The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-08-13
THE CHINEEsE VOLUNTEERS.

one of the leaders in the present insur- rection, in conjunction with Edwin Col lins, by whom it is supplied to "The Morning Post"
 It seems to have come as a surprise to the British public that at the next military examination in China the use of bow and arrow is to be discontinued. But no one in Europe has the least con ception of the real condition of the Chi nese army. The military force of Chi na consists of the Tartar garrisons, the so-called standing army, and the vol- unteers. The garrisons, or the Eight Banners, are stationed at Picking, Man churia, and some of the more important cities of China proper to prevent any revolt, We'll paid in comparison with the standing army, their duty is mere ly to guard the cities where they are stationed, and they rarely take part in any engagement in the field. They are at bitter enmity with the native Chi nese, and often attack them without the least provocation.
 The standing army, which is sup posed to bear the brunt of the fighting for the emperor, is so badly remunera- ted that it is almost impossible for the soldiers to subsist on their pay. In point of fact, even the small pay which is intended for the soldiers goes into the pockets of the officers and never leaves them. The army exists rather on paper than in flesh and blood for the officers, who form kind of corpor- ation of contractors for the supply of soldiers, are granted monopoly of the right to enlist, and they merely engage,
 on an average, fifty per cent. of the men whose pay they draw. In some
 districts twenty-five per cent. would be nearer the mark, while nowhere, un-
 der the most honest administration are more than seventy five per cent. of the soldiers whose names figure on the pay list actually enrolled. On review days add men are engaged for the day or week to make show and disbanded
 immediately afterward. Even Of the pay of the men who really exist about
 three-fourths is kept by the officers on
 one pretext or another. The officers also make a large profit out of provid
 ing food, clothing and other requisites l of the men under them.
 The third arm of the service, the vol- | unteers, consists mostly of people from | the rural districts, led by the local gen. | try. When there is any real fighting to | do, as in the late Chino-Japanese war, | they are called out, and they have done
 much effective service during the last 1 half century. It is only on the volun- | teers,i though they are not trained nor | disciplined like the Tartar garrisons, that the government can place any re- | liance as fighting power. Indeed, the | volunteers form the sole force that has been able to be brought face to face ' with European soldiers. Once these | have been defeated it matters not how strong the garrisons may be, they are unable to defend city against the at | tack of any western people. This has
 been proved over and over again, but
 one may cite as examples the fall of the
 cities of Canton and Shanghai, taken
 by the British with little trouble after | the volunteers had been routed The
 progress of many an insurrection has ] been stopped by the volunteers, as in
 the case of the city of Tien-Tsin, which
 was saved by the volunteers from being ! captured by the army of the Taiping.
 Had the volunteer force failed Peking l would certainly have fallen into the | hands of the Taiping. So effective has | the government found the volunteer 1 force that it has been enrolled as a new
 branch of the regular military service under the name of braves" It is these
 men who, despite the existence of the | Tartar garrisons and the standing
 army, do all field duties of the govern
 ment. The Mahometan rebellion for
 eastern Turkestan was suppressed en- | tirely by the volunteers of the Human | Province under eneral Tso Tsung rang,
 the victory of Lang Shan in the Fran
 co-Chinese war was gained by the vol-
 unteers of Tungkun in the district of | Canton under eneral Wang Tax Pang,
 who offered a reward of one thousand l dollars to each of them, but of course
 never fulfilled his promise.
 During the Chino-Japanese war it
 was proposed to summon the volun- l teers to Picking for the defence of the capital, but some of the Manchu au-
 thorities objected to the proposition, | lest they should seize the place after re- I pulsing the invaders, and a man who
 had been recruiting for this loyal ser-
 vice was arrested and put to death on l the charge of recruiting volunteers ! | volunteers of China are drawn from the l different villages throughout the coun- | try districts. Noted for their patience, endurance and devotion to duty, they
 are in every way much more reputable
 than the soldiers in the standing army or the Manchu garrisons, who are little | better than the marauding banditti, and who are more formidable foes to | the inha abitants of the districts they may be stationed in than the enemy The garrisons and the standing army l have a habit of taking to their heels at the first sight of an enemy; whereas | the volunteers, if led by local gentry or
 scholars who are not in any official ser I vice, usually stand their ground Still, | even the volunteers, when led by off, l ciaI commanders, are not to be depend l ed on, for they are then i'll paid and | maltreated. Lord Wolseley has said: l "The Chinese possess every military | virtue" This is quite true, but it's l truth is only capable of demonstration | where the Chinese soldiers are well | trained, we'll armed well paid and well | treated. and this they have no chance | of being under the present administra- tion.
 | At ordinary times the volunteers
 usually perform the duties of police, for | the government has no police system, | and the country people, having to pro-