The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-10-16
THE CHINESE ARMY

l dI dUlc, Dy arrangement WlIQ the Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen, to forward to you a translation of the most interesting portion of an article on the Chinese army which will appear on Wednesday, in that publication from the pen of Baron von Reitzingen, ma jor in the German army, who has been out for some time in China reorgani- zing portion of the Chinese forces, and who holds the Chinese rank of general.
 The following is his description of the Chinese army:
 The peculiarity of the political geo graphical and economical conditions of China, the historical development of the state and of the family and other causes, have given a peculiar character to the Chinese defensive system. As military forces are to be noticed the Manchu troops, the provincial troops, and the so-called irregulars, which are enlisted in case of need and again dis missed. No such thing exists as cen tralized command of these bodies
 The Manchu troops are in general the descendants of the Manchus and of those Mongols and Chinese who in the seventeenth century overthrow the Ming dynasty and established the pres ent one upon the throne. They still constitute the chief support of the Ta- tsing dynasty, and are divided into eight "banners,' according to their eight differently colored flags. Their strength may be reckoned at about three hundred thousand men, Original ly they were kept in Picking as body guard, but the viceroys of the province, in order to weaken the central authori- ty, managed to break up this force urn- de the pretext that they wished the imperial power to have representa- tives in the provinces. According to other accounts the detachments were sent there from the beginning in order to en- able them to keep control of the con- quered territories. These troops are quartered in parts of the towns special 1y walled in--the so-called Tartar quar- ters. The obligation to military ser vice is hereditary among them and originally, in addition to concessions of land, they received high pay and DOT tions of rice from the court. Even now every Manchu receives a salary from the emperor. but it is so small that it , does not suffice for his own mainte- nance much less for that of his family. However, the military duties are not fulfilled very conscientiously and the soldiers have plenty of time to devote to other occupations.
 Marriages between Manchus and Chi nese are strictly forbidden but I have none the less seen a considerable num- Der of small footed women in the Tar tar quarter at Ranking, and Manchu women, as is well known, are not al- lowed to cripple themselves by artifi- cially lessening the size of their feet. Every son of Manchu and Manchur- in is entered by name in a roll kept by the government, and is entitled to salary from the imperial treasury AL though the Manchu troops have degen- erated considerably through the idle ness of their life, they have, neverthe- less. even in quite recent times given proofs of their devotion to the throne and of heroic courage. In the streets of the Tartar quarter, the angular, light brown faces of the well-bult men, and the curious headgear and long red trousers of the women, form an agreea- ble contrast to the Chinese costume. The Tartar general is the commander of the few thousand Manchus who are stationed in each province. He holds with the governor a privileged position in the province. These Manchu garri- sons are of very little use; they rather tend to increase the discontent of the Chinese by reminding them that they