Tongku-Tientsin section was formally vested in the Russiaus by the Council of the allied admirals, the British and American representatives alone dissenting.1

Meanwhile, on the 14th, the native city of Tientsin had fallen into the hands of the allies, and preparations were now made to push on to Peking. The relief force of 20,000 men of all nations started from Tientsin on the 4th of August. On the 6th they occupied the ruins of the railway station at Yangtsun after a four hours' fight. Two days later the march was resumed, and after fighting at Hohsiwu 2 and Tungchow the force arrived outside the walls of Peking on the evening of the 13th. During the night of the 14th the city gates were forced, and the legations, after more than seven weeks' siege, were relieved.

In the train of the relief force the Russian railway engineers had pushed on to Yangtsun, and on the 9th of August assumed control of the Tientsin-Yangtsun section. Pursuing these tactics, they arrived on the 18th of September in the neighbourhood of Fengtai, which was found to have been previously occupied by a British force. The position soon became somewhat strained.

In September the British and Chinese Corporation estimated the damages to the Yangtsun-Peking section as requiring six months to repair, and they urged the British Government to secure the reinstatement of Mr. Kinder and his staff, who were available on the spot, and in a position from their knowledge of local conditions to carry out the work more expeditiously and effectively than military engineers. It was suggested that the British Government should guarantee the protection of the line, and undertake to include the expenditure in the general indemnity recoverable from the Chinese Government at the conclusion of hostilities.

Lord Salisbury, however, was unable to give any such undertaking, and informed the Corporation that efforts were being made to secure the creation of an international control over the railway.

The pressure was relieved on the 4th of October by FieldMarshall Count von Waldersee, the Commander-in-chief of the

1 It is understood that the Japanese Admiral desired to support his British and American colleagues, but owing to a mistake in the course of interpretation gave his assent to the Russian proposition.

2 Hohsiwu is rapidly becoming an historic field. Lord Elgin's force fought a battle there in 1860.

Allies, who proposed to give the Russians control of the line from Shanhaikwan to Yangtsun, and arrange for the Yangtsun-Peking section to be repaired and operated by the German military engineers assisted by engineers of the other powers. Finally, a convention was concluded between himself and the Russian General commanding on these lines, effect being given thereto in an Army Order issued on the 18th of October.

It has been generally recognised that Count von Waldersee's action was dictated by the necessities of the moment. It must be remembered that the Russians were already in armed occupation of the whole length of line now formally assigned to their control. While the Fengtai position was under discussion they had not been idle beyond Tongku. On the 30th of September Shanhaikwan was occupied, by the order of the Commander-in-chief, by a British officer and eighteen men, and the British flag hoisted. But on the 2nd of October a large Russian force arrived by sea, and along the line from Tongshan, and claimed the line from Tongku to Newchwang by right of conquest. The Chinese Engineering and Mining Company's property at Tongshan had been previously occupied, and steps were now taken to render the occupation of the line thoroughly effective.

Count von Waldersee's army order of the 18th of October, however, evoked such strong representations through the British Ambassadors at St. Petersburg and Berlin that, conscious of the internal weakness of their position, the Russians shortly found it expedient to consider the question of removing themselves beyond the Great Wall. Discussion ensued as to the terms on which the proposed evacuation should take place, and it was finally agreed that the Germans should in the first instance take over from the Russians, and subsequently surrender the control to the British authorities, a convention being signed on the 17th of January 1901 between Colonel von Schwartzhoff, the German Chief of Staff, and Colonel Keller. A few days later the transfer took place, and the Russians retired into Manchuria, taking with them two-fifths of the rolling stock on the entire railway, in accordance with the sixth clause of the agreement, and practically clearing out the bridge works at Shanhaikwan, some of the materials from which were, according to current reports, shipped to Port Arthur.1

On the 21st of February the British Military authorities com1 Blue Book, No. 7 of 1901, No. 101.

menced to take over the Peking-Shanhaikwan section in accordance with the arrangement made with the Commander-in-chief, and embodied in an agreement signed by Colonel von Schwartzhoff and General Barrow a few days previously. The handing over was completed on the 27th of February, Lieutenant-Colonel MacDonald, R.E., becoming Director of Railways.

The first incident of importance arising under the new administration was what is known as the Tientsin siding dispute. On the previous 6th of November the Russians had annexed by alleged right of conquest a strip of land on the east bank of the river at Tientsin, immediately opposite the British Settlement, in this area being included the railway station and two and a half miles of river frontage.

A note in this sense was circulated by the Russian Consul among his colleagues in Tientsin. Mr. C. W. Campbell, C.M.G., the British Acting Consul General acknowledged it, reserving all British rights, and subsequently on instructions of the Minister he informed the Russian Consul that Her Majesty's Government could only consider the Russian action of a temporary character. On the matter becoming known to the public the British Municipal Council at Tientsin entered a strong protest. Up to this time the foreign settlements had all been on the west side of the river, the desirability of keeping the east bank for the present undeveloped being generally recognised. The river at that point was already much too narrow for the traffic incidental to the use of the British Bund and wharves, and if the intention was, as must be assumed to be the case, to utilise the east bank for the landing of river-borne cargo, the result could not but be disastrous. Again, the area annexed had derived its value almost entirely from its proximity to the British Settlement, so that "if the time had come for the territory in question to pass under foreign control, the Municipality had without doubt the strongest claim to its acquisition." 1

In selecting sites for concessions, the Germans and Japanese had recognised the British claim to consideration in this connection, a claim that was greatly enhanced by the fact that a considerable loan for the improvement of the river had been guaranteed in the common interest by the British Municipality alone, justifying every effort being made to preserve their revenue and facilitate the improvement of the river.

1 Blue Book, No 7 of 1901. Inclosure 2 in No. 123.

It was not, of course, suggested that the Russians were not entitled to acquire a settlement at Tientsin; the objection was to the site that had been selected.

The Russian authorities, however, did not see their way to vacate the very valuable area they had occupied, and to silence objectors steps were taken to legalise the proceeding, an agreement being concluded on the 31st of December 1900 between M. de Giers and Li Hung Chang, formally conceding the territory in question.

Such being the position as regards the land east of the river, it was not long before a dispute arose between the Russian authorities and the British Railway Administration.

Early in March the latter commenced to construct a siding which was somewhat urgently required on land supposed to be the property of the railway, and as such included in the mortgage securing the loan by the British and Chinese Corporation. The Russians, however, disputed the title to the land in question, and claimed it as part of their recently acquired concession. On the 15th of March, by way of protest and to prevent the continuation of the work, Russian sentries were placed across the siding. In reply and to prevent any encroachment, General Lorne Campbell, the officer in command of the British troops in Tientsin at the time, promptly posted sentries at the point to which the work had proceeded. In a very short space the position became acute, and at times a collision seemed inevitable owing to the provocative attitude of the Russian troops from the outset, while at a later stage an alleged affront by British troops to the Russian flag nearly became the signal for a conflagration.

On the 19th of March the Russians commenced to construct a road along the river bank which it was seen would on the following day interfere with the beat of the British sentries. The attention of General Wogack, the Russian officer in command at Tientsin, was drawn to this, and the strength of the British garrison increased by a force of Australians from Peking and marines from Taku. The construction of the road ceased before reaching the critical point.

Two days later (21st March) it was arranged that a simultaneous withdrawal of sentries should take place at 5 a.m. the next morning, leaving the matter for settlement in the hands of the two Governments. This was done, but, as soon as the British

had withdrawn, the Russians returned and recommenced work, continuing their road through the disputed area, on which they saw fit to plant fresh flags. It was not till the 4th of April that they could be induced to comply with the arrangement that had been come to.

During the progress of this incident the British Railway Administration had been busily engaged reorganising the railway and repairing the line. By arrangement with the military authorities Mr. Kinder had collected several of his old staff, who became attached for the time being to the new administration. Mr. Kinder himself accepted the position of Engineer-in-chief, but subsequently, owing to disagreement with the military authorities, he resigned the position to Mr. Cox, and became Consulting Engineer pending the restoration of the railway to the Chinese.

This event took place rather more than a year later, on the 29th of September 1902. The protocol had been signed on the 7th of September 1901, and in the following January the Court had returned to Peking from its temporary exile at Hsianfu. Rather more than a month previously, the 15th of August 1902, the Provisional Government over Tientsin native city and district, which had been constituted by the allied Powers on the capture of the city in 1900, had surrendered their powers to Yuan Shih Kai, the newly appointed Viceroy of Chihli, and it was certainly time for the military control of the railway to cease. It is probable that it would have been determined earlier, but that the British action inside the wall was dependent on the Russian action beyond, the principle involved being, of course, that the whole length of line or none of it must be restored to the Chinese. It was only when the Russians saw that the British Government were determined to uphold that principle that they consented to

move.

A British military railway in the province of Chihli was obviously the last thing likely to accord with Russian aims; and so, after a struggle that had been waged without intermission since the stormy days of 1900 to secure the right to retain control of the Shanhaikwan-Newchwang section, it was agreed that the line should be restored to its rightful owners. The actual ceremony of handing over took place on the 8th of October 1902, when the Russians retired to the east of the Liao River.

There can be no reasonable doubt that they regarded the