MAKING A TREATY

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1934, Page 15

MAKING A TREATY

TREATY WITH TIBETANS SEVEN-FOOT-LONG DOCUMENT. \ STORY OF THE SIGNING. Tibet had always been a very secluded country. It lay on the far side of the highest range of mountains in the world, and it was inhabited by a people who liked to keep themselves to ■ themselves, writes Sir Francis Younghusband in the Daily Telegraph. A hundred ayears ago that eccentric Englishman, Manning, arrived at Lhasa; and in January, 1846, two adventurous and talented French missionaries, Hue and Gabet had been there in disguise. But since then every effort of Europeans, and even Japanese and Indians, to reach the secred city had been resisted by the Tibetans. Now they had invaded British protected territory. They had refused to observe a treaty made by their Chinese suzerains on their behalf. They had returned letters sent to the Dalai Lama by the Viceroy. And while the Tibetans were behaving in this truculent way towards the British, the Dalai Lama was sending missions to the Tsar of Russia and receiving presents from him. The result of all this discourtesy was that in 1904 Lord Curzon dispatched a mission to Tibet to come to terms with them, settle the frontier, fix definite places at which trade between India and Tibet could be carried on, and arrange for means for communicating with the Tibetan authorities. To the charge of this mission I was appointed, and Mr. Claude White, who had served for many years on that frontier, and Mr. (now Sir Ernest) Wilton, of the Chinese Consular Service were appointed Assistant Commissioners. WITHOUT RESULT. At first attempts were made to negotiate just within the Tibetan frontier. But these had no result. Then the escort was considerably increased and placed under the charge of Brigadier - General Macdonald, and an advance was made Gyantse, half-way to Lhasa. Still the Tibetans would not negotiate. At Gyantse severe fighting took place for two months, and eventually an advance to Lhasa itself had to be made. As we neared our goal our excitement increased. We knew that the Potala, the Dalai Lama’s palace, stood cm a prominent hill, and that its roof was of burnished gold. Each day enthusiasts believed they detected through - every notch in the mountains and round every comer a ray from the glittering palace. At last we were at Lhasa itself. And the reality beat the expectation. It Is an ideal sacred city. It lies in a wide valley 12,000 ft above sea-level. Roimd it on every side are lofty mountains, many capped with eternal snow. The palace of the Grand Lama is set on a hill rising steeply out of the valley. It is most massively built of solid masonry into the rock till palace and rock look all one natural feature, more impressive even than Edinburgh Castle. We camped outside the town on August. But we were in none too pleasant a situation. In and around Lhasa were nearly 20,000 monks bitterly opposed to our presence, and of a very aggressive nature. The Grand Lama, who was head of the civil Government as well as spiritual leader, had withdrawn. He had, indeed, appointed a high Lama as Regent. Negotiating a treaty promised to be a slow process. GROWING FAMILIAR. In tackling the situation the first thing to do was to get the Tibetans accustomed to the sight of us; for we believed ourselves to be not so demoniacal as they had been accustomed to believe us. The Chinese Resident, towards whom the Tibetans had been just as truculent as they had been to the British, had paid the mission a visit on the day of their arrival; and on the following day the mission returned the visit, marching through the streets of Lhasa with an improvised band. A few days later the Regent appeared. He was a man of about seventy years of age, very sedate, dignified and courteous. He professed to have had little experience in dealing with worldly affairs. For all that, he could put the case against to the draft treaty very shrewdly. He would not presume, he said, to undertake on his own responsibility to conclude a treaty. The National Assembly, the Council of Four, the Abbots of three Great Monasteries must all be consulted. Let Lamas and daymen all come and discuss the matter, the Commissioner suggested. They all came. And with each one individualy the whole position was discussed. Each was allowed vo have his say to the full, and not till he had had his say was any attempt made to state the British f 356. He must be encouraged to empty himself before anything was put to him. Gradually the opposition began to give way. Nothing had been agreed to. No one man —not even the Regent —■was prepared to agree to one single clause of the treaty. Yet it was becoming evident that if all could be made responsible all would agree. So the principle of collective responsibility was adopted. All were had up together in the presence of the Chinese Resident. Pressure was then put on them. If they did not sign within a week there would be trouble. All professed horror. But all agreed. And that no one person should have the odium of agreeing, it was arranged that the seals of the Dalai Lama, the National Assembly, the Council, and the Abbots of the three Great Monasteries should all be affixed to the treaty. The Commissioner had insisted that

the signing of the treaty should take ffiace ta toe Potala itself. Fortunately, STwentwdl. The Chinese Rodent and his staff in their beautiful silk official robes were, present. Opposite the British Commissioner and the Chinese Resident were toe highest Lamas and yamen in Tibet, wearing their quaint head-dresses and priestly The Tibetans had stipulated that their copy of the treaty should be written on one sheet of paper m tlie three versions, English, Tibetan and Chinese. So an immense document, seven feet tn length, was produced, and to the treaty in each of the three languages each of the five seals had to be fixed, the Regent leading bearing .the magnificent jade seal of the Dalai Then to each of these . toe British Commissioner affixed his signature and seal. The same process had to be gone through with copies for Calcutta, London and Peking. “A ROAST ENGLISHMAN.” It was a dignified procedure, but it was carried out with great good humour Even the Tibetan general who had said that, though he did not usually eat meat, he would like to eat a roast Englishman, wore a smile. The Tibetans could now breathe again. After all the Great Oracle had been right. He had said the British would seethe up like boiling water, but soon SU For d< anotoer fortnight the British remained in Lhasa, visiting the Great Monasteries, distributing presents and receiving farewell visits. . The Tibetans believe that the Dalai Lama and some other _ of their Lamas are the very incarnation of what is most divine. There before his eyes a Tibetan can see what holiness is when he wants toe divine blessing he craves. ' vrorlr will eiort tmmsdiatelv.