Hay, spoke to me about the proposal which had been made for referring to the Hague Tribunal the question of the Chinese indemnity. the total of which has not yet finally been agreed upon. He said that the United States' Government were in favour of referring the question of the amount to that Tribunal, but were opposed to submitting the question of the mode of payment, as a joint guarantee might possibly be decided upon, which the United States' Government were not in a position to agree to for reasons stated in my despatch of the 10th instant. I said that I had no instructions whatever to speak on the subject but, speaking for myself, it appeared highly desirable that the question should be disposed of as quickly as_ possible, and its reference to the Hague Tribunal must necessarily entail very considerable delay." From a later communication from Sir Ernest Satow, it appears thas Mr. Rockhill made the statement that his Government would be content to refer either the whole question or any part which, in the opinion of the Foreign Representatives, mi no likely tu be settled on the spot." When this statement was given no observation was made by any member fof the Diplomatic Corps who present.
The question of the withdrawal of the foreign troops was one which provoked considerable discussion among the Foreign Representatives, the Chinese themselves being urgent in their efforts to bring about the speedy cuntion of the occupied territory. On 19th April, 1901, the following communication bearing on the subject was at Lord Lans-lowrie's request, from the India Office to Lieutenant-General Sir A. Gaselee: natives at Peking have adv t the time has now come for the strength of allied forces in North China to be diminished. In this view we entirely concur. After consulting His y's Mi report as soon your propose's for giving effect to 'They should include the reduetion of force at Wetbaiwei, Hongkong, and Shanghai. Reduction of British force should bear reasonable proportion to reductions to which other Powers agree." On 30th April, 1901, the' British Government' were notified that Japan hud dee ded to reduce her troops in Pechili Province t" one brigade, and the sine date Biron Eckaristein informed the Marquess of Lansdowne, at the Foreign Office, that "the German Government agreed with His Majesty's Government in considering that it was desirable to act in accordance with the proposal made to the Powers by the Representatives at Peking, and described in Sir Ernest Satow's telegram of the 18th inst. as follows: "A partial reduction of the troops is already possible, but evacuation proper cannot commence before the Chinese Government shall have fulfilled the conditions of Articles 2 and 10 of the joint note, and shall have accepted the general principles which will be laid down for the payment of the indemnities, ie, the total figure and the manner of payment? On 29th April, 1901, General Gaselee recommended the reduction of the troops as soon as the evacuation of Peking was decided on, and {this appears to have been the unani linous opinion of the Generals, Lieutenant-General Sir A. Gaselee expressed his views in the following telegraphic communication to the India Office dated 1st May, 1901: "Delay in the evacuation of Chibli will probably cause loss of hundreds of men and largely add to cost of expedition, taking into consideration question of health of troops during the hot weather and difficult nature of Taku roadstead. It would facilitate the solution of the question if amount of indemnity were fixed upon separately from the mode in which China is to raise the money, as the latter may necessitate _diseussion covering many months. If the total amount of indemnity be fixed upon first and China declares her intention to pay, it will be time to begin the evacuation, which will take several months, so that the reduction would take effect gradually."
it Ernest Satow, however, was of the opinion that satisfaction in regard to punishment should be insisted on before commencing to evacuate, On 15th May, 1901, the Marquess of Lansdowne addressed the following enquiries to Sir Ernest Satow "We understand that about 5,500 troops will be left in Chihli even after the withdrawal of troops referred to in General Officer Commanding's telegram of the 29th ult, In the event of the Chinese vernment satisfying the requirements of the Powers as described in your telegram of the 2nd instant, will it be necessary to retain so large a number? Has it yet been decided by the military authorities what the ultimate strength of the British garrison should be?" Two days later Sir Ernest Satow made the following response: "With reference to your Lordship's telegram of the 15th May, the following result has been arrived lat after consultation among the military authorities: When the
Commanding mentioned in his tele-troops. which the General Officer gram of the 29th April, have been withdrawn, there wil: be about 7,000 remaining. I will depend on the political situation whether the retention of so large a number of troops until the autumn will be necessary it was, however, with reference to a possible immediate reduction of troops, after the evacuation of Peking,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.