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Government, when sensible Government enactments may be looked for, but we fear the present generation will not see this happy day.
I am attaching a cutting from a newspaper, issued this morning from a missionary correspondent at Wuchang, which well illustrates some of the statements made in this article.
Newspaper Extruct.
Amateur Revolutionaries.
THE officials are very alert to catch and destroy all the revolutionaries whom they can For the most part these seem to be foolish, half-informed students, who would upset the existing order of things in a violent and unconstitutional way, without having any well-thought-out scheme of governmen tor reform. Lacking experience, they of course soon expose their revolutionary ideas, and are easily found out by the authorities. For example, the meetings held by them here were to some extent open to the public, and, most light-heartedly, photograhers were engaged to photograph them as they met, and in various groups and sub-committees. Consequently, as soon as suspicion was aroused and one or two caught, the authorities, by purchasing the whole stock of the photographer's pictures, had most damning evidence against all those concerned.
One method adopted by these revolutionaries will be condemned by most outsiders. In order to obtain protection in case of trouble, some of the students obtained positions in mission schools as students, and tried to hide themselves under the protection of the Church. A year or two ago lawsuits were the great danger of Christian missionaries, many of whom unwittingly were led to interfere in cases which for the good of the Church had far better have been left alone. To-day the danger that threatens is that men with revolutionary and even anarchist views may make a pretence of Christianity in order to be received into the fold of the Church.
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing.
One case in Wuchang is of unusual interest to many of us, and as the matter is A certain still sub judice we can only state the bare facts so far as they are known. Mr. Liu, who only recently was baptized and received into one of the Wuchang churches, is now in prison. The other prisoners are said not only to have confessed their own guilt but also that of Mr. Liu, and undoubtedly there is much evidence of a compromising character against him. He himself has made a confession under torture which contains at any rate one inaccuracy, and this throws suspicion on his other confessions. But to the general observer of things Chinese the important fact is this: Why has torture been resorted to after some of us were assured that China had adopted a more humane code of criminal procedure? The reply of officials is that torture under ordinary circumstances is abolished, but where the Judges are satisfied that the evidence is sufficient to condemn a man to death he is so condemned, and then torture can be applied to obtain further evidence from him. To those of us who know this great people and their ways, such a reply shows that the abolition of torture is about as much an accomplished fact as the suppression of opium or the closing of shops during the first fortnight of the Chinese New Year. The shop is closed, but the door is open, and all can buy what they require. So, too, when at night the gates of the city are closed, there is often very conveniently one gate still unsealed through which the benighted traveller can pass in or out. The officials, in their determination to crush out this revolutionary movement, are ruthless and unscrupulous. In one case a telegram was sent to a missionary in England asking him to get a certain Chinese with whom he was known to bave some acquaintance to return to Wuchang to take up an important post in a Government school. Really the lesire was to use the missionary, who naturally would neither suspect nor be suspected by his victim, as a means of both finding and luring the man to China; once there he would undoubtedly be lodged at Government expense, but not in a Government school.
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Serious Trouble in Hunan.
Quite a number of troops have been sent from here to the north-eastern corner of Hunan, where there is some trouble. The following extracts from the letter of a missionary in Hsinyang will be of interest :--
"This place is now being washed in blood. So far skirmishes and executions account for 2,000 deaths. Every day from five to ten heads come off in the city. The troops are quartered in the various parishes, and every family is being questioned and searched. All who can be shown to have joined the secret society
or to have helped in any way are doomed. Orders for extermination are being vigorously carried out. The work is distasteful to many of the officers and soldiers. Some of them take a gloomy view of the future. The rebels to a man (I mean those who have been decapitated) have gone to their deaths confident that soon they would be avenged. I find a sullen dogged sort of temper manifested on all sides. It is a kind of disposition that bodes no good. The hottest fight took place only half a li from here. A bridge at the end of the street was the scene, and for over twenty hours a howling mob faced the fire of the troops. At the commencement only a mere handful of soldiers guarded the bridge and the mob was not so large as later. Things were queer for some hours and the city deserted. All fled, except our own people. At the south gate a body of troops were surrounded by some thousands of rebels. The officer in command gave me an account of the brush. They had only a few rounds of ball and for several hours maintained a fight made up of bayonet charges. The rebels never knew of the shortage of ammunition, or else it would have gone hard with less than 100 soldiers. The first week or two witnessed awful barbarities. Killed and wounded rebels were cut into and their livers removed by the troops, who ate them mixed in with their grub. Mr. H. saw three bodies that had been opened and livers removed. It is damnable, and ceased only after repeated warnings from the higher military commanders. The poor malcontents are sitting down to their whacking, but vow to be revenged when opportunity occurs. troops may remain some time yet. I hear that the village headmen and country gentry are afraid of reprisals if the troops are withdrawn. They are panic-stricken, and are so off their heads that by their fearful efforts to get rid of dangerous characters by impeachment they are laying up a big debt of hate and revenge. I am not allowed to cross from here to Pingchiang. The way is through the hills and things are not quiet yet."
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