Riot in the French ConcessionThe first riot in Shanghai occurred in 1874 in the FrenchConcession， and originated in the following way. A portion of theChinese population who had their homes in Ningpo had erecteda Guild House toward the back of the French Concession， witha mortuary hall for the deposit of coffins， to be sent later to theirancestral homes， and with a cemetery for the burial of those whosefamilies were too poor to send the coffins back. In 1863 this area hadbeen included in the extension of the French Concession. The FrenchMunicipal Council drew up plans for the making of new roads， oneof which was to run through the cemetery， and in 1874 it was decidedto begin the construct. The Ningpo Guild on January 27th， 1874 ，made representations， objecting to the opening of the road throughthe cemetery， pointing out that the ground should be regarded assacred， and that it would offend the Chinese people to have the bodiesremoved and the spirits of the departed disturbed. The Council，perhaps not realizing how much Chinese susceptibilities would beinjured， was determined to carry out its purpose. A lengthy discussionwas held between the Taotai and the French Consul， but both partiesremained obdurate. Consequently the populace became more andmore excited and on May 3rd， a riot broke out.
An attempt was made to destroy the residence of M. Percebois，the French Council"s Road Inspector， and he， with his wife and familyof young children， narrowly escaped being murdered. Houses were seton fire and the lives of foreigners were imperiled. Many were wounded，some severely and some slightly， but none were killed. Although theriot was directed against the French， it was difficult for the rioters todistinguish between French and English and both alike were in danger.
The spread of the riot was prevented by the active measures takenby M. Voisin， the Chairman of the French Council， and M. Barbe， theCaptain of the French Police， who called in the aid of the volunteers，police and firemen of the International Settlement. In addition，twenty men were landed from the French gunboat “Couleuvre，” andseventy-eight men， with a Gatling gun， from the U. S. despatch boats“Ashuelot”， and “Yantic.” The Taotai later sent one hundred and fiftyChinese troops.
In fighting the fire on that occasion， the firemen of theInternational Settlement under the District Engineer， Mr. Brodie A.
Clarke， had to be escorted by armed police and soldiers through awildly excited mob.
On the night of the same day， rioting was renewed and someseven Chinese were shot and twelve severely wounded by the menfrom the “Couleuvre，” who broke loose from discipline， and usedtheir weapons as often as not against innocent people， allowing theringleaders to escape.
Attitude of the French ConsulDuring the crisis， the French Consul， M. Godeaux， acted withindecision. He hesitated about getting men from the ships， and theCouncil had been obliged to take matters into its own hands.
On the day following the riot， when the Consuls and Taotaimet to consider what should be done to restore peace， the FrenchConsul put out “an Urgent Proclamation” in which he abandoned theproposed road and enjoined the Guild to enclose its land with a wall.
The residents in the International Settlement felt that the Frenchhad shown little tact at the beginning of the affair， and that Godeaux"shasty concessions appeared to be placing a premium on mob-violence.
Many of the French， and the Swiss， who were under the care of theFrench Government， criticized their Consul severely and in retaliationhe withdrew for a time his protection from his Swiss protégés.
Attitude of the British AuthoritiesMr. Medhurst， the British Consul， refused to send Britishbluejackets to assist in putting down the riot， on the grounds that theEnglish should not be mixed up in a quarrel between the French anda Chinese clan， that the native authorities should be called upon torestore order， and that no intervention should take place unless thenative authorities failed.
The British Minister， Sir Thomas Wade， was of a differentopinion. He approved of the actions taken and pointed out that if therehad been no ships in harbour， the whole French Concession mighthave gone up in a blaze before order could have been restored.
Terms of Settlement
In the settlement of claims for damages， it was arranged thatthe Chinese authorities should pay for the cost of damage to foreignproperty， a sum of Tls. 37，000， while the French should pay Tls. 7，000
to the families of the Chinese who were killed.
One unscrupulous foreigner attempted to get rich by claimingthat Tls. 10，000 was due him on account of a bruise received on thehead and the loss of two teeth！
It was agreed that the Ningpo Joss House and cemetery shouldremain the property of the Guild forever and that no roads or drainsshould be made through the burial ground. As we shall see， theagreement was broken in 1898， at a time when the Chinese were lessable to resist than in 1874， and the road was then constructed.
We have dwelt at length upon this first riot， as it is a goodexample of difficulty arising between two peoples on account of theirdifferent points of view. To the Westerner， with his desire for thatwhich is useful， it seemed absurd that the construction of a road shouldbe held up by the unwillingness of the Chinese to remove some graves.
To the Chinese it seemed that the Westerner was wanting in respect forthe dead， the strongest cult in China.