CHAPTER XXX

BANDITS, INTRIGUERS, AND A HOUSE DIVIDED

There is a phase of Chinese life which I should touch upon if the picture I am trying to give of the China I knew is to be complete.

Brigandage is an established institution in China, where it has operated so long that people have become accustomed to it and take it for granted as a natural visitation. At this time there was a vicious circle around which brigands and troops and rich citizens and villagers were travelling, one in pursuit of the other. The brigands were recruited from disbanded soldiers--men who had lost connection with their family and clan. Often their families had been wiped out by famine, flood, or disease, or had been killed in the revolution. At other times the individual may have lost touch through a fault of his own causing him to be cast out. It is very difficult for an isolated person, without family and clan connections, to reëstablish himself. The easiest way is to enlist in the army. If that cannot be done, he becomes a brigand. Brigands foregather in provinces where the administration is lax or in remote regions difficult to reach. They lie in ambush and seize wealthy persons, who are carried off to the hills and released only when ransom is paid. In this way, a considerable tax is levied on accumulated wealth. This money the brigands spend among the villagers where they happen to be. Meanwhile, the Provincial Governor bethinks himself that a certain brigade or division has not been paid for a long time and therefore might cause trouble, so he announces what is called a "country cleansing campaign." The situation is so intolerable that the general sees himself forced to go to extremes, and to send his troops with orders to exterminate the brigands. They proceed to the infested regions; the brigands, having meanwhile got wind of these movements, depart for healthier climes, leaving the troops to quarter themselves on the villagers, who are by them relieved of the money which they have made out of the brigands. Some brigands may be unfortunate enough to be caught; some will be shot as an example, and others will be allowed to enlist. When the soldiers have dwelt for a while among the villagers, they report that the bands have now been fully suppressed and that the country is cleaned. They are then recalled to headquarters; their general reports to the governor, and is appropriately rewarded. Meanwhile, the brigands return from their safer haunts and begin again to catch wealthy people, whom they relieve of their surplus liquidable property. And so the circle revolves interminably.

A little more efficiency in China would deliver it of much of its intriguing and all of its banditry. Returning to Peking from a trip to the Philippines I found that Mr. Kyle, an American engineer on the Siems-Carey railway survey, and Mr. Purcell, another employé, had been seized by bandits in a remote part of Honan. The bandits took a large sum of silver these men were carrying to pay off the surveying parties farther up toward Szechuan, then they decided to hold Kyle and Purcell for ransom.

Doctor Tenney, the Chinese secretary, was in Kaifengfu, stirring up the provincial governor to hurry the release of the men. The company was quite ready to pay the ransom, and I could easily have induced the Chinese Government to pay it. I was advised that this would be the only certain way of rescuing the men, but I felt it would be a dangerous precedent; as the bandits would then go on taking and holding foreigners for ransom. Mr. Kyle was neither young nor robust. I feared for the strenuous life and the worry he was undergoing, but waited two weeks for the Central and the Provincial Government, which I made responsible, to get them back. One night, Mr. Purcell escaped. I then through Doctor Tenney notified the Governor-General that he must surround the entire region where the bandits were, telling them emphatically that if anything happened to Mr. Kyle the band would be hunted down and exterminated.

The threat was "got across" to the bandits, and with it a promise that those instrumental in restoring the captive would escape punishment and in some way be rewarded. After a week's further suspense Mr. Kyle was delivered to the pursuing troops and forthwith returned to Peking. The chief of the band was rewarded with a commission in the army; his henchmen were enlisted as soldiers. But those who had no part in the delivery were one by one caught and executed. So, in the end, a salutary example was set to keep bandits from interfering with foreigners.

Mr. Kyle moved with the band every night in their mountainous and inaccessible region. Over divides they went from valley to valley. Mr. Kyle kept his normal health, but complained that they had not let him sleep. He snored so loudly, the bandits told him, that they feared he would attract the notice of the troops; so, during the final ten days, he had not had a solid hour of sleep. But he made up his mind that he would keep his mental equipoise and his physical fitness in order to live through the experience.

Two woman missionaries had been taken at about the same time by bandits in Shantung Province. But they were released after a few days. The missionaries of the society they belonged to circulated a pamphlet somewhat later, pointing out the superior efficacy of prayer over diplomatic intervention. In response to prayer these two teachers had been freed within a week; whereas all our diplomatic efforts had not yet secured the release of the American engineer.

Fear of foreign displeasure lost the Chinese the chance to get the services of a great engineer. Before going to the Philippines I had been visited by Mr. Ostrougoff, Minister of Railways in Kerensky's time, who had inaugurated the Russian agreement under which Mr. John F. Stevens was given the task of helping to reorganize the Russian railways. The work had been prevented by disturbed conditions. Admiral Kolchak, together with Alexis Staal, had also called on me, with others who had faith in the beginnings of a representative political organization in Siberia. I recall Kolchak's fine, serious face, and his manner which was that of a man under the strain imposed by duties that transcend any mere personal interest. On my return, John F. Stevens came to Peking for a month. He was discouraged by the Russian and Siberian situation. The general breakdown, the social revolution, and the establishment of soviets had demolished the chances for carrying out his railway plans in Russia. No organized authority had backed him. In Peking he studied the Chinese railway situation. In his quiet, thorough-going way, he looked into the whole question for China; it was not long before he had great confidence in its possibilities. I felt it would be a godsend if a man of his genius for original planning and constructive work, proved in the great Panama Canal project; a man, moreover, who had intimate experience of American railway operation, could work out with the Chinese a systematic plan for developing their railway service. The Chinese would have eagerly welcomed this chance, but they were not free. The engagement of one foreigner would have brought demands to employ many more.

This was in the spring of 1918. I called on Mr. Liang Shih-yi to greet him on his return from exile. "The urgent thing," he said, "is to put a stop to military interference with the civil government. The question of a parliament is not quite so important, but, as it has been put to the fore, it must be solved first. My solution is to elect a new parliament under the old law. Then reduce the army and separate military from civilian affairs."

Liang described to me the characteristics of the nine chief southern leaders. They were rivals, they had their hostilities; no three leaders would agree. Two would come to an understanding, and the rest would turn and rend them. Finally, he predicted that Hsu Shih-chang would be the most likely candidate for President, Tuan having declined.

In Hunan the northern and southern troops were still fighting and inflicting suffering on the people there; General Chang Chin-yao, in particular, an opium-smoking gambler and corrupter, the military governor of Hunan; his troops destroyed certain property belonging to missionaries. American and British residents of Changsha, the capital, petitioned the British and American ministers for protection to foreign life and property. I had learned that the governor put no bridle on his troops. With my British and Japanese colleagues I insisted that commanding officers be held personally and individually responsible for injuries to foreigners. We pointed out that Chang, especially, was under observation. The Minister for Foreign Affairs delivered a warning, and Admiral Knight, whom I had fully advised, ordered a gunboat to Changsha.

Meanwhile, the War Participation Bureau, created to aid the Associated Powers in the Great War, was watched by Japan. Because of it they made their special military convention of which General Tuan had spoken to me, using the revolution in Russia and the rise of Bolshevism as their pretext. The Japanese militarist element in the Government was active and urgent, and General Aoki at Peking and General Tanaka at Tokyo were leaving no stone unturned to aid them. They sought at first a general military alliance. The Chinese would not consider anything so sweeping. Then the unrest in Siberia was made the basis of more limited coöperation. In March a preliminary entente was formed; China and Japan would consider in common the measures to be taken to cope with the Russian situation and to take part in the present war, and the means and conditions of coöperation would be arranged by the military and naval authorities of both countries.

War participation in general was thus put into the purview of mutual agreement between Japan and China. While no general military alliance was concluded, nevertheless the Japanese could now control what was to be done by China in the war. It meant that China would do nothing.

The terms of the military and naval conventions on methods of coöperating, concluded the 16th of May, flexibly permitted Japan in certain circumstances to control Chinese railways and resources. The whole thing was managed secretly. The public became suspicious of the results, since the chief arrangements were made not by the cabinet or the Foreign Office, but by the military and naval representatives. Would China longer freely coöperate with the other Allies? Would she not be under Japan's strict leadership? Was not this the entering wedge for a complete control of Chinese military affairs by Japan? Would not Chinese militarism be strengthened and made obedient to Japanese policy?

Japan's acts in Shantung gave these questions pertinence. There she was expropriating by eminent domain; in Tsingtau the Japanese authorities thus acquired about twelve square miles of land, including the shore of Kiaochow Bay for several miles, which gave control of every land approach and every possible steamship and railway terminal in this port. Plainly, Japan was carrying out a policy of permanent occupation.

While the Chino-Japanese entente was being negotiated, Japanese-controlled papers in China were preaching enmity to the white race. In May a Japanese parliamentary party visited China, making speeches calculated to stir racial feeling. The burden of the appeals was that, after the war, European nations would try to fasten their control more firmly on China, hence the yellow race should now unite in timely opposition.

Mr. Nishihara, close associate of the Japanese Premier, General Terauchi, was unofficially doing the financial business of Japan in China. The Japanese Legation could deny that negotiations were going on, while Japanese interests were actively influencing the financial measures of the Peking Government. A large loan was proposed, to be secured on the tobacco and wine revenues. They were the security for the existing American loan, with option for further advances. I asked Tsao Ju-lin, Minister of Finance, about this and his answer was: "The United States is not giving to China the assistance she gives to her other associates in the war. The American bankers have not completed their contract. It is necessary for China to look elsewhere."

Mr. Tsao said he would at any time consider American proposals and give them as favourable treatment as to any other nation. I asked assurances that before anything further was done on the basis of the tobacco and wine revenues, the American bank have a chance to consider a proposal from the Chinese Government under its option. The minister had denied that the revenues were now in any way involved; but at this request he sidestepped. I made the most of his denial, placing it on record in a note to the Foreign Office. The French minister took action similar to mine. Tsao was not only Minister of Finance; he was concurrently Minister of Communications. Both departments, therefore, were under the thumb of Japan.

I have rather rapidly sketched the state of affairs within China up to July of 1918. I wished a personal discussion of the situation with the officials at Washington--my first since America's entrance into the war. I left Peking for the United States after another long interview with General Tuan, who had become Premier. On June 27th the Premier stated to me his policy and motives with frankness. "If we stop military action," he said, "that would be interpreted as weakness. The south would only make more extravagant demands, and further encroach on northern territory. Force that is adequate--that answers the question. For this we need money. If home revenues are not enough, then we must have foreign loans. That will restore national unity, which, in turn, will make repayment easy. The army will be reformed. The people will get protection, and the country will prosper."

This policy was wise, inevitable, he thought. But it suited a class of inept generals who systematically made war at home, with only moderate risk of actual fighting. Their methods involved money more than bayonets.

"When you return from America," Tuan said at parting, "everything will be settled, and the south will recognize our authority."

A sea-borne war expedition, sent to conquer the south, was in his mind. I could not but express my conviction of the impossibility of such an achievement but he was obstinate.

I divided my time in America between Washington and New York, save for a visit to my mother. In four weeks I saw representatives of most of the great interests, public and private, involved in China. I by no means stopped with the State Department. I saw the Secretary of War and the Adjutant General, on questions dealing with the recruiting of troops to be stationed in China; the Intelligence Division of the War Department and of the Navy, as well as the Committee on Public Information; the Secretary of Commerce, and officials of the War Trade Board and War Industries Board, about restrictions on commerce and American commercial developments in China, together with the men of the Shipping Board about trans-Pacific lines. Among great private organizations I conferred with members of the National City Bank; J.P. Morgan & Company; the Guaranty Trust Company of New York; Kuhn, Loeb & Company; the General Electric and American Locomotive companies; the Standard Oil Company of New York; the International Banking Corporation and American International Corporation; the Chase National Bank; the Siems-Carey Company; Pacific Development Corporation, and the Continental & Commercial Bank of Chicago.

The American policy with respect to Russia and Siberia had not been determined, and in interviews with President Wilson the Siberian problem, to which I had been very close, as well as Chinese finance, were subjects of particular attention. I showed to the President how the Chinese got loans for alleged industrial purposes; then, with the connivance of the lenders, instead of building railways and telephone systems, they diverted them to political or partisan ends. Thus Chinese credit and the authority of the Government were progressively weakened. Then foreigners would encroach, and in some fields American opportunity was in danger of being restricted or lost entirely. I wished to see the United States backing financially a sound programme of Chinese reorganization. That would accord with our traditions. But jealousies and friction were to be eliminated, hence I favoured the forming of an International Public Loan Consortium.

This would support the credit of the Chinese Government and put Chinese finance on a sound basis. Such a consortium would claim priority in making all administrative or political loans; but monopoly should be avoided by leaving contracts for building and supplies open to competition, and by letting outside financiers make industrial loans. Of course, the Consortium as the chief backer of China should have full information about industrial loans, and each government should engage to scrutinize all loans made by its nationals for industries. All this, at his request, went to the President in a memorandum submitted on the 14th of August.

With respect to Siberia and Russia, my information led me to believe that the Russian people might still be influenced to remain friendly to the Allies, so as to prevent the growth of German control. I had in mind, not intervention, but economic assistance. I urged a commission that would aid the Russian people to import the commodities they needed most. The Russian Coöperative societies were anxious for just such assistance; thus, their leaders believed, further unfavourable developments could be prevented. I knew the Russians to be universally friendly; any movement initiated by America would be received with extreme goodwill.

President Wilson seemed to wish something like this to be carried out. He even discussed with me what men were most likely to succeed in organizing so huge an enterprise. But he feared to place a representative of "big business" in such a position; men would suspect selfish national motives. I felt that he wished America to lead in giving the Russian people such aid in reorganizing their economic life as would permanently benefit them and preserve them for our common cause.

After many, many departments and boards were consulted, I found they were not thinking of China. Their chief problem was to train the American army and transport it to the western front. They did not care to get Chinese contingents there. This was the critical moment of the war. By comparison other interests shrivelled. As for financial advances to China, the Government found that China entered the war after the law authorizing advances was passed. A new law would be needed. To propose it would bring up the whole question of war policy. The temper of the day was to concentrate every effort on the greatest immediate show of strength on the west front. I appreciated all this, but I deeply regretted that a tiny rivulet out of the vast streams of financial strength directed to Europe could not pass to China. Even one thousandth part of the funds given to Europe, invested in building up China, would have prevented many disheartening and disastrous developments. For every dollar tenfold in value would have been gained in fortifying Chinese ability to help in the war and in the post-bellum recovery.