every 
 possible effort should be made to achieve these works. 
 
 Breaking through the generahties of this manifesto 
 may be seen the discontent of thinking men at the 
 rigid programme which the Government of Japan is 
 bent on carrying out, and which will be dealt with in 
 detail later. The general idea is that the existing 
 Government is sacrificing the interests of the present 
 day in order to attain some great end during future 
 years, and that to reach this goal the rigid bureau- 
 cratic structure rolls on like a ruthless Juggernaut's 
 car. 
 
 With the retirement of Count Okuma from public 
 life, Japanese politics assume a still more question- 
 
38o THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 able aspect. Whilst the Seiyukai (Constitutional 
 Party) commands the largest number of members 
 in the Lower House and actively supports Marquis 
 Saionji, the present Prime Minister, there is no 
 doubt that it is in a greater state of corruption than 
 ever before, and that its apparent solidarity is only 
 purchased. Tokyo newspapers have not hesitated 
 to publish from time to time complete lists of the 
 number of shares in new semi-government ventures 
 "reserved" for loyal members of the Lower House, 
 and have openly stated that bribery is now so common 
 as to arouse no comment whatsoever. Further, as 
 the military party have hitherto lacked definite 
 support in the Lower House, it was one of the 
 first objects of Count Katsura, the Premier of the 
 War Ministry which vacated office as soon as the 
 Portsmouth Treaty had been definitely ratified, to 
 make good this deficiency. Accordingly his lieu- 
 tenants organised the so-called " Daido Club," which 
 now possesses a membership of some eighty Repre- 
 sentatives, and is thus able by allying itself to the 
 Progressives, who command ninety seats, and by 
 securing the co-operation of the Independent group 
 (Yukokai), to threaten to turn the scales against the 
 Government unless the military party is conciliated 
 and constantly consulted. A great outcry was very 
 recently aroused — in March and April of 1907 — 
 by the curious manceuvres adopted by the Saionji 
 Cabinet to ensure the passage of the so-called Gun 
 or County Bill, a local administrative measure which 
 was of little interest to the Representatives, but 
 
11 THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 381 
 
 which the Daido Club, or military party, threatened 
 to have rejected. The result was that when the Bill 
 in question had been pushed through the House of 
 Representatives by the narrowest margin, a Tokyo 
 newspaper promptly published a full list of the bribes 
 received by Representatives, giving in addition the 
 name of the place where the whole business was 
 managed, and deliberately challenged libel proceed- 
 ings. And although in these circumstances the 
 Lower House was forced perfunctorily to appoint a 
 Select Committee to inquire into the matter, nothing 
 came of the inquiry, for the simple reason that so 
 many were implicated that a full exposure might 
 have broken down the whole system of government 
 and have discredited Japan before the world. 
 
 Enough has perhaps been said— the writer has 
 collected several dozen newspaper lists of bribes 
 reported to have been received during the past 
 eighteen months — to show that the House of Repre- 
 sentatives is thoroughly corrupt ; that there is but 
 little general compunction at this state of affairs ; and 
 that it suits the present policy of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment that these deplorable conditions should con- 
 tinue and even grow from bad to worse. For whilst 
 such conditions obtain, the House of Representatives 
 is necessarily so pliable that the Ministry in office 
 can act much as it pleases and can complete a pro- 
 gramme which, as will presently be shown, is not 
 only dangerously speculative but actually inimical 
 to neutral interests in Eastern Asia. A House 
 which can pass an enormous Budget in less than 
 
382 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 three hours fully deserves the crushing sarcasms 
 which the Kokuniin, one of the four great Japanese 
 daily newspapers of the capital, recently heaped upon 
 it by gravely suggesting that in view of the excel- 
 lent internal organisation of the House of Represen- 
 tatives, it might be well now to dispense with the 
 personal attendance of Members during session. 
 They could be placed in direct telephonic com- 
 munication with the Houses of the Imperial Diet 
 by the ready co-operation of the Ministry of Com- 
 munications, and then telephone their votes almost 
 simultaneously. This would save time and worry, 
 and permit business to be very rapidly transacted : 
 whilst there would be nothing left for the newspapers 
 to criticise. Mr. Ozaki, the Mayor of Tokyo — a 
 member of the Yukokai or Independent group and 
 acknowledged on all sides to be a most able man — 
 has gone even further than this, and in an interview 
 recently published in a great number of Japanese 
 newspapers, has delivered a scathing indictment of 
 the existing state of affairs. His statement, indeed, 
 is of more than passing importance, since it shows 
 that self-respecting Japanese of independent views 
 are thoroughl)?- alive to the underlying dangers of 
 the present parliamentary position and that they 
 desire an immediate change. Mr. Ozaki said : — 
 
 " There are some who are working for political reforms, 
 but in the present circumstances it will not be easy for 
 them to carry out their intentions. The political circle in 
 these days is corrupted and degraded, as is well known to 
 political observers ; and accordingly the cry for reform is 
 raised among members of the House as well as among 
 those who are not members. It is unfortunate to have to 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 383 
 
 st^te, however, that no one has sufficient self-confidence, 
 courage, and zeal to undertake this arduous task of self- 
 reform. 
 
 " Frankly speaking, the very men who loudly cry of the 
 necessity for reforms in political circles are those who are in 
 reality almost at the bottom of the abyss of depravity and 
 corruption. The number of those members who are really 
 and conscientiously thinking of the introduction of a new 
 atmosphere, is indeed small. The knowledge and character 
 of the mass of the Japanese people stand too low to intro- 
 duce political reforms. 
 
 " Unless general knowledge makes progress, it is next to 
 impossible to introduce the intended reforms. The people 
 must be educated up to a stage when they feel indignant 
 at the mere name of corruption prevailing among the 
 members. Their sense of morality and responsibility must 
 be so acute as to recognise of their own accord that corrup- 
 tion and degradation in political circles will be fraught with 
 grave dangers for the smooth working of constitutional 
 forms of government in Japan. This awakening of the sense 
 of justice among the people is necessarily an initiatory step 
 towards political reforms at the present moment. 
 
 " The country where the parliamentary form of govern- 
 ment is most successfully worked out is England. The zeal 
 and respect with which the English people regard politics 
 is noteworthy. The Parliament in England is to English- 
 men the place where they realise the duty and happiness 
 of Englishmen. In whatever direction Englishmen may 
 succeed, this success will be employed as a means of 
 getting a seat in Parliament, which is regarded as an ideal 
 place where Englishmen may perform their heavenly- 
 endowed duty, leading at the same time the happiest mode 
 of existence. In these circumstances men of letters, those 
 engaged in business, or those who have had any success in 
 any branch of human activity, will try to find seats in Parlia- 
 ment, which, to their eyes, is a paradise where they may 
 enjoy the highest honour and happiness. We find a 
 number of literati in the House of Commons, and many 
 others who have succeeded in other branches of human 
 occupations. Thus the British Parliament is an assembly 
 
3«4 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 of men excelling in wealth, knowledge, and skill. It may 
 be said that the parliamentary life in England is one of the 
 happiest on earth. My lips refuse to utter any com- 
 mendatory remark when I come to think of the copy we 
 have made in Japan. Not to speak of wealth, where are 
 knowledge and skill ? 
 
 " Is it an assembly of the elite of the nation ? Never ! 
 Parliamentary life in Japan, therefore, is of the unhappiest 
 and dullest description. Not only is little importance 
 attached to the value of speeches ; but the behaviour and 
 talk of the House are uncouth and full of dirty and 
 miserable motives that appear impossible to exist in the 
 eyes of sober observers. What is worse still, members do 
 not seem to be ashamed of their own conduct. In point of 
 attainment and character, none can be so imperfect and 
 wretched as these members of the Diet in Japan. It is an 
 assembly of the lowest types of men. Thus in attending 
 the House, sober thinkers feel as if they were being con- 
 ducted to a Hell or assembly of devils. It is absolutely a 
 mistake to imagine that one feels at home in the Japanese 
 parliament. Neither happiness nor any taste exists in the 
 House. I console myself with the feeling that my duty in 
 the House is to lead, instruct, and train other members. In 
 meeting, therefore, the rough and uneducated members, I 
 cannot keep from entertaining feelings of compassion. If 
 any one attends the House with a view to learn anything 
 there he would be greatly mistaken. Instead of improving 
 himself, he would be made ill by coming into contact with 
 conditions of corruption and degradation, and with the 
 power of the Prince of Darkness ruling there. 
 
 " The condition of our political circles may be chiefly 
 attributed to the ignorance and low characters of politicians 
 and members of the Diet, but the Government must be 
 held in a measure responsible for bringing about this 
 degradation. It is a striking fact that the Government, 
 in order to cover up defects in its policy, has constantly 
 resorted to measures of corruption. At the time of the 
 most recent elections the then-existing Cabinet, in order to 
 increase the strength of the pro-governmental party, inter- 
 
ri THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 385 
 
 fered with the voting, thus implanting the germs of 
 corruption among members. Of late the number of 
 members who shape their opinions and move about in 
 accordance with the principles of the party to which they 
 belong has been greatly decreased. With most of the 
 members, considerations of self-interest are of primary 
 importance. The sound character which our Diet might 
 possess was witnessed in its first session. The degradation 
 of members since then has been quite rapid, and the 
 behaviour of the members of the twenty-third session of 
 the Diet ^ impresses us with the idea that parliament has 
 now reached the acme of corrupt and indecent conduct. 
 The moral side of our assembly has been degraded to such 
 an extent, that the mode of political action has also shown 
 a marked depreciation. Politicians in Japan seem to attach 
 some importance to their debating power, but this power is 
 used not for the furtherance of political interests, but for 
 themselves only or for their own particular districts. The 
 debating power of members mostly seems to be directed 
 towards an attack on individuals or bodies of men. We 
 find very few who are really anxious to uphold the 
 principles of their own party and to make it their duty to 
 give instruction to the people at large. All my language 
 fails me to express the degradation to which the members 
 of the Daido Club recently sank. Even if we ignore their 
 unprincipled conduct, the predominating party in the House 
 of Representatives, the Constitutional Party, shows that 
 their movement in the twenty-third session of the Diet 
 was not very honourable." 
 
 This indictment leaves nothing to be desired in 
 the way of clearness. With a parliament so cor- 
 rupt, it is not surprising that an atmosphere of 
 intrigue and distrust — in which loyalty to the 
 Emperor and the domination of the clan element 
 are the only permanent features to be discerned — 
 
 ' The session of 1907. 
 
 C C 
 
386 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 should predominate in all centres throughout the 
 country. In one of his last letters, Lafcadio Hearn, 
 who had ample opportunities of seeing behind the 
 scenes, has the following significant passage : — 
 
 " We are all in Japan living over earthquakes. Nothing 
 is stable. All Japanese officialdom is perpetually in flux 
 — nothing but the Throne is even temporarily fixed ; and 
 the direction of the currents depends much upon force of 
 intrigue. They shift, like currents in the sea, off a coast 
 of tides. But the side-currents penetrate everywhere — and 
 swirl round the writing stool of the smallest clerk, whose 
 pen trembles with continual fear for his wife's and babies' 
 rice. In the Orient, intrigue has been cultivated as an art 
 for ages, and it has been cultivated as an art in every 
 country, no doubt. But the result of the adoption of 
 constitutional government by a race accustomed to auto- 
 cracy and caste, enabled intrigue to spread like a ferment 
 in new forms, through every condition of society, and almost 
 into every household. It has become an infinite net, 
 unbreakable because as elastic as air, though strong enough 
 to upset Ministers as readily as to oust clerks. Tokio 
 takes out of me all power to hope for a great Japanese 
 future. . . . i.\t present I think it can be truthfully said 
 that every official branch of service shows the rapidly grow- 
 ing weakness that means demoralisation. 
 
 " It strikes me that in another twenty years, or perhaps 
 thirty, after a brief artificial expansion, all the ports will 
 shrink. The foreign commerce will be all reduced to 
 agencies. A system of small persecutions will be inaugur- 
 ated and maintained to drive away all the foreigners who 
 can be driven away. . . . Life will be made wretched for 
 Occidentals — in business — ^just as it is being made in the 
 schools — by all sorts of little tricky plans which cannot be 
 brought under law-provisions, or even so defined as to 
 appear to justify resentment — tricks at which the Japanese 
 are as elaborately ingenious as they are in matters of 
 etiquette and forms of other kinds. The nation will show 
 
n THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 387 
 
 its ugly side to us. . . . My conclusion is that the charm of 
 Japanese life is largely the charm of childhood, and that 
 the most beautiful of all race childhoods is passing into an 
 adolescence which threatens to prove repulsive." 
 
 Coming, as it does, from one who was from first 
 to last a friend of Japan, this utterance may for our 
 present purpose be allowed to stand as the final word 
 on the subject. It may be held, then, to have been 
 definitely established that Japan is in a most unstable 
 condition internally, and that one of the objects of 
 the Government is to secure stability by the execu- 
 tion of a definite foreign programme which will 
 conciliate the people, take attention away from 
 home, and, by creating wealth, generate content. 
 Imperialism is thus the panacea which is counted 
 on to heal all ills ; if that Imperialism fails, the 
 result will be one of the greatest crises an Eastern 
 country has ever had to face. The loyalty of the 
 Army and Navy is therefore assiduously cultivated, 
 and owing to the real love and respect for the 
 Emperor which exist, this is not a very hard task 
 to perform. The list of distinctions and monetary 
 rewards bestowed on the non-commissioned ofificers 
 and men engaged in the late war filled the Govern- 
 ment Gazettes for many weeks, and was on an 
 unprecedented scale, the total number of recipients 
 shown in the various schedules amounting to no 
 less than 516,426. These rewards and distinctions 
 were divided into four classes, as follows : — 
 
 First class {Shiikun, or " special merit ")■ In this class 
 there are 57.356 names ; the reward in each case is the 
 
 C C 2 
 
388 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Order of the Golden Kite, together with a yearly 
 pension. 
 
 Second Class {Kunko or "high merit"). In this class 
 there are 315,388 names; the reward in each case is the 
 Order of the Rising Sun and a sum of money. 
 
 Third Class {Kunro, or "brave service"). In this class 
 there are 124,538 names; the reward is the Order of the 
 Sacred Treasure and a sum of money. 
 
 Fourth Class {Koro, or " meritorious actions "). In this 
 class there are 19,144 names; the reward is a sum of 
 money. 
 
 Thousands of naval and military officers were 
 rewarded in this way, until everyone having the 
 sHghtest claim to the attention of the Throne was 
 fitly reminded that he formed part of a system 
 which is still the very life and soul of the country. 
 
 To sum up : the condition of internal affairs in 
 Japan resembles, in an aggravated form, that obtain- 
 ing in the three military empires of the European 
 Continent, two of which have for many years been 
 looked upon with growing suspicion by the liberal 
 Powers, certainly for no better reason than that 
 which is to-day offered by modern Japan. To out- 
 ward appearances the Japanese people have 
 secured all those rights which the Emperor solemnly 
 promised to grant them after the Restoration of 
 1 868 ; but as a matter of fact they are completely 
 unable to safeguard their liberty and independence. 
 They possess no real power over the Executive ; 
 they do not direct foreign policy ; they do not 
 regulate the strength of the Army and Navy ; they 
 cannot release themselves from the domination of 
 the bureaucracy and the police ; and, finally, they 
 
II THE GOVERNING OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE 389 
 
 do not exercise any effective control over the 
 finances of the country. And these things are so in 
 Japan, as in Russia, because of the fear that the 
 breakdown of autocracy means ochlocracy, or mob- 
 rule. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 JAPANESE FINANCE 
 
 The history of Japanese finance, from the time of 
 the Restoration of 1868 until to-day, is only the true 
 story, in another shape, of the Japanese people trying 
 to rid itself of those encumbrances and grievous 
 limitations which were placed on the nation by the 
 Shogunate. It is a record of a constant struggle to 
 create quickly, with the magic of modern forms, 
 since those forms had to be accepted ; it is a 
 record of an attempt to force Japan to take her 
 proper place among the nations without placing her 
 industrial and commercial future under foreign 
 mortgage, to build up in decades what Western 
 countries have only consummated after centuries of 
 unconscious yet consistent endeavour, and to keep 
 the Japanese nation and its characteristic suscepti- 
 bilities intact whilst always hurrying onward, at a 
 phenomenal speed, towards the great goal of 
 complete international independence. From the 
 very beginning the leaders of Japan — those few 
 wise men whose peculiar genius for taking detached 
 and dispassionate views belongs rather to scientific 
 
CH. Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 391 
 
 laboratories than to Government offices, and whose 
 work is but faintly understood in Europe — knew 
 well that side by side with constant effort there 
 would have to be constant supervision and constant 
 restriction, on account of certain national charac- 
 teristics. These statesmen have therefore con- 
 stantly exercised a powerful restraining influence, 
 which would be possible only in countries where 
 the unwritten law reigns supreme, and by these 
 peculiar means have always managed to bring each 
 phase of the attempt to a conclusion having a 
 definite appearance of finality and of success. 
 
 The year 1868, the beginning of the so-called 
 Meiji or " Era of Enlightenment," found Japanese 
 finances in hopeless confusion. In the old days 
 Japan had been rich in coined and uncoined gold — 
 rich as riches went before the great discoveries of 
 the precious metal in Australia and America ; but 
 after the Perry Expedition, European and American 
 traders began to buy up all the gold which they 
 could find hoarded in the country. While this 
 extensive and dangerous depletion was taking place, 
 the ratio between gold and silver in Japan remained 
 not very different from what it had been during the 
 palmy days of the Shogunate ; and, especially in 
 the far-off country districts, gold was estimated far 
 below its real market value, and the ratio between 
 it and the inferior white metal continued unduly 
 high. It was therefore very profitable for Euro- 
 peans in those days simply to trade on Japanese 
 ignorance, and many fortunes were lightly made by 
 
392 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 the exchange of silver for gold. Here it is useful 
 to remark that, without bestowing the amount of 
 thought and discussion on the subject which 
 America and Europe have deemed necessary, Asia 
 has always been, instinctively, not so much silver- 
 using as bimetallist, i.e., devoted to a monetary 
 system in which gold and silver are on precisely the 
 same footing as regards minting and legal tender. 
 Japan, indeed, was bimetallist in the strict sense of 
 the word ; for in Japan gold and silver were both 
 coined and bore a definite relation to one another. 
 In China, on the other hand, gold and silver have 
 seldom been coined, but have been estimated by the 
 rudimentary standard of weight-value. Standards 
 of weight and fineness, minutely specified, were 
 sufficient to satisfy the markets of China ; in old 
 Japan the love of the exact and the specific which 
 is still such a characteristic of the inhabitants, and 
 the teachings of the old Dutch traders, had given 
 special incentives to the constant coining of both 
 metals. Under the Shogunate this coinage fre- 
 quently became debased by sharp practices ; yet it 
 was always a recognised currency of recognised 
 value. In both China and Japan, however, trade, 
 until the coming of the foreigner in post-treaty days, 
 had always been interprovincial and domestic rather 
 than international. Each Empire, being self-con- 
 tained and self-sufficient, like every other country in 
 Asia, had in due course evolved a credit system, 
 reinforced by periodic specie payments, which had 
 become the real backbone of the monetary arrange- 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 393 
 
 ments of both. Silver bullion and gold bars, or 
 coined tokens of both metals, were at first the 
 luxuries rather than the necessities of Far Eastern 
 commercial and industrial life. 
 
 With the Restoration of 1868, the new central 
 Government of Japan naturally enough had its 
 hands more than full financially. A large deficit in 
 the public revenue had to be met by the issue of 
 paper money, and the burden of responsibility for 
 more than sixteen hundred kinds of notes issued by 
 the feudal lords had to be accepted. This financial 
 confusion was boldly tackled by the Government, 
 which replaced the paper of the Daimyos with its 
 own currency ; but the constant efflux of specie 
 from Japan, for reasons which have already been 
 mentioned, at last made the Government unable to 
 do its part of the work. The new Government 
 notes soon became that dangerous thing, incon- 
 vertible paper money, and financial distrust grew 
 widespread. It was in those days of forty years 
 ago that a first realisation was had by Japanese 
 statesmen of the extraordinary difficulties which 
 would have to be successfully surmounted before 
 Japan could become even a minor modern Power. 
 
 In 1870, accordingly. Marquis I to — then only a 
 plain commoner, beginning to distinguish himself by 
 his ability and his devotion to the Emperor — was 
 sent to America to investigate the financial arrange- 
 ments of the United States. Without much 
 knowledge of the historical evolution of banking, he 
 returned home with the recommendation that the 
 
394 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 American national banking system should be 
 adopted in Japan. In accordance with this advice, 
 the National Bank Act was passed in November, 
 1872. Under this Act any bank having a paid-up 
 capital of not less than ;^5,ooo sterling was allowed 
 to issue notes convertible into gold, so long as 
 Government Bonds to the extent of sixty per cent, of 
 the value of the issue were held in the safes, and the 
 remaining forty per cent, was covered by a specie 
 reserve which would serve as a Redemption Fund. 
 In spite of this incentive, only four National Banks 
 were at first organised under the Act ; and although 
 the Government began to put into operation its plan 
 of redeeming the inconvertible paper money which 
 it had issued in such quantities, by creating a new 
 class of security. Redemption Bonds, but little good 
 came of its efforts. The four banks issued only two 
 million yen of notes ; gold went to a considerable 
 premium as compared with paper, and silver shared 
 in this appreciation ; and the efflux of bullion, which 
 had been steadily going on for so many years, soon 
 caused the banks to lose their specie reserves and 
 thus rendered their position untenable. The first 
 steps had been proved failures. 
 
 Radical amendments to the Banking Act were 
 consequently introduced in 1876, under which bank- 
 notes guaranteed on Government Bonds became 
 convertible into the old Government notes instead 
 of into gold. This alteration simply meant that the 
 new bank-notes were as inconvertible as the old 
 paper money, and were only legal tender and nothing 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 395 
 
 more. The issuing power of the banks was also 
 
 raised, and they were even permitted to secure their 
 
 note-issues by Government Bonds to the extent of 
 
 eighty per cent., the remaining twenty per cent. — 
 
 instead of being a gold reserve — consisting of 
 
 Government paper. It was obviously an impossible 
 
 situation. Yet the issue at this juncture of 180,000,000 
 
 yen in Government Bonds to feudal pensioners, 
 
 as compensation for the abrogation of hereditary 
 
 rights held under the Shogunate, supplied the 
 
 necessary funds for the prosecution of these peculiar 
 
 financial novelties ; and by 1879 no less than 
 
 one hundred and fifty-three National Banks, with 
 
 a total capital of about fifty million yen, had been 
 
 organised throughout the country. Bank-notes, 
 
 secured in the illusory manner which has been 
 
 detailed, grew enormously in numbers, and soon the 
 
 Minister of Finance had to be given powers to 
 
 restrict both their issue and the number of banks. 
 
 Yet even such restrictions did very little to alleviate 
 
 the situation. 
 
 The results of such an inflated currency were, of 
 course, economically disastrous. Prices rose for 
 every commodity ; the rate of interest doubled ; and 
 Government Bonds soon lost their value. The 
 situation was becoming more and more critical, when 
 the Government of Japan, having employed its 
 leisure since the Restoration of 1868 and the crush- 
 ing of the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877 in thoroughly 
 mastering the main propositions of finance, deter- 
 mined gradually to reduce order out of chaos, and 
 organised the Nippon Ginko, or Bank of Japan. 
 
396 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 From the establishment of the Nippon Ginko in 
 1882, a quarter of a century ago, the Government of 
 Japan has pursued with iron resolve its plan of com- 
 pletely dominating, through its appointed agents, the 
 entire financial life of the country, and of allowing 
 nothing, not even foreign capital, to interfere in the 
 slightest with the plan of campaign which was finally 
 settled on. Decentralisation having proved a failure, 
 centralisation was adopted. A comparative study 
 of the banks of Europe had led the Japanese experts 
 to prefer Continental rather than English banking 
 methods, and in the highly-organised Bank of 
 Belgium, with its lack of that elasticity which is so 
 prominent in Anglo-Saxon institutions, the Japanese 
 found their ideal. On the Bank of Belgium the 
 Nippon Ginko was therefore modelled. The 150,000 
 shares were subscribed by a limited number of 
 persons, mainly highly placed, whilst the Imperial 
 Household — which term comprises the Emperor and 
 his family — absorbed nearly half the issue. ^ Thus 
 even this Central Bank exemplifies as much as 
 anything else in Japan the immense hold which 
 under new forms the old rdgime still has on the 
 country. 
 
 By 1884 the organisation of the Nippon Ginko 
 had been completed, and a new Act was therefore 
 issued empowering the Bank to issue notes which 
 would be convertible in the true sense. By this 
 measure it was hoped slowly to do away with the 
 
 I It is interesting to note that the 70,000 shares in the Nippon Ginko 
 held by the Japanese Imperial Family have to-day a market vakie of 
 ^7,000,000 sterling. 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 397 
 
 useless paper currency of both the Government and 
 the former National Banks, which by 1881 had 
 reached the large total of 155,000,000 yen. Count 
 Matsukata, the brilliant Finance Minister who for 
 the next two decades practically controlled the 
 whole of the Government's financial measures, now 
 set to work cautiously, and success speedily began 
 to crown his efforts. By the restriction of Govern- 
 ment paper and by tax reforms which afforded an 
 increased revenue and a handsome annual surplus, 
 it was possible to adopt a policy of accumulating an 
 ever-increasing specie reserve. By these measures 
 in the year 1886 parity between the silver price of 
 the old paper money and the metallic currency had 
 been brought about, and by applying the annual 
 surplus from revenue account to the purchase of 
 specie from abroad, the position of the Bank of 
 Japan was constantly being much improved. By 
 1890 all the old Government notes had been 
 withdrawn with the exception of forty million yen, 
 and measures were framed so as completely to 
 redeem this last remainder by the end of 1 896. As 
 to the notes of the old National Banks, amounting 
 in value to the sum of thirty or forty million yen, 
 their gradual redemption was effected by a series of 
 enactments which transformed these institutions into 
 purely private banks and induced them to change 
 their paper for the notes of the Nippon Ginko. 
 Before 1899 their notes had entirely disappeared. 
 
 Side by side with the questions of note currency 
 and State banking, the more subtle problem of the 
 
398 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 metallic currency and of the standard finally to be 
 adopted in Japan was pushed forward towards 
 solution. The number of coins — gold, silver and 
 copper — in circulation at the time the central 
 Government took over control from the Shogunate 
 was nearly three hundred, whilst there was a corre- 
 sponding variety of feudal notes. As early as 1 869, 
 a year after the Restoration, a Government mint 
 had been established, and it was at first determined 
 to base the new coinage on the metric system, 
 making silver the standard unit of value and gold 
 subsidiary. But Marquis Ito's financial mission to 
 America, to which reference has just been made, if 
 it led to a false national banking policy, at least 
 paved the way for the establishment of a gold 
 standard. In a memorandum written in 1870 he 
 pointed out with singular clearness that gold was 
 the basis of all exchange operations in Western 
 countries and that it was essential that Japan should 
 adopt the same standard. A set of new coinage 
 regulations was accordingly drawn up, in which the 
 weight, size and fineness of every coin were minutely 
 specified, and in which a silver Trade dollar 
 (designed to drive off the insidious Mexican or 
 Caroline dollar, which kept coming into the country 
 in great quantities) took a prominent place. But 
 although Japan had thus apparently adopted the 
 gold standard in principle at this early date, the 
 measures taken to give it effect were quite 
 inadequate. It is true that an immense amount of 
 gold was actually coined, but every piece that came 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 399 
 
 on to the market was eagerly snapped up and ex- 
 ported, and much the same thing occurred even with 
 silver. By 1878 the Minister of Finance, confused 
 by the outlook, was advising the Government to 
 adopt gold and silver bimetallism as a policy more 
 conducive to the country's prosperity than an 
 illusory gold standard. Under the Imperial Ordi- 
 nances issued in the same year the free use of the 
 silver yen and the Trade dollar throughout the 
 country as legal tender was sanctioned, and Japan, 
 although theoreticallybimetallist, temporarily became 
 quite frankly a silver country. 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell on the various fortunes 
 which attended this shifting policy. During the 
 'eighties, with the comparatively high price which 
 silver enjoyed throughout the world, Japan's currency 
 evils were obscured ; with the closing of the Indian 
 mints to the free coinage of silver in 1893 the 
 question became once more acute. 
 
 The Japanese Government had watched with 
 concern a number of things which gradually fortified 
 it in the resolve to adopt a true gold standard, when 
 it was physically possible to do so. Especially had 
 it been attracted by the spectacle of the great 
 financial improvement introduced into Germany with 
 the establishment of the German Empire and the 
 unification of the coinage systems in vogue in the 
 various portions of the country by the simple method 
 of decreeing a gold standard. The great sales of 
 German silver in the 'seventies, which depreciated 
 the white metal and filled with alarm the countries 
 
40O THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 of the Latin monetary union (and many others which 
 were then far more bimetallist than monometallist 
 in their tendencies), had also told their lesson. And 
 the gradual adoption throughout the civilised world 
 of an absolute gold standard, together with a strict 
 limitation of the coinage of silver and the hoarding 
 of silver reserves, were the last arguments necessary, 
 for one by one the nations had followed the example 
 of Germany, and from the United States to Russia 
 gold became the sole and absolute measure of 
 wealth. Japan's action was, therefore, merely post- 
 poned until ways and means had been found ; and 
 although the struggle in the United States, if not to 
 rehabilitate silver, at least to stop its further depre- 
 ciation — a struggle which may be said to have lasted 
 for eighteen years, from the passing of the Bland 
 Act to the defeat of Mr. Bryan in the Presidential 
 Campaign of 1896 — gave Japan a breathing space 
 which was utilised, as already indicated, to rectify 
 her paper issues, she now never lost sight of the 
 fact that the absolute gold standard must be attained 
 as rapidly as possible. In 1893 a Japanese Com- 
 mission was appointed to examine the whole question 
 minutely, and its work was hastened in 1894 by 
 the fact that the ratio of gold to silver fell below 
 I to 32. By 1896 the Commission had finished 
 its labours, the majority of its members having 
 advocated in absolute terms the immediate adoption 
 of the gold standard. The difficulty of at once 
 creating the large gold reserve necessary to effect 
 this reform alone restrained the Japanese Govern- 
 ment from taking action ; but it was well known 
 
in JAPANESE FINANCE 401 
 
 that these necessary sinews would soon be plucked 
 by war from the prostrate Chinese giant — in other 
 words, that the Chinese indemnities would allow 
 Japan speedily to become a gold-using country. 
 
 In 1894 Japan had gone to war with China, 
 ostensibly over Korea, but really as a necessary step 
 in her internal and external development. By this 
 it must not be understood that the Chinese war of 
 1894-1895 was a war of mere adventure or spolia- 
 tion ; it was a violent movement desired and pushed 
 forward by the whole nation both as a practical 
 demonstration of power and as an economical 
 necessity. The net result — financially — was the 
 Chinese indemnity, a payment of two hundred 
 million Kuping taels to Japan (Article 4, Treaty of 
 Shimonoseki), which had to be handed over in eight 
 instalments, the first and second instalments, each 
 amounting to fifty million taels, to be paid within 
 twelve months of the ratification of the Treaty ; 
 whilst the separate Liaotung Retrocession Agree- 
 ment stipulated in Article 2 that a further sum of 
 thirty million Kuping taels should be paid before the 
 end of 1895 for the return of the Manchurian coast 
 territory. Thus Japan obtained, as a result of the 
 Chinese war, two hundred and thirty million Kuping 
 taels — say ^36,000,000 sterling — more than half of 
 which had to be poured into her coffers before the 
 middle of 1896. Further diplomatic negotiations 
 between China and Japan resulted in an under- 
 standing that this indemnity should be paid in gold 
 at London, since to have handed over such an 
 
 D D 
 
402 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 enormous stock of silver — the indemnity was cal- 
 culated in terms of Chinese Treasury taels — would 
 have been impossible without causing serious con- 
 vulsions in the world's money markets. A definite 
 arrangement was therefore entered into, and the 
 whole indemnity was paid in London between the 
 31st October, 1895, ^^'^ the 7th May, 1898, in the 
 following instalments : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Estimated in 
 
 Date of reception. 
 
 Kinds of Indemnity. 
 
 Amount in 
 Kuping taels. 
 
 English money, in 
 which form pay- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ments were 
 
 made. 
 
 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 31st Oct., 
 
 189s 
 
 The War Indemnity 
 
 50,000,000.000 
 
 8,255.245 
 
 1 lOj 
 
 8th May, 
 
 1896 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 50,000,000.000 
 
 8,225,245 
 
 I 10 
 
 8th May, 
 7th Nov., 
 
 1896 
 1896 
 
 Interest on the War 
 Indemnity 
 Do. do. 
 
 1,250,000.000 
 5,000,000.000 
 
 205,631 
 822,524 
 
 2 6 
 10 2 
 
 8th May, 
 
 1897 
 
 The War Indemnity 
 
 16,666,666.666 
 
 2,741,748 
 
 7 3 
 
 8th May, 
 8th Nov., 
 
 1897 
 1897 
 
 Interest on the War 
 Indemnity 
 Do. do. 
 
 416,666.666 
 4,166,666.666 
 
 68,543 
 685,437 
 
 14 2 
 I 10 
 
 7th May, 
 
 1898 
 
 The War Indemnity 
 
 72,500,000.000 
 
 11,926,605 
 
 7 9 
 
 Total 
 
 
 200,000,000.000 
 
 32,900,980 
 
 7 4i 
 
 1 6th Nov., 
 
 1895 
 
 Compensation for 
 the retrocession of 
 the Liaotung Pen- 
 insula 
 
 30,000,000.000 
 
 4,935,147 
 
 I li 
 
 Total for the above two kinds of 
 indemnity 
 
 230,000,000.000 
 
 37,836,127 
 
 8 6i 
 
 8th May, 
 
 1896 
 
 Indemnity for the 
 
 500,000.000 
 
 82,252 
 
 9 
 
 8th May, 
 
 1897 
 
 expenses of occu- 
 pying Wei-hai-wei 
 Do. do. 
 
 500,000.000 
 
 82,252 
 
 9 
 
 7th May, 
 
 1898 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 500,000.000 
 
 82,252 
 
 9 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 
 231,500,000.000 
 
 38,082,884 
 
 15 6i 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 403 
 
 The gradual placing of these great sums of gold 
 to the credit of the Japanese Government made the 
 establishment of a gold standard in Japan simply a 
 question of time and study. Gold bullion and gold 
 coins were gradually withdrawn to Japan from the 
 Japanese Government's accounts in London and 
 deposited in the vaults of the Nippon Ginko ; and 
 in the beginning of 1897 Count Matsukata, the 
 Finance Minister, drafted the new coinage laws, 
 which were immediately passed by the Imperial 
 Diet. Within a very few months, so ably were the 
 details worked out, Japan had entered the ranks of 
 the gold-standard countries without any disturbance 
 or commotion in her markets. The minting of 
 many millions in gold, silver, copper and nickel of 
 the new currency was expeditiously attended to, 
 whilst the withdrawal of the old silver currency was 
 effected by immense sales of the demonitised medium 
 on the China markets and by wholesale recoining. 
 The fears which had been expressed by foreign 
 critics that Japan was once more attempting a 
 dangerous experiment in her oft-changed currency 
 medium were set at nought, and without a single un- 
 toward symptom the new system was soon smoothly 
 working. For even before the founding of the 
 Nippon Ginko in 1882, Japan had understood that 
 her foreign trade and the regulation of foreign 
 exchange would be much facilitated by the existence 
 of an exclusively Japanese Exchange Bank, which 
 would compete with similar foreign institutions in the 
 Far East, and act as Japan's agent abroad in 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 financial matters. And, accordingly, as early as 
 1880, the Yokohama Specie Bank had been 
 organised, specially charged with such matters as the 
 purchase and importation of gold and silver bullion 
 from abroad, the discounting of Government bills, 
 and the management of public moneys for inter- 
 national accounts. On this bank had fallen the 
 burden — and the profit — of bringing home the 
 Chinese indemnities ; and although nominally merely 
 a joint-stock bank of the regular model, the amount 
 of control exercised by the Government (through the 
 provision, amongst others, that the Vice-president 
 of the Bank of Japan must always be Chairman of 
 the sister establishment), was sufficient to make it a 
 quasi-Government institution. Thus from the 
 moment Count Matsukata assumed the reins of 
 office the Government became supreme both in 
 purely domestic and in international finance, fore- 
 shadowing that the centralisation was to become 
 more perfect and more minutely regulated than in 
 any other country, not even excluding Germany. 
 
 In pursuance of this idea of financial and economic 
 centralisation, and encouraged by the success of the 
 gold standard and the other currency reforms which 
 had been undertaken, the Hypothec Bank of Japan 
 was established in the year 1896 under the special 
 patronage and control of the Government and with 
 a capital of a million sterling. This institution 
 aimed at furnishing long-period loans at low rates 
 of interest for the improvement and development of 
 agriculture and industry ; and it at once became 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 405 
 
 automatically the " parent bank " of the mass of 
 small country or agricultural banks which the 
 Government had been at pains to establish ever 
 since the beginning of the Meiji period in order to 
 aid the development of financial stability in every 
 district. These agricultural banks exist in each 
 prefecture ; each has a capital of not less than 
 ;i^20,ooo sterling, and their operations are minutely 
 overseen by the Government. Further, the close 
 of the Chinese war found the Bank of Taiwan 
 (Formosa) organised to serve as the Government 
 agent in the ceded island ; and in 1 900 this bank 
 was considered to have been sufficiently successful 
 to justify the founding of the Colonial Bank of 
 Hokkaido — a joint-stock bank, in which the Govern- 
 ment is the most important shareholder — with the 
 object of attending to all the financial affairs of 
 the scarcely-settled northernmost island of Japan. 
 Finally, in 1902, the last semi-official banking 
 institution, the Kogyo Ginko or Industrial "Bank 
 of Japan, ^ known also as the Credit Mobilier, 
 was organised with a capital in the first instance 
 of Yen 10,000,000 (of which only a fraction was 
 paid up) for the special purpose of making loans 
 to joint-stock and other companies in any form 
 approved of by the Directors, and for managing 
 the marketing of Municipal Debentures, as well as 
 the transaction of various kinds of trust business. 
 By its charter this bank is specially endowed 
 
 ' It is interesting to note that it was this bank which was selected 
 by the Government for foreign share subscriptions. 
 
4o6 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 with the privilege of issuing debentures to the 
 amount of five times its paid-up capital, so long as 
 the gross total of such debentures does not exceed 
 the sum of the advances made by the bank against 
 the local loan bonds and debentures taken up by it. 
 And, in addition, during the first five years of its 
 existence — April, 1902, to April, 1907, — the Govern- 
 ment guaranteed a yearly dividend of six per cent, 
 on the paid-up capital. In return for these privileges 
 the Government, by means of a system which need not 
 be detailed here, exercises the closest control. Thus 
 by the beginning of the late war (1904), thanks to 
 a studied policy of creating and fostering semi- 
 official enterprises, the banking position in Japan 
 may be summarised in the following manner : — 
 
 Number. Authorised capital. 
 (a) ' Banks having a special charter 
 [z.e., Bank of Japan, Yoko-" 
 hama Specie Bank, Hypo- 
 thec Bank of Japan, Indus- 1 Yen. 
 trial Bank of Japan, Bank j 6 82,000,000 
 of Formosa and Hokkaido 
 Colonial Bank] 
 
 (d) Local Hypothec Banks 46 28,520,000 
 
 (c) Savings Banks 456 59,680,950 
 
 (<^) Ordinary Banks 1,762 351,758,969 
 
 Total 2,270 52i,9S9>9i9 
 
 In a period of exactly thirty-six years, therefore, 
 or little more than a generation after the Restoration 
 of 1868, a modern and highly-organised banking, 
 currency and general financial system had been 
 fairly established, which satisfied the requirements of 
 
DEPOSITS AND LOANS 1 N THE BANK OF JAPAN. 
 
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 DEPOSITS AND LOANS IN BANKS THROUGHOUT COUNTRY. 
 
 DEPOSyrS IN POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANK. 
 
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 BILLS CLEARED AT VARIOUS CLEARING HOUSES. 
 
AMOUNT OF CIRCULATING NOTES. 
 
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 RATE OF INTEREST ON DISCOUNT 
 
 Year 
 
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 FLUCTUATION IN PRICES & WAGES 
 
 Year 1 1 S Z. \ 1 9 3. \ 1 S t. \ 1 9 S. \ 19 6. \l90t 
 
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Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 407 
 
 the day and which, with the all-pervading influence of 
 the Government, gave some promise of future success. 
 The one fact which should stand out clearly in 
 the foregoing analysis is the action of the Japanese 
 Government. Whether creative, tentative, correc- 
 tive, or expansionist, that action has always been 
 taken with a determined resolve, springing from a 
 special knowledge of all that is both the strength 
 and the weakness of the Japanese as a race. It is 
 equally important to note that after an initial period 
 of doubt the influence of the Government in the 
 regulation of Japanese finance in all its branches since 
 1868 became more and more in favour of absolute 
 centralisation, until, with the entire redemption of the 
 old paper and the old metallic currencies through the 
 medium of the Nippon Ginko, and the inauguration 
 of a gold standard created by means of the Chinese 
 indemnities, it had, by the beginning of the present 
 century, everything in its own hands. The organisa- 
 tion of such banks as the Industrial Bank, the 
 Bank of Formosa, the Bank of Hokkaido, and the 
 Hypothec Bank, was simply an extension of the 
 primary principles which Count Matsukata laid down 
 on receiving his first portfolio a quarter of a century 
 before. To consolidate the Japanese Empire on its 
 new basis of Westernism by retaining the power 
 of the purse in the hands of the Government 
 was soon recognised by all the leading clans- 
 men to be the most essential thing ; and although 
 it must be frankly conceded Count Matsukata's 
 proposals were intended merely as a solution to the 
 
4o8 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 financial muddle which Marquis Ito's first recom- 
 mendations had produced, there is no doubt that the 
 execution of those proposals, and the success which 
 attended them, have strengthened in the Government 
 the idea that centralisation to be perfect must control 
 domestic and international finance in all its branches, 
 and, marching hand in hand with the general develop- 
 ment of the day, must be prepared to go ever 
 further and further afield. To hold the purse was 
 essential in order that the power of the sword might 
 be retained in the hands of the adherents of the 
 clan system. 
 
 The outbreak of war with Russia and the silent 
 period of intense Japanese anxiety lasting month 
 after month and only gradually relieved by the fall 
 of Port Arthur, Tsushima, and Moukden (an 
 anxiety which no one in Europe has properly 
 understood), helped to increase the satisfaction of 
 the Government in regard to its financial policy in 
 the past. For there is no gainsaying the fact that 
 having in their hands the whole credit of the 
 Japanese people, as was truly the case, the Govern- 
 ment was in a far more favourable position to secure 
 financial accommodation from abroad than it would 
 ever have been had the credit of the country been 
 based on a less centralised system. In other words, 
 this organisation of her finance was of para- 
 mount importance to Japan, considered solely as a 
 war-making engine ; and, although in the first 
 foreign war-loans that were contracted (the two six 
 per cent, loans aggregating ^22,000,000 sterling) 
 the Japanese leaders were bitterly disappointed 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 409 
 
 that European and American financiers should 
 demand the hypothecation of a specific source of 
 revenue (the Customs revenue) instead of being 
 satisfied with the general guarantee of the Govern- 
 ment, they were wise enough to conceal that dis- 
 appointment and to adapt themselves to the needs 
 of the hour by rapidly creating the tobacco industry 
 a Government monopoly, and pledging the revenues 
 thereof for further borrowings. The final flotation 
 of loans unsecured on specific revenues, as soon as 
 Russia's offensive power had been temporarily 
 broken, was in the eyes of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment a complete vindication of its financial 
 policy ; and, satisfied that all obstacles had been 
 temporarily overcome, it prepared to develop 
 that policy in intensity with the coming of 
 peace. 
 
 Whilst the Government of Japan had in this 
 manner been busy year after year and decade after 
 decade with the gradual evolution of a perfect 
 financial system, the country and the country's rich 
 men had also not been idle. Although the vast 
 majority of the two thousand odd private banks in 
 Japan have but trifling importance, and are in 
 reality probably nothing more than repositories for 
 the small savings of the people — savings which in 
 Europe, and particularly in England, would be 
 directly invested in productive enterprises without 
 the intervention of such institutions — a certain 
 number of them possess wealth and influence which 
 have been slowly and painfully acquired. Such 
 banks as the Dai Ichi Ginko — the First Bank — 
 
4IO THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 which has hitherto possessed a monopoly of bank- 
 ing in Korea, and the Mitsui Bank, the proprietors 
 of which belong to the oldest millionaire family 
 in Japan and are very wealthy even when judged 
 by European standards, may be said to represent 
 the quasi-independent section in Japanese finance, 
 which if not opposed to the Government, at least 
 views with some concern its constant efforts to 
 extend its control in every direction. Such banks, 
 being the sponsors of the railways and of other 
 enterprises which have just been nationalised, have 
 found their activities forced into certain channels, 
 whether they liked it or not ; and they have 
 accordingly from time to time been " placated " by 
 the Government to still their criticisms. Thus, 
 during the war, the Government allowed the 
 heaviest underwriters' commissions to go to all non- 
 Government banks during the flotation of internal 
 loans ; and in addition to this, whilst carefully 
 fostering the idea that a monopolist Government 
 was the ideal, it allowed abnormal profits constantly 
 to be made in other directions at the expense of the 
 people. Thus hand in hand with rivalry and 
 jealousy, there has been in the past a sort of quiet 
 alliance between neutral bankers and Government 
 — an alliance which, although really an anomaly in 
 the general scheme, has nevertheless been of benefit 
 to both parties. The neutral banks, then, in spite of 
 their restricted field of enterprise, have to a certain 
 extent been brought within the scope of this general 
 scheme ; heavy taxation has thus been possible, 
 because of heavy profits ; and an audacious Budget, 
 
NATIONAL DEBTS OUTSTANDING IN JAPAN. [31ft March) 1907. 
 
 Jm" loa 200.300: 4oa. soo.eoo. 700. aoo. soo.raoo.mo leoo. i300.iiioo.isoo.iBo6.iJOOjsmJsna.z 
 
 PRICES OF PRINCIPAL SECURITIES IN TOKYO. 
 
 year.' is o z. \ i a o 3 \ i s 
 
 4 19 3 1 S B. (rSOTJ 
 
 
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 /> 
 
 
 
 
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 . : .. ■■ ' — 7" -x^"------^-.,. 
 
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 z-::-..-.'A.^W.. ..:...::.. :.. 
 
 
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 so 
 
 
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 -NIPPON RAILMWCt SHARESlpiiiup^O^jn)— NIPPONVUSENKAISHA SHARES(pnd •ifJO^cn) 
 
 PRICES OF JAPANESE BONDS IN LONDON. 
 
 Yfear 1 s 6 2 ] / s 3 1 9 4 \ 1 9 5 1 9 e 1907 
 
 Monrt ; 1213 mils iiisrsiKiu ml/tiDUi; hiiTii iik ki/j j m. \:.\ p\ y m mif-i?!: t uan |!|'M'I"'I'I l'f'"--|T| 1 M 1' i\ 1 
 
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 \ / ■ 
 
 00 . — ..| — ._ _ 
 
 
 S,so 
 
 -.-VWBLOAN BONDS IMPERIAL JAPANESE GOVERNNENT^JlQANBO/IDS-IHPERWUmNESE COVERNMENT */, STERLING 
 
 -Sjl!of/Mf(l8t|«i,e>--.«;iof I955(ls!lssii»^ lOANBOINDS (i89£>;. 
 
Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 411 
 
 such as that sanctioned for the financial year of 1907, 
 has been met without any open outcry even from 
 the nation's bankers, who must reaHse that Japan is 
 desirous of undertaking more than is possible in the 
 time. 
 
 For when we come to examine this crushing 
 Budget, which is crammed full of expenditure that 
 must be repeated year after year if the general 
 financial programme of the Government is to be 
 carried out, the impression deepens that, in spite of 
 the skilful financing which was such a feature of the 
 late war, and in spite of the rigid and well-organised 
 fiscal framework, the Japanese Government is being 
 forced to become more and more speculative, owing 
 to its desire to push forward development at far 
 more than the natural speed, and to pass imme- 
 diately from the ranks of the third-class Powers — 
 which is Japan's legitimate place if European 
 measures be used — to the ranks of the Great 
 Powers of the world. For this and for no other 
 object has it been necessary to double the national 
 expenditure in three short years ; and it will be this 
 which must gradually raise Japan's national debt 
 from the present figure of ;^2 30,000,000 to at least 
 ^350,000,000 sterling before 1915.^ 
 
 The Budget of 1907 amounted to no less a sum 
 than Yen 616,455,343, or more than ;^63, 000,000 
 sterling ; and if the clear tabular statement which 
 follows be carefully studied, it will be seen that the 
 taxation, although already oppressive and enor- 
 
 1 It is worthy of note that the public debt in Japan has increased 
 /36,ooo,ooo sterling since last year— and this in time of profound 
 peace, 
 
412 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 mously increased during the past three years, 
 entirely fails to settle this huge yearly bill : — 
 
 Revenue of Japan. 
 
 
 
 
 Comparison. 
 
 Sources of Revenue. 
 
 1907-8 
 
 (Estimated). 
 
 1906-7 
 (Estimated). 
 
 
 
 Increase. 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 Ordinary : — 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Taxes 
 
 269,882,227 
 
 251,980,332 
 
 17,901,895 
 
 
 Land Tax 
 
 85,632,392 
 
 85,632,438 
 
 
 46 
 
 Income Tax 
 
 23,235,402 
 
 21,837,334 
 
 1,398,068 
 
 
 Business Tax 
 
 19,626,926 
 
 19,370,575 
 
 256,351 
 
 
 Tax on Liquors ... 
 
 65.450.336 
 
 59,170,851 
 
 6,279,48s 
 
 
 Tax on Soy 
 
 3.936,005 
 
 5,318,576 
 
 
 1,382,571 
 
 Sugar Excise 
 
 11,120,616 
 
 16,755,769 
 
 
 5,635.153 
 
 Consumption Tax on 
 
 
 
 
 
 Textile Fabrics... 
 
 15,824,854 
 
 3,260,333 
 
 12,564,521 
 
 
 Mining Tax 
 
 1,714,203 
 
 1,443,456 
 
 270,747 
 
 
 Tax on Bourses . . . 
 
 1,975,502 
 
 1,235,075 
 
 740,427 
 
 
 Tax on the Issue of 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bank Notes 
 
 1,056,938 
 
 996, 190 
 
 60,748 
 
 
 Tonnage Dues 
 
 477,986 
 
 427,695 
 
 50,291 
 
 
 Customs Duties . . . 
 
 36,179,719 
 
 31,787,165 
 
 4,392,554 
 
 
 Travelling Tax ... 
 
 2,211,868 
 
 2,120,992 
 
 90,876 
 
 
 Succession Tax ... 
 
 1,243.857 
 
 2,426,434 
 
 
 1,182,577 
 
 Other Taxes 
 
 195,623 
 
 197,449 
 
 
 1,826 
 
 Stamp Receipts 
 
 17,923.429 
 
 27,408.831 
 
 
 9,485,402 
 
 Receipts from Public 
 
 
 
 
 
 Undertakings and 
 
 
 
 
 
 State Property ... 
 
 126,763,862 
 
 1 10,245,840 
 
 16,518,022 
 
 
 Post and Telegraph 
 
 
 
 
 
 Services 
 
 34,310,230 
 
 30,459,491 
 
 3,850,739 
 
 
 Forests 
 
 7.849.598 
 
 5,181,922 
 
 2,667,676 
 
 
 Receipts from Salt 
 
 
 
 
 
 Monopoly 
 
 27.366,523 
 
 26,274,831 
 
 1,091,692 
 
 
 Receipts from Cam- 
 
 
 
 
 
 phor Monopoly... 
 
 968,587 
 
 912,039 
 
 56,548 
 
 
 Profit of Tobacco 
 
 
 
 
 
 Monopoly 
 
 30,699,965 
 
 30,289,089 
 
 410,876 
 
 
 Railway Profits ... 
 
 23,746,340 
 
 15,481,547 
 
 8,264,793 
 
 
 Other Receipts from 
 
 
 
 
 
 Public Under- 
 
 
 
 
 
 takings and State 
 
 
 
 
 
 Property 
 
 1,822,619 
 
 1,646,921 
 
 175,698 
 
 
 Interest on Deposits 
 
 
 
 
 
 transferred 
 
 5,118,150 
 
 3,911,516 
 
 1,206,634 
 
 
 Transferred from Fund 
 
 
 
 
 
 for Redemption of 
 
 
 
 
 
 Taiwan Public 
 
 
 
 
 
 Works Loan 
 
 2,411,446 
 
 2,044,321 
 
 367,125 
 
 
 Other Miscellaneous 
 
 
 
 
 
 Receipts 
 
 2,186,487 
 
 3,261,619 
 
 
 1,075,132 
 
 Total Ordinary 
 
 424,285,601 
 
 398,852,459 
 
 25,433,142 
 
 
 Carried forward . . . 
 
 424,285,601 
 
 398,852,459 
 
 25,433,142 
 
 
SOURCES OF 
 JAPAN. . 
 
 ORDINARY 
 
 REVENUE 
 
 IN, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 U_|t-E-:S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 280 
 
 /A\A /"^ 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / /\ ^ \ ft # \\ 
 
 // \ W 1 * A\ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 // \\ z^^^'^iW 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - S40 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 230 
 
 
 Ji/^'^ CUSTOMS DUTIES 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -2/0 
 
 - iOO 
 
 - 190 
 
 - ISO 
 
 \ \ ^-^^^^ / / W \ ^-^^'^ 7 / 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 %. //o^ / i \i % yf 
 
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 11 II II II 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ill 
 
 JAPANESE FINANCE 
 
 4t3 
 
 Revenue of Japan — continued. 
 
 Sources of Revenue. 
 
 1907-8 
 (Estimated). 
 
 1906-7 
 (Estimated). 
 
 Comparison. 
 
 Increase. 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Brought forward . . . 
 
 424,285,601 
 
 398,852,459 
 
 25.433.142 
 
 
 Extraordinary ; — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Proceeds of Sale of 
 
 
 
 
 
 State Property 
 
 2,518,669 
 
 14,247,405 
 
 
 11,728,736 
 
 Local Contributions to 
 
 
 
 
 
 Expenses incurred 
 
 
 
 
 
 by the State for the 
 
 
 
 
 
 Benefit of Certain 
 
 
 
 
 
 Prefectures 
 
 2,204,764 
 
 792,998 
 
 1,411,766 
 
 
 Receipts from the Issue 
 
 
 
 
 
 of Public Loans . . . 
 
 31,256,180 
 
 79,843,242 
 
 
 48,587,062 
 
 Forestry Fund trans- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ferred 
 
 2,460,700 
 
 2,151.934 
 
 308,766 
 
 
 Transferred from War- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ships and Torpedo- 
 
 
 
 
 
 boats Replenishing 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fund 
 
 10,939,586 
 
 
 10,939.586 
 
 
 Temporary Loans ... 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 
 Surplus of the Pre- 
 
 
 
 
 
 vious Year trans- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ferred 
 
 35,211,289 
 
 5,706,061 
 
 29,505,228 
 
 
 Transferred from Sur- 
 
 
 
 
 
 plus iirom Special 
 
 
 
 
 
 Account for Extra- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ordinary War Ex- 
 
 
 
 
 
 penses 
 
 100,000,000 
 
 
 100,000,000 
 
 
 Chinese Indemnity Re- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ceipt 
 
 2,048,395 
 
 2,048,395 
 
 
 
 Other Extraordinary 
 
 
 
 
 
 Receipts 
 
 3.530,159 
 
 1.319.99s 
 
 2,210,164 
 
 
 Total Extraordinary ... 
 
 192,169,742 
 
 106,110,030 
 
 86,059,712 
 
 
 Total Revenue 
 
 616,455.343 
 
 504,962,489 
 
 111,492,854 
 
 
 Yen = 2j. 0-582^. 
 
 Of the ^63,000,000 sterling provided for by the 
 Budget of 1 907- 1 908, no less than ^20,000,000 is 
 found by means of loans and surpluses of previous 
 loans. It is inconceivable that taxation which pro- 
 duced some ;^25, 000,000 sterling before the war 
 should now produce even ^50,000,000 sterling per 
 annum ; and therefore it is certain that continual 
 recourse must in the future be had to loans. 
 
414 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Fortunately for Japan large surpluses still remain 
 over in London from the war-borrowings, and for a 
 year or two, accordingly, the real position will be 
 masked. But when the second table now appended 
 is studied, it will be apparent that armaments are 
 beginning to claim heavier and heavier sums ; and 
 this expenditure, once entered into, will tend to 
 re-occur until it becomes a permanent charge : — 
 
 Expenditure of Japan. 
 
 
 
 
 Comparison. 
 
 Branches of Expenditure. 
 
 1907-8 
 (Estimated). 
 
 1906-7 
 (Estimated). 
 
 
 
 Increase. 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Ordinary : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Imperial Household... 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 
 
 Foreign Affairs 
 
 3,260,312 
 
 2,853,087 
 
 407,225 
 
 
 Department Proper 
 
 188,991 
 
 199,702 
 
 
 10,711 
 
 Embassies, Lega- 
 
 
 
 
 
 tions and Consu- 
 
 
 
 
 
 lates abroad 
 
 3.071,321 
 
 2,653,38s 
 
 417,936 
 
 
 Home Affairs 
 
 10,223,350 
 
 9,850,767 
 
 372,583 
 
 
 Department Proper 
 
 349.921 
 
 340,059 
 
 9,862 
 
 
 Fu and Ken (Pre- 
 
 
 
 
 
 fectures) 
 
 8,068,138 
 
 7,628,205 
 
 439,933 
 
 
 Other Expenses ... 
 
 1,805,291 
 
 1,882,503 
 
 
 77,212 
 
 Finance 
 
 262,166,823 
 
 224,562,957 
 
 37,603,866 
 
 
 Department Proper 
 
 317,826 
 
 302,624 
 
 15,202 
 
 
 Debt Charge ... 
 
 166,102,641 
 
 151,183,514 
 
 14,919.127 
 
 
 Rewards and Pen- 
 
 
 
 
 
 sions 
 
 43,000,606 
 
 40,282,639 
 
 2,717,967 
 
 
 Expenses for the Col- 
 
 
 
 
 
 lection of Inland 
 
 
 
 
 
 Taxes 
 
 4,936,247 
 
 4,861,527 
 
 74,720 
 
 
 Cabinet and Privy 
 
 
 
 
 
 Council 
 
 432,795 
 
 377,562 
 
 55.233 
 
 
 House of Peers and 
 
 
 
 
 
 House of Repre- 
 
 
 
 
 
 sentatives 
 
 1.530,211 
 
 1,507,872 
 
 22,339 
 
 
 Court of Administra- 
 
 
 
 
 
 tive Litigation and 
 
 
 
 
 
 Board of Auditors 
 
 244,719 
 
 216,088 
 
 28,631 
 
 
 Stud Administration 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bureau 
 
 1,129,478 
 
 675,202 
 
 454.276 
 
 
 Expenses for Mono- 
 
 
 
 
 
 poly of Salt 
 
 13,927,481 
 
 13,619,700 
 
 307,781 
 
 
 Expenses for Mono- 
 
 
 
 
 
 poly of Camphor. 
 
 680,251 
 
 862,140 
 
 — 
 
 181,889 
 
 Other Expenses . . . 
 
 29,864,568 
 
 10,674,090 
 
 19,190,478 
 
 
 Carried forward... 
 
 278,650,485 
 
 240,266,811 
 
 38,383,674 
 
 
Ill 
 
 JAPANESE FINANCE 
 
 415 
 
 Expenditure of Japan — Continued. 
 
 Branches of Expenditure. 
 
 1907-8 
 (Estimated). 
 
 1906-7 
 (Estimated). 
 
 Comparison. 
 
 Increase. 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Yen 
 
 Brought forward ... 
 Ordinary : — 
 Army 
 
 278,650,485 
 
 240,266,811 
 
 38,383,674 
 
 
 53,663,788 
 
 50,460,384 
 
 3,203,404 
 
 
 Department Proper ... 
 
 331.643 
 
 257,026 
 
 74.617 
 
 
 Expenses for Military 
 
 
 
 
 
 Affairs 
 
 52,584,173 
 
 49,474.189 
 
 3,109,984 
 
 
 Other Expenses 
 
 747.972 
 
 729,169 
 
 18,803 
 
 
 Navy 
 
 33,414,695 
 
 28,914,073 
 
 4,500,622 
 
 
 Department Proper ... 
 
 158,703 
 
 158,078 
 
 625 
 
 
 Expenses for Naval 
 
 
 
 
 
 Affairs 
 
 33.25S.992 
 
 28,755.995 
 
 4,999.997 
 
 
 Justice 
 
 10,839,978 
 
 10,262,911 
 
 577.067 
 
 
 Department Proper ... 
 
 147.239 
 
 120,333 
 
 26,906 
 
 
 Judicial Courts 
 
 5,202,826 
 
 4,963,623 
 
 239.203 
 
 
 Prisons 
 
 S.489,913 
 
 5,178,955 
 
 310,958 
 
 
 Public Instruction 
 
 6,028,624 
 
 5,000,351 
 
 1,028,273 
 
 
 Department Proper . . 
 
 41S.156 
 
 405,076 
 
 10,080 
 
 
 Institutions and Li- 
 
 
 
 
 
 braries 
 
 3,993,639 
 
 3,022,066 
 
 971,573 
 
 
 Other Expenses 
 
 1,619,829 
 
 1.573.209 
 
 46,620 
 
 
 Agriculture and Com- 
 
 
 
 
 
 merce 
 
 5,604,342 
 
 4.136,757 
 
 1,467,585 
 
 
 Department Proper ... 
 
 381,482 
 
 369,226 
 
 12,256 
 
 
 Other Expenses 
 
 5,222,860 
 
 3,767,531 
 
 1.455.329 
 
 
 Communications 
 
 24,077.404 
 
 22,402,164 
 
 1,675,240 
 
 
 Department Proper ... 
 
 679,225 
 
 661,510 
 
 17.71S 
 
 
 Communication Ex- 
 
 
 
 
 
 penses 
 
 22,692,835 
 
 21,071,940 
 
 1,620,895 
 
 
 Other Expenses 
 
 705,344 
 
 668,714 
 
 36.630 
 
 
 Total Ordinary 
 
 412,279,316 
 
 361,443,451 
 
 50,835,865 
 
 
 Extraordinary : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Foreign Affairs 
 
 3,695,240 
 
 389,320 
 
 3,305,920 
 
 
 Home Affairs 
 
 12,794,342 
 
 6,181,075 
 
 6,613,267 
 
 
 Finance 
 
 12,987,882 
 
 88,940,504 
 
 
 75,952,622 
 
 Army 
 
 57,953,380 
 
 1,676,742 
 
 56,276,638 
 
 
 Navy 
 
 49,067,524 
 
 11,693,495 
 
 37,374,029 
 
 
 Justice 
 
 859,660 
 
 628,037 
 
 231,623 
 
 
 Public Instruction ... 
 
 1.454,588 
 
 1,693,837 
 
 
 239.249 
 
 Agriculture and Com- 
 
 
 
 
 
 merce 
 
 14.157.653 
 
 8,791,906 
 
 S.365.747 
 
 
 Communications 
 
 51,191,462 
 
 23,524,122 
 
 27.667,340 
 
 
 Total Extraordinary ... 
 
 204,161,731 
 
 143.519,038 
 
 60,642,693 
 
 
 Total Expenditure 
 
 616,441.047 
 
 504,962,489 
 
 111,478,558 
 
 
4i6 THE NEW PROBLEM OP' EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 It will thus be seen that for the financial year of 
 1 907- 1 908 there were increases under practically 
 every heading, the greatest being for the Debt 
 Charge (now amounting to an annual sum of nearly 
 ;^ 1 7,000,000 sterling) and for the Army and Navy. 
 Japan now spends on her Army and Navy nearly 
 ;^9,ooo,ooo sterling in ordinary expenditure and 
 more than ^10,000,000 in so-called extraordinary ex- 
 penditure. Thus the Army and Navy, together 
 with the Debt Charge and Pensions, swallowed up 
 in the present year a sum exceeding the whole 
 revenue collected by taxation. Much of the so-called 
 extraordinary expenditure, moreover, is a recurring 
 expenditure which will continue for a number of 
 years and which would undoubtedly be differently 
 classed in a British Budget- From a third table 
 (pp. 418-419) the astounding increase in both 
 taxation and expenditure is clearly apparent. 
 
 Thus from the Chino- Japanese War of 1894 to 
 1906 the total expenditure of the country has grown 
 by some five hundred per cent. Just before the 
 war with Russia,: — that is, three years ago — 
 ordinary taxation yielded some ;^2 5,000,000 
 sterling ; as a result of the war, the war-taxation 
 has been permanently imposed, and, this not 
 sufficing, the unsafe German precedent of meeting 
 current expenditure by loan flotations has had to 
 be followed. There is no doubt that the Budget 
 for the next year, 1907- 1908, can be met, for the 
 large surpluses remaining to the credit of the 
 Japanese Government in London and Paris can be 
 
REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE IN UAPAN. 
 
 REVENUE. 
 
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 EXPENDITURE. 
 
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Ill JAPANESE FINANCE 417 
 
 drawn on. But the year 1909 is somewhat 
 uncertain, and the Ministry of Finance has confessed 
 that before the year -1910 definite ways and means 
 will have to be found or else much of the Govern- 
 ment programme must be abandoned. It is an extra- 
 ordinary and menacing state of affairs. Whilst the 
 Government treasuries and semi-Government banks 
 are temporarily filled to overflowing with money — 
 thus apparently vindicating the Government financial 
 policy so rigidly carried out during the last few 
 decades — it is quite plain that there are cracks in 
 the edifice which has been raised, and that it is 
 humanly impossible to pass in the space of months 
 from the position of a third-class Power to that of 
 the Great Powers of the world. Yet even though a 
 knowledge of this is certainly possessed in the 
 higher Government circles of Japan, no relaxation 
 is permitted in the policy which has excluded 
 foreign capital from participating in the develop- 
 ment of the country. Foreign capital is really 
 desired by many liberal-minded men ; the Govern- 
 ment, however, has decreed that it can be introduced 
 only through certain channels and in certain forms. 
 National and municipal loans may be raised abroad, 
 for the simple reason that Japan cannot find 
 sufficient funds within her own borders ; but they 
 must be undertaken only by the Government or by 
 semi-Government institutions. Accordingly it is a 
 fixed principle that the Industrial Bank of Japan, 
 the Kogyo Ginko, is the only medium through 
 which money may be raised abroad, in the form of 
 
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4^0 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 debentures for Japanese municipal and industrial 
 enterprises. This institution, which now has 
 ^750,000 of British money invested in it, is the 
 official middleman ; and all direct negotiations 
 between Japanese capitalists and foreign money- 
 markets are discouraged and discredited. 
 
 In these circumstances, it is no wonder that the 
 various British concerns, organised immediately 
 after the war with the special object of taking 
 advantage of Japan's oft-repeated declarations of the 
 "open door" and "equal opportunity for all," 
 should have already found that they can do nothing 
 in the country, and that barriers exist which 
 are insurmountable. Whilst Baron Komura, the 
 Mikado's Ambassador at the Court of St. James, 
 does not hesitate to state that British capital and 
 British mechanics will have a great field in Japan, 
 the writer ventures directly to controvert his state- 
 ment. There is no such field ; every inch of it 
 is covered by the set Japanese scheme. If British 
 financiers choose to lend money at low rates of 
 interest, and if British mechanics choose to teach 
 Japanese mechanics all they know, some part of 
 Baron Komura's statement may come to pass ; but 
 the result will be very different from what 
 Englishmen in England will naturally expect. The 
 money will be used to promote competition 
 ruinous to British overseas trade ; the mechanics 
 will instruct pupils who will wrest Eastern markets 
 and divert the great neutral commerce of to-day. 
 Nothing else need be hoped for. It is too late ; we 
 
in JAPANESE FINANCE 421 
 
 have been too slow at understanding. The Chinese 
 War of 1894-1895 gave Japan the gold standard; 
 the Russian war of 1 904-1 905 gave Japan a high 
 quotation on the world's stock-markets. But the real 
 indemnities for both wars are being drawn from 
 neutral just as much as from former belligerents ; 
 and it behoves the neutral world fully to realise that 
 the financial policy of Japan is forced ot necessity to 
 place the whole of the outside world in one and 
 the same category. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 It cannot be denied, then, even by the most 
 unsparing critic that the Japanese finance during the 
 late war, considering how limited were the resources 
 available, was eminently sound. It was designed 
 with two objects clearly in view : first, to raise as 
 much money in the home markets by short-period 
 loans as was possible without crippling the country ; 
 and, second, to raise only as much money in European 
 markets as was absolutely necessary. The Japanese 
 statesmen, indeed, quite rightly understood that 
 heavy commitments abroad, although to a certain 
 extent inevitable in view of the comparative poverty 
 of the Japanese people, would be so many mill-stones 
 round the country's neck ; and they possessed suf- 
 ficient experience to know that European mill-stones 
 of this kind are with difficulty discarded. They 
 knew also that in foreign eyes finance was Japan's 
 weakest point, and that, therefore, although peculiar 
 views obtained among the largely ignorant proleta- 
 riat at'^ home regarding the manner in which friends 
 and allies should give monetary accommodation 
 in a great national crisis, foreign capitalists would 
 
CH. IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 423 
 
 certainly demand not only specific security for each 
 loan but their pound of flesh as well. In such 
 circumstances the financing of the war must be 
 counted peculiarly skilful, and the inflow of roughly 
 one hundred millions sterling of European and 
 American money was bound to bring about much 
 activity in the home markets during and immediately 
 after the struggle. 
 
 The conclusion of peace, after the first great shock 
 of disappointment had been slowly dissipated, found 
 this movement in full swing. Whilst the Government 
 and the financial leaders talked wisely of reconstruc- 
 tion and post bellum finance, and of the necessity of 
 exercising the greatest caution in order to avoid a 
 repetition of what happened after the Chinese war 
 of 1 894-1 895 — when a period of feverish industrial 
 and stock exchange speculation began and only 
 ended with a heavy smash — the creation of new joint- 
 stock companies to engage in every manner of 
 enterprise had already commenced in every part of 
 the country. The idea seems to have spread that 
 Japan's new access of power and the doubling of 
 the national Budget at one stroke, as results of the 
 war, urgently demanded that there should be a 
 corresponding expansion in industrial enterprises of 
 every kind and description ; and that indeed if a 
 quasi-mechanical plan of labelling new enterprises, 
 backing them with the names of a few eminent 
 promoters, and throwing them out on the market, 
 were rigidly adhered to, Japanese commerce and 
 industry would increase like a snowball. It is curious 
 how unreasoning the Japanese can be at times, and 
 
424 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 how little of the very rudiments of political economy 
 the vast mass of the population seem to understand. 
 As yet they do not realise that, while they have 
 ostensibly adopted many of the forms of the West, 
 not only is the cold and calculating spirit of the 
 West entirely wanting, but their own genius is so 
 different that sudden activity of this sort is very 
 similar to placing a top-hat on the head of a man who 
 is still dubious as to whether trousers are an essential 
 part of his garb, and who is openly determined not 
 to abandon his convenient wooden clogs for firm- 
 treading leather boots. 
 
 In pursuance of this idea, then, that a rapid 
 expansion was inevitable and that that expansion 
 could best be secured by company-promoting of any 
 and every description, it was abundantly clear by the 
 middle of 1 906 that exactly what had happened after 
 the Chinese war was going to happen again ; and 
 that in the fullness of time there would be a general 
 liquidation disclosing that only just so much progress 
 had been made as was completely justified by the 
 practical application of workaday principles. In 
 other words, while a Government may autocratically 
 double its expenditure and its receipts in a twelve- 
 month, it is probably physically impossible for a 
 people to do so much under a decade. It is inter- 
 esting to note that in the feverish desire to promote 
 new companies of all sort and kinds, and to expand 
 old ones beyond their normal capacity, every device 
 suitable to a mad " Jungle " market was readily 
 employed and even acclaimed as proof that the 
 modernisation of Japan was proceeding apace. 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 425 
 
 In the first few months of this speculating mania, 
 the few sound men in Japanese finance hesitated, 
 and even curtly refused, to put their names to enter- 
 prises which were not only speculative but based on 
 no expert knowledge whatsoever, and which would 
 therefore probably lead to serious trouble. For a 
 short time this attitude exercised a restraining 
 influence, but soon prizes were held out for the use 
 of " good names " which were irresistible. Man 
 after man succumbed, until in the end nearly every 
 name associated with higher Japanese finance was to 
 be found on company prospectuses and a bubble 
 movement was in full swing. The people, following 
 the Eastern principle that the man and not the thing 
 is the essential, were thus lured on from pillar to 
 post, and share gambling soon became an extra- 
 ordinary mania in Tokyo, Osaka, and all the greater 
 towns. The devices used to secure the flotation of 
 new companies were in some cases sufficiently 
 remarkable to deserve record, for they show that 
 never was there such a gullible public as the 
 Japanese. In one instance it was worked out from 
 preliminary assays that a certain gold mine, or rather 
 gold-bearing area, must be held to contain ore- 
 reserves which could not be valued at less than Yen 
 3,000,000,000 (^300,000,000), and it was conse- 
 quently claimed that wealth beyond the dreams of 
 avarice would crown the mere act of exploitation. In 
 another instance some Tokyo promoters, desirous of 
 floating a coal company, fixed on an area which had 
 been hastily examined and unfavourably reported on 
 by a French engineer, and actually used this report. 
 
426 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 as an expert European report, in order to invite 
 share-subscriptions from their ignorant countrymen. 
 This is not unlike a certain phase of education in 
 India, where those native scholars who have failed 
 in university examinations use such failure as a 
 qualification when applying for clerkships, assuming 
 that failure to matriculate may be held to be almost 
 a degree in itself. 
 
 Every branch of Japanese commerce and industry 
 soon became infected with this new spirit. No 
 sooner did one successful, or apparently successful, 
 company arise in any one particular department, than 
 a dozen imitators quickly followed with no prospect 
 of paying dividends. Specially remarkable is the 
 case of the whaling industry. Attention was 
 actively directed towards this industry a year or two 
 ago, when the Toyo Gyogyo Kaisha (Far Eastern 
 Fishing Company) declared a dividend of fifteen per 
 cent, after a few months' working. After this, 
 remembering that the whole Pacific now lay open to 
 them, the promoters soon got rapidly to work, and 
 by the beginning of 1907 the following principal 
 companies had already been organised : — 
 
 Taiheiyo (Pacific Ocean) Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 Dai Nippon Hogei (Whaling) Kaisha 
 
 To-A (East Asian) Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 Asahi (Morning Sun) Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 Teikoku Suisan (Marine Products) Kaisha ... 
 
 Nagasaki Hogei Kaisha 
 
 Nichi-kan (Japanese and Korean) Hogei Kaisha 
 Toyo Yenyo (Far Eastern Ocean) Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 Toyo Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 ICinkawazan Hogei Kaisha 
 
 Kaikoku (Marine Country) Gyogyo Kaisha ... 
 
 Choshi Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 Shin (New) Hogei Kaisha 
 
 Tokai (East Sea) Gyogyo Kaisha 
 
 Capital in Yen. 
 500,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 200,000 
 200,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 500,000 
 200,000 
 500,000 
 
 2,000,000 
 250,000 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 200,000 
 150,000 
 
 Total 8,700,000 
 
IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 427 
 
 Thus in a few weeks no less than fourteen 
 whaling companies, having in the aggregate a 
 nominal sum of nearly nine million yen invested in 
 them, were created in the facile manner indicated, 
 though it is certain that it is impossible for them to 
 find room in an overcrowded field, much less to earn 
 money. But of the Japanese company-promoter it 
 may be said, as a native scholar in India once wrote 
 in an eloquent obituary of a native lawyer, "His 
 child-like simplicity fascinated all and was proof 
 against the demoralising influences of his honourable 
 profession." 
 
 This extraordinary movement in Japan continued 
 apace until March, 1907, when the zenith was 
 reached and the inevitable back-sliding began. In 
 this month investigations were set on foot with a 
 view to ascertaining the number of new companies 
 created, and the Osaka Commercial Intelligence 
 Bureau published the following table : — 
 
 Capital Invested from July, 1905, to February, 1907. 
 
 
 Number of 
 Companies. 
 
 p,e^Si. -»S" 
 
 New companies registered 
 
 „ „ planned 
 
 Increases of capital registered... 
 ,, „ planned ... 
 Company loans registered 
 
 2,411 
 584 
 
 38s 
 122 
 26 
 
 365,502,593 321,404.119 
 1,718,373.000 — 
 
 152,105,987 i 67,507,622 
 297,197,550 1 — 
 40,227,792 , 40,227,792 
 
 Total 
 
 3.528 
 
 2,573.406,922 229,139,533 
 
 And not to be outdone the Tokyo Commercial 
 Bureau shortly afterwards issued the following 
 
428 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Statistics, which, though not so startHng, are suffi- 
 ciently remarkable : — 
 
 Nature of Enterprise. 
 
 Capital of 
 
 Projected 
 
 Companies. 
 
 Capital of 
 Registered 
 Companies. 
 
 Paid-up Capital. 
 
 Cotton spinning 
 
 Insurance 
 
 Maritime ( C arrying) 
 
 Mining 
 
 Railways 
 
 Electric 
 
 Warehousing 
 
 Banks 
 
 Manufacturing 
 
 Marine Products 
 
 Commercial and others ... 
 
 Yen. 
 47,568,000 
 26,200,000 
 30,000,000 
 33,770,000 
 
 153,500,000 
 35,780,000 
 15,300,000 
 11,175,000 
 
 243.769.800 
 22,425,000 
 95,110,000 
 
 Yen. 
 
 27,852,000 
 
 5,500,000 
 
 782,400 
 
 12,650,000 
 
 231.795.000 
 
 29,845,000 
 
 6,127,000 
 
 25,305,000 
 
 59571.500 
 
 6,842,000 
 
 20,546,760 
 
 Yen. 
 
 7,025,000 
 
 1,375,000 
 
 337.040 
 
 4,275,000 
 
 129,846,250 
 
 7,943.750 
 
 1,601,170 
 
 5.705.250 
 
 23,328,650 
 
 1,789,410 
 
 7.927.089 
 
 Total 
 
 775.197,800 
 
 426,816,660 
 
 191,151,609 
 
 Apart from the fact that these two tables are 
 compiled in different ways and that their totals of 
 capital actually paid-up are different, there are 
 remarkable points in both which call for a few words 
 of comment. In the first table Yen 2,573,406,922, 
 or say nearly ^260,000,000 stealing, is set down as 
 the total of capital pledged — in plain English, sub- 
 scribed ; whereas the amount actually paid up is 
 Yen 229,139,533, or less than ten per cent, of the 
 nominal amount. The second table goes to show 
 that the Osaka figures are greatly exaggerated. But 
 even the more conservative Tokyo estimate places 
 the grand total of subscribed capital at about twelve 
 hundred million yen (;^ 120,000,000 sterling) and 
 gives the total of paid-up capital at only Yen 
 191,151,609, or under fifteen per cent, of the whole 
 
IV JAPANESE; INDtfSTRY AND COMMERCE 429 
 
 amount. This alone is sufificiently remarkable ; but 
 when we come to examine what is the actual meaning 
 of " projected companies," it is still more remarkable 
 to find that they are generally not companies at all 
 but rather promoters' syndicates of the most specu- 
 lative kind, in which any of the enterprising public 
 who may so desire can purchase for a trifle the right 
 to subscribe for any number of shares after the 
 registration and official flotation of the company. 
 This extraordinary procedure, which has a market 
 name of its own in the vernacular — Kenri Kabu — 
 is a product such as one might expect from Japanese 
 genius, hedged round, as it is, by official regulations 
 and laws which must be legally circumvented in 
 order to avoid trouble. The issue of provisional 
 scrip of the Kenri Kabu order, on which no first 
 call has been paid, provides a splendid if elementary 
 amusement for those who are discovering in the 
 schoolroom of hard experience the uses and abuses 
 of share-markets ; and the wild speculation which 
 has taken place in Japan since the war has been 
 very largely in this worthless provisional scrip of 
 projected companies. To foreign observers who 
 still retained their ordinary common-sense, it was 
 obvious from the very first that all such mushroom 
 companies would have to be wiped out before the 
 real advance could be measured. This feverish and 
 absurd activity, however, has now almost ended, 
 and the truth is that, after all has been said and 
 done, at the most ^40,000,000 sterling has been 
 subscribed for new enterprises in the two years since 
 
430 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 the war, and that of this sum something less than 
 ^20,000,000 has been actually paid up. Only a 
 modest advance has therefore occurred. 
 
 The extinction of all these mushroom companies 
 — which at the time of writing is taking place 
 through natural processes that cannot be ignored 
 even by a populace devoted to the idea that form 
 and not substance is the essential — has been re- 
 sponsible, however, for a severe shrinkage in all 
 sound values and will probably lead to a less rapid 
 increase in the productive capacity of the people 
 than might have been conservatively estimated 
 before the country had been exploited by speculators. 
 A feeling of distrust having been engendered by the 
 association of the names of leading Japanese bankers 
 with fictitious creations, it may be predicted with 
 certainty that trade will suffer for some considerable 
 time, and that it will once more devolve on the 
 Government to save the situation by its energy and 
 by the influence it can bring to bear in a hundred 
 directions owing to its centralisation of everything 
 affecting the economic life of the country. 
 
 This small incursion into one of the unbeaten 
 paths of Japanese finance is interesting, inasmuch as 
 it abundantly proves that the people are speculative 
 rather than conservative, and that, as a shrewd 
 writer has recently put it, the essential difference 
 between the Chinaman and the Japanese is that the 
 Chinaman thinks first and acts afterwards, whereas 
 with the Japanese this safe process is reversed. 
 The old European estimate of the Japanese thus 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 431 
 
 remains essentially true, in spite of the surprises of 
 the war ; and the conviction perhaps strengthens in 
 the mind of the student that the Japanese Govern- 
 ment must have summed up the character of its own 
 people correctly, if somewhat cynically, or else it 
 would not have thought it necessary to plunge into 
 national trading and national monopolisation on the 
 scale already adopted. This action of the Japanese 
 Government, indeed, cannot be called flattering to 
 the Japanese people ; and the fact that the proletariat 
 is and must remain not only the servant but the serf 
 of the bureaucracy further accentuates the gulf which 
 really divides responsible government, as understood 
 in the liberal countries of the world, from the de 
 facto autocratic government of Nippon. 
 
 In commerce, in industry, and in shipping, 
 progress is, however, steadily being made. During 
 1906, for the first time since the opening of the 
 country to international trade, Japan's exports 
 exceeded her imports. This result had been 
 arrived at by the united action of the whole nation, 
 reminded in every possible way by the Government 
 that an adverse trade balance, if combined with the 
 country's overseas indebtedness and the consequent 
 outflow of interest and sinking-fund moneys due to 
 the late war, would react unwholesomely on the 
 whole economic life of the people and perhaps lead to 
 grave difficulties. The export of silk was immensely 
 increased, since every village and hamlet contributed 
 an enlarged quota ; whilst the determined adver- 
 tising and pushfulness, displayed in Eastern Asia by 
 
432 THE NEW PROBLteM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 the great crowds of Japanese who have crossed the 
 seas since the war, have been responsible for a 
 largely increased consumption of Japanese manu- 
 factures in Asiatic markets. Indeed, as the 
 Yokohama Foreign Board of Trade— an intelligent 
 body of men watching every movement — has been 
 careful to point out in a marked fashion, the per- 
 centage rise in Japanese exports to the mainland of 
 Asia has been a remarkable feature in the post 
 helium period, and seems, in the estimate of some, 
 to be a step towards that great yet seemingly 
 unattainable goal, which if reached will mean that 
 the banner of Japanese commercial supremacy will 
 float over every Far Eastern market. 
 
 Such a view is, however, premature. The table 
 on the opposite page shows that the trade of Japan, 
 though certainly greatly expanding, is in reality doing 
 little more than making steady progress. 
 
 It will be seen from this table that Japanese 
 commerce amounts at most to Yen 17 (say 34s.) 
 per head of population per annum, and will there- 
 fore have to make immeasurably greater progress 
 than it has ever done before to become a really 
 dangerous competitor in the field east of Singapore. 
 Using the experience of the past as a guide, and 
 having special reference to the period of expan- 
 sion taking place immediately after the Chinese 
 war of 1894-1895, we may assume that by 1915 
 Japan's trade wiH have risen from some eight 
 hundred million yen (^80,000,000 sterling) to 
 approximately fourteen or fifteen hundred million yen 
 
tv 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 433 
 
 Trade of Japan During the Past Twenty-Six Years. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Exports 
 
 
 Imports 
 
 
 Total of Exports and 
 Imports. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total Value. 
 
 Per 
 Head. 
 
 Total Value. 
 Yen. 
 
 Per 
 Head. 
 
 Total Value. 
 
 Per 
 
 Head. 
 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 1872 
 
 17,026,647 
 
 0-51 
 
 26,174,815 
 
 079 
 
 43,201,462 
 
 I '30 
 
 1873 
 
 21,635,441 
 
 0-65 
 
 28,107,390 
 
 0-84 
 
 49,742,831 
 
 I '49 
 
 1874 
 
 19,317,306 
 
 0-57 
 
 23,461,814 
 
 070 
 
 42.779,120 
 
 1-27 
 
 187s 
 
 18,611,111 
 
 0-55 
 
 29,975,628 
 
 0-88 
 
 48,586,738 
 
 1-43 
 
 1876 
 
 27,711.528 
 
 o-8i 
 
 23,964,679 
 
 070 
 
 51,676,206 
 
 f5i 
 
 1S77 
 
 23,348,522 
 
 0-68 
 
 27,420,903 
 
 o-8o 
 
 50,769,425 
 
 1-48 
 
 1878 
 
 25,988, 140 
 
 076 
 
 32,874,834 
 
 0-96 
 
 58,862,974 
 
 172 
 
 1879 
 
 28,175,770 
 
 079 
 
 32,953,002 
 
 0-92 
 
 61,128,773 
 
 171 
 
 1880 
 
 28,395.387 
 
 079 
 
 36,626,601 
 
 I -01 
 
 65,021,988 
 
 I -80 
 
 1881 
 
 31,058,888 
 
 0-85 
 
 31,191,246 
 
 0-86 
 
 62,250,134 
 
 171 
 
 1882 
 
 37,721,751 
 
 r'02 
 
 29,446,594 
 
 o-8o 
 
 67,168,345 
 
 I 82 
 
 1883 
 
 36,268,020 
 
 0-98 
 
 28,444,842 
 
 077 
 
 64,712,861 
 
 175 
 
 1884 
 
 33,871,466 
 
 0-90 
 
 29,672,647 
 
 079 
 
 63,544,113 
 
 1-69 
 
 1885 
 
 37,146,691 
 
 0-98 
 
 29,356,968 
 
 078 
 
 66,503,659 
 
 176 
 
 1886 
 
 48,876,313 
 
 1-27 
 
 32,168,432 
 
 0-84 
 
 81,044,745 
 
 j-ii 
 
 1887 
 
 52,407,681 
 
 1-34 
 
 44,304,252 
 
 1-13 
 
 96,711,933 
 
 2-47 
 
 1888 
 
 65,735,510 
 
 1-66 
 
 65,455,234 
 
 1-65 
 
 131,160,744 
 
 3"3i 
 
 1889 
 
 70,060,706 
 
 1-75 
 
 66,103,767 
 
 1-65 
 
 136,164,472 
 
 3 '40 
 
 1890 
 
 56,603,506 
 
 I '40 
 
 81,728,581 
 
 2 -02 
 
 138,332,087 
 
 3 '42 
 
 1891 
 
 79,527,272 
 
 I "95 
 
 62,927,268 
 
 1-55 
 
 142,454,541 
 
 3-50 
 
 1892 
 
 91,102,754 
 
 ■2.-22 
 
 71,326,080 
 
 174 
 
 i62,42X,833 
 
 3-96 
 
 1893 
 
 89,712,865 
 
 2-i6 
 
 88,257,172 
 
 2-13 
 
 177,970,036 
 
 4-39 
 
 1894 
 
 113,246,986 
 
 271 
 
 117,481,955 
 
 2-8l 
 
 230,728,042 
 
 5-52 
 
 1895 
 
 136,112,178 
 
 3-22 
 
 129,260,578 
 
 3-06 
 
 265,372,756 
 
 6-28 
 
 1896 
 
 117,842,761 
 
 276 
 
 171,6744474 
 
 4-02 
 
 289,517,235 
 
 678 
 
 1897 
 
 163,135,077 
 
 377 
 
 219,300,772 
 
 5-08 
 
 382,435,849 
 
 8-85 
 
 1898 
 
 165,753,753 
 
 HI 
 
 277,502,157 
 
 6-34 
 
 443,245,909 
 
 10-13 
 
 1899 
 
 214,929,894 
 
 486 
 
 220,401,926 
 
 4-98 
 
 435,331,820 
 
 9-20 
 
 1900 
 
 204,429,994 
 
 4-56 
 
 287,261,846 
 
 6-41 
 
 491,691,840 
 
 10 '97 
 
 1901 
 
 252,349,543 
 
 5-55 
 
 255,816,645 
 
 5-61 
 
 508,166,188 
 
 ii-i6 
 
 1902 
 
 258,303,065 
 
 5-6i 
 
 271,731,259 
 
 5 '90 
 
 530,034 323 
 
 11-51 
 
 1903 
 
 289,502,443 
 
 6 '20 
 
 317,135,518 
 
 679 
 
 606,637,960 
 
 12-99 
 
 1904 
 
 319,260,896 
 
 674 
 
 371,360,739 
 
 7-84 
 
 690,621,634 
 
 i4'58 
 
 1905 
 
 321,533,610 
 
 670 
 
 488,538,017 
 
 io-i8 
 
 810,071,627 
 
 16-88 
 
 1906 
 
 423,754,892 
 
 
 418,784,108 
 
 — 
 
 842,539,000 
 
 " 
 
 (say ^140,000,000 or ^150,000,000 sterling). But 
 when the rapidly-increasing population is taken into 
 due consideration, even such a volume of trade will 
 only mean an average of £2 los. per head of popu- 
 lation, and will be far below the per capita trade of 
 the least-developed of European countries. And 
 
 F F 
 
434 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 in connection with this growth another important 
 circumstance must be noted. It is that although 
 the balance of trade, thanks to an exceptional 
 growth in exports, is at present in Japan's favour, 
 it is highly doubtful whether this happy state of 
 affairs will continue, owing to the gradual liquida- 
 tion of the foreign commitments entered into during 
 the war. At present the fact that large borrowings 
 in sterling still remain to the credit of the Japanese 
 Government in London and elsewhere, and can 
 discharge for the time being all calls on the public 
 purse, is sufficient to obscure a circumstance which is 
 best illustrated by the following tables dealing with 
 the year 1905. In these two tables the Japanese 
 Government has with great pains succeeded in 
 collecting figures which must be deemed approx- 
 imately accurate, and which enable a balance-sheet 
 for the Japanese nation to be framed : — 
 
 Table No. i. — Invisible Imports (Receipts). 
 
 Yen. Yen. 
 
 Freight from Japanese ships and premiums collected 
 
 by Japanese Marine Insurance Companies ... 10,602,855 
 
 Classified as follows : — 
 Freight on goods imported by Japanese ships. . . 3,766,353 
 Freight on goods exported by Japanese ships... 4,006,499 
 P'reight on intermediate trade by Japanese ships 674,793 
 
 Passengers' receipts 1,021,110 
 
 Insurance premiums on goods imported and ex- 
 ported by Japanese Marine Insurance Com- 
 panies 1,134,10c 
 
 Amount defrayed by foreign men-of-war, and mer- 
 chantmen and shipping companies in Japan 11,280,017 
 Classified as follows : — 
 
 Articles purchased by foreign merchantmen ... 8,204,434 
 
 Articles purchased by foreign men-of-war ... 1,065,374 
 
 Building, repairing, and docking expenses of 
 
 foreign men-of-war and merchantmen 1,220,193 
 
 Expenditure of branches of foreign shipping 
 
 companies in Japan 253,367 
 
 Tonnage duties and miscellaneous Customs 
 
 receipts 536,649 
 
 Carried forward 21,882,872 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 435 
 
 Table No. i. — Invisible Imports — continued. 
 
 Yen. Yen. 
 
 Brought forward 21,882,872 
 
 Expenditure of foreigners in Japan 25,236,680 
 
 Classified as follows : — ■ 
 
 Expenditure of tourists and travellers visiting 
 
 Japan 18,809,858 
 
 Expenditure of foreign merchant seamen 942,739 
 
 Expenditure of foreign naval seamen 1)774)583 
 
 Remittances received by foreign students in 
 
 Japan 1,080,000 
 
 Remittances received for religious purposes ... 2,629,500 
 
 Profits from enterprises abroad 14,632,099 
 
 Classified as follows : — 
 
 Nett profit from business abroad 3,020,167 
 
 Remittances made and money brought into 
 Japan by emigrants 11,611,932 
 
 Investment of capital in Japan by foreigners 2,454,418 
 
 Receipts of Japanese Government and expenditure 
 
 of foreign Governments in Japan 5,999,116 
 
 Classified as follows : — 
 
 Receipts of Japanese Government from abroad 1,269,408 
 Receipts of principal and interest of the Chinese 
 
 Bonds 3,174,364 
 
 Expenditures of foreign Legations and other 
 expenditures of foreign Governments in Japan 1,555,344 
 
 Grand Total 70,205,185 
 
 This first table is far more normal than the 
 second ; that is to say, it is little influenced by the 
 effects of the war. On the average the invisible 
 imports may be held to correspond to this total of 
 seventy million yen year after year. The second 
 table, invisible exports, or expenditure abroad, is 
 quite different : — 
 
 Table No. 2. — Invisible Exports (Expenditure). 
 
 Freight paid to foreign shipping companies 
 
 Expenditure of Japanese ships and shipping com- 
 panies 
 
 Classified as follows : — 
 Expenditure of branches of Japanese shipping 
 
 companies abroad 
 
 Repairing expenses of Japanese ships abroad . . . 
 
 Tonnage and other duties, as well as passage 
 
 duties of the Suez Canal 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 1,036,586 
 
 
 9,052,140 
 
 760,100 
 64,986 
 
 
 226,322 
 
 
 1,051,408 
 
 10,088,726 
 
 r F 
 
 2 
 
436 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Yen. 
 10,088,726 
 
 1,070,494 
 
 7,280,422 
 
 Table No. 2. — Invisible Exports — continued. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Brought forward 1,051,408 
 
 Articles purchased by Japanese ships abroad, 
 
 and other expenses 1,233,412 
 
 Premiums on ships paid to foreign insurance 
 
 companies 698,519 
 
 Payment made to foreign ships chartered ... 6,068,801 
 
 Expenditure of Japanese abroad 
 
 Classified as follows : — 
 
 Expenditure of Japanese travellers 29,400 
 
 Expenditure of Japanese naval and merchant 
 
 seamen 153,238 
 
 Expenditure of Japanese students abroad at 
 
 their own expense 779,846 
 
 Remittances made for religious purposes 108,010 
 
 Profit of foreigners engaged in business in Japan . . , 
 Classified as follows : — 
 
 Nett profit of foreigners engaged in business in 
 
 Japan 4,063,671 
 
 Nett returns to foreigners from investment in 
 
 Japan 658,271 
 
 Interest from fixed deposits in Banks by 
 
 foreigners ... 151,647 
 
 Remittances by foreigners 2,406,833 
 
 Expenditure respecting the trade of goods, news- 
 papers, and magazines imported by ordinary 
 
 mail 
 
 Expenditure of the Japanese Government abroad . . . 
 Classified as follows : 
 
 Expenditure of Legations and other expenditure 
 
 of the Government 
 
 Payment of principal and interest on loan bonds 
 
 held abroad 
 
 Pa)Tiient of principal and interest on municipal 
 loan bonds held abroad 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 145.136 
 2i4>394,2i3 
 
 179,897,000 
 
 33.oi8>573 
 1,478,640 
 
 232,978,991 
 
 Instead of a modest total of seventy million yen, 
 there is here an immense aggregate of over two 
 hundred and thirty million yen, nearly the whole of 
 which is made up of what is conveniently termed 
 "expenditure of the Japanese Government abroad." 
 Of this expenditure there are two distinct categories 
 — first, war expenditure (payment for warlike stores 
 and supplies, &c.) which is non-recurring, and 
 second, interest and redemption of national and 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 437 
 
 municipal loans. Before going any farther, how- 
 ever, it is convenient to give here a third table 
 which shows exactly how the whole year of 1905 
 balanced for the nation : — 
 
 Table No. 3. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Invisible Imports (Receipts, see Table I ) 70,205,185 
 
 Invisible Exports (Expenditure, see Table 2) 232,978,991 
 
 Balance, being excess of Exports (Expenditure) 162,773,806 
 
 Excess of merchandise imported per Customs statistics for 1905 167,004,407 
 
 Total excess of Imports 329,778,213 
 
 Amount received by the Government on account of foreign loans 
 
 floated in 1905 626,000,000 
 
 Balance ill fevour of Japan 296,221,787 
 
 Total output of gold in Japan, 1905 : — 
 
 Output in the interior Yen 3,000,000 
 
 „ ,, Hokkaido 330,000 
 
 ,, ,, Taiwan 2,000,000 
 
 5,330,000 
 
 Final Balance in favour of Japan 301, 551)787 
 
 It will be seen from this table that at the end of 
 
 1905, thanks to the large sum of Yen 626,000,000 
 received by the Government on account of foreign 
 loans floated during the year, there was a final 
 balance in favour of Japan amounting to over three 
 hundred million yen. But had it not been for these 
 foreign borrowings there would have been an 
 adverse balance of the same size ; European loans, 
 therefore, just reversed the situation. In the year 
 
 1906, although the war expenditure had terminated, 
 the interest and repayment account had reached the 
 high figure of, approximately, Yen 1 10,000,000,^ 
 which must be maintained for a large number of 
 
 " This, however, is by no means certain. The Government state- 
 ment issued during the present year is curiously involved and cannot 
 be properly understood. 
 
438 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 years ; and when the minor categories of invisible 
 exports are added to this the yearly total is in- 
 creased to probably Yen 130,000,000. If, now, it 
 be assumed that the invisible imports average Yen 
 70,000,000 yearly (as in 1905), then Yen 60,000,000 
 per annum must be made up by a growth of exports 
 or by foreign loans. In 1905 Yen 5,000,000 stood 
 at the nation's credit through trading (balance of 
 exports over imports), leaving some Yen 55,000,000 
 to be covered by loans. On the other hand, it is 
 known that a large sum, said to amount to Yen 
 300,000,000, or even more, was still held in London 
 at the beginning of 1907 to the credit of the 
 Japanese Government, and that some fifty million 
 yen more have yet to be received from Russia 
 (prisoners-of-war account). Therefore, for the 
 purpose of redressing the final account at the end 
 of each twelvemonth, Japan has still ample funds 
 for several years to come, although purchases 
 abroad to complete her new armaments will sub- 
 stantially reduce this reserve fund. The crux of 
 the whole future of the country may be said, there- 
 fore, to lie in the rapid increase of her foreign trade 
 and in establishing the yearly Budget on solid 
 foundations. For at least two years no crisis can 
 arise owing to the scientific manner in which foreign 
 borrowings have been manipulated ; but if after the 
 year 1909 bad harvests occur and exports do not 
 expand at a somewhat remarkable pace, Japan will 
 find herself face to face with a financial situation 
 which may necessitate a suspension of loan pay- 
 
JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 439 
 
 ments and a complete recasting of her financial 
 scheme. 
 
 In circumstances containing such dramatic pos- 
 sibilities, even a consideration of the ordinary com- 
 merce of the nation is invested with an amount of 
 fascination not generally to be found in the study of 
 cold figures, and the very centralisation and minute 
 detail work, which are to-day such features of the 
 Japanese system, materially aid this examination. 
 The following table gives a complete list of the 
 Japanese exports and their values for the years 
 1905 and 1906, and shows the remarkable expan- 
 sion, amounting to more than a hundred million 
 yen, made in the latter year : — 
 
 Exports from all Japan. 
 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905- 
 
 Increase or 
 Decrease. 
 
 Manufactured Articles : — 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Silk Tissues, Habutai 
 
 32,768,525 
 
 28,057,980 
 
 + 
 
 4.710,545 
 
 Kaiki 
 
 507,380 
 
 614,525 
 
 - 
 
 107,145 
 
 „ Handkerchiefs 
 
 5,622,038 
 
 4,892,611 
 
 + 
 
 729,427 
 
 Cotton Tissues 
 
 15,617,942 
 
 11,792,084 
 
 + 
 
 4.125.858 
 
 ,, Undershirts and Drawers 
 
 2,563,972 
 
 1,681,654 
 
 + 
 
 882,318 
 
 Towels 
 
 2,174,962 
 
 1,608,087 
 
 + 
 
 566,875 
 
 Matches 
 
 10,915,905 
 
 10,360,762 
 
 + 
 
 555.143 
 
 Mats and Matting ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hanagoza 
 
 5.829,643 
 
 5,086,987 
 
 + 
 
 742,656 
 
 Porcelain and Earthenware ... 
 
 7.942,927 
 
 5,324,344 
 
 + 
 
 2,618,583 
 
 Lacquer Ware 
 
 1,721,531 
 
 1,234,021 
 
 + 
 
 487,510 
 
 Umbrellas, European style .. 
 
 1,792,412 
 
 1,582,798 
 
 + 
 
 209,614 
 
 Cigarettes 
 
 1.773.419 
 
 3,092,133 
 
 - 
 
 1.318,714 
 
 Beer 
 
 1,563,658 
 
 1,337,447 
 
 + 
 
 i86,2ii 
 
 Saki 
 
 3,122,897 
 
 4.982,365 
 
 - 
 
 1,859,468 
 
 Refined Sugar 
 
 10,984,204 
 
 3,861,016 
 
 -r 
 
 7.123,188 
 
 Clothing and Accessories 
 
 9,667,182 
 
 5. 576, 849 
 
 + 
 
 4.090,333 
 
 Drugs, Medicines, and Chem- 
 
 
 
 
 
 icals 
 
 2,937.336 
 
 2,486,030 
 
 + 
 
 451,306 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 117,505.933 
 
 93.571,693 
 
 + 23,934.240 
 
44° 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Exports from all Japan — continued. 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905. 
 
 Increase or 
 Decrease. 
 
 Manufactured Articles (con- 
 tinued) ; — 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 Paper and Paper Manufactures 
 Manufactures of Bamboo 
 
 Brushes 
 
 Fans 
 
 Glassware , 
 
 Soap 
 
 Stationery 
 
 Steamers 
 
 Manufactured Articles, Half- 
 wrought : — 
 
 Silk, Raw " 
 
 ,, Noshi and Waste 
 
 Cotton Yarns 
 
 Straw Plaits 
 
 Tea 
 
 Camphor 
 
 Timber 
 
 Wood Chip Braid 
 
 Jiaw Products: — 
 
 Coal 
 
 Rice 
 
 Cuttle-fish 
 
 Seaweed and Cut Seaweed 
 Mushrooms (Shiitake) 
 Copper, Coarse and Refined ... 
 
 Fish Oil ... 
 
 Vegetable Wax 
 
 Menthol Crystals and Oil 
 
 Sulphur 
 
 Furs 
 
 Others 
 
 Total 
 
 ...Yen 
 
 Yen. 
 
 117.505,933 
 
 4,634,892 
 
 1,072,224 
 
 i,i93>7i8 
 
 1,221,082 
 
 2,673,131 
 
 821,653 
 
 958,748 
 
 72,823 
 
 110,442,800 
 5.815. 149 
 
 35.303.526 
 3,572,679 
 
 10,767,090 
 
 3.632,785 
 9,329,359 
 1,143.859 
 
 16,280,072 
 3,687,083 
 2,219,150 
 1,834,484 
 1,302,896 
 
 25,104,955 
 1,222,984 
 1,092,447 
 888,693 
 1,291,911 
 1,033,116 
 
 60,199,622 
 
 423,754,892 
 
 Yen. 
 
 93,571.693 
 3,003,227 
 
 900.555 
 897,847 
 917,157 
 1,753.194 
 676,129 
 704,546 
 797,200 
 
 71.843.755 
 6,233,164 
 
 33,246,462 
 3,827,108 
 
 10,584,322 
 2.566,233 
 5.197.230 
 1,626,873 
 
 14,267,867 
 3,126,989 
 2,157,830 
 1,549,397 
 1,036,949 
 
 16,048,452 
 
 743,324 
 804,229 
 1,289,215 
 971,921 
 726,036 
 40,734,636 
 
 321,533,610 
 
 Yen. 
 23,934,240 
 1,631,665 
 171,669 
 295,871 
 303,925 
 919,937 
 145,524 
 254,202 
 
 724,337 
 
 + 38,599,045 
 
 418,015 
 
 + 2,057,064 
 
 - 254,429 
 + 182,768 
 + 1,066,522 
 + 4,132,129 
 
 - 483,014 
 
 + 2,012,205 
 
 + 560,094 
 
 -I- 61,320 ■ 
 
 + 285,087 
 
 + 265,947 
 
 + 9,056,503 
 -f 479.660 
 -I- 288,148 
 400,522 
 + 319.990 
 -I- 307,080 
 + 19,474,986 
 
 + 102,221,282 
 
 From this list it will be seen that silk accounted 
 for nearly forty-five per cent, of the advance made ; 
 that copper, largely owing to the enhancement in 
 the price of that metal throughout the world, was 
 responsible for a further nine per cent. ; that 
 
IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 441 
 
 refined sugar gave another seven per cent. ; cottons 
 seven and a half per cent. ; timber four per cent. ; 
 porcelain two and a half per cent. ; and coal two 
 per cent. Thus approximately seventy-five per 
 cent, of the advance is accounted for by the in- 
 creased export of seven articles ; and therefore on 
 the exports of silk, copper, sugar, cottons, timber, 
 porcelain, and coal, the financial fate of Japan may 
 depend. 
 
 Equally interesting is the companion table, which 
 gives the comparative figures for the years 1905 
 and 1906 of the principal articles of import for the 
 whole of Japan : — 
 
 Imports for the whole 
 
 OF Japan. 
 
 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905- 
 
 Increase or 
 Decrease. 
 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Raw Cotton 
 
 82,661,859 
 
 110,623,183 
 
 -27,961,324 
 
 Cotton Yarn 
 
 4,656,342 
 
 1,701,866 
 
 + 2,954,476 
 
 Wool 
 
 9,174,028 
 
 8,347.568 
 
 + 826,760 
 
 Woollen Yarns 
 
 2,439.588 
 
 5. 150.399 
 
 - 2,710,811 
 
 Flax, Hemp, Jute, &c 
 
 3.374.099 
 
 3.358,251 
 
 + 15,848 
 
 Iron Nails 
 
 2,630,914 
 
 2,609,431 
 
 + 11,483 
 
 Rails 
 
 2,216,192 
 
 942,633 
 
 + 1,273,559 
 
 Iron, Bar and Rod 
 
 5,729.753 
 
 7,197,765 
 
 - 1,468,030 
 
 Iron, Pipes and Tubes 
 
 1.993.763 
 
 2,136,829 
 
 - 143.136 
 
 Iron and Mild Steel : — 
 
 
 
 
 Pig and Ingot 
 
 3,822.667 
 
 5,534,014 
 
 - 1,711,347 
 
 Plate and Sheet 
 
 5,400,124 
 
 5,694,934 
 
 294,810 
 
 Galvanised Sheets 
 
 3,406,131 
 
 3,361,870 
 
 + 38,261 
 
 Tinplates 
 
 539.433 
 
 4,698,063 
 
 - 4,158,630 
 
 Telegraph Wire 
 
 1,137,987 
 
 1,206,068 
 
 68,081 
 
 Material for Bridges and 
 
 
 
 
 Buildings 
 
 804,123 
 
 577,899 
 
 + 326,024 
 
 HijTh Class Steel 
 
 1,339,628 
 
 2,198,529 
 
 - 858,901 
 
 Aluminium 
 
 788,963 
 
 1,096,398 
 
 - 307.43s 
 
 Copper 
 
 109,702 
 
 1,900,476 
 
 - 1.790,774 
 
 Lead 
 
 1,457,498 
 
 1,295,796 
 
 + 161,712 
 
 Nickel 
 
 666,486 
 
 1,177,642 
 
 - 511.176 
 
 Tin 
 
 1,188,679 
 
 1,628,150 
 
 - 439,471 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 135.537,959 
 
 172,437,764 
 
 -36,899,805 
 
442 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Imports for the whole of Japan — rontinued. 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905. 
 
 Increase or 
 Decrease. 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 Zinc 
 
 Indigo, Dry and Artificial 
 
 Paper 
 
 Leather, sole and other . . 
 
 Hides 
 
 Machinery and Engines .. 
 Locomotive Engines, Railway 
 Passenger and Freight Cars. 
 
 Steam Vessels 
 
 Mousseline de Laine 
 
 Woollen Cloth 
 
 Cotton Drills 
 
 ,, Duck 
 
 ,, Prints 
 
 ,, Satteens and Italians .. 
 
 ,, Velvets 
 
 ,, Flannels 
 
 Shirtings, Grey 
 
 White 
 
 Umbrella Cloth 
 
 Woollen and Mixture Cloths .. 
 Flax, Linen and Jute Canvas.. 
 Sugar, Brown and White 
 
 Rice 
 
 Beans, Peas and Pulse 
 
 Flour, Wheat 
 
 Wheat 
 
 Grains and Seeds 
 
 Condensed Milk 
 
 Beverages and Comestibles .. 
 
 Kerosene Oil 
 
 Oil Cake 
 
 Manures 
 
 Photographic Apparatus and 
 
 Supplies 
 
 Watches and Parts ... . 
 Clothing and Accessories 
 Drugs, Chemicals and Medi 
 
 cines 
 
 Aniline Dyes 
 
 Glass 
 
 Paraffin Wax 
 
 Cocoons 
 
 Raw Silk 
 
 Blankets 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 Coal 
 
 Others 
 
 Yen. 
 
 135.537959 
 2,210,792 
 4,446,872 
 
 6,414.373 
 3,022,911 
 
 1.567.45° 
 18,705,982 
 
 2,913,208 
 
 1,742,282 
 
 2,671,568 
 
 11,266,918 
 
 94.172 
 
 112,501 
 
 2,572,330 
 
 2,187,795 
 
 713.145 
 
 1,054,232 
 
 7,450,071 
 
 1,284, 184 
 
 1.593.348 
 
 3. 345. 546 
 
 159,346 
 
 23.725.974 
 
 26,172,079 
 
 9,718,290 
 
 8,190,982 
 
 1.371.748 
 
 2,671,653 
 
 1,508,774 
 
 5,006,185 
 
 12,326,893 
 
 15,650,133 
 13,832,172 
 
 712,573 
 2,927,349 
 2,456,262 
 
 10,169,794 
 ^496,582 
 2,865,952 
 
 1.635.736 
 
 799,140 
 
 1,605,696 
 
 354.583 
 
 1,745,003 
 
 259,990 
 
 59,453,318 
 
 Yen. 
 172,437,764 
 4.138,799 
 2,829,736 
 
 6,337,405 
 14,050,371 
 
 2,189,675 
 20,923,351 
 
 4,376,906 
 7,660,293 
 3,066,369 
 10,879,308 
 1,012,292 
 1,708,211 
 1,392,977 
 1,999,924 
 864,089 
 
 481,533 
 6,253,121 
 1,699,826 
 
 792,334 
 
 4,544,458 
 
 2,381,214 
 
 13,706,188 
 
 47,981,265 
 
 10,593,112 
 
 9,951.367 
 4,012,092 
 
 3,986,536 
 
 1,608,359 
 
 3,785,189 
 
 12,061,261 
 
 11,350,278 
 
 10,987,240 
 
 688,577 
 1,575,078 
 1,840,747 
 
 10,909,106 
 1,679,892 
 1,762,438 
 1,108,344 
 531,262 
 1,223,170 
 4,708,066 
 2,217,571 
 5,464,722 
 
 52,824,951 
 
 Yen. 
 
 - 36,899,8=5 
 
 - 1,921,005 
 + 1,617,133 
 + 76,968 
 
 - 11,027,460 
 
 622,225 
 
 - 2,217,369 
 
 - 1,463,698 
 
 - 5.918,011 
 
 394,801 
 + 387,610 
 
 - 918,120 
 
 - 1,595,710 
 
 + 1. 179.353 
 + 187,871 
 
 - 150.944 
 + 572,699 
 
 - 1,196,950 
 
 - 415,642 
 + 801,014 
 
 - 1,233,912 
 
 - 2i22i,868 
 + 10,019,786 
 -21,809,186 
 
 874,822 
 
 - 1,760,385 
 
 - 2,640,344 
 
 - 1,314,883 
 
 99,605 
 + 1,220,996 
 •I- 265,632 
 + 4,289,855 
 + 2,844,932 
 
 + 24,016 
 + 1,352,271 
 + 615,515 
 
 739,312 
 916,690 
 1,103,514 
 527,392 
 267,878 
 382,526 
 
 4.353.483 
 
 472,568 
 
 5,205,732 
 
 6,628,367 
 
 Total 
 
 418,784,108 
 
 488,538,017 
 
 -69,753.909 
 
TOTAL VALUE OF EXPORTS & IMPORTS OF COMMODITIES IN JAPAM. 
 
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 THE GROWING TENDENCIES OF JAPANESE TRADE ARE WELL ILLUSTRATED IN THIS 
 TABLE, !? TOWARDS AN ASIATIC MONOPOLY. 
 
 ASIA. 
 
 EUROPE 
 
 AMERICA 
 
 EXPORT!, 
 
 ill OTHER \—l 
 
 ■(countries — I 
 
 IMPORTS 
 
 l$0 
 
 Millions 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 443 
 
 This table of imports, showing a shrinkage for the 
 year 1906 of nearly seventy million yen, is of course 
 in a way considerably less significant than the 
 previous list of exports. In 1905 large importa- 
 tions of raw and manufactured materials were still 
 arriving to feed the war. In 1906, with peace in 
 the land, a single item such as leather — so indispen- 
 sable for military purposes — shows a diminution of 
 eleven million yen ; and steam vessels and railway 
 materials, necessary in 1905 to fill the gaps created 
 by the exigencies of war, accounted for a further 
 shrinkage of nearly seven and a half million yen. 
 But most remarkable of all are two items accounting 
 for about seventy per cent, of the total decrease of 
 1906. These are raw cotton, which diminished by 
 nearly twenty-eight million yen, and rice, which 
 diminished by nearly twenty-two million yen. The 
 first is by far the most important raw stuff imported 
 into Japan ; the second is the Japanese staff of life. 
 Cotton must be imported in growing quantities if 
 the cotton industry is to flourish ; rice is an 
 absolute essential to a rapidly-expanding popula- 
 tion such as that of Japan. Now, both of these 
 diminutions, which did so much to cause the victory 
 of exports over imports,, were due to exceptional 
 causes — in the first case, to the fact that in the year 
 1905 immense stocks of cotton had been purchased 
 by Japanese spinners, leaving large quantities on 
 hand during 1906 ; in the second, to the fact that 
 the rice-crop was an exceptionally good one, and 
 
444 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 that army-orders for bulk shipments had ceased. 
 In this respect, therefore, 1906 must be rated a 
 somewhat abnormal year as regards the two main 
 categories of imports ; for expert opinion has already 
 decided that increased supplies of both cotton and 
 rice must be obtained in 1907. It is clear, then, 
 that the total of imports cannot be maintained at its 
 present reduced figure without sterilising industrial 
 activities. 
 
 In such circumstances the continuous energy, 
 abroad as well as at home, of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment — the official middleman of the whole nation — 
 is intelligible, even though it be deemed repre- 
 hensible by independent observers, in whom certain 
 principles of fair play and equal opportunity for all, 
 irrespective of nationality, are ingrained. The 
 Japanese Government, with its mind fixed on the 
 balance of trade and the necessity of securing that 
 the drain of loan-repayment does not upset its entire 
 plan of campaign, is simply attempting to arrange that 
 an increase of imports shall occur only pari passu 
 with a still larger increase of exports arising out of a 
 great industrial movement. If only cotton and rice 
 could be obtained within the limits of a Japanese 
 Zollverein, in the eyes of the Tokyo Government 
 one of the main dangers of the present situation 
 would be dissipated, and certain projects, now being 
 held back because of a growing nervousness, would 
 speedily be put into execution. 
 
 With such conditions prevailing it is easy to 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 445 
 
 understand the importance to Japan of the Korean 
 question. For were Korea to become an appanage 
 of the Japanese crown, the cultivation of cotton and 
 rice on a definite plan might be ordered, and if 
 necessary, forcibly carried out, thereby securing that 
 during the next five or six economically crucial years 
 things would continue to remain just sufficiently in 
 Japan's favour to allow the completion of the entire 
 and extraordinarily comprehensive post bellum plan, 
 Korea, however, cannot be seized without the open 
 ruin of Japan's European and American credit ; and 
 since European and American borrowings are 
 necessary during the present transition period in 
 order to permit the heavy expenditure on arma- 
 ments to be maintained and the industries of the 
 country to be pushed forward, Japan must stay her 
 hand in Korea until she is financially independent 
 of the white nations. The situation, therefore, 
 grows in interest as each new factor is examined 
 and understood ; and something of the subtle work 
 which Japanese statesmen are now undertaking 
 becomes clearer and clearer. For to every advan- 
 tage, geographical and otherwise, which Japan 
 possesses, there is to be found a corresponding 
 obstacle which has to be overcome ; and as each 
 successive obstacle is overcome or its importance 
 diminished, enabling another big forward move- 
 ment to take place, other fresh difficulties are dis- 
 closed, which only renewed efforts and silent 
 patience can strip of their dangerous qualities. 
 
446 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Korea, therefore, is of very little use at the present 
 moment in aiding in the readjustment of Japan's 
 complicated balance sheet. At best it is an 
 " invisible export," since if Japanese emigration 
 into Korea can be largely increased, the home 
 remittances of the emigrants must in the end 
 amount to a respectable sum and promote a big 
 export of Japanese manufactures to the Hermit 
 Kingdom. 
 
 But apart from this, although both cotton and 
 rice already flourish in Korea, the latter staple will 
 never be available for export in large quantities, 
 owing to the mountainous nature of the country 
 and to the fact that the valleys and plains already 
 contain a population of ten million natives. Rice 
 cannot be found by Japan in sufficient stores in such 
 northerly climes. It must come from the south ; 
 and ultimately, for that reason, Japan's path of 
 empire must be southward, rather than northward 
 or westward or eastward. Already most of the 
 importations of rice come from Saigon or Rangoon ; 
 for although sufficient quantities might be drawn 
 from the Yangtsze Valley, the prohibition placed by 
 the China Treaties on the exportation of this staple 
 Chinese foodstuff makes this impossible, except at 
 special periods which are covered by special rules. 
 The ideal Japanese colony is, therefore, in the 
 south. The Philippines and Indo-China are the 
 best and richest regions, and could supply Japanese 
 wants for centuries to come ; but unfortunately two 
 
JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 447 
 
 Great Powers bar this way southward, and without 
 war these granaries could not be seized. That an 
 attempt may be made to seize one or the other at 
 some period during the present century is not so 
 unlikely as it now appears, and it therefore behoves 
 statesmen to note how intimately connected all Asia 
 has become with the rise ot the New Japan. So 
 important are these questions of foodstuffs and 
 materials for manufacture that three more tables 
 must be given to make the position perfectly clear. 
 The first shows the total importation of foodstuffs 
 into Japan, item by item during the past four 
 vears : — 
 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905- 
 
 1904. 
 
 1903. 
 
 Beans, Peas, and 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Pulse 
 
 9,718,290 
 
 10,593,112 
 
 8,624,846 
 
 7,993,412 
 
 Flour 
 
 8,190,982 
 
 9,951,367 
 
 9,625,398 
 
 10,324,420 
 
 Rice 
 
 26,172,079 
 
 47,981,265 
 
 59,791,911 
 
 51,960,272 
 
 Sugar 
 
 23,725,974 
 
 13,706,188 
 
 23,043,008 
 
 20,966,031 
 
 Eggs 
 
 1,176,932 
 
 953,358 
 
 493,012 
 
 815,237 
 
 Salted Fish 
 
 I,9I9,«4S 
 
 736,271 
 
 580,202 
 
 1,591,321 
 
 Condensed Milk . . . 
 
 1,508,774 
 
 1,608,379 
 
 1,178,099 
 
 979,900 
 
 Wheat 
 
 1,371,748 
 
 4,012,092 
 
 1,536,773 
 
 4,767,839 
 
 Grains and Seeds ... 
 
 2,671,653 
 
 3,986,536 
 
 3,139,699 
 
 2,391,922 
 
 Totals 
 
 76,455,577 
 
 93,528,568 
 
 108,012,948 
 
 101,790,544 
 
 This table tells its own story. It seems quite 
 clear that the year 1906 was exceptional in every 
 way, and that large increases in the importations of 
 all foodstuffs must be expected during succeeding 
 years. The next table gives the corresponding 
 figures for the import of materials for manufacture : — 
 
448 
 
 THE NEW fROBLEM OP EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905- 
 
 1904. 
 
 1903. 
 
 Cotton 
 
 Wool 
 
 Flax, Hemp, Jute, 
 
 and China Grass.. 
 
 Indigo ... 
 
 Aniline Dyes 
 
 Logwood Extract... 
 
 Phosphorus 
 
 Paraffin Wax 
 Chlorate of Potash.. 
 
 Leather 
 
 Cotton Yarns 
 
 Woollen Yarns 
 Metals and Metal 
 
 Manufactures ... 
 
 Caustic Soda 
 
 TussahSilk 
 
 Pulp 
 
 Yen. 
 82,661,859 
 9,174,328 
 
 3,374,099 
 
 4,446,872 
 
 2,496,582 
 
 126,622 
 
 595,111 
 1,635,736 
 1,098,620 
 3,022,911 
 4,656,342 
 2,439,588 
 
 48,202,625 
 
 976,375 
 1,605,696 
 1,764,002 
 
 Yen. 
 110,623,183 
 8,347,568 
 
 3,358251 
 
 • ,829,739 
 
 1,679,892 
 
 262,425 
 
 513,023 
 
 1,108,344 
 
 767,3" 
 
 14,050,371 
 
 1,701,866 
 
 5,150,399 
 
 56,254,880 
 1,137,264 
 1,223,170 
 1,047,229 
 
 Yen. 
 73,420,386 
 9,971,055 
 
 2,262,258 
 
 2,117,678 
 
 1,046,369 
 
 60,897 
 
 386,108 
 1,262,885 
 
 785,478 
 4,364,967 
 
 343,290 
 2,912,711 
 
 30,594,946 
 639,151 
 437,083 
 855,579 
 
 Yen. 
 
 69,518,110 
 
 4,811,811 
 
 1,758,065 
 4,350,816 
 
 1,430,043 
 144,812 
 
 354,971 
 947.531 
 750,587 
 
 1,532,268 
 766,287 
 
 1,144,073 
 
 23,890,434 
 705,053 
 596,725 
 
 Totals 
 
 168,277,408 
 
 210,054,985 
 
 131,370,941 
 
 112,701,586 
 
 There can be no question that cotton and metals 
 must continue to be imported on an ever increasing 
 scale, and in this connection it is worthy of special 
 note that Japan is already forced to draw nearly her 
 entire supplies of iron-ore from the Yangtsze Valley. 
 If it is true that steel is the real measure of in- 
 dustrial strength, this is peculiarly significant ; and 
 the Yangtsze Valley may become as necessary to 
 Japan as a southern granary. The third table is 
 a comparative statement of the import of textiles, 
 and shows that in spite of the efforts of Japanese 
 manufacturers and the existence of a scientific 
 Customs tariff, to which further reference will 
 presently be made, the growth of well-being and 
 luxury throughout the nation is slowly demanding 
 
IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. 
 
 449 
 
 fabrics superior to those supplied by Japanese 
 mills: — 
 
 
 1906. 
 
 1905. 
 
 1904. 
 
 1903. 
 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Cotton Prints 
 
 2,572,330 
 
 1.392,977 
 
 532,093 
 
 1,975.376 
 
 „ Drills ... 
 
 94.172 
 
 1,012,292 
 
 1,221,702 
 
 108,644 
 
 Satins and Italians 
 
 2,187,79s 
 
 1,999,924 
 
 656,546 
 
 1,140,858 
 
 „ Velvets 
 
 713.14s 
 
 864,089 
 
 293,577 
 
 759.709 
 
 „ Flannels 
 
 1,054,232 
 
 481,533 
 
 272,115 
 
 536,946 
 
 „ Duck 
 
 112,501 
 
 1,708,211 
 
 1,005,969 
 
 74,298 
 
 Grey Shirtings 
 
 7,450,071 
 
 6,253,121 
 
 2,335,702 
 
 3,605,876 
 
 White „ 
 
 1,284,184 
 
 1,699,826 
 
 637,562 
 
 648,492 
 
 Turkey Reds 
 
 
 186,602 
 
 7,426 
 
 361,787 
 
 All other Cottons 
 
 4.272,233 
 
 3,432,987 
 
 2,649,581 
 
 1,835,584 
 
 Blankets 
 
 354.583 
 
 4,708,066 
 
 6,423,113 
 
 166,269 
 
 Flannels (Cotton Mix- 
 
 
 
 
 
 tures) 
 
 422,604 
 
 225,279 
 
 190,089 
 
 104,216 
 
 Flannels 
 
 316,49s 
 
 414,670 
 
 108,947 
 
 284,799 
 
 Italian Cloth 
 
 525.339 
 
 775.179 
 
 165,378 
 
 650.579 
 
 Mousseline de Laine ... 
 
 2,671,568 
 
 3,066,369 
 
 1,818,551 
 
 4,189,076 
 
 Woollen Cloths 
 
 11,266,918 
 
 10,879,308 
 
 1.754,255 
 
 2,610,394 
 
 Partly Woollen Cloths... 
 
 3.315.546 
 
 4,549,458 
 
 825,983 
 
 954,852 
 
 All other Woollens 
 
 2,583,900 
 
 1,824,192 
 
 1,580,449 
 
 1,619,178 
 
 Flax, Linen, and Jute 
 
 
 
 
 
 Canvas 
 
 159.346 
 
 2,381,214 
 
 480,701 
 
 16,136 
 
 Totals 
 
 41,356,962 
 
 47,855,297 
 
 22,959,739 
 
 21,573,069 
 
 The increasing anxiety of the Japanese Govern- 
 ment to promote Japanese industries and enterprises, 
 which critics possessing but a superficial knowledge 
 of the facts stupidly proclaim as a mere Boxer-like 
 hatred of the European and all his works, is inspired, 
 then, by a definite knowledge of the many dangers 
 which can only be understood by the aid of endless 
 strings of figures, and by a proper estimation of the 
 non-effectiveness, measured by a Caucasian standard, 
 of each individual Japanese in industrial and other 
 constructive work. This anxiety is thus something 
 
 G G 
 
4S0 THE NEW P,ROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 quite different from hatred, although, of course, 
 competition which is at first ineffective until extra- 
 ordinary and favourising aids are introduced, tends 
 to inspire jealousy, and jealousy is the soured 
 mother of hatred. This anxiety, further, extends 
 to every field of the nation's enterprise, and scru- 
 tinises from day to day — almost one might say from 
 hour to hour — not only its trade imports and exports 
 and its every activity, but even its invisible exports 
 and imports and its whole invisible life. Nothing 
 so extraordinary and peculiar has ever been seen in 
 the history of modern nations, for although Prussia 
 is undoubtedly the real Japanese model, the entire 
 absence of individualism in the real sense among 
 the Japanese makes it possible for the Tokyo Govern- 
 ment to act as no European Government — neither 
 that of Russia nor that of Germany — would dare 
 to act. Such a condition of dependence on bureau- 
 cracy has scarcely ever been seen before. In this 
 connection it is interesting to insert a complete list 
 of the subventions and aids granted by the Treasury 
 during the present fiscal year (1907- 1908), in order 
 to show the extent to- which the Government pro- 
 tects, oversees, and controls scores of different 
 concerns by the simple method of granting sub- 
 sidies, entailing the presence of Government officials 
 and Government inspectors. And in order to obtain 
 a proper understanding of the power of this 
 Government influence, the list must be read with 
 a constant remembrance of the facts that the rail- 
 ways are being nationalised as rapidly as possible ; 
 
JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 451 
 
 that tobacco, salt, and camphor are Government 
 monopolies ; that the Customs tariff is regulated in 
 such a fashion as to help all classes of manufacturers, 
 and, at the same time, to reduce them to a position 
 of dependence on the Government (which would 
 have no difficulty in " remedying " the tariff to coerce 
 recalcitrants) ; and that the great banks are all mere 
 Government departments. 
 
 I. — Aids and Subventions Fixed Prior to the Fiscal Year 1907-8. 
 
 (3) Department of Home Affairs — Yen, 
 
 For the Prevention of Contagious Diseases 221,211 
 
 Grants to Localities 203,765 
 
 Expenses of Repairing the Enclosure of tlie Palace 26,000 
 
 Education in the Ogasawara Islands 2,433 
 
 „ ,, Okinawa Prefecture 3,440. 
 
 Okinawa Local Expenditure 41,235' 
 
 Ogasawara Sanitary and Hospital Expenses 1,320 
 
 Okinawa ,, ,, ,, 4,800 
 
 Preservation of Old Slirines 150,000 
 
 Tokyo Water Works 170,000 
 
 Osaka Harbour Works 468,000 
 
 Works to prevent Silting 200,000 
 
 Hokkaido Local Expenses 470,000 
 
 (i) Finance Department — 
 
 Pensions for Primary School Teachers 70,249 
 
 Agricultural and Manufacturing Bank 5,000 
 
 Formosa Bank 250,000 
 
 Fund for Succouring Calamities 425,000 
 
 (c) Education Department- 
 
 Primary Schools 1,000,000 
 
 TechnicalSchools 325,000 
 
 [d) Department of Agriculture and Commerce — 
 
 Agricultural Associations.., 148,500 
 
 Agricultural Experiment Stations 84,932 
 
 Marine Products Experiment Stations 64,854 
 
 Manufacturing Experiment Stations 30,000 
 
 Training Business Students 64,818 
 
 Deep- Sea, Fishing 106,816 
 
 Sugar Cultivation in Oshima (Kagoshima) 7,800 
 
 Instruction in adjusting Farm Boundaries 9,000 
 
 Encouragement to adjustment of Farm, Boundaries 4iS>°oo 
 
 Carried forward 4.969.743 
 
 G G 2 
 
452 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA ChaP. 
 
 I.— Aids and Subventions Fixed Prior to the Fiscal Year 1907-8 
 
 — centinued. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Brought forward 4.969,743 
 
 («) Communications Department — 
 
 International Railway Union 200 
 
 International Navigation Council 2,000 
 
 Australian Steamship Line 473,092 
 
 Ports of Call 50,000 
 
 European Steamship Line 2,673,895 
 
 Seattle Steamship Line 654,030 
 
 San Francisco Steamship Line 1,013,880 
 
 Far Eastern Sea Steamship Line 530,000 
 
 Okinawa Saki Steamship Line 9,000 
 
 ,, Steamship Line S,40o 
 
 Encouragement to Navigation 1,538,004 
 
 „ Ship-building 798,500 
 
 12,717,744 
 
 Grand Total 
 
 II. — Additional Aids and Subventions asked for in 
 
 (a) Department of Home Affairs — 
 
 Akita Water Works {part of additional grant of 32,000 yen 
 on account of increase of works) 
 
 Kyoto Water Woi 
 
 Osaka 
 
 Nagoya 
 
 Niigata 
 
 Moji 
 
 Sakai 
 
 Takasaki 
 
 Otaru 
 
 Nagoya Sewage Works 
 
 Hiroshima ,, ,, . 
 
 Miye Roads Improvement 
 
 ks (part of a ngw grant of 750,000 yen) 
 
 2,420,000 
 
 1,170,000 
 
 215,000 
 
 ) 
 ) 
 ) 
 341,000 „ ) 
 150,000 „ ) 
 145,000 „ ) 
 250,000 „ ) 
 566,000 ,, ) 
 325,000 
 152,000 
 
 ) 
 
 (i) Department of Finance — 
 
 Education of Settlers in Korea (grants to each of the Settle- 
 ment Schools within a total limit of 20,000 yen) 
 
 Marine Products Guild, Korean Waters 
 
 (c) Department of Justice — 
 
 Works for Encouraging Released Convicts 
 
 (d) Department of Agriculture and Commerce — 
 
 Aid to Prevent Diseases of Silkworms 
 
 Aid for building Coal Furnaces for Keramic Wares (namely, 
 5,000 yen each for every complete furnace constructed of 
 this nature) 
 
 Encouragement to Mulberry Culture 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 1907. 
 Yen. 
 
 16,000 
 40,000 
 60,000 
 29,000 
 27,000 
 30,000 
 28,000 
 17,000 
 20,000 
 10,000 
 22,000 
 63,000 
 
 20,000 
 20,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 10,000 
 80,000 
 
 602,000 
 
IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 453 
 
 II.— Additional Aids and Subventions asked for in ly^^— continued. 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 (e) Department of Communications — 
 
 Education of Seamen 
 
 Relief of Disasters at Sea ..- 
 
 Subsidy for China S.S. Service 
 
 (The above three grants are for five consecutive years be- 
 ginning from the fiscal year 1906-7.) 
 Subsidy for S.S. Service in Japanese Waters 
 
 ,, „ ,, to Ogasawara 
 
 „ „ ,, to Kagoshima Islands 
 
 „ „ „ to Ogasawara Islands 
 
 „ „ „ to Oki Island 
 
 (The above five grants are for three consecutive years be- 
 ginning from the fiscal year 1906-7.) 
 Subsidy for S.S. Service to Hokkaido ... 
 
 (For four consecutive years beginning from 1906-7, 
 
 Subsidy for S.S. Service to Tairen 
 
 (For five consecutive years beginning from 1907-8, 
 Subsidy for S. S. Service to Izu Islands 
 
 (For three consecutive years beginning from 1907-8. ) 
 
 Total of New Grants in 1907-8 
 
 Grand Total of Old and New Grants for 1907-8 ... 
 
 Yen. 
 602,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 20,000 
 
 800,000 
 
 351,000 
 
 15,480 
 
 22,800 
 
 1,520 
 
 5.400 
 
 189,512 
 140,000 
 7.560 
 
 2,160,272 
 ... 14,878,016 
 
 It will be seen from this list that the subsidising 
 scheme reaches every enterprise whose success will 
 immediately affect the nation's annual balance-sheet. 
 Silk cultivation is assisted, as silk is an important 
 export ; water-works are subsidised in a dozen 
 different places to assist the growth of industries in 
 the surrounding districts ; but most significant of all 
 is the shipping policy. There is the encouragement 
 to ship-building in the form of cash bonuses on the 
 construction of all vessels over 1,000 tons ; there is 
 encouragement to navigation in the usual forms of a 
 sea-mileage grant ; and last of all there is a complete 
 list of subsidies, which covers all the important 
 shipping companies and which enables them almost 
 to work at a loss, safe in the knowledge that at the 
 
454 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 end of each financial year — during a definite long- 
 term period provided for in the Budget — there will 
 be the Government dole to distribute among 
 directors and shareholders. Such shipping subsidies 
 form the most interesting category for the European 
 critic, because it is impossible for neutrals to meet 
 such favoured competition on equal terms, although 
 the superior business capacity of Europeans and their 
 abundance of capital are factors which have hitherto 
 not been overcome by Japanese companies and 
 pools. Therefore the shipping question merits 
 special attention, since not only is it a very important 
 and decisive factor in the general Japanese balance- 
 sheet — the subject immediately under discussion — 
 but it exercises a great influence on European enter- 
 prise in the Far Eastern waters. If Japan could only 
 become the general carrier of Eastern Asia, her 
 finances would gradually lose their present danger ; 
 and how keenly this is appreciated is shown by the 
 fact that although 1906 is hardly ended at the 
 moment of writing, an analysis has already been 
 made of the value of the goods carried to and 
 from Japan in Japanese and foreign bottoms during 
 the year : — 
 
 
 Exports. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Totals. 
 
 Value carried in Japanese bottoms 
 ,, „ Foreign 
 
 Yen. 
 176,320,247 
 232,505:860 
 
 Yen. 
 85,696,250 
 325.352,585 
 
 Yen. 
 262,016,497 
 557,858,445 
 
 Total 
 
 408,826,117 
 
 411,048,835 
 
 819,874,942 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 455 
 
 These figures are said to cover the nine ports 
 of Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Nagasaki, Hakodate, 
 Yokkaichi, Moji, Bakan, and Kochinotsu. Although 
 they are not complete — for the official returns show 
 that the total volume of the trade for 1906 was 
 over eight hundred and forty-one millions of yen — 
 they may be assumed to be substantially correct. 
 It will be seen that foreign shipping trading to and 
 from Japan still carries twice as much in value as 
 does Japanese shipping, and that this predominancy 
 is equally marked in exports and imports. The 
 amount of money thus lost by Japan in freight — it is 
 counted lost and wrongly lost by patriotic Japanese — 
 must be very considerable ; and it is therefore the set 
 purpose of the Japanese shipping policy to terminate 
 such a state of affairs. In pursuance of this idea 
 there has been a remarkable growth in Japanese 
 steam shipping ; a few years ago it amounted to 
 only a couple of hundred thousand tons, but now 
 measures more than a million tons. 
 
 According to official returns, there were 1,492 
 steamships in Japan at the end of December, 1906, 
 displacing i,034,455"96 tons gross and 654,243*48 
 tons registered. One vessel was of over 7,000 tons 
 gross ; twenty were between 6,000 and 7,000 tons ; 
 six between 5,000 and 6,000 ; thirteen between 4,000 
 and 5,000 ; forty-two between 3,000 and 4,000 ; one 
 hundred and eight between 2,000 and 3,000 ; and 
 one hundred and thirty-one between 1,000 and 
 2,000. Sailing vessels numbered 4,044, displacing 
 346,362-02 tons gross and 324,668 •38 tons regis- 
 
456 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 tered ; of these one was of over 2,000 tons gross 
 and five hundred were of 1,000 tons each. There 
 was no sailing ship between 1,000 and 2,000 tons. 
 
 It will be seen from these figures that Japan has 
 even now a respectable number of moderately-sized 
 passenger- and cargo-boats, and that the tonnage is 
 already sufficiently large to take a considerable 
 proportion of the Far Eastern trade. But for the 
 moment, the fortunate point — for the European 
 competitor — is that much of that tonnage is antiqu- 
 ated and so ill-fitted for mercantile use that in 
 European or American waters it would have been 
 broken up long ago. Indeed a very large pro- 
 portion consists of iron tonnage sold off cheaply 
 by European firms, as too uneconomical for modern 
 use. The ordinary life of a merchant steamer 
 may be reasonably taken to be twenty years, but an 
 interesting list (see p. 457) has recently been com- 
 piled by a Japanese authority showing that in the 
 Japanese Mercantile Marine there are a good many 
 vessels more than forty years old. 
 
 This list, which is known to be by no means com- 
 plete, shows that there are actually ships in use which 
 are more than fifty years old, and that some four 
 hundred thousand tons gross — or nearly forty per 
 cent. — of the Japanese steam shipping is antiquated 
 and therefore uneconomical. Only the cheapness of 
 Japanese steam-fuel and the low running expenses 
 of Japanese steamers permit such tonnage to be 
 profitably employed — albeit at some danger to 
 those on board. But this state of affairs will not 
 
IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 457 
 
 Name of Company or Firm. 
 
 Date of 
 Building. 
 
 Gross Tonnage. 
 
 ' 
 
 i860 
 
 756 
 
 
 1870 
 
 7,762 
 
 Nippon Yusen Kaisha 
 
 1880 
 
 19,371 
 
 
 1885 
 
 18,571 
 
 .. 
 
 1900 
 
 78.549 
 
 Osaka Shosen Kaisha - 
 
 1880 
 
 6,259 
 
 18S5 
 
 3,200 
 
 
 1890 
 
 31.996 
 
 1900 
 
 25.999 
 
 Toyo Kisen Kaisha 
 
 1890 
 
 18,792 
 
 Nippon Shosen Kaisha | 
 
 1880 
 188s 
 
 3,316 
 4.370 
 
 f 
 
 1870 
 
 1,599 
 
 Tanko Kisen Kaisha \ 
 
 1880 
 
 4,310 
 
 I 
 
 1890 
 
 2,942 
 
 [ 
 
 1870 
 
 1,746 
 
 Hiromi Firm 
 
 1880 
 1885 
 
 3,221 
 16,328 
 
 
 1890 
 
 1,406 
 
 Mitsubishi Kaisha ■ 
 
 1890 
 1900 
 
 3,18s 
 7,784 
 
 ( 
 
 1885 
 
 6,223 
 
 Mitsui Bussan Kaisha -[ 
 
 1890 
 
 15,733 
 
 i 
 
 1900 
 
 4,551 
 
 Oya Firm ■! 
 
 1890 
 1900 
 
 1,609 
 1,600 
 
 TanakaFirm ■{ 
 
 1880 
 1890 
 
 1,592 
 1,236 
 
 
 1850 
 
 3,281 
 
 
 1870 
 
 43,677 
 
 Nihon Senshu Domei-kai 
 
 1880 
 
 21,159 
 
 
 1885 
 
 70,050 
 
 
 1890 
 
 1,900 
 
 continue long. Japanese ship-building yards are 
 fully engaged for at least two years ahead with the 
 construction of modern steamers ranging from 
 3,000 tons to 10,000 tons, and by 1909 a quarter of 
 a million tons of new Japanese shipping will have 
 taken the water. This will permit of a general 
 all-round improvement in the Japanese ocean ser- 
 vices, and the water competition which is already 
 severely felt will reach its most acute stage. 
 
 The chief Japanese company, which leads this 
 
4S8 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 movement since it is the carrier of the Government 
 mails, is of course the well-known Nippon Yusen 
 Kaisha or Japan Steamship Company, which 
 already possesses a fleet of 262,000 tons and will 
 in the course of the next two years add from fifty 
 to one hundred thousand tons of new shipping. It 
 may be said to have been created entirely by the 
 system of Government subsidies, and the compara- 
 tively large dividends it pays (in 1906, for instance, 
 twelve per cent, on the ordinary share capital of 
 Yen 22,000,000) represent only a portion of such 
 subsidies. That is to say, the company is really 
 working at a serious loss from year to year. It 
 draws a subsidy of Yen 473,000 for its Australian 
 line ; of Yen 2,673,000 for its European line, and 
 of Yen 634,000 for its American line — say a total of 
 three and a half million yen in all. The gross 
 profits for the year 1906 amounted to considerably less 
 than six million yen before any allowance had been 
 made for depreciation, insurance, repairs, reserve, 
 &c., and when those allowances had been made, 
 the net profit amounted to less than two and a half 
 million yen.^ 
 
 The next biggest Japanese shipping concern is 
 the Osaka Shosen Kaisha, which owns a fleet of 
 some 115,000 tons. Although it also receives 
 various subsidies for its foreign and coasting lines, 
 it was unable to pay any dividends whatsoever in 
 
 ' In the case of certain concerns such as the Hunan Steamship Co. 
 and the Seoul Fusan Ry. Co. the Government-guaranteed 6 per cent, 
 dividend is all shareholders ever hoped for. 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 459 
 
 respect of the past year (1906). This company will 
 soon be surpassed by the Osaka Shippers' Union 
 Company — a new "pool" or "combine" which 
 already controls some 150,000 tons of steam ship- 
 ping and which hopes to include all the remaining 
 independent shippers. These three groups will 
 therefore wage the Japanese shipping war, and it is 
 a curious sign that in order to conduct the services 
 in China waters a new sub-group has already been 
 organised which will amalgamate all the Japanese 
 Yangtsze and China Coast lines and place them 
 under one common management. This company 
 starts operations with about 20,000 tons of shipping, 
 which will be increased as soon as possible to 50,000 
 tons, and it is to receive a subsidy of Yen 800,000 
 per annum for a period of five years. The great 
 Yangtsze river is above all the region which this 
 company is designed to tap ; and in such circum- 
 stances it is not surprising that British interests 
 should already have taken alarm and have secured 
 that at all treaty ports along the river British con- 
 cessions shall not be available for the wharfage and 
 warehousing of non-British concerns. This action 
 provoked the President of the Nippon Yusen 
 Kaisha — the parent company — into indiscreet re- 
 marks which merit being placed on record. He 
 said that it was a matter of regi-et to all Japanese 
 that British interests should have been the first to 
 take steps against legitimate Japanese aspirations. 
 It had been inferred, he continued, that the alliance 
 with England would bring about co-operation in 
 
46o THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 commerce. Such, however, was evidently not to 
 be the case, and he noted with regret that steps had 
 been taken to exclude Japanese shipping from the 
 only wharfage available in certain ports of the 
 Yangtsze. Japan would know what counter-action 
 to take. 
 
 This speech is useful as an illustration of the set 
 Japanese idea not only that their entire financial, 
 commercial, industrial, and shipping campaign should 
 receive the endorsement of all Englishmen and be 
 treated as almost British, but that it should be 
 backed and supported just as the English press 
 applauded from day to day the victorious march of 
 the Japanese armies during the late war. The fact 
 is, of course, that this competition must ultimately be 
 a life-and-death commercial struggle, and that Japan 
 has adopted unfair means. Consequently, such 
 citizens of " the nation of shopkeepers " as happen 
 to be in the Far East have already begun to put 
 into operation that admirable Japanese plan of en- 
 trenching everywhere on every foot of the vantage- 
 ground which has previously been won by legiti- 
 mate means. The effect of this policy is already 
 somewhat severely felt by the Japanese, in spite of 
 the great progress which they have made and are 
 still making.^ 
 
 Coupled with this is the fact that although cheap 
 labour is supposed to be abundant in Japan, and as 
 
 > It is, however, necessary to note that the shipping returns of the 
 port of Shanghai show that during the year 1906, Japanese shipping 
 — entered and cleared — had increased by 700 per cent ; whilst there 
 was a British shrinkage of a niillion tons. 
 
IV 
 
 JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 
 
 461 
 
 a matter of fact is still fairly abundant, it is now 
 certain that labour is becoming dearer every year, 
 whilst it is in the mass so unskilled, and, further, is 
 trained up to even a moderate standard with such 
 difficulty, that many of the millions available play 
 but little part in the economic struggle. An inter- 
 esting table has been recently compiled showing 
 
 
 1887. 
 
 1897. 
 
 1907. 
 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 Yen. 
 
 House rent . 
 
 
 
 2.50 
 
 4- SO 
 
 7.00 
 
 Rice ... . 
 
 
 
 
 2.77 
 
 3-30 
 
 7.20 
 
 Soy 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 37 
 
 S7 
 
 Miso ... . 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 Salt ... . 
 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 04 
 
 12 
 
 Sak^ ... . 
 
 
 
 
 
 IS 
 
 25 
 
 35 
 
 Kerosene 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 30 
 
 SI 
 
 Other oils 
 
 
 
 
 06 
 
 12 
 
 24 
 
 Sugar ... , 
 
 
 
 
 IS 
 
 30 
 
 60 
 
 Milk ... . 
 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 1.0s 
 
 1-35 
 
 Newspaper . 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 Primary school tuition, per child 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 Pens, ink, paper, per school child ... 
 
 30 
 
 SO 
 
 70 
 
 Hair-dressing. 
 
 
 31 
 
 38 
 
 52 
 
 Bath fee ... . 
 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 60 
 
 96 
 
 Tobacco ... 
 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 1.20 
 
 1.50 
 
 Vegetables 
 
 
 
 
 SO 
 
 90 
 
 1.50 
 
 Fish ... . 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 1.20 
 
 1.40 
 
 Beef ... . 
 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 1.20 
 
 1.80 
 
 Kofu, etc. 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 24 
 
 36 
 
 Tea 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 25 
 
 42 
 
 Firewood 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 28 
 
 40 
 
 Charcoal 
 
 
 
 
 4S 
 
 60 
 
 90 
 
 Toilet articles 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 50 
 
 Conxmunications' Fee 
 
 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 33 
 
 Rickishaand cars... 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 1.20 
 
 1.30 
 
 Ward charges 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 SO 
 
 Stationery 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 Servant's wages ... 
 
 
 
 1. 00 
 
 1.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 Total 
 
 14.20 
 
 22.03 
 
 37-77 
 
 how enormously all the ordinary necessaries of life 
 have risen in price in Japan during the past two 
 decades, and how since the Chinese war of twelve 
 
462 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 years ago there has been an advance of nearly one 
 hundred per cent. The table is a comparative list 
 of the minimum monthly living expenses of an 
 ordinary middle-class Japanese household, and 
 establishes the fact that such a modest household 
 by pinching and scraping can just live on ^50 a 
 year. This would seem to show that within the 
 next two or three decades Japanese living expenses 
 will approximate the European minimurn. 
 
 Yet with all this increasing expensiveness amid 
 the growing struggle for existence, Japan makes but 
 few efforts to exploit what she has within her own 
 borders. All her time is taken up with the central- 
 ising work now proceeding and the overseas exten- 
 sions designed to forestall other Powers. Though 
 it has been computed that there are 2 3, 346,000 acres 
 of arable land in Japan, only 12,696,000, or little 
 more than fifty per cent., are under cultivation. 
 Much of the uncultivated land could be used for 
 corn or for mulberry trees or for tea-growing or for 
 cattle-runs ; yet nothing is done. And, similarly, 
 although there are more than 54,000,000 acres of 
 forests — sixty-two per cent, of the total area of 
 Japan — the Japanese trade in lumber is compara- 
 tively insignificant ; whereas Germany — the Japan- 
 ese model — with but 14,000,000 acres of forests, 
 receives annually .1^5,000,000 from lumber sales. 
 But whilst this is the condition at home, there is 
 immense activity in lumber work on the Yalu and 
 Tiumen rivers to the disturbance of international 
 relations ; and whilst coal-mining throughout the 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 463 
 
 whole of Japan only produces a few million tons 
 per annum, great sums of money are being sunk in 
 Manchuria to develop the captured Russian coal- 
 mines and to exploit coal-measures which belong 
 to private Chinese and have nothing to do with 
 the Manchurian railway concession. 
 
 With the nationalisation of the railways these 
 curious features will be even more accentuated. Out 
 of the seventeen railways included in the nationalisa- 
 tion scheme, six were taken over by the Govern- 
 ment during last year (1906), and the remaining 
 eleven are to be similarly dealt with between the 
 1st July and the ist October of the present year 
 (1907). Although the country has just passed 
 through a period of severe and dangerous share 
 speculation and credit has been shaken, the 
 Treasury considers the time almost ripe for the 
 issue of bonds to the value of Yen 442,743,319 
 (say forty-five millions sterling) in payment of the 
 railway purchases made. This will constitute a 
 most serious addition to the National Debt ; and 
 although there is the usual programme of rapid 
 redemption (in this case it is fixed by law at thirty- 
 three years), together with a number of minor pro- 
 visions regarding "betterments," it is in the highest 
 sense doubtful whether the whole scheme is not as 
 a matter of fact both speculative and wasteful. 
 
 For experience has proved that Government 
 management in Japan is not what it should be, and 
 that monopolies of no matter what nature are not 
 suitable for a progressive and expanding country, 
 
464 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 inasmuch as they both restrict competition and tend 
 to create incompetence and a behef in the omnipot- 
 ence and efficiency of the bureaucracy — which to the 
 Anglo-Saxon, be he English or American, Canadian 
 or Australian, is the acme of self-evident absurdity. 
 A case which well illustrates this is the big 
 Wakamatsu Iron Foundry, which, after having 
 swallowed up many millions of Government money 
 voted by the Diet, now shows a net loss of nearly 
 twenty million yen after nine years' working. It is 
 the opinion of competent European observers that it 
 is simply the Government management and the 
 almost childish manner in which the services of 
 European experts have been dispensed with — so as 
 to make it a purely Japanese concern — that have 
 brought about this result. Similarly, in such a matter 
 as telephones, which are also a Government mono- 
 poly, there have for many years been the same 
 consistent ill-management and enormous loss of 
 revenue because the Government will not make 
 adequate provision for rapid installation. Tens of 
 thousands of applicants have been waiting for years ; 
 yet whilst there is a universal outcry at the in- 
 competence of the bureaucracy, the Government 
 makes no attempt to improve matters. Indeed the 
 Tokyo Department of Communications is a 
 singularly inefficient ministry in every respect ; but 
 in spite of this the set Government policy of bringing 
 the entire means of rapid communication over the 
 length and breadth of the country under its rigid 
 control is being strictly adhered to. One of the 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 465 
 
 few sound projects which were brought forward by 
 Japanese promoters during the present year, was 
 the scheme to build a double-track electric railway 
 between the two centres which have the destiny of 
 Japan largely in their hands — Tokyo and Osaka — 
 using a far shorter route than that traversed by the 
 Government railway and reducing the time at 
 present consumed in this tedious journey by one half 
 Yet although everything was in favour of such a 
 project, the Government has already quashed it, 
 because its execution would interfere with its railway 
 monopolisation plans and incidentally show how 
 much more efficient is private enterprise with 
 dividends to earn, than a lax Government control 
 which can always call upon the people through 
 their appointed representatives to make good losses 
 which have been incurred through bureaucratic 
 supineness. 
 
 In such circumstances, after the great nonsense 
 which has been so freely written during the past few 
 years on the subject of national efficiency, it would 
 be well if there were less inclination to throw a 
 slowly successful campaign by land and by sea into 
 a totally wrong light and to deduce therefrom absp- 
 lutely false conclusions. For when a nation is at 
 school and consists of obedient but unenterprising 
 persons, not too distinguished for their mentality, 
 results may be arrived at by processes which would 
 not only be resisted and derided in free countries 
 but which it would be impossible even to discuss 
 seriously. The stimulating of manufactures by a high 
 
 H H 
 
466 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 protective tariff may be a laudable thing from one 
 point of view, but there must be a compensation 
 somewhere, or else all political economy is false. It 
 may be clever to give Government help to purely 
 mercantile financing — as is the acknowledged case 
 with the great Yokohama silk-exporting trade — in 
 order to build up independence of the European ; 
 but again there must be compensation somewhere. 
 Similarly, not only to restrict the introduction of 
 foreign capital but to hamper that capital unless it 
 submits to the ordered processes and places itself 
 under the " protection " of a Government-affiliated 
 bank, may promote the development of the set 
 national scheme ; but it also engenders suspicion, 
 dissatisfaction, and even worse. To earmark and 
 exploit such independent regions as Korea and 
 Southern Manchuria to the intense dissatisfaction 
 of the local inhabitants, when a large and rich 
 Japanese island such as Hokkaido is left practically 
 uninhabited, may likewise be a sign of efficiency ; 
 but it is a species of efficiency which will bring 
 a peculiar reward. To keep foreigners in Japan 
 on quite a different footing from the Japanese in a 
 thousand small ways which are not indictable 
 offences under the Treaties and cannot be properly 
 understood except by personal experience, and at 
 the same time to demand of the United States 
 that Japanese shall be treated in exactly the same 
 way as Americans, is a delicate satire which a good 
 many Englishmen, though conservative in thought, 
 mindful of their international obligations and fond 
 
IV JAPANESE INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 467 
 
 of justice per se, seem quite unable to appreciate. 
 In a word, this whole peculiar internal scheme, 
 which has now been briefly outlined, deserves the 
 attention of all men of open mind, and should 
 strengthen in them the resolve to understand more 
 fully, before in any way permanently endorsing 
 them, arrangements which England was led into 
 making through loyalty and enthusiasm and not 
 through reason and common-sense. 
 
 H H 2 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 The Japanese Army and Navy 
 
 The condition and strength of the Japanese Army 
 and Navy were well known before the war to 
 students and experts, although largely unknown 
 quantities to the general public. Briefly it may be 
 said that both Services were in an admirable 
 condition, and showed what wonderful results can 
 be accomplished in a comparatively short time by 
 the exercise of endless care and attention to detail. 
 Yet both the Japanese Army and the Japanese 
 Navy, compared with the sea and land forces which 
 Russia could bring to the Far East, possessed but 
 the smallest margin of strength compatible with 
 safety. Japan had just enough ships to snatch sea 
 victories from Russia in a brief struggle, and just 
 enough troops to achieve successes on land during 
 a rapid campaign. She was, therefore, in the 
 position of an athlete who, although perfectly 
 trained, has absolute limitations beyond which his 
 strength will not carry him. There is no doubt 
 that the knowledge of these limitations pressed too 
 heavily on the minds of Japan's military advisers 
 
CH. V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 469 
 
 and made their strategy lack, in the initial stages 
 of the late war, that dash and daring which were so 
 necessary. Indeed it would appear that from the 
 very outset the Japanese Government never aimed 
 at defeating Russia in the true sense of the word, 
 although for the edification of her people and the 
 world at large that was the object which was 
 proclaimed. Japan aimed rather at removing the 
 danger which threatened her in Korea and Southern 
 Manchuria, at expunging the stigma of the years 
 1895 and 1896 — the retrocession of the Liaotung 
 territory and the Russian lease of Port Arthur— and 
 at obtaining time to entrench herself wherever she 
 penetrated. This is something quite different. For 
 the real defeat of Russia would have involved 
 striking at the heart of the Russian Far Eastern 
 Empire — Vladivostock, Khabarovsk, the Amur 
 river and Harbin — and tumbling that empire 
 into smoking ruins. That nothing of such a nature 
 was attempted, but only the occupation of Korea, 
 the capture of Port Arthur and a modest campaign 
 in Southern Manchuria, is sufficient proof of the 
 contention which has just been advanced. It 
 should therefore be well understood — both in justice 
 to Japan and her present programme, and in 
 justice to Russia — that the late war consisted simply 
 of a successful campaign at sea and a successful 
 campaign in the Fengtien Province of Manchuria, 
 that it was bought to an end by a mere truce, and 
 that Russia's land strength was then superior to 
 Japan'si 
 
470 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 /. The Japanese Army. 
 
 It was in 1871 that the system of conscription 
 was first introduced into Japan. It was put into 
 full force throughout the Empire in 1873, just at 
 the time when the startling results which Prussia 
 and her German allies had achieved in Europe by 
 that system were in every mind. In 1877, during 
 the Satsuma Rebellion, the new system received 
 its first and rudest test. In that year, raw conscript 
 youths drawn from the peasant classes and 
 marshalled in battalions were placed face to face 
 with the dread samurai of the Satsuma clan, 
 hereditary fighting-men who were looked upon with 
 an awe amounting almost to unreasoning fear by the 
 bulk of the low-class population of Japan. The 
 experiment, however, was successful after a time ; 
 and although no records were ever published to 
 show how many battalions of these new troops were 
 ambuscaded and butchered to the last man by the 
 indomitable samurai — the real losses of the Govern- 
 ment in this rebellion are supposed to have been 
 extremely heavy — the fact was abundantly estab- 
 lished that Japanese peasants could make as good 
 soldiers as any men, and that modern organisation 
 and modern arms made them the superiors of a 
 hereditary fighting-caste which clung to antiquated 
 methods of warfare. 
 
 In 1 894-1 895, after a further seventeen years of 
 training, the Japanese Army received its first 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 471 
 
 baptism of fire in foreign lands. War broke out 
 with China ; there were the same successes as 
 before ; and the system in ^ force was amply proved 
 to be the right one. After the Chinese War, the 
 Japanese Army was partially reorganised and 
 largely increased in numbers, so that at the time of 
 the outbreak of the struggle with Russia in 1904 it 
 was of a respectable size and was possessed of an 
 elastic organisation capable of much expansion from 
 numbers too generally assumed to be its maximum 
 strength. Its model was of course the German 
 army ; and although in the first instance some 
 French officers lent their assistance, in military as 
 in all other affairs the Japanese mind has always 
 inclined finally to adopt rigid Prussian methods. 
 Every Japanese between the ages of seventeen and 
 forty, who is physically fit, is liable to serve either 
 in the Army or Navy. Military service does not 
 usually begin, however, until a man has reached his 
 twentieth year, although between the ages of 
 seventeen and twenty voluntary enlistment is 
 permitted. At the outbreak of the late war the 
 available forces of the Japanese were divided as 
 follows : — 
 
 Term of Service 
 in Years, 
 
 (1) A Standing Army (Jobi) subdivided into 
 
 (a) Active Army (Genyeki) 3 
 
 (d) First Reserve (Yobi) 44 
 
 (2) Reserve Army or Second Reserve (Kobi) .» ... 5 
 
 (3) Conscript Reserve (Hoju) subdivided into 
 
 First term 7i 
 
 Second term ij 
 
 (4) National Army (Koliumin) subdivided into two 
 
 classes. 
 
472 THE New problem of eastern ASIA CHAP. 
 
 It must be further noted that the men belonging 
 to the Second Reserve were those who had completed 
 their service in the Standing Army, and that both 
 they and the men of the First Reserve were neces- 
 sarily called out for periodical training. The First 
 Term of the Conscript Reserve (Hoju) consisted of 
 those men who, though liable to conscription and 
 medically fit, had escaped service with the colours 
 owing to the fact that the annual contingent enlisted 
 in the Active Ariny could only include a small portion 
 of the masses of young men coming forward every 
 year for examination and enlistment. Likewise those 
 belonging to the Second Term of the Conscript 
 Reserve had escaped service with the colours, and 
 could not be inscribed in the First Term either 
 because they were medically inferior to other men or 
 because these cadres were filled to their maximum 
 without them. The men of the First Term received 
 a preliminary training of three months under regular 
 officers and a further training of sixty days during 
 the second and fourth years of service — in all five 
 months. The men in this First Term were, there- 
 fore, exactly on the same footing as the German 
 Ersatz- Reserve — conscripts liable to be called up to 
 fill vacancies in the Standing and Reserve Armies. 
 The men of the Second Term, being totally untrained 
 and being inscribed only for fifteen months, were 
 practically useless and need not be considered. It 
 is understood that their nominal enlistment was 
 simply to complete the idea of universal service in 
 Japan, 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 4^3 
 
 Behind this regular army and its various classes 
 of reserves was the National Army (Kokumin), sub- 
 divided into two sections. The first section consisted 
 of men between twenty and forty years of age who 
 had completed their service in the Reserve Army or 
 in the First Term of the Conscript Reserve. The 
 second section consisted of all men between the 
 same ages not belonging to these categories, and was 
 entirely unti'ained. Thus in the National Army, or 
 Landsturm, there were nearly an additional quarter 
 of a million of trained soldiers. By an Imperial 
 Ordinance dated the 29th September 1904— -?.^., after 
 the effects of the doubtful battle of Liaoyang had 
 been well digested by the Tokyo HeadquartersStaff 
 — the term of liabitity to service in the Reserve Army 
 was increased from five to ten years ; the two terms 
 in the Conscript Reserve were amalgamated and 
 service in this reserve increased to twelve and a third 
 years. A large increase was thus automatically in- 
 sured. With the great growth in the population of 
 Japan, the total number of youths annually available 
 for enrolment had risen from 400,000 in the years of 
 the Chinese War to nearly 500,000 in the years of 
 the Russian War. Of these only some 60,000 were 
 annually taken for service with the colours, whilst 
 approximately 140,000 were drafted into the Hoju 
 or Conscript Reserve. The exact number of men 
 in all these various categories has never been 
 accurately known, but it is generally assumed in 
 army publications to have been approximately as 
 follows at the outbreak of the late war ; — 
 
474 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Active Army 
 
 First Reserve 
 
 Reserve Army ... 
 
 Trained Conscript Reserve 
 
 Trained men in tlie National Army 
 
 180,000 
 200,000 
 200,000 
 50,000 
 220,000 
 
 Total Trained Men 850,000 
 
 Untrained men — 
 
 Liable for service in the Conscript Reserve.. 250,000 
 
 Available for , service in the National Army, 
 based on the population of 46,000,000 of 
 1898 4,000,000 
 
 It has been calculated that when the five younger 
 classes of the trained men of the National Army, 
 probably 120,000 in number, were transferred to 
 the Reserve Army in September, 1904, by the 
 Imperial Ordinance referred to above, there were 
 actually available for field service some 750,000 
 men with 68,000 officers. This was a formidable 
 force. 
 
 At this time the Japanese Standing Army consisted 
 of the Imperial Guard division, and twelve territorial 
 divisions, two cavalry brigades, two artillery brigades, 
 and certain fortress garrisons. When mobilised, each 
 Japanese division, which is a unit complete in itself, 
 consisted in round numbers of 11,400 rifles, 430 
 sabres, 36 guns, 830 engineers and 5,500 non-com- 
 batants. The total strength of a mobilised division 
 was, therefore, in the first instance some 20,000 men ; 
 in the last stages of the war, by the addition of fresh 
 bodies of recruits, it approximated nearly 40,000 
 men. Each divisional district on mobilisation 
 provided an addition brigade composed of Kobi or 
 Second Reserve Men (two regiments of two 
 battalions each), and therefore after the declaration 
 
I. The FamousJapane.se ii-inch HownziiKs o.v ExiiiiirnoN. 
 
 2.. Naval Machine Guns Captured at Port Arthur on Exhibtiton at Tokyo. 
 
 3. Captured Russian Guns from Port Arthur on Exhibition at Tokyo. 
 
THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 
 
 475 
 
 of war in 1904 the field troops at once available 
 have been calculated approximately as follows : — 
 
 
 Rifles. 
 
 Sabres. 
 
 Guns. 
 
 Engineers. 
 
 Thirteen Divisions ... . 
 ,, Kobi Brigades 
 
 Depot Troops 
 
 Two Cavalry Brigades... . 
 Two Artillery Brigades 
 Formosa Garrison ... . 
 Guards in Korea 
 
 
 148,200 
 45.500 
 52,000 
 
 11,000 
 1,000 
 
 5.59° 
 
 2,600 
 2,300 
 
 433 
 
 456 
 
 78 
 
 216 
 66 
 
 10,790 
 2,990 
 
 690 
 
 
 257,700 
 
 10,923 
 
 894 
 
 14,470 
 
 Behind these field armies of some 300,000 men were 
 400,000 trained men available to replace casualties. 
 The lesson of Liaoyang was sufficient immediately 
 to create four additional divisions — the 13th, 14th, 
 15th, and 1 6th, which, with the further creation of 
 a similar number of Kobi or Second Reserve 
 brigades, raised the total number of troops in the 
 field armies, including the Guards division, to 
 seventeen divisions and seventeen Kobi brigades. 
 Here it may be noted that it is believed that at the 
 time of the battle of Moukden the continual additions 
 of men drawn from the new levies and the older 
 classes of trained men had raised the strength of 
 each infantry regiment of three battalions to 5,000 
 men and of each of the Kobi regiments of two 
 battalions to 3,000. On this calculation there were 
 in infantry alone some 430,000 Japanese at the 
 battle of Moukden. At first during the late war 
 none but men with at least a year's training were 
 sent to the front as combatants ; but during 1 905 
 
476 THE NSW PROBLEM OP EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 the pefiod of necessary instruction had been 
 reduced to six months, which gave Field Marshal 
 Oyama, in spite of his great losses, a total force of 
 750,000 combatants when peace was signed. This 
 rapid ^survey enables us now to look at the other 
 side of the question. 
 
 The forces which Japan had at first to meet in 
 Manchuria in 1904 were small. Nominally the 
 numbers and combatant strengths of the units 
 composing the Russian forces in the Far East at 
 the beginning of the late war were as follows : — 
 
 Field Troops- 
 Infantry (96 battalions) 
 
 Cavalry (35 squadrons) 
 
 Artillery (25 batteries, ig6 guns) 
 
 Engineers (13 companies) 
 
 Combatants. 
 
 92,000 
 
 5,100 
 
 6,400 
 
 , ... 2,700 
 
 Total Field Troops 
 
 Fortress Troops (26 companies) 
 
 Railway Troops 
 
 Infantry (55 squadrons) 
 
 106,200 
 
 . ... 7,700 
 11,450 
 23,450 
 
 Total Combatants 
 
 148,800 
 
 With the addition of the non-combatants the 
 grand total of the Russian forces in the Far East 
 at the outbreak of the war may have been some 
 180,000 men. But of this force 48 battalions of 
 infantry were at Vladivostock or in the Ussuri 
 districts, and therefore out of touch with Southern 
 Manchuria and tactically useless ; and the highest 
 estimate which can be made of the troops actually 
 available for service against the Japanese is 
 much under 100,000 men. It must therefore be 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 477 
 
 evident that Japan ' possessed a large numerical 
 superiority during the first half-year of the war. 
 Further, the calling-out of the Japanese reserves 
 and the continual training of new levies at the 
 depots allowed Japan, in spite of the large gaps 
 made in her ranks by the battles of Southern 
 Manchuria and the siege of Port Arthur, to main- 
 tain that superiority all through the year 1904. By 
 raising the strength of ordinary infantry regiments 
 to the extraordinary total of 5,000 men and by the 
 use of the Port Arthur army, that superiority 
 remained with her till the battle of Moukden ; but 
 in place of the highly-trained and dashing army 
 of 300,000 men she had first ranged in the field, the 
 month of August 1905 found her facing General 
 Linevitch with 750,000 n>en of many categories ; 
 with 100,000 old soldiers in garrisons and lines of 
 communication ; with 50,000 men in North-Eastern 
 Korea ; and with some hundreds of thousands of 
 raw recruits at home. Opposed to her in Central 
 Manchuria alone she had seventeen Russian Army 
 Corps whose numbers were slightly superior to hers 
 in combatants, whilst the vanguards of other 
 Russian corps were beginning to arrive in Harbin 
 at the rate of 14,000 men a week.^ What is under- 
 
 ' The composition of the various Russian Army Corps which took 
 part in the war was as follows : — 
 
 (a) Army Corps of the active army from European Russia (ist, 4th, 
 8th, 10th, i6th, 17th), numbering 28,000 rifles and 112 guns each. 
 The 9th, 13th, and 19th were sent to Manchuria after the battle of 
 Moukden. 
 
 (d) Army Corps expanded from " reserve " units in European Russia 
 (Sth and 6th Siberian Army Corps), numbering 28,000 rifles and 96 
 
478 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Stood to have been General Baron Kodama's 
 ultimatum to the Tokyo Government at this 
 juncture — " 200,000 more soldiers at once or 
 peace " — is therefore well understandable. Japan 
 had 200,000 more men to send, and she was 
 prepared to send them; but the despatch of that 
 additional force would have increased the monthly 
 war bill immensely, led to a continuation of the 
 struggle, and made the despatch of further reinforce- 
 ments inevitable. For, as has been shown elsewhere, 
 Russia could have gone on adding to the strength 
 of her field forces for many months more ; and 
 as the Russian active army and its reserves total 
 considerably more than three and a half million men, 
 so long as the Sungari wheat-fields and the Harbin 
 flour-mills remained in her possession she could have 
 continued holding the numerical superiority in the 
 field which she had at last attained. 
 
 From one point of view, therefore, the war may 
 be said to have ended by an absolute necessity for 
 the Japanese Army to be reorganised and expanded, 
 if the offensive capabilities which it had hitherto 
 
 guns each. The 7th Siberian Army Corps was despatched to Man- 
 churia, but w^s never in action. 
 
 (c) Army Corps expanded from Siberian " reserve " units (4th 
 Siberian Army Corps), numbering 28,000 rifles and 64 guns. 
 
 (d) The 1st and 3rd Siberian Army Corps composed of East 
 Siberian units, numbering 22,000 rifles and 64 guns each. 
 
 (e) The 2nd Siberian Army Corps, composed partly of East 
 Siberian units and partly of Siberian reserve units, numbering 27,000 
 rifles and 80 guns. 
 
 (/) One additional Army Corps arrived at Harbin at the conclusion 
 of peace. 
 
 With non-combatants this force totalled considerably more than a 
 million men. 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 479 
 
 possessed were not to be replaced by merely 
 defensive qualities. That to remain on the 
 defensive is a serious disqualification in peace or in 
 war, in finance or in industry, Japanese statesmen 
 have good reason to know ; and therefore the army 
 work which is now being carried out may be said to 
 aim at restoring to Japan the quality which was in 
 danger of being stripped from her arms in the 
 autumn of 1905. 
 
 It is in the Budget of the financial year of 1907 
 that, after much forecasting in the Japanese press, 
 the first steps in the strengthening of the Army 
 have been publicly announced. It was understood 
 at the close of the war that the supreme military 
 authorities had accepted the principle of substituting 
 two years' service with the colours for the three 
 years' system then in force ; but the carrying-out of 
 the reform was delayed until the present year, it 
 is generally supposed, in order to obtain the 
 maximum divisional increase before making public 
 the increase in the potential strength of the Army 
 which would immediately be secured by the enforce- 
 ment of the two years' system. It was thus hoped 
 to provide at once in the Budget of 1907 for what 
 is the present ideal of the Tokyo Headquarters 
 Staff — the army of twenty-one divisions which 
 was predicted by the writer in a previous volume. 
 The fact, however, that it was impossible for the 
 Ministry of Finance to include in the first post 
 bellum Budget the initial outlays necessary for the 
 establishment of four new major units of the 
 
4^0 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Japanese system, and, further, to provide in 
 succeeding Budgets for the continuation of this 
 heavy increase, led to a sharp inter-departmental 
 struggle in which the Genro, or Elder Statesmen, 
 who represent the financial side of the New Japan — 
 Count Inouye and Count Matsukata — succeeded as 
 usual in convincing the military members — Marquis 
 Yamagata and Marquis Oyama — that more haste 
 would simply mean less speed. The idea of 
 immediately obtaining four new divisions was 
 temporarily abandoned — on the understanding that 
 the abandonment was really only a postponement — 
 and upon this decision being arrived at, the 
 immediate raising of two new divisions was agreed 
 to, as well as the additional outlays necessary to 
 put the system of two years' service with the colours 
 in force. 
 
 As the four new divisions established during the 
 war — Nos. 13 to 16^-had only been raised as an 
 extraordinary measure, it was necessary to include 
 in the Budget large sums involving a recurring 
 expenditure spread over a term of years, in order 
 to place them on the same permanent footing as 
 the other corps. Thus the work completed, or 
 sanctioned, in the Budget of 1907 raised the strength 
 of the Japanese Army at once to nineteen divisions 
 and reduced the period of service with the colours 
 to two years. The reduction of the period of active 
 service permits a very much larger number of men 
 to be trained and passed into the reserves than has 
 been the case heretofore, and is indeed roughly 
 
THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 
 
 equivalent to an increase of thirty-three per cent, 
 in the potential strength of the Army. When 
 it is added that this increase must be calculated, 
 not on the old number of divisions — thirteen — but 
 on the new nuniber of divisions — nineteen — it is 
 clear that as a striking force in years to come 
 the strength of the Japanese Army will have been 
 more than doubled. For six new divisions represent 
 a forty-six per cent, increase on the army of 1904 — 
 making what was 100 equivalent to 146 ; a thirty-six 
 per cent, increase on this is equal to 48 ; therefore 
 what was a hundred will be 194, i.e., a ninety-four per 
 cent, increase. 
 
 All, however, does not end here. For although 
 it is extremely difficult to obtain absolute information 
 in matters habitually shrouded in silence, two facts 
 have been allowed to transpire in the Japanese 
 press — first, that during the present year a thousand 
 more men are to be enlisted in each division, making 
 a total of 19,000 more men passed through the 
 colours annually ; and second, that the military 
 authorities will adopt, if not immediately at least at 
 no distant date, a three-brigade organisation for 
 each division in place of the present two-brigade 
 system which was found inconvenient in actual 
 warfare. It is alleged that as the tactical dis- 
 tribution of troops on a modern battlefield 
 necessitates the division of the major unit into 
 three lines — the firing line, the supports, and the 
 reserves — it would simplify matters if the divisional 
 organisation were specially drawn up to meet this 
 
 I I 
 
482 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 need. Should this statement prove substantially 
 correct, the Japanese division will be greatly in- 
 creased alike in numbers, effectiveness and organi- 
 sation, and will indeed be comparable, under full 
 expansion to war footing, to the European Army 
 Corps. For as the number of fully-trained reserves 
 is in process of becoming immensely increased, 
 the mobilised Japanese division, instead of being 
 composed — when expanded to its uttermost limits, 
 as was the case at the battle of Moukden — of 
 nearly forty thousand men (including the supple- 
 mentary Kobi brigade), may on the first mobilis- 
 ation attain to 30,000 men and, when brought up 
 to maximum strength, to 60,000 effectives or more. 
 It is possibly this contingency which led to such an 
 animated discussion in Japanese Army circles as to 
 whether the time has not come for the division 
 to be replaced by the Gundan (or Army Corps) as 
 the major unit ; and it may be that it is the desire 
 of the General Staff to postpone the adoption of 
 this new nomenclature until the strength of each 
 Japanese division is so great that it will be necessary, 
 not to group pairs of divisions to form the new major 
 unit, but simply to rename the divisions Gundan. 
 Nor is it unlikely that the German precedent of 
 twelve years ago, which added a fourth battalion 
 to each three-battalion infantry regiment, will 
 be followed. In the German case, it will be 
 remembered, the additional fourth battalion was only 
 sanctioned in order to have each regiment divided 
 in a very short time into two regiments. 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 483 
 
 In Japan any new scheme designed to permit the 
 general mobilisation of the great masses of trained 
 reserves would be easy to carry out. It is under- 
 stood that of the conscript class of 1907 more than 
 250,000 of the 500,000 youths actually available 
 have now been enlisted ; and that of these probably 
 120,000 were enrolled in the Active Army and 
 130,000 in the Conscript Reserve. There seems 
 no reason to doubt, therefore, that by the year 191 5, 
 apart from the further expansion in divisional corps 
 which the authorities still desire, the number of 
 trained men under the age of forty will be approxi- 
 mately as follows : — 
 
 A. — Active Army. (Calculation based on 19 divisions, enlisting 
 
 annually 1 20,000 young men) 275,000 
 
 B. — First Reserve (4J years of service) 500,000 
 
 C. — Reserve Army or Second Reserve (lo years' service by Impe- 
 rial Ordinance of September, 1904). (i) Two classes of 
 new system. (2) Eight classes of old system (say) 600,000 
 
 D. — Trained Conscripts. (The two amalgamated First and 
 Second Terms liable for service for twelve years.) 
 Minimum estimate 800,000 
 
 E. — Trained men of the National Army 200,000 
 
 Total Trained Men 2,375,poo 
 
 The lowest estimate, therefore, which can be 
 made of the war-strength of the Japanese Army, as 
 soon as the full effects of the new two years' term of 
 service with the colours and the expansion to 
 nineteen divisions are felt, is upwards of two 
 million men ; and there is reason to believe that, if 
 necessary, even this great total could be largely 
 exceeded. For it would appear that already the 
 training of those supplementary classes of recruits 
 included in the Conscript Reserve, which, owing to 
 
 I I 2 
 
484 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 financial and other considerations was indifferently 
 carried out in the period before the war and provided 
 only a small handful of men, is now being attended 
 to with the greatest thoroughness, and that immense 
 masses of these men, who have had five months' 
 training, could be sent to the front after being 
 embodied and kept only a few months in barracks. 
 The first mobilisation of the reorganised Japanese 
 Army will therefore give upwards of a million men ; 
 and by expanding the units in the field to their 
 maximum it would not be hard to raise the grand 
 total quickly to two million men and to make good 
 all losses. In this connection it is interesting to 
 note that the total number of men, including non- 
 combatants of the transport and coolie corps, carried 
 back to Japan by the army transports at the conclu- 
 sion of the recent war was approximately 1,100,000 ; 
 and that, therefore, with over 100,000 men in the 
 home hospitals and 300,000 in barracks, the grand 
 total on the military rolls at the end of 1905 must 
 have approached one and a half million. 
 
 Apart from the expansion which has already been 
 outlined, the fact must be carefully borne in mind 
 that the lessons of the late war are not being 
 forgotten for a minute by the military authorities. 
 The Japanese weakness in the mounted arm ; the 
 insufficiency of both heavy and mobile artillery ; the 
 ineffectiveness of the Meiji rifle at all but the closest 
 ranges because of its minute bore ; the smallness of 
 scientific and special forces, such as the telegraph 
 and telephone corps and the railway corps ; the 
 
THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 485 
 
 limited capacity of the arsenals and explosive fac- 
 tories ; the inadequacy of the military store-houses 
 and clothing factories — to all these various defects 
 the closest attention is being paid, and a compre- 
 hensive scheme has been drawn up, designed to do 
 away with all the weaknesses which the war disclosed 
 to foreign experts. 
 
 All such reforms and " betterments " under 
 the Japanese system, however, are no more than 
 departmental details ; and if the Budget contains 
 large amounts under such ambiguous headings as 
 " Restoration of Armaments " and " Post Bellum 
 Adjustments " it is doubtless to alleviate foreign 
 anxiety. No details are given — in spite of the 
 passing of the Army estimates for 1907 en bloc — 
 regarding the organisation of the new cavalry and 
 heavy artillery on which so much stress has been 
 laid by Japanese experts in the vernacular press. It 
 is true that large numbers of stud-farms have been 
 established and that the purchase of picked stallions 
 in Europe for breeding purposes has already been 
 completed. But whether it is safe to infer that the 
 forecast made in 1906 was substantially correct — it 
 was then stated that the Japanese cavalry was 
 gradually to be raised to eight divisions, having a 
 mobilised strength of 50,000 sabres — the foreign 
 inquirer may not learn. Neither is it possible to 
 know how much credence is to be placed on the 
 preliminary reports furnished to the public in 1906 
 to the effect that the complete reorganisation of the 
 Japanese Artillery was to be accompanied by a 
 
486 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 notable expansion. Whether or not the policy of 
 converting the divisional artillery into mobile horse- 
 artillery and of providing a complete regiment armed 
 with quick-firing guns for each division is to be 
 adhered to cannot yet be said ; nor can a definite 
 statement be made regarding the corps of heavy 
 artillery. It was proposed immediately after the war 
 to raise gradually ten independent brigades of heavy 
 artillery which would represent a force of some 300 
 guns, but Budget difficulties have probably delayed 
 the execution of this project. In this connection it 
 is interesting to note that a high Japanese officer 
 recently said that even with the expansions contem- 
 plated the ideal Japanese army was still a long way 
 off It would require many years' work before that 
 ideal could be reached ; but when it was attained, 
 every male Japanese would be either a trained 
 soldier or a trained sailor. 
 
 //. — The Japanese Navy. 
 
 Whilst there must be, as has been shown, certain 
 elements of doubt in estimating at this date the 
 probable increase in offensive power of the Japanese 
 Army, in the matter of the Navy no such uncertain- 
 ty exists. By the year 1908, in the tonnage dis- 
 placement of effective vessels and in gun-power the 
 Japanese Navy will be at least three times as strong 
 as it was in February, 1 904 ; and in addition ample 
 provision has been made in the Budget of 1 907 for 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 487 
 
 a recurring naval expenditure, on the German plan, 
 designed methodically to add first-class vessels of 
 enormous displacement and gun-power to the fight- 
 ing line. That this expenditure is unnecessary as a 
 defensive measure is quite certain ; for Japan may 
 not yet claim, and may indeed for many reasons 
 never be able to claim, that her Navy proclaims the 
 Eastern equivalent of a pax Briianmca. Her geo- 
 graphical position, her history, her national develop- 
 ment and national characteristics make that impos- 
 sible ; and accordingly this offensive increase in her 
 naval strength causes acute uneasiness to the serious 
 students of Far Eastern politics. 
 
 In February, 1904, the naval forces of Japan were 
 as shown in the table on p. 488. 
 
 From this tabular statement it will be clear that 
 the Japanese Navy of the Russo-Japanese War 
 although homogeneous, modern, and effective, was 
 small and only the navy of a second-class maritime 
 Power. Further, in Far Eastern waters it was 
 confronted at the very outbreak of the struggle by 
 Russian squadrons of approximately equal strength ; 
 from a defensive point of view it was, therefore, an 
 insufficient navy and would have been proved so had 
 Russian seamen been efficient. The victory of the 
 Japanese Navy first over the Russian Far Eastern 
 squadrons and then over the Baltic fleet may be 
 said to have demonstrated Russian naval inefficiency 
 rather than the magnificent seamanship which has 
 been too readily attributed to the Japanese. The 
 exact composition of the Russian Far Eastern 
 
488 
 
 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Naval Forces of Japan in 1904. 
 
 Name and 
 Classification. 
 
 Displace- 
 ment. 
 
 I.H.P. 
 
 Measured 
 mile speed. 
 
 Gun pro- 
 tection. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Armament. 
 
 Battleships. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 
 Knots. 
 
 
 First Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fuji 
 
 12,450 
 
 14,100 
 
 18 -5 
 
 14 
 
 4 J2-'m., 10 6-in., and 24 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Yoshima 
 
 i2>33o 
 
 14,000 
 
 19 '2 
 
 14 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Shikishima 
 
 14.850 
 
 15,000 
 
 19*0 
 
 14 
 
 4 /2-in., 14 6-in., and 32 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Asahi 
 
 I5|200 
 
 l6,QGO 
 
 18-3 
 
 14 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Hatsuse 
 
 14,967 
 
 15,200 
 
 19*1 
 
 14 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Mikasa 
 
 14,500 
 
 16,525 
 
 i8's 
 
 14 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Second Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chinyen 
 
 7,220 
 
 — 
 
 14-2 
 
 14 
 
 4 72-in., 4 6-in., and 10 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Coast Defence 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fuso 
 
 3.717 
 
 2,162 
 
 II -6 
 
 8 
 
 4 g'4m.i 4 6-in., and 15 
 smEiller guns. 
 
 Hei-yen 
 
 2,067 
 
 2,400 
 
 II"2 
 
 8 
 
 I /o'2-in., 2 j-^-in., and 8 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Cruisers. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 First Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Asama 
 
 9,700 
 
 20,550 
 
 22 "og 
 
 6 
 
 4 ^-in., 14 d-in. , and 19 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Tokiwa 
 
 9.700 
 
 20,550 
 
 22*73 
 
 6 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Adzuma 
 
 9j436 
 
 17,000 
 
 2I"00 
 
 6 
 
 4 8-m.j 12 d-in., and 20 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Yakumo 
 
 9,850 
 
 17,195 
 
 21 'OO 
 
 7 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Idzumo 
 
 9.750 
 
 I7.SOO 
 
 22*04 
 
 6 
 
 4 8-in., 14 6-in., and 20 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Iwate 
 
 9.7SO 
 
 17,500 
 
 21*75 
 
 6 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Second Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Naniwa 
 
 3.727 
 
 7,I20 
 
 i8-7 
 
 2 
 
 8 6*in., and i6 smaller guns. 
 
 Takachiho 
 
 3.727 
 
 7,120 
 
 i8-7 
 
 2 
 
 2 xo'2-in., 6 S'Q-m., and 16 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Itsukushima 
 
 4,210 
 
 5,400 
 
 16 -o 
 
 12 
 
 I /2-(5-in., 11 ^7-in., and 19 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Matsushima 
 
 4,2IO 
 
 5,400 
 
 16 'o 
 
 12 
 
 I /2'6-in., 12 ^7-in., and 16 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Hashidate 
 
 4,210 
 
 5,400 
 
 16*0 
 
 12 
 
 I i2'6-in., II 4y-in.f and 19 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Akitsushima 
 
 3,100 
 
 8,516 
 
 19*0 
 
 — 
 
 4 6-in., 6 ^7-in., and 12 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Yoshino 
 
 4,180 
 
 15.750 
 
 22*5 
 
 4 
 
 4 6-in., 8 ^7-in., and 22 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Takasago 
 
 4,180 
 
 15,500 
 
 22 '5 
 
 4a 
 
 2 S-'m., 10 4y-'m., and 18 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Kasagi 
 
 4,784 
 
 15.500 
 
 22-7 
 
 „ 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Chitose 
 
 
 15,319 
 
 22-7 
 
 — 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Niitaka 
 
 slsfis 
 
 9,400 
 
 20*0 
 
 — 
 
 6 6-in., and 14 smaller guns. 
 
 Tsushima 
 
 3,365 
 
 9,400 
 
 20 "o 
 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 In addition to the above, there were 13 third-class cruisers of 1,150-2,920 tons displacement, 
 14 gunboate, 19 destroyers, 49 first-class and 29 5;econd-class torpedo boats. 
 
 Shortly before the outbreak of war, Japan purchased at Genoa from the Argentine 
 Government two vessels named Bemadino Rivadaoia and Mariano Moreno^ renaming 
 them Kasuga and Nisshin. These were sister ships, armoured cruisers of 7,750 tons dis- 
 placement, and 20 knots speed ; the former had one lo-in. gun, two 8-in. and fourteen 
 6-in. guns ; and the latter four 8-in. and fourteen 6-in. guns. They reached Yokosuka, near 
 Yokohama on the i6th February, 19041 
 
THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 
 
 489 
 
 squadrons at the time of the outbreak of the late 
 war was as follows : — 
 
 The Naval Forces of Russia in the Far East. 
 
 Name and 
 
 Displace- 
 
 I.H.P. 
 
 Measured 
 
 Gun pro- 
 
 Armament. 
 
 Classification. 
 
 ment. 
 
 mile speed. 
 
 tection. 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 
 Knots. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 
 Battleships. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 First Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sevastopol A 
 
 io,g6o 
 
 10,600 
 
 i7'5 
 
 H 
 
 4 /2-in., 12 6-in., and 38 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Petropavlovsk 1 ... 
 
 io,g6o 
 
 11,213 
 
 16 -8 
 
 14 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Poltava 1 
 
 10,960 
 
 11,255 
 
 16-3 
 
 14 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Peresviet^ 
 
 12,674 
 
 14,533 
 
 i8-5 
 
 9 
 
 4 /o-in., 11 6-in., 20 ?-in., 
 and 24 smaller guns. 
 
 Pobiedal 
 
 12,674 
 
 14,500 
 
 18 -o 
 
 9 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Retvizan ^ 
 
 12,700 
 
 17,000 
 
 18 -o 
 
 lO 
 
 4 i2-in., 12 6-in., 20 j-in., 
 and 28 smaller guns. 
 
 Tzarevitchl 
 
 12,900 
 
 16,000 
 
 18 -o 
 
 II 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 Cruisers. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 First Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rurik2 
 
 10,933 
 
 13,250 
 
 i8-7 
 
 3i 
 
 4 (?-in., 16 6-in., 6 ^7-in., 
 and 18 smaller guns. 
 
 Rossia2 
 
 12,200 
 
 17,000 
 
 20 '2 
 
 3 
 
 4 ^-in , 16 6-in.t 12 S-ln., 
 and 38 smaller guns. 
 
 Gromobois 
 
 12,364 
 
 15,496 
 
 20 'O 
 
 5 
 
 4 ^-in., 16 d-in., 24 ^-in., 
 and 8 smaller guns. 
 
 Bayani 
 
 7,800 
 
 16,500 
 
 2I'0 
 
 6-7 
 
 2 ^-in , 8 (5-in., 20 j-in., and 
 7 smaller guns. ' 
 
 Dianal 
 
 6,630 
 
 11,610 
 
 20 "O 
 
 — 
 
 8 6-in., 24 j-in., and 10 
 smaller guns. 
 
 PalladaJ 
 
 6,630 
 
 IT, 610 
 
 20 '0 
 
 — 
 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 VarUgS 
 
 6,500 
 
 20,000 
 
 23*6 
 
 - 
 
 12 6-in,, 12 j-in., and 10 
 smaller guns. 
 
 BogatirS 
 
 6,720 
 
 20,000 
 
 23*0 
 
 5 
 
 12 6-in.j 12 j-in., and 9 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Askholdl 
 
 6,000 
 
 ,19,000 
 
 23 '0 
 
 " 
 
 12 6-in., 12 3-in.j and 12 
 smaller guns. 
 
 Second Class. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Noviki 
 
 3,000 
 
 17,000 
 
 25-0 
 
 ~ 
 
 6 4'7~in., and g smaller 
 guns 
 
 Boyarinl 
 
 3,000 
 
 11,500 
 
 23-0 
 
 — 
 
 6 ^7-in-> and 14 smaller 
 guns. 
 
 In addition to the above, 
 14 first-class torpedo 
 
 I At Port Arthur. 
 
 there were 4 gunboats, 6 sloops, 25 destroyers, and some 
 boats, divided between Port Arthur and Vladivostock. 
 
 2 At Vladivostok. 
 
 3 At Chemulpo. 
 
 From the most superficial comparison of these 
 two tables it is_ apparent that at the moment before 
 the war Japan must have experienced keen regret 
 
490 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 that her narrow imagination had prevented her from 
 foreseeing that the margin of strength which she 
 possessed was wholly insufficient. That she should 
 now wish to go from one extreme to the other is 
 therefore understandable ; yet the fact that Russia 
 as a potential naval enemy has disappeared for at 
 least fifteen years, makes it seem equally clear that 
 one of two things is feared in Tokyo — (a) that the 
 termination of the Anglo- Japanese Alliance in 191 5 
 will see another coalition prepared to act as in 1895 
 in Far Eastern waters, or (b) that the disappearance 
 of the Russian flag from the Pacific Ocean will be 
 followed by the appearance of another naval flag 
 floating over so many modern warships that the 
 overwhelming supremacy which Japan now possesses 
 in Far Eastern waters will be threatened if not nulli- 
 fied : in other words, that the American flag will now 
 appear everywhere, and that American battleships 
 and armoured cruisers of the most powerful type will 
 be prepared to contest the mastery of the Pacific. 
 It is therefore rather with the view of anticipating 
 these two possibilities — the termination of the 
 British Alliance and the rise of another naval 
 Power, far more redoubtable than Russia — than 
 with the view of forestalling Russia in the Far East 
 that the present Japanese naval programme is being 
 drawn up. For behind this programme is seen the 
 spectre of the fears which secretly haunted Japan 
 while she wrestled with Port Arthur, and, later, 
 watched the slow oncoming of that doomed fleet of 
 the Baltic. The Japanese Government is prepared 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 491 
 
 to tax the Japanese nation to death sooner than be 
 exposed again to the naval strain of the fifteen 
 months which began on the 8th of February, 1904, 
 and ended only on the ist of May, 1905. 
 
 In such circumstances the progress which the 
 Japanese Navy has achieved two years after the 
 signature of the Portsmouth Treaty is worthy of 
 careful note. Both in the category of battleships 
 and in that of heavily-armoured cruisers capable of 
 steaming in the same battle-line, there has been 
 remarkable advance. With the completion and 
 delivery of two new British-built battleships, the 
 Katori and the Kashima, which were ordered 
 during the war, the original Japanese fleet has been 
 much strengthened. The Katori is a powerful 
 vessel displacing 15,950 tons ; the Kashima is even 
 more powerful, having a displacement of 16,400 tons. 
 Both ships carry four 12 -inch guns in pairs in bar- 
 bettes, four lo-inch guns singly in barbettes, and 
 twelve 6-inch guns, of which ten are in a citadel. 
 Their complements are understood to be just under 
 1000 men each, and therefore they represented the 
 last word in naval construction until England pro- 
 claimed the message of the Dreadnoughts. And 
 now, before that message has been more than half- 
 digested by the Powers of the Continent, Japan has 
 two Dreadnoughts launched and rapidly completing. 
 It is perhaps one of the most eloquent comment- 
 aries on modern Japan that the first two battleships 
 to be designed and built in Japanese yards should 
 be the two biggest vessels in the world. The 
 
492 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Satsuma and the Aki are sister ships displacing 
 19,200 tons and are each armed with four 12-inch 
 guns and ten lo-inch guns — the auxiHary or 
 secondary armament hitherto suppHed being entirely 
 omitted, after the example of the Dreadnought. 
 This kind of armament was proved in the late war 
 to be virtually useless for fighting purposes ; and 
 its chief object being now limited to repelling 
 torpedo attacks, quick firing guns of the 120- 
 millimetre type (47 guns) have been substituted 
 in these latest Japanese ships. Compared with 
 the Dreadnought class the new type of Japanese 
 battleship is held by some experts to be the more 
 powerful. The Satsuma and the ^/^z displace 19,200 
 tons against the 1 8,000 tons of the Dreadnought ; 
 and although the British class carry ten 12-inch 
 guns as opposed to the four 12 -inch and ten lo-inch 
 of the Japanese type, the weight of metal capable 
 of being flung per minute is theoretically in favour 
 of the Japanese. And likewise although the first 
 Dreadnought is turbine-engined and has a speed of 
 2 1 knots, the Satstima and the Aki are so powerfully 
 screw-driven that their speed should be but half a 
 knot less. 
 
 From every point of view, then, these two vessels 
 mark a most noticeable development in the history 
 of the Japanese Navy. In the two years since the 
 war Japan has added four splendid battleships, 
 possessing in the aggregate sixteen 12-inch guns 
 and twenty-eight lo-inch guns. These additions 
 represent a far greater strength in big-gun power 
 
THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 493 
 
 than was possessed by the entire Japanese fleet at 
 the outbreak of the struggle with Russia. 
 
 But still more remarkable does the increase 
 become when it is fully understood what important 
 additions have been made to the Japanese Navy 
 by captures. During the late war Japan lost two 
 first-class battleships — the Shikishima and the Hat- 
 suse — through contact mines ; but she gained five 
 first-class Russian battleships and three battleships 
 of the coast defence type. These vessels are the 
 Iwami (late Orel) ; the Sagami (late Peresviet) ; 
 the Suo (late Pobieda) ; the Hizen (late Reivisan) ; 
 and the Tango (late Poltava) — vessels ranging in 
 displacement from the 13,500 tons of the Iwamt 
 to the 11,000 tons of the Tango. The three coast 
 defence vessels are the Iki (late Imperator Nicolai 
 /.) ; the Okinoshima (late General Admiral Aprax- 
 in) ; and the Minos hima (late Admiral Seniavino). 
 Thus the net gain in battleships through captures, 
 followed as it is by a complete re-arming of the 
 salved vessels, will alone give a potential strength 
 in big guns almost equal to that possessed by the 
 original Japanese battle-fleet in February 1904. 
 
 Again, by the end of the present year four new 
 powerful armoured cruisers will have been placed 
 on the active lists of the Japanese Navy. All of 
 them will be the product of Japanese yards — much 
 of the finished material being imported, it is true, 
 as in the case of the new battleships, but the 
 actual construction work being entirely Japanese. 
 These vessels are the Tsukuba and Ikoma, each of 
 
494 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 i3>750 tons displacement, and the Kurama and 
 Ibukt, each displacing 14,600 tons. The armament 
 of these ships is most powerful and makes them the 
 equals, if not the superiors, of the older classes 
 of first-class battleships ; they are designed to carry 
 four 1 2 -inch guns, have a continuous belt of the 
 heaviest armour, and will be able to steam 2 2|- knots. 
 In addition, there are the three important captured 
 Russian cruisers, the Pallada, the Varyag, and the 
 Bay an. The first two, re-named respectively the 
 Tsugaru and the Soya, are only swift protected cruisers 
 of some 6,500 tons displacement; but the Bayan, 
 re-named the Aso, is an armoured cruiser of approxi- 
 mately the same displacement as the Nisshin and 
 the Kasuga, and will undoubtedly be as able to take 
 its place in the battle-line. It may be said, then, 
 that by 1908 Japan will have thirteen battleships of 
 modern construction and the same number of first- 
 class armoured cruisers ; and that the two additional 
 captured Russian cruisers of the "protected" class, 
 together with the smaller cruiser Novik which has 
 been salved, and a sister ship, the Boyarin, raise 
 the number of her protected cruisers (which vary 
 in displacement from 2,800 to 6,500 tons) to no 
 less than eighteen vessels. 
 
 In torpedo-boat construction, also, there has been 
 the same activity. At the outbreak of war Japan 
 had approximately nineteen destroyers, forty-nine 
 first-class and twenty-nine second-class torpedo 
 boats. During and since the war upwards of thirty 
 large modern destroyers have been completed, and 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVV 495 
 
 a number of additional vessels laid down. Com- 
 plete returns are not yet available showing what 
 the total number of projected torpedo-craft is to 
 be ; but as the Japanese profess some fascination 
 for torpedo-work and share the French belief in 
 the usefulness of this class of craft, very powerful 
 and modern Japanese torpedo-boat flotillas must 
 certainly be looked for. 
 
 In submarines Japan's policy is not yet definitely 
 settled. During the war she purchased in sections 
 some half-dozen American submarines which were 
 put together by American experts at the Yokosuka 
 naval station (near Yokohama) and much experi- 
 mented with, although never actually used in 
 warfare. It has been stated that the Japanese 
 naval advisers are not satisfied with the reliability 
 of these craft and that a new-type Japanese craft, 
 founded on new ideas, is to be introduced for service 
 in the Japanese Navy. Whether this is accurate or 
 not, it is impossible yet to say. 
 
 The other sources of weakness which were 
 brought to light during the war are now also in 
 process of being rectified. As has already been 
 stated, in the construction of new vessels Japan has 
 had to rely on foreign countries for such important 
 items as armour plating, big guns, and certain 
 machinery. At the Naval Station of Kure a 
 complete modern steel plant has now been erected, 
 which will soon be in a position to manufacture 
 plates of every specification ; while the big-gun 
 factories have been expanded and improved and a 
 
496 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 vast amount of machinery purchased and installed. 
 An impetus has also been given to Japanese private 
 establishments in the making of all those many- 
 necessities not carefully covered by patents, which 
 have hitherto been imported. Soon from keel 
 to wireless telegraph installation Japanese warships 
 will represent the pure product of Japanese 
 genius. 
 
 Similarly steps have been taken to remedy the 
 disadvantage of having to go abroad for high 
 explosives. Lyddite — which is only another name 
 for Shimose — is to be manufactured in Japan by an 
 English group with which the name of Messrs. 
 Armstrong and Co. is believed to be closely 
 associated. It is said that an agreement running for 
 fifteen years has been signed, which gives the 
 concessionnaires the sole right to manufacture high 
 explosives for the Army and Navy Departments in 
 Japan. Operations are to be conducted on a very 
 large scale and several millions sterling are to be 
 sunk in the enterprise. In short, immense progress 
 has been made by Japan in every department of 
 naval matters ; and with the fleet and dockyard 
 resources which she now possesses, or is in process 
 of acquiring, she must be held to be in a very 
 different position from that which she occupied in 
 the year 1904. But the matter does not end here. 
 For this fleet of Japan's — which in round numbers 
 is now composed of thirteen excellent battleships, 
 thirteen excellent armoured cruisers, eighteen 
 protected cruisers, fifty destroyers, and one hundred 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 497 
 
 torpedo craft — is not to be allowed to remain where 
 it is even for the shortest interval. The estimates 
 of the fiscal year of 1907 make that clear. The sum 
 of Yen 75,000,000, or more than seven and a half 
 millions sterling, has been obediently voted by the 
 Diet for new construction spread over a term of 
 years. It is now announced that two battleships of 
 22,000 tons are to be laid down shortly, as well as 
 two armoured cruisers of no less than 18,000 tons 
 displacement. These latter vessels will be notable 
 improvements on that wonder of modern naval 
 architecture, the British Invincible class ; while the 
 battleships will displace four thousand tons more 
 than the Dreadnought class and are to carry sixteen 
 1 2-inch guns. The armament of the new armoured 
 cruisers will reduce to a minimum the difference 
 between battleships so-called and the faster and more 
 lightly-protected craft ; for it has been stated, with 
 what truth cannot yet be learned, that the Japanese 
 Invincibles are to be armed with four 12-inch guns 
 and sixteen lo-inch guns, thus giving them a re- 
 markable gun-fire superiority even over such modern 
 battleships as the Katori and the Kashima, which 
 were laid down only a couple of years ago. Thus 
 the six new battleships and the six new cruisers 
 which Japan will have added by 1910 to the fleet 
 which defeated Rojdestvensky in such a signal 
 manner in the Tsushima Straits will mean that her 
 naval strength will be so overwhelming that not 
 even the entire American fleet — until the completion 
 of the Panama Canal — could risk a decisive struggle. 
 
 K K 
 
498 THE NEW PROBLEM IN EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that great modesty 
 is being shown by Japan, ostensibly for reasons of 
 economy, in the patrolling of the Eastern Seas. 
 The entire Japanese armoured fleet is in fact a Home 
 Squadron which never cruises beyond territorial 
 waters except on rare occasions. Along the China 
 coasts the Japanese flag is seen only on second- 
 class protected cruisers ; and although the German 
 Emperor has suggested that a Japanese Admiral 
 may at the least-expected moment appear with a 
 squadron in an European mare clausum such as the 
 Mediterranean, and demand a hearing, that day 
 seems far off, since it is contrary to all Japanese 
 principles to make those spectacular displays which 
 would seem to be rated by some Europeans 
 the equivalent of warlike ability. Indeed so retiring 
 has been this rapidly-increasing Japanese Navy, so 
 confined to its land-locked seas and harbours, that 
 Count Okuma in a speech full of point and erudi- 
 tion which has caused a movement of surprise in 
 many quarters, has laid stress on the fact that this 
 singular inactivity in times of peace is solely 
 responsible for the ill-success of Japanese diplomacy 
 in such affairs as the San Francisco difficulty. 
 Count Okuma — probably with a recollection of the 
 abortive attempts he himself made during his last 
 tenure of office to influence Hawaiian destinies 
 with a couple of small cruisers — pointed out that 
 had the activities of the Japanese fleet been more 
 extensive, and had two or three modern vessels been 
 accustomed to cruise up and down the Pacific sea- 
 
V THE JAPANESE ARMY AND NAVY 499 
 
 board of the United States, a fuller appreciation of 
 modern Japan would have been spread abroad, 
 especially among all classes of American citizens. 
 He added that, assuming the dictum to be correct 
 that trade follows the flag, Japanese warships 
 should plough more distant seas and be seen in the 
 Indian Ocean, off the Siamese Coasts, and even 
 farther afield. 
 
 Cool and cautious, however, the Japanese 
 Government makes no sign. It has a set pro- 
 gramme which must be completed within ten years 
 from the conclusion of the Portsmouth Treaty ; and 
 until that programme is completed, nothing will be 
 ventured. The British Insurance Policy must soon 
 lapse, unless indeed it is renewed — how far does 
 that possibility affect the cautious builders of the 
 new Japanese Navy ? Step by step progress has 
 been made with painful, bloodless, mechanical 
 precision ; how far will that progress proceed ? It 
 is clear that although not so much exception need 
 be taken to the great increase which has taken place 
 in the Japanese Army, with the Japanese Navy the 
 case is different. It is too strong — about that there 
 can be no doubt. The old enemy, Russia, is now 
 merely a land Power in the Far East, as she is in 
 the Far West ; on water she can effect nothing. 
 Such a navy as Japan has created has behind it 
 some deliberate purpose which cannot yet be 
 guessed. 
 
 K K 2 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 Greater Japan 
 
 The preceding five chapters pave the way to 
 some remarks on Greater Japan, the possible Japan 
 of to-morrow, which is only as unlikely to arise as 
 would the British Empire of to-day have appeared 
 to people living in the eighteenth century. The 
 creation of this Greater Japan must differ essentially, 
 however, from the growth of England's overseas 
 possessions. It will be created, if at all, by the 
 cautious step-by-step process so dear to the bureau- 
 cracy — ^each definite forward movement being firmly 
 cemented before a further advance is made. In all 
 probability, unless extraordinary complications which 
 cannot now be foreseen arise with America, nothing 
 will be heard of this Greater Japan ^ (except in the 
 
 1 In the opinion of the writer, too much importance has been 
 generally laid by European publicists on Japanese activity in North 
 and South America. This activity has been mainly for the purpose 
 of increasing Japan's invisible exports — i.e. her exports of men who 
 remit back large sums of money and thereby relieve the internal 
 situation at home. This contention is clearly proved by the fact 
 that Japanese emigrants go with the greatest unwillingness to Latin 
 America, where their earnings are smaller although their treatment is 
 far better than in the America of the Anglo-Saxon. Japan's real colonial 
 field is held to be in the island-groups of Eastern Asia and on the 
 mainland washed by the waters of the Yellow Sea. 
 
CH. VI GREATER JAPAN 501 
 
 Korean-Manchurian zone) until the year 19 15 has 
 drawn very near, for the simple reason that to 
 complete the financial, naval, military, industrial, 
 and commercial re-organisation in Japan which is 
 essential to another forward movement, at least six 
 or seven years more must elapse. By that time the 
 people of Japan should be accustomed to a 
 permanent Budget of fifty or sixty millions sterling 
 a year ; her international commerce should have 
 risen from the ;^8o,ooo,ooo (the figure during the 
 Russo-Japanese War) to possibly some ;!^i 50,000,000 
 or even ;^20o,ooo,ooo per annum ; the new army 
 system should be working smoothly, and a potential 
 striking force of from two to three million men 
 should thus be available ; the navy of sixteen battle- 
 ships and twenty armoured cruisers should be 
 quite complete ; in a word, by that time Japan, the 
 only really efficient country in Asia, may 
 aspire, and quite rightly, to the hegemony of the 
 East.^ Were the writer a Japanese he might 
 
 1 There is to-day a curious and ominous little sign in North-Eastern 
 Korea. During the war a great deal of light railway material was 
 landed at Gensan, and carried by small steamers to the northern port 
 of Songching. It now transpires that a light military railway has 
 been constructed from a town whose Chinese characters transliterate 
 as Chinch'eng to a village bearing the name of Huailin on the Tiumen 
 river. This river, it will be recalled, marks the Chinese-Russian fron- 
 tier. The total length of the railway is given as 112 miles, and it is 
 exactly 230 Chinese li, or 75 miles, by road from its terminal point, 
 Huailin, to the Chinese town of Hungchun on the Kirin-Primorsk 
 frontier. It is stated that a commercial concession, the Tiumen River 
 Lumber Concession now being "arranged" in Seoul, will give the 
 railway a public reason for existing ; but from a strategic point of view 
 its completion will always mean that it will be possible for Japanese 
 soldiers to pass into either Chinese or Russian soil with the utmost 
 secrecy at a few hours' notice. 
 
S02 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 dream, as millions of Japanese now do dream, of the 
 ultimate conquest, not only of all the great island 
 groups fringing the Asiatic seaboard, but also of 
 China and the Beyond. For no matter how much 
 the European writer may wish to defend his own 
 point of view, he cannot deny that the creation of a 
 Greater Japan which shall embrace millions of 
 square miles of territory and tens of millions of 
 people, is as legitimate as was the conquest of India, 
 Burma, Cochin-China, Java, Sumatra, and the 
 Philippines, by various nations of white men. The 
 supremacy which Europe attained over Asia in the 
 nineteenth century has no elements of permanency ; 
 for the weight of numbers is increasingly in favour 
 of Asia, and Europe's hope can ultimately lie only 
 in Russia and North America. A thousand million 
 Asiatics, who are now increasing more and more 
 rapidly, form a force which is not yet appreciated in 
 the slightest ; and only the most cunning diplomacy 
 and the possession of the world's . great stores of 
 gold, backed by the fear of that cold and deathless 
 onslaught which the white man alone knows how to 
 deliver, can maintain in Asia during the twentieth 
 century the conditions of the nineteenth. It may 
 seem absurd to think in continents, when one's only 
 basis is an island group slightly greater in area than 
 the British Isles ; yet after all it was a mere handful 
 of Englishmen who founded the British Empire of 
 to-day. 
 
 The activity of Japan outside that zone which is 
 now tacitly acknowledged to be within her grasp is, 
 
GREATER JAPAN 503 
 
 of course, for the time being confined to limits which 
 can be easily demarcated. That activity, in fact, 
 consists in nothing else than encouraging an 
 overspill of population into all adjacent lands, in 
 fostering in every possible way the growth of 
 Japanese interests, and in assisting by indirect 
 methods the spread amongst Far Eastern Asiatics 
 of one leading idea. This idea is that the present 
 period is merely one of transition, during which it 
 will be necessary to restrict all development-work, of 
 no matter what sort, which is inspired, promoted, 
 aided, or abetted by Europeans ; because such 
 development-work, if permitted, will allow alien 
 nationalities to increase their interests in such a 
 country as China, and therefore pari passu to in- 
 crease the difficulties which will eventually have to 
 be overcome by a Power which aims at substituting 
 in the future its own culture, its own interests, and 
 its own system. This important idea is spread by 
 word of mouth, by the vernacular press (a large 
 portion of which is inspired if not controlled from 
 Japanese sources), -and by the enormous and growing 
 traffic in books printed in Japan ; and a wealth of 
 facts and opinions illustrative of this principle of re- 
 striction is thus scattered broadcast among peoples 
 who cannot be so easily protected from casuistry as 
 can the populations of more enlightened lands. This 
 curious campaign of education or preparation has from 
 many points of view already been an unfortunate 
 one, and especially because it naturally hinders sound 
 progress. It is actively proceeding all over China — 
 
S04 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 indeed all over the Far East — and has gained 
 immensely in organisation and intensity during the 
 short period since the war. Yet at the same time, 
 there is no disguising the fact that it causes no 
 corresponding increase in affection for Japan among 
 the Chinese. The reverse is rather the case ; 
 and, as a matter of fact, Japan, while she is 
 responsible for the preaching of this new gospel, is 
 all the while attempting to increase her own hold 
 everywhere, and gradually to lay the foundations of 
 future empire, regardless of the susceptibilities of other 
 Asiatics. Nowhere is this clearer than in Korea 
 and Southern Manchuria. In both regions Japan is 
 relentlessly pursuing a definite policy, of which, in 
 spite of the fact that its basic principles are supposed 
 to be the "open door" and "equal opportunity for 
 all," the only concrete results are a disheartening 
 decline in European and American interests, and a 
 sensational advance in Japanese influence, commerce, 
 and industry, which is out of all proportion to that 
 which might be normally expected.^ That such re- 
 
 1 As small illustrations of this, some facts and figures can already 
 be given. In Korea, British shipping had sunk in 1906 to 41,000 tons, 
 and British trade to Yen 48,000 — say, .£s,ooo sterling. In Southern 
 Manchuria not only has Japan all the railways east of the Liao river, 
 but she has all the mines, and is actually introducing Japanese police 
 into many of the towns. The manufacture of salt, which is a Chinese 
 Government monopoly, has been begun on an enormous scale in the 
 Japanese leased territory, and the salt which is thus produced is being 
 forced all over Manchuria in spite of Chinese protests. The Yalu 
 lumber industry has become entirely Japanese — and this only three 
 and a half years after Japan denounced to the world Russia's behaviour 
 in the same sphere. Japanese fishing-companies are invading all the 
 territorial waters of Manchuria and driving Chinese fishermen away. 
 All the land lying round every trade-centre in both Korea and South- 
 
A Garden Party at the Residency-General in Seoul. 
 
 The Marquis Ito stands immediately beside General Hasogawa the Commander-in-Chief 
 
 of the Japanese army of occupation. 
 
 A Korean Gentleman's Method of Travelling. 
 
GREATER JAPAN 505 
 
 suits can be attained is small wonder when the 
 instruments used are examined. In this connection 
 it is interesting to take the question of mining in 
 Korea as a concrete example of how things are 
 managed. 
 
 Enough has been said about Korea elsewhere to 
 make it unnecessary to show here that the country 
 is rapidly passing into Japanese hands — contrary to 
 the whole spirit of Japan's international obligations 
 — and that a province of Japan is being formed on 
 the mainland of Asia as a first result of a liberating 
 war. As Japan's ally has given tacit sanction to all 
 this work, and as the United States — the last re- 
 maining bulwark against the absorption of Korea 
 by Japan — did not see fit in 1905 to keep the 
 question open, as it could have been kept open, it 
 does not lie within the province of the political 
 student to dwell further on the general question.^ 
 But when a specific question, such as mining in 
 
 em Manchuria is forcibly bought by Japan at absurd figures. At 
 Antung, in Manchuria, and at Pingyang and Seoul in Korea, enormous 
 tracts were acquired " for military purposes " only to be turned over 
 to exploitation companies. 
 
 ' In a chapter in a previous volume — The Truce in the East and its 
 Aftermath — the author ventured to quote, vrhen speaking of America's 
 new responsibilities in Eastern Asia, the following, which is the first 
 Article in the first Treaty the United States signed with Korea. It has 
 to-day a peculiar ring. " There shall be perpetual peace and friendship 
 between the President of the United States and the King of Chosen 
 (Korea) and the citizens and subjects of their respective Governments. 
 If other Powers deal unjustly or oppressively with either Government 
 the other will exert their good offices, on being informed of the case, 
 to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly 
 feeling." It is small wonder that China should be acting as she is and 
 becoming more and more nervous about the value of foreign treaties, 
 when she sees what is happening in Korea. 
 
So6 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Korea, is treated as it has been treated by Japan, 
 something may be said. Here are the new Korean 
 Mining Regulations : — 
 
 The Korean Mining Law. 
 
 (Sanctioned on June 29, 1906, and promulgated on 
 July 12, 1906.) 
 
 {Translated at H.I.J.M.'s Residency General in Korea.) 
 
 Article i. — The term mining shall be construed to 
 mean the extraction of minerals and all work incidental 
 thereto. The kinds of minerals shall be specified by 
 Ordinance. 
 
 Article 2. — Minerals not extracted, mineral refuse and 
 slag shall be the property of the State. 
 
 Article 3. — Any person desiring to engage in mining 
 operations shall apply for permission to the Minister of 
 Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry, submitting a written 
 application accurately specifying the kinds of minerals for 
 which he intends to mine, together with a plan of the 
 intended mining claim. 
 
 Applicants for mining rights shall prove the existence 
 in the claims applied for of the minerals for which they 
 intend to mine. 
 
 Article 4. — The boundaries of mining claims shall be 
 limited by straight surface lines extending vertically down- 
 ward. Their area in the case of coal shall not be less than 
 fifty thousand tsubo, and in the case of other minerals not 
 less than five thousand tsubo ; and in neither case shall it 
 exceed a million tsubo. The latter limit may, however, be 
 exceeded in case it is absolutely necessary for the protec- 
 tion of public mining interests or for the amalgamation or 
 division of mining claims. 
 
 Article 5. — No land within three hundred ken of an 
 Imperial Palace or Imperial detached palace, or within the 
 " Fasun " (wooded precinct) of an Imperial grave or of a 
 Crown Prince's or Crown Princess's grave shall be turned 
 into a mining claim. No person shall make use of such 
 
GREATER JAPAN 507 
 
 land in connection with mining operations, unless with the 
 permission of the proper Government Office concerned. 
 
 No land within three hundred ken of any fortress or 
 fortification, naval port, powder magazine or ammunition 
 store belonging to the Army or Navy, or of any Govern- 
 ment Office, shall be turned into a mining claim or used for 
 mining purposes, unless with the permission of the Govern- 
 ment Office concerned. 
 
 Article 6. — Within a distance of fifty ken in all 
 directions, whether above or beneath the surface, from 
 railroads, tramways, roads, canals, rivers, lakes, ponds, 
 embankments, temple or shrine enclosures, public parks, 
 graves, or buildings of any description, no person may 
 carry on mining operations or make use of land in con- 
 nection with such operations, unless with the permission of 
 the proper Government Office concerned or with the con- 
 sent of the owner of the property or of persons having an 
 interest therein. 
 
 In case the owner of such property or persons having 
 an interest therein refuse consent without proper reason 
 the holder of the mining right may submit the matter to 
 the decision of the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and 
 Industry. 
 
 Article 7. — The Minister of Agriculture, Commerce 
 and Industry shall have the power to refuse permission for 
 mining, in case he considers such a step to be necessary in 
 the public interest or for any other reason. 
 
 Article 8. — In case there is more than one applicant 
 for one and the same mining claim, permission shall be 
 given according to the priority of the dates of receipt of 
 the applications. As regards applications received on the 
 same date, permission shall be given to the applicant whom 
 the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry may 
 consider to be most worthy. 
 
 Article 9. — When the holder of a mining right desires 
 to make an amalgamation, or division, or any other 
 modification of his mining claims, he shall obtain the 
 permission of the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and 
 Industry. 
 
5o8 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 In case the location or configuration of a mining claim 
 is detrimental to public mining interests, the Minister of 
 Agriculture, Commerce and Industry shall order the neces- 
 sary alterations. 
 
 Article io. — No mining right may be sold, assigned, or 
 mortgaged without permission of the Minister of Agricul- 
 ture, Commerce and Industry. 
 
 A mining right may be acquired by inheritance. 
 
 Article ii. — In case the holder of a mining right does 
 not carry on operations properly, or when his method of 
 work is considered to involve danger or to be injurious to 
 public interests, the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce 
 and Industry shall order the required improvement or 
 precautionary measures or the suspension of operations. 
 
 Article 12. — The Minister of Agriculture, Commerce 
 and Industry may revoke the permission to carry on 
 mining operations in the following cases : 
 
 A. When it is discovered that the permission was obtained 
 by fraudulent means or granted by mistake. 
 
 B. When work has been stopped for one year or upwards 
 without adequate reason, or when work has not been 
 commenced within one year from the date when per- 
 mission was obtained. 
 
 C. When the order mentioned in the second clause of 
 Article 9, or that mentioned in Article 11, has not been 
 obeyed. 
 
 D. When the mining operations are considered to be 
 injurious to public interests. 
 
 E. When the land to be used for mining operations has 
 been utilised for some other purpose. 
 
 F. When the royalty or ground tax has not been paid 
 within the specified period. 
 
 G. When the holder of a mining right mentioned in the 
 third clause of Article 25 has not paid the contributions 
 within the specified period. 
 
 H. When a fine has not been paid within the specified 
 period. 
 
 Article 13. — When permission to carry on mining 
 operations has been revoked, or when a mining right has 
 
GREATER JAPAN 509 
 
 lapsed, or when the working of a mine has been abandoned, 
 such works or structures on the surface or underground, the 
 removal of which may be deemed by the Minister of Agri- 
 culture, Commerce and Industry to be necessary for the 
 sake of safety, shall be removed. 
 
 Article 14. — When the holders of mining rights or 
 applicants therefor find it necessary to enter lands 
 belonging to another person for the purpose of surveying 
 or examining, they may apply for the approval of the 
 Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. 
 
 The proprietor of such land, or any person having an 
 interest therein, may not refuse the request of persons 
 possessing the above-mentioned official approval. But in 
 case any damage is done by such survey or examination 
 due reparation shall be rendered by the responsible 
 party. 
 
 Article 15. — When the holder of a mining right finds 
 it necessary to rent land for the purpose of carrying on 
 mining operations, he may make demand to that end to 
 the proprietor or persons having an interest in the land. 
 He may not, however, use such land unless he pays the 
 rent in advance every year. 
 
 When any damage has been caused to the proprietor of 
 the land or persons having an interest therein by the use of 
 such land, the holder of the mining right shall make due 
 reparation. 
 
 Article 16. — When the holder of a mining right has 
 either the intention of using, or has actually used, such 
 rented land for not less than three years, the proprietor 
 thereof may demand that the holder of the mining right 
 shall purchase the land. 
 
 In case the purchase of a portion of the land would 
 make the remainder unfit for the purposes for which it was 
 hitherto used, the owner may demand the purchase of the 
 land in its entirety. 
 
 Article 17. — In case the parties concerned fail to come 
 to an agreement concerning the renting of land, the rate 
 of rental, the purchase of land, the price therefor, or the 
 reparation for damages, mentioned in Article 14, Article 15, 
 
510 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 and Article i6, the matter may be referred to the Minister 
 of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry for decision. 
 
 The amount of the costs involved in such decision and 
 the party responsible therefor shall be determined by the 
 Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. 
 
 Article i8. — Persons presenting applications, petitions 
 or reports concerning mining, shall pay fees according to 
 the schedule determined by the Ordinance. 
 
 Article 19. — Holders of mining rights shall pay royalty 
 and ground tax. 
 
 The amount of the royalty shall be one-hundredth of 
 the market value of the gross output. The ground tax 
 shall be at the rate of fifty sen per thousand tsubo per 
 annum, any fraction of a thousand tsubo being calculated 
 as a thousand tsubo. 
 
 For the first year after the permission to mine has been 
 obtained, the ground tax shall be paid at one-half of the 
 above-mentioned rate. 
 
 Article 20. — Holders of mining rights shall pay in the 
 month of March every year the royalty for the previous 
 year. But in case of the lapse, the sale or the assign- 
 ment of mining rights, it .shall be paid at once. 
 
 Holders of mining rights shall pay in December every 
 
 ,year the ground tax for the coming year. For the first 
 
 year in which permission to mine has been obtained the 
 
 ground tax shall be paid at once for the number of months 
 
 remaining in the year. 
 
 The ground tax already paid shall in no case be 
 returned. 
 
 Article 21. — The Government shall not be responsible 
 for any damage that may be caused by any measure taken 
 by the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry by 
 virtue of the present Law or of the Detailed Regulations 
 for carrying it out. 
 
 Article 22. — Any person who has carried on mining 
 operations, or who has obtained mining rights by fraud, 
 shall be subject to a fine of not less than fifty yen and not 
 more than a thousand yen, and any minerals which may 
 have been extracted by him shall be confiscated. 
 
VI GREATER JAPAN 511 
 
 In case the minerals have already been sold or otherwise 
 disposed, an amount corresponding to their market value 
 shall be recovered. 
 
 Article 23. — Persons violating the provisions of Article 
 5, the first clause of Article 6, and Article 13 shall be 
 subject to a fine of not less than twenty yen and not more 
 than five hundred yen. 
 
 Article 24. — The measures mentioned in the preceding 
 two Articles shall be decided upon and carried out by the 
 Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. 
 
 Article. 25. — The list of the mines belonging to the 
 Imperial Household Department shall be notified by 
 Ordinance. 
 
 In case any mine belonging to the Imperial Household 
 Department is worked by the said Department, the pro- 
 visions of Article 12, Article 18, Article 19, and Article 20 
 shall not be applicable. 
 
 In the case of any person desiring to work a mine be- 
 longing to the Imperial Household Department, the stipu- 
 lations of the present Law shall apply, except as regards the 
 provisions mentioned below : 
 
 1. In the case mentioned in Article 8, permission 
 shall be given to the party considered by the Minister 
 of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry to be most 
 worthy. 
 
 2. The holder of a mining right in one of the Household 
 mines shall pay to the Imperial Household Department, 
 through the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, 
 contributions corresponding in amount to those men- 
 tioned in Article 19. As to the method of payment, the 
 provisions of Article 20 shall apply. 
 
 Article 26. — Such Ordinances as may be required for 
 carrying out the present Law shall be determined by 
 the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. 
 
 Article 27. — Inasmuch as the measures to be taken 
 under the present Law and the Detailed Regulations for 
 carrying out the same will in many cases concern foreigners, 
 no such measures shall be decided upon or executed without 
 the previous consent of the Resident General. This 
 
SI2 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CHAP. 
 
 stipulation shall also apply with regard to the mines be- 
 longing to the Imperial Household Department. 
 
 Article 28. — Any Korean subject who is actually 
 engaged in mining operations under permission obtained 
 prior to the promulgation of the present Law shall make 
 application according to the present Law within two 
 months from the date when it comes into force. 
 
 With regard to such applications, permission may be 
 specially given according to the progress of the work and 
 regardless of the provisions of Article 8 of the present 
 Law. 
 
 Article 29. — In case the Minister of Agriculture, 
 Commerce and Industry considers that any measure taken 
 under the provisions of the present Law causes damage to 
 any Korean subject who was actually engaged in mining 
 operations before the present Law was promulgated, and is 
 still engaged in such operations, the said Minister shall 
 order the holder of the mining right concerned to make 
 due reparation. 
 
 Article 30. — Foreigners who have been granted mining 
 rights and have begun operations in connection therewith 
 before the promulgation of the present Law, and are still 
 carrying on such operations, shall observe the provisions 
 thereof in so far as they do not conflict with the terms of 
 the grants made to them. 
 
 Article 31. — The present Law shall come into force on 
 and after the fifteenth day of the ninth month of the tenth 
 year of Kwang-mu. 
 
 Article 32. — All Laws and Ordinances conflicting with 
 the present Law are hereby revoked. 
 
 Of these thirty-six Articles, the majority are 
 admitted by European experts to be sound, simply 
 because they are nothing out of the common. Thus 
 the rentals and royalties to be paid by mine-owners 
 are very low and moderate (and therefore suitable 
 for Japanese), and the minor clauses are also 
 
VI GREATER JAPAN 513 
 
 marked by common -sense. But every merit which 
 the whole law might and should possess, had the 
 rapid development of Korea been the only object in 
 view, is rudely swept away by the offending clauses, 
 which in some cases are both so unjust and so 
 unreasonable that, were it not for the fact that their 
 authenticity has been vouched for by their official 
 promulgation and by their being already rigidly 
 carried out, they would scarcely be believed. Thus 
 Article 7 of the Regulations runs as follows : — 
 " The Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and 
 Industry shall have the power to refuse permission 
 for mining, in case he considers such a step 
 necessary in the public interest or for any other 
 reason." This is in itself sufficiently extraordinary ; 
 but it is followed by one still more curious in its 
 general tenour (Article 8) : "In case there is more 
 than one applicant for one and the same mining 
 claim, permission shall be given according to the 
 priority of the dates of receipt of the applications. 
 As regards applications received on the same date, 
 permission shall be given to the applicant whom 
 the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and 
 Industry may consider most worthy." 
 
 It is small wonder that these two Articles, which 
 are being strictly interpreted, should have aroused 
 intense dissatisfaction amongst the representatives 
 of British and American capitalists, who, ever since 
 the conclusion of peace, have been waiting patiently 
 for an opportunity to file mining papers. It is 
 pointed out that the so-called Korean Minister of 
 
 L L 
 
514 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, being simply 
 a servant of the new rdgime, may refuse an appli- 
 cation not only because it is against the public 
 interest, but also for no reason whatsoever ; or, 
 if either of these weapons fail, he may so arrange 
 matters that an application identical to one filed by 
 a European representative is put in the same day by 
 a non-European, when the latter is, of course, held 
 by him to be more worthy of consideration. Indeed, 
 the object of these two clauses is so crudely exposed 
 that no remarks are necessary. Such doubts and 
 suspicions would be wholly unworthy were it not 
 for the fact that ever since the publication 
 of this new Mining Law there have been ample 
 proofs that the real object in view is to stop all 
 possibility of large European mining interests being 
 acquired in Korea. Further, there are Articles 
 which place obstacles in the way of all amalgama- 
 tion and division of mining claims, and absolutely 
 prohibit all sales, assignments and mortgages 
 without the express consent of the Minister of 
 Agriculture. Finally, Article 21 states that "the 
 Government shall not be responsible for any damage 
 that may be caused by any measure taken by the 
 Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry 
 by virtue of the present Law or of the Detailed 
 Regulations for carrying it out." Thus it is clear that 
 in addition to possessing the power of issuing mining 
 permits, the so-called reformed Korean Government, 
 under Japanese advice, may practically repudiate at 
 any convenient date any concessions, on any grounds 
 
VI GREATER JAPAN 515 
 
 which it may deem sufficient, and not be held 
 responsible in any way whatsoever for any damage 
 done. It will be understood that the result of this 
 multiplication of disabilities is a condition of things 
 precisely as bad as if an egotistical Russia ruled the 
 land. 
 
 But to see what has inspired them it is necessary 
 to go behind the mining rules. Hitherto the grant- 
 ing of all mining concessions in Korea has been 
 exclusively in the hands of the Imperial Household, 
 because all land not under cultivation and properly 
 covered by title-deeds is held, much as it is in 
 every other Eastern country, to be the personal 
 property of the Emperor. Under the old rdgime, 
 once a concession had been granted, a royalty of 
 Mexican $25,000 a year was paid in a lump sum 
 (irrespective of the value or the quantity of the 
 mineral mined), and a permit was thereupon issued. 
 This old procedure had its bad side as well as its 
 convenient side for concessionnaires, since in several 
 cases syndicates which had begun operations and 
 had met with ill-luck and heavy losses, had to 
 continue paying the same amount into the Korean 
 Treasury, so long as they carried on operations, as 
 they would have had to pay if they had been 
 successful. The highly-profitable American con- 
 cern, the Consolidated Korean Gold Mines, which 
 has hitherto estimated its profits in millions of 
 dollars, is indeed the only instance of a real mining 
 success in Korea. From this it is apparent that 
 the new Mining Law, were it stripped of all objec- 
 
 L L 2 
 
Si6 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 tionable clauses and honestly administered, would 
 mark a distinct advance, as the scale of royalties 
 and the ground tax are moderate in the extreme. 
 
 Here, however, comes another important point. 
 One of the objects of the new regulations is to 
 invalidate certain important concessions granted by 
 the Korean Emperor some time ago and unavoid- 
 ably held in suspense pending the termination of 
 the late war. These concessions, numbering a 
 dozen or so, were in most cases backed by powerful 
 sponsors in London and New York, and so great 
 an outcry was made on the promulgation of the new 
 Law by their representatives in Korea that in the 
 end the European backers were forced to take effect- 
 ive action. In the case of the large area lying to 
 the north of the properties of the Consolidated 
 Korean Gold Mines, which had been applied for 
 by a British- American Syndicate, the Japanese had 
 absolutely refused to grant a permit. Diplomatic 
 pressure, however, was brought to bear in Paris, 
 and Marquis I to learned to his surprise that if this 
 concession were not granted there might be diffi- 
 culties raised by Parisian financiers regarding the 
 new Japanese Conversion Loan. The permit was 
 then promptly issued, with the excuse that the only 
 cause of the delay was the multitude of details which 
 had had to be attended to. In the case of a second 
 area, which had been granted to a purely British 
 group, an intimation was conveyed that if there was 
 a refusal the question might come up in the House 
 of Commons and lead to an awkward debate. The 
 
VI GREATER JAPAN 517 
 
 Japanese authorities were then good enough to 
 point out that delay had occurred only because the 
 concessionnaires had not followed the detailed regu- 
 lations ; as soon as they had filed an application 
 under the new rules, a permit would be issued. In 
 a third case, a German Syndicate at last received a 
 permit through pressure abroad ; and in a fourth 
 case an Anglo- Italian venture was sanctioned thanks 
 to much the same tactics. But in the case of the 
 well-known American firm of Colbran, Bostwick 
 & Co., of Seoul, acting in the interests of the 
 Manchu Syndicate, Ltd., and the Korean Syndicate, 
 Ltd., both of which concerns are registered in 
 London, no such consideration was shown. Al- 
 though the concessions held were unimpeachable, 
 the Japanese needed them for themselves, and 
 although two years have now been spent in repre- 
 sentations, it has been time wasted.^ 
 
 It is true, of course, that mining permits have 
 actually been issued to some half-a-dozen European 
 groups ; but it still remains to be proved whether 
 the concessions obtained can ever be placed on a 
 dividend-paying basis. For there are many ways 
 of making work unprofitable. Already the Con- 
 solidated Korean Gold Mines are having difficulties 
 about timber because the Japanese now control all the 
 Yalu and Tiumen river supplies and are beginning to 
 cut off alien concerns. Already there are indications 
 
 ^ The reason for the animosity of the Japanese against this American 
 house is because the partners are the intimates of the Korean Emperor 
 and openly deplore the present disgraceful position in Korea, 
 
5i8 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA chap. 
 
 that foreign syndicates will be allowed to proceed 
 only a certain distance, and then, as soon as values 
 have been proved, will have a pistol put at their 
 heads in the form of an upset-price or of unending 
 labour, timber and other difficulties. It is a situa- 
 tion which reflects but little credit on British 
 diplomacy. 
 
 As for Korea in general, it may be looked upon 
 as being as much lost to the neutral world as is 
 Formosa. It is becoming a closed market — just as 
 there are indications that Southern Manchuria is to 
 be a closed market — arid will become completely so 
 unless vigorous measures be taken in time.^ 
 
 Greater Japan, then, means something quite 
 different from Greater Britain ; and it is a realisation 
 of this fact which has succeeded in two short years 
 in alienating almost completely all sympathy from 
 Japan in the Far East. Englishmen now know 
 that, after having won the Russian War largely 
 through Anglo-American moral support and Anglo- 
 American gold, Japan intends to make profit, and 
 
 1 Most serious is the question of the Korean Customs tariflf. It has 
 transpired that quite recently certain confidential work has been en- 
 trusted to the Japanese Customs at Korean treaty ports, which points 
 to the fact that an analysis is being made of all statistics, having for 
 its object the preparation of data on which to formulate certain pro- 
 posals, first, it is believed, to England, and then to the other Treaty 
 Powers. In other words, an attempt may be made to bring a Korean- 
 Japanese Customs Union within the range of practical politics. How 
 " the most favoured nation clause " of the Treaties is to be overcome 
 no one yet can imagine ; but it is supposed that if a scheme is pro- 
 posed i.whereby the main imports of each Power receive preferential 
 treatment, some Foreign Offices may be inclined to view the- change 
 with less ill-favour than at present. Nothing more disastrous than 
 such a surrender, however, could happen. 
 
A Military Execution, Korea 
 
 
 The National Method of Execution, Korea. 
 
:'f 
 
VI GREATER JAPAN 519 
 
 to take payment, not from Russia, which remained 
 unbeaten, but from the neutral world of Eastern 
 Asia. 
 
 Japan has many admirable qualities, and the 
 patriotism of her sons is beyond all praise. But 
 when there is imminent risk of the work of decades 
 being undone by a sentimental obsession, then the 
 time has arrived for the plainest speaking. Korea 
 is already almost lost to the neutral world ; Southern 
 Manchuria is sharply menaced ; the whole of China 
 is being infiltrated by a preparatory campaign. 
 Chinese stubbornness and Chinese rivalry form 
 barriers of some strength, which may suffice until 
 the completion of the Panama Canal. But the 
 situation is already very critical and the great 
 contest draws nearer and nearer. In this contest 
 Japan will be the decisive factor along the vast Far 
 Eastern coast lines, unless there is a naval combina- 
 tion of all Anglo- Saxondom. 
 
 Note. — The latest phase which has arisen in Korea owing 
 to the unfortunate Emperor's vain despatch of a mission 
 to The Hague Conference, charged with demanding that 
 common justice should be extended to a country whose only 
 sin is misgovernment, has had a dramatic end. The 
 Emperor has abdicated in form but not in substance. On 
 July 19th, 1907, fearing the worst from the fact that 
 Marquis I to, through the so-called Korean Ministry, 
 had submitted certain demands, the Emperor abdicated 
 in favour of his son, the Crown Prince. The three demands 
 which Marquis Ito submitted are understood to have been 
 (a) that the Emperor must ratify with his own hand and 
 seal the so-called "protection" Treaty, of November 17th, 
 1905 ; ib) that the Emperor must appoint a Regent ; and 
 
520 THE NEW PROBLEM OF EASTERN ASIA CH. VI 
 
 (c) that the Emperor must proceed in person to Tokyo and 
 apologise personally to the Emperor of Japan for the 
 Hague Mission. 
 
 The action of the Korean Emperor has once more out- 
 witted the Japanese for the time being, since his abdication 
 does not alter the regard of the Korean people for their 
 sovereign, and the Palace in Seoul will continue to cherish 
 the same hopes as before. Meanwhile the clamour of the 
 Japanese may bring about a new crisis. Of course, the 
 open annexation of Korea is desired — and if the Japanese 
 Government hesitates. to act, it is because the consequences 
 of any action destroying once and for all the identity of the 
 Korean people will be very far-reaching. The whole fault 
 undoubtedly lies with Japan, for, as the writer has clearly 
 shown in previous volumes, her footing in Korea from the 
 first days after the beginning of the late war has been 
 a false one. And not only has it been false, but she has 
 actually encouraged by a thousand acts the belief among 
 the Japanese people that Korea has legitimately fallen to 
 their lot for open exploitation. Meanwhile these latest in- 
 cidents have created something closely akin to a panic in 
 Peking. The Manchus begin to understand what the 
 future may have in store for them. 
 
PART III 
 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907. 
 
 The curious course of events in China itself, 
 during a period in which Far Eastern history has 
 so rapidly been made by forces over which the 
 Peking Government has exercised not the slightest 
 control, has been fully detailed in previous volumes.^ 
 It will now be sufficient, therefore, to show, as suc- 
 cinctly as possible, how far the internal situation in 
 China has actually developed, in spite of a very large 
 number of impediments arising both from within 
 and from without, and to attempt an estimate of the 
 probable position of affairs, say by the year 19 15. 
 With the ever-shifting currents and cross-currents 
 which are such a feature in China, this task is one 
 of immense difficulty, and no conclusions can be 
 stated in the absolute terms which can with justice 
 be employed in the case of Japan ; still it is possible 
 to make a number of interesting deductions which 
 are as nearly final as is possible in the strangely 
 conflicting circumstances of the day. 
 
 ' See Manchu and Muscovite, The Re-Shaping of the Far East, 
 The Truce in the East and Its Aftermath. 
 
524 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 No sooner had the Russo-Japanese war ended, 
 and the various Treaties and Agreements been 
 signed and ratified, than a large and important 
 Chinese Imperial Mission, headed by a Manchu 
 Prince, Duke Tsai, left Peking with the object of 
 investigating the political systems of the Old World, 
 and thereafter of recommending the adoption in 
 China of what was decided to be best in them. This 
 Mission, then, may be said to have been nothing less 
 than a tacit confession on the part of the Throne of 
 China that the whole course of events from the Chino- 
 Japanese war of 1894 until the Portsmouth Treaty 
 of 1905, had been directly provoked by the misrule, 
 weakness and corruption of the Peking Government ; 
 and that, if this period of disintegration was not to 
 continue indefinitely until China was completely un- 
 done, it was essential that the root of all the troubles 
 should be attacked and a new rdgime substituted 
 over the whole Empire which might both arrest the 
 decay and regain much that had been lost. In the 
 opinion of the writer this silent admission proves, 
 without any shadow of doubt, the inherent sanity of 
 China's rulers, even when events have greatly 
 crippled their power to act wisely ; and at the time 
 of the departure of the Mission referred to, the con- 
 viction that the Government was at last in earnest was 
 so strong that it was actually confidently expected that 
 as soon as Duke Tsai and his colleagues returned 
 to Peking from Europe, a system of Constitutional 
 Government would be promulgated by Imperial 
 Decree and put in force without further delay. 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 525 
 
 Over-sanguineness is a general characteristic of the 
 East ; and the Chinese, in common with the 
 Japanese and other Asiatics, have an exaggerated 
 belief in the immediate efficacy of certain European 
 panacea. Thus a Constitution seemed to the ordi- 
 nary Chinese students the elixir which was so 
 bitterly needed to instil new life into the country ; 
 and therefore, without too much reasoning, a Con- 
 stitution was ardently demanded. 
 
 As soon, however, as the Imperial Mission had 
 returned to Peking in the summer of 1906 (after an 
 absence of only a very few months), and a general 
 conference of high officials and delegates of all the 
 provincial Viceroys and Governors had been 
 summoned, a curious struggle began between the 
 uncompromising advocates of root-and-branch re- 
 form and the more moderate statesmen. From 
 every point of view this was but natural, because it 
 was impossible that China should pass suddenly, 
 without any intervening period of probation, from 
 an excellent administrative system which has 
 merely become venal and ineffective owing to the 
 corruption and disturbance of the times, to a hybrid 
 form of pseudo-constitutionalism such as obtains in 
 Japan. Apart from all other considerations, such a 
 course would have been financial madness ; for 
 until the currency and internal revenue-collecting 
 had been completely and carefully reformed over 
 the whole Empire, the inauguration of a system of 
 Constitutional Government would simply have in- 
 vited pandemonium and possibly even have caused 
 
526 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 renewed foreign intervention such as occurred in 
 1900. From the Manchu point of view, too — for 
 it must never be forgotten that the final decision in 
 Chinese governmental matters rests with a relatively 
 small and effete body of conquerors who are constantly 
 reminded that they are aliens — to have immediately 
 given hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of 
 men a share in the government of the country 
 would have been to sound the death-knell of a 
 regime which is two and a half centuries old. For, 
 with the "new learning" spreading everywhere 
 from Japan, any sudden relaxation of the centralised 
 system of provincial control would certainly have 
 been followed by risings in the Yangtsze Valley 
 and the southern provinces — regions which are 
 imbued with the idea that it is a foreign dynasty 
 which reigns in China. 
 
 In the eyes of the Manchus, therefore, immense 
 caution was necessary in giving effect to any of 
 the recommendations of the Imperial Commission ; 
 and it was consequently quite certain from the 
 very beginning that the most that could be hoped 
 for at once was administrative reform aiming at 
 removing the abuses that had crept into the Chinese 
 system, rather than the drafting and promulgation 
 of a popular Constitution which would place un- 
 reservedly in the hands of a people, in the main 
 unfitted for such daring experiments, the nominal 
 control of the entire country. The battle between 
 the two parties in Peking, the Reformers and the 
 Moderates, lasted for many weeks, and gave rise to 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 527 
 
 many rumours, such as the one which disturbed all 
 Chihli — that Viceroy Yuan Shih-Kai would never 
 be allowed to leave the capital alive because he was 
 the uncompromising advocate of reform — but in the 
 end nothing more tragic occurred than the promul- 
 gation in September, 1 906, of the following important 
 Imperial Decrees which explain admirably and sanely 
 the whole Manchu point of view, and are therefore 
 worthy of close study : — 
 
 (0 
 
 1st September, 1906. 
 
 In obedience to the instructions of Her Imperial Majesty 
 the Empress Dowager, the Emperor issues the following 
 Decrees : — 
 
 Ever since our Imperial House began to rule this 
 Empire, we have had the best interests of the people in 
 our hearts, and have always taken up anything that 
 at the time seemed advantageous to our subjects. At the 
 present day we hold relations with the various nations of 
 the earth and learn that there is amongst them a mutual inter- 
 dependence ; and this leads us to consider our own position 
 which seems pressing and fraught with danger, unless we at 
 once seek for wise and experienced men to assist us in the 
 Government of the Empire. For this reason we sent a 
 special Mission of high officials to visit various parts of the 
 world, there to inquire into the systems of Government. 
 Our High Commissioners, Duke Tsai Tseh and his col- 
 leagues, have now returned from their travels, and in all 
 their reports to us they are unanimous in the declaration 
 that the main cause of the backward condition of this 
 Empire is the lack of confidence between the highest 
 and the lowest, that is, between the Throne and the Ministers 
 of State and the masses. Indeed officials know not how to 
 protect the people, while on the other hand it naturally 
 follows that the people are ignorant of how to guard the 
 
528 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 safety of their country. Foreign Powers really become 
 wealthy and powerful by granting Constitutions to the 
 masses and allowing universal suffrage. Hence soldiers 
 and commonalty are interlaced as to their common interests, 
 and what affects the one will surely also affect the other. 
 The people of foreign countries elect their rulers to rule over 
 them. The power of each is clearly defined ; the methods of 
 obtaining funds for Government expenses are properly regu- 
 lated. Everything is controlled under a proper system and 
 aims at the welfare of the masses. As regards ourselves, it 
 is necessary at present to make a careful investigation into 
 the matter and to prepare to imitate this system of Govern- 
 ment by a Constitution in which the supreme control must 
 be in the hands of the Throne, while the interests of the 
 masses shall be given to their elected representatives, ad- 
 vanced to such positions by the suffrage of the masses. 
 This, it is to be hoped, will be the means of strengthening the 
 foundations of an everlasting Empire. But at this time of 
 the day no method of procedure has as yet been drawn up, 
 whilst the understanding of the masses is very limited. 
 Any impetuosity shown in introducing these reforms will, 
 in the end, amount to so much labour lost. How can we 
 then face our subjects in such peculiar circumstances and 
 how regain their confidence and faith in us ? It is incum- 
 bent upon us as a beginning, therefore, to reform the 
 official system, to revise carefully the laws in their most 
 minute details, to promote and encourage universal educa- 
 tion, to regulate the finances and sources of revenues, to re- 
 organise the army and to establish a strong gendarmerie 
 throughout the Empire. The gentry and people will in 
 this way come to understand the kind of government 
 needed for the country, and be prepared to lay the founda- 
 tions for Constitutional Government, while the officials, 
 high and low, in Peking and elsewhere, can use their best 
 endeavours to bring our desires to a triumphant completion. 
 In a few years' time, when it is found that there is in 
 rough outline all that is needed, the time will have arrived 
 for appointing a day for the inauguration of a de facto 
 Constitutional Government. The whole Empire will then 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 529 
 
 be notified of the fact. We would therefore earnestly ex- 
 hort our Viceroys and Governors of provinces to issue 
 proclamations to their people, begging them to show an 
 enthusiastic desire for education, to be loyal and patriotic, 
 to be willing to make sacrifices for the good of all, and to 
 restrain from destroying a grand structure through petty 
 strife and private quarrels. Let all observe law and order 
 and sedulously prepare themselves to enjoy the solid advan- 
 tages of Constitutional Government. This is our sincere 
 hope and desire. Let this be made known to the whole 
 Empire." 
 
 (2) 
 
 7.nd September, 1906. 
 
 " In our Decree issued yesterday with regard to the 
 importance of losing no time in preparing the country for 
 a Constitutional Government, we mentioned that we should 
 begin first by reforming the official system. As this is a 
 matter of great importance, nothing must be done without 
 due and earnest deliberation, so that there may be no 
 chance in the future of any complaints about premature 
 decisions and the like, such as have been made in the past. 
 We therefore hereby appoint the following high Ministers 
 to discuss and arrange matters and then to report the 
 result to us, awaiting our answer thereto : — Duke Tsai 
 Tseh,i Shih Shu ^ (Imperial Clansman and President of the 
 Board of Rites), Na Tung^ (President of the Waiwupu), 
 Yung Ch'ingi (President of the Board of Education), Prince 
 Tsai Ch'en ^ (President of the Board of Commerce), Kwei 
 Chun ^ (President of the Board of Civil Appointments), 
 Tieh Liang ' (President of the Board of Revenue), Chang 
 Pai-hsi (President of the Board of Revenue), Tai Hungtsz 
 (President of the Board of Rites), Keh Pao-hua (President 
 of the Board of Punishments), Hsu Shih Ch'ang (President 
 of the Board of Public Safety), Lu Jen-hsiang (President of 
 the Board of Works), Shou Chi (President of the Censorate), 
 and Yuan Shih-Kai (Viceroy of Chihli). The above-named 
 
 ^ These officials are all Manchus. 
 
 M M 
 
53° THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Ministers of State shall draw up a report on the subject of 
 their deliberations and must act loyally and patriotically in 
 the best interests of their country. Let them not be guided 
 by private likes and dislikes. In addition to the above 
 Metropolitan officials we also appoint the following Vice- 
 roys to give assistance in the matter: — Tuan Fang(Liang- 
 kiang), Chang Chih-tung (Hukuang), Sheng Yun (Shen 
 Kan), Hsi Liang (Szechuen), Chou Fu (Min Che), Tsen 
 Ch'un-Hsuen (Two Kuang). The said Viceroys are also 
 commanded to select subordinates to represent them in 
 Peking, who shall either be of the rank of Provincial 
 Treasurer, Judge, or Taotai, as the case may be. The 
 following shall constitute a Central Committee to super- 
 vise the said deliberations and transmit our commands : 
 Yi K'uang, Prince Ching, the Grand Secretary Sun Chia- 
 nai, and the Grand Councillor Chu Hung-chi." 
 
 Of these two Decrees the first is merely explan- 
 atory ; the second provides machinery for the 
 work of reform. The appointment of this second 
 High Commission, led by the same Prince who had 
 headed the Imperial Mission to Europe, largely 
 facilitated the conciliation of western principles with 
 the actual conditions found to-day in China. The 
 Commission occupied some two months in its 
 preliminary labours, and then produced a lengthy 
 list of recommendations following the line of reform 
 which has already been indicated. The chief points 
 immediately adopted were the abolition of the system 
 of plurality of posts in Peking — a system which 
 permitted a single high ofificial to hold at one and 
 the same time half a dozen sinecures ; the abolition 
 (with exceptions which are duly mentioned) of the 
 system of two Presidents and four Vice-Presidents 
 for each of the great Boards in Peking, a single 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 531 
 
 President and a Senior and a Junior Vice-President 
 being re-appointed in their stead ; the total separ- 
 ation of the Grand Council and Grand Secretariat 
 from the Administrative Boards, thus making the 
 office of Grand Councillor or Grand Secretary 
 a distinct appointment ; the re-naming and re- 
 organisation of all the Boards ; the abolition of the 
 difference between Manchu and Chinese appoint- 
 ments ; and the making of some definite provision 
 for a redistribution in the provinces of the hundreds 
 of smaller officials displaced by the wholesale 
 departmental reorganisation in Peking. But the 
 three Decrees of the 6th November, 1906, which 
 embody the imperial assent to the recommendations 
 of the Commission, are so important that they must 
 be given in extenso : — 
 
 (I) 
 
 " We have received the report of the Prince and high 
 Ministers of the Imperial Commission with reference to the 
 proposed reform of the official system amongst the various 
 Boards in Peking, and we have accordingly issued an 
 Imperial Rescript in connection therewith,^ commanding 
 their recommendations to be put into force. By command 
 of the Empress Dowager, the said Imperial Commission 
 is to begin at once its labours with regard to the reform of 
 the official system and to report to us the result. We feel 
 that the present unsatisfactory condition of affairs in the 
 Empire is due to the fact that the relations between officials 
 and the masses have never received the attention their 
 importance requires. Now, department and district 
 magistrates {Chou-Hsien) are intimately connected with the 
 
 * The document which follows. 
 
 M M 2 
 
532 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 masses, and their close relationship should make the former 
 acquainted with the needs of the latter. Instead of this, 
 however, officials and people are separated by the employ- 
 ment of forms and ceremonies so as to make all matters 
 neglected. These officials do not pay attention to the 
 welfare or troubles of those under them, and often to such 
 an extent are they indifferent and corrupt, that relatives 
 and secretaries are permitted to browbeat and oppress the 
 masses, while the gate-keepers and runners of the Yamens 
 prey upon and devour the substance of the people. In 
 such circumstances can anyone expect these local govern- 
 ments to flourish ? How can the spirits of the people^ 
 moreover, be elevated under such a state of affairs ? 
 Dwelling upon this point makes us feel indignant indeed. 
 Now that the Imperial Commission is working on the 
 reform of the official .system in the provinces, the question 
 of how to deal with these department and district 
 magistrates becomes one of the greatest importance. 
 Moreover, owing to our subjects being not yet educated up 
 to the required point, local self-government is premature 
 for them and a difficult matter to put into force at once. 
 It is, therefore, requisite for the nonce to consult together 
 as to the course of action to be pursued in this matter in 
 order to prepare for the new order of things, and to decide 
 as to the question of reducing the number of petty officials, 
 and to limit the power of each one, thereby keeping a strict 
 watch over their condition and preventing dishonesty and 
 oppression. The main problem to be solved is how to 
 bring officials and people into close and more intimate 
 relations than heretofore. Let the Imperial Commission 
 therefore communicate with the various Viceroys and 
 Governors of provinces so as to come to a determination 
 on this matter which shall be substantial, lasting, and 
 beneficial ; and then obey our Decree on the subject. The 
 Throne creates officials with the sole object of nourishing 
 our people and of making them happy and contented with 
 their several lots and avocations. Our sole wish is to see 
 our subjects live in harmony, and to secure them this peace 
 and harmony must be our only object." 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 533 
 
 (2) 
 
 " We are commanded by Her Imperial Majest)' the 
 Empress Dowager to state that when an Imperial Edict 
 was issued on a previous occasion to prepare for the 
 establishment of a Constitutional Government in the 
 country, it was decided to commence with the reform of 
 the official system, and the Throne commanded Duke Tsai 
 Tseh and his colleagues to make a detailed investigation 
 into the matter, and appointed Prince Ching and his 
 colleagues to supervise the above work, to report the result 
 and, then, awaiting the issue of the Imperial Commands 
 in the matter, to obey and put them into force. As the 
 times have changed, so must we conform ourselves to these 
 changes, selecting what is beneficial and of advantage to 
 us and our Empire. The following matters have now been 
 recommended by the Imperial Commission in question. The 
 Grand Council and Grand Secretariat to remain as usual, 
 as there has been nothing detrimental in their system. The 
 Grand Secretariat and Grand Council shall therefore con- 
 tinue as usual. The Presidents of the various Boards are 
 to have a vote in the affairs of the Government as a whole 
 and are to take turns in rotation in attendance on our- 
 selves, and are to be prepared to answer questions from 
 the Throne. The Waiwupu and the Board of Civil 
 Appointments (Lipu) are to remain as usual. The 
 Hsunchingpu (Board of Public Safety) is changed to the 
 Mingchengpu or Board of Home Affairs. The Hupu or 
 Board of Revenue is to be changed to the Paymaster 
 General's Department (Tuchihpu), and the Council of 
 Finance shall be amalgamated with it. The Courts of 
 Sacrificial Worship, Banquets, and Court Ceremonies are 
 to be amalgamated with the Board of Rites. The Hsuehpu 
 (Ministry of Education) is to continue as usual. The 
 Board of War is to be changed to the Land Army Office 
 (Luchunpu) and the Council of Army Reorganisation and 
 the Court of the Imperial Stud are to be amalgamated 
 with it. The proposed Haichunpu (Admiralty) and Army 
 Staff Department, not having yet been regularly organised, 
 
534 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 matters appertaining to them are to be attended to by the 
 above named Luchunpu. The Hsingpu or Board of 
 Punishments is to be changed into the Fapu or Board of 
 Judicature. The Court of Revision is to be changed into 
 the Supreme Court (Taliyuan). The Board of Works is to 
 be amalgamated with the Shangpu and the two will be 
 designated the Nungkungshangpu or Board of Agriculture, 
 Public Works, and Commerce. The China Merchants 
 Steam Navigation Company, Railways, Telegraphs, and 
 Postal Departments are to be combined under the Board of 
 Posts and Communications (Yuch'uanpu). The Mongolian 
 Superintendency is to be changed to the Board of Depend- 
 encies (Lifanpu). With the exception of the Waiwupu, 
 which shall retain its present number of Presidents and 
 Vice-Presidents, the other Boards are to have in the future 
 only one President and two Vice-Presidents. There shall be 
 no differentiation as to Manchu and Chinese posts. The 
 Censorate shall have a President and Vice-Presidents, and 
 the Keepers of Seals shall, for the present, continue as 
 before. There are to be two additional departments, the 
 Tzechengyuan and Shengchiyuan, or Accountant General's 
 Department. The other departments shall continue as 
 before. Let each Minister use his best endeavours to 
 act honestly and faithfully in reforming our Government 
 and deserve well of the confidence of his Sovereign 
 in him." 
 
 (3) 
 " The Presidents and Vice-Presidents of Boards who 
 have been commanded to resign their posts (in accordance 
 with the reform of the official system recommended by the 
 Imperial Commissioners) are to retain their respective ranks 
 and to await some other employment. The substantive 
 and expectant secretaries and scribes of the Boards and 
 Minor Courts that have been abolished are either to receive 
 appointments in the existing Boards or to be sent to the 
 provinces as expectant officials. The Board of Civil 
 Appointments is commanded to attend to this matter with- 
 out delay, and report to us." 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 535 
 
 It will be seen from these various Edicts that 
 apart from honest-sounding generalities the actual 
 provincial administration, in contradistinction to the 
 reform of the Central Government, is for the time 
 being left untouched. The reason for this is not 
 far to seek. While it is easy to inaugurate reforms 
 within the Tartar Walls of Peking without any great 
 dangers arising — since under the eye of the Throne 
 all tremble — in far-off provinces a very different 
 state of affairs might arise if a single false step were 
 taken. Rebellions and risings might be actually 
 prompted by displaced or discontented officials, and 
 therefore the only safe march is a slow march. 
 Accordingly, while the reorganisation of the great 
 Government Departments in Peking is now 
 practically complete, provincial administrations have 
 so far only benefited to the extent of feeling the 
 reflex action of such reforms — that is, of being 
 subjected to a closer scrutiny, of being urged in ways 
 which cannot be ignored to hasten their educational, 
 fiscal, currency, and military reforms, and of being 
 called to account again and again, until there is 
 perceptibly more honesty, more expedition in the 
 despatch of business, and more attention to every 
 kind of detail work. An impetus has thus been 
 given, which has already produced very noteworthy 
 results, even in distant provinces such as Yunnan 
 and Kansu ; and if as a whole the old system of 
 provincial administration still works as of yore, it 
 has already been purged of some of its worst 
 elements. 
 
536 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Here, however, another point must be noticed. 
 It is that the Manchu Dynasty, although now 
 honestly desirous of escaping from the undignified 
 position of complete and undisguised international 
 weakness which it still occupies, is equally anxious 
 that its right to rule over the eighteen provinces and 
 the outer dominions shall not be challenged by the 
 people — that is, that the reform movement shall not 
 come from below. Accordingly, the small provincial 
 risings which have recently been suppressed have 
 hastened the wholesale appointment of Manchu (not 
 Chinese) officials in the Yangtsze Valley and 
 elsewhere. Such officials play the part of eyes and 
 ears to the Throne ; and as they are necessarily 
 unimpeachable in their loyalty, they can be fully 
 relied upon both to convey timely intimation of the 
 tendencies of the day, and to suppress as harshly as 
 is within their power all the unrest which is being 
 constantly provoked by the activity of the revo- 
 lutionary and secret societies, aided and abetted 
 by large numbers of returned students from Japan. 
 Thus there is a dual movement to be noticed in pro- 
 vincial China — a reform of the administration and 
 a tightening of the Manchu hold.^ 
 
 ' As an example of the manner in which loyalty is cultivated, the 
 following three Imperial Decrees of February, 1907, are peculiarly 
 interesting. All the Princes named belong to what may be called 
 China's colonial possessions {J..e. Inner and Outer Mongolia and the 
 various provinces of Turkestan), and they are honoured with the 
 Eastern equivalents of high European decorations and distinctions. 
 
 1. "Prince Amin Huchu, Hereditary Mahommedan Prince of 
 Turfan, Chinese Turkestan, is hereby given the decoration of the 
 three-eyed peacock's feather." 
 
 2. " Ma-k'eh-su-erh-tsa-pu, Prince (2nd Order) of the Sunid Tribe 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 537 
 
 It is clear, then, that the present provincial policy 
 of the Throne is merely temporising and that it is 
 dictated by a desire to gain time so that outlines 
 may become clearer and the people be willing to 
 accept in the proper spirit whatever is finally 
 decided upon. As an illustration of the kind of 
 provincial reform which may be made in the first 
 instance. Viceroy Yuan Shih-Kai's final recom- 
 mendations to the Imperial Commission now 
 permanently sitting in Peking are worthy of being 
 read. They are as follows : — 
 
 1. The abolition of the various territorial Taotais. 
 
 2. The retention of the Customs Taotais, who shall act 
 as intermediaries with foreigners. 
 
 3. The retention of Prefects, Departmental Magistrates, 
 and District Magistrates. 
 
 4. The abolition of all Sub-Prefects, Assistant Sub- 
 Prefects and Sub-Magistrates. 
 
 5. The establishment of a Yishihhu, or association for 
 the discussion of territorial affairs, in each district. 
 
 6. The establishment of a Shentsaipanso, or Court of 
 Justice, in the various provincial capitals, and a Futaipanso 
 and Hsientaipanso, or Prefectural and District Courts of 
 Justice, in the various prefectures and districts. 
 
 7. The establishment of a Taichengshih, or Director of 
 
 of Mongols ; Ta-erh-mu-pa-la, Duke of the Ongniod Tribe ; and Lu 
 Hsi, Duke of the Uchumuch'in Tribe, are hereby selected to 
 do duty at the Chients'ing gate of the Imperial Palace ; and 
 Kuo-erh-cho-tsa-pu, Prince (3rd Order) of the Sunid tribe is given 
 the decoration of the two-eyed peacock's feather." 
 
 3. " Hsi-yun-mu-k'u, former Cholik'eht'u Khan of the Turgut 
 Mongols, is granted the decoration of the three-eyed peacock's 
 feather ; Pa-la-chu-erh-la-pu-tan, Prince (2nd Order) of Kokonor is 
 selected to do duty at the Chients'ing gate of the Palace ; and 
 Su-no-mu-erh-ta-hsi, Duke of Kokonor, is granted the decoration of 
 the one-eyed peacock's feather." 
 
538 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Financial Affairs ; the existing Puchengshih, or Provincial 
 Treasurer, to have sole charge of civil appointments, and 
 also of the agricultural, industrial, and commercial affairs 
 of each province. 
 
 8. The establishment of an Inspector of Educational 
 Affairs in each district. 
 
 g. The establishment of offices charged with the police, 
 salt, and military affairs of each province. 
 
 10. In order to save time and trouble, all the Prefects' 
 Departmental Magistrates and Magistrates to report and 
 receive their orders directly from the Viceroys, Governors, 
 or Tartar Generals, instead of through the Provincial 
 Treasurers, Judges, and Taotais as heretofore. 
 
 11. The establishment of a Hsiinchingshih, or Director 
 of Constabulary, in each province. 
 
 12. The augmentation of the salaries of all descriptions of 
 officials in the provinces so as to enable them to live on their 
 pay. Officials to be severely punished according to law in 
 case they are found guilty of receiving or extorting money 
 or bribes from the people in future. 
 
 It will be seen from these recommendations that in- 
 creased centralisation in each province, together with 
 the abolition of sinecures, the creation of a few new 
 offices, and the adequate payment of all, is what is 
 aimed at ; and in other memoranda, the principles 
 of which have been accepted by the Imperial Com- 
 mission, it has been proposed to form Provincial 
 Councils or Congresses, to which all representative 
 gentry in town or country will be eligible. Such 
 bodies will, however, be only advisory ; but they will 
 permit the rearrangement of taxation in a friendly 
 manner, and will tend to make secret societies 
 abhorred by respectable people as mere trouble- 
 provoking instruments. The reform in salaries is 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 539 
 
 also of the highest importance, for as soon as 
 regular pay-lists have been drawn up, superfluous 
 officials and Yamen-runners will have to be dis- 
 charged, or else punishment, which is now im- 
 possible, will quickly ensue. The reform of 
 Chinese Courts of Justice — a measure of the highest 
 importance — has already been tentatively begun by 
 the Tientsin Viceroy with good results ; and it is 
 certain that this example will be slowly followed. 
 
 The eternal lack of funds, however, is a formidable 
 impediment to sound progress. Very large sums of 
 money indeed are needed, and with taxation and 
 general accountancy as loose and as ill-defined as they 
 are at present, almost superhuman obstacles will have 
 to be overcome before the four hundred and thirty mil- 
 lions of China are properly governed, and the adminis- 
 tration of the whole country thoroughly reorganised. 
 There is much talk about the abolition of opium- 
 smoking in China, and the Chinese Government is 
 undoubtedly absolutely earnest in its desire to place 
 a total prohibition on the use of this drug ; but the 
 abolition of opium will alone cause a net annual loss 
 to provincial and imperial treasuries of at least 
 twenty million taels (say ;^3, 000,000 sterling) ; and 
 such a sum, though relatively small in Europe, is 
 very large in Eastern countries. 
 
 Thus difficulties are encountered at every turn, 
 and zeal on the part of enlightened officials with a 
 first-class European education, such asT'ang Shao-yi, 
 now Governor of a Manchurian province, calls for 
 Imperial rebukes of the following nature : — 
 
54° THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 \'i,th January, 1907. 
 
 " The difficulties that surround us in the Government of 
 our Empire cause us sleepless nights in our anxiety to 
 meet the crisis and restore prosperity to the country. In 
 the circumstances our Ministers and officers high and low 
 should respond by exerting themselves in patriotic and 
 loyal efforts. We feel indignant, therefore, to learn that 
 ever since taking over their respective posts as President 
 and Senior Vice-President of the Ministry of Posts and 
 Communications, both Chang Po-hsi and T'ang Shao-yi 
 have been appointing their favourites to posts in their 
 Ministry to the exclusion of others, thereby causing much 
 hostile comment regarding their conduct. The two 
 Ministers, having failed in the confidence we placed upon 
 them, ought to have been forthwith dismissed from office. 
 We will, however, exercise our prerogative of leniency on 
 this occasion and hereby command that the Imperial dis- 
 pleasure be communicated to the said Chang Po-hsi and 
 T'ang Shao-yi, and that they be furthermore commanded 
 to make careful selection of proper men for the posts of 
 First Secretaries, Councillors and subordinate classes of 
 secretaries in the said Ministry and reject all who are 
 incapable. All business in connection with the said 
 Ministry should be dealt with only after mature consultation 
 with their colleagues. Should there be any similar acts of 
 favouritism in the future we will hold the said two Ministers 
 responsible for the cause." 
 
 The conflict between the old and the new is made 
 very clear in this Edict ; for the Ministers in ques- 
 tion, having sought to fill their offices with intelligent 
 men educated abroad, are simply accused of nepotism 
 by officials of the old rdgime. Yet the Chinese 
 Government as an entity is fully alive to the necessity 
 of having a new class of officials who thoroughly 
 understand everything the West can teach. In this 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 541 
 
 connection nothing is more worthy of remark than 
 the Palace examinations conducted in Peking during 
 the autumn of 1906 for the bestowal of degrees on 
 Chinese students who had studied abroad and won 
 distinctions in European, American, and Japanese 
 universities. These imperial examinations were in 
 the main conducted in English, and some of the 
 themes given are sufficiently difficult to be specially 
 noted. Here, for inst.ance, are the questions in 
 philosophy : — 
 
 1. Define philosophy and distinguish it from science and 
 ethics. Explain the following systems of philosophical 
 thought: — Dualism, Theism, Idealism, Materialism, Pan- 
 theism, Agnosticism. How would you classify, according 
 to the Western method, the following Chinese Philosophers : 
 Chuang Tzu, Chan Tsai, Chu Tzu, Su Tzu, and Wang 
 Yang-ming ? 
 
 2. Explain why philosophy developed earliest in Greece. 
 What are the leading thoughts in the teaching of 
 Heraclitus? Why will his system, at one time almost 
 obsolete, again become popular ? 
 
 3. Expound fully Mill's four methods of induction and 
 mention some of the scientific discoveries and inventions 
 which may be directly traced to them. 
 
 Questions of this kind were followed by Confucian 
 texts for essay- writing, such as this : " To respect 
 those in authority, to love one's kin, to venerate 
 one's elders, and to segregate the sexes — these are 
 principles which will abide for all generations." The 
 transition from old to new is indeed startlingly 
 illustrated by these examinations ; and when it was 
 found that many students who were awarded the 
 
542 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 degree of Doctor (Chin Shih) were actually deficient 
 in their knowledge of elementary Chinese, owing to 
 their having saturated themselves in the knowledge 
 of the West to the exclusion of the knowledge of 
 the East, one more problem was added to the 
 thousand awaiting solution in modern China. For 
 it is but reasonable that bad Chinese should be as 
 much resented in the examination halls of Peking 
 as bad English would be by the Civil Service 
 Commissioners in London. In these circumstances 
 two other Imperial Decrees merit record as ex- 
 emplifying the slow but perceptible westernising 
 of the Empire. Whilst the " new learning " is 
 spreading everywhere and is now officially recog- 
 nised in Peking, the Throne has not hesitated 
 to affirm — only a very few months ago — its unalter- 
 able devotion to the principles of Confucianism ; and 
 has told the waiting millions in a manner imme- 
 diately intelligible to every educated man in the 
 Empire that Chinese, when all has been said and 
 done and everything remodelled, must still remain 
 Chinese. Here are the Decrees in question : — 
 
 (!■) 
 
 In view of the supreme excellence of the great sage 
 Confucius, whose virtues equal heaven and earth and 
 make him worthy of the adoration of a myriad ages, it is 
 the desire of her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager 
 Tze Hsi that the great Sage shall in future be accorded 
 the same sacrificial ceremonies of worship accorded to 
 heaven and earth when sacrifice is paid by the Emperor. 
 Let the Yamen concerned take note of this. 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 543 
 
 (2.) 
 
 We have received from H.I.M. the Empress Dowager 
 Tze Hsi the following commands: — Liang Tingfen, Pro- 
 vincial Judge of Hupeh, recommends the establishment 
 of a college in the city of Choufou, province of Shan- 
 tung, in honour of Confucius. Confucius is our teacher 
 of a myriad ages, and yesterday we raised him so that he 
 may receive the same special sacrificial worship accorded 
 to heaven and earth. As Choufou is the birthplace of the 
 great Sage, it is only right and proper that a college be 
 established there in his honour. We hereby command 
 Chang Chih Tung and Huang Shao-chi, Literary Chancellor 
 of Hupeh, to exert themselves in procuring funds for the 
 purpose, and we further grant the sum of Tls. 100,000, 
 which shall be paid out by the Provincial Treasurer of 
 Shantung. 
 
 It was not until the present year was well 
 advanced that the matter of Manchuria was dealt 
 with by the Central Government. On receiving 
 the exhaustive report of the special Imperial Chinese 
 Manchurian Mission, however, it was finally decided 
 to put a model system of provincial administration 
 into force in Manchuria as soon as the final evacua- 
 tion date (April, 1907) of the Portsmouth Treaty 
 had passed. With Russia in Northern Manchuria 
 and Japan in Southern Manchuria, such an experi- 
 ment could be much more safely tried in Chinese 
 Manchuria than in any province of China Proper. 
 Accordingly, on the 20th April, 1907, the following 
 important and delicately- worded Edict was issued : — 
 
 Owing to the poverty-stricken condition of our subjects 
 in the Manchurian provinces, due to the unsatisfactory 
 government there existing, we have deemed it necessary to 
 
544 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 reorganise it, and to abolish all glaring faults therein for the 
 betterment of the inhabitants. We therefore command 
 that the three Manchurian provinces, Fengtien, Kirin and 
 Heilungchiang, be combined into a single Viceroyalty of 
 the Three Eastern Provinces (Tung San Sheng), and that 
 the office of Tartar General of Fengtien (Moukden) be 
 changed into that of Viceroy of the Three Eastern Pro- 
 vinces, with full control of the duties attached to the Tartar 
 Generalship of the three provinces aforesaid. The said 
 Viceroy will have, moreover, a Yamen in each of the three 
 provinces where he will in future sojourn at certain periods 
 during his incumbency. The provinces of Fengtien, Kirin 
 and Heilungchiang are each to have a Governor for their 
 better supervision. We hereby appoint Hsu Shih-chang 
 to be Viceroy and Tartar General-in-Chief of the Three 
 Manchurian Provinces, and he is also further given the title 
 and powers of Imperial High Commissioner for Manchuria. 
 T'ang Shao-yi is appointed Governor of Fengtien province ; 
 Chu Chia-pao,' Acting Governor of Kirin ; and Tuan Chih- 
 •kuei is given the brevet rank of Provincial Treasurer and 
 appointed Acting Governor of Heilungchiang province. 
 We hereby also exhort the said Viceroy and Governors to 
 put forth their best endeavours and to do their duty dili- 
 gently in their several spheres of influence, striving honestly 
 to discharge it, ignoring all jealousies despite all that may 
 be launched against them whilst so doing. They are 
 further to consult together with reference to appointments 
 to the subordinate posts within their administration, and to '^ 
 report thereon to us. Let this be obeyed. 
 
 It is understood that this Decree gives absolute 
 power to Hsii Shih-chang, the first Viceroy of 
 Manchuria, to act as he pleases ; and it is conse- 
 quently expected that radical reforms will be in- 
 augurated during, the next two years. These 
 reforms will practically follow the lines already 
 
1 THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 190;? 545 
 
 decided upon by the Imperial Commission sitting 
 permanently in Peking ; and If they prove suc- 
 cessful they will be extended to all the provinces 
 of China Proper without delay. 
 
 From what has been written a bird's-eye view 
 should have been obtained of the progress which has 
 been made in Peking during the two years which 
 have already elapsed since the great war ceased. It 
 will perhaps be felt by some that the real advance 
 is small, and that at the bottom matters are 
 much as they were before. Such an opinion, how- 
 ever, is inaccurate, for it ignores the fact that sound 
 constructive work must inevitably be preceded by a 
 period of examination and probation. In reality, 
 therefore, it is very wise of China not to attempt 
 the introduction of Constitutional Government until 
 such a form has been proved really feasible in an 
 Eastern country. The experiment in Japan is still 
 an experiment, as has already been shown ; and 
 China should steadfastly eschew all such essays, and 
 should devote herself heart and soul to the necessary 
 reconstruction and renovation. For the first time 
 she is absolutely honest in her desire for modern 
 progress. 
 
 Meanwhile the reflex action of these reforming 
 Decrees is plainly visible all over Northern China. 
 For Northern China — especially the metropolitan 
 province of Chihli, which is always under the iron 
 control of Viceroy Yuan Shih-Kai — is already 
 several years ahead of Central China, and perhaps 
 
 N N 
 
546 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 a decade ahead of Southern China. The country 
 and the people bear a thousand indications of this. 
 Everything is new ; there are new metalled high- 
 ways ; new buildings, many of them in semi- 
 European style ; new uniforms ; a new energy and 
 briskness ; a new cleanliness ; a new desire for 
 learning ; a new vein running through everything. 
 Though but seven short years have gone by since 
 torch-lighting and murderous Boxerism, stripped to 
 the waist and redolent of the untamed and heat- 
 sweltering East, was everywhere at work, Aladdin's 
 lamp has been rubbed in Peking, and with a flash 
 the past has vanished never to return. It is 
 marvellous, but it is undeniably true. 
 
 Still we must turn to more general considerations 
 and see what are the approximate conditions in the 
 Empire at large. The indications in Peking itself 
 are that recent lessons have been appreciated, and 
 that a frank recognition of China's humbled condition 
 has spread within the precincts of the Forbidden 
 City. But this is not enough : it is indeed far too 
 little. The Peking Throne, which should supply 
 much of the immense motive power necessary to 
 achieve concrete results in so vast an Empire, is 
 very troubled, and there are no great men who can 
 take matters into their hands. The Empress 
 Dowager is still supreme, and the continuation of 
 what is virtually a gynarchy must from year to year 
 do greater harm. The presence of Prince Ching as 
 the man with the casting vote in all Government 
 
I THE PEKING GOVERNMENT IN 1907 547 
 
 affairs is a further difficulty, for his services to the 
 State are to-day valueless. He is aged and corrupt, 
 and is engaged solely in amassing wealth, and the 
 activity of the revolutionaries makes it easy for him 
 constantly to counsel delay in reform-work. The 
 position, therefore, cannot be said to grow less 
 complicated as the days go by. 
 
 N N 2 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 
 
 Little has been said in the preceding chapter 
 concerning the rivalry between the leading men of 
 the day, which is and always has been a distinct 
 and disconcerting feature of Chinese internal politics.^ 
 In the West there is loyalty to an idea, or to a 
 correlated chain of ideas, because the execution of 
 that idea or of that chain of ideas seems good for the 
 body politic ; and men of the most dissimilar ambi- 
 tions are willing to join hands in order to propagate 
 these main beliefs. In the East, however, rather is 
 there loyalty to the successful man, irrespective of his 
 beliefs — loyalty to the man who commands, who will 
 uplift those around him, who will champion those 
 place-seekers who show him fidelity. And since to 
 have only one great man would be dangerous, the 
 sovereigns of Eastern countries are constantly raising 
 up new great men — maintaining, in fact, a sort of 
 equipoise. Between these great men there is almost 
 
 ' It must be well understood, however, that the leading members of 
 the Manchu Imperial Clan stand over and above such rivalry. Thus 
 Prince Ching is a species of Metternich, who could only be flung down 
 by revolution or by the death of the Empress Dowager. 
 
CH. II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 549 
 
 incredible rivalry, which grows more and more 
 bitter as one or another of them temporarily triumphs 
 over his adversaries. A case in point is furnished 
 by the hardly-concealed contest which has now 
 raged for some time between the great Tientsin 
 Viceroy, Yuan Shih-Kai, who is to-day certainly the 
 wisest and most masterly administrator in China, and 
 the ambitious Manchu T'ieh Liang, now General- 
 issimo of China's new armies. 
 
 In previous volumes it was shown that the work 
 of raising, arming, and equipping China's new 
 forces had been practically confined to the metro- 
 politan province of Chihli, where, thanks to the 
 Tientsin Viceroy's energy and genius, as many as 
 seven divisions of new troops, or 85,000 men, had 
 been enrolled by the year 1906. These seven 
 divisions, forming the Peiyang Army, or the Army 
 of the North, were armed, equipped, and drilled by 
 the Tientsin Viceroy on his own initiative, the 
 necessary funds being obtained solely from his pro- 
 vincial exchequer ; and the nucleus of China's future 
 army which was thus formed was able to detach 
 many native drill-masters for work in Central and 
 Southern China with great results, which will be 
 detailed later. Until the year 1906, therefore, the 
 star of Yuan Shih-Kai was in the ascendant and he 
 was feared by all. Up to this time, T'ieh Liang, a 
 Manchu official enjoying high Court favour, had 
 actually been an ally of Yuan Shih-Kai, and had 
 forwarded the latter's army reorganisation scheme to 
 the best of his ability during his various terms of 
 
55° THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 office in high metropoHtan posts during the anxious 
 times of the late war. It was perhaps while he held 
 the post of Chief of the now absorbed Lien Ping Ch'u 
 (or Peking Army Council), that he understood the 
 Value of controlling in the capital itself the whole 
 machinery of the new Chinese army ; and, therefore, 
 no sooner had he obtained — under the reorganising 
 Edicts, some of which have been quoted in the 
 preceding chapter — the new appointment of sole 
 President of the reconstituted Ministry of War, than 
 he began an open attack on his former friend and 
 ally. 
 
 The moment was peculiarly propitious for such a 
 departure. As has already been said, the return 
 home of the Imperial Chinese Commissioners, who 
 had been entrusted with the work of reporting on 
 European forms of government, was the signal for 
 an outbreak of violent enmity between the various 
 groups of high officials in Peking ; and Yuan Shih- 
 Kai, who was associated with those who boldly 
 advocated root and branch reform, became a marked 
 man with the Manchus. For, rightly or wrongly, 
 the -Tientsin Viceroy — being a patriotic Chinese 
 from the province of Honan — was suspected by 
 the Manchus of having great secret ambitions which 
 might conveniently be furthered at the psychological 
 moment through the agency of his loyal corps of 
 well-trained soldiers. The Manchu party conse- 
 quently began to realise that if the Lu Chun, or 
 new Conscript Army, which was being slowly raised 
 all over the Empire, became accustomed to the idea 
 
CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 551 
 
 that the Tientsin Viceroy was the life and soul of 
 the whole movement and its real leader, it would 
 only require some Peking Palace disaster, such as 
 the death of the Empress Dowager or of the 
 Emperor, for a serious movement of unrest to be 
 communicated to the provinces — a movement which, 
 if it spread to the relatively-speaking strong new 
 army, might reduce the Palace and the Manchus to 
 the position occupied by the Mikado and his Court 
 before the Restoration of 1868 had remodelled the 
 government of Japan. 
 
 In these circumstances it was singularly easy work 
 for the high Manchu officials to play on the feelings 
 of the Empress Dowager ; and consequently there 
 were many who believed that Yuan Shih-Kai would 
 one day be suddenly relieved of the burden of exist- 
 ence, while in Peking at the time of the prolonged 
 Palace debates on the subject of the renovation of 
 the government system. Fortunately no such violent 
 means were resorted to, and Yuan Shih-Kai was 
 allowed to proceed to the great army manoeuvres of 
 1906 and then to return in safety to his Viceregal 
 Yamen in Tientsin. Early in the present year ( 1 907), 
 however, T'ieh Liang succeeded, in having the whole 
 control of the Lu Chun of the eighteen provinces 
 transferred to the direct control of the reorganised 
 Lu Chun Pu, or Ministry of War ; and thus the 
 seven trained divisions of the Peiyang Army passed 
 into his firm hands. Although for international 
 reasons two of these divisions were left under Yuan 
 Shih-Kai's nominal control — for Yuan Shih-Kai is 
 
552 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 looked upon as the international guarantee of law 
 and order in the metropolitan province, and his 
 continued presence in Tientsin has lately allowed 
 certain reductions to be made in the International 
 Occupation Corps of 1900 — T'ieh Liang's victory 
 was complete and pronounced ^ ; and there is now 
 every probability of the Manchus reasserting, during 
 the next few years, their mastery over the length 
 and breadth of China, by means of the new armies. 
 Apart, however, from the question of the rivalry 
 between Yuan Shih-Kai and T'ieh Liang, this 
 centralisation in military matters is looked upon by 
 the writer as absolutely essential, if the entire Chinese 
 army reorganisation programme is to be carried out 
 during the next seven or eight years. In this con- 
 nection, it is convenient to insert here an important 
 memorandum, of a confidential nature, which gives 
 the exact position of the new Chinese army at the 
 close of 1906. This will be read with additional 
 interest in view of the fact that the regimental, 
 brigade, and divisional organisation is set forth in 
 such a fashion as to show how and where future 
 expansion is contemplated. The whole scheme 
 is drafted in a manner which proves conclusively 
 that non-Chinese brains have worked out the 
 various details, and that the new army is not merely 
 a new edition of the well-drilled forces which China 
 has raised on previous occasions. 
 
 1 There are, however, signs now to be seen that Yuan Shih-Kai's 
 star shines a little brighter, and that he may again leap into promi- 
 nence in the Councils of Peking. 
 
11 chinese armaments and railways 5 
 
 The Chinese Army at the close of 1906. 
 
 A. Preliminary. 
 
 1. In those provinces where only the Kia Brigade has 
 been enrolled, the place of the Yi Brigade is left vacant un- 
 til the entire Division has been made up, after which it will 
 be inserted in its proper order. 
 
 2. Each complete regiment of Cavalry and Artillery, and 
 each complete Battalion of Engineers and Transport, is 
 entered according to the number of its Division. But where 
 the Regiment or Battalion is incomplete no register shall 
 be made for the present. 
 
 3. Provinces whose organisation does not yet amount to 
 a Brigade should wait till a Brigade is fully made up and 
 then petition to be inserted in their proper order. 
 
 4. The organisation of musicians in all the provinces be- 
 ing as yet incomplete, no record has been made. 
 
 5. With the exception of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Divisions 
 the character " temporary " must still be retained until 
 after further enumeration and inspection. 
 
 6. The Cavalry and Artillery of Honan really comprise 
 only two battalions and should not be enrolled as regiments. 
 But as the troops of that Province took part in the autumn 
 mancEuvresof 1906 it was necessary to give them a designa- 
 tion by which orders might be issued to them. They are 
 hastening to complete their enlistments so that the name 
 may correspond to the reality, and other Provinces must 
 not consider this as a precedent. 
 
 B. Divisional Organisation. 
 
 I. First Division. — Stationed at Pao-ting-fu, Chihli Province. 
 
 (^ T, . J C 1st Regiment, 
 
 ist Brigade j^^^ Regiment. 
 
 Cavalry — ist Regiment. 
 Artillery — 1st Regiment. 
 Engineers — 1st Battalion. 
 Transport — 1st Battalion. 
 
554 
 
 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 2. Second Division. — Stationed at Chien-an, Yung-ping-fu, and Funing, 
 in Chihii. 
 
 Infantry 
 
 I 3rd Brigade 
 I 4th Brigade 
 
 Cavalry — 2nd Regiment. 
 Artillery- — 2nd Regiment. 
 Engineers — 2nd Battalion. 
 Transport — 2nd Battalion. 
 
 /5th Regiment. 
 \6th Regiment. 
 
 {7th Regiment. 
 8th Regiment. 
 
 3. Third Division. — Stationed at Pao-ting-fu, Chihii Province. 
 
 {5th Brigade 
 6th Brigade 
 
 Cavalry — 3rd Regiment. 
 Artillery — 3rd Regiment. 
 Engineers — 3rd Battalion. 
 Transport — 3rd Battalion. 
 
 {9th Regiment, 
 loth Regiment, 
 /nth Regiment. 
 \^l2th Regiment. 
 
 4. Fourth Division. — Stationed at Ma-ch'ang, Hsiao-chan, and Han- 
 liu-shu, Chihii Province. 
 
 Infantry- 
 
 {7th Brigade 
 Sth Brigade 
 
 {13th Regiment. 
 14th Regiment. 
 ( 15th Regiment. 
 \ l6th Regiment. 
 
 Cavalry — 4th Regiment. 
 Artillery — 4th Regiment. 
 Engineers — 4th Battalion. 
 Transport — 4th Battalion. 
 
 5. Fifth Division. — Stationed at Wei Hsien and Chinan-fn, in Shantung 
 Province. 
 
 {9th Brigade 
 loth Brigade 
 
 Cavalry — 5th Regiment. 
 Artillery — 5th Regiment. 
 Engineers — 5 th Battalion. 
 Transport — 5th Battalion. 
 
 {17th Regiment. 
 i8th Regiment. 
 /19th Regiment. 
 \20th Regiment. 
 
 6. Sixth Division.^ — Stationed at the Nan-yuan, in Shuntien Prefecture 
 (Chihii), and at the Nan-haitzu (Southern Hunting Park). 
 
 {nth Brigade 
 I2th Brigade 
 
 Cavalry— 6th Regiment. 
 Artillery — 6th Regiment. 
 Engineers — 6th Battalion. 
 Transport— 6th Battalion. 
 
 /21st Regiment. 
 \ 22nd Regiment. 
 /23rd Regiment. 
 \24th Regiment. 
 
CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 555 
 
 7. Seventh Division. — Stationed at Kiang-peh. 
 
 fiSth Brigade 1^5* Regiment. 
 
 InfantryJ \26h Regiment. 
 
 ^\i4th Brigade {X^RelS 
 
 Cavalry- — 7th Regiment. 
 Artillery — 7th Regiment. 
 Engineers — 7th Battalion. 
 Transport — 7th Battalion. 
 
 8. Eighth Division.— Stationed at the Provincial Capita! of Hupeh. 
 
 fiSth Brigade j^^th Regiment. 
 
 Infantry J \ 30th Regiment. 
 
 I i6th Brigade /31st Regiment 
 
 1. " 1.32nd Regiment. 
 
 Cavalry — 8th Regiment. 
 
 Artillery — 8th Regiment. 
 
 Engineers — 8th Battalion. 
 
 Transport — 8th Battalion. 
 
 9. Ninth Division. — Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Kiang-ning. 
 
 ri7th rigade l^^f^ ?'^-"""^ 
 
 InfantryJ )^1 ^ p'^™'" ' 
 
 ^\x8th Brigade {^gij I:!™::;;: 
 
 Cavalry — 9th Regiment. 
 Artillery — 9th Regiment. 
 Engineers — 9th Battalion. 
 Transport — 9th Battalion. 
 
 10. Tenth Division. — Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Fukien. 
 figth Brigade (37'^ Regiment. 
 
 InfantryJ ^ Pf ^'^ ?'^™'" • 
 
 I 20th Brigade 139 h Regimen. 
 
 I. ^ \.40th Regiment. 
 
 Cavalry — loth Regiment. 
 
 Artillery — loth Regiment. 
 
 Engineers — loth Battalion. 
 
 Transport — loth Battalion. 
 
 C. Skeleton Units. 
 
 1. Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Hupei. 
 
 Infantry_2ist Brigade ft^^Ji.^t^™:, 
 
 2. Stationed at the ProvinciaKCapital of Kiangsu. 
 
 Infantry-23rd Brigade {flf^i 
 
 3. Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Hunan, 
 
 Infantry-2Sth Brigade {gh Rll-nt. 
 
 4. Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Kiangsi. 
 
 Infantry-27th Brigade {f^^ Reliment 
 
5S6 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 5. Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Honan. 
 
 Infantry-29th Brigade {57* leliment". 
 
 Cavalry — 15th Regiment. 
 Artillery — 15th Regiment. 
 
 6. Stationed at Provincial Capital of Anhui. 
 
 Infantry-3ist Brigade {eand^fgS. 
 
 7. Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Szechuan. 
 
 Infantry-33rd Brigade {^5* ^^|^^^^; 
 
 Engineers — 17th Battalion. 
 
 8. Stationed at the Provincial Capital of Hsin Chiang (Chinese Turkestan). 
 
 Infantry-asth Brigade {gj; g^;;^: 
 
 Note to Sections B and C. 
 
 To the foregoing must be added the Canton Division, which has just been placed 
 under the Lu Chun Pu ; it has but one brigade as yet fully organised. 
 
 All the foregoing units are short of their authorised strength, except the 3rd and 
 4th Divisions, which are only slightly below their complement ; the 5th also is fairly 
 near its proper number. 
 
 It has been arranged to give the new Lu Chun Pu the control of the ist, 3rd, 5th, and 
 6th Divisions on Chinese New Year's day ; Yuan Shib-Kai retains the 2nd and 
 4th Divisions under his immediate authority for a few months, when they also go to 
 the Lu Chun Pu. 
 
 D. Armament. 
 
 1. The principal kinds of rifles used are : — 
 
 (a) 1888 model, Mauser rifles and carbines made abroad. 
 \b\ 1888 model, Mauser rifles and carbines made in China. 
 \c) 30th year Meiji Japanese rifles and carbines made in Japan. 
 (d) Mannlicher rifles. 
 
 2. The artillery pieces most employed are : — 
 
 German-made 75 mm. Krupp field guns (various dates). 
 
 German-made 57 mm. mountain guns (various dates). 
 
 Chinese-made 57 mm. mountain guns. 
 
 75 mm. Japanese field guns (made in Japan). 
 
 75 mm. Japanese mountain guns (made in Japan). 
 
 75 mm. Creusot field guns (made in France). 
 
 Vickers-Maxim guns, and many others. 
 
 3. Each Division aims at having 54 guns, of which 36 are field and 
 18 mountain; that is, one regiment of three battalions of three batteries 
 each, each battery having six guns. 
 
 This memorandum allows the military reader to 
 understand exactly how much has been done in 
 China during recent years. Up to the time it was 
 drawn up {i.e. just before the great autumn 
 mancEuvres of 1906) provision had been made for 
 
II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 557 
 
 the creation of eighteen major units or divisions, 
 divided up on the Japanese-German brigade and 
 regimental system and therefore comprising thirty- 
 six infantry brigades or seventy-two regiments 
 (making a total of 216 infantry battalions, seventy- 
 two squadrons of cavalry, and one hundred and fifty- 
 two batteries of artillery). Of these corps ten 
 divisions were almost complete before the end of 1 906, 
 while eight divisions consisted merely of skeleton 
 corps. Shortly after the memorandum was drawn up, 
 the organisation of an additional division was begun 
 in North China by Yuan Shih-Kai, making the 
 seventh division in North China ; while the Canton 
 division, several battalions of which had already 
 been recruited, was also comprised in the general 
 scheme, being designated No. 20, and was ordered 
 to bring the skeleton regiments up to full strength 
 as quickly as possible. Further, the transfer of 
 troops to Manchuria began on a big scale in April, 
 1907, and will now be followed by the creation of 
 new corps. Probably four divisions will at first be 
 detailed for duty in Manchuria ; and it may there- 
 fore be assumed that the immediate work of the Lu 
 Chun Pu, or Ministry of War, will be the com- 
 pletion of an army of twenty-four divisions, which 
 will number some 300,000 men of all arms on a 
 peace footing and which will possess, when the 
 artillery parks have been fully organised, no less 
 than 1 2 16 field and mountain guns. 
 
 But before even this modest result can be arrived 
 at — modest in view of the fact that China's popula- 
 
SS8 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 tion exceeds the populations of Russia, Germany, 
 Austria, Great Britain, France, and Italy added 
 together — the difficulties to be surmounted are very 
 great. In the first place, apart from the fact that 
 the upkeep of a modern Chinese field army of 
 300,000 men would entail a minimum annual 
 expenditure of forty million taels, the provision of 
 a uniform and effective armament for such a body 
 of men calls for an initial capital expenditure of 
 some twenty-five million taels, while arsenals, store- 
 houses, ammunition, and other reserves demand an 
 additional twenty-five million taels. It is impossible 
 to see whence such relatively large sums are to be 
 drawn in the two categories of recurring and non- 
 recurring expenditure, unless pari passu with 
 military reform comes fiscal and general financial 
 reform. Yet up to the present the only reform 
 which seems to have taken definite shape is the 
 resolution to abolish the use of opium during the 
 next ten years, a step which so far from 
 increasing the revenue of the country will cause an 
 annual net loss of twenty million taels to the 
 imperial and provincial treasuries.^ From one 
 point of view, therefore, this is a step in the wrong 
 direction. Yet, as has been said, large sums of 
 money are absolutely necessary for the new Chinese 
 armies. The infantry are now armed with four 
 kinds of rifles, the best of which is a twenty-year 
 
 ^ In this connection it may be mentioned that it would appear Irom 
 certain special Chinese Customs reports that clean-handed adminis- 
 tration might be the means of giving forty per cent, more revenue per 
 
CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 559 
 
 old Mauser (1888 model). The artillery varies 
 from excellent Krupp and Creusot field guns of the 
 years 1904 and 1905 to Chinese-made mountain 
 artillery of doubtful efficiency, and discarded 
 Japanese weapons worn out through service during 
 the late war. The purchase of cavalry mounts and 
 artillery and transport animals calls immediately for 
 the expenditure of several million taels ; while with 
 the exception of the two Yangtsze arsenals— the 
 one at Shanghai and the other at Hankow — there 
 is not a single establishment in all China's two 
 million square miles of territory capable of turning 
 out effective firearms or ammunition. 
 
 It will thus be seen that many chasms have 
 still to be spanned, and that as yet there are no clear 
 indications where materials suitable for permanent 
 bridge-work can be obtained. Without the 
 necessary sinews of war, armies soon fall into those 
 dwindling masses of men which are redoubtable only 
 internally, and have no international importance ; 
 and although by the end of 1906 at least 180,000 
 men had been raised for the " new armies," it was 
 then known that already the pay of some divisions 
 was in arrears and that the regimental accountancy 
 was very doubtful. In other words, although im- 
 mense forward steps had been made, the defects which 
 are still so evident in the Turkish army were to be 
 seen in the new Chinese forces. Nominally, as has 
 already been said, the new corps are all composed 
 of conscripts, recruited on a three years' system, 
 who pass on completion of their service with the 
 
56o THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 colours into the reserve of the active army, then 
 into the Landwehr and finally into the the Land- 
 sturm} But since no universal conscript law has 
 been passed in China and cannot be passed for very 
 many years to come, if ever — the number of young 
 men annually liable for service would be not very 
 much less than five millions — the so-called conscripts 
 of the Lu Chun are really voluntary recruits of 
 the Anglo-American type, who are paid about 
 fifteen shillings a month, instead of the miserable 
 pittance which is awarded to recruits in countries 
 where universal service obtains. The minimum 
 annual cost of a division of Chinese troops 
 numbering some 12,500 men of all arms is there- 
 fore some ;^300,ooo sterling in pay alone — a very 
 great outlay in Eastern countries — and necessary 
 contingent expenses would considerably increase 
 even this relatively large total. Thus the annual 
 field manoeuvres, which the Central Government 
 deem essential in order to stimulate zeal and inspire 
 competition in the provinces, cost upwards of two 
 million taels ; while the necessity of suddenly 
 arming and equipping large bodies of men compels 
 large orders to be placed abroad which are too often 
 marked by extortionate prices owing to the existence 
 of contractors' "rings." 
 
 Enough will now have been said to make clear the 
 fact that the financing of these new forces is a 
 
 ' The exact terms of service are as follows : — 
 Three years in the Active Army ; three years in the First Reserve ; 
 four years in the Landwehr ; five years in the Landsturm. 
 
II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 561 
 
 matter of great and growing difficulty, and that the 
 provision of permanent ways and means is of far 
 more importance for the moment than the precipitate 
 raising of fresh bodies of troops. For many of the 
 new corps are far below the standard which they 
 must attain if they are to have any international 
 importance ; and the clock-work manoeuvres which 
 they are able to perform both in sham battles and 
 on parade grounds do not impress one in the same 
 manner as did the efficiency of the German-drilled 
 battalions of a few years ago. For it is the 
 Japanese who have had most to do with the rapid 
 drilling of many of the new corps. This has been 
 specially noticeable in units raised in Hankow or 
 the upper Yangtsze, the Viceroyalty presided over 
 by the aged Chang Chih Tung, as many as 
 seventeen Japanese commissioned and non-com- 
 missioned officers clothed as Chinese having taken 
 part in the autumn manoeuvres of 1906. The 
 telegraphic mention of this important fact by 
 English correspondents on the spot is understood to 
 have caused much chagrin to England's ally, as 
 secrecy had been aimed at. The work done by 
 these men is admitted by competent military experts 
 to be poor compared with the work formerly done by 
 the German drill-masters. The officers and the men 
 drilled are taught to be mechanical to a point 
 approaching absurdity in these days of loose 
 formations, and the singular genius, which the 
 Chinese possess in common with the fighting races 
 of India, for taking cover and for adapting them- 
 
 o o 
 
S62 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 selves to their immediate surroundings, is rendered 
 valueless. 
 
 Thus in addition to her many other difficulties 
 China has the difficulty of discovering the military 
 system best suited to her needs. That it must be 
 something different from the Japanese system seems 
 clear. Already Chinese newspapers have not hesi- 
 tated to state that Japan could teach much more, if 
 she desired, and that she merely hopes to find in 
 China an ever-ready market for her discarded rifles 
 and field guns. So irritated have the Chinese 
 officials become at these suggestions that on a recent 
 occasion, before completing the purchase of a 
 consignment of Japanese artillery, they ordered the 
 carrying-out of a series of tests so severe as actually to 
 endanger the lives of the gunners. Again, in those 
 corps which have hitherto been under Viceroy Yuan 
 Shih-Kai's control large orders for clothing were 
 given to Japanese firms only to be "jobbed" in the 
 most unworthy manner. It is most probable, there- 
 fore, that China will once again turn from Japan to 
 other countries. She has tried German drill-masters 
 and Japanese drill-masters, English guns and French 
 guns ; and at the moment of writing a large party 
 of military students has just proceeded to France to 
 serve in the ranks of the French army, in order to 
 be able to compare the merits of such a training 
 with that obtained in the Tokyo Military Academies. 
 Obviously China still considers that she can afford 
 to be eclectic for several years to come. 
 
 Still the very existence of the intense rivalry be- 
 
II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 563 
 
 tween the great officials, to which reference has 
 already been made, will tend to hasten the creation of 
 armies, which if greatly lacking in uniformity of 
 system, armament and equipment, will still mark an 
 immense advance on any previous regular forces pos- 
 sessed by China. There are no less than five Viceroys 
 who may be counted on to compete with one another 
 from month to month in the raising and drilling 
 of powerful corps. These are Yuan Shih-Kai of 
 Chihli ; the Manchu Viceroy Tuan Fang at Nanking ; 
 Chang Chih Tung at Hankow ; the Canton Viceroy ; 
 and the new Viceroy of Manchuria. So far Yuan 
 Shih-Kai has outstripped his competitors, as he has 
 raised and equipped no less than seven divisions. 
 But by 1908 the vigorous Manchu Viceroy at 
 Nanking will have completed the organisation of 
 the five divisions already existing as skeleton corps 
 in his Viceroyalty ; and as within his jurisdiction lie 
 three provinces possessing a total population of nearly 
 eighty million people, within the next five years his 
 energy may produce even better results than those 
 achieved by Yuan Shih-Kai, for when the twenty- 
 four division standard has been attained by 1908 or 
 1909 and the Ministry of War prepares the final 
 plans for expanding the existing system to its 
 maximum strength, the Nanking Viceroy will have 
 the opportunity of creating special fortress and other 
 corps. Including the three Manchurian provinces 
 and Chinese Turkestan, the maximum strength at 
 present contemplated is forty-four divisions ; and if 
 China can raise, arm, and equip such a great field- 
 
 002 
 
564 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA' chap. 
 
 army she will be able to resume the position she 
 occupied during the earlier part of the nineteenth 
 century, before England had begun pricking the 
 bubble by the Canton wars. 
 
 It is interesting to draw attention here to a fact 
 which is but little appreciated to-day, even in China 
 itself. This is that the office of Governor-General, 
 or Viceroy, the highest office in the Chinese territor- 
 ial system, was originally a purely military post 
 occupied by a trusted official of the Peking Court for 
 the purpose of controlling the provincial governors. 
 The provinces were generally linked together in 
 pairs so that the Governor-General, or Viceroy, 
 might be able to throw the forces of one province 
 against those of the other in case of disloyalty to 
 the Throne ; but in two instances, the provinces 
 of Chihli and Szechuan, Viceroys were appointed 
 over each single province, because in the first- 
 named it was the special duty of the Governor- 
 General to protect the Court and the Throne, 
 and because in the second savage aborigines, such 
 as the Miaotzu tribes, occupied all the mountain 
 fastnesses, and the entire Chinese population had 
 consequently to be kept on a quasi-war footing in 
 order to be prepared to resist attacks and to push 
 forward the invading line of Chinese colonisation. 
 
 In the natural course of events this office of 
 Governor- General, or Viceroy, diminished in military 
 importance as centuries went by ; but up to the time 
 when the last purely Chinese dynasty, the Ming 
 dynaisty, was thrown down by a succession of terrible 
 
II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 565 
 
 rebellions (thereby permitting the Manchus to march 
 in and proclaim themselves successors to the vacant 
 throne), it was generally understood that the Vice- 
 roy still occupied a military office and personally led 
 his provincial levies into battle. The entire con- 
 quest of China by the Manchus in the course of 
 eighteen strenuous years necessitated the appoint- 
 ment of new supreme commanders to the territorial 
 forces ; and thereupon a number of Tartar Generals, 
 or Manchu military officers, were distributed over the 
 Empire in command of strong Manchu occupation 
 corps.^ These Tartar Generals, usurping much of the 
 former military power of the old Viceroys, were in- 
 clined to promote the disbanding of the Chinese 
 levies, and Chinese officials were only allowed to 
 command policing forces of doubtful efficiency in 
 order that they might not be in a position to 
 combat the pretensions of the new sovereigns. 
 
 But by the time of the Taiping Rebellion of half 
 a century ago the Manchus had completely lost their 
 great military hold, and it was mainly the armies from 
 the Hunan provinces, under the famous Tseng-kuo- 
 fan, that finally defeated the Taipings and saved 
 a tottering throne. With the developments which 
 have already taken place, there is now reason to 
 believe that the abolition of the Tartar Generals is 
 imminent all over China. This would be a step of 
 
 ' It is an interesting fact that at such a southerly point as Canton 
 the Manchu garrison is still maintained, and consists of the descendants 
 of the original garrisoning force of two and a half centuries ago- 
 These men and women sedulously preserve their native speech and 
 customs and live apart from the native population. 
 
566 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 the highest significance and would restore entirely 
 the old military aspect of the office of Viceroy. It is 
 being delayed only because of the new revolutionary 
 propaganda, which is frankly anti-Manchu ; and for 
 this reason, although Peking is prepared to be far less 
 conservative than is generally supposed, excessive 
 caution must be observed in removing any of the 
 outward and visible signs of the Manchu sovereignty, 
 until the reorganisation of the official system is com- 
 plete and the Peking Ministry of War has succeeded 
 in evolving a rdgime which will be able to control and 
 pay all the new territorial forces. The restoration 
 of the Viceroys of distant provinces to something of 
 their former military power cannot, however, be 
 much longer delayed, for although they will then be 
 the lieutenants of the Peking War Minister, it will 
 largely depend on their energy and loyalty how far 
 and how quickly his plans are put into operation. 
 
 It is time now to return to our main subject — the 
 present condition and future prospects of the new 
 Chinese army ; and in spite of the criticisms made 
 by European observers on the autumn manoeuvres of 
 1906, the fact remains that the general military 
 organisation in China is now undoubtedly far better 
 than it has ever been before. At such places as 
 Kiukiang, Chinkiang, Soochow, and Foochow, the 
 writer has recently seen battalion after battalion 
 (each the nucleus of a future divisional organisation) 
 turn out relatively speaking well-clothed, well-armed, 
 and exceedingly well-drilled. These troops are all 
 modelled on what may be called the Yuan Shih-Kai 
 
II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 567 
 
 pattern — that is, they are dressed and drilled in 
 exactly the same way, and have northern drill- 
 sergeants who have served for some years in Chihli 
 province, and who have succeeded in imparting 
 to their men much of the military spirit now so 
 conspicuous north of the Yellow River. There is 
 no doubt that through the agency of the new 
 conscript army Peking may regain much of its lost 
 authority and be able to institute wholesale reforms 
 which it would not dare to order were there not 
 large forces of loyal troops ready to carry out its 
 behests. It is already conceded, even by the most 
 pessimistic critics in China, that the new troops are 
 sufficiently numerous and sufficiently well organised 
 to crush any rebellion, no matter how many 
 provinces might be involved, unless there is a far- 
 reaching conspiracy among the higher officials ; 
 and it may therefore be said that for the first time 
 for nearly a century China is competent to police 
 efficiently her whole Empire. This must be counted 
 a very fair result, since it has been attained less than 
 seven years after the great Boxer upheaval ; and if 
 during the next septennial period China succeeds in 
 creating a force able, for instance, to convince the 
 occupants of Manchuria that she is in a position to 
 resume the complete mastery of her outlying terri- 
 tories, a new series of evacuation treaties may have 
 to be executed. 
 
 This question of the new Chinese army is, there- 
 fore, one of international interest. It is a significant 
 fact that the Throne has just sanctioned the spending 
 
568 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 by the War Ministry of the Newchwang Customs 
 revenues, impounded during the occupation-period 
 and now restored to China, in the building of miHtary 
 colleges capable in the first instance of receiving one 
 thousand military cadets and of raising this number 
 to four thousand within a year or two. Nearly half 
 a million sterling will be expended in this work as 
 quickly as possible — the money is lying ready at the 
 banks — and the reorganised Ministry of Finance 
 has been ordered to provide a further sum of 
 ;^200,ooo sterling per annum for upkeep expenses. 
 There is thus an absolute promise that China will 
 possess within the next seven or eight years a very 
 strong and well-instructed corps of officers, number- 
 ing many thousands of young men. If arsenals can 
 be provided on a scale commensurate with the great 
 requirements of the day, another forward step of 
 importance will have been taken ; and it would be 
 well if those British groups which have been so 
 anxious to obtain in Japan a foothold for the manu- 
 facture of guns and explosives would remember that 
 in China a vast and unexploited field exists, which 
 even with the stern Chinese resolution of the hour 
 to have nothing to do with European co-operation, 
 may yet be tapped by a patient diplomacy, if it is 
 undisfigured by attempts to secure abnormal profits 
 of the nature which has really been responsible for 
 much of the present Chinese " rights-recovery " 
 movement. 
 
 Turning from the army to the navy, it may be 
 said that China has very wisely not attempted the 
 
a CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 569 
 
 costly and almost impossible task of re-creating her 
 navy at a time when her army plans require so 
 much more development. Certain principles which 
 call for commendation would appear, however, to 
 have already been adopted. The first is, that it is 
 necessary to create a water-policing force of modern 
 and powerful gunboats and small protected cruisers, 
 which will do away with piracy in the Canton river 
 delta and effectively police the thousand miles of 
 Yangtsze river now overrun by European warships. 
 The creation of a corps of well-trained naval officers 
 is also held necessary ; and already a certain number 
 of Chinese midshipmen have been placed on British 
 warships by special permission of the British 
 Government, and a large number of others despatched 
 to Japanese Naval Academies ; whilst a plan is 
 said to have been elaborated which aims at obtaining 
 permission for regular drafts of Chinese youths 
 to be sent on board British training-ships. Thus 
 during the next few years there should be created 
 the nucleus of a future Chinese navy : and the 
 existence of an efficient squadron of twenty or thirty 
 modern cruisers and gunboats, well-officered and 
 well-manned, will allow a battle-fleet programme to 
 be drawn up with a greater chance of success than 
 has ever been possible heretofore. 
 
 Unfortunately whilst progress has to be noted 
 both in the army and the navy, in the equally im- 
 portant matter of railways but little advance has 
 been made towards the solution of the difficulties 
 fully detailed in former volumes. After China has 
 
570 THE STRUGGLE^ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 tried every manner of building railways except the 
 right one, it is doubtless only natural that there 
 should come the present hiatus, and that lines such 
 as the important Tientsin-Chinkiang trunk railway 
 and the Canton- Hankow railway should still remain 
 only "projected." The provinces and the Central 
 Government are alike firm in their resolve that 
 European syndicates shall not be given thirty-six 
 year concessions of the old model ; but as they are 
 without means to build lines themselves, many 
 months have been wasted in vain pourparlers as to 
 how the several thousand miles of projected railways 
 are actually to be dealt with. It is true that the 
 important Hongkong-Canton railway has now been 
 forced through, and that one of the greatest of British 
 overseas entrepSts for trade will at last be linked up 
 with the rich centre of Canton. But other lines, not 
 less important to the welfare of China, are held in 
 abeyance; no agreement as to their construction can 
 be reached for the time being. 
 
 Here it should be remarked that European con- 
 cessionnaires, including British concessionnaires, are 
 largely to blame in that they have killed the goose 
 which laid the golden eggs. The whole system of 
 railway building adopted in China has been bad from 
 first to last, for the simple reason that no effective 
 control has been exercised by the Chinese Govern- 
 ment over the European syndicates, and con- 
 struction expenses have too often been made 
 simply enormous, so as to allow commissions of 
 inordinate size to line the pockets of those who 
 
II CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 571 
 
 have been successful enough to receive a building 
 concession. In no other part of the world would 
 syndicates have been permitted to float loans 
 without first submitting to the Government of the 
 country definite surveys and building tenders which 
 would afford a check on capital expenditure and make 
 the concessionnaires — and not the Government- — 
 liable for any expenditure not expressly specified in 
 the final contracts. In the case of the Shanghai- 
 Nanking Railway, the original estimates have been 
 exceeded by nearly three quarters of a million 
 sterling ; and as the Central Government has been 
 furnished with alleged proofs of the manner in which 
 excess sums of this kind have been swallowed up, it 
 is in no mood to grant fresh contracts until it is 
 convinced that a game of beggar-my-neighbour is 
 not in progress.-' The Chinese state that the 
 difference between British and Continental syndi- 
 cates has been only in the quality of the building 
 work. The system of accountancy has been highly- 
 defective with all alike ; and financial groups in 
 Europe would do well to understand that no longer 
 are there abnormal profits in commissions and 
 charges to be made in Chinese railway contracts 
 such as those which have now created universal 
 suspicion regarding the bona fides of tenderers, no 
 matter of what nationality. 
 In spite, however, of the present continuance of the 
 
 ' It is only fair to note, in the interests of the concessionnaires of the 
 Shanghai-Nanking Railway, that the great excess in capital expend- 
 iture is alleged to have sprung from the desire of the Chinese 
 directors to benefit by the purchase of railway land. 
 
S72 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 railway-building deadlock, signs are not wanting 
 that things will very shortly begin again to move 
 along the line of least resistance. In other words, 
 suggestions already thrown out by disinterested 
 parties will be acted upon by the Chinese, and 
 building and financing contracts, as two separate 
 operations, will soon become the order of the day. 
 Building contracts may then be very extensively 
 given to European railway contractors, if they are 
 willing and financially able to construct large sections 
 of railway on a fixed mileage estimate, and to hand 
 over section after section of the completed track to 
 the Chinese Government, without retaining any 
 interest whatsoever in the operating of the line, as 
 soon as sterling loan arrangements have been 
 completed and payment made either in negotiable 
 interest-bearing bonds or in cash. This system, 
 which suggests itself naturally to everyone and 
 which is the only sound system, has been the one 
 above all others which in the past European 
 concessionnaires have tried to avoid. Its adoption 
 will put an end to the pernicious system whereby 
 financial groups of men and interests, which have 
 primarily nothing to do with railway building, 
 come into the market and seek to exploit the 
 Chinese to the best of their ability, thus raising to 
 an absurd figure the capital cost of all railways 
 built and retarding progress by bringing the gross 
 total of the railway loans to a very high amount.' 
 
 1 It is worthy of note that two existing railways — the Peking- 
 Tientsin system and the Hankon-Peking line — now give the Govern- 
 
CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 573 
 
 It may be taken for granted, then, that the 
 Shanghai-Nanking railway and the Canton- 
 Kowloon railways — those long-delayed Anglo- 
 Chinese lines, the preliminary concessions for which 
 were obtained nearly a decade ago — will be the last 
 to be built on the old " concession " system, and that 
 railway contractors will now come boldly into the 
 market as builders and submit definite tenders for 
 purely building contracts. That procedure of the 
 sort is urgently needed is proved by the startling 
 fact that including the Manchurian railways, which 
 are held in mortmain by two potential enemies, there 
 are less than 5,000 miles of completed single-track 
 railway in China, and that 20,000 more must be 
 built during the next two decades if China is to 
 regain her real autonomy. The Canton- Hankow 
 railway, for instance — a railway of immense 
 strategical, political and commercial importance, 
 which, when completed, will bring Peking within 
 three days of South China— is to-day in much the 
 same position as it was three years ago. Its 
 construction is tied up first by the inability of the 
 thousands of Chinese shareholders to agree 
 amongst themselves as to the modus operandi to be 
 adopted ; second by their inability, once an internal 
 
 ment handsome profits. In the case of the first-named railway, 
 the gross earnings amount to nearly ;£i,40o,ooo annually ; in the 
 case of the second to about ;£6oo,ooo. Of these two millions sterling 
 not more than thirty per cent.— or at most thirty-five per cent.— is 
 swallowed up in working expenses, loan accounts, etc. ; the balance 
 remains to the credit of the Chinese Government. With this balance 
 the Government is already constructing two new lines, and this policy 
 will be steadily persisted in. 
 
S74 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 agreement has been reached, to raise several millions 
 sterling in cash ; and third by their inability, once 
 those millions sterling of Chinese money have been 
 collected, to build the line satisfactorily without 
 foreign help, foreign materials, and foreign skilled 
 labour. •" It is true that there is a steel works in 
 Hankow where rails are turned out in small quantities ; 
 it is also true that there is a locomotive and railway 
 carriage works, under British superintendence, at 
 Tongshan, on the Tientsin-Newchwang line. But 
 the idea that these necessarily modest establishments 
 can do the giant's work now called for in China, is 
 simply a figment of Chinese imagination. Yet the 
 same cries are still doggedly uttered at Chinese 
 shareholders' meetings ; and the vernacular press, 
 largely inspired from immediately across the Yellow 
 Sea, is as stubborn as ever in its belief that the 
 gospel of " China for the Chinese " will best meet 
 with general acceptance, if it is combined, not with 
 wholesale modernising through the use of every 
 means which may come to hand, but with a rejection 
 on principle of everything European, with a feigned 
 horror of the white man and all his works, and 
 with hysterical applause of the faintest signs that 
 the Chinese are really waking up of their own 
 initiative. This is a situation which can only be 
 modified by a policy of give-and-take on both sides. 
 Each new development should be separately dealt 
 
 ' It is now stated that the Canton-Hankow Railway has begun to 
 make progress. More money has been collected and construction is 
 making some headway. 
 
CHINESE ARMAMENTS AND RAILWAYS 575 
 
 with ; and hand in hand with the adoption of methods 
 which would invite instant approval in Europe, a 
 little more attention should be paid to the 
 susceptibilities of an admittedly admirable people, 
 who are now merely giving voice for the first time to 
 the anguish caused to their national pride by the 
 palsy of the Central Government at a time when the 
 threatened break-up loomed nearer and nearer, and 
 the foreigner seemed to twitch his fingers over the 
 broken pieces which he thought would soon be his. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 
 
 Some six years have now past since the Peace 
 Protocol of 1 90 1 — the Boxer Settlement — was 
 duly signed, and definite stipulations were entered 
 into by the various Powers to do a large number of 
 things in China. Two years have also gone by 
 since Russia and Japan sheathed their swords, and 
 the world exclaimed that all was at length well in 
 the Far East, and that the real opening of China 
 would now proceed apace. Yet it must be borne in 
 mind that even at this date (1907) the very annexures 
 of the 1 90 1 Settlement have not yet been completed, 
 and that consequently, if the present rate of progress 
 is not increased, the question of the renewal of the 
 Anglo-Japanese Alliance will come round again 
 before Chinese fiscal and revenue reform has been 
 sufficiently thoroughly taken in hand to justify 
 any large and important modifications in those 
 international arrangements which have for their 
 object the adjustment of the balance of power in 
 Eastern Asia. In other words, China will not have 
 
en. Ill THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 577 
 
 made sufficient progress to warrant any departure 
 being made from the present questionable modus 
 Vivendi, and therefore the existing " most-favoured 
 nation " policy will have to continue. It is accord- 
 ingly to the advantage of certain Governments, 
 on the one side, to have the present situation 
 indefinitely protracted ; while on the other side, the 
 Chinese Government-7-always more solicitous of 
 to-day than of the morrow, after the manner of 
 weak and opportunist administrations — is still in- 
 clined to view with some disfavour and suspicion 
 those who insist too much on the importance of 
 being earnest and speedy. The forward march is 
 therefore hampered in many peculiar ways both 
 from within and from without. 
 
 Nothing so illustrates this as the position of the 
 mining industry ; and four specific cases may be 
 given as examples. The first of the many mining 
 schemes actually to mature was that of the well- 
 known Peking Syndicate. In 1898 an Italian 
 gentleman of pronounced diplomatic genius 
 succeeded in securing a concession which practically 
 gave him and his associates the exclusive right 
 for a large number of years to mine in the metalli- 
 ferous areas of the two rich provinces of Honan and 
 Shansi — provinces in which, according to the 
 authoritative work of the scientist-traveller. Baron 
 von Richthoven, iron-ore and coal reserves exist 
 sufficient to supply the entire world for 2000 years. 
 The prospects of the venture were thus excep- 
 tionally alluring, for seldom has any enterprise 
 
 p p 
 
S78 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 secured such rights as those nominally held under 
 legitimate contract by the Peking Syndicate ; and 
 it is therefore little wonder that extraordinary 
 reports found ready credence and that stock 
 exchanges quickly responded in soaring prices. 
 Unfortunately disturbed conditions in China did not 
 permit operations to commence in this vast field 
 much before the year 1 902 ; and then a good deal of 
 time was spent in preliminary investigations. 
 Things had just taken definite shape before the late 
 war, and the Peking Syndicate, having selected a 
 coal-field in Honan whereon to begin operations, 
 began putting down bore-holes to prove the coal- 
 measures. At the same time a branch railway was 
 commenced — under the original contract the 
 Syndicate had authority to build branch lines con- 
 necting the coal- and iron-fields with the water routes 
 of Central and Northern China — and, although 
 nothing completely justifying the extravagant hopes 
 at first held out was discovered, progress was made. 
 The branch railway, leading from the coal-fields to 
 the river arid canal system of Northern China, 
 was soon completed and, although there was not 
 much coal to carry, there were plenty of native 
 passengers. The passenger-traffic indeed presently 
 became sufficiently brisk to attract the attention of 
 the Chinese Government, which took the strongest 
 exception to this use of the line. It argued that 
 this branch railway had only been permitted as a 
 necessary adjunct to mining, and that to use the 
 line simply as a revenue-earner pending the opening 
 of mines and the marketing of minerals, was a 
 
Ill THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA S79 
 
 breach of contract. Accordingly, after some further 
 negotiations, the Syndicate consented to sell the 
 line to the Chinese Government at a handsome 
 profit, payment being made in ^750,000 worth of 
 five per cent. Chinese Government bonds. Mean- 
 while shaft-sinking had been actively continued, and 
 presently it was definitely established that profitable 
 mining in this particular locality was not practicable ; 
 although coal was there, the company had been 
 unlucky enough to sink on an immense " fault " in 
 the coal formation. Thus, some seven or eight 
 years after the golden dreams had seemed so near 
 realisation, the Peking Syndicate, with its capital 
 of a million sterling, had done nothing more than 
 build a ninety-mile railway and sell it to the Chinese 
 Government. 
 
 In 1905 and 1906 new factors began to make their 
 appearance. The Chinese of Honan and Shansi, 
 educated to the new nationalism by the cries of 
 " China for the Chinese " resounding all over the 
 Empire, showed unmistakable signs that the idea that 
 a foreign concern should possess a long-period 
 monopoly in all sorts of mining in their provinces 
 was repugnant to them, and could no longer be 
 seriously entertained. They therefore commenced 
 to agitate, and were considerably aided by a genuine 
 movement on the part of the Chinese coal-miners in 
 Honan. For the Chinese have been busily engaged 
 for centuries in working the coal outcrops which 
 occur in Honan as well as in many other parts of 
 China. By means of shallow pits and clumsy con- 
 trivances for dealing with surface water, they have 
 
 p p 2 
 
S8o THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 been able to extract considerable quantities of coal 
 from each working before they have been over- 
 whelnied by the inflow of water. This shallow 
 pit-mining has been very economical, and coal in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of such workings has there- 
 fore been inordinately cheap. It was consequently 
 only natural that the Peking Syndicate should become 
 alarmed at this Chinese competition — which it argues 
 is illegal, although it has always existed — whilst the 
 small Chinese owners were no less convinced that 
 the alien concern was only intent on taking the bread 
 away from the mouths of poor people by means 
 of its wealth and foreign machinery and labour-saving 
 appliances. Thus on both sides there was dissatis- 
 faction, and the cries of the Chinese outcrop miners, 
 added to those of the gentry and the officials, soon 
 succeeded in producing on the field of operations 
 something closely resembling a deadlock. Mining 
 for iron-ore by the Syndicate in Shansi province, 
 which should have been commenced long ere now, 
 is indefinitely delayed ; and the Chinese, firm in their 
 knowledge that procrastination must gain them 
 someithing in the end, continue to procrastinate in 
 spite of all threats. The present position of the 
 Peking Syndicate, then, nearly a decade after the 
 first subscriptions were paid in London, is one of 
 open deadlock, which is serious and harmful to all 
 concerned.^ 
 
 ' In addition, it is now stated that the original contract of the 
 Peking Syndicate is defective, inasmuch as the English and Chinese 
 texts differ in some essential particulars and it was unfortunately 
 never agreed which text was to be the authoritative one. 
 
Ill THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 581 
 
 The second case which it is interesting to quote 
 is one into which new elements enter, and which, in 
 spite of the fact that- work is actively proceeding and 
 dividends are still being paid, may within a few 
 years be in the same position as Peking Syndicate 
 to-day, unless entirely new arrangements are made 
 with the Chinese. This is the case of the well- 
 known Chinese Engineering and Mining Company, 
 a case which has recently been dragged through the 
 London law courts without any very tangible results. 
 The facts merit rapid recital. A quarter of a 
 century ago the famous Li Hung Chang, then 
 Viceroy at Tientsin, decided to open some coal 
 mines a few score miles north of his Viceregal seat. 
 Work was commenced, a short tram-line laid, and 
 from these small beginnings gradually sprang the 
 Imperial Northern Chinese Railways and the great 
 Kaiping coal mines, now producing upwards of a 
 million tons of fuel a year. In 1900, during the crush- 
 ing of the Boxer outbreak, foreign troops belonging 
 to the various European contingents occupied these 
 coal-mines, as well as different sections of the Northern 
 Chinese Railways. Russia was particularly aggressive 
 and to be feared at the time ; and it seemed as if 
 the Kaiping mines might be permanently occupied by 
 Russian troops. Accordingly, as some time prior to 
 these events negotiations had been entered into with 
 certain British interests to supply the capital 
 necessary for a considerable extension of the coal 
 mines, it was not hard work to convince the Chinese 
 Director-in-Chief, a certain unlucky official named 
 
582 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Chang Yen Mao, that the time had arrived when 
 rapid action was necessary to save the mines from 
 being absorbed by Russia. While assenting to the 
 principle that British influence would be useful at 
 this juncture, Chang Yen Mao was not prepared to 
 accept lightly the sweeping contract laid before him 
 for signature. Some time passed in fruitless re- 
 presentations, and at last the agents of the British 
 firm in question, determined to force an issue at all 
 costs, spent a whole day in the employment of every 
 species of argument to gain their point. At 
 night-time the unlucky Chinese Director-in-Chief 
 succumbed, and put his hand and seal to a docu- 
 ment which by Chinese law he had no authority to 
 sign but which was binding under English law. 
 
 The worst fears of Chang Yen Mao were quickly 
 justified. As soon as things had settled down in 
 China, he learned that by a series of adroit moves 
 in Europe, the Kaiping mines had been registered 
 in London as a limited liability concern under the 
 sonorous title of " The Chinese Engineering and 
 Mining Company, Limited " ; and that the capital 
 had been fixed at a million sterling, with half a mil- 
 lion sterling of six per cent debentures. In order 
 to secure this capital the London promoters not only 
 had to proceed abroad — to Brussels — but also had 
 to give away a quarter of a million sterling in shares 
 as a bonus to debenture subscribers ; whilst, with the 
 exception of ^375, ooo which went to Chinese share- 
 holders in the form of a new scrip in exchange for 
 the old, the rest of the shares were issued "for 
 
THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 583 
 
 considerations other than cash." Thus quasi- British 
 protection had been secured at the cost of a cool 
 million sterling or more. 
 
 Other complications soon appeared. Although 
 the company was legally British, it was in reality 
 Belgian, owing to the fact that Brussels had found 
 ready money when London would have nothing to 
 do with the affair. There were therefore two 
 Boards of Directors — one at Brussels and one at 
 London — and as the Chinese had to be placated 
 after such unmerciful treatment, there soon appeared 
 a third Board, the China Board, which had 
 nominal control but which was dependent on the 
 London Board, which again was dependent on the 
 Brussels Board. The Chinese, whose real aim 
 had been to mortgage the mine-properties for a 
 large cash advance, thus found themselves in an 
 entirely different position. They had lost the 
 properties for good and all, unless the sale-contract 
 could be upset. The unlucky Chang Yen Mao — 
 his life openly threatened as soon as the Court 
 Party and Peking officialdom understood what had 
 been done — begged for a chance to retrieve his 
 fallen fortunes, and was granted an Imperial Rescript 
 ordering him to proceed to London to recover what 
 had been lost. Unfortunately in this case English 
 law is English law ; and failing the establishment of 
 the fact that fraud or force had been employed, 
 there was no means of upsetting what had been 
 done. Chang Yen Mao accordingly returned to 
 China a broken man. Since then the declared 
 
S84 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 policy of the Chinese has been this : that in no 
 circumstances will the Engineering and Mining 
 Company be granted fresh title-deeds for adjacent 
 lands. No sinking of new shafts can therefore be 
 undertaken. It is calculated that in four years' time 
 the present levels will be worked out, and that it 
 will be necessary to open new shafts in order to 
 make mining profitable and to face the sharp com- 
 petition in the form of cheap Manchurian coal. The 
 Chinese will then have their opportunity, and will 
 extort as hard terms as were extorted from 
 them.^ 
 
 The third big mining case is that of the Anhui 
 mines, of which Sir John Lister Kaye is the sponsor. 
 These mineral deposits lying near the Yangtsze 
 river were leased to the concessionnaires on the 
 specific undertaking that work would be commenced 
 within a year. The Chinese allege that the time- 
 limit expired without any work having been under- 
 taken : the concessionnaires hold an opposite view. 
 Without wishing to enter into the merits of the case, 
 which has already come up in Parliament, it is 
 sufficient to record the fact that the Anhui gentry 
 living in the vicinity of the concession have suddenly 
 become firm believers in the doctrine of " China for 
 the Chinese," and that they absolutely refuse to co- 
 operate with the London concessionnaires, even if 
 forty per cent, of the initial share issue is placed apart 
 for their subscriptions. They do not want mining 
 
 > Strong hopes are now expressed that a compromise may still be 
 effected. 
 
Ill THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 585 
 
 to be conducted on a European basis at all, and 
 that is as far as they are prepared to go. 
 
 The fourth and last mining case is the successful 
 one, and is therefore worthy of special notice. In 
 this case Mr. Archibald Little, well-known as a 
 pioneer of many years' standing on the upper 
 Yangtsze, organised, before leaving China, a limited 
 liability company registered at Hong Kong under 
 the Hong Kong Ordinances with a capital sufficiently 
 modest to avoid creating the belief amongst ignorant 
 patriots that the absorption of China was to take 
 place. The company was to engage in coal-mining 
 on the upper Yangtsze. From its inception the 
 enterprise has been essentially an Anglo-Chinese 
 one, untainted by blatant promoterism and admitting 
 Chinese not only " on the ground floor " of subscrip- 
 tion lists, but to the chairs of its directorate, which 
 is necessarily in China. The company is fairly 
 launched and is quite unhampered by Chinese 
 opposition ; its success depends on mere mining and 
 marketing propositions.^ 
 
 Here, then, are four cases illustrating practically 
 
 ^ It may be of interest if the scale of royalties and the ground-rent 
 of this Anglo-Chinese Company are given. The system is clumsy 
 and far too compUcated, but its very stipulations show how the Chinese 
 are attempting to safeguard their interests. The first payment is 2^ 
 per cent, of the value of the gross output, to be paid as rent to the 
 Chinese land-owning company ; next a 5 per cent, royalty to be paid 
 in cash, the value of the coal being fixed -at the low figure of six 
 shillings per ton ; the next 8 per cent, goes to shareholders. Of the 
 balance remaining 10 per cent, goes to amortisation of capital ; 10 
 per cent, to reserve fund ; 25 per cent, to further royalty ; and the 
 remainder in additional dividends to shareholders. The concession 
 is for 50 years. 
 
S86 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 the only four possibilities of mining in China. In 
 the first case, the concession is ten years old ; mining 
 has been proceeded with but has met with no 
 tangible success, and has created at last a most 
 serious opposition. In the second case, Chinese 
 mines have been purchased as a going concern under 
 admittedly unfair conditions and the most hampering 
 foreign control, and although so far successful have 
 serious trouble ahead. In the third case a conces- 
 sion has been adroitly obtained after the age of 
 concessions had obviously come to an end and has 
 been left unworked until too late ; and the fourth 
 case shows what can be done on the spot when 
 everything is against anything at all being achieved. 
 From a consideration of these cases may be deduced 
 the conditions under which alone can successful 
 mining be carried on in China in the future. 
 
 There is however no gainsaying the fact that 
 although five years have now passed by since 
 England led the way in signing the new Commercial 
 Treaties called for by the Peking Protocol of 1901, 
 the three main questions — likin and duty levying, 
 currency reform and mining — have been left 
 completely unattended, whilst numbers of other 
 allied matters, such as the building of railways, have 
 gone from bad to worse. It is impossible to imagine 
 that another priceless period of five years is to be 
 allowed to elapse without anything being done. 
 But if action is to come, why cannot it come 
 quickly — at once ? For whilst a continuous advance 
 of a kind must undoubtedly be chronicled by the 
 
in THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 587 
 
 rational student, such progress does not take place 
 fast enough, does not possess adequate found- 
 ations, and does not succeed in burying the past 
 sufficiently deep to make it impossible for reaction 
 and unlooked-for disasters to sweep things back 
 almost to the exact position in which they stood a 
 decade ago. In a lumbering, protesting sort of way 
 trade goes on steadily increasing ; Europeans are 
 acquiring greater and greater interests in open ports 
 and sink larger and larger sums in highly remunera- 
 tive investments ; the Chinese are growing more 
 and more accustomed to things about which they 
 knew nothing a few years ago, and are beginning 
 to buy such articles as machinery in very con- 
 siderable quantities ; and manufactures, with the 
 aid of largely unskilled labour, are at last becoming 
 profitable. 
 
 But still the real forward movement, the proper 
 opening-up of the country by internal reform and 
 not by external pressure, has as yet hardly 
 commenced and indeed cannot properly commence 
 until the new Commercial Treaties have been signed 
 by all the Powers and actively put into force. The 
 mere fact that the Chinese propose such an absurd 
 programme as that which plans the building of all 
 their railways without the aid of foreign capital 
 is sufficient to react in an unwholesome manner 
 economically. In a former volume it was pointed 
 out that if the Indian railway system be taken as a 
 standard, China requires 35,000 miles of main track, 
 which at the minimum cost of .;i^8,ooo per mile 
 
588 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 would involve the sinking of no less than 
 v^28o,ooo,ooo in capital expenditure. That China 
 cannot find such a sum, even during the next half- 
 century, is quite certain ; but the mere fact that she 
 is attempting the impossible, and is tying up a few- 
 millions sterling in railway construction which she is 
 not in a financial position to undertake, is 
 unfortunate. For such sums of Chinese money as 
 are lying idle are required to establish industries, 
 which if once started would grow up naturally all 
 over the country with the construction of railways ; 
 such sums are too small for big work like railway 
 building but are sufficiently large to lay the 
 beginnings of a vast, if gradual, industrial movement. 
 As it is, enterprises such as cotton and flour-mill- 
 ing are already beginning to spring up in many parts 
 of China ; and foreign-owned mills, which in the 
 past have worked at a loss year after year, are now 
 beginning to pay handsomely. Silk filatures fitted 
 with the most modern plant are everywhere on the 
 increase ; whilst small native-owned iron foundries 
 and machine-shops, where work of all sorts is done 
 by European machinery, are being established along 
 coast, river and railway. All this growing activity 
 is. reflected in the net value of the foreign trade of 
 the country, which, in spite of all the disadvantages 
 under which it labours, has increased at least eighty 
 per cent, during the decade 1896- 1906 ; yet during 
 this period there have been two wars, several 
 famines, two rebellions and half a dozen smaller out- 
 breaks, whilst Peking politics have constantly cast a 
 
Irrigation by Means of a Primitive nux EFKEcnvii System. 
 
 The Old— and Disappearing— Method of In ier-Provincial 
 Travel in China, 
 
Ill 
 
 THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 
 
 589 
 
 shadow over the whole land. The manner in which 
 the imports and exports of China have risen in 
 the last, ten years is shown by the following table : — 
 
 
 Net Imports 
 
 Exports 
 
 Total 
 
 
 Hk. Tls.* 
 
 Hk. Tls.* 
 
 Ilk. Tls.* 
 
 1897 
 
 202,828,625 
 
 163.501,358 
 
 366,329,983 
 
 1898 
 
 209,579.334 
 
 159.037.149 
 
 368,616,483 
 
 1899 
 
 264,748,456 
 
 195,784,832 
 
 460,533,288 
 
 1900 
 
 211,070,422 
 
 158.996,752 
 
 370,067,174 
 
 1901 
 
 268,302,918 
 
 169,656,757 
 
 437.959,675 
 
 1902 
 
 315.363.905 
 
 214,181,584 
 
 529,545,489 
 
 1903 
 
 326.739,133 
 
 214,352,467 
 
 541,091,600 
 
 1904 
 
 344,060,608 
 
 239,486,683 
 
 583,547.291 
 
 1905 
 
 447,100,791 
 
 227,888,197 
 
 674.988,988 
 
 1906 
 
 410,270,082 
 
 236,456,739 
 
 646,726,821 
 
 * Roughly speaking, 6 Haikwan or Customs taels make £1 sterling. 
 
 Note. — The above amounts do not include the value of goods carried 
 coastwise, nor prior to 1904 did they comprise the whole extent of the foreign 
 trade, inasmuch as there were vessels of Chinese type, which were not within 
 the control of the Imperial Maritime Customs, plying between foreign and 
 Chinese (both treaty and non-treaty) ports. From 1904 the whole foreign 
 trade of China is included, with the exception of a small residuum carried in 
 native craft between Formosa, Korea, etc., and a few non-treaty ports not 
 under the control of the Imperial Maritime Customs. 
 
 If such results can be accomplished in a period 
 during which adverse circumstances have crowded 
 in on one another in the most surprising manner, 
 it is not to be wondered at that there are opti- 
 mists who affirm that by 191 5 the total trade of 
 China will be valued at ;^ 2 00, 000, 000, and that 
 during the first half of the present century it may 
 approximate the present trade of Great Britain — a 
 thousand millions sterling per annum. The anxiety 
 with which certain Powers are struggling to main- 
 tain the s^alus qzto until it is convenient for them 
 to substitute something else, is therefore quite un- 
 
59° THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 derstandable ; and this anxiety is shared by the 
 Chinese for a different reason. 
 
 In these circumstances it is interesting to push our 
 examination one step further, but in order to do so 
 it is necessary to examine the Customs Revenue 
 return on the opposite page, which shows the 
 position as it is at present. 
 
 This table shows that during the year 1906 China 
 collected Customs dues and duties amounting in 
 round numbers to thirty-six million Customs taels, 
 or, say, six millions sterling. If the new Commercial 
 Treaties were put in force, import duties would be 
 raised from five per cent, to twelve and a half per 
 cent. ; export duties from five per cent, to seven and 
 a half per cent., whilst in the case of native inter- 
 provincial trade carried on coastwise, an additional 
 Consumption Tax would be imposed. Roughly 
 speaking, then, the result of this reformed tariff 
 would be immediately to raise the gross amount of 
 import duties collected from sixteen million taels to 
 forty million taels ; the export duties from two 
 million taels to say ten million taels, whilst transit 
 dues (two million taels per annum) would be 
 abolished. With special opium duties and tonnage 
 duties added, the gross total of Customs revenue 
 collected would therefore immediately rise from 
 thirty-six million taels to more than seventy 
 million taels, an increase of one hundred per cent. 
 
 Now a revenue of seventy million taels, or say 
 eleven and a half millions sterling, would allow 
 a number of matters to be put on a proper footing. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE INTERNAL' CONDITION, OF CHINA 
 
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S92 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 In the first plaqe the service of China's loans and 
 indemnities requires annually a sum of forty-three 
 million taels. Of this sum the provinces now 
 provide by direct contributions about nineteen 
 million taels per annum, whilst the Customs revenues 
 supply the balance. The enforcement of the Mackay- 
 model Treaties would, however, automatically cause 
 all funds necessary for foreign-debt service and 
 sinking fund to flow directly into the Customs coffers, 
 and would do away with the necessity of the pro- 
 vinces being mulcted of the annual sum of nineteen 
 million taels in direct contributions. Further, the 
 new Treaties would have another effect — that of 
 financially strengthening the Central Government 
 and thus curbing the semi-independence of the 
 provinces. For it is duly arranged that as the pro- 
 vincial Governments will lose considerable sums 
 annually through the abolition of likin, the Central 
 Government is to set apart a portion of the increased 
 Imperial Customs revenues for their use. But the 
 abolition of likin and the abolition of the direct pro- 
 vincial contributions towards the 1900 indemnities 
 will counter-balance one another ; and therefore the 
 provincial Governments will really remain in much 
 the same financial position as before. Accordingly 
 the Central Government will at last control effec- 
 tively and completely one of the two great sources of 
 revenue— the taxation of trade— whilst the provinces 
 will be left in control of the only other great source 
 — the land tax. Practically, then, it only requires 
 the enforcement of the new Treaties and the 
 
Ill THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 593 
 
 inauguration in the provinces of the system of 
 Financial Commissioners (who are to begin the 
 survey of the country and the proper tabulating of 
 the land tax), for China to find herself in clear 
 possession of revenues which should not fall far short 
 of 200,000,000 taels, or, say, thirty millions sterling. 
 This would mean reform of a very marked character, 
 no matter what new difficulties might be en- 
 countered. 
 
 There is still another point. Only forty-three 
 million taels of the seventy millions which would be 
 collected under the new tariffs will be ear-marked 
 for foreign debt service ; and allowing four million 
 taels for collection expenses, a sum of more than 
 twenty million taels will thus be available for 
 other purposes. As this sum of money would 
 stand at the credit of the Ministry of Finance, 
 the Ministry of War would be able to allocate the 
 large amounts necessary for the completion of the 
 Lu Chun corps. Within a very few years, in these 
 circumstances, an imperial army might be created, 
 and arsenals established, which would automatically 
 re-establish the proper balance of power in the Far 
 East. Financially, politically and diplomatically, 
 therefore, the direct and indirect influence of the 
 fiscal reforms already provided for in the unenforced 
 Treaties would be immense. 
 
 But there are even yet some further considerations. 
 The increase of the import tariff, and the special 
 stipulations clearly laid down in the Mackay Treaty 
 in regard to an excise to be levied on machine-made 
 
 Q Q 
 
S94 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 yarn and cloth manufactured in China, and the 
 rebates to be given on raw cotton imported, would 
 give a great impetus to manufacturing all along the 
 Yangtsze basin. The great cotton-growing belt of 
 Mid-China would be dotted with mills, and Shanghai 
 might soon eclipse Bombay as a spinner and weaver 
 of cotton. The danger, which now menaces China, 
 of being flooded with cheap manufactures would be 
 averted, and great opportunities would be offered 
 for the profitable investment of large sums of foreign 
 money in industrial enterprises which would bring 
 much prosperity in their train. Nothing so well 
 illustrates how rapidly development comes in China, 
 when a road is made tolerably clear for that develop- 
 ment, as the case of the steam navigation of the 
 inland waters. Although this trade is only eight or 
 nine years old (the navigating of all rivers, lakes, 
 and canals by small steam craft has only been 
 permitted for that term) and although it is still 
 hampered by vexatious restrictions owing to the 
 continuance of likin, there were at the end of 1906 
 no fewer than 857 small steamers, tow-boats, and 
 steam-launches engaged in it. If all the present 
 impediments to trade were removed and a compre- 
 hensive system of trunk railways established, this 
 total of steamers and tow-boats should grow to 
 several thousand, and should complete the sweep- 
 ing-away of old-time conditions which is now 
 so necessary. Again, another most essential step 
 is the reform of the currency. The alarming 
 fluctuations to which silver is subject, although 
 
Ill THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 595 
 
 often permitting speculative profits to be realised, is 
 in the last analysis harmful to trade and tends to 
 restrict the free movement of imports and exports. 
 It is imperative that something should be done in 
 the matter ; and the enforcement of the Mackay 
 Treaty is the obvious opportunity. 
 
 Finally, there is now no disguising the fact that 
 revolutionary unrest deserves at last to be counted 
 as a serious danger in China. It is of course true 
 that secret societies and revolutions have always 
 been notable features of the country, and that they 
 have probably been looked upon by the Government 
 as necessary evils in so enormous an Empire. But 
 in former times the methods employed by mal- 
 contents were primitive and the results they produced 
 were, generally speaking, easily negatived by stern 
 official action. Not so to-day, however. Thanks 
 to the pseudo-Europeanism to which they have 
 attained, the Chinese revolutionaries have during 
 the past few years placed themselves in a new 
 position which the Government at the present 
 moment is largely powerless to attack. Revolu- 
 tionary literature, carried quickly all over the country 
 by the new postal system, tells men in sharp, incisive 
 phrases, culled by Chinese revolutionary students 
 from foreign text-books, what they should do in 
 order to release themselves from a bondage imposed 
 by Manchu militarism two hundred and fifty years 
 ago. The revolutionary leaders, finding a safe 
 asylum in all the territories adjacent to the Chinese 
 Empire, collect funds and from month " to month 
 
 Q Q 2 
 
596 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 organise their schemes on a better basis ; and having 
 decided that a modified terrorism will be more 
 effective than the raising of unwieldy rebellions, 
 they now distribute bombs, revolvers and daggers 
 far and wide, while shipments of rifles and even of 
 artillery are smuggled into the country and hidden 
 away for use later on. 
 
 So far luck has been against the revolutionaries, 
 and their only real success — if murder can ever be 
 termed a success — has been the assassination of the 
 Governor of Anhui province. The cool manner in 
 which this was carried out by a revolutionary, 
 bearing the rank of Taotai, who was actually in 
 command of a small corps of the new-model 
 gendarmerie, has made the profoundest sensation in 
 Peking. That a scholar and a Chinese gentleman 
 should consider that he is morally justified in empty- 
 ing a six-chambered revolver into the body of the 
 highest official of a province, and that plans should 
 have been consummated with the utmost secrecy 
 and audacity to seize the provincial armoury and 
 immediately to raise the standard of rebellion, have 
 demonstrated to the Government how much really lies 
 behind the movement. For although it now appears 
 clear that the afifiliation of all the revolutionary 
 centres and secret societies is not yet complete, and 
 that such a leader as the notorious Dr. Sun Yat-sen 
 only represents the Cantonese wing, progress is 
 being made from day to day, and the large scale on 
 which operations have been planned may be gauged 
 from the fact that during the past few months no 
 
HI THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF CHINA 597 
 
 less than ten thousand modern rifles have been 
 seized as they were about to enter the country. 
 
 The objects of this terrorism are two. The first 
 and more important is to bring about a Manchu 
 collapse and the end of the Manchu dynasty ; the 
 second to make China a constitutional country and 
 possibly even a republic. Moreover, the fact must 
 not be lost sight of that the present internal situation 
 of the country is somewhat favourable to the success 
 of this propaganda. The Empress Dowager is old 
 and failing ; the Emperor is childless and impotent ; 
 no heir to the throne has been nominated ; Prince 
 Ching — corrupt and indolent, and also old and failing 
 — overshadows the active members of the Central 
 Goverment ; around China are those menacing and 
 disconcerting quantities, the Powers, with their 
 treaties and agreements guaranteeing the inde- 
 pendence of the country. The revolutionaries, with 
 a full understanding of all these facts, argue that the 
 assassination of twelve leading Manchus and four or 
 five strong or loyal Chinese officials, such as Yuan 
 Shih-Kai and Chang Chih Tung, should be the first 
 step ; the second will be the great rising which will 
 come as a natural consequence. There is certainly 
 danger in all this ; for it only requires fanatics willing 
 to throw dynamite bombs for the crumbling process 
 to commence. And therefore the revolutionary 
 propaganda, difficult as it is to assess at its proper 
 value, is an additional reason why counteracting 
 steps such as have been briefly outlined in these 
 pages should be promptly taken. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 China versus Europe and Japan 
 
 Meanwhile there is a different point of view 
 which merits consideration. This point of view is 
 one which ignores all the peculiar circumstances and 
 difficulties of the moment and which holds that 
 at this juncture China simply needs to be coerced. 
 That is to say, while it is admitted that there are 
 now distinct traces of reform in China and a real 
 longing to escape from a humiliating international 
 and internal position, it is seen on the other hand 
 that in everything that concerns Europe and the 
 outer world, officials and people are still united in 
 following those tactics of procrastination and 
 opposition which have been the principal features of 
 the real East since the beginning of modern history. 
 Hence the notion that coercion of some kind is all 
 that is required. In examining this belief it is best 
 to begin with a consideration of the recent Franco- 
 Japanese Agreement (of June, 1907), the objects of 
 which were, inter alia, to guarantee the independence 
 and integrity of China and to safeguard the princi- 
 
CH. IV CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN 599 
 
 pies of the "open door" and " equal opportunities 
 for all." This instrument runs as follows — 
 
 Arrangement. 
 
 The Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan 
 and the Government of the French Republic, animated by 
 the desire to strengthen the relations of amity existing 
 between them, and to remove from those relations all 
 cause of misunderstanding for the future, have decided to 
 conclude the following arrangement : 
 
 The Governments of Japan and France, being agreed to 
 respect the independence and integrity of China, as well 
 as the principle of equal treatment in that country for the 
 commerce and subjects or citizens of all nations, and 
 having a special interest in the preservation of peace and 
 order, especially in the regions of the Chinese Empire 
 adjacent to the territories where they have the rights of 
 sovereignty, protection, or occupation, engage to support 
 each other in assuring the peace and security of those 
 regions, with a view to maintaining the respective situa- 
 tions and territorial rights of the two Contracting Parties 
 in the Continent of Asia. 
 
 In witness whereof, the undersigned, His Excellency 
 Monsieur Kurino, Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni- 
 potentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan to the 
 President of the French Republic, and his Excellency 
 Monsieur Stephen Pichon, Senator, Minister for Foreign 
 Affairs, authorised by their respective Governments, have 
 signed this Arrangement and have affixed thereto their 
 seals. 
 
 Declaration. 
 
 The two Governments of Japan and France, while 
 reserving the negotiations for the conclusion of a Conven- 
 tion of Commerce in regard to the relations between Japan 
 and French Indo-China, agree as follows : 
 
 The treatment of the most favoured nation shall be 
 accorded to the officers and subjects of Japan in French 
 
6oo THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Indo-China in all that concerns their persons and the 
 protection of their property, and the same treatment 
 shall be applied to the subjects and proteges of French 
 Indo-China in the Empire of Japan, until the expiration 
 of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan 
 and France of August 4, 1 896. 
 
 It will be seen at a glance that this instrument is 
 merely a natural successor of the Anglo- Japanese 
 Alliance of August, 1905, which is the master- 
 instrument from which already depend far too many 
 international arrangements. In Europe it was 
 received with as much enthusiasm as could be 
 mustered after the frequent calls made on popular 
 approval by international rapprochements during the 
 past twenty-four months. But The Spectator, which 
 interests itself constantly with the powder-magazine 
 of the Far East, commented on the arrangement in 
 a manner which has considerable significance. So 
 important is it to establish clearly the difference 
 between the European and the inner Chinese point 
 of view, that it is well worth while to quote this 
 article from The Spectator in full : — 
 
 " The new Agreement between France and Japan, and 
 the Agreement which is coming between Japan and 
 Russia, undoubtedly tend to secure immediate peace in 
 the Far East. When the arrangements are concluded. 
 Great Britain, France, Russia, and Japan will for certain 
 purposes be allied. One of those purposes is to guarantee 
 each other's possessions in Asia, and another is to guarantee 
 the integrity of China, thus preventing, so far as the 
 Treaties extend, any war of territorial ambition. That is 
 excellent as indicating the ideal to be sought, but it does 
 not go quite so far as niany of our countrymen seem to 
 
IV CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN 6oi 
 
 imagine. To make a peace which can be trusted for a 
 long period, the arrangements need expansion. The 
 Treaties do not cover either Germany or America, and 
 both Germany and America have serious interests in the 
 Far East which may, in certain quite possible contingencies, 
 endanger the continuance of peace. The adhesion of 
 both these Powers is, in fact, necessary to the permanence 
 of the plan which Great Britain, France and Japan all 
 desire to see realised, and it is by no means certain that 
 this adhesion can be readily obtained. 
 
 The Government of Germany, to begin with, will 
 extremely dislike being left out in the cold. Apart from 
 their suspicion that Great Britain wants to leave Germany 
 isolated everywhere in the world — a suspicion which is 
 entirely baseless— the ruling idea of that Government is 
 that they are now entitled to a prominent place, if not 
 indeed to the first place, in that Committee of Seven — 
 Great Britain, America, Germany, France, Austria, Russia 
 and Japan — which now holds the general control of the 
 world in its hands. Germany is certain sooner or later to 
 make this idea manifest in some peremptory way. She 
 did so in Morocco, and the Far East is much more 
 important than Morocco. The Japanese notion that 
 Germany should be excluded because she has no territory 
 in the Far East is not strictly sound, for she owns the long 
 lease of Kiaochow ; and, if it were sound, would be 
 irrelevant, every Great Power being interested, if only for 
 reasons of trade, in the attitude and conditions of every 
 other. China interests the traders of Berlin as much as 
 those of London. Germany ought, therefore, to be asked 
 to join the combination, and it is by no means certain that 
 Germany will agree. The astute persons who are now 
 guiding her weltpolitik may think it more expedient for 
 her to remain free in a position which tempts her to ask 
 China for special commercial privileges, and which might 
 enable her in conceivable contingencies to represent herself 
 at Peking as the one Power free to protect China from the 
 
6o2 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 effect of the commercial greed of which other Powers are 
 certain to be suspected. The Chinese, as we all know, are 
 beginning exceedingly to resent and distrust European 
 commercial pressure, and Germany has learnt at Constan- 
 tinople that to pose as the one disinterested adviser is often 
 a very paying attitude. Germany may hold aloof from 
 any pledges, and when Germany holds aloof from any 
 great arrangement the arrangement can hardly be accepted 
 as a final settlement. The diiificulty of including the 
 States will be even greater. Washington dislikes all 
 alliances. The Americans have vast separate interests in 
 the Pacific, where, when the Panama Canal is cut, they 
 become — will become — the predominant Power ; and they 
 have besides an obstacle in their Constitution which has 
 hitherto proved insuperable. They dislike the idea of 
 Chinese and Japanese competition ; they will not grant to 
 an Asiatic Power that condition of equality without which 
 Japan will make no Treaty ; and they are still possessed 
 with a popular contempt for the coloured races which 
 makes the execution of equal Treaties between Asiatics 
 and Europeans extremely difficult. The workers of the 
 Pacific slope dread commercial competition ; the Demo- 
 cratic Party is devoted to State Rights ; and the Great 
 Republic has not as yet the machinery necessary to 
 overcome peacefully State resistance. She acknowledges 
 that a Treaty is the supreme law, but supreme laws are 
 occasionally very hard to enforce. The Central Govern- 
 ment may in the end overcome all these obstacles, but it 
 will unquestionably hesitate to make them worse by new 
 Treaties which will be at least as much for the benefit of 
 Europe as of the Western world. 
 
 Moreover, the great source of danger, the unrest which 
 is evidently spreading in China, cannot be removed by any 
 Treaty. The immense population of that Empire is waking 
 up to a new consciousness. The national pride has been 
 irritated by the events of this generation, and the people 
 have been penetrated with a sullen suspicion not only as 
 
IV CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN 603 
 
 to the perfection of their own organisation, which clearly 
 has failed as against the external world, but of all white 
 men, whom they now regard as persons engaged in great 
 schemes for exploiting and plundering the sacred land. 
 All reforming movements in China tend, therefore, to 
 become anti-foreign movements, and the Treaties, however 
 well constructed, may any day be found useless in the face 
 of a popular explosion. One at least of the objects of 
 the Treaties now in process of completion is to ring in 
 China, so that Europe plus Japan may press its advice 
 on her with irresistible weight ; and the latent desire of 
 every Chinaman is not to be pressed upon, but to make 
 his country as independent as he sees the great States of 
 Europe already are. This motive, in fact, is the one which 
 enables the reformers of China to appeal to the masses 
 behind them for their support. The issue, moreover, of the 
 war between Japan and Russia has liberated the Chinese 
 from many of their fears, and has exaggerated that conceit 
 of themselves and their civilisation which for ages has 
 made arrangements with them so difficult and so unstable. 
 Europe no doubt is stronger than China, and has nothing 
 in the worst event to drea.d more dangerous than local 
 massacres ; but to make this proposition politically true 
 Europe must be united. While it is not true, Germany, 
 Austria, and France cannot act with the necessary strength 
 and even America may, till the Panama Canal is cut, 
 hesitate to abandon an isolated line of policy. 
 
 The deduction from all this, which to many of our 
 readers may appear somewhat dreamy, is that to maintain 
 a peaceful ascendency in the Far East, we must, as regards 
 Far Eastern politics, be sufficiently united to act in an 
 emergency with rapidity and decision. That condition 
 has as yet been scarcely secured, and though the adhesion 
 of Japan, or, rather, her inclusion among European Powers, 
 is an enormous assistance, the interests and the policy of 
 Japan in China are not yet so clearly defined or so 
 incapable of change that Europe can afford, in dealing 
 
6o4 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 with the Far East, to throw away any of her self-contained 
 strength. Germany should be courteously asked to enter 
 the European ring, and an inquiry addressed to Washington 
 asking whether it intends to await events or to join Europe 
 and Japan in a scheme for securing to the Far East a 
 long period of opportunity for peaceful and fruitful 
 advance. This universal understanding perhaps goes 
 rather further than the ordinary conception of a working 
 alliance, but it would be a great mistake to think that a 
 quadrilateral agreement introduces the millennium, though, 
 as we have admitted, it is a distinct step towards the 
 maintenance of peace in the Far East and has already 
 removed the principal objections to the Anglo-Japanese 
 alliance." 
 
 The view which stands out most clearly in this 
 article — especially when it is perused, not in the 
 country where it was written, but in the country 
 most concerned by what it discusses, that is, in 
 China — is this : that if only every one of the Great 
 Powers can be induced to enter the " European 
 Ring," China will be hemmed in and will have to 
 follow to the letter the advice of this alliance of 
 Christendom plus Japan, no matter what the nature 
 of that advice may be. For China is the inert mass 
 which need not be consulted ; China is the negligible 
 quantity ; China is the dough which can be kneaded 
 by the allied fingers of the seven Powers. Interesting 
 as is this belief, it is after all only an assumption 
 —it is fancy rather than fact ; for China showed in 
 1900, when her capital was occupied by this alliance 
 of Christendom plus Japan and the Manchu Court 
 was in full flight towards the lost province of Shansi, 
 that the resoqrces of Chinese diplomacy Were by no 
 
IV CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN 605 
 
 means exhausted. Even in 1900 it needed but a 
 few adroit manoeuvres to set the Powers fighting 
 among themselves. At a price China can still do 
 this ; and she knows it well. 
 
 But it is not with the object of falling into a 
 "dreamy" discussion that this direct question has 
 been raised here ; it is rather with the object of 
 showing exactly what the Chinese think regarding 
 this fresh international arrangement. Fortunately 
 the vernacular press of the eighteen provinces now 
 follows the Far Eastern policy of the Powers with the 
 keenest interest, and on this new Franco- Japanese 
 Arrangement there have already been many 
 expressions of opinion. Here is one from a Shanghai 
 native journal, named Nan-Fang-Pao, which has an 
 English editorial column of remarkable excellence 
 considering the difficulties ofcomposition in a foreign 
 tongue, and which expresses tersely what every 
 Chinaman of intelligence thinks : — 
 
 " The publication of the text of the Franco-Japanese 
 Agreement has naturally created a stir in the Chinese 
 world, but the effect produced, if the pronouncements of 
 the Chinese press are any indication, is quite the reverse of 
 that on foreigners, as expressed by the tone of the British 
 press. Our newspapers can see nothing in the Agreement 
 to congratulate China upon, and cannot say with any show 
 of unction that the integrity of our country is more strongly 
 assured by the consummation of the entente or that the 
 peace of the Far East is rendered more secure. 
 
 " Nearly all the papers realise the importance of the 
 Agreement in its effect on China, though that such an 
 Agreement could be effected at all came somewhat as a 
 surprise to them. The traditional and innate contempt of 
 the white race for the yellow race would seem to be an 
 
6o6 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 insurmountable obstacle to bring about any understand- 
 ing ; and the world is treated to the spectacle of firstly, 
 an Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and now a Franco-Japanese 
 Agreement — an agreement which further receives the 
 moral support of Great Britain and Russia. By the con- 
 clusion of the Agreement two nations, if we exclude the 
 contracting parties, are directly or indirectly affected by it, 
 namely Germany and China. The former is made to feel 
 her isolated condition, while the interests of the latter are 
 placed in greater jeopardy than before. 
 
 " What strikes the Chinese press as somewhat meaning- 
 less is the eternal reiteration on the part of certain Powers 
 of their intention to respect the independence and integrity 
 of China. As one of the papers declared, such a statement 
 can only tickle the ears of our effete and blind Government, 
 but it has not a sufficient ring of sincerity in it to deceive 
 the people. By the terms of the Agreement, the influence 
 of France and Japan in the Chinese Empire is greatly 
 strengthened. Whatever has been leased from the Chinese 
 Government is now invested with almost the rights of 
 occupation, and whatever has not been leased but borders 
 on leased territory is in danger of being inclosed with the 
 same. 
 
 " After the Chino-Japanese War the Japanese sphere of 
 influence in China was confined to the province of Fuhkien, 
 and now we are informed that on account of Japan's interests 
 in the Liaotung Peninsula both Chihli and Shantung have 
 been included. The sphere of influence of France is also 
 greatly extended by the terms of this Agreement. At 
 first it was only her vague ambition that the provinces of 
 Yunnan, Kungtung, and Kuangsi should be her share in 
 the despoiling of China, but in the past few years we have 
 seen the gradual growth of her ambition, till now the 
 provinces are to become in reality the reward of her many 
 years of scheming. It is to be noted that the tactics of 
 France and Japan in their undermining of China's integrity 
 and independence have been almost identical. The former 
 first detached Annam from China's suzerainty, then seized 
 the region itself, and gradually encroached on the borders of 
 
IV CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN 607 
 
 Yunnan and the two Kuangs till now sheis stretching her arms 
 even into the interior of those provinces ; while with Japan, 
 Korea was her iirst object, from which she directed her 
 attention to Manchuria, and now Chihli and Shantung 
 are to be enclosed within her grasp. 
 
 "The Anglo-Japanese Agreement was claimed to be 
 concluded to preserve the peace of the Far East, but the 
 devastated condition of Manchuria bears eloquent 
 witness to the validity or otherwise of the claim. Let us 
 hope and pray that the Franco-Japanese Agreement, which 
 starts out with language of similar strain of function, may 
 not end as disastrously to our Empire." 
 
 It will be seen from this candid article that so far 
 from admitting that China's integrity receives an 
 additional safeguard by the Franco- Japanese Agree- 
 ment, open fears ar^ expressed regarding the future 
 of those Chinese provinces which are unfortunate 
 enough to lie adjacent to, or on the borders of, leased 
 or occupied territories. It is quite certain, for in- 
 stance, that in the event of trouble in China, France 
 would speedily put the rapidly-completing Yunnan 
 railway to practical use, and carry the tricolour — tem- 
 porarily, of course — perhaps as far as the head waters 
 of the Yangtsze. Safeguarded by this Agreement 
 from all possibility of a Japanese descent on the coasts 
 of Tonkin, France can now afford, unless Germany 
 menaces her in Europe, to act in the Far East with an 
 easy assurance not justified by her overseas standing 
 as a Great Power. Similarly Japan, were such a 
 course necessary, could insist that the leasing terms 
 at present applying to the Port Arthur territory 
 should be extended to the whole of the railway-zone 
 in Southern Manchuria ; while the province of 
 
6o8 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Fuhkien, lying opposite the island of Formosa, 
 could be temporarily occupied with impunity. For 
 the fact must not be lost sight of that the Port 
 Arthur lease expires in 1923, and that there are al- 
 ready many indications that Japan has not the 
 slightest intention of making that date a red-letter day 
 in Chinese international history ; there will be war 
 sooner than that. In a word, then, these international 
 agreements affecting China are, in Chinese eyes, 
 simply the prelude to fresh territorial seizures ; and 
 history already proves that there is foundation for 
 this assumption. 
 
 In these circumstances it is not strange, although 
 it may be a subject of general regret, that China is 
 acting as she is at the present time in regard to the 
 Peking Legations. Every matter demanding settle- 
 ment is indefinitely postponed, and some Legations 
 have actually hundreds of unanswered dispatches 
 lying at the Wai-Wu-Pu, or Peking Foreign Office. 
 Yet that China should be in this factious mood is 
 small wonder. While such bare-faced territorial 
 seizures as that attempted by Russia in Manchuria 
 will no longer take place, she firmly believes that the 
 new step-by-step Japanese process is now a la mode, 
 and that, so far as she is concerned, it is the same old 
 song with new words. She also sees that the pro- 
 paganda of the Chinese revolutionaries, if not actually 
 aided and abetted by certain of those who are so busy 
 guaranteeing her intregrity, is at least being watched 
 and taken note of in a very remarkable manner, and 
 that every insurrectionary movement in the provinces 
 
IV CHINA VERSUS EUROPE AND JAPAN 609 
 
 is magnified into a great rebellion by the Japanese 
 press. She also notices that Chinese students who 
 have studied in Tokyo return home infected with the 
 same ideas ; and, although it is quite untrue that the 
 Japanese Government has in any way promoted 
 provincial disorders, as many misguided persons have 
 not hesitated to affirm, she has further discovered 
 that the Japanese Imperial Household Department 
 has sent emissaries to China to assess properly the 
 anti-dynastic movement on the Yangtsze and in 
 Southern China. This discovery, coupled with the 
 fact that the Japanese are to all intents and purposes 
 in firm occupation of the original home of the Man- 
 chus — Southern Manchuria — has much more interest 
 for Peking than international agreements safe- 
 guarding the integrity of the Empire ; just as the 
 Washington Government, at the moment of writing, 
 is much more concerned with the strategical disposi- 
 tion of the American Fleet in Pacific waters than 
 with diplomatic assurances regarding the traditional 
 friendship between the United States and Japan. 
 
 It will be understood, then, that in the opinion of 
 the writer too much effort has been lavished by the 
 Powers of Europe in securing that they shall not 
 cut each other's throats in the Far East, and 
 especially in China, and that too little attention has 
 been paid to the improvement of China's financial 
 and fiscal condition in a rational manner. Thus the 
 new Commercial Treaties are in exactly the same 
 position as they were four years ago, and in spite of 
 high-sounding platitudes, nothing is really being 
 
 R R 
 
6io THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA ch. iv 
 
 done to help China to her feet. Most of the Powers, 
 indeed, do not want an increased tariff to be put 
 into force, and chief amongst these is Japan. The 
 policy of adding to existing interests and of "milking" 
 China is the only one which has the approval of all 
 the Powers ; and it is simply China's inability to 
 gain the support of public opinion which prevents 
 some very ugly disclosures being made. Were 
 China to establish press bureaus, such as Japan 
 possesses, and from time to time publish far-reaching 
 statements, European diplomacy in the Far East 
 would be in some danger of being discredited ; for 
 that diplomacy has sought to bind with leading 
 strings made of pressed parchment the volcanic 
 forces hidden within the breasts of four hundred 
 millions of people, who, without claiming any 
 attributes in the least different from those possessed 
 by the rest of mankind, are in the main honest, 
 frugal, industrious, and the leaders of virtuous and 
 arduous lives. If one day something unexpected 
 occurs — if there is another great upheaval — the 
 Powers will be as guilty as they were in the year 
 1900. The legitimate aspirations of a people 
 possessing forty centuries of history ought surely to 
 be considered ; and the time has not yet come when 
 Europe -blus Japan, standing on the carcase of the 
 Chinese giant, may begin an oration such as vain- 
 glorious Napoleon made under the shadow of the 
 Pyramids. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 
 
 The United States as a Pacific Power is at once 
 
 in a highly fortunate and a highly unfortunate 
 
 position ; and, viewed from the Far East itself, it 
 
 seems clear that American interests in Eastern Asia 
 
 must for some years to come be menaced by 
 
 many disconcerting possibilities. Until the year 
 
 1898 America on the Pacific was strategically 
 
 in an impregnable position, and she could have 
 
 regarded with equanimity even the concentration of 
 
 overwhelming naval forces along her extensive 
 
 Pacific sea-board. At most a few American coast 
 
 towns could have been bombarded and perhaps 
 
 temporarily occupied ; but no disasters of 
 
 importance would have been possible. With the 
 
 whole American nation rallying behind the Pacific 
 
 seaboard, it would have been madness for the 
 
 strongest of enemies to have dreamed of permanent 
 
 successes against a people whose home is in this 
 
 respect geographically ideal. 
 
 R R 2 
 
6i2 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 The year 1898 changed all that. The dull 
 booming of guns in Manila Bay was a salute fired 
 in honour of that which is alike the glory and the 
 nemesis of nations — Imperialism — and the formal 
 substitution of the American for the Spanish flag, in 
 the Philippines at least made Englishmen realise 
 that what is bred in the bone comes out in the flesh, 
 and that Americans are unable to lose certain 
 distinguishing characteristics of their race-stock. 
 With the annexation of the Philippine Islands, the 
 United States began that series of territorial 
 conquests which she must inevitably continue, if she 
 is to be really great among the nations ; and in the 
 Spanish Treaty of Paris she signed a document the 
 consequences of which cannot but be far-reaching. 
 For at once it was necessary to change her so-called 
 traditional Asiatic policy, although the Americans 
 themselves have been the slowest to recognise the 
 fact. Finished were the pleasant days of treating 
 Japan and China as picturesque Oriental countries. 
 The call of Empire had been heard and listened to ; 
 and with that call came in the natural course of 
 events new responsibilities and new dangers, which 
 are only now — after nine years of study and 
 practical experience in world politics — beginning to 
 be realised. Before this realisation becomes com- 
 plete, perhaps nine years more must pass by ; and 
 it may therefore be said that in a certain sense the 
 United States is now entering on the crucial period 
 of her existence as a Pacific Power with overseas 
 possessions, and that her future as such will largely 
 
V THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 613 
 
 depend upon the able handling of a situation 
 bristling with difficulties. 
 
 It is very doubtful whether American statesmen, 
 not to speak of the American public, fully realise the 
 tremendous importance of the question of the 
 mastery of the Pacific. For the Pacific Ocean is a 
 stupendous sheet of water, which is politically as 
 disconcerting, both because of its size and because 
 of the varied races inhabiting its shores, as is the 
 vast continent of Asia itself. So far as concerns 
 the United States, it is a vast inhospitable blank — 
 except for the Hawaiian Islands — stretching from 
 the towns of the American Pacific shores to the 
 Philippine Islands ; a blank no less than five or six 
 thousand miles in extent. Now, five or six thousand 
 miles is approximately the distance separating 
 Russia from her Far Eastern possessions ; but even 
 careless Russia, long before the outbreak of the late 
 war, had been at pains to bind these distant 
 territories to her by means of ribs of railway steel, 
 and to advance the frontiers of her real Empire — 
 her Empire of white men — as rapidly as possible by 
 the encouragement of emigration from her home- 
 lands to Siberia and the Asiatic seaboard. It 
 follows, therefore, that to make herself even as 
 questionably secure in the Far East as Russia was 
 before the late war, the United States must place 
 on the Pacific waters the marine equivalent of steel 
 rails — war-ships and merchant vessels in large 
 numbers. 
 
 At the present moment, however, it would seem 
 
6i4 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 that there are to be two parties in what it is well 
 frankly to call American colonial politics ; for in 
 President Roosevelt's general attitude and in 
 Secretary Root's special utterances regarding South 
 America, may be found the germs of two distinct 
 policies. The first holds that America, as she 
 gradually develops into a densely-populated manu- 
 facturing country, needing all her agricultural 
 products for consumption within her own borders, 
 should accept the indication of her great frontage on 
 the Pacific Ocean and should keep her eyes intently 
 fixed on the Orient, consolidating her commercial 
 and land-owning interests there, and never forgetting 
 that perhaps her greatest future lies beyond the 
 Sandwich Islands. The second view is quite 
 different. It is that the manifest destiny of the 
 United States lies, not in the direction which has 
 just been indicated, but in South America. Mr. 
 Secretary Root's recent utterances on this score 
 leave no doubt that in the opinion of many com- 
 petent Americans the path of empire which the 
 United States should follow is southward rather 
 than westward, and that in the vast and rich 
 continent of South America she should find her 
 greatest field of enterprise. Here it may be con- 
 veniently remarked that, as Mr. Bryce aptly points 
 out in his analysis of the physical characteristics of 
 the American Commonwealth, the Pacific portions 
 of the United States labour under serious disadvan- 
 tages almost entirely absent in the eastern or 
 Atlantic States. The presence of that formidable 
 
V THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 615 
 
 natural barrier, the Rocky Mountains, separating the 
 Pacific slope from the rest of the States, has 
 hitherto been a serious impediment to the rapid 
 development which has taken place in so many- 
 other parts of the Union ; and further, although 
 there are some peerless bays, such as that of San 
 Francisco, the general character of the Pacific 
 coast-line is not nearly so favourable as that of the 
 Atlantic seaboard. A few big cities have grown 
 up, and certain regions have been given over 
 largely to agriculture ; but still the Pacific slope 
 remains distinct in character, and is in a sense 
 isolated from the rest of the great country lying 
 behind it. 
 
 In these circumstances, and in view of the size 
 of the Pacific Ocean, it may be open to doubt 
 whether the ideas which President Roosevelt is 
 reputed to have always cherished are geographically 
 correct, although they may be sound politically and 
 highly welcome to all English-speaking dwellers in 
 Eastern Asia. From the geographical standpoint, 
 indeed, there is much to be said in favour of Mr. 
 Root's contentions. The very completion of the 
 Panama Canal, instead of promoting a great trans- 
 Pacific commerce in which the Stars and Stripes will 
 predominate, may rather serve — at least in the first 
 instance — merely to open up the distant coasts of 
 Chili, Ecuador, and Peru to a direct American trade. 
 On the whole, however, it is safest to conclude that 
 the construction of the Panama Canal will have 
 neither only the one effect nor only the other, and 
 
6i6 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 that American interests will continue to develop 
 slowly in all directions, as they have done in the 
 past, rather than rapidly in any one particular line. 
 
 But here is the point of danger. For although it 
 has repeatedly been stated that not more that nine 
 years are to be expended in cutting the Panama 
 waterway — which is the same period as was taken 
 to dig the Suez Canal — it seems unlikely, unless 
 Americans awake to the urgency of the present 
 situation in Eastern Asia, that the work will be com- 
 pleted under fifteen or possibly twenty years ; and if 
 this actually proves to be the case, a very grave 
 state of affairs will have arisen in the meantime. 
 For this means that the year 19 15 will find things 
 much as they are at present, with no single Power, 
 except Japan, strong in the Far East. 
 
 The free passage of the United States' fleet from 
 the Atlantic to the opposite ocean would immediately 
 create a new element in the balance of power in the 
 Far East which is most urgently needed at the 
 present moment. A powerful American battle-fleet 
 ploughing the waters of the Pacific, but capable of 
 suddenly returning to the Atlantic Ocean, would 
 provide that new factor, and would form an in- 
 surance against catastrophes such as nothing else 
 could furnish. At present the United States is 
 lamentably weak in the Far East, and the Philip- 
 pines lie practically at the mercy of the first 
 comer. The American fleet in Asiatic waters 
 contains just four ships capable of taking the 
 battle-line, the powerful 14,000- ton armoured 
 
V THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 617 
 
 cruisers Wiesi Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
 and Colorado ; and although included in the 
 Pacific Squadron, which is to be merged with the 
 Asiatic Squadron, are some other modern vessels, 
 it is quite certain that until the completion of the 
 Panama Canal the United States cannot definitely 
 attain her proper naval strength on the Pacific 
 without abandoning the Atlantic. The most she 
 can possess is a somewhat ineffective defensive force. 
 Further, the slowness with which shipbuilding is 
 still conducted in American yards is also highly 
 regrettable ; and it may therefore be said that the 
 influence of the United States in Far Eastern 
 politics is due only to the spectre of that great reserve 
 strength which she possesses in common with Russia. 
 In a word, America's fighting strength in the 
 Far East is as much under-developed as that of Japan 
 is over-developed. 
 
 The same regrettable feature has also to be 
 noticed in the growing water-borne commerce of the 
 Pacific. Although American mercantile shipping 
 has much increased during the past decade, that 
 increase reached its maximum limits two years ago, 
 and there are now signs of a decline. Already the 
 Japanese have almost captured the carrying-trade to 
 and from America ; and if they have not developed 
 their plans further, it is merely because they wish to 
 act slowly and methodically rather than quickly and 
 unsystematically. Yet as ship after ship is launched 
 from Japanese yards, and the gross tonnage of 
 Japan's commercial fleet mounts to the 2,000,000 
 
6i8 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 tons it will attain during the coming quinquennial 
 period, there will be less and less necessity to pay- 
 attention to method and a greater and greater 
 impulse to reap to the full the mercantile harvest 
 which lies so near. 
 
 So far, however, although American shipping 
 in the Far East is beginning to suffer and must 
 shortly suffer a great deal more, American trade 
 with China, Japan, and the Philippines has not 
 been so sensibly affected. This commerce is large 
 and valuable, and may be estimated, for general 
 purposes, at some $300,000,000, or ;^6o,ooo,ooo 
 sterling a year. In broad terms it may be said to 
 consist, on the one hand, of American purchases on 
 a very large scale of such things as Japanese and 
 Chinese silks and teas ; and on the other hand, of 
 the sale of American cottons, flour, mineral oils and 
 lumber. Now, where America is a purchaser — that 
 is where she imports-^there can of course be no 
 danger, since buyers are always welcome. But 
 where she sells the case is very different, and there 
 is no disguising the fact that in the two main 
 categories of her exports, cotton manufactures and 
 flour, she may shortly lose her Asiatic markets. 
 And the first place where this will occur is in North 
 China and Manchuria, where American competition 
 now labours under special disadvantages owing to the 
 manner in which the late war has left Japan 
 impregnably entrenched both from a military and a 
 commercial point of view. The best example 
 available is that of the interesting region of Central 
 
V THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 619 
 
 and Southern Manchuria, where American interests 
 have at stake an annual trade amounting to 50,000 
 bales of valuable cotton goods. The spontaneous 
 growth of this trade, in the course of a very few 
 years, simply means that American mills have in the 
 past been manufacturing a class of strong cotton 
 cloth which is exactly suitable for the requirements 
 of the northern Chinese population. The sale is 
 of course conducted through the medium of 
 Shanghai — the warehouse of Central and Northern 
 China — where native dealers purchase direct from 
 foreign importers and ship to the various trading 
 centres in the distant interior. 
 
 Now Japan soon understood that it would not pay 
 her to attempt to compete against the very best 
 class of cotton manufactures imported into the Far 
 East, because this would entail installation of new 
 plant in all her mills and the use of only, the most 
 skilled labour, which is still very scarce in Japan. 
 But by the importation of considerable quantities of 
 American raw cotton, which was mixed with the 
 Asiatic cotton generally in use in Japan, and by the 
 installation of a certain amount of new plant, a large 
 group of Japanese mills, acting in combination with 
 one another, were able simultaneously to produce a 
 class of sheetings and drills as good in finish as, and 
 slightly heavier in weight than, the American arti- 
 cles. Having satisfied themselves that the products of 
 their mills would meet with the approval of Chinese 
 dealers, the Japanese took the second step in their 
 campaign against American goods by establishing, at 
 
620 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Manchurian centres such as Moukden, Tiehling, and 
 Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu, banking facilities which would 
 give exceptional advantages to native merchants 
 handling only Japanese products. The third step 
 was the formation of the much-advertised "Japan 
 Cotton Cloth Export Association" under the aegis of 
 the powerful Mitsui firm — a firm which, in view of 
 the fact that the Genro statesman Count Inouye is 
 understood to be its salaried financial adviser, may 
 be said to be a quasi- Government institution. This 
 " Association " undertook to handle — free of charge 
 at first- — a thousand bales of Japanese cotton goods 
 a month, in order to " make a market" and to push 
 back competition. The success which is already 
 attending this movement may be gauged by certain 
 returns which disclose that between two and three 
 thousand bales of Japanese cottons have lately been 
 handled every month in Manchuria. The fourth and 
 last step taken was to discriminate in shipping and rail- 
 way rates. The subsidised shipping of Japan now 
 carries Japanese goods at a minimum charge, subject 
 to further rebates as quantities rise, from the place of 
 manufacture to the port of Dalny, where the trucks 
 of the South Manchurian Railway await them. 
 Thence at special rates — it costs two and a half yen, 
 or five shillings, less per ton for the 465-mile haul 
 from Dalny to Kuan-Cheng-tzu than for the 330- 
 mile run to the same place from the neutral port of 
 Newchwang — the goods are then carried to 
 their selling place, where again Japanese banks 
 provide easy terms of payment and make all open 
 
V THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 621 
 
 competition as impossible as careful thought can 
 make it. This is the " open door " and " equal 
 opportunity for all " which is the leading motive — on 
 paper— underlying the present re-arrangement in 
 Eastern Asia. 
 
 It will be seen from this illustration that Americans 
 already have cause to regret, in more ways than one, 
 the hasty diplomacy which led to the signing of the 
 Portsmouth Treaty. It is important, therefore, to 
 consider what counter action should be taken while 
 there is yet time. The first remedy that suggests 
 itself, in view of the fact that Congress rejects the 
 principle that American shipping in Pacific waters 
 should be supported by generous subsidies, is a 
 combination on the Pacific similar to that which of 
 late years has been a distinguishing feature in 
 the Atlantic ; in other words, that Anglo-American 
 interests, which have now almost exhausted the 
 possibilities of the Atlantic, should turn their especial 
 attention to the broad waters of the Pacific. By a 
 combination which will place shipping flying the Red 
 Ensign at the disposal of American interests, it 
 should be possible effectively to secure much of the 
 Asiatic carrying trade to and from the Pacific coasts 
 before it is too late. In view of the fact that the 
 cutting of the Panama Canal will materially modify 
 the present conditions governing sea-borne commerce 
 with Asia, the present time is not too early to lay the 
 first foundations for a future commercial campaign. 
 Once they were properly brought into play the great 
 resources in cheap capital, which Anglo-American 
 
622 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 interests possess, would soon introduce a new and 
 highly favourable element into the present unsatisfac- 
 tory state of affairs ; for even destructive semi-ofificial 
 competition, if it is founded on dear money, which 
 again is only possessed in limited quantities, cannot 
 meet cheap money on equal terms and must 
 ultimately go down before it. The second remedial 
 measure is as important as the first : it is the 
 establishment of proper banking facilities. There is 
 not, for instance, a single British or American bank 
 in the whole of Manchuria ; neither is there one in 
 Korea ; and the port of Newchwang, the real and not 
 the artificial gate of Manchuria, lies in this respect at 
 the mercy of more alert rivals, although until now 
 both British and American interests — the first in repre- 
 sentation and the second in goods actually handled 
 — have there been supreme. The third remedy is 
 the completion and enforcement by China of the new 
 Commercial Treaties, which, as has already been 
 shown, may be counted on to enable her to do much 
 that she is unable to undertake at the present moment 
 owing to lack of funds. 
 
 These few steps, which are all that can be 
 mentioned at the moment, are but the first correct- 
 ives ; and from the purely American point of view 
 it may well be questioned whether the time has 
 not now arrived when the nucleus of a national 
 army (apart from the fortification forces necessary) 
 should be created in the Philippines. The few 
 thousand men of the Philippine Constabulary 
 have already done good work under American 
 
V THE UNITED STATES AND ORIENTAL MARKETS 623 
 
 officers ; and the organisation of purely local forces 
 would tend to give the Philippines the distinct 
 character possessed, for instance, by French Indo- 
 China. Upwards of three hundred million dollars, 
 or ;^6o,ooo,ooo sterling, have already been 
 expended on the islands ; and although a few millions 
 more have been sanctioned for the strengthening of 
 American defences on the Pacific, a more vigorous 
 policy is now required ; and before that can receive 
 popular endorsement, it may be necessary for an 
 American Commission, duly authorised to that effect, 
 to proceed to the main points in the Far East and to 
 compile on the spot exhaustive reports which will 
 give, officially, the necessary information, of which, un- 
 officially, the Washington Administration is already 
 in full possession. The time has now come, in 
 short, when the Asiatic possessions of the Caucasian 
 Powers should be placed on a special protective 
 footing, and this can be secured only by a settled 
 policy, aiming at definite objects, such as has been 
 adopted by England in India. In the case of the 
 United States, the three requisites are a strong navy, 
 capable of taking whatever independent action may 
 be necessary ^ ; strongly fortified coaling stations 
 capable of resisting all attacks pending the arrival of 
 reinforcements ; and a strong army in the Philippines, 
 capable of being quickly expanded to 100,000 men 
 and of entrenching itself for a prolonged period. 
 
 ' The reported temporai-y transfer of the entire American Atlantic 
 fleet to the Pacific cannot be held satisfactory in itself. It is at best 
 a temporising measure, since the transfer cannot be made permanent 
 until the American navy is doubled. 
 
624 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA ch. v 
 
 That much of all this is realised in Washington is 
 clear from the news that the formation of battle-ship 
 squadrons for Pacific waters is to be undertaken as 
 soon as is feasible ; but this policy should be pursued 
 to its natural conclusion. America should be made 
 completely secure on the Pacific, and an absolute 
 naval mastery there is consequently the first thing 
 which should be aimed at. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 
 
 It is a task of the greatest difficulty, in the exist- 
 ing circumstances, to add the last words to a volume 
 which attempts to measure in a few hundred pages 
 that which cannot properly be measured at all. For 
 it is surely apparent from the foregoing pages that 
 the component factors in the great problem of the 
 Far East are at present mainly engaged in gathering 
 strength, and that at any moment the unexpected may 
 again occur and another conflict suddenly break out. 
 The rdle of a Cassandra is an easy and an ungrate- 
 ful one ; yet it is the only rdle which the political 
 student, investigating matters on the spot, can to-day 
 assume in regard to the affairs of Eastern Asia. 
 For while people have been very busy applauding 
 the pacific tendencies of the day — tendencies which 
 on the surface seem to have spread over the entire 
 globe and which have linked the nations together 
 in the most puzzling series of treaties ever contracted 
 — the world remains much as it was before, and old 
 animosities and old ambitions have by no means 
 
 s s 
 
626 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 disappeared. How can they, indeed? It is inter- 
 national rivalry, culminating in death-dealing battles, 
 which is the great motive power of the world. It is 
 this rivalry between the nations which has founded 
 empires and undone others ; it is this rivalry which, 
 when successful, men celebrate in their proudest 
 moments, and which again invites them to persevere 
 when the horizon of their hopes has assumed its 
 blackest hue. The sterilisation begotten of a long 
 peace is as much the nemesis of a nation as the vain- 
 glory of a Napoleon who threw himself to the other 
 extreme and would have made of war the world's 
 sole god. Moderation in war and moderation in 
 peace is the line along which the successful 
 nation must necessarily progress. It is impossible 
 to conceive of a world presided over by international 
 lawyers and international law-givers, such as is the 
 strange ideal of some who, ignorant of first principles, 
 which in Asia at least are never forgotten, would 
 substitute by mere paper decrees the theories of the 
 class-room for the rough practice of actual life. To 
 succeed in realising such vain dreams it would first 
 be necessary to emasculate all mankind ; and when 
 that had been done, the ravages of outraged natural 
 laws would provide a terrible vengeance. War, 
 then, is as necessary to mankind as are the male 
 and female elements, the Yin and the Yang of the 
 Chinese philosophers, who discovered many centuries 
 ago that the dual element must run through all 
 nature. War and peace — these are the male and 
 female elements in international intercourse ; and 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 627 
 
 when either one or the other makes too great a 
 claim and seeks to Hve without its mate, all history 
 shows that the result is inevitable. 
 
 In these circumstances it would be rash to attempt 
 more at the present moment than to show that 
 exaggerated importance has been attached in Europe 
 to the security which is said to obtain to-day in 
 Eastern Asia. There can be no real security until 
 China is in a very different position from that which 
 she now occupies, and until Japan falls into the place 
 which her history, her population and her genius 
 prove that she can with justice occupy. Every- 
 thing in the existing state of affairs is unnatural and 
 out of due proportion ; everything is held together 
 by nothing more substantial than documents covered 
 with ink and seals. It is one of the most extra- 
 ordinary situations which have ever been created ; 
 and a single untoward incident is all that is neces- 
 sary to provoke one of several possible wars. 
 
 Under these conditions, the position of England 
 must be deemed one of exceptional embarrassment. 
 Relying no longer on her prestige and on her naval 
 strength in the Far East, but rather on paper and 
 on promises, she busies herself with sentimental 
 questions such as the abolition of opium in China, 
 at a time when there is other very urgent business 
 on hand. The matter of the enforcement of the 
 new Commercial Treaties with China, for instance, 
 which is of the very highest importance and which 
 would allow the beginning of great and valuable 
 reconstructive work, is ignored — for what reason it 
 
 s s 2 
 
628 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 is hard to apprehend. Believing that in the Anglo- 
 Japanese Alliance instrument of August, 1905, a 
 sovereign remedy exists for every Far Eastern ill, 
 the directors of the foreign policy of Great Britain 
 would doubtless be surprised to learn that in the 
 Far East itself no more importance is now attached 
 to that agreement than, say, to the Triple Alliance 
 in Europe, which has been so far forgotten in Italy 
 that Prince von Buelow recently found it necessary 
 to remind the Quirinal Government of its continued 
 existence. 
 
 And yet what remedy would the Anglo- Japanese 
 Treaty provide in the event of the sudden com- 
 mencement of the struggle for the mastery of the 
 Pacific ? Would it secure England in the Far East, 
 and confine this struggle within narrow limits ? 
 Would it absolve England from taking part ? And 
 even supposing that it were in this respect completely 
 effective, and that Japan struggled single-handed as 
 she did in the Russian war, what would be the inter- 
 national position of England if Japan were finally 
 beaten ? And is it conceivable that Russia would 
 be content to be a mere onlooker at such a struggle ? 
 What answer can the Anglo-Japanese Treaty give 
 to these various questions ? Let us turn to the 
 document itself and examine it word for word. 
 
 First there is the Preamble, which is very 
 important, inasmuch as it lays down the objects of 
 the Treaty as follows : — 
 
 (a) the consolidation and maintenance of the 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 629 
 
 general peace in the regions of Eastern Asia and of 
 India ; 
 
 (b) the preservation of the common interests of 
 all Powers in China by insuring the independence 
 and integrity of the Chinese Empire, and the 
 principle of equal opportunities for the commerce 
 and industry of all nations in China ; 
 
 (c) the maintenance of the territorial rights of the 
 high contracting parties in the regions of Eastern 
 Asia and of India, and the defence of their special 
 interests in the said regions. 
 
 It will at once be seen that there are strong 
 grounds for accepting the assumption which has been 
 generally advanced, viz., that the Treaty was 
 primarily, if not entirely, inspired by the urgent 
 necessity of protecting both Japan and England 
 from a Russian war of revenge. But although the 
 first section of the Preamble contains nothing 
 excepting peaceful generalities, and the second 
 section deals only with the Chinese Empire, it is 
 possible to construe the third section in such a way 
 as to make it incumbent on England, in the event of 
 certain eventualities occurring, to draw the sword in 
 a non- Russian War. For such a phrase as " the 
 maintenance of territorial rights and the defence of 
 special interests " is capable of a very comprehensive 
 construction. Let us take, for purposes of illustration, 
 a purely hypothetical case. The present Japanese- 
 American difificulties deepen into something worse. 
 The American fleets having been concentrated in 
 
630 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 Pacific Waters, matters become graver and graver, 
 until the Washington Government, alarmed for the 
 safety of the Philippine Islands, orders the united 
 fleet to steam for the Yellow Sea. Arrived off the 
 coast of the Philippines, the officer commanding the 
 American battle-ship and armoured cruiser squadrons 
 is furnished with information which leaves no doubt 
 in his mind on two points : (i) that the Japanese have 
 established the closest relations with a number of 
 F'ilipino organisations and have supplied them with 
 arms, and (2) that'the Japanese garrison in Formosa 
 has been greatly strengthened, until it contains a most 
 powerful expeditionary force. Now the island of 
 Luzon is less that two hundred miles from Formosa, 
 and fifteen or sixteen hours' rapid steaming would 
 suffice to land a powerful Japanese force on the 
 northernmost coasts of the former island, where 
 there are only the feeblest American posts. These 
 considerations would doubtless prompt the American 
 Admiral to move on Formosa, and exercising all 
 discretion, to attempt to retain the advantage which 
 an intelligent anticipation of events always confers. 
 It would then require but a single untoward incident 
 to provide a casus belli ; and in such circumstances it 
 may well be questioned whether the Japanese would 
 not argue that " the maintenance of the territorial 
 rights," as provided for in the Preamble, necessitated 
 the application of Article 2 of the Alliance : "If 
 by reason of unprovoked attack or aggressive 
 action, whenever arising on the part of any other 
 Power or Powers, either contracting party should 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 631 
 
 be involved in war in defence of its territorial 
 rights or special interests mentioned in the Preamble 
 of this Agreement, the other contracting party will 
 at once come to the assistance of its ally and will 
 conduct the war in common and make peace in 
 mutual agreement with it." 
 
 Even if it be assumed that the circumstances of 
 the case which has just been taken do not warrant 
 the application of Article 2 of the Anglo- Japanese 
 Alliance, there can be not the slightest doubt that if 
 Japan were to become engaged in a struggle with a 
 great Naval Power, such as America, the longed-for 
 opportunity would at once be seized to develop 
 a strong Russian forward movement in Northern 
 Korea, thus at once involving Japan in a double 
 struggle. The position of Russia beyond Lake 
 Baikal will have been made amply clear from the 
 exhaustive descriptions given in the earlier part 
 of the present volume. Russia, though she lost 
 something by the late war, has gained in compactness 
 in the Far East, and is now more able to act on 
 land there as she can act in Europe — that is, in over- 
 whelming force. Though she is by no means ready 
 for another long land campaign, she is at least 
 twice or even three times as ready as she was at the 
 beginning of the year 1904. She would leave it to 
 Japan to violate the neutral territory of Manchuria 
 by massing large forces of men in the Japanese 
 railway zone ; and once such a violation had taken 
 place, ten divisions of Chinese troops might introduce 
 still another element into the problem. With 
 
632 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 such secondary developments, the position of 
 England would become still more unfortunate. 
 While it might be possible, with honour, to remain 
 outside an American- Japanese struggle, there could 
 be no such holding back once Russia set her forces 
 in motion, and occasion would follow to regret 
 Lord Lansdowne's diplomacy in the direst manner 
 possible. 
 
 Further, it must be remembered that while certain 
 British correspondents have not hesitated to stigma- 
 tise the conduct of the San Franciscans towards the 
 Japanese question as disgraceful, important portions 
 of the British Empire on the Pacific, such as Australia, 
 New Zealand, and Canada, which are thrown 
 into contact with the yellow races, are disposed to 
 think in much the same manner as the Americans 
 on the Pacific seaboard. Australians, Canadians, 
 and New Zealanders, indeed, are fully as determined 
 as Californians that their territories shall not be 
 subjected to an invasion which they believe would 
 spell the economic ruin of the white population ; and 
 therefore a very considerable portion of Greater 
 Britain is entirely at one with the United States on 
 this particular question. Again, two articles in the 
 Alliance Treaty, Article i and Article 7, were 
 specially framed to show how intimate a relation- 
 ship should exist between the two friendly Govern- 
 ments. Article i states : "It is agreed that 
 whenever, in the opinion of either Great Britain or 
 Japan, any of the rights and interests referred to in 
 the Preamble of this Agreement are in jeopardy, the 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 633 
 
 two Governments will communicate with one another 
 fully and frankly, and will both consider in common 
 the measures which should be taken to safeguard 
 these menaced rights and interests ; " while Article 7 
 runs : — " The conditions under which armed 
 assistance shall be afforded by either Power to the 
 other in the circumstances mentioned in the present 
 Agreement, and the means by which such 
 assistance is to be made available, will be 
 arranged by the naval and military authorities of the 
 contracting parties, who will from time to time 
 consult one another fully and freely upon all questions 
 of mutual interest." 
 
 The language of these two Articles leaves no 
 room for doubt that frankness should be one of the 
 distinguishing characteristics of the intercourse 
 between the special agents of the two Governments 
 concerned. But not only has the very reverse been 
 the case generally speaking, but particular instances 
 of Japanese disinclination to impart any special 
 knowledge have already come to light, and tend to 
 show that, in spite of the really earnest efforts of the 
 Japanese Foreign Office officials to secure a modifi- 
 cation of such an attitude, England is placed by the 
 Tokyo oligarchy in much the same category as any 
 other European Power. Thus, for instance, it was 
 held a matter of the first importance for the British 
 Admiralty to be supplied at as early a date as possible 
 with exhaustive data regarding the performances 
 of each unit of the Japanese fleet. As soon as the 
 late war had been concluded, therefore, British 
 
634 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 naval experts were dispatched to Tokyo to be put 
 in possession of these facts. They were most 
 graciously received and were promised the fullest 
 assistance in their investigations ; yet from the very 
 beginning a policy of postponement and delay was 
 followed in order to prevent their work from being 
 concluded, and in the end no information of any 
 value was communicated. Memoranda filled with 
 questions were mislaid, and a dozen other petty 
 devices were resorted to in order to conceal data 
 which had been requested, until no doubt was left 
 that the Japanese Government really desired to 
 impart nothing. Similarly in army matters as little 
 as possible has been told ; and it is actually said that 
 the large party of Staff Officers despatched by Lord 
 Kitchener from India to study the Manchurian 
 battle-fields, were regaled with an expert lecture in 
 Japanese, supplied by the Japanese staff, which on 
 examination proved to be a British Staff Report 
 which had been translated back into Japanese for 
 this special purpose. Instances of the same attitude 
 could be quoted in sufficient numbers to fill many 
 pages ; but sufficient has been said to show how 
 differently Englishmen and Japanese regard a far- 
 reaching international document which may have the 
 most important effects. 
 
 And even assuming, for the sake of argument, 
 that all these matters are small and unimportant and 
 that they can be explained away or justified, a 
 hundred other instances can already be given showing 
 that it is held financially necessary for Japan to 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 635 
 
 pursue a general policy which is entirely at variance 
 with that which would have been expected if the 
 Japanese construed treaties in the same way as men 
 really accustomed to "square deals." Thus while 
 Japan possesses a Criminal Code which her admirers 
 pronounce perfect, she is at no pains to adopt 
 commercial laws in order to check the fraudulent 
 imitation of every class of commodity, which is now 
 proceeding to the serious detriment of British 
 interests. The violation of British trade-marks not 
 only goes on unchecked in Japan, but is actually 
 upheld in Japanese law courts, as recent cases 
 absolutely attest. It requires protest after protest, 
 both diplomatically and in the press, to stop practices 
 which would not be tolerated for one instant else- 
 where ; and it is only when there are such repeated 
 complaints that partial justice is at length done. 
 Japan has set financial, industrial, commercial, 
 shipping, colonial, military, and naval programmes ; 
 and these programmes are modified, though they may 
 conflict in every direction with vested ! interests and 
 well-established rights, only when protests disclose 
 that there are serious dangers ahead. This is a state 
 of affairs which is now understood by practically 
 everybody in the Far East, and which has been 
 largely responsible for the poor esteem into which 
 the Anglo-Japanese Alliance agreement has already 
 fallen. That the present breach must widen from 
 year to year unless Japan can be induced radically to 
 modify her attitude, is now quite certain ; and the 
 one possible corrective — even Englishmen are now 
 
636 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CHAP. 
 
 beginning to realise the fact — is the American 
 fleet. 
 
 For in such a region as the Yangtsze valley, 
 looked upon until the other day as England's sphere 
 of influence, the Japanese are just as determined to 
 have the lion's share as they are in Korea, in 
 Southern Manchuria, in North China, and in the 
 province of Fuhkien. Of all the provinces subject 
 to the Manchus, the wealthiest are those of Mid- 
 China ; no part of the Empire possesses such natural 
 advantages, both for agriculture and for commerce. 
 The Yangtsze, rising in distant Thibet and rushing 
 through an immense channel to the sea, has formed 
 a vast plain of rich mould, where the rice-fields yield 
 an increase such as is elsewhere unknown, and 
 cotton, silk, and vegetable oils are produced in 
 marvellous exuberance. The rivers afford an 
 inexhaustible supply of fish, and the desolate fringes 
 of coast-line supply the cultivated districts with an 
 abundance of salt. At the same time the great 
 stream which fertilises the soil is the chief highway 
 of Chinese commerce. On its banks are the 
 wealthiest marts ; and the noble ladies of Rome were 
 clothed many centuries ago in the delicate produce 
 of its looms. This priceless territory has not 
 escaped the notice of the Japanese, who years ago 
 began a policy of pacific penetration into the distant 
 province of Hunan, standing above the middle 
 Yangtsze. It is from the Yangtsze that the Manchus 
 draw their richest tribute, and the Hunanese 
 alone of all Yangtsze people have courage and 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 637 
 
 fierceness. If the Hunanese could be induced 
 to adopt Japanese ideas, a step of enormous 
 importance would have been taken ; and this is what 
 has been and is being attempted. Since controlling 
 railways are out of the question, it is on the waters 
 of the great river that the intense energy of the 
 Japanese is lavished, and more that a beginning has 
 now been made in wresting carriers' and merchants' 
 work from those who have hitherto controlled it in 
 open competition. The policy of granting State 
 subventions to Japanese Shipping Trusts on the 
 Yangtsze is only the commencement of a general 
 policy of penetration which will develop in intensity 
 as the years go by, and which it is very difficult 
 adequately to counteract. The financial accommoda- 
 tion given in London by an enthusiastic ally is thus 
 in part applied to undermine that ally's interests, 
 which have been worked up only by many decades 
 of painstaking effort ; for it is mainly on foreign 
 loans that Japan's industrial and commercial 
 expansion is being nurtured, and it is mainly at the 
 expense of Anglo-American interests that that 
 expansion is being brought about. It is an irony of 
 fate that it is in the heart of the so-called British 
 sphere in China that this grossly unfair competition is 
 now most keenly felt. 
 
 The conclusion of all this is that — just as in 
 1902 the first Anglo- Japanese Alliance supplied a 
 corrective to an unfortunate political impasse, which 
 had been brought about by British indifference to 
 the trend of affairs in the Far East — so in 1907 is a 
 
638 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA chap. 
 
 further corrective required, if a second impasse is not 
 ultimately to be reached. For while the Anglo- 
 Japanese Alliance is at present a guarantee for peace, 
 it is also a guarantee for a commercial downfall un- 
 less safeguarding steps are taken without loss of time. 
 And before those steps can be properly taken, a 
 British Commission should be sent to the spot to 
 obtain official confirmation of the position as it really 
 is all over Eastern Asia. It is vain to suppose that 
 this work can be done otherwise : it requires an official 
 inquiry and official documents to place a Government 
 in the well-informed position it should occupy in 
 order to be entrenched against surprises, and able 
 adequately to deal with a situation which the writer 
 is only too willing to admit bristles with difficulties, 
 is full of contradictions, is dangerous to handle, and 
 is composed of all the elements of a sanguinary 
 struggle. ■ The British Government could easily have 
 at its disposal a score or more of retired officials 
 and others, whose names are household words in the 
 Far East and whose opinions would be invaluable — 
 in fact, the very experts necessary to compose such 
 a Commission. The mere facts that, by virtue of 
 the Alliance of 1905, England is the international 
 endorser of all Japanese actions and that the 
 very first principles on which that Alliance is 
 based — the "open door" and "equal opportunity 
 for all " and the integrity of the Chinese Empire 
 — are now more than menaced, should be sufficient 
 to ensure drastic and instant inquiry. But it is felt 
 
VI THE POSITION OF ENGLAND 639 
 
 in Eastern Asia, as it is felt in the Australian 
 Commonwealth, that there is no complaint to be 
 made of peremptory treatment on the part of the 
 British Government, but that representations from the 
 spot are too often met with an understanding neither 
 of the real causes from which they spring nor of the 
 precise intentions of those who make them. The 
 complaint is therefore of an attitude of mind — a 
 certain impenetrability, a certain remoteness perhaps 
 geographically excusable, a certain weariness on the 
 part of people much pressed with affairs and greatly 
 overburdened. 
 
 The final word is that a corrective is absolutely 
 necessary in Eastern Asia in order to postpone, if 
 not to prevent, the inevitable struggle. Sane 
 Caucasians no longer dream of laying at the feet of 
 their sovereigns the keys of Moorish castles or the 
 jewelled turbans of Asiatic kings. They can only 
 dream of tradesmen's profits — of perhaps retaining a 
 portion of that which has been previously won. Yet 
 even if this humbler dream is not to be rudely dissi- 
 pated — if the status quo, such as it is, is not to . be 
 slowly undermined until it quite naturally topples over 
 — action must be taken without further delay. Of 
 this there can be no question. Germany and Russia, 
 the only two other Powers in the world, apart from 
 the United States, which now have real first-class im- 
 portance, are manifestly marking time in Eastern 
 Asia and waiting for the new outlines and the new 
 tendencies more openly to manifest themselves. 
 
640 THE STRUGGLE ROUND CHINA CH. vi 
 
 They are even coquetting with Japan because of 
 their distrust of one another and of everybody else. 
 At the present time, therefore, there is a certain 
 ominous pause, a calm as before a storm, which not 
 even deceptive diplomatic agreements can entirely 
 conceal. Eastern Asia is once more on the eve of 
 great events. What part shall England play ? 
 
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INDEX 
 
 T T 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abdication of Korean Emperor, 
 
 519 
 Achinsk, 280 
 Admiral Nevelskoi, 20 
 Afghanistan, 272 
 Agneda, 214 
 
 Aids and Subventions, 451-3 
 Aigun, 222 
 
 — river, 228 
 
 — treaty, loi, 112, 129 
 Ainu tribe, 119 
 
 Aladdin's lamp in Peking, 546 
 Alaska, discovery of, by Behring 
 and Tchirikoff, 126 
 
 — purchase of, by United States, 
 
 126 
 
 — Russian annexation of, 126 
 
 — sale of, to United States, 129 
 Alaskan-Siberian railway, 261 
 Albazin, 222 
 
 Alexieff, Admiral, 103, 128 
 Alexieffskaya, 172 
 Alliance of 1905, 638 
 America, 330, 332, 500, 61 1 ei seq. 
 — ■ and the Pacific, 61 1 et seq. 
 American Commonwealth, 614 
 
 — consular agent predominant, 35 
 
 — Continent, 29 
 
 — Far West, 255 
 
 — fleets in Pacific waters, 629-30 
 
 — mercantile shipping, 617 
 
 — pioneers, western, 152 
 Americans of the Pacific Coast, 
 
 .333 
 Amin Huchu, Prince, 536 n. 
 Amur basin, 41 
 
 — bay, 24, 46, 68, 86 
 
 — delta, 45 
 
 Amur province, 87, 286 
 
 — river, i, 49, 71-2, 76, 78-9, 84, 
 
 86, 88, 92, 95, 97-9, loi, 153, 
 162-3, 180, 219, 221 et seq., 
 
 289, 314, 469 
 railway, 278 
 
 — territory, 109, 223 
 
 — Upper, 278 
 Andijan, 272, 282 
 Anglo-Chinese commerce, 301 
 Anglo-Indian commerce, 30t 
 Anglo-Japanese alliance, 331, 337, 
 
 490, 576, 600, 628, 637-8 
 
 — treaty, 311, 628 ^/ seq. 
 Anglo-Saxon energy, 80 
 
 — moral support of Japan, 306 
 Anglo-Saxons, 38 
 
 Anhui mines, the 584 
 
 — province, assassination of Gov- 
 
 ernor of, 596 
 Annual Revenue and Expenditure 
 
 of Japan for forty years 
 
 (tabulated), 418-9 
 Anti-Opium League, 293 
 Antung, 321, 505 n. 
 Aral sea, 272 
 Arctic Circle, 272 
 
 — Ocean, 262-3 
 
 — temperature, 25 
 Argun river, 221 
 
 Armaments and railways, Chinese, 
 
 548-75 
 Armstrong and Co., Messrs., 496 
 Army commissariat, a well-stocked, 
 
 32 
 Army, Japanese, 468, 474-5, 486 ei 
 
 seq. 
 
 — of the North, 549 
 
 — Service Corps, 190 
 
 — training, 473 
 
 T T 2 
 
644 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Aryan race, 264 
 
 Asia, mainland of, 330 
 
 Asiatic Empire, the, 275 
 
 of the Czar of Muscovy, 222 
 
 — Munroe doctrine, 330 
 
 — nomads, 273 
 
 — Pacific hinterland, 127 
 
 — possessions of the Caucasian 
 
 Powers, 623 
 
 — programme of imaginative Czar- 
 
 ism, 44 
 
 — Russia, 187, 246, 271, 310 
 
 — seaboard, 613 
 
 — shores of the Pacific, examina- 
 
 tion of, 127 
 Askhold, 2, 24, 52 
 Atlantic Ocean, 616 
 
 — seaboard, 615 
 
 — States, the, 614 
 Australia, 38, 632 
 Austria, 212 
 
 B 
 
 Baikal, 256 
 
 — Lake, 637 
 Bakan, 455 
 
 Baltic Fleet, the doomed, 490 
 Bank of Formosa, 407 
 
 — of Hokkaido, 407 
 
 — of Japan, organisation of, 395 
 
 et seg. 
 
 — of Taiwan, 405 
 
 — robberies, two remarkable, in 
 
 Vladivostock, S9-61 
 Barnaul, 269 
 Baroufsky's circus, 19 
 Batoum, 249 
 
 Battle of Moukden, 184, 187, 475 
 Bay of the Golden Horn, the, 2 
 Bear dances, important festivals in 
 
 Amur province, 121 
 Beer, exorbitant price of, 1 1 
 Behring and Tchirikoff, discovery 
 
 of Alaska by, 125 
 
 — passage, the, 261 
 
 — Straits, 272 
 Bikin river, 85 
 Birar tribe, 119 
 
 BirilefF naval programme, the, 53 
 Black Sea, 123 
 
 — — Turkish opening into, 23 
 Blagovestchensk, 76, 11 1-2, 115, 
 
 133-6, 270, 278 
 
 Blavatsky, Mme., 343 
 
 Board of Audit, Japanese, 368 
 
 Bombay, 594 
 
 Boukhedon, 214 
 
 Boxer settlement, 576 
 
 — year, 166, 322 
 
 Boxers, 135, 149, 215, 225, 567, 
 
 581 
 Brillat-Savarm, 140 
 British Alliance, 54 
 
 — Commission, need of a, 638 
 
 — insurance policy, 499 
 
 — Isles, 119 
 
 — " open-door " trade, 38 
 
 — shipping in Korea, 504 n. 
 
 — sphere in China, 637 
 
 — trade in Korea, 504 n. 
 
 — trade marks, violation of, 635 
 Bryan, Mr., 400 
 
 Bryce, Mr., 614 
 
 Buckle, Mr., 328 
 
 Budget of 1907, Japanese, 411 
 
 Buelow, Prince von, 628 
 
 Buriat Mongol tribes, 187, 222, 
 
 273 
 Burmah, 217, 502 
 Butekha, 226 
 Butterfield's Shipping Co., 43 
 
 Canada, 632 
 
 Canadian North- West, 233, 255 
 
 Canton, 565 n., 570 
 
 — river piracy, 569 
 
 — wars, 564 
 Canton-Hankow railway, 570, 572, 
 
 573 »• 
 
 Canton- Kowloon railway, 572 
 
 Castries Bay, 128 
 
 Caucasian Powers, Asiatic posses- 
 sions of, 623 
 
 Caucasian v. Russian, an impromp- 
 tu wrestling match, 13 
 
 Central Asia, 217, 254, 264, 281-2 
 
 — China, 545 
 
 water route, 578 
 
 — Government of China, weakness 
 
 of, 303 
 
 — Manchuria, 191, 232, 618 
 
 — Manchurian railway, 312 
 
 — Siberia, 261, 263, 285 ' 
 Chang Chih Tung, 530, 543, 561, 
 
 563 
 
INDEX 
 
 64s 
 
 Changchun, 312 
 
 Chinese internal politics, 548 
 
 Chang Pai-hsi, 529 
 
 — junks, 163 
 
 Chang Po-hsi, 540 
 
 — loans and indemnities, 592 
 
 Changtufu, 306, 312, 315 
 
 — Manchuria, 543 
 
 — station, 313 
 
 — maritime customs, 239 
 
 Chang Yen Mao, 582-3 
 
 — Ministry of Finance, 593 
 
 " Charter Oath," the 345 
 
 of War, 551, 557, 568 
 
 Chata-nor, 214 
 
 — officialdom, 179 
 
 Chefoo, 40 
 
 — sailing craft, clumsy, 41 
 
 Cheliabinsk, 197, 199, 261, 279 
 
 — squatters, 179 
 
 Chernai, 92 
 
 — Throne, the eyes and ears of the. 
 
 Chernigovka, 79, 80 
 
 536 
 
 Chihli, 527, 529, 545, 549, 564, 567 
 
 — Turkestan, 563 
 
 Chih, 237,615 
 
 — war, 461 
 
 China and the Beyond, 502 
 
 — Yamens, 250 
 
 — and Japan, war between, 471 
 
 Chinese- Russian frontier, 501 n. 
 
 — British sphere in, 637 
 
 Ching, Prince, 530, 533, 546, 548 «., 
 
 — coast shipping lines, 459 
 
 . 597 
 
 — commercial treaties with, 627 
 
 Chmgwangtao, 233 
 
 — indemnity paid to Japan, 402 
 
 Chinkiang, 566 
 
 — internal condition of, 576-97 
 
 Chino-Japanese war of 1894, 524 
 
 — mining industry in, 577 
 
 Chino- Korean border, 141 
 
 — Proper, 543 
 
 — bustle, 9 
 
 — treaty ports, 33 
 
 Chita, 187, 254, 273 
 
 — V. Europe and Japan, 598-610 
 
 Chitoheza station, 152 et seq. 
 
 China- Japan war, 129-30 
 
 Choborka village, 94 
 
 Chinaman, a bird of passage, 6 
 
 Choshu clans, 346, 372 
 
 — the, as interpreter, 6 
 
 Chou-an-miaotzu station, 306 
 
 — the ubiquitous handyman, 6 
 
 — district, 307 
 
 Chinch'eng, 501 n. 
 
 Chou Fu, 530 
 
 Chinese, 109 
 
 Chu Chia-pao, Acting Governor, 
 
 — and Russian plenipotentiaries, 
 
 544 
 
 meeting of, at Nerchinsk, 222 
 
 Chu Hung-chi, Grand Councillor, 
 
 — armaments and railways, 548-75 
 
 . 530 . 
 
 — army, terms of service in, 560 n. 
 
 Circum-Baikal railway, 185, 194, 
 
 at the close of 1906, 553-6 
 
 197, 254, 281 
 
 — colonisation in Amur province, 
 
 Cochin-China, 502 
 
 113 . 
 
 Colbran, Bostwick and Co., 517 
 
 — Constitution demanded, 525 
 
 Colonial Bank of Hokkaido, 405 
 
 — Courts of Justice, reform of. 
 
 Comfortable railway travelling, 66 
 
 539 
 
 Commercial treaties with China, 
 
 — Customs returns, 240 
 
 587, 590, 627 
 
 revenues, 1897-1906, 591 
 
 Compulsory service in Army and 
 
 — Eastern railway, 65, 140, 242, 
 
 Navy, 471 
 
 251, 320 
 
 Confiscable goods, ease of entry of, 
 
 — Empire menaced, 638 
 
 4 . 
 
 — Engineering and Mining Co., 
 
 Conscript Army, 550 
 
 581 
 
 — Reserve, 472-3 
 
 — exports and imports, 589 et seq. 
 
 Consolidated Korean gold mines. 
 
 — fugitives, 89, 119 
 
 515. 517 
 
 — Government Departments, com- 
 
 Constantinople, 123 
 
 position of, 533-4 
 
 Constitution of Japan, the, 348-56 
 
 — Guilds, 4c 
 
 Corpusnoi-Gorodok, 174 
 
 — Imperial mission, 524, 527, 530 
 
 Cossacks, 74, 88, 98, 99, 113-4, 
 
 — inscriptions, 122 
 
 123, 220, 221-2, 225, 268 
 
646 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Council of the Empire and the 
 
 Eastern Manchuria, 209 
 
 Czar, 134 
 
 — Siberian Corps, 142 
 
 Count of the Amur, the, 1 1 S 
 
 Ecuador, 615 
 
 Credit Mobilier, 305 
 
 Elder Statesmen, or Genro, 369 et 
 
 Crimean War, 128 
 
 seq. 
 
 Customs officers' leniency, 3 
 
 Emperor, Chinese, 551, 597 
 
 — tariff, Japanese, 451 
 
 Emperor of Japan, 34i, 344-5) 
 
 Czar Nicholas I., 22 
 
 370-1 
 
 — of Muscovy, Asiatic Empire of 
 
 Emperor Paul, 126 
 
 the, 222 
 
 Empress Dowager Tze Hsi, 531, 
 
 — and the Council of the Empire, 
 
 533, 542-3, 546, 548 »., 551, 
 
 134 
 
 597 
 
 Czar's Empire of the East, 143 
 
 England, 627 
 
 Czarevitch, 64 
 
 — alliance with, 459 
 
 Czarism in the Far East, 44, 178, 
 
 — the position of, 6,25-40 
 
 257 
 
 English and American diplomacy, 
 
 34 
 Eurasian contment, 103 
 
 D 
 
 
 Europe and Asia, 502 
 
 " Daido Club," 380-1 
 
 European Army Corps, 482 
 
 Dai Ichi Ginko (The First Bank), 
 
 — mining interests, 514 
 
 409 
 
 — rivalry, 212 
 
 Daimiates, 345-6 
 
 European Russia, 10, 134, 196-7, 
 
 Daimyos, 345, 393 
 
 199, 255-6, 264 £/i^y., 310 
 
 Dalai-nor, 214, 228 
 
 Evacuation of Southern Manchuria, 
 
 Dalny, 3, 39, 178, 233, 315, 321, 620 
 
 32 
 
 Daurian villages, 220 
 
 Expenditure of Japan (tabulated). 
 
 Daurians, the, 119, 218, 221, 225-6 
 
 414-5 
 
 Daurs, 225 
 
 Exports from all Japan, 439-40 
 
 Dear beer, 1 1 
 
 
 Decauville railways, 313 
 
 
 Delimitation Commissioners, 292 
 
 V 
 
 De Witte, M., 292, 300-1, 306, 314 
 
 X 
 
 Diet, the, 346, 464 
 
 
 Distinctions and awards by Ja- 
 
 Far East, position of England in 
 
 panese Emperor, 387-8 
 
 the, 625-40 
 
 Dnieper, the, 123, 124 
 
 Far Eastern Asia, 129 
 
 Don, the, 123, 124, 268 
 
 Asiatics, 503 
 
 Dondon, 89 
 
 Commerce, 44 
 
 Drago doctrine, 330 
 
 Fishing Co., the, 426 
 
 Dreadnoughts, Japanese, 491 
 
 policy, 257 
 
 " Drunken corn," 97 
 
 wars, 104 
 
 Dubinsk, 79 
 
 Femmes galantes, 176 
 
 Ducheri, 225 
 
 Fengtjen province, 213, 252, 469, 
 
 Duma, the, 283, 346 
 
 544 
 
 — coterie, the, 40 
 
 Fight d, outrance,. a, 1 3 
 
 — no Vladivostock representa- 
 
 First class v. steerage and the 
 
 tives sent to the, 59 
 
 Customs, 4 
 
 
 Fish River, 90 
 
 
 Fish-skin Tartars, 218, 225 
 
 E 
 
 Florence, 25 
 
 
 Foochow, 566 
 
 East Asia, key of peace of, 206 
 
 Forces, Japanese, at outbreak of 
 
 Eastern Bosphorus, 2, 23 
 
 war with Russia, 47 1 
 
 — Kirin, 76, 145 
 
 Formosa, 332, 518, 608, 6.30 
 
INDEX 
 
 647 
 
 France, 212, 332, 607 
 Franco-Japanese Agreement of 
 
 1907, text of the, 599-606 ; 
 
 The Spectator and the, 600 
 French Indo-China, 599-600, 623 
 Fuhkien province, 608, 636 
 Fushun coal mines, 320 
 Future of Russian Manchuria, 
 
 229-53 
 
 Garden of Asia, 325 
 Genghiz Khan, 210, 213, 272 
 Genro, or Elder Statesmen, 369 
 
 et seq. 
 Gensan, 26, 501 n. 
 German and Japanese shipping 
 
 firms, 34 
 
 — army, model for Japan, 471 
 
 — Emperor, 498 
 
 Germany, 103, 212, 337, 340, 450, 
 
 462, 607, 639 
 Gibbon's Declitie and Fall, 123 
 Gilyak aborigines, S7, 109, 119 
 Gobi Desert, 216, 232 
 Godolbin Peninsula, 49 
 Gogyo Ginko, 405 
 Golden Horn Bay, 2 
 Goldi aborigines, 87, 89, 90-4 
 Gospidal-Gorodok, Harbin, 202 
 Goto, Count, 375 
 Government of Japan, the, 329 
 Grafskaya, 64, 95 
 Great Britain, 600, 632 
 Greater Britain, 518, 632 
 
 — Japan, 338, 500, 520 
 
 — Russia, 179 
 
 Great Three, the, Wein, Weib, und 
 
 Gesang, 176 
 Grodekov, 78, 140, 142-3 
 Grodekov-Harbin railway, 150 
 Gulf of Finland, 25 
 
 H 
 
 Hague Conference, the, 519 
 
 Haicheng, 321 
 
 Hailar, 228 
 
 — Solon Tartars of, 225 
 
 Hailin (Khailine), 152 
 
 'Hakodate, 455 
 
 Hamburg, 246 
 
 Hami, 282 
 
 Hankon-Peking railway, 572 n. 
 
 Hankow, 561, 574 
 
 — arsenal, 5 59 
 
 Harbin, 139, 151-2, 155, 209, 
 214-5, 229 et seq., i&Hi, et seq., 
 288, 314-5, 469, 477-8 
 
 — Central Railway Administra- 
 
 tion, 242 
 
 — flour mills, 181 et seq., 478 
 
 — Gospidal-Gorodok, 202 
 
 — hospitals, 203 
 
 — military evacuation, 208 
 
 — station, 207 
 
 Harbin-Grodekov railway, 150 
 Hart, Sir Robert, 239 71. 
 
 Hearn, Lafcadio, significant letter 
 
 by, 386-7 
 Heilungchiang, 41, 162, 210 et 
 
 •f'??-, 307, 544 
 High Asia, 154 
 
 Empire of, 272 
 
 History of Civilisation, Buckle's, 
 
 328 
 Hokkaido, 45, 466 
 
 — Colonial Bank of, 405 
 Honan province, 550, 577-9 
 Hong Kong, 40, 301, 595 
 Hongkong-Canton railway, 570 
 Horse- v. Man-carriage, 9 
 Hospital Town, Harbin, 202 
 Hotels in Vladivostock, 10 
 House of Peers, Japanese, 358 
 
 — of Representatives, Japanese, 
 
 358, 373 
 
 — of Romanoff, 58 
 Hsi Liang, 530 
 Hsinmingtun, 233 
 Hsi-yun-mu-k'u, 537 n. 
 Hsu Shih Ch'ang, 529 
 
 Hsu Shih-chang, Viceroy, 544 
 Huailin, 501 n. 
 Huang Shao-chi, 543 
 Hun river, 320 
 Hunanese, 637 
 Hunan province, 636 
 Hunan Steamship Co., 458 n. 
 Hungchun, 501 n. 
 Hunghutzu, 146, 289 
 Hulbert, Dr., 341, 344 11. 
 Hurka river, 150, 151 
 Hypothec Bank of Japan, 404, 
 407 
 
648 
 
 INDEX 
 
 I 
 
 Hi province, 238 
 Imaginative Czarism, 44 
 Imianpo station, 152 
 Imma river, 85, 93, 94 
 Imperial Decrees, 527 et seq. 
 
 — Northern Chinese Rlys., 581 
 
 — Rescript, Japanese, 348 
 Import of materials for manufac- 
 ture (table of), 448 
 
 Imports and exports, 454 
 
 — for the whole of Japan, 441-2 
 India, 502 
 
 Indo-China, 217, 332, 446 
 
 Inner Mongolia, 232 
 
 Inouye, Count, 369-72, 480, 620 
 
 Intendanz-Gorodok, 175 
 
 Internal condition of China, 576-97 
 
 International occupation corps, 
 
 Chinese, 552 
 Irkutsk, 103, 112, 117, 187, 190, 
 
 203, 258, 261-2, 266, 269, 273, 
 
 279-80, 284-5 
 
 — Government, 224, 254 
 Itagaki, Count, 375 
 
 Ito, Marquis, 357, 365. 3691 372, 
 375-6,390,398,408, 516,519 
 
 J 
 
 Japan and United States, Friend- 
 ship betwreen, 609 
 
 — Annual revenue and expenditure 
 
 of, for forty years, 418-419 
 
 — Budget of 1907, 479 
 
 — capital invested from 1905 to 
 
 1907, 427-8 
 
 — commercial fleet, 617 
 
 — Constitution of, 348-56 
 
 — Conversion Loan, 334 
 
 — Cotton Cloth Export Associa- 
 
 tion, 620 
 
 — Expenditure of (tabulated), 414- 
 
 — gain and loss at sea, 493 
 
 — Government of, 329, 370 
 
 — National Debt, 463 
 
 — naval forces of, in 1904 (tabu- 
 
 lated), 488 
 
 — Revenue of (tabulated), 412-3 
 
 — Steamship Company, 458 
 
 — the champion of the Far East, 
 
 330 
 
 Japan-China, Peking Treaty of 
 
 1905, 315 
 apanese Army, 468, 486 
 J — bank-notes, 300 
 
 — Board of Audit, 368 
 
 — Budget of 1907, 411 
 
 — Conversion Loan, 516 
 
 — Diet, the, 356 ^^ seq. 
 
 — Emperor, 364, 366, 374 
 
 — Criminal Code, 635 
 
 — Customs tariff, regulation of, 
 
 451 
 
 — finance, 390-421 
 
 — forces at outbreak of war with 
 
 Russia, 471 
 
 — House of Peers, 358 
 
 — House of Representatives, 358, 
 
 373 . 
 
 — Imperial Rescript, 348 
 
 — imports and exports, 454 
 
 — indemnity from China, 402 
 
 — industry and commerce, 422 et 
 
 seq. 
 
 — invisible imports, receipts, and 
 
 expenditure, 434-7 
 
 — mercantile marine, 456 
 
 — Palace Councils, 308 
 
 — Parliament, the first, 345 
 
 — Progressive Party, manifesto of 
 
 the, 378-9 
 
 — "Protection" Treaty, 341 
 
 — rifle a failure, 204 
 
 — ship-building, 457 
 
 — shipping war, 459 
 
 — shipping trusts. State subven- 
 
 tions to, 637 
 
 — shipping subsidies, 454 et seq. 
 
 — steam shipping, antiquated, 
 
 456-7 
 
 — Trade dollar, 398 et seq. 
 
 — Yangtsze shipping lines, 459 
 Japanese-American difficulties, 629 
 Java, 502 
 
 Jewish enterprise, 243 
 
 K 
 
 Kadets, the favourite political 
 
 party, 59 
 Kagoshima, 371 
 
 Kaidolovo-Stretensk railway, 278 
 Kaipingcoal mines, 581-2 
 K'aiyuan, 315 
 
 Kamschatka, 27, 45, 127, 224 
 Kansk, 280 
 
INDEX 
 
 649 
 
 Kansu, 535 
 
 Korean Mining Regulations, 506-12 
 
 Kashgar, 238 
 
 — Syndicate, Ltd., 517 
 
 Katsura, Count, 380 
 
 Korean-Japanese Customs Union, 
 
 Ministry of, 368, 376 
 
 518 «. 
 
 Kaye, Sir John Lister, 584 
 
 Korff, Baron, 117, 118 
 
 Keh Pao-hua, 529 
 
 Krasnovosk, 282 
 
 Key of peace of East Asia, 206 
 
 Krasnoyarsk, 269, 280 
 
 Khabarof, Mr., 220 
 
 Kuan-Ch'^ng-tzu, 184, 300-4, 312 
 
 Khabarovsk, 28, 41, 64-5, 71, 83, 
 
 et seq., 620 
 
 86-7, 99, 138, 141, 250, 278, 
 
 — station, 289, 291, 293, 296, 299 
 
 469 
 
 Kuantung, 104 
 
 — and the Amur province, 100-37 
 
 Kuku-nor, 214 
 
 Khanates of Central Asia, 282 
 
 Kuldja, 238, 282 
 
 Khantaheza station, 152 
 
 Kungchuling, 304-7, 313 
 
 Khilkoff, Prince, 150, 194, 196 
 
 Kunst and Albers, the " Whiteleys '' 
 
 Khoekhtsi mountains (Khukchir- 
 
 of the Pacific coast, 17 
 
 Khurgin), 89-90 
 
 Kuo-erh-cho-tsa-pu, Prince, 537 ti. 
 
 Khor river, 85, 98 
 
 Kurgan, 188-90 
 
 Khoro, or Kholo, 91 
 
 Kurino, M., 599 
 
 Khungari, 91 
 
 Kurile Islands, 129 
 
 Kiachta-Urga, 238 
 
 Kuropatkin, General, 309 
 
 — route, 187 
 
 Kwei Chun, 529 
 
 Kiaolinza station, 152 
 
 Ky, 90, 91 
 
 KieflF, 123, 158 
 
 
 Kile tribe, 119 
 
 
 " Kill or Cure Rifle," the, 205 
 
 
 Kinda, 91 
 
 
 Kinghan mountains, 210, 227-8 
 
 
 Kirghiz, 271, 273 
 
 Laichoufu prefecture of Shantung, 
 
 Kirin, 144, 162, 170 
 
 149 
 
 Kirin City, 139, 163, 215, 230, 313- 
 
 Lake Baikal, 103, 113, 263, 276, 
 
 5 
 
 280, 282, 286-7 
 
 — hills, 74 
 
 Lake Khanka, 75, 79, 82-7, 96-7 
 
 — province, 73, 181, 2U, 215, 246, 
 
 Lansdowne, Lord, 632 
 
 544 
 
 Lena, the, 263 
 
 Kirin-Primorsk frontier, 501 n. 
 
 Lenient Customs officers, 3 
 
 Kitai Gorod, 236 
 
 Liang Tingfen, Judge, 543 
 
 Kitchener, Lord 634 
 
 Liaochoufu, 16 
 
 Kiukiang, 566 
 
 Liao Hsi river, 186 
 
 Kobe, 455 
 
 Liao river, 313, 504 n. 
 
 Kochinotsu, 455 
 
 Liaotung, 50, 321, 469, 473, 475 
 
 Kodama, General Baron, 308, 478 
 
 — Retrogression Agreement, 40X 
 
 Kogyo Ginko, 417 
 
 Liaoyang, 105, 173, 186, 194, 202, 
 
 Komura, Baron, 252, 310, 313, 
 
 309 
 
 420 
 
 Li Hung Chang, 581 
 
 Korea, 42 ^^ seq., 104, 130, 314 et 
 
 Linievitch, General, 205, 292, 304, 
 
 seg., 401, 410, 466, 469, 504 et 
 
 305-6, 309, 477 
 
 seq., 581, 622, 636 
 
 Little, Mr. Archibald, 585 
 
 Korea, North-Eastern, 477, 501 n. 
 
 Little Russian villages, 80 
 
 Korean Crown Prince, 519 
 
 Lodz, 244, 270 
 
 — Emperor, 515-6, 517, 5 19 
 
 Lower House of the Japanese 
 
 Abdication of, 519 
 
 Diet, 360 
 
 and The Hague Mission, 
 
 Lu Hsi, Duke, 537 n. 
 
 520 
 
 Lu Jen-hsiang, 529 
 
 — immigrants, 76 
 
 Luzon, 630 
 
6so 
 
 INDEX 
 
 M 
 
 Maartens, Prof, de, 316 
 Mackay-model Treaties, 592-3, 595 
 Mafeking, 72 
 Ma-k'eh-su-erh-tsa-pu, Prince, 
 
 536 «. 
 Manchu, 92-3 
 
 Manchu and Muscovite, 318 
 Manchu Court at Peking and 
 
 Tartar tribes, 217 
 ■ — Dynasty, 536 
 
 — Empire, 217 
 
 — guards, 89 
 
 — Imperial clan, 548 n. 
 
 — population in the Amur, 112 
 
 — Sovereigns, 122 
 
 — suzerains, 120 
 
 — Syndicate, Ltd., 517 
 Manchu-Chinese population of the 
 
 Amur, 112 
 
 — commissions, 217 
 Manchuria, 38, 41, 56 et seq., Ti, 
 
 119, 128-9, 138 ^t seq., 163 et 
 seq., 204 et seq., 311 et seq., 
 463, 476, 504 n., 544 et seq., 
 608 et seq. 
 
 — Central, 477 
 
 — Flour Trust, 237 
 
 — Russian Army of, 32 
 Manchurian coal, 584 
 
 — frontier, 144 
 guards, 143 
 
 — influx of Shantung Chinese into, 
 
 — railway, 273, 278 
 
 — railway guarding corps, 143 
 Manchus, 122-3, 127, 216 et seq., 
 
 520, 526-7, 550-1, 56s, 597, 
 636 
 
 — the, and the Dragon Throne, 6 
 Mangun tribe, 1 19 
 
 Manifesto of the Japanese Pro- 
 gressive Party, 378-9 
 Mantzi, 119 
 Manyarg tribe, 119 
 Maorsham station, 152 
 Maritime province of Manchuria, 
 
 332 
 Marlborough's Russian Self-taught 
 
 in Three Weeks, 145 
 Matsukata, Count, 370-2, 403-4, 
 
 407, 480 
 Maximowicz, 91, 92 
 Mecca of Eastern Asia, the, 218 
 
 Meeting of Russian and Chinese 
 plenipotentiaries at Nerchinsk, 
 222 
 
 Meiji, or '' Era of Enlightenment," 
 
 391 
 
 Mergen, 226 
 
 Merv-Tashkend railway, 281 
 Metz, 105 
 
 Miaotzu tribes, 564 
 Michailo-Semenovskaya village, 
 
 138 
 Mid-China, 594, 636 
 Mid-Ussuri, 85 
 Mikado, 341 
 Ming dynasty, 218, 564 
 Ministry of Communications, 198 
 
 — of War, Chinese, 563, 566, 593 
 Minusinsk district, 271 
 Moderates and Reformers in 
 
 Peking, 526 
 Mojai, 455 
 
 Monastery of Eternal Repose, 122 
 Mongol invasion of South-Eastem 
 
 Europe, 264 
 Mongol or Yuan dynasty, 122 
 Mongolia, 120, 237, 258, 307 
 Mongols, 120, 187, 218, 227, 233 
 Moscow, 222, 244-8, 249, 270 
 " Moscow Bazaar," the, 244 
 " Moscow Merchants," 249 
 Moukden, 48, 105, 115, 173, 186, 
 
 305-9, 318-20, 475, 477«.,620 
 
 — Manchu, 219 
 
 — battle of, 184-7 
 Moukden- Antung railway, 316 
 Muerken tribe, 226 
 Munroe doctrine, Asiatic, 330 
 Muravieff, i, 17, 112, 115-6, 11 7-8, 
 
 126, 134, 224 
 
 — statue, 108 
 
 — treaties, 123 
 Muravieff-Amursky, 85 
 
 — street, 106 
 
 Muscovite movement, the, 324 
 Muscovy, 223 
 
 N 
 
 Nagasaki, 58, 455 
 — " patriots," 6 
 Nanking, 563 
 Napoleon, 143, 610, 626 
 National Debt of Japan, 463 
 Na Tung, 529 
 
INDEX 
 
 6si 
 
 Naval programme, the Birilefif, 53 
 Navy, Japanese, 468, 469, 471, 
 
 486-99 
 Necessaries of life, rise in price in 
 
 Japan, 461 et seq. 
 Negidal tribe, 119 
 Nepaul, 217 
 Nerchinsk, 222 
 
 — mines, 284 
 
 — Treaty, loi, 223 
 Nevelskoi, Admiral, 20, 92, 127 
 New China, 211 
 
 — Commercial Treaties, 609, 622 
 Newchwang, 32, 233, 620, 622 
 
 — Customs revenues, 568 
 
 — Harbin, 159, 165, 167, 168 
 
 — Japan, 447 
 
 — Russia, 1 1 5, 272, 276 
 
 — Zealand, 632 
 Nice, 25 
 
 Nicolaievsk, 27, 45, 63, 87, 102, 
 105, 108, III, 128, 130-1, 136, 
 231, 314 
 
 Nicholas I., 22 
 
 Nicolsk, 69 et seq., 97, 106, 138, 
 140, 169, 300 
 
 Ninguta, General, 151, 217-8 
 
 Nippon Ginko, 403, 407 
 
 — (Bank of Japan) organisation of, 
 
 395 et seq. 
 
 — Yusen Kaisha (Japan Steam- 
 
 ship Co.), 458-9 
 Nishan, 94 
 Nogi, 308 
 
 Nonni River, 215, 226-7, 232 
 No-Man's Land, 141 
 North America, 502 
 
 Japanese activity in, 5oo.«. 
 
 Northern China, 211, 246, 274, 545, 
 
 618, 636 
 water route, 578 
 
 — Italy, 212 
 
 — Korea, 78, 631 
 —Manchuria, 32,38,42, 103-4,223, 
 
 232 
 
 — Saghalien, 45, 103, 131 
 mines, 31 
 
 — ■ Siberia, 263 
 
 — Ussuri, 97, 141 
 North-Eastern Manchuria, 28 
 North- Western Korea, 151 
 
 — Manchuria, 28 
 Novgorod, 123 
 
 Novokievsk and Possiet, Tiumen 
 line of defence of, 50 
 
 Nurhachu, 217 
 
 O 
 
 Ob River, 262, 263, 266 
 Odessa, 35, 248 
 
 Odessa-Vladivostock sea route, 245 
 Okhotsk, 45, 103, 117, 127, 219, 224 
 
 — Sea, 136, 264 
 
 — seaboard, loi 
 
 Okuma, Count, 375 et seq., 498 
 Old Guard, 291 
 
 — Harbin, 170-72 
 Omoso, 217 
 
 Omsk, 188-90, 258, 269, 273, 279, 
 
 285 
 Opium, a secondary staff of life, 
 
 293 
 Orenburg Cossacks, 98 
 Orient, the, 614 
 Orochi tribe, 119 
 Orochon tribe, 119 
 Oroke tribe, 119 
 Orthodox churches, 73 
 Osaka, 425, 455, 465 
 
 — Commercial Intelligence Bureau, 
 
 427 
 
 — Shippers' Union, 459 
 
 — Shosen Kaisha, 458 
 Oudzimi station, 152 
 
 Oyama, Field-Marshal, 304, 370-2, 
 
 476, 480 
 Ozaki, Mr., scathing indictment by, 
 
 382-S 
 
 Pacific, America and the, 612 et seq. 
 
 — coast, 87 
 
 Americans of the, 333 
 
 — harbour, Vladivostock, 63 
 
 — island groups, 330 
 
 — Ocean, 614 
 
 — province, 88, 97, 108, 141, 209, 
 
 314 
 
 — States, 38 
 Pakhsa, 92 
 Pa-la-chu-erh-la-pu-tan, Prince, 
 
 537 «. 
 Panama Canal, 519, 615, 621 
 Paris, Treaty of, 128 
 Passports, 3 
 Pechili, 128 
 
 Peiyang Army, 549, 551 
 Peking, 88, 122, 217, 221 et seq^ 
 
 251-2, 520, 524 et seq., 609 
 
652 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Peking, Army Council, 550 
 
 
 Q 
 
 — Government, the, in 
 
 1907, 
 
 
 523-47 
 
 
 Quirinal Government, 628 
 
 — Legations, 608 
 
 
 
 — mining Syndicate, 577-81 
 
 
 R 
 
 — Protocol of 1 90 1, 586 
 
 
 
 — Treaty, 129 
 
 
 Railways and armaments, Chinese, 
 
 — Treaty of i860, 88 
 
 
 548-575 
 
 Peking-Tientsin railway, 572 t 
 
 I. 
 
 Rangoon, 446 
 
 Perry expedition, 391 
 
 
 Reformers and Moderates in 
 
 Persia, 272 
 
 
 Peking, 526 
 
 Peter the Great bay, 2, 52 
 
 
 Rescript to the House of Peers, 
 
 Petropavlovsk, 128 
 
 
 Japanese Emperor's special. 
 
 Petrovsk Iron-works, 284 
 
 
 376 
 
 Peru, 615 
 
 
 Reserve Army, 473 
 
 Petuna, 215 
 
 
 Revenue of Japan (tabulated). 
 
 Philippines, 332,446, 502, 6i2etseg., 
 
 412-413 
 
 622-3, 630 
 
 
 Revolutionary unrest in China, 595 
 
 Pichon, M. Stephen, 599 
 
 
 Richthoven, Baron von, 577-8 
 
 Pinyang, 505 n 
 
 
 Rider-Haggard-like race, a, 149 
 
 Pobyedonestseff, 124 
 
 
 Rise in price of necessaries of life 
 
 Pogranitchnia, 150 
 
 
 in Japan, 461 et seq. 
 
 Poland, 103 
 
 
 Rocky Mountains, the, 615 
 
 Poles, 212 
 
 
 Rojdestvensky, Admiral, 497 
 
 Port Arthur, 3, 19, 24, 33, 39 
 
 , 44, 
 
 Roosevelt, President, 305, 614,615 
 
 48, 104,167, 178,251, 312, 
 
 316, 
 
 Root, Secretary, 614-5 
 
 321, 338, 408, 607 
 
 
 Russia, 8, 76, 106, 108, 11^ et seq.. 
 
 dibdcle, 130 
 
 
 131, 178, lijet seq.,/^6S etseq., 
 
 lease of, 608 
 
 
 502 et seq., 600 et seq. 
 
 Russian lease of, 469 
 
 
 — a world in herself, 124 
 
 siege of, 477 
 
 
 — Island, 49 
 
 Port Hamilton, 128 
 
 
 — excess of births over deaths 
 
 Port Imperial, 128 
 
 
 in, 266 
 
 Portsmouth, 310 
 
 
 Russian v. Chinaman, 6 
 
 — Conference, loi, 305 
 
 
 — and Chinese, 107 
 
 — Treaty, 52, 131, 143, 222-3, 
 
 299, 
 
 plenipotentiaries, meeting of, 
 
 304,311, 316, 320-1, 380, 
 
 491, 
 
 at Nerchinsk, 222 
 
 499, 524, 543, 621 
 
 
 — annexation of Alaska, 126 
 
 Possiet Bay, 72 
 
 
 — Army and Navy compared 
 
 — and Novokievsk, Tiumen line of 
 
 with Japan, 468 
 
 defence of, 50 
 
 
 — Naval forces in the Far East 
 
 Position of England in the 
 
 Far 
 
 (tabulated), 489 
 
 East, 625-40 
 
 
 — Army Corps, composition of. 
 
 Press strictures, 368 n. 
 
 
 477 «■ 
 
 Pute'ha tribe, 226 
 
 
 of Manchuria, 32 
 
 Putiatin, Admiral, 128 
 
 
 — Asiatic history, an unhappy 
 
 Prikhankoisk, 83 
 
 
 chapter in, 105 
 
 Primitive street-watering, 1 5 
 
 
 — attitude towards the Far East, 
 
 Primorsk, 30-1, 36, 38, 76, 103, 203, 
 
 I 
 
 213 
 
 
 — bank-notes, 300 
 
 Pristan, 160, 165, 167 
 
 
 — V. Caucasian, an impromptu 
 
 Progressive Party, Japanese, Mani- 
 
 wrestling match, 13 
 
 festo of the, 378-9 
 
 
 — census, 1907, 108 
 
 Prussia, 450 
 
 
 ^ colonisation of the Amur, 113 
 — conscripts, 57 
 
INDEX 
 
 653 
 
 Russian - Danish East Asiatic 
 Company, the, 38 
 
 — Dreadnoughts, 53-4 
 
 — emigration scheme, 30 n. 
 
 — East Asiatic Company, 27 
 
 — expansionist movement, the first, 
 
 124 
 
 — Far East, 4, 40, 42, 64-5, 134, 
 
 142, 249, 27s, 285, 314 
 
 , background of the, 
 
 254-87 
 
 — Forces in Far East at begm- 
 
 ning of the War, 476 
 
 — Government, 33, 81 
 
 — Headquarters Staff, 314 
 
 — Manchuria, 242 
 , Russians in, 246 
 
 — Manchurians, 289 
 
 — navigators in the Far East, 127 
 
 — officialdom, 275 
 
 — Pacific Coast, 248 
 
 province, the, 72, 103, 231 
 
 territories, 31 
 
 — peasant women, 70, 77 
 
 — Poland, 103 
 
 — police like their London 
 
 confreres, 14 
 
 — press, 252 
 
 — restaurateurs, 144 
 
 — Saghalien, 45 
 
 — strength in the Far East, 256 
 
 — superiority in Army reserves, 
 
 201-2 
 
 — trains dignified creatures, 207 
 
 — Volunteer Fleet, the, 40 n. 
 
 — War, 518, 628 
 
 party, discredit of, 310 
 
 Russians in Manchuria, 314 
 
 — in Siberia, 266 
 
 — of the Muravieff period, 120 
 Russo-American Company, 126 
 
 — friendship, 126 
 Russo-Chinese Bank, 169, 242, 320 
 
 — Commercial Treaty, 239 n. 
 
 — Railway Convention, The, 235, 
 236 
 
 — Treaty, 238 
 Russo-Japanese War, 501, 524 
 
 Saghalien, loj, 119, 129, 131, 136, 
 
 310, 314 
 — acquisition of, by Russia, 125 
 
 Saghalien mines. Northern, 31 
 
 — Northern, 45 
 
 — Russian, 45 
 
 — Southern, 45 
 Saigon, 446 
 
 Saigo Takamori, 347 
 St. Petersburg, 79, 134, 244, 249, 
 258, 261 
 
 coterie, the, 40 
 
 Council of the Empire, 102 
 
 General Staff, 185 
 
 Saionji, Marquis, 380 
 Samalga river, 92 
 Samurai, 470 
 Sandwich Islands, 614 
 San Francisco, 26, 615 
 Sanskrit inscriptions, 122 
 Sarton, 214 
 Satsuma, 372 
 
 — clan, 346, 370 
 
 — rebellion, 395, 470 
 
 of 1877, 347 
 
 Sea of Japan, 129 
 Sedan, 105 
 Sedanka, 68 
 Seiyukai, 375-6, 380 
 
 Seoul, 316, 510 «., 505 «., 517, 520 
 Seoul-Fusan Railway Company, 
 
 458 n. 
 Seoul-Wiju railway, 316 
 Semager tribe, 119 
 Semipolatinsk, 281 
 Service in Chinese army, terms of, 
 
 560 n. 
 Shaho, 173, 194, 202 
 Shamanism, 120 
 Shanghai, 40, 594, 619 
 
 — arsenal, 559 
 Shanghai-Nanking railway, 571-2 
 
 — port, 460 n. 
 Shansi, 604 
 
 — province, 577-9, 580 
 Shantung, 149, 179, 237 
 
 — Chinese, influx of, into Man- 
 
 churia, 41 
 
 — sampan-man, general carrier, 6 
 Sheng Yun, 530 
 
 Shilka river, 221-2 
 Shimonoseki, 401 
 Shimpo-to, 376 
 Ship-building, Japanese, 457 
 Shkott Peninsula, 49 
 Shogun, 347 
 
 Shogunate, 341, 344, 390 et seq., 
 398 
 
654 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Shou Chi, 529 
 
 Siberia, 10, 114, 200, 224, 234, 255, 
 
 257-8, 260, 262-3, 265, 267-8, 
 
 270, 280, 283-6, 613 
 Siberia, Eastern and Western, 188 
 Siberian Army Corps, 477-8 n. 
 
 — Dept. Library manuscript, 122 
 
 — Gold mines, 284 
 
 — and Manchurian railway, 193, 
 
 194, 198 
 
 — meat supply, 187 et seq. 
 
 — military system, 285 
 
 — policy, 257 
 
 — railway, 185, 199, 200 
 Sikhoti-Alin, 90 
 
 — range, 98 
 
 — watershed, 85 
 Sim river, 92 
 Skryplevsky, 2 
 Slavism, 162, 288, 302 
 Slav fecundity, 267 
 
 Smuggling firearms into Vladi- 
 
 vostock, 5 
 Soejima, Count, 375 
 Soochow, 566 
 Solon Tartars of Hailar, 225 
 
 — tribe, the, 218 
 Songching, 501 n. 
 South America, 614 
 
 Japanese activity in, 500 n. 
 
 South Manchurian Railway, 71, 
 620 
 
 South Ussuri railway, 63 
 
 South-Eastern Manchuria, 32, 34, 
 124, 217, 223, 288, 302, 307, 
 309-10, 321, 466, 469, 476, 504, 
 518-9, 607, 609, 619, 636. 
 
 Southern China, 545, 609 
 
 Southern Manchuria evacuation of, 
 
 32 
 Southern Saghahen, 45 
 Southern Ussuri, 76, 80, 82, 98, 
 
 140 
 
 district, 108 
 
 regions, 47, 151 
 
 Soya, 45 
 
 Spanish Treaty of Pans, the, 612 
 
 Spasskaya, 80, 82 
 
 Spirits at a discount, 1 1 
 
 Ssupingkai, 305, 307 
 
 Stanovoi mountain, 117, 219 
 
 Standing Army, 472 
 
 State reservations of Siberia, 264 
 
 Steppes, 268 
 
 Straits of Tartary, 105 
 
 Stretensk, III, 112, 115, 134-6,278, 
 
 Suez Canal, 615 
 
 Suifun, 68, 86 
 
 Sumatra, 502 
 
 Sun Chia-nai, Grand Secretary, 
 
 530 
 Sungari, 162, 164, 170, 215, 225, 
 
 230 
 Sungari grain, 241 
 
 — plain, 154, 179-80 
 
 — pontoon bridge, 175 
 
 — river, 138, 180, 209-10, 221, 
 
 231-2, 235, 243, 291 
 
 — valley, 82,96, 139, 151 
 wealth of, 247 
 
 — wheat fields, 478 
 
 — wheat plains, key to the, 313 
 Su-no-mu-erh-ta-hsi, Duke, 537 n. 
 Sven Hedin, 214 
 Svietlanskaya-ulitza, the, Vladi- 
 
 vostock's main street, 8 
 Szechuan, 564 
 
 Ta-erh-mu-pa-la, Duke, 537 n. 
 
 Ta-hu-Ii, 225, 226 
 
 Tai Hungtsz, 529 
 
 Taiping rebellion, the, 565 
 
 Taipings, 129 
 
 Takahashi, Mr., 56 
 
 T'ana Shao-yi, Governor, 539, 540, 
 
 544 
 Tartar City of Moscow, 236 
 
 — Generals, 565 
 
 — Walls of Peking, the, 535 
 Tartars, 225 
 Tashihch'iao, 71, 321 
 Tashkend, 281 
 
 — Tomsk Railway, 281, 283 
 Tchirikoff and Behring, discovery 
 
 of Alaska by, 126 
 
 Tengchoufu, 16 
 
 Tengchoufu prefecture of Shan- 
 tung, 149 
 
 Tetsurei (Tiehling), 315 
 
 The Truce in the East and its 
 Aftertnath, 505 n. 
 
 " The Simple Life " on £2 a day, 
 12 
 
 Tied-up capital, 37 
 
 T'ieh Liang, General, 529, 549, 551, 
 552 
 
INDEX 
 
 655 
 
 Tiehling (Tetsurei), 315, 620 
 Tiger's Tail of Port Arthur, 24 
 Tienshan mountains, 238, 282 
 Tientsin, 40, 539, 551-2, 581 
 Tientsin-Chinkiang Railway, 570 
 Tientsin-Newchang Railway, 574 
 Tiumen, 141, 269, 279 
 
 — river, 45, 46, 73, ^^, 231, 258, 
 
 278, 300,462, SOI, 517 
 
 lumber concession, 501 
 
 Tobolsk, 219, 261 
 
 Tobolsk Government, 264 
 
 Tokyo, 302, 308, 341-2, 360, 425, 
 428, 465-73. 490, 609 
 
 Tokyo Commercial Bureau, 427 
 
 Tokyo Department of Communica- 
 tions, 464 
 
 Tokyo Headquarters Staft", 479 
 
 Tokyo oligarchy, 633 
 
 Tomsk, 188-90, 219, 258, 261-2 
 
 — Government, 264 
 Tongshan, 574 
 Tonkin, 607 
 
 Toudokheza station, 152 
 Townsend, Mr. Meredith, 333 
 Toyo Gyogyo Kaish (Far Eastern 
 
 Fishing Co.), 426 
 Trade dollar, Japanese, 398 et 
 seq. 
 
 — of Japan during the past twenty- 
 
 six years, 433 
 Trained and untrained soldiers, 
 
 472-3 
 Trans-Amur territories, 218 
 Trans-Baikalia boundary, 109 
 Trans-Baikalia, 38, 102-3, no, 115, 
 
 203, 213, 221-2, 228, 231, 254, 
 
 261, 273, 280, 284, 286, 290 
 Trans-Baikalian Government, 224 
 Trans-Caucasian Railway system, 
 
 281 
 Transbaikalian Cossacks, 113 
 Trans- Manchurian Railway, loi, 
 
 154, 278, 314 
 Trans-Siberian Railway, 194, 261-3, 
 
 273, 276, 279, 281 et seq. 
 Treaty of Aigun, loi 
 
 — Nerchinsk, loi, 224 
 
 — Paris, 128 
 Triple Alliance, 628 
 Tsagaru, 45 
 
 — route, the new, 39 
 Tsai Ch'en, Prince, 529 
 
 Tsai Tseh, Duke, 524, 527, 529, 533 
 
 Tsen Ch'un Hsuen, 530 
 
 Tseng-kuo-fan, 565 
 
 Tsifaku, 93 
 
 Tsitsihar, 41, 210, 214-6, 225-6 
 
 Tsushima, 125, 129, 408 
 
 Tsushima Straits, 497 
 
 Tuan Chih-kuei, Acting Governor, 
 
 544 
 Tuan Fang, 530, 563 
 Tungus Aborignes, 109 
 
 — natives, 88-9 
 
 — tribe, 224 
 Tungus-Turangian mountaineers, 
 
 217 
 Tunguzian natives, 120 
 Tunguzians, 93 
 Turanian language, 120 
 Turkestan, 273, 281 
 
 — railways, 282 
 Turko-Turanian peoples, 272 
 Turme, 93 
 
 — village, 91 
 
 U 
 
 Ular, Mr. Alexandre, Un Empire 
 
 Russo-Ckinois, 149 
 Unappreciated entertainers, 18 
 Unenviable Government officials, 
 
 35 
 
 United Germany, 331 
 
 United States, 35, 129, 195, 276, 
 505, 61 1 et seq., 632, 639 
 
 and Japan, friendship be- 
 tween, 609 
 
 and Oriental markets, the, 
 
 611-24 
 
 fleet, the, 616 
 
 Treaty with Korea, 505 n. 
 
 Upper House of the Japanese Diet, 
 360 
 
 Upper Sungari, 292 
 
 Urals, the, 106, 219, 255-6, 264, 
 268-70, 279, 287 
 
 Ural-Altaic family, 120 
 
 races, 254 
 
 Ussuri, 45 
 
 — bay, 49 
 
 — district, 108, 1 19, 476 
 
 — garrison, 32 
 
 — railway, 28, 63-99, 108, 138, 278 
 
 — river, 84 et seq., 120, 136 
 
656 
 
 INDEX 
 
 V 
 
 Y 
 
 Veniukof, Mr., 88-9, 121 
 
 Yablonoi mountain, 117, 219 
 
 Vladivostock, i et seq., 230 et seg.. 
 
 Yaik, the, 268 
 
 314, 469, 476 
 
 Yakutsk, 220, 259, 261 
 
 — Customs officials, 3 
 
 — Government, 103 
 
 — hneutes, 57 
 
 Yalu, 316 
 
 — fortifications, 24 
 
 — river, 462, 5 1 7 
 
 — fortress artillery, 286 
 
 - ■ lumber industry, 504 n. 
 
 — harbour crowded with mecha- 
 
 Yamagata, Marquis, 369-72, 480 
 
 nical mines, 52 
 
 Yamens, Chinese, 250 
 
 — hotels, 10 
 
 Yangtsze, 561, 607, 609 
 
 — military, 44 
 
 — arsenals, 559 
 
 — Pacific harbour, 63 
 
 — basin, 594 
 
 — several ways of reaching : by 
 
 — ports, 460 
 
 Trans-Baikal Territories, i ; 
 
 — river, 569, 584-5, 636-7 
 
 by steamer from Odessa, i ; 
 
 — shipping lines (Japanese), 459 
 
 by Trans-Siberian railway, i 
 
 — valley, 446, 448, 526, 536 
 
 — smuggling firearms into, 5 
 
 Yellow River, 567 
 
 — station, 65 
 
 Yellow Sea, the, 500 «., 630 
 
 — the Chinese Guilds, 40 
 
 Yenesei, the, 262-3, 266 
 
 — the new naval graving dock, 3 
 
 Yeneseisk, 219, 259 
 
 
 Yeneseisk- Yakutsk, 117 
 
 
 Yermak, 219 
 
 
 — the Volga pirate, 275 
 
 W 
 
 Yi K'uang, 530 
 
 
 Yokkaichi, 455 
 
 
 Yokohama, 455 
 
 Wai- Wu-Pu, Peking Foreign Office, 
 
 r- Foreign Board of Trade, 432 
 
 608 
 
 — silk export, 466 
 
 Waiwupu, 529, 533, 534 
 
 — Specie Bank, 404 
 
 Wakamalsu Iron Foundry, 464 
 
 Yuan or Mongol dynasty, 122 
 
 Washington, 624 
 
 Yuan Shih-Kai, Viceroy, 527, 529, 
 
 — Diplomacy, 35 
 
 537, 545, 549-5°, 551-2, 557, 
 
 Western and Eastern Siberia, 188 
 
 562-3, 582, 597 
 
 Western Manchuria, 207-28 
 
 Yukokai, 380, 382 
 
 — Siberia, 263-4, 270 
 
 Yukon railway, 260 
 
 White Czar, 122 
 
 Yung Ch'ing, 529 
 
 White man's v. Chino-Korean 
 
 Yunnan, 535 
 
 bustle, 9 
 
 — railway, 607 
 
 White Russia, 44 
 
 Yu-pi-da-tzi ('Fish-skin Strangers'), 
 
 "Whiteleys" ofthe Pacific Coast, 
 
 90, 92 
 
 the, 17 
 
 Yu-Pi-Ta-Tzu ( ' Fish-skin Tar- 
 
 Wrestling in earnest, 13 
 
 tars '), 96 
 
 THE END 
 
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