50th May.
In regard to the much-discussed question as to the amount of the indemnity to be claimed from China, Mr. Rockhill, under date Ist May, 1901, writes Thave got my colleagues to agree that the first step to be taken now is t inform the Chinese plenipotentiaries that the losses and disbursements of the various powers approximate £67,000,000 sterling, and to ask them what measures they propose taking for the payment of it.
At the meeting of the Diplomatic Corps six days later the Ministers expressed the opinion that China should be given an opportunity to state what amount of indemnity she could pay, and how she proposed doing it, and after some discussion agreed to submit to the Chinese plenipotentiaries the following statement The total amount of the disbursements of the Powers, as well for military expenses the losses of societies and foreign dividuals and of Chinese who have suffer-edin their person and property through their being in the employ of foreigners, down to the 1st of July, amounts approximately to Tls. 450,000,000, a figure which will be considerably increased if the occupation is to be prolonged beyond that date, In conformity with article 6 of the Joint Note accepted by His Majesty the Emperor of China, and according te which China will take financial measures. acceptable to the Powers, so as to guarantee the Forelun representatives ask the Chinese payment of the said indemnities, the
plenipotentiaries for a formal assurance that they recognise their liability for this fam, aod theyrbog them to indicate the financial measures which China expects to take to discharge herself of this debt.
Referring to this matter Mr. Rockhill made the following remarks Lagreed to the terms of the above note on the express and formal understanding that it should in no be construed as making a claim of China for the amount indicated in it or as requiring of China any Rie plenipotentiaries so as to enable them promise to pay, but that it was simply sent
to give formal expression as to the limit of China's ability to pay and the means she proposed taking.
These reservations were accepted by the British and Russian Ministers, in which they entirely concurred, while the rest of the diplomatic body gave their tacit consent. Two weeks later, however, but little progress had been made towards arriving at an understanding, as is shown by the following extract from Mr. Rockhill's communication to Mr. Hay, dated 20th May, 1901. He says:—
The difficulty for the representatives of the Powers to arrive at any kind of understanding, either as to the amount of the indemnities to be asked of China or the mode of payment, is becoming more appar-
Tent day by day. None of the methods suggested as to the mode of paying the indemnities meet with approval.
Lower down in the same note he The Diplomatic Corps will hold a mecting the day after to-morrow, to consider the reply of the Chinese plenipotentiaries indicating the means China proposes for {From present indications, "howere paying the indemnities to the Powe
{greatly fear that it will take a great deal of telegraphing before anything definite is accomplished, most of my colleagues being apparently without any liberty of action whatever. The wisdom of the proposal which you made to the Powers in the early Burope or "america for the settlement of parc of the year, to hold a conference in
these questions is made from day to day more apparent, and their refusal to accept your proposal is a source of constant regret to me.
At the meeting of the Diplomatic Corps on 22nd May, 1901, the following question was submitted by Dr. von Mumm "Do the powers agree to ask of China as indemnity the expenses actually incurrer by the Governments and the losses of societies and individuals, reserving for future determination the question of the advisability of limiting the figure of the indemnity to be asked of China to the Ist of July—that is to say, to the sum of Tls. 450,000,000?"
All the Ministers (with the exception of Mr. Rockhill who did not vote) voted affirmatively. The Russian Minister, however, affirmed that his Government was equally willing to
scaling down the demands, or to ask accept the American principle of the payment of all expenses incurred, Mr. Rockhill on 25th May says The position of Germany on the tion of the indemnity has, as I hare adv you repeatedly, been most uncompromising. The urgent necessity for Great Britain to maintain her entente with Germany in China is, of course, responsible for the numerous concessions she has recently made to German insistence on paid the last cent of her expense:
remarkable of these conecessic in the British Goverr ment's willingness to have the tariff on imports raised to an effective 5 per cent. ad valorem, without compensating commercial advantages.... Itis true that the proposal of the United States to scale down the indemnity has not been met with the approval of a single one of the Powers, but our insistence in the cause of moderation has unquestionably been instrumental in forcing them to limit their demands, Had it not been for our endeavours, China, would, without a doubt, have been obliged to consent to infinitely barder terms, than those which will be probably submitted. The American policy of moderation has had other distinctly beneficial results.
Four days later Mr. Rockhill, in his communication to Mr. Hay, says:—
To-day I was informed by the private secretary of Li Huny-chang, and the news was confirmed later in the day by several other Chinese officials attached to the statif of the Chinese plenipotentiaries, that an Imperial edict was received ye-terday by Prince Ching and Li agreeing to pa indemnity of Tls.450,000,000 and 4 per cent interest. The other foreign representa have also been advised by the Chinese of the willingness of their Government to pay the above mentioned sum. There is, therefore, no possibility of our suggestions to either reduce the amount of the indemnity or transfer the whole question to The Hague tribunal being considered, and T shall agree to the sam of Tls. 450,000,000 as soon as I learn that it is accepted by all of my colleagues.
Turning again to the subject of the punishment of the officials and others who took an active part in the massacres and outrages committed against foreigners, it is i teresting to note that Mr. Rockhill claims that, under the influence of the US. President's instructions to him to oppose the shedding of any more blood and to urge moderation, the capital demands were reduced to four, and reductions were also agreed the other penalties. The original decision of the Ministers called for ten capital sentences, and 86 others of various degrees of severity. The Department of State at Washington was well satisfied with the way in which Mr. Rockhill carried oué his instructions in this connection, as is evidenced by the communication received by him from Mr. Hill, the Acting Secretary of the Department of State, and dated 20th July, 1901 The dispatch and its enclosures have been read with much gratification. Your action in carrying out the President's instructions to oppose the shedding of any more blood and which resulted in limiting the capital sentences to four persons, and in the reductions of the punishment of others, is approved by the apartment.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.