CHESHIRE, Vice-Consul in Charge to G. F. Seward, March 15, 1880

Mr. Cheshire to Mr. Seward.

Sir: Pursuant to the request contained in your dispatch No. 74, I now have the honor to submit to you such facts as I have been able to obtain bearing upon the war power of this province, army of Kwang-tung. The number of regular troops allotted to the whole of Canton province is stated to be from 60,000 to 70,000. These are divided into the active forces and the garrison forces, the first category drawing higher pay than the second.

The pay of a soldier is 9 mace, 7 candareens, or equivalent to about $1.25 per month. To this is added a certain quantity of rice a month. When on active service I understand that an additional allowance is frequently made by the provincial administrative office, which amounts in some cases, to about $13 per month. Most of the fighting on land is done by “braves” or irregulars (see Mayer’s Chinese Government, page 59), who are paid from $6 to $7 per month for each man.

The real centers of military strength in the Canton province are Wei Chow, Canton, Shin Kuan, Swatow, Chin-chow, Lungwen, Hainan, and Kao Yao. The number of forces stationed at these places is put down at from 10,000 to 12,000 in all, and are mostly equipped with foreign rifles. Most of the forces stationed inland are armed with gingals.

The Chu-fang or Manchu garrison stationed at Canton is estimated to number about 3,500 men, including infantry and cavalry, 2,000 of which are drilled after the European fashion. This garrison is under the command of a Tartar general and two Tartar lieutenant generals, The majority of this force is assigned to guard duty, while some are employed at the various Tartar Yamêns in the capacity of clerks or assistants.

The pay of the Manchu soldier varies from $3 to $6 per month; petty officers, such as corporate and warrant officers, receive from $7 to $10 per month.

navy.

The Chinese navy of Canton consists principally of native craft. I am informed by a captain in command of one of the viceroy’s gunboats that there is a very large fleet of junks of war plying in the Canton waters. They are armed with from two to five guns, ranging from 12 to 18 pounders.

The principal naval station is at “The Bogue,” where the Chinese admiral-in-chief has his headquarter. There are also, in addition to these junks of war, about twelve foreign gunboats under the control of the viceroy, five of which are commanded by English and French officers. Of those commanded by foreign officers there are two carrying each seven guns of Armstrong and Krupp manufacture, viz: one 70-pounder Armstrong, two 20-pounders Krupp, two 18-pounders Krupp, two 12-pounders Krupp. The other three carry each four guns, and twelve 18-pounders (Krupp.)

The seven vessels commanded by Chinese officers are armed with three to four guns 18 to 24-pounders (Krupp.)

It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of men in the Canton navy, but I understand that there are not more than 3,000 regular marines.

forts.

During the past three years the provincial government has built five new forts, all of concrete, and said to be formidable defenses. There are three at or near “The Bogue,” commonly called “The Bogue Forts,” one between this and Whampoa, and another about three miles from Canton city, on the southern branch of the Pearl River. These forts have not as yet been supplied with guns.

arsenals.

There are three arsenals (so-called by the Chinese) within this consular district, one at a place called Tsing Pu, about four miles north of Canton, one at the south gate of Canton, and one at Whampoa.

The Tsing Pu arsenal was established about four years ago. It is the largest establishment of the kind in the Canton province, and it is fitted with very heavy machinery of English manufacture. There is a powder factory attached to the arsenal where the Chinese have been manufacturing powder for the past year and a half. Several small vessels (steamers) have been built at this place, ranging from 100 to 200 tons burden, but owing to the small depth of water in front of the ship-building yards, I do not think that any other but small vessels can be built there.

south gate arsenal.

This is a small establishment and the principal work done there is the manufacture of machinery, jingalls, and cartridges.

whampoa arsenal.

This was formerly the Hong-Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, which was purchased by the provincial government some three years ago. The only use the Chinese have made of this place, thus far, has been docking and repairing the foreign built steamers belonging to this province. There are no training schools at any of these establishments such as at the Foo Chow arsenal, where navigation, mechanics, &c., are taught. Most of the workmen employed at the above arsenals are Chinese who served an apprenticeship in foreign machine shops, boiler factories, and ship-building establishments.

Mr. Williams, at Swatow, writes as follows:

war power of china.

From personal inspection in this part of the Chinese Empire, I am satisfied that no serious opposition could be made by the Chinese local officials to the invasion of this part of the empire by any nation having the inclination to do so. It is true there are some seven different forts within a radius of 40 miles, only one of these being good for anything, having one gun mounted in it at present, with embrasures for about a dozen others; that is the new fortification built some two years since at Kialut, about two miles below the town; the remaining six are in a state of ruin and decay with a few old rusted cannon half buried in the mud, in and around the ruins.

On the occasional visits of some military officials a display of banners is made from the walls of these old ruins, and a few coolies are employed and dressed up as soldiers for the occasion. From continued inquiries in various quarters and information received, I am quite satisfied that a large proportion of the troops in this part of the province of Kwang-tung exists on paper only, and in numbers makes a good show on the pay-roll. I have no doubt, however, but the military mandarins could procure a number Of recruits in case of an emergency; troops of this kind would naturally be deficient in drill, poorly armed, and lacking the knowledge of modern warfare, and would make but a poor resistance against drilled troops, equipped with the modern implements of war.

I may safely say that not more than five thousand troops armed with foreign weapons exist in this part of Kwang-tung province, who understand anything about foreign drill—the majority being armed with flint-locks, spears, and pikes, and knowing nothing about foreign drill; the total of all arms at present do not amount to over nine thousand, and those are scattered through the different districts.

vessels of war.

The Chinese have no modern war vessels stationed here, but the port is occasionally visited by one of the Foo-Chow gunboats, which remains but a short time. One small Chinese lorcha, with four rifle cannons, 9-pounders, remains in and around this port, looking after smugglers, and some eight or ten war junks are stationed at the island of Namao some thirty miles distant, which is the head station of the Chinese admiral.

Serious damage could be inflicted on the Chinese by an enemy having the control of this port, as several rich and important cities are conveniently located to Swatow, the centers of an extensive import and export trade all of these places can be reached by the boats or fleets of an enemy, and but a very few troops would be required, if assisted by vessels of war, to completely destroy innumerable towns and villages in addition to the walled cities of Chow-Chow-fu, Kit-Yang, and Chow-Chow-Yang, the latter with a population of 155,000, the next about 130,000 and the former with a population of about 300,000.

arsenals.

The Chinese have no places of this kind here, I have been lately informed that at the city of Kit-Yang, some forty miles above Swatow on the main river, which is the home of Ting Fu-tai, the ex-governor of Fuh-Chien. There also a considerable supply of gunpowder stowed, and a few hundred stand of rifles of foreign manufacture.

It is also known here, that the Chinese General Fang, locally named Peng Tye-Gin, has been for some few months past employed in the manufacture of gunpowder, in the vicinity of Chow-Chow-fu. He has in his employ a Chinaman educated in France, who is a chemist, and who, I understand, is managing the powder factory.

I have, &c.,