Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-31

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which has branches in all of the large
cities of the United States. The branch at
the national capital has had a wholesale
blacknailing enterprise on foot lately; and
hence the disturbance between the Moys
and the Lees.
The social arrangement of the Chinese Is
primarily an organization Of clans. People
belonging to the same family hang to-
gether. In Washington the dominant clan
is that of the Moys, who run the local
branch of the secret society aforesaid.
Now, after the laundry business, the chief
industry of these orientals Is gambling,
which furnishes a subsistence for all of
them who do no work. The society levies
weekly assessment on every gaming
table. Recently the Lees refused to pay
the tax any longer, and war followed.
Every now and then one reads In the
newspapers of disturbances among the Chi
Eese in one city or another of the United
States. These troubles always arise from
the same cause. Wherever there Is a
branch of the secret society it levies reg
ular tax of SO many dollars a week on each
gaming table in the heather colony. Once
in while the gamblers make up their
minds to resist the imposition, and then the
society resorts to blackmail. Spurious
charges of murder and perjury are brought
and the machinery of our courts is invoked
to help the scheme.
Chinese and the Christian Religion.
Alleged Christian converts and Sunday
school scholars among the Chinese are
usually members of the secret society. They
care nothing for our religion, but merely
profess to do so for the sake of certain ma
terial advantages gained. Among these are
opportunities of learning English, which to
them is a valuable acquisition, and of flirt-
ing with the young ladies who teach them
the catechism. Their utilization with the
church actually is made to serve the pur-
poses of the society on occasions when as
happened in Philadelphia a few years ago,
q crusade was directed against the wicked
almond-eyed gamesters.
This crusade was a part of the black
mailing scheme in which the good" China
men of the society were engaged. The
gamblers had refused to pay their assess
ments. so the Sunday school pupils in pig
tails induced the churches to make war
upon the recalcitrant votaries of the god
dess Fortune. The pulpits Numbered
against the dens of oriental iniquity in the
midst of the virtuous Quaker city, and the
powers of the law were invoked to procure
their suppression. The true inwardness of
the plot was exposed, however. and 1t fail
ed. 1t was not considered desirable to pro-
mote the interests Of blackmaf even
against gamblers.
While in this country the attention of the
society is directed to nothing more impor
tant than Matchmaking, in China its pur-
poses are chiefly political Its main object
dynasty and the restoration of the Ming
family. which formerly occupied the throne
To its Vaccinations are due the disturb
ances which now are agitating the empire
1t is the greatest conspiracy in the world
A section of the penal statutes of the mid
Gle kingdom makes membership In it pun
ishable with death. Nevertheless. the num-
Der of it's members runs up into the mil
lions. Whereas the greater majority of
them are of the most ignorant and de-
graded classes, initiates of the order are to
be found high in the councils of the state
Heaven and Earth League.
Members have secret language of their
own, and the system of signs is so elabor-
ate that every action, as in eating, drinking
or smoking, may indicate their aff1liation
with the society. 1t Is said that the IA
nous Ratchet societies, or "highbinders,"
are branches of the same great organiza-
ton. The word "highbinder," by the way,
is of American origin; in Philadelphia fifty
years ago it was familiar synonym for
ruffian. The society Is called the Heaven
and Earth League" 1t is also known as
the Il Hing or Patriotic Rising" The
notion that 1t has any connections however
remotely, with the Masonic order is a mis-
take. At the same time, many Masons be-
lieve there are Masonic lodges in China.
This society has been cause or constant
and serious apprehension to the govern
ment Of China. Twice during the present
century its Vaccinations have culmin ated
in open rebelllons, which have only been
subdued after protracted wars, with much
desolation and bloodshed. Its membership
is constantly increasing and embraces all
classes, from officers holding the highest
positions down to the poorest peasants.
1t includes nearly two-thirds of all the
Chinese in the United States. In San Fran
cisco sub-branches of the order are said
to have for an object the protection of
gambling houses and the care and surveil-
11 of inf
constit lite the greater part Of the female
emigrants from the middle kingdom. They
are popularity regarded as bands of out
laws, ready and willing to commit any
may dictate. In st. LoIis and Chicago
many offenses against law are attributed to
the emissaries of the dreaded Il Hing"
Like n Court of Law.
The Chinese in America cane exclusively
from the province of Kwantung; hence the
extensive family relations among them
Wherever there Is a colony of them in the
United States they have a meeting hall Of
the society. Here the chief, or head man,
sits behind a table with secretary, who
records his DEGREES These formalities are
said to simulate those of a petty Chinese
court of one Of the earlier dynasties. Be-
fore this tribunal aggrieved members lay
their claims for redress. The constant
qUarrels arising over the gambling tables,
tions at home, are here revived, not always
for peaceful settl >ment, it Is to be feared.
but for revenge, sometimes even to the
death. Those who incur the displeasure OF
the order are often made to feel its power,
and sometimes, 1t is said, they are found
murdered.
The initiation of new members Is conduct
ed with much soemnity. Candidates, dress
ed in long cotton robes. are required to
answer a series Of questions. Have you
a father?" asks the catechist. Nor the
novice must reply. Have you sisters?'
mol" Brothers." "Only my brothers. the
patriots Every social relation must be
forsworn and eternal fealty pledged to
the brotherhood before an altar, on which
is burning incense and 8 drawn sword.
The oath is written on yellow paper, which
is finally burned. The new member now
receives a beck, which contains instruc-
lions for secretly making himself known to
fellow-members. The volume also holds
a vocabulary of the secret language, by
means of which he can carry on converse
tons quite unintellgible to the outside
Chinese world.
Immemorial custom among the Chinese
has prescribed the exact manner in which