It was a gold indebtedness subject to all sorts
of manipulations which no Chinese properly understood. It had
special political meaning and special political consequences
because the loans were virtually guaranteed by the Powers. It was
a long-drawn coup d'etat of a nature that all foreigners
understood because it forged external chains.
The internal significance was even greater than the external. The
loans were secured on the most important "direct" revenues
reaching Peking--the Customs receipts, which were concerned with
the most vital function in the new economic life springing up, the
steam-borne coasting and river-trade as well as the purely
foreign trade. That most vital function tended consequently to
become more and more hall-marked as foreign; it no longer depended
in any direct sense on Peking for protection. The hypothecation of
these revenues to foreigners for periods running into decades--
coupled with their administration by foreigners--was such a
distinct restriction of the rights of eminent domain as to amount
to a partial abrogation of sovereignty.
That this was vaguely understood by the masses is now quite
certain. The Boxer movement of 1900, like the great proletarian
risings which occurred in Italy in the pre-Christian era as a
result of the impoverishment and moral disorder brought about by
Roman misgovernment, was simply a socio-economic catastrophe
exhibiting itself in an unexpected form.
Pages:
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45