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occasion alone. But for the energy displayed by this official, it is highly probable. that the whole of the south of Kiangsi would have for some months, if not longer, been the scene of continual fighting between the Boxers and the Imperial troops.
Towards the end of August the missionaries' reports showed that a crisis was approaching. Still, apparently, relying upon the local officials, the Governor did not seem to be taking measures strong enough to counteract any serious outbreak. I accordingly reminded him of my former telegram, pointing out the danger of delay and the advisability of not postponing the adoption of stringent measures until the disturbance assumed unmanageable proportions. In order to impress upon him the necessity of preventing any loss of foreign life, I added that I would hold him personally responsible in case any British missionary were killed. I also requested that Chiang Taotai be retained in the district, as he was about to be tranferred else- where. As the event proved, this made all the difference as regards the extent of the disturbance, and probably saved the lives of the Protestant missionaries.
At this time the Kanchow Taotai seems to have been at some distance from that city, engaged in fighting the Boxers in the district to the south-east, and his absence may reasonably be supposed to have had a good deal to do with the recrudescence of rowdyism in the prefectural city itself. In his attacks upon the Boxers he seems to have been remarkably successful with the comparatively small forces at his disposal. On his return to Kanchow, further orders from the Governor having reached him, as the result probably of the strong representations I had made, strict measures were adopted there also, and thirty more men were decapitated.
The energy of the Taotai and the action, though tardy, of the Governor, had the desired effect, and the uprising had, to all appearances, been suppressed by the end of August.
About a month later, however, without previous warning, the Boxerism seems to have suddenly broken out again, and on the 28th September telegrams were received stating that the situation at Kanchow was critical, and that the Catholic missions had been rioted. I heard later that one Catholic priest, of Italian nationality, Père Canduglia, who was in the same mission with a French priest, had been killed I immediately telegraphed to the Governor again requesting him to at once take effective measures for the protection of foreign life and property. His reply was that soldiers were being sent and that the local officials were doing all they could, but that the Government troops had difficulty in coping with the rebels, and had lost a good number in the encounters which had taken place. He added that he was sending special instructions for the protection of the missionaries. I then took steps to ascer~ tain the whereabouts of all the missionaries in that part of the province, and eventually was able to account for them all, some having escaped to the Taotai's yamên in Kanchow, others having proceeded to Chia An, and others to Nan Chang.
The local officials at Kanchow, with the exception of Chiang Taotai, seem to have been in great terror of the Boxers, and to have been altogether incompetent to deal with the situation. The Magistrate left the mission bouses practically unprotected, and, when the missionaries had been taken to the yamêns, took no steps to save the buildings from being looted by the Boxers. The disturbed district being in the extreme south of Kiangsi Province, almost on the borders of Kuantung, 550 miles by road and river from Kiukiang, it was not possible for me to proceed to it, and as fortunately none of the Protestant missionaries had been killed this was unnecessary. The only questions which remained were the causes of the outbreak, the reasons why it had not been suppressed, and the indemnification, if any, for mission and other property destroyed. In reply to a telegraphic inquiry as to why, on receipt of my first telegram, effective preventive measures had not been taken, the Governor maintained that he had done all in his power, but he certainly, at first, seems to have confined his action to instructing the local officials to suppress the uprising and to hold them responsible in case they should not do so.
It has been difficult to ascertain the real cause of the movement, for undoubtedly the incident of the killing of a cow by some Roman Catholic converts in contraven- tion of the order against killing animalswhich had been issued with the object of inducing rain after the long drought (a method resting on native superstition) was but the match which set alight a matter which had long been in preparation. It may be said with certainty that the uprising was primarily anti-dynastic in character, the extermina- tion of foreigners being perhaps included or involved in the programme, but having a secondary place. Secret Societies have been holding meetings in various parts of the province for many months, but beyond the fact that Secret Societies are
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illegal, no overt act in breach of the law, as far as one can judge at a distance and ou information and reports only, had been committed, at any rate none which concerned foreigners or foreign property. One of these Societies, which I have kept under observation as far as possible, is the T'ai K'ung Hui, or "Society of Infinite Space.” Its members do not as yet seem to be numerous; they meet in a private house in Nan Ch'ang, kowtow to an empty circle, and go through other rites. "As far as can be ascertained, there is nothing illegal about their meetings, and nothing to take hold of, and they may be devoted to some worthy philosophical study. On the other hand, they might suddenly break out in the same way as the Boxers have done in Kanehow.
Practically, all the information concerning the actual outbreak and its progress and suppression is contained in the letters from the missionaries in the Kanchow district, copies of which are inclosed herewith, and it would serve no purpose to repeat their contents here. The remaining question, viz., that of compensation for the houses, chapels, and personal property of the missionaries, has settled itself in a most satisfactory manner. The Director of the China Inland Mission at Shanghae informed me that no claim of any kind would be made by the mission and no compensation accepted. In reply to my inquiry as to whether individual claims for personal property were to be permitted, if made, he replied that compensation might be accepted by missionaries for personal property if offered by the Chinese authorities. This compensation has been made by the local officials direct to the missionaries concerned, and it is satisfactory to be able to report that their claims were exceedingly reasonable, the amounts representing in all cases the actual value, or less, of the property destroyed, The total amount paid was 13,503 dollars, which includes compensation to sixty-three Chinese families. So reasonable were the claims and so just-minded did the Protestant missionaries prove themselves to be, that not only did the local officials emphasize their fairness in their reports to the Governor, but the Viceroy of Nanking specially instructed Taotai Yu Ming-ch ́ên, deputed by his Excel- lency to go to Kanchow (where he now is) to investigate the causes of this outbreak, to call on me on his arrival in Kiukiang, and express his appreciation of and gratitude for this honesty on the part of the missionaries and the manner in which the case generally had been dealt with.
The fulfilment in their lives of the doctrines preached by the missionaries has again in this instance, as after the Nan Ch'ang massacre last year, impressed upon the Chinese in those districts and throughout the province the integrity and disinterested character of Protestant missionary work. Almost every Chinese official I meet refers to these two cases and praises the just action unattended by excessive demands, of the British authorities and the simple and honest work of the missionaries, which they recognize as having a religious and moral object unaccompanied by any ulterior political motive.
It has, I believe, been decided that Taotai Kiang, who was to be made Acting Judge at Nan Chang, is now to retain his former post on account of this affair. Whilst I believe his presence in that district to be indispensable for prevention of further outbreak, he should certainly be rewarded and encouraged rather than degraded. Unfortunately the newly-appointed Judge Jui Chên, formerly Taotai at Kiukiang, and lately at Shanghae, is his bitter enemy, and will do all he can to prejudice him in the eyes of the Governor. The Nan K'ang Magistrate Yang is undoubtedly deserving of very severe punishment. He seems to have taken no steps whatever to suppress the Boxers, but rather stimulated them by his anti-foreign attitude.
Whilst fortunately the outbreak in the Kanchow district has been suppressed before it assumed the proportions which at one time threatened, and the case has been settled without difficulty, I regret that I cannot take an optimistic view of the future peace of Kiangsi. Secret Societies are undoubtedly at work, and there is a very strong feeling against the Roman Catholic missionaries in various parts of the province. At present this is being more especially manifested in the south-west, and any ill-considered act of injustice or aggression might give to one secret Society or another the pretext of killing and looting which they are always ready to adopt, involving the slaying of converts and missionaries without distinction of creed or nationality.
[2818 bb-5]
I have, &c.
(Signed)
E. T. C. WERNER.
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