178
PEKING.
THE HONGKONG. WEEKLY PRESS AND
£
THE NEW CHINA BLUE-BOOK.
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[September 8, 1900.
THE PROPOSED RETREAT FROM Europe, the States, and Japan have sacrificed view. This was accorded on the 2nd March, their men and spent their money. We have the Ministers on the night before receiving offered us now a chance, the like of which from the Yamen a copy of a Proclamation has never occurred before, of establishing by the Governor-General of Chihli, embody- a government worthy of the name in China. ing an Imperial Decree, in which the Boxers If we are simply going to throw this chance were denounced in unambiguous terms. In away and attempt to patch up once more view, however, of the delay of the Chinese the old corrupt, barbarous, and treacherous Government, the Ministers insisted on régime, under which China and the for-presenting a note asking for the publication eigners who have come in contact with her in the Peking Gazette of a Decree ordering and "Big have suffered so much, we shall make of the suppression of the "Boxer " ourselves an ignominious spectacle for future Sword" Societies. The Yamen promised to ages. The patching-up process in this case consider the question and send a reply. will cost the Powers dear and threatens to This reply, when it came, maintained the last even less time that usual. Mr. BROD- impossibility of publishing the required RICK's exposition of British policy on the decree in the Gazette, and on the 10th March 2nd ult. promised better than this. It is the Ministers sent a note reiterating the hard to believe that it did not indicate a demand and adding that in the event of a genuine awakening to the facts, but if the refusal they would recommend their Gov- blunder of withdrawing from Peking be now ernments to adopt other measures to pro- consummated, then Mr. BRODRICK's words, tect their nationals' lives and property. More we fear, will be merely words spoken in than three weeks passed without any an- vain.
swer to this. On the 5th April, the Chinese Secretaries of the Legations were sent to the Taungli Yamen, notifying that body that an answer was expected within two note was received, days. On the 7th a stating that a Decree has been received by them directing the Viceroy of Chihli and the Governor of Shantung to publish Proclamations quoting the Imperial Decree in full, while in that published by the Gov- ernor of Shantung, the "Big Knife" Society was specified by name. The publication in the Gazette of the Decree already transmit- ted to the provinces was "a matter effected by Standing Regulations," and could not therefore be done. The representatives of the Powers waived the publication in the Gazette, but informed the Yamen that they held the Chinese Government responsible for any further results due to non-compliance with their recommendation. In the Peking Gazette of the 14th April, however, was published the Memorial from the Governor- General of Chihli, embodying the Im- perial Decree, which thus actually ap peared in the Gazette. Moreover, on the 17th April Imperial Decree peared in the Gazette, deprecating anti- Christian disturbances, though mentioning Fresh disturbances no societies by name. took place in Chihli, and on the 19th Sir CLAUDE telegraphed that he had interviewed the Yamen on the previous day, when he reminded them of his repeated warnings about not taking adequate measures against the Boxers.
(Daily Press, 4th September.) It is difficult enough to make out from the mass of London telegrams which have reached us in the last few days what the actual attitude of some of the Powers is with regard to action at Peking in the immediate future. There seems, however, no doubt that Russia presses for a speedy withdrawal of the allied troops from Peking, proposing apparently to conduct the negotiations with the Chinese Government from the com- fortable distance of the Treaty Ports. There is little wonder indeed that great in- dignation prevails in Shanghai, as our cor- respondent informed us in the telegram which appeared in our issue of yesterday. It is inconceivable that Russia can fail to see what effect such a withdrawal would have on the Imperial party and on the Chinese mind generally. How, too, is it possible to believe that she is acting in good faith when she informs the United States that "the Empress Dowager is willing to guarantee the security of trade and prevent the recurrence of disorders ?" A more ludicrous statement has never been made officially by any Government in the course of history. The Empress Dowager has proved herself in the eyes of the world a criminal and an associate of still worse crim- inals, and the suggestion that after the Powers have temporarily inconvenienced her -it is little more than this-by causing her to quit Peking she should be allowed to re- turn and treat with the nations who by her direct agency have been grossly outraged and betrayed is either folly or dishonesty. Now Russian diplomacy is never blind, and we are forced therefore to conclude that the St. Petersburg Government is not acting straightforwardly. It seems that we can- not be sure what was the exact reply of the United States to Russia's proposition On the one hand, we are told that the States have intimated their willingness to withdraw from Peking and allow the Imperials " to return; on the other, that the States favour the joint occupation of Peking until order is re-established-which is certainly a long time off. With regard to the other Powers, little is certain. Our London telegram of the 31st ult. mentions the report that five of the seven Powers represented at Peking have assented to the proposed withdrawal, Germany and Italy alone standing out. This is only a report, but it looks ominous. It was not to be ex- pected that Germany would "climb down"; the Emperor's speech has committed her to vigorous action, if she not to incur general ridicule. In this fact lies the chief hope, outside what confidence we may feel in our own Government, that a disastrous end will not be put to the occupation of the Chinese capital.
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The only reason which can be given for the proposed retreat is the fear of further complications arising from a prolonged stay. But what will the half-beaten Manchu- Chinese party say when they see the for- eigners in full retirement on Tientsin ? China has never admitted a defeat. Even the collapse against Japan was never brought home to the mind of the people and failed to convince the rulers themselves. treat cannot but be construed as an admis- sion of weakness, and indeed it will be truly such an admission. When the allies have returned to Tientsin, the Imperialists in the restored security of the capital will be be- yond the reach of dictation. The Legations, it is true, will have been rescued and a war can be conducted with a less heavy heart. But it should not be for this outcome that
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(Daily Press. 6th September.) The new Blue-book," China No. 3, 1900," is a work of 115 pages, comprising 277 tele- grams, letters, and documents relating to the present crisis in China, from Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD'S message of the 4th January, announcing the murder of the Rev. S. M. BROOKS in Shantung, to a translation of an Imperial Edict, dated the 29th June and communicated to the British Government by the Chinese Ambassador in London on the 13th July. In this mass of correspon- dence the development of the attitude of the Imperial Government towards the " Boxers" can be clearly traced. On the first receipt of the news of Mr. BROOKS's murder, the Emperor and Empress Dowager are “in- censed at this deplorable event;" they "have commanded that all the officials within whose jurisdiction the outrage was com- mitted be disgraced by being deprived of their ranks and honours until such time as they shall have succeeded in arresting the guilty parties;" the Tsungli Yamen "ex- press their deepest sorrow." Yet the late Governor of Shantung, YU HSIEN, to whose anti-Christian sympathies were directly due the Shantung outrages, is in March found to be appointed to Shansi. The actual mur- derers of the unfortunate missionary, how ever, were executed, their assistants heavily punished, and the district magistrate of Fei Ch'eng, where the the murder took place, dismissed and denounced to the throne. Two neighbouring magistrates, whom Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD states to be equally culpable, the Yamen refused to punish, as the outrage did not take place in their dis- tricts. On the 11th April Lord SALISBURY, in reply to a note of the Chinese Am- bassador, who "felt assured that the exem- plary punishment inflicted on the murderers and officials" would be regarded as a satis- factory settlement of the occurrence, pointed out that Yu HSIEN had been appointed Governor of another province, and that thus the settlement was not regarded as wholly satisfactory. In the meanwhile Sir CLAUDE MACDONALD had on the 27th January, in conjunction with the American, French, German, and Italian Ministers at Peking, addressed a note to the Tsungli Yamen, asking for an Imperial Decree specifically denouncing the anti- Christian Societies in Shantung and Chihli, and receiving no reply wrote again on the 21st February. An unsatisfactory answer was received, stating that a Decree had been issued that the Governors of the provinces should put an end to the disturbances, so the Tsungli Yamen were asked for an inter-
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The Yamen admitted that they had underrated the seriousness of the movement, but said that the day before an Imperial Decree has been issued, directing certain metropolitan and provincial authori- ties to adopt stringent measures to suppress the Boxers. This, they believed, would not fail to have the desired effect. On the 20th all eleven foreign representatives at Peking met and agreed that a note should be sent to the Yamen to the effect that the Diplomatic Body requested that all printers, publishers, and disseminators of anti-foreign placards, all aiders and abettors, and all owners of buildings used as Boxers' meeting- places should be arrested, that all guilty of arson, murder, etc., should be executed, and that a Decree to this effect should be issued in Peking and the northern provinces. The Yamen answered, unsatisfactorily, that the measures already in force agreed in the main with those asked by the Powers, and that another Decree was being asked for. Sir CLAUDE himself, as appears from a letter to Lord SALISBURY written on the 21st May, at this time thought the danger of the situa tion at Peking itself exaggerated; but it turned out, as all now know, that the French Fathers, from whom the rumours came, were right and Sir CLAUDE wrong. On the even-
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