On Christmas Eve, 1924, the Government had formally thanked the Powers for their recognition and on the same date annoimeed by mandate a Rehabilitation Conference, which was to heal all past breaches and make China a united country, On January 2 an amnesty was published for all political prisoners except the ex-President Tsao Kun, On January 14 Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who had arrived in Peking on New Year's Eve, issued a statement from what proved to be his deathbed, that he and the Kuomintang would have no share in the Rehabilitation Conference, owing to itg lack of popular representation. Early in February. the Reorganization Conference—an instrument which had been devised earlier to pave the way for the Rehabilitation—met in Peking presided over by Chao Erh-sun, the old Viceroy of Manchuria. It continued to meet irregularly till the end of March, when it adjourned and there is no trace of its having met again, In all seriousness the problem was beyond it. On May 9 the students made a monster demonstration over the allosed killing of three of their number in the repression of the intended Humiliation Day parade—the truth is that one died of heart failure, a weak youth whose excitement became too much for him—they tried to wreck the house of the Minister of Edue tion and besieged the Chief Executive's palace. Apart from the demonstrations in connexion with May 80, there was all through the year increasing lawlessness among the 20,000 students of the capita both youths and girls, against their own authorities. On September 4 the Waichiaopu sent a formal note to the Dip plomatic Body demanding revision of the "unequal" treaties, a phrase which has now become famous. On September 30 and October 2 Mr. Oudendijk, Dutch and Senior Minister, and Mr. Shen Ju-lin exchanged letters, which purported to pass sponge over the Thirteen Demands, serving the questions of Mixed Court rendition and the representation of Chinese on the Shanghai Municipal Council for negotiation in Peking, On October 7 Ambassadorial rank, though not the title, was conferred on Dr. W. W. Yen, the newly appointed Minister to Great Britain. One imagines that this was a lame way of tendering the olive branch, On October 26 the Tariff Conference was formally open ed (Sir Ronald Macleay was the chief British delegate and Mr. Brooke-Smith was specially appointed to represent Shanghai). Mr. Hioki, the Japanese, made a notable speech, showing how Japan had obtained tariff autonomy by a steady process of internal reform and how China must do the same. This did not at all suit the Chinese, who got the support of the American delegates. The line laid down by Japan was abandoned and on Noveniber 18, the Sub-Committee on Tariff Autonomy' suddenly "caved in" to an "all or nothing" ultimatum by Dr. C. 'T. Wang and consented to Qhina's having full tariff autonomy on January 1, 1929. China made a parallel, but in no' sense conditioning, promise that by that date likin should be abolished. Since this meeting till the time of writing (mid February 1926) the Tariff Conference has done absolutely nothing of any conse-nonce, the political preoccupations of the Peking Government not allowing leisure or confidence to continue the discussions However, on December 10 the Government announced its desire henceforward to tax all foreigners resident in China. There has been no practical discussion of thi enunciation of policy. The Extraterr toriality Conference was to have met on December 18 (Judge Sir Skinner Turner the British delegate) but could not get to Peking owing to Li Ching-lin's war with the Kuominchun (see above). It held its first meeting on December 28 since when its proceedings have been "wropt in my-story." Which it is hardly too much to take as equivalent to "nothing done."
Finances The past year was not more distinguished for any attempt to put finance on a sound basis than its predecessors. On March 15 the 13th Year Loan, secured on the Customs surplus "and under the A Characteristic Sivily of the British Jurist at the Judicial Inquiry guardianship of the Inspector General of chuan, combined and rose $15,000,000, of which the Chinese bankers ions against commission and future inter 2 one condition of the Joan was that,000,009 should go to us and Consulates abroad, whose salaries were sadly in arrears, April 12 the long "Gold Franc" issue with France was settled: French view that the T.T. rate prevailing at the time of the Protocol of 1905 should be taken as the rate for future payments of the Boxer Indemnit; a loan was to be floated in America and the proceeds devoted to paying off the old creditors of the Banque Industrielle and setting it on its believed to have netted $10,000,000, of which some militarists and the Shanghai The Customs revenue for 1924 had been Hk, Tls. 69,550,000, an iner At first he was suc ce istration, which ful, but his ad-sinecures and naturally made him many enemies and by August 15 he had had to evacua pital and fall back on Kiating, Inter to On May 11 the A.P.C,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.