BUEMAH. 



115 



Haa?, the French consul at Mandalay, with 

 political as well as commercial objects in view, 

 was at this time endeavoring to secure com- 

 mercial privileges for French speculators, and 

 did not scruple to hold out promises of French 

 support to the Burmese ministers. Tangyet 

 Woon was sent by the Burmese Government 

 on a diplomatic mission to Europe. He con- 

 cluded a commercial treaty with Germany, and 

 a supplementary treaty embodying the same 

 provisions with France. It gave the rights 

 of free navigation and circulation, of trading 

 wholesale or retail, of immunity from special 

 taxation, of buying, possessing, and selling 

 land and houses, and of directly dealing with 

 the natives without the intermediation of the 

 royal brokers, who have been the standing 

 grievance of foreign trade in Burmah. Tangyet 

 warned his Government against relying on 

 France for political support. But Tinedah and 

 the others who possessed the King's ear con- 

 cealed the dispatches. Tinedah was virtually 

 prime minister, though Kinwoon, an old Ming- 

 yee, once an ambassador to Europe, and an 

 advocate of peace and moderation, was his 

 superior in rank. Consul Haas negotiated a 

 convention with the Burman Government, giv- 

 ing French companies the privilege of estab- 

 lishing a state bank, a monopoly of railroad 

 construction, a lease of the forests, and the col- 

 lection of navigation dues on the Irrawaddy. 

 This convention was reported to have been 

 secretly accepted by the French Government, 

 but M. de Freycinet, when interrogated in Sep- 

 tember, 1886, informed Lord Lyons that France 

 sought no exclusive commercial privileges in 

 Burmah. The extravagant tastes of the Queen 

 were said to be the reason for bestowing valu- 

 able concessions for an insufficient considera- 

 tion. Her demands for money are supposed 

 to have led the Government to bring a charge 

 against the Bombay and Burmah Trading Com- 

 pany, which had the monopoly of the teak- 

 forests. The company was accused of remov- 

 ing 56,177 logs without paying the royalty. 

 The Burmese court that tried the case was the 

 Hlootdaw, which decreed a fine of nearly $1,- 

 250,000 against the company. It was rumored 

 that M. Haas had promised to find French con- 

 tractors for the forest leases, if the franchises of 

 the British company should be annulled. Lord 

 Dufferin, in his report of March 24, intimated 

 that the Indian Government would soon be 

 compelled to demand the admission of a British 

 resident with an escort at Mandalay. He now 

 embraced the quarrel of the Trading Company, 

 and supported the demand to have the dispute 

 referred to arbitration. In a letter to the Bur- 

 mese ministry, dated Aug. 28, 1885, and signed 

 by the Secretary to the Chief Commissioner ot 

 British Burmah, the Burmese Government was 

 asked to suspend the judgment against the 

 trading corporation, to submit the matters in 

 dispute to an arbitrator appointed by the Vice- 

 roy, and to promise to abide by the arbitrator's 

 decision. The Burmese ministry replied that 



the case had been judicially investigated, and 

 that the Government would not interfere with 

 the execution of the law. 



The British Ultimatum. On October 22, E. S. 

 Symes, the Chief Commissioner's secretary, dis- 

 patched a letter to the Burmese Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, refusing to accept the reply 

 to the note of August 28, and making the fol- 

 lowing demands: 1, that an envoy from the 

 Viceroy and Governor-General shall be suita- 

 bly received at Mandalay, and that the pres- 

 ent dispute between your Government and the 

 Bombay-Burmah Trading Corporation shall be 

 settled with his concurrence ; 2, that all action 

 against the Bombay-Burmah Trading Corpora- 

 tion shall be suspended until the envoy ar- 

 rives ; 3, that for the future a diplomatic agent 

 from the Viceroy shall reside at Mandalay, 

 who shall receive becoming treatment at the 

 hands of your Government, and shall be sup- 

 plied by the British Government with a Brit- 

 ish guard of honor and a steamer. The envoy 

 and the permanent resident were to have free 

 access to the King, and should not be required 

 to submit to the obnoxious ceremonies of the 

 court. The letter also contained the demand 

 that the external relations of Burmah should 

 be under the control of the Government of 

 India, and required the Burman Government 

 to grant facilities for opening up railway com- 

 munications with China by way of Bhamo. 

 "Warlike measures were threatened in case the 

 Burmese Government did not reply by the 

 10th of November with the unconditional ac- 

 ceptance of the first three requirements, and a 

 general acquiescence in the wishes of the In- 

 dian Government on the other two subjects. 



Kinwoon and the Queen's mother counseled 

 the King to accept the English demands ; but 

 the war party prevailed. The reply to the 

 British ultimatum was dictated by Tinedah, 

 Athlaym Woon, and Kyung Mung Woon, the 

 representatives of the Old Burmese party, and 

 was pronounced unsatisfactory and hostile by 

 the British authorities. The British resident, 

 it was pointed out, had left Mandalay of his 

 own accord, and the Indian Government had 

 broken off diplomatic relations to the regret of 

 the King, who would welcome the return of 

 an English representative ; yet no reference 

 was made to the shoe question. The Bombay 

 company was told to present an appeal to the 

 King, and its case would be investigated. With 

 regard to the British demand to control the 

 foreign relations, the King replied that he must 

 first consult Germany^ France, and Italy. 



Gen. Prendergast was prepared to move a 

 hostile force up the Irrawaddy if, as was ex- 

 pected, the ultimatum should be rejected, 

 while Col. Sladen, who had been the last 

 British resident in Mandalay, was ready to 

 proceed as special envoy to the court of Ava 

 in the contrary event. 



The British Conquest. An army of 18,000 

 men, including camp-followers, was collected 

 at Thayetmyo, the last British station on the 



