Foreign Relations of the United States, 1901, Appendix, Affairs in China, Report of William W. Rockhill, Late Commissioner to China, with Accompanying Documents
Mr. Rockhill to Mr. Hay.
Peking, China, July 27, 1901.
Sir: For your further information in connection with that portion of my No. 69, of April 16 last, relating to a conference of the commanders of the various military contingents as to the measures necessary to be taken to carry out Articles VIII and IX of the Joint Note, [Page 285] I have the honor to inclose herewith a translation of the minutes of a second conference held at Tientsin July 16, under the presidency of General Voyron, commanding the French expeditionary forces and senior general.
The questions discussed by the conference were: (1) The jurisdiction of the military posts to be established along the railway line—Peking-Shanhaikwan—and the general command of the foreign expeditionary forces; (2) the destruction of fortifications which might impede free communication between Peking and the sea; (3) the entry of Chinese regulars into Peking, and (4) the date of the evacuation of Peking.
I also inclose copy of the reply of the diplomatic corps to the senior general, giving its views on the opinions expressed by the various generals in the conference of the 16th instant.
A communication, embodying the decision reached, will be addressed to the Chinese plenipotentiaries by the dean of the diplomatic corps.
I am, sir, etc.,
Minutes of a conference of the commanders in chief of the allied forces, held at Tientsin the 16th of July, under the presidency of Division General Voyron.
object of the meeting.
The conference of the commanders in chief, held on the 16th of April, under the presidency of his excellency, Field Marshal Count von Waldersee, has considered the consequences of Articles VIII and IX of the terms of peace, and had, in particular, enumerated the fortifications to be demolished and the garrisons to be left in Pechili by the different contingents. There remained to settle the measures for carrying these into effect and to fix more precisely certain details.
Division General Voyron, commander in chief of the French expeditionary force, and senior of the commanders in chief, had consequently called the meeting. All were present at the meeting, which began at 10 a.m., with the exception of Major Robertson, of the United States Army. Brigade General Sucillon, chief of the staff of the French expeditionary force, acted as secretary.
A letter of Major Robertson, dated the 14th of July, was read. In it he stated that the United States not having at present any military interest in the subjects under discussion, consequently he would not be present at the conference.
Division General Voyron briefly outlined the plan for the evacuation of Pechili by the expeditionary forces. It is to compose two periods:
First. Departure of the bulk of the troops and establishment along the lines of communication between Peking and the sea, in summer or in winter, of the garrisons necessary to insure security; maintenance at Tientsin of a supplementary contingent of 4,000 men until China has proved her determination to preserve order.
The ministers accredited to the Chinese Government had already taken the opinion of the troops of their respective nationalities on the question under discussion; the commanders very nearly agree on the way of settling them, and there are only divergencies of view, on questions of detail, which it will be very easy to harmonize.
1. The first question submitted to discussion was that of the jurisdiction of posts established on the railroad Peking-Shanhaikwan.
After having stated to the members of the conference the views which each one of them had communicated to the diplomatic corps, General Voyron remarked that the duty of the allied contingents was defined by the Very fact of their maintenance of the province of Chili, to insure security of communications between Peking and the sea. The localities assigned to each nation had been settled upon. There was no discussion about the policing of the railway stations being reserved to the British troops; the allied troops will have to look after the security of the line halfway to the next station.
For the protection of the flanks of the line, it was indispensable that an understanding should exist between the contingents, and that each post should inform its neighbors of any event, and, if it should be indispensable, should give aid and assistance to its neighbors.
[Page 286]In case of a movement appearing serious, the commanders in chief present at Tientsin would have to meet to take a joint decision.
Concerning the direction there are two systems: (1) The designation of a general commander in chief with authority ad hoc over all contingents; (2) the collective commanders in chief who would decide jointly.
Lieutenant-General de Lessel and General Gaselee were of opinion that there should be no commander in chief, and furthermore the settlement of this question depended exclusively on the diplomatic corps. The other commanders in chief accepted these views.
Until this point shall have been settled the committee of the commanders in chief shall decide, when necessary, on the measures to be taken and the operations to be carried out. It will meet upon the call of its president whenever he shall deem it necessary or on the request of one of its members, who shall state the reasons for his asking. The call shall be made in the form used in the meeting of this day.
As to the jurisdiction of the commanders of posts, General Voyron stated that it only concerned crimes or misdemeanors committed by Chinese against the railway, the telegraphic communications, or on the persons and goods of soldiers of the allied troops. It belonged to the contingents to determine themselves their judicial action for the repression of these crimes or misdemeanors by applying their respective military laws. It is well understood that the repressive action of the contingents, being only of a purely military object, shall not be exercised against Chinese injuring other Chinese; these are exclusively under native jurisdiction.
Lieutenant-General de Lessel proposed that jurisdiction shall be exercised over a strip of 2 miles to the right and to the left of the railroad and under the conditions indicated above. Colonel Garioni observed that if evil doers should be discovered and pursued, the troops can not be stopped by the existence of this limit. It was agreed that offenders could be pursued wherever it might be necessary.
Colonel Garioni asked what would be the relation of military posts to the regular Chinese troops in the neighborhood. It was agreed that if they had occasion to undertake any policing operations they should ask for permission to cross (the railroad zone).
General Voyron remarked that the question of jurisdiction offered a peculiarity at Tientsin in view of the existence of the council of the provisional government of the Chinese City, which was nothing more than emanation of the commanding officers of the allied forces. This body had made notable progress, and it would seem desirable that all the contingents should let it continue its functions for some time to come. The general opinion was that it was advisable to retain it to the second period of the occupation; that is to say, until the total of the garrisons should reach only 6,000 men. When that time came, the council of commanders in chief could come to a decision as to doing away with it.
Lieutenant-General de Lessel thought that even after the suppression of the council of the provisional government, when the troops of each nationality would be exclusively within their respective concessions, it would be necessary to exercise some control over the Chinese authorities to safeguard the interests at Tientsin of the important body of troops. The conference was of this opinion. The method of carrying it out will be examined at the proper time.
Second. The second question concerned the destruction of Chinese fortifications which might prevent free communication between Peking and the sea. A list of these was drawn up on the 6th of April.
Colonel Garioni, while accepting in principle the destruction of the forts at Taku and Shanhaikwan, thought it might be advisable to preserve these forts as a naval base and that it would be preferable to leave to the council of admirals the care of fixing the time when they should be destroyed.
Lieutenant-General de Lessel thought, on the contrary, that these works, like the others, should be destroyed as soon as possible. General Voyron, General Gaselee, Major-General Yamane, and Colonel Glinsky were of the same opinion.
The proposition of Colonel Garioni not having been accepted by the majority of the council, the commander of the Italian troops proposed that the destruction of these works should take place as late as possible—i. e., at the time when the allied forces shall evacuate Pechili. This motion was also not accepted.
As to the ways and means of carrying out the work, General Voyron proposed that the destruction of the works should take place at the expense of the Chinese Government, who would supply and pay the laborers necessary. This proposal was accepted.
General Voyron proposed furthermore that the council of the provisional government of the Chinese City should be intrusted with the direction and execution of all the work on its territory. This proposal was also adopted.
Lieutenant-General Gaselee proposed that the supervision of all these works should [Page 287] be given to a commission of technical officers of various nationalities so as to guard against accidents which might occur during the work.
Lieutenant-General de Lessel objected that there was no grounds for this apprehension as regards the work to be done by the provincial government, which had a competent staff, and that the intervention of a technical commission in these works would only be a source of difficulty.
It was agreed that the duties of the technical commission should only extend to the works to be done outside of the area of the provisional board. Each of the commanders of the allied forces shall designate an officer to serve on it and shall communicate his name to General Voyron.
General Gaselee remarked that some of the works to be destroyed, such as the Chinese camps, had no military value; they consisted of cantonments surrounded by an ordinary wall. They might be preserved. This view was accepted.
Major-General Yamane asked that when a work was destroyed an officer of the nationality occupying it should be designated to come to an understanding with the council of the provisional government and the technical commission of the location and arrangement of the barracks and buildings to be preserved.
It was furthermore agreed that the destruction of the forts was to be confined to the parapets, embankments, platforms, and, in general, to those portions which had an offensive or defensive character, but not to the buildings, barracks, etc., which might be useful to the allied contingents.
General Voyron put before the council the question of handing over to the British military authorities Fort No. 1 at Shanhaikwan, otherwise called the International Fort. As long as this work, the only one which has a sea front, was armed, there could be no question of leaving it to a single power; but when the parapet shall have been demolished and when it shall be no longer armed General Voyron had, personally, no objection to this fort being assigned to the British troops solely.
Colonel Glinsky was of the same opinion, subject to the same reservation.
General Gaselee stated that it was well understood that Fort No. 3 should be razed, and that only the barracks and storehouses should be preserved.
Fort No. 1 being reserved to the British troops, it was agreed, on the request of General Yamane, that the Japanese troops alone should occupy Fort No. 4.
Third. The third question discussed concerned the permission to be given the Chinese regulars to enter Peking.
General Voyron stated that until recently, under an understanding between him and General de Lassel, regulars had not been authorized to cross to the left bank of the Ta-Tsin-Ho. During the last few days, at the request of the diplomatic corps, their presence had been tolerated to a distance of 20 li of Peking. The diplomatic corps is of opinion that at the present time they might enter the capital.
General Voyron thought that the regulars might be authorized to enter Peking on condition that the commanders of the allied forces shall be previously made aware of their numbers; of the names of the chiefs commanding them; of the quarters where they are to be camped, and of their distribution in these quarters. Lieutenant-General de Lessel was of the opinion that with the guarantees asked for by General-Voyron, authorization might be granted.
Lieutenant-General Gaselee was of opinion that the regulars should not be allowed to come. General Garioni was of the same opinion.
General Voyron observed that when the allied troops shall have evacuated Peking, the regulars will immediately enter it; that the Chinese will not fail to say that their presence has put to flight the European troops. If on the contrary, during a certain period, the allied forces remained in Peking jointly with the Chinese troops, the people would see that the former evacuate the capital of their own free will and at their convenience.
These views are unanimously accepted, and it is decided that, until new orders, 3,000 regulars may be authorized to enter Peking.
Fourth. The fourth question was that of the evacuation of Peking.
Major-General Yamane asked that a day be fixed for that purpose. He proposed as the date the 14th of August, the anniversary of the taking of the capital by the allied forces.
Lieutenant-General Gaselee proposed the 15th of August, which was agreed to. It was agreed that each contingent shall leave the capital, leaving only behind the troops necessary for guards at the legations, according to the requirements of its particular plan of evacuation which depends on the arrival of its transports, etc.
General Voyron said that the French troops would be able to leave about the 10th of August. Lieutenant-General Gaselee stated that the British troops would leave about the 18th of August.
No objections were raised.
The meeting closed at 11.45.
Mr. de Cologan to General Voyron.
General: The minister of France has communicated to the representatives of the powers the minutes of the conference of the commanders in chief of the allied forces, held at Tientsin, the 16th of July, under your presidency.
I am directed to inform you, as president of said conference, of the views of the representatives of the powers on the different questions on which the commanders in chief of the allied forces have expressed their opinion.
As to the first question, that of the jurisdiction of the posts along the railroad line—Peking–Shanhaikwan—the representatives of the powers find no objection to the solution adopted by the conference of the commanders in chief, and mentioned in the minutes under No. 1.
The representatives of the powers admit, furthermore, the observations contained in the letter addressed to you, under date of the 19th of July, by General von Lessel, on the protection of railway stations.
As regards the question of pursuing malefactors detected in the act of an attempt against the railroad or the telegraph line, or against the persons or goods of soldiers of the allied forces, the representatives of the powers hold the same opinion as Colonel Garioni, but wish that, with the exception of the case of flagrante delicto, the search, pursuit, and arrest for the purpose of handing over the guilty to the military authorities, shall be performed, when outside of the limit of 2 miles, by the Chinese authorities.
As to the question of the maintenance and the eventual suppression of the provisional government of Tientsin, the foreign representatives have expressed the opinion that this question having been submitted to their respective governments, it is proper that it should be reserved.
An agreement having been reached by the commanders in chief of the allied forces on the conditions under which should take place the destruction of the Chinese forts which can prevent free communication between Peking and the sea, a list of which was drawn up in the meeting of the 6th of April, the foreign representatives give their assent to the conclusions reached by the conference and have directed me to notify the Chinese Government of the duties devolving upon it in the premises.
As regards the entry of Chinese regulars into Peking, the foreign representatives propose to examine this question conjointly with their military authorities and the Chinese plenipotentiaries.
As to the date of the evacuation of Peking, the foreign representatives accept the proposals made to them by the commanders in chief of the allied forces.
Please accept, general, the assurances of my highest consideration.
General von Lessel to General Voyron.
General: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, No. 1182, in which you are so kind as to transmit to me the minutes of the conference of the 16th instant.
I have only to make the two following observations:
1. On page 2 it is said “there is no discussion on the fact of the policing of the railway stations being reserved to the British troops,” etc.
While admitting that the policing of the stations should be performed by those who have the working of the line, it seems to me useful to establish the fact that the responsibility devolving on the various commanders of posts for the security of the line extends also to the security of the stations themselves, and that, consequently, these commanders, without interfering in the police business proper, should be independent as regards the measures they may take to guarantee the security of the stations and buildings pertaining thereto against attacks from whomever it may be.
2. On page 7 it is stated: “General Gaselee stated that it was well understood that Fort No. 3 should be razed,” etc.
It would seem that an error has occurred here; instead of Fort No. 3 it should be Fort No. 1.
The rest of the minutes are, in my opinion, correct and complete.
Please accept, General, etc.,
Lieutenant-General.