120 



CHINA. 



notifying to the foreign legations that Mr. Gros- 

 venor proceeded to Yun-nan, informed them 

 that while negotiating on this subject at Peking, 

 he took the opportunity of insisting upon a 

 better observance of treaty obligations, espe- 

 cially with regard to the taxation on trade. 

 The Chinese Government agreed to institute 

 an inquiry and have a report prepared on the 

 subject as a basis for further negotiations. Mr. 

 Wade, however, stated that no new trade con- 

 vention was contemplated, and that no con- 

 vention could be operative if negotiated by 

 any one minister single-handed. It must be 

 accepted by all the foreign representatives alike. 



The native population appeared to be any- 

 thing but pleased with the arrangements made 

 by the Chinese Government with Mr. Wade. 

 Placards censuring the Government were ex- 

 tensively posted in Peking, but immediately re- 

 moved by the Chinese authorities. About the 

 same time trustworthy information was re- 

 ceived in Peking, clearly implicating the Maul- 

 main authorities in the murder, and in January, 

 1876, the Peking Gazette published an imperial 

 decree removing the Maulmain officials, and 

 handing them over to the imperial commissioner 

 for trial for the murder of Mr. Margary. 



On September 7th the Chinese Government 

 appointed Kwoh Sung-tao as minister to Eng- 

 land. The imperial decree, announcing this 

 appointment, was as follows : 



Let the expectant Vice-President Kwoh Sung-tao, 

 and the expectant Taotai Hsu K'ien-shea, of the 

 staff of the province of Chihli, invested with the 

 button of the second rank, having been appointed 

 as envoys extraordinary on a mission to England, 

 confer as may be needful with Li Hung-chang re- 

 specting the selection and appointment of the staff 

 of officials and Chinese interpreters whom they 

 should take as their suite. 



The Foo-cTiow Herald contains an interesting 

 account of the new minister to England. Born 

 in Hunan, he in 1845 attained the degree of 

 Tsiu-tsz, and was soon after made a member of 

 the Han-lin. He was thereupon made a Taoti 

 or Intendant of Circuit, and about 1862-'63 was 

 made governor of the Kwangtung province, a 

 post which he held for some months. Being 

 subsequently appointed to a similar post in the 

 Fo-kien and Chekiang viceroyalty, he* as some 

 allege, got into disgrace with Tso, the present 

 Viceroy of Shensi and Kansuh, on the ground 

 of his resisting the imposition of the Lekin tax, 

 and protesting against certain charges in the 

 administration of the native customs. At all 

 events, he was degraded to a Taotiship, and 

 thereupon withdrew from public life. Upon 

 the commencement of the present reign, how- 

 ever, he was, at Li-hung-Chang's recommenda- 

 tion, recalled to office as judicial commissioner 

 of Fuhkien. It is highly gratifying to find 

 that the official selected for such an important 

 office as that to which Kwoh has just been ap- 

 pointed, is of antecedents which even in Chi- 

 nese eyes make him a man of mark and con- 

 sideration. Grave and not altogether unfound- 

 ed fears were entertained, when the appoint- 



ment was announced, that the Chinese Govern- 

 ment had not even yet learned the necessity 

 of selecting an official whose status would 

 alike reflect credit on their own choice and 

 accord with those unwritten courtesies of dip- 

 lomacy which China has on previous occasions 

 but too frequently violated. That the new 

 envoy is, from a Chinese point of view, a man 

 occupying a position analogous to that occu- 

 pied by similar officials from Western countries, 

 is an unexpected evidence of good faith and 

 sincerity. Nor are the subordinate appoint- 

 ments as yet made less satisfactory. Mr. Hsu, 

 who will be Kwoh's deputy, has occupied a 

 fairly important position, and possesses, more- 

 over, some knowledge of English; while the 

 appointment of native students of the English 

 language from the Tung wen Kwan, or Peking 

 College, is a gratifying evidence that the cen- 

 tral Government is at length convinced of the 

 necessity of acting like other nations. 



The peaceful settlement of the difficulty be- 

 tween China and Japan relative to the Formo- 

 san expedition in December, 1874,* was main- 

 ly due to the intervention of Mr. Wade, the 

 British embassador at Peking. When it ap- 

 peared that the Japanese envoys Okubo and 

 Yanigiwara insisted on their demands, and that 

 the Chinese ministers were not disposed to 

 grant them, both sides agreed to refer the mat- 

 ter to the British embassador. M. de Gendre, 

 who was the chief instigator of the expedition, 

 withdrew on seeing the turn things were taking, 

 and the peace negotiations then commenced. 

 It is true that the Japanese gunboat Moschin 

 had been ordered to Tientsin, and that it was 

 reported that the two envoys were about to 

 break off the negotiations ; but, however 'disa- 

 greeable it was to the Chinese to be dictated 

 to by a small country like Japan, they could 

 not deny that the provincial Government of 

 Fo-kien had not done its duty in regard to 

 Formosa. The Japanese, on the other hand, 

 could not fail to see that, although they might 

 if they declared war be victorious at first, they 

 would ultimately have to yield to the great su- 

 periority of China in population and natural 

 resources. The pecuniary claims of Japan 

 thus diminished by degrees until they were re- 

 duced to 500,000 taels (150,000). After the 

 conclusion of peace, the transfer of the dis- 

 tricts occupied by the Japanese troops proceed- 

 ed without any difficulty. The soldiers were 

 heartily tired of their service, for their quar- 

 ters had been greatly injured by the storm. 

 The Chinese officials expressed great admira- 

 tion at the discipline of the Japanese troops 

 and the improvements they had introduced in 

 the districts they had occupied. 



After the departure of the Japanese troops 

 from Formosa, the conflict between the south- 

 ern aborigines of that island and the Chinese 

 troops began anew. In an encounter which 

 took place at a village called Hong-Kong, six 

 miles north of the old Japanese camp, the 



* See ANNUAL CTOLOP(EDIA for 1874. 



