'As some public attention has been directed to the movements of the French in Tonquin, we shall endeavour to place before our readers a short statement of the causes that have led up to the present state' of affairs, relying chiefly for our information on official documents and the treaties.
'It _will be remembered while Tu Due, the King of Annam, in 1862-3 was operat. ing in the South against the Franco-Spanis forces, ho was harassed in his movements by an outbreak among his own subjects in tonquin. Having his hands full' in the
insurgents, he had recourse to the most South and being unable to cope with these unscrupulous device of throwing open ti part of his dominions to the tender mercies of Chinese irregulars, In consequence of from Yunnan there fugitive Taipings sorely pressed by Imperialistic commanders, and from along the sea-coast relays of piratical junks, that had from time immemorial infested the Southern coast of Chins. These bands formed the nucleus of the Black Flag, the Yellow Flag, and the Cing-coloured Flag bands, whose depredations and ill-conditioned manner of life length necessitated French inter-'The result of such a scheme as was just what naturally should expected when the aid and rumentality of such horrible hounds of called in, The country was towns and vill to the ground, their name and race hi all but extirpated. Chatham's fore to the results of delegating the rights of settling civilized disputes by the tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage in the Ameri far, was more than realized in this ruthless, miserable campaign, One of the most flourishing pro-Yinoos, that of Quang-yon, inhabited by laborious population, was completely devastated, only a fow miserable villages having boon either spared at' the cession of ''u Duc's mandarins, or by t poverty and wretchedness, from the general te. The whole of the malo population was put to the sword or sold into slavery. After the work of butchery, pillage rapine was accomplished these worthi demanded the women and the soil—a demand which the Court of Hus had it not in its power to deny. These colonies rapidly increased and multiplied, and securing for themselves the navigation of the rivers that load up to Yunnan, have rapidly increased in wealth and commercial prosperity.
By the Annamese officials, it was first thought that the settlements being chiefly Chinese exiles of undoubted courage and of experience in the art of war, they would act a8 a bulwark against Anuam's more Fas. gone, their anticipation as been powerful neighbour, and as far as this
verified. But it has proved more than has grown up in Tonquin a half-Anname: while maintaining rigidly the mani customs of the Fatherland, refuse allegiance to either China or Annam, and harass the commerce and give endless anxiety and trouble to befit. Indeed, ao feeble has the Court of Hué become, that it has been compelled to' acknowledge the legality of che Black Flag communities, and at the tame time to refrain from any interference in their affairs. And on the French taking action, none are more indignant than those semi-independent ' blackmailers" at the infringement of their rights, none louder in their appeals to the behests of international law Tt was however necessary that France should take action on the matter. Her subjects were subjected to innumerable exactions in their trade; protection was extended to pirates, expeditions were molested, and Garnier was murdered.
We can only afford space to touch upon one of these topics, that of piracy. It has been well known that nowhere in the world has piracy been more persistently followed' than around the Tonquin Gul Notwithstanding all the efforts of French and Chinese gunboats it is still very prevalent, being, so to speak, protected by opinion and considered merely as one of the dangers to which all commercial ventures by sea are more or less incident. Piracy is taken up or abandoned just as is any other profession, and no one is thought.anything the worse for having in the course of his career sailed under the piratical flag. Nothing shows more clearly the decay of moral power among the Chinese and native authorities, when i thes are not only entertained but extensively acted upon. Indeed, when a faint show of authorityavas rendered necessary by French pressure, it was found that the Annamese were practically powerless. They could not be otherwise, for they had allowed the system to go on by permitting the pirates to dispose of their booty in the Annamese markets and Tonquin villages, and as they spent money freely, no awkward questions were asked. As for our Black Flag friends, they were not, should sufficient inducement offer, particularly squeamish as to scruples in joining, aiding or abetting if any well-paying expedition was being set on foot. modus operandi is, according to French ters, sufficiently' simple. One or two ambans are seized. Pushing out to sea uncover of night, the pirates seize the first ly fishing-junk. They are careful to prevent bloodshed, and the capture ally ends by stipulating with the captain of the junk, if he act as pilot, for the return of his junk, and if more than usually prosperous, 'a small share in the profits. As a rule life is pared if there is no accounts for large ing almost at once to joner numbers, and for the hard fate that the crows of foreign vessels experience, who go are unfortunate as to fall into the hands of these desperadoos. The goods obtained are disposed of through ordinary places of business; the connection being a profitable one is eagerly sought after by wealthy Chinese firms. French writers do not hesitate to affirm that there is hardly a native firm at Haiphong that comes out with clean hands in this matter, if they do not oven supply the capital necessary for the outfit of the expedition for arms, ammunition, ete.
Such is one of the aspects of affaire that have rendered the French expedition to Annam necessary. In another article we shall draw attention to the abduction of Annamese women and children, which seeks to rival in horrors the old Coolie
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.