g disorder. This state of affairs was legalized by the Treaty of
Versailles, to which, however, America and China were not parties. The
Washington Conference, therefore, supplied an opportunity of raising the
question afresh.

At first, however, it seemed as if the Japanese would have things all
their own way. The Chinese wished to raise the question before the
Conference, while the Japanese wished to settle it in direct negotiation
with China. This point was important, because, ever since the
Lansing-Ishii agreement, the Japanese have tried to get the Powers to
recognize, in practice if not in theory, an informal Japanese
Protectorate over China, as a first step towards which it was necessary
to establish the principle that the Japanese should not be interfered
with in their diplomatic dealings with China. The Conference agreed to
the Japanese proposal that the Shantung question should not come before
the Conference, but should be dealt with in direct negotiations between
the Japanese and Chinese. The Japanese victory on this point, however,
was not complete, because it was arranged that, in the event of a
deadlock, Mr. Hughes and Sir Arthur Balfour should mediate. A deadlock,
of course, soon occurred, and it then appeared that the British were no
longer prepared to back up the Japanese whole-heartedly, as in the old
days. The American Administration, for the sake of peace, showed some
disposition to urge the Chinese to give way. But American opinion was
roused on the Shantung question, and it appeared that, unless a solution
more or less satisfactory to China was reached, the Senate would
probably refuse to ratify the various treaties which embodied the work
of the Conference. Therefore, at the last moment, the Americans strongly
urged Japan to give way, and we took the same line, though perhaps less
strongly. The result was the conclusion of the Shantung Treaty between
China and Japan.

By this Treaty, the Chinese recover everything in Shantung, except the
private property of Japanese subjects, and certain restrictions as
regards the railway. The railway was the great difficulty in the
negotiations, since, so long as the Japanese could control that, they
would have the province at their mercy. The Chinese offered to buy back
the railway at once, having raised about half the money as a result of
a patriotic movement among their merchants. This, however, the Japanese
refused to agree to. What was finally done was that