RUSSIA,JAPAN, AND CHINA.

Evening Star, Issue 12163, 6 April 1904, Page 3

RUSSIA,JAPAN, AND CHINA.

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IV. BRITISH INTERESTS IN THE FAR EAST, Bt Archibald S. Htted. The British, people have not shown an adequate appreciation of the important British interests which are involved in the present state of affairs in the Far East, nor of the manner in which they are threatened. British merchants, notably the old East, India Company with its “factories ” at Canton and elsewhere, were the pioneer traders in the countries washed by the Pacific, and it is a question of no small moment whether the result of years of effort, the sacrifice of many lives and of much treasure, is to bring its due reward in the future or whether foreign merchants are to reap where British traders have sown. Time was when British commercial and diplomatic prestige in the Far East was pre-eminent, and even now we have more than 50 per cent, of the entire external trade of China, send to this immense Empire about 75 per cent, of all the foreign goods she consumes, and do more of the carrying trade than all other nations combined. In trade the subjects of King Edward have no serious rival, except japan and America; the trade interests of Russia, Germany, and France are insignificant, but those of the United States are progressing fast, and Japan, being near at hand, has a great advantage. European Powers believe that trade follows the flag, and their diplomatic activity is merely intended to pave the way of the trader. British practice is for the trailer to go first, and for the Government to tardily" follow and support him more or less skilfully, and with more or less success. In China, foreign policy is inextricably intermixed with commercial policy, and the unfortunate fact is that while ten years ago British prestige stood supremo at Pekin, to-day it is at its lowest, and British traders are wondering how soon this state of affairs will react on trade to their detriment. Whatever the cause, it is beyond dispute that whereover British interests have been assailed they have suffered. Russia has triumphed in Manchuria, where British merchants had a trade valued at £3,000,000 a year; Germany has obtained a firm foothold in what was styled the British sphere of influence, the Yangtse valley; France gained the advantage in the dispute as to the valley of Mekong. —British Interests Defined.— What, it may be asked, are the exact interests which the British people have in the fate of China. They may be classified under two heads—(l) Territorial and diplomatic; (2) Commercial and shipping. A glance at the map shows that China is the neighbor of India, which may be said to be wedged in between China and Persia, with Russia on the borders of Afghanistan. So long as China and Persia remained independent, British statesmen had no cause for serious uneasiness from either side, and under the former ruler of Afghanistan that buffer State fulfilled its purpose admirably, and the Ameer earned the annuity of £120,000, which he is paid bv the Indian Government. Of late years, 'however, Russian influence has been steadily gaining ground in Persia and China. She has squeezed down on these countries. She is their banker, which means that she is in a peculiarly advantageous position to bring pressure to bear. Persia may borrow only from Russia, ,just as China, having once dipped into the Russian treasury, dare not now float any loan except with jkosmctiaa o£ .§£. Petecsfcnj^

—Russia Plays a Friendly Game.— One illustration, which may have been forgotten, is quoted to show the methods of Russia After the war between China and Japan, Russia, supported by Germany and France, intervened as the friend of China, and compelled the victor to hand back Port Arthur, which, with a good deal of surrounding territory, had been gained by the Japanese at the point of the sword, on the ground that the cession would be an outrage on tho sovereign rights of China. No objection was raised to the sum at which the indemnity had been fixed by the Japanese authorities. ”hy? When the first instalment of half tho total sum of £30,000,000 became due, the Chinese exchequer was practically empty. Russia once more was anxious to show herself the friend of the vanquished, and advanced the necessary money. Later, when the second instalment had to be paid, the British Government proffered a loan to supply an equipoire, and negotiations were well under way, when the Chinese withdrew, because they had been informed that Russia, the friend" of China, would consider it an unfriendly act if she went to Great Britain for money. The sequel, the growth of Russian influence at Pekin, the running of the railway through* Manchuria, and tho seizure of this large slice of tho Chinese Empire, are. events too familiar to need recital. These incidents serve to illustrate the ■ methods by which Russia, ever vigilant, has built up her influence at the Courts of Pekin and Teheran, and where Russia is predominant British diplomacy is at a discount. The misfortunes of her neighbors have always been Russia’s opportunities, and by endless wiles and the Sidlful display of money—money of the French peasantry—she has succeeded in developing her policy of expansion in the Far and -Middle East. Great Britain has protested time and .again, worried and nagged, but always has the Muscovite Power can-led out her intention. The result of Russia’s policy, worked out with steady, dogged determination, is that India’s nearest neighbors, instead of being independent Powers, have passed largely under tae influence of the Czar’s Government. Whether she will swallow them in time who can say.' At each step the diplomatist lias been supported by naval and military power. Every new man-of-war completed m tire past sLx years has" been despatched to China waters, many of them not direct and swiftly, but with sufficient ease ot movement to enable them to pat in an appearance in the Persian Gulf on the way. Knowing that the Asiatic is apt to judge naval power more by the number of funnels seen silhouetted on the horizon than bv tne thickness of armor and the power of tne guns, Russia has taken pains to crowd her vessels, naval and mercantile, with ‘ smoke stacks.”

—British Influence in China,—

Great Britain and her colonies, particularly Australasia, still have the lions share of the trade of China, and what amounts almost to a monopoly of the shipping. British trade hold> a unique position stUI in spite of all the efforts of foreign nations to hamper it. At the head of the Imperial Maritime Customs is a Briton—an Irishman, Sir Robert Hart, and China has given her word—or what it is worth—that so long as Great Britain enjoys the largest share of the trade of the country this important appointment shall be held by an Englishman. This financier and statesman has been in China for fifty years; in fact, since he graduated at Queen’s College, Belfast. In 1865 he was appointed ln-spf,-j;or-General of the Imperial Maritime Customs, and in 1836 he took over the control also of the Department of Posts, and Las done much to improve, as far as he has been able, the educational system of the Empire, The Customs and Posts are Mho only two departments of Chinese administration which are will managed, and Sir Robert Hart s work has gained for him tire ad miration of the world, excluding, of course, Russia, which has always regarded him with disfavor. He possesses orders conferred on him by the late Pope, Germany, Italy, Prance, Austria, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Holland, and Belgium. England also owes to him a debt of gratitude for training Mr M'Leavy Brown, who for some years, in spite of Russian intrigue, has controlled (he Maritime Customs oi Corea, besides acting as Finance Minister n. that country. Great Britain occupies still a position in the Far East which is of immense importance to the commence of this country, and surely the Government will not allow it to be undermined and destroyed without a struggle. In another respect British interests axe involved in China. As a result of various concessions, British capitalists have secured the option to lay 3,000 miles of railway in the Empire, and in addition to the Pekin Syndicate financed by British capitalists, which has obtained important concessions to work coal, iron, and petroleum in the province of Shansi, has also the right to lay railways from their works in this province, aiid in the province of Honan. A Great Market for British Products.— Great Britain was responsible for opening China to the world, laid the first railway in the Empire (which the Chinese promptly tore up because a man was killed), organised the Customs and for many years had the foreign trade of China practically to herself, and has still a great stake in the country. It is, however, Russia’s diplomatic influence which is predominant at present in the Far East, and by loans and threats, the display of fighting power, and by many wiles known to Russian diplomatists she is fastening firmly on to China and Persia. The point to' be borne in mind by the British people is not the mere value of the trade they do to-day with the Chinese, but the trade which they may do in the future. _At present the' external trade of China is not very extensive relatively to the aggregate foreign commerce of this country, but what will it be ip the future? There is a population of 380,000,000 in the Empire. So long as Western civilisation was kept at baythe simple rudimentary wants of this gmantic population were supplied from within the Empire. They had everything they had learnt to need; the best of beverages, tea; the most sustaining food for the Asiatic, rice ; and the most suitable materials for clothing, silk, cotton, and wool As Western civilisation penetrates among these millicns of people, now mostly cupied in primitive agricultural pursuits, a demand will arise for the impedimenta of the West, for all those goods which only nations with highly technical organisations and great resources can supply. Then these 880,000,000 people, the owners of a compact empire, rich agriculturally, strewn with, deposits of coal, iron, and other metals, and oil, of untold value, will require every kind of article which the Western world can send to them, in order that they may develop the resources of the land, and that as prosperity spreads, the general level of comfort may he raised. They will need machinery of every type, engines, electrical plant, agricultural and trade tools of all description, and manufactured goods of manifold kinds. When the awakening of China really begins, of which all observers admit that there are signs, will the British people be in a position to secure the lion’s share of this trade as the sacrifices and efforts of (he past would, warrant them in anticipating? Gradually the door of China is opening to the traders of the world, and it is of vital importance that highly protective countries should not so completely occupy the field as to enable them to slam the door m the face of the pioneer, the British merchant. On Saturday next: CHINA’S ATrmiDE TO THE RUSSOJAPANESE QUESTION. Bt Sm R. K. Douglas.