The causes of the outbreak at Changsha are again discussed
by the Times Shanghai correspondent in two interesting despatches published in last Saturday's issue. In the first letter the correspondent attributes the rising to a mixture of motives,—maladministration by provincial officials, the presence of famine refugees from other parts, and the long- standing anti-foreign prejudice of the Hunanese. The origin of this feeling is doubtful, but it was embittered at the time of the Taiping revolt, which the people of Changsha believed to have been inspired by the foreigners. Hunan is practi- cally self-supporting in its products, and Changsha is a stronghold of the old-fashioned type of gentry and retired reactionary officials, who found a man after their own hearts in the Customs Taotai Chu, "a fine Chinese scholar." The correspondent looks forward to the coming of the Canton- Hankau Railway as likely to mitigate the implacable prejudice of the people of Changsha. At present they are in the curious position of showing an eagerness for foreign products, but "the foreigner himself they do not want." The later letter announces the dismissal of the Taotai Chu, and adduces evidence to show that the riots were deliberately organised with a definite programme by leaders, many of whom came from outside.
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