The Portland daily press., 1895-08-21
THE VEGETARlANS.
A Sketch of This Chinese Society Which
is Credited With the Massacre of the
Missionaries.

The Vegetarian Society, OF the Chinese
Empire, is at the present day, says the
New York World, the most talked about
but the least understood secret society
in the world. The horrible massacre Of
Europeans by its frenzied members the
other day is now a matter of history
But of the society itself, its aims and ten
cts, it's history and membership, little
has been known.
The blow already struck, unreasonable
and unaccountable, may be repeated. Ii
it be true that the enormous membershlp
of this organized band of assassl MS Jap
proves of the Kucheng horror, then Other
terrible murders may be looked for.
The Vegetarians are Buddhists OF the
strictest sort. They carry out this doc
trine SO far in their daily life that not
only no meat, but no milk or butter ever
passes their lips. Taken altogether they
m one great secret society regarding
the membership of which practically
nothing is known.
Politics undoubtedly colors Vegetarian
| ism to it's utmost core Whether OF not
| the man who passes you on the streets Of
Chinese city is q Vegetarian is some
thing that cannot be told. He, certainly
does hot say.
Also there is grade after grade of Vegee
tarianisn Some of the devotees of this
doctrine absolutely abstain.from all kinds
| of anumal food permanently These
really are the true Vegetarians, but quite
as we'll to be included with them, should
any sort of political outbreak come, are
the men who abstain from meat portion
of the time One sect, for example. re-
fuses to touch any sort of animal food for
the first "a days of each month, Its menu
bers being perfectly at liberty to eat meat
the remaining week. Another sect leaves
meat alone rigidly on certain days OF the
week and on other days eats it. All sorts
of grades and shapes make up this great
party. 1t. is party much to be feared
One branch of this society says: For
every four ounces OF meat you use IN this
life you will have to pay. back eight
ounces in the next. Another way that
they put it is that the CHIEF doctrine OF
simple Vegetarianism is ga means OF
reotifying the heart, accommodating meE%t,
avoiding calamities in this life and retrl-
butive pains in the next.
of ali these organizations the Govern
ment heartily disapproves, for it sees
constant danger and menace to 1t In their
enormous strength and power. There are
SO mny of them, and they differ SO much
in MINOR principles that every grade OF
feeling and opinion is provided for.
Money these societies seem to get IN IN
limited quantities. from omewhere-Where
it cannot be said. AT all events, they
have ample funds to push their propa-
ganda and to gather in new members con-
stantly One society may partially Gle
out or become weaker, but another Is al
ways on hand to take its place and grow
stronger out of this very weakness
. That the secret societies in China are
exceedingly dangerous to the interests VI
peace in the Chinese Empire 1T is easy to
| tell from the lawless deeds that are done
by the gangs of men from the lower clas-
SEES who make them up In the country
districts they carry off persons for ransom,
they plumber wherever any plumber IS to
be had: they assume the roll of policeman
and sail in pretended revenue cutters,
stealing and carrying of women Wherever
1t is possible.
They also have an arrangement with the
farmers of their locality by which they
get regular ssindemniGies from them,
the farmer understanding perfectly we'll
that if be does not give these "indemni-
ties . the society will carry off his crop
when it is ripe, before he has chance to
harvest it.
In the cities they fire houses at night,
and carry off property and people living
| in the houses, under the pretext OF saving
| them.
Besides this, they have an unconquera-
| Bile dislike for foreigners of every kind.
The anti-foreign and the Vegetarian ell
ernent ore in fact one and the same. They
! are a constant source of danger to the
stranger within China's gates.