at Tientsin, and at once four or five other Powers demanded and secured similar concessions near by. The result was an intricate complication of foreign interests at Tientsin.

Russia's Usurpation of Manchuria

By far the most important and most threatening tangle of the year came out of the Russian occupation of Manchuria. In January the terms of a proposed treaty between China and Russia in regard to Manchuria were divulged. The convention had been formulated in secret and it was only at the last moment, just as it was ready to be signed, that the world learned of its existence. As reported through the press it included the following stipulations:

Russia was to restore to China as soon as practicable the civil administration of Manchuria, but was to maintain in the Province a military force strong enough to protect the railroad. In preserving order the Chinese were to be assisted by the Russians. China was to maintain no military force in the Province without the consent of Russia, and Chinese officials in the Manchurian administration were not to remain in office unless Russia approved of their conduct. The only foreigners to be employed in the military control of the Province were to be Russians. The Russians were to administer the District of Chinchow. China was to grant no mining or railway concessions to foreigners in Turkestan, Mongolia, or Manchuria. Such damages as had been caused to the Russian railroad by the Chinese insurgents were to be paid for with new concessions or with advantageous modifications of the old concessions. The Manchurian Railroad was to extend a branch line to the Great Wall.

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It will readily be seen that this treaty provided what would have been in effect a Russian protectorate over Manchuria. Naturally, therefore, most of the Powers interested in the Chinese settlement protested strongly against the negotiation of a separate treaty between China and Russia. Li Hung Chang, still the friend of Russia, exerted himself to secure the ratification of the treaty, but the protests of the Powers were so vehement that China in the end refused to sign. In its notification to Russia the Chinese Government said: "However willing China might be to grant any special privilege to one Power, it

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is impossible, when others object, that for the sake of making one nation friendly she should alienate the sympathies of all others."

As a result of China's formal decision, Russia issued the following statement of her position: "The Russian Government drew up the draft of a special agreement with China, providing for the gradual evacuation of Manchuria, as well as for the adoption of provisional measures to assure peace in that territory, and to prevent the recurrence of events similar to those of last year. Unfortunately, with the object of stirring up public opinion against Russia, alarming rumors were circulated in the foreign press regarding the purpose and intentions of the Russian Government. Falsified texts of a treaty establishing a protectorate over Manchuria were quoted, and erroneous reports were designedly spread of an alleged agreement between Russia and China. As a matter of fact this agreement was to serve as a basis for the restoration to China, as contemplated by the Russian Government, of the Province of Manchuria, which, in consequence of the alarming events of last year, was occupied by Russian troops. In order that the requisite military measures might be taken, it was imperative that the question should be settled one way or the other. It was impossible to lay down forthwith, by means of a mutual agreement, the conditions of the evacuation of Manchuria. According to the news received, serious hindrances were placed in the way of the conclusion of such an agreement, and, in consequence, its acceptance by China, which was indispensable for the gradual evacuation of the Province, proved to be impossible. 'As regards the eventual restoration of the Province to China, it is manifest that such intention can be carried out only when the normal situation is completely restored in the Empire, and the central Government established at the capital independent and strong enough to guarantee Russia against a recurrence of the events of last year. . . . Russia does not in any way insist upon the conclusion of any such agreement, and even abandons all possible negotiations in this matter. Inasmuch as the Imperial Government ever adheres faithfully to its original and oft-repeated program, it will quietly await the further course of events."

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If Russia had intended merely to formulate a plan for the restoration of Manchuria to Chinese control, it would have been a comparatively simple matter to prove the false character of the treaty as re

ported in the press by publishing the genuine text. In any event her statement was not accepted as sincere. In England the newspapers condensed it into the French sentence, J'y suis; j'y reste ("Here I am; here I stay"). In other words, Russia said that, if the Powers objected to her treaty with China, she would abandon the endeavor to secure it, and would remain in Manchuria with folded arms. By the failure of the treaty she had secured a position almost as strong as the advantage which the treaty would have given her. Nevertheless, the crisis that had arisen from the discovery of the negotiations died away. Japan had assumed a threatening attitude, but now she adopted a peaceful tone and ceased her openly warlike preparations.

In this connection let us take account of Russia's interests in Manchuria. Without reference to the early Russian expeditions through this region, it should be noted that the treaty of Aigun, signed by Russia and China in 1858, gave Russia all the territory north of the Amur River and east of the Usuri River, China retaining control of the south bank of the Amur as far as the junction of the Usuri. The few Manchus who lived north of the Amur were to remain subject to the Chinese authorities. Also, the frontier rivers were to be navigated only by Russian and Chinese vessels.

Time passed. Several hundred thousand Russian settlers found. their way to the valleys of the Amur and its tributaries, but there was no infringement upon the Chinese Province. After the Chino-Japanese War the Japanese had possession of Manchuria, and gave signs of intending to remain there. Then Russia, backed by France and Germany, demanded that the Japanese leave the Province in order that the sovereignty of China might be maintained. Sullenly the Japanese pulled up their tent-pegs and departed. They had long known that the natural outlets for their surplus population would be Korea and Manchuria, and they had believed that the control of these territories was now conclusively in their own hands. But the integrity of China. had to be maintained! And little Japan found no friends among the Powers to defend her claims.

In 1896 Russia negotiated a treaty with China by which the Russian Government was permitted to extend a branch of her Siberian railroad through Manchuria and to lease Port Arthur for a naval station. The ratification of this convention, unprotested by the Powers, gave the