MAP OF SHANTUNG PENINSULA, (BASED ON A GERMAN CHART,) SHOWING FORMER GERMAN CONCESSION IN WHITE. THIS AREA, WITH THE CITY OF KIAO-CHAU, IS TO BE RETURNED TO CHINA BY JAPAN, WITH CERTAIN RESERVATIONS not but view it with disappointment and dissatisfaction. These German rights in Shantung originated in an act of wanton aggression in 1897, characteristic of Prussian militarism. To transfer these rights to Japan, as the Council of Three proposes to do, is, therefore, to confirm an act of aggression which has been resented by the Chinese people ever since its perpetration. Such a virtual substitution of Japan for Germany in Shantung is serious enough in itself, but it becomes grave when the position of Japan in Southern Manchuria and Eastern Mongolia is read in connection with it. Firmly intrenched on both sides of the Gulf of Pe-chili, the water outlet of Peking, with a hold on the three trunk lines from Peking and connecting it with the rest of China, the capital becomes but an enclave in the midst of Japanese influence. Moreover, owing to China's declaration of war against the Central Powers on Aug. 14, 1917, and the abrogation of all treaties and agreements between China and these powers, the German rights automatically reverted to China. This declaration was officially notified to and taken cognizance of by the allied and associated Governments. It is, therefore, significant that the Council in announcing the settlement of the Kiao-Chau-Shantung question referred to the rights to be transferred to Japan as "the rights formerly belonging to Germany." It appears clear, then, that the Council has been bestowing on Japan the rights, not of Germany, but of China; not of an enemy, but of an ally. The more powerful ally has reaped a benefit at the expense, not of the common enemy, but of the weaker ally. CHINA'S HOLY LAND Besides, Shantung is China's Holy Land, packed with memories of Confucius and Mencius and hallowed as the cradle of her civilization. If it is the intention. of the Council to restore it to China, it is difficult to see on what consideration of principles or of expediency can be justified the transfer in the first instance to an alien power which then "voluntarily engages to hand it back to the rightful owner. Japan based its claim for the German rights in Shantung also on the treaty and notes of 1915, and the notes of 1918 with China. It is to be noted, however, that the documents of 1915 were agreed to by China under coercion of an ultimatum threatening war in case of non-compliance with the twenty-one demands. The notes of 1918 were made by China as the price for Japan's promise to withdraw her troops, whose presence in the interior of Shantung, as well as the establishment of Japanese civil administration bureaus in the district, had aroused such popular opposition that the Chinese Government felt constrained to make the arrangement. The Chinese delegation understands that the Council was prompted by the fact that Great Britain and France had undertaken in February and March, 1917, to support at the Peace Conference the transferring to Japan of the German To none of these rights in Shantung. China a party, secret agreements was nor was she informed of their contents when invited to join the war against the Central Empires. The fortunes of China appear thus to have been made objects of negotiation and compensation after she had already definitely allied herself with the allied powers. Apart from this, it is at least open to question how far these agreements will as China has be applicable, inasmuch The claims since become a belligerent. of Japan referred to in this agreement appear, moreover, to be scarcely compatible with the Fourteen Points adopted by the powers associated against Ger many. If the Council has granted the claims of Japan in full for the purpose of saving the League of Nations, as is intimated to be the case, China has less to complain of, believing, as she does, that it is a duty to make sacrifices for such a noble cause She cannot, as the League of Nations. however, refrain from wishing that the would be far Council had seen fit, as more consonant with the spirit of the League now on the eve of formation, to call upon strong Japan to forego her claims animated by a desire for aggrandizement, instead of upon weak China to surrender what is hers by right. China came to the conference with a strong faith in the lofty principles adopted by the allied and associated powers as the basis of a just and permanent world peace. Great, therefore, will be the disappointment and disillusion of the Chinese people over the proposed settlement. If there is reason for the Council to stand firm on the question of Fiume, there would seem to be all the more reason to uphold the claim of China relating to Shantung, which includes the future welfare of 36,000,000 souls, and the highest interest of peace in the Far East. STATEMENT OF PRESS BUREAU On May 4 the Chinese Press Bureau in Paris issued a supplementary statement, in which it declared that new light on the supplement of the Kiao-ChauShantung question had made the Chinese delegation indignant. This statement in part was as follows: Japan is given everything Germany ob- Although China has the best title to The important fact seems to be altogether ignored that Shantung is a Chinese province, the territory of a partner in the war on the side of the allied and associated powers. The Tsing-tao Railway was built with Chinese and German private capital, while the line of 280 miles is enTo substitute tirely in Chinese territory. Japan's for Germany's rights in this territory is to endanger greatly the welfare and security of the Chinese Republic, because Japan is much nearer to China than Germany and because she already claims a sphere of influence in Manchuria close to the north of Shantung. Reading the draft clauses, together with the outlines the Council has proposed in settlement, it is clear that the Council It has given makes China lose both ways. Japan not only more than Germany had in Shantung, but also more than Japan claims from China in the Treaty of 1915 and the notes of 1918. The Council's proposed settlement seems to sanction, for example, the policing of the Shantung Railway, a privilege which Germany did not exercise nor claim, and it is apprehended it substitutes a permanent Japanese settlement under Japanese control and administration for a German leasehold limited to a fixed period of years. Again, by transferring to Japan all German rights in Shantung, as stated in the draft clauses, it also appears to give Japan preferential rights which she did not claim from China, such as the supply of capital, materials and technical experts in Shantung. The more the Chinese delegates study the proposed settlement, the less they understand its meaning and purpose and the more they feel aggrieved. It will be difficult to explain to the Chinese people what the Peace Conference really means by justice. CABLE FOR INSTRUCTIONS It developed on May 9 that the Chinese delegation in Paris, uncertain what course to follow, had cabled to the Peking Government for instructions, and that this cable had crossed a message sent by the Chinese Prime Minister before he had had time to receive the delegation's appeal for guidance. In this communication the Chinese Government told the delegates that if they signed the treaty it would be bad for China; it was also intimated that in this event the return of the delegation would be attended by personal danger, owing to the violence of the public resentment against the assigning of Shantung to Japan. The Chinese delegates, however, stated that they regarded this message merely in the light of personal advice, and they announced that they would wait for an answer to their official request for instructions before determining their final line of action at the Peace Conference. They stated at the same time that they had also received a warning from the Joint Commission of North and South China in session at Shanghai urging them not to sign. As to the responsibility for the decision in favor of Japan, they declared that they did not blame Mr. Wilson, who was confronted with obstacles that were insurmountable in the combination of Great Britain and Japan linked by the Asiatic policy of the British Foreign Minister, Mr. Balfour. Five thousand Chinese students marched to the American and British Embassies in Peking on May 5 to urge Further confirmation of the intensity of Chinese feeling against the Japanese was given by Ambassador Morris at Tokio in reviewing the disorders above described. The Chinese delegation in Paris received messages from various parts of China threatening them with violence if they signed the treaty. One dispatch sent by 35,000 citizens of Shantung Province, the territory in dispute, and dated Tsinan-Fu, May 11, said: Regarding the Tsing-tao problem Japan shows contempt for public right and never ceases to be ambitious. The people of Shantung refuse to accept as effective such illegal demands. The traitors to our country, Tsao Yu-Lin (Minister of Communications, whose house was burned at Peking) and Chang Tsung-Hsiang, (former Minister to Japan, who was severely beaten by the Chinese,' deserved death for the blow suffered by the Chinese people. Should you sign the Japanese proposal you must receive the same treatment upon returning to China. We cannot give ear to apologies. Do not fail us. We are much in earnest. Another message from the Province of Che-Kiang, dated Hangchow, May 10, and addressed to the Chinese Peace Delegates, said: The Assembly is extremely disappointed at hearing that the disposal of Tsing-tao has been left to the discretion of Japan alone. All are prepared to do what the crisis demands, but are hoping that you will yet effect a change in the situation. If necessary, withdraw from the Conference without signing the protocol. You can depend upon the full moral support of the people at home. Chinese colonies and associations in all parts of the world showered the delegation with resolutions against signing the treaty. The tone of the messages was such that responsible delegates like C. T. Wang, President of the Chinese Senate, said it would be quite impossible to sign unless the delegation received a written 448 assurance of the ultimate return of the ORGANIZED OPPOSITION Dispatches reaching Washington on It appeared on May 11 that Shantung TH and Dr. T. H. Hsu, a graduate of the University of Illinois. On their way via New York to Paris these delegates reviewed the whole situation. Expressing their fears scope of the Shantung cession, reas to the garding which they still had no complete information, they gave utterance to their conviction, which they declared represented the true feeling of all the people of China, that if Japan controlled Shantung Province, with what is considered the best seaport in China, as well as the railways, it would soon dominate Northern China. Japan would extend its control over Gradually Southern China, they said, and then when it felt strong enough it would declare a Monroe Doctrine of the Orient, eliminating Western nations from trade and settlement in the East. In this way strengthened during the war, would in Japan, which had become greatly a comparatively short time dominate the 400,000,000 people of China. These exaccurately the national sentiment of pressions, they maintained, represented China. Fate of the German Colonies HE disposition to be made of the former German colonies was decided at the Peace Conference in Paris on May 6, 1919, by the Council of ThreeM. Clemenceau, President Wilson, and Mr. Lloyd George. All are to be ruled under mandates from the League of Nations. The two greatest German possessions in Africa are assigned to British rule, and the other two are to be divided between Great Britain and France under an arrangement to be settled upon by those two countries. Japan gets the mandate for all the German islands in the Pacific north of the equator, and most of those south of the equator are to be divided between Australia and New Zealand. The official statement in detail is as follows: Togoland and Kamerun.-France and Great Britain shall make a joint recom mendation to the League of Nations as German East Africa.-The mandate shall German Southwest Africa.-The mandate shall be held by the Union of South Africa. The German Samoan Islands.-The man- The other German Pacific possessions The German Pacific islands north of the Thirty-five years ago Germany did same year she occupied a third of the largest island in the world, New Guinea, besides the small islands that border it. The following year she put her hand upon East Africa. In 1897 she established herself upon the coast of China, at Kiao-Chau; in 1899, in the Carolines, in the Palaos, in the Mariannes, and in the Marshall Islands; in 1900, in the Samoan Islands, and thus eventually she became one of the main powers of the Pacific Ocean. The results of this colossal acquisition of territory are traced in some detail by a writer in the French magazine, Lectures pour Tous. In less than twenty years Germany had acquired nearly 3,000,000 kilometers of territory, inhabited by more than 12,000,000 people. Her overseas empire was the third in the world for extent, the fourth for population, after those of Great Britain, France, and the Low Countries. Greater Germany had in her favor not only extent of territory and number of native inhabitants, she possessed also that precious quality for an ambitious power, distribution throughout the entire world. Wherever there was a piece of land either colonized or capable of being colonized by Europeans, there was also to be found a German province, large or small. Germany could intervene everywhere. Everywhere in Africa, in the Far East, in the Pacific, she had the ability, by 48.395.000 INHABTS BELGIUM GERMANY 38.079.000 INHABTS 15.677.000 INHABTS INHABITANTS AND AREAS OF DEPENDENCIES |