St. Paul daily globe., 1895-08-06
RIVER AT s A. M.
THE CHINESE MASSACRE.

There is a suggestive parallel be-
tween the action which the European
powers have at last been Obliged
to take with reference to Armenia
and the course of events in China.
Time after time foreign residents
In the Chinese empire have been at
tackled by mobs, driven from their
residences, and many of them out
ragged or killed. The last of these
assaults is one of the most serious
and unprovoked of all. 1t seems
to have been an outgrowth of Chi
nese evaporation at the results of
the recent war with Japan. The
temper of the people toward all "for-
eign devils has been sharpened and
heated. They count all outsiders as
enemies, and their hatred of the
Japanese, upon whom they cannot
take vengeance, lis expressed in the
killing of number of helpless for
eign residents. OF course the gov
ernment disclaims any responsibility
for the acts of the mob, and a proper
satisfaction will be demanded by
Great Britain and the United States.
and yielded by the Chinese authori-
ties. The frequent repetition of such
occurrences as these will, however.
raise the question whether the other
nations may not be obliged to take
more peremptory measures for the
security Of their citizens in China.
The number of those citizens is
certain to be increased. Not onIv
will missionary effort be continued.
but the very effect of the recent
treaty with Japan, which grants
new privileges to foreign settlers
in China, makes the problem larger
and more pressing. Every year will
see the invasion of the empire by an
increasing number of the citizens of
other nations, bent upon commercial
as we'll as philanthropic enterprises.
The Chinese people as a people seem
to be incapable of change. Their in
so40C ii''1iS GU VI oulSleteFS VIII grow
rather than diminish, as they see the
latter coming in in greater numbers.
absorbing enterprises and profits
which were heretofore the sole pos
session of the natives. They will
not be restrained from expressing
from time to time their dissatisfac-
tion and revolt by just such occur
rences as the recent massacre. 1t
VIII be necessary, we imagine, event
uaAy, for the great powers of the
world to take some more effective
step 1or the protection of their citi-
Eens than the imbeci1e policy of per-
uniting them to be killed in cold
blood periodically, and then accent
Ing money compensation from the
Chinese government.
The case is not identical with that
of Armenia, but it appeals even
more strongly to public sentiment.
The people who have suffered there
are related to US only by the tie of
common faith. Politically, thev are
the subjects of the sultan of Turkey
who has a theoretical right to deal
with them as he pleases. Interfer-
ence there can be justified only on
the broad ground of a community
Of human interests. The sufferers
IN China, on the contrary, are peo-
pie not only Of our own faith, but
of our own blood. 1t is men and
women of American and British
birth who are being slaughtered
there whenever the lurking devn in
the Chinaman bursts his bonds. We
must not be satisfied with taking
blood money for the lives of these
people, but will be compelled to pro-
tect them. Sooner or later the pow
ers will be forced by public opinion
to intervene in China, and to lay
down conditions to which the i'm
perial power must conform.
It may be that this points the
way to the solution of the Chinese
problem. What is to be the fate of