Fort Wrangel news., 1898-10-05
A as..l..al. ehIr... Nsr.s.

tFated than by the relation of the om
 peroF of China to the doSager empress. she Ia not the mother of the emperor, but Ia the widow of A former emperor, and became the adopted mother Of the emperor when he succeeded to the throne at the ago of years A no less potent force behind the arbitrary seiz- ure Of power by ths empress Ia the op- position by tho conservative Chinese authorities to the proposed. reforms in- itiated by the emperor. During four successive reigns there have been mo ments when the sovereign aceeeded to the demand for reforms, butfhey have always failed on account of the deter mined persistence of the governing class.
 Empress Tse- Chi, if that Is her right name-for the mysterious Chinese po- tentates seem to have so many-is a very remarkable woman; and she and
 Li Hung Chang make team who have ruled China, in spite of every other In finence, for many years. The present emperor Is kwangsu, who was born about 1871, and succeeded his cousin, Emperor Tsung- Chi, who died at the age of IS, in 1875, leaving no heir. That monarc h had himself ascended tho throne at the age of years, and the affairs of the country he'd been admin istered by the present dowager em- press, together with another regent known as the Empress Tse-Ang, the latter of whom died seven or eight years ago. The present emperor was not a popular choice, but the laws of heredity made him one of the few avail able heirs, Gnd the two expresses seem to have been controlled by their par tiality for Prince Chun, the father of the young prince. Although Prince Chun was respected advisor, the em- press regent was the head of the gov ernment until 1889, when the empress selected young woman for the em- peror as his wife and relinquishel the reins.
 At the time of her retirement, tho empress, who had practically guided the destinies of China since 1861, issued a proclamation explaining that fs- male regency was only a last resort to prevent abuses such es had taken place in previous dyrasties, but that the time had come when constitutional usages could be reverted to without detriment to the safety and we'll being of the em- pire. The capacity of this woman for government can be gathered from one incident. She kept secret the fact for fourteen years that when she selected the baby prince for the throne she com pelled his father to sign 8 memorial in which the prince expressed his desire that no honor should be given to him, and that persons proposing them should be treated with ignominy as dangerous characters, intriguing to curry favor for the sake of their own advancement. This was withheld from publication until the emperor assumed control, but she was evidently ready to spring it on Prince Chun if any movement were made to invest him with authority.
 Now once more all officers are re- quired to make their reports to the empress dowager. When she retired it was proposed that such documents should be made out in duplicate, one for the emperor and one for the em- press, but the royal lady sternly re- buked the official and ordered him ito report himself for punishment to the proper board" From her standpoint and that of her advisers her actions must seem to be those of patriotic woman attempting to preserve her country from the customs of barbari- ans. The emperor seems to have been under the influence of liberal and progressive adviser, but he has pro- ceeded too hastily and has aroused the intense prejudices of the people against the hated foreigner. There have been warnings of this revolt. It has been fomented by Russia and the friends of Lii Hung Chang have not been idle. Although the mission of Marquis Ito, that enlightened Japan csc statesman, may have hastened the coup d'etat. Russian influence has had more to do with it than any antago- nism of China to Japan.