where his violent anti-foreign proclivities led to his removal from office at the instance of the foreign Ministers. He was, however, soon afterwards appointed to his present post, and his attitude towards foreigners in allowing such horrors as have been described calls for the strongest retribution. The conduct of the Governor of Chêkiang is separately reported upon in my despatch regarding the massacre at Chu Chou. The Marquess of Salisbury. I have, &c., PELHAM L. WARREN. Mr. Herbert to the Marquess of Salisbury.-(Received September 27.) MY LORD, Paris, September 23, 1900. IN the course of a conversation to-day, in regard to Chinese affairs, the German Ambassador informed me that, in accepting the recent German proposal, M. Delcassé had stated that he did so with much satisfaction, as it practically coincided with his own views, which he had communicated to the Chinese Minister so far back as July. There is no doubt that the German proposal is more favourably regarded here than the Russian plan, which was not well received by the French press. Prince Münster expressed the hope that Her Majesty's Government would accept the German proposal, as, in his opinion, it was necessary that Germany and England should act together in China, "their interests there being identical." I have, &c., The Marquess of Salisbury. MICHAEL H. HERBERT. Mr. C. Hardinge to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received (Telegraphic.) September 27.) St. Petersburgh, September 27, 1900. I SAW Count Lamsdorff this afternoon and obtained further particulars from his Excellency as to the terms of the reply returned by the Russian Government to M. de Bülow's Circular, the substance of which I had the honour of telegraphing to your Lordship. Count Lamsdorff informed me that he had requested the German Government to favour him with more comprehensive explanatory details on the subject of the delivery of the guilty leaders by the Chinese Government, giving his opinion that the better course would be that they should receive their punishment from the Central Imperial authority of their own country and not be handed over to the foreign Powers; far greater effect would be produced in China by such a mode of procedure than if the leaders were delivered to the Powers for punishment. His Excellency had also expressed the opinion that the question of the punishment of these persons should form one of the guarantees which the Plenipotentiaries of the Chinese Government should be compelled to give during the course of the negotiations with the Representatives of the foreign Powers, as a security that such occurrences as had recently taken place in China should not be repeated. The phrase "renewal of diplomatic relations," which the punishment of the guilty leaders was to precede, had seemed to him to require further explanation which he had just telegraphed to Berlin to obtain, his view being that there had never been any rupture of diplomatic relations as had been strikingly proved by the fact that a new German Minister had been appointed. Mr. C. Hardinge to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received MY LORD, September 28.) St. Petersburgh, September 25, 1900. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith to your Lordship the French text of an official communication published in this day's "Journal de Saint-Pétersbourg," respecting the recent Imperial Order for the withdrawal of the Russian Legation, troops, and subjects from Peking to Tien-tsin. The Marquess of Salisbury. I have, &c., CHARLES HARDINGE. (Inclosure.)—Extract from the "Journal de Saint-Pétersbourg” of September 1, 1900. LE "Messager Officiel" publie aujourd'hui la communication suivante: "L'ordre de Sa Majesté l'Empereur concernant le départ de la Légation Impériale, du détachement de troupes Russes et des sujets Russes de Pékin à Tien-tsin, ordre qui avait été transmis par télégraphe par les Ministères compétents les 12 et 13 Août, est parvenu seulement le 23 du même mois à la Légation, et le 24 au Commandant des troupes Russes, parce que le télégraphe ne fonetionnait pas régulièrement et à cause des difficultés des communications entre Taku et la capitale Chinoise. "Le Ministre de Russie, Conseiller d'État Actuel, Giers, et le Lieutenant-Général Linévitch, ont pris aussitôt toutes les mesures nécessaires pour l'exécution de l'ordre Impérial précité. Plusieurs membres de la Légation de Russie et les premiers échelons du détachement expéditionnaire se sont déjà mis en route pour Tientsin; le départ du restant des troupes continue graduellement, s'achèvera dès que les conditions d'ordre local le permettront." Lord Currie to the Marquess of Salisbury.-(Received (Telegraphic.) Rome, September 28, 1900. THE following are the replies given by Italy to the three Russian questions in regard to China: At present Italy does not accept Prince Ching and Li Hungchang's credentials, and awaits information from the Italian Minister. Although the Italian Minister at Peking does not favour the proposal to withdraw the Legation to Tien-tsin, yet, when others withdraw, Italy is prepared to do the same. As to the negotiations for peace, Italy is of opinion that, in view of the German Circular, difficulties need not be anticipated in concluding it as soon as punishment has been effected. Italy has accepted the German Circular in principle, and replied to that effect. Sir C. Mac Donald to the Marquess of Salisbury.-(Received (Telegraphic.) September 29.) Peking, September 29, 1900. WITH reference to your Lordship's telegram of the 26th September, I have the honour to answer the two questions as follows: 1. It is quite possible to designate the guilty with certainty, and is likely that the list of each of my colleagues would be identical with the others. 2. Prince Tuan being one of the chief offenders, and seeming to be de facto the Chinese Government at the present time, it will be most difficult to seize the guilty. The Marquess of Salisbury to Mr. C. Hardinge. (Telegraphic.) Foreign Office, September 29, 1900. I HAVE replied to the Russian Circular of the 15th September in 1. That the present moment did not seem to me opportune for the withdrawal to Tien-tsin of Her Majesty's Minister. 2. That I could not myself give any decided opinion in regard to the sufficiency of the full powers of Li Hung-chang and Prince Ching; in the event, however, of other Powers being satisfied, Her Majesty's Government would not, on their part, be inclined to make any objections in the matter. 3. I said that there did not appear to me to be any reason why negotiations of a merely preliminary character should not be commenced with the Chinese Plenipotentiaries immediately, if the full powers held by Prince Ching and Li Hung-chang were ascertained to be sufficient for the purpose. SIR, The Marquess of Salisbury to Mr. C. Hardinge.—(Substance telegraphed.) Foreign Office, September 29, 1900. THE Russian Ambassador paid me a visit on the 18th instant, and put to me the three questions stated in my telegram of to-day, which I understood to be contained in a Circular telegram from Count Lamsdorff, dated the 15th September. His Excellency said that the Powers who were opposed to the evacuation of Peking by the international forces did not appear to object in principle to the withdrawal of their Legations from the Chinese capital, and he asked if Her Majesty's Government were prepared to transfer the British Legation to Tien-tsin. I replied that, while reserving complete liberty of action in the future, I did not consider the present moment opportune for such a transfer, which would doubtless be erroneously interpreted by the Chinese, and might even be the cause of conflict if no arrangement had been previously concluded and signed between the Powers and China at Peking. I also thought that the question of a change of residence of the foreign Representatives in China was essentially one for the consideration of the Representatives themselves, and that they should be consulted on the subject. M. de Staal then asked whether Her Majesty's Government considered the full powers with which Prince Ching and Li Hung-chang were furnished to be sufficient. I said that at this distance I did not feel competent to express any definite opinion, but that locally there seemed to be a disposition to question the validity of the documents in question. At the same time I had no prejudice against either of the two Chinese negotiators, and if other Powers were satisfied with the full powers with which they were furnished, Her Majesty's Government would not raise objections. Thirdly, his Excellency inquired whether Her Majesty's Government were disposed to instruct their diplomatic Representative in China to commence preliminary negotiations at once with the Chinese Plenipotentiaries. M. de Staal laid stress on the importance, in his opinion, of losing no time in entering upon preliminary negotiations with a view to avoiding international jealousies, which would be fostered by the press, and the development of which could find no more congenial soil than that of China. I informed his Excellency that I saw no reason why preliminary negotiations should not be opened, as soon as it was ascertained that the Chinese full powers were in proper form; but that the extremely complicated nature of the Chinese problem made it necessary to proceed with great caution. Hon. C. Hardinge. I am, &c., SALISBURY. The Marquess of Salisbury to Sir C. Mac Donald. (Telegraphic.) Foreign Office, September 30, 1900. WITH reference to your telegram of the 25th September, my previous telegrams will have conveyed to you the information that Her Majesty's Government have declined for the present to withdraw Her Majesty's Legation from the capital. No Government has, as far as I am aware, agreed to the Russian proposal unconditionally. Objections have been made by most of them. Sir C. MacDonald to the Marquess of Salisbury.—(Received (Telegraphic.) September 30.) Peking, September 30, 1900. So far as I am aware, no official assurances have as yet been given as regards the safety of the Empress-Dowager, but it is certainly the belief of Prince Ching that her person would be safe if she returned, although she would be excluded from power. This he gathers from his conversation with foreign Representatives. All chance of inducing the Throne to get rid of its present advisers would be, I believe, destroyed were any threat to the contrary made. |