The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-08

/ seuschaftliche Nittheiungen. to forward
TO you a translation OF the most interest
ing portion of an article on the Chinese
! army which VIII appear in that publ
| cation from the pen of Baron Won Re-iz-
! ingen. a major In the German army. who
/ has been out for some time in China re-
organizing a portion Of the Chinese forces,
aud who holds the Chinese rank of gen
eral.
| The following is his description of the
/ Chinese army:
| The popularity of the political. geograph-
| ical and economical conditions OF China,
! the historical development Of the state
| and Of the family, and other causes, have
given peculiar character to the Chinese
defensive system. As military forces are
10 be noticed the Manchu troops. the pro-
vincial troops and the so-called irregu-
lars which are enlisted in case of need
and again dismissed No such thing exists
as a centralized command of these bodies
The Manchu troops are in general the
descendants of The Manchus and of those
Monsols and Chinese who in the seven
teentn century overthrow he Ming dynas-
~ ard established the present one upon
TIC AiAiOht. lilfS SUI constitute the ClleL
support OF the Ta-tsing dynasty. and are
divided into eight banners" according 10
their eight differently c0lored flags. Their
strength may be reckoned at about 20Ot o.
men. Originally they were kept i'm Peking
as a body guard. but the viceroys of the
provinces, in order to weaken the central
authority, managed to break up tbs force
under the preteXt that they wished the
imperial power TO have representatives in
the provinces. According to o her ac-
counts the detaChments were sent them
from the beginning in order o liable hem
to keep contTo! of the conquered terrific
Ties These troops are Quar,ered in parts
of the town specially walled in the so
called Tartar quarters. The obligation TO
military service is hereditary among
them, and originally in addition 10 conces-
sions of land, they received high pay and
portions of rice from the court. Even now
every Manchu receives a salary from the
Emperor, but il is so small THAT II does
not suffice for his own maintenance, much
less for that Of his family. However the
military duties are not fulfilled very con
scientiously, and the soldiers have PENNY
of time to devote to other occupations.
Marriages between Manchus and Chinese
are strictly forbidden. but I have none
the less seen a considerable number of
small-footed women i'm the Tartar quarter
at Hawking, and Manchu women, as is
well known, are not allowed 10 cripple
themselves by aTtifi cially lessening the
size of their feet. Every son of a Man
chu and Manchurian is entered by name
in a roll kept by the government and is
entitled 10 salary from the
treasury. Although the Manchu troops
have degenerated considerably through the
idleness of their life, they have, neverthe-
less, even in quite recent times, given
proof of their devotion 10 the throne and
of heroic courage In The streets of the
Tartar quarter the angular, Eght-brown
faces of the well-built men. and the GU
rious headgear and long red trousers of
the women, form an agreeable contrast to
the Chinese costume. The Tartar general
is the comma nder of the few thousand
Manchus, who are stationed in each prov
ince. He holds with the governor a privi-
legged position in the province. These Man
chu garrisons are of very little use; they
rather tend to increase the discomfort of
the Chinese by reminding them that they
are subject race. In considering the eX
ternal development of the imper al power
the Manchu troops may be neglected.
The Provincial Troops.
The provincial troops. with their green
banners, are recruited entirely from the
Chinese population. They are under the
control of the Viceroys and governors, and
are enlisted voluntarily. They constitute
the garrisons of the most important towns
ana are entrusted WIN WATCH, pDliCC
inspection duties. They number about 400,
600 or 500, 900 meu, A small number of these
troops stand in a close relation 10 the
governor and act as his body guard. The
only control the central government has
over the provincial troops is that it set
ties the amount of the annual estimates
and appoints the superior officers.
Judged by our conceptions, the Chinese
troops are, TO all intents and purposes,
quite unframed, badly armed, and thus
useless. Moreover, they lack a centralized
command. The so-called braves" are still
TO be counted as among the best. They
are better armed and provided for. Some
of them have been through q course of
European drill and their officers have
been trained in military schools. The duty
of arranging for the commissariat and ar
mament of the troops is entrusted to the
generals and the superintendents of the
camps. These maintain, as rule, only
small proportion of the regulation strength
fraud which is connived at by the SUI
perior officials, who divide the profit with
them. Occasi onally a camp is temporarily
or even permanently broken up. but IL
still appears in the accounts. The wages
which are paid are generally insufficient
and the soldiers endeavor to supplement
their means by private work and by rob
berry. Chinese officers regard the post of
superintendent of a camp as sDecula
ton. Cheating is universal. The accouter-
ment and training of the soldiers are diff
ferent in every province. In one province
the men are exercised with anuquated
lances, halberds and pixies, in another
with Martini rifles, and in another with
German model IS. In one year Krupp guns
are ordered, in the next Armstrong;, and
in the one after that Nordenfeldts. The
guns are brought out remain lying about
somewhere, and in a short time are IN
such a state that il is impossible to use
them. The officers are secretly glad of the
opportunity to buy new weapons and make
a small profit on the transaction. The Off
GERS, like all other officials in China, have
to make their living by embezzlement.
They obtain their positions by the favor
of high officials and disappear with the
fall OF their patrons without receiving
either a pension or further employment.
The corruption is increased by the fact
that rank and official posts are obtained
by purchase and that punishments. even
|. for serious crimes, can be bought of AS
is natural in such circumstances, disobe-
dience is rife in the official world The
a..