The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-08-02
Circulation Statement
The Chinese Situation.

It is reported, and may be true, that the
ministers and foreigners in Pekir have
taken refuge within the Imperial or For
hidden City. If they have. they may be
in a more defensible position than in the
British compound. Whether or not their
situation is much improved by the change
may depend largely upoE the question of
ammunition. Their own must be exhausted
by this time. If the Empress Dowager is
really protecting them they may have
been supplied. II is known that large
stores of provisions are kept in the For
hidden City, so that there should be no
lack of food
We can only hope that the Imperial
Government is convinced that its one hope
OF escaping destruction lies in securing the
safety of the legation people Otherwise,
with the complete evidence now before
the world that it has acted with savage
treachery from the start, there would be
little to encourage belief that it would not
continue in the same course.
letter from Sir Claude Macdonald dat
ed July a, brings US reliable information
Of events in Pellin down to that day. From
the British Minister'S statements IS is evil
dent that the Europeans were still in the
legation compound. and were surroun ied by
Chinese regular troops who were firing
upon them continually. He was distinctly
of the opinion that only immediate raIief
could avert a massacre, which must have
occurred long before If the bsrbarians had
not been short of ammunition for their ar
tillery. It is plain that if the legation mas
oh +ha
the movement has been made since July u
1t IS then possible that during the past
nine days the attack may have been re-
Hewea. According TO Chinese Official state
ments, corroborated by Ii Hung Chang
the legatioueTs were in the imperial enclos-
ure on July IS. II We accept these ass5r-
tons as probably correct, the idea at-onee
suggests itself that it may be impossible
Tor the ministers to send cut further mes
sages, as means of communication are like
ly to be harder to find than when the Eu-
ropeans We're comparatively in the open.
More than ever they will now be in the
situation of prisoners, although possibly in
less danger of butchery than before
Concerning the advance of the allies
from Ttentsin, the news is incomplete.
The story that they were eighteen miles
north Of their starting point on yesterday,
must be taken with reserve. The report
that the vanguard OF the column. con
sistiug Of the Japanese contingent, had
been repulsed with heavy loss. would seem
to indicate reconnaissance in force rather
than general advance of the main body,
and the chances are that the commanders
are waiting a day Or two for Fe-eniorce-
ments and artillery to come up from Taku
before attempting to crush the Chinese
front at Yangtsun. At that point the
enemy is we'll entrenched, and is being
rapidly REINFORCED from Pekin, so il is
a reasonable expectation that the decisive
action Of the campaign Will be fought at
Yangtsun. Should fortune favor the in
ternatlonaI army and enable it to whip
the Chinese as thoroughly as they were
whipped at Tientsin, the remainder of the
march to the capital might probably be
accomplished without great opposition.
Considering all the circumstances, it does
not seem likely that the serious obstacles
in the way can be overcome and the OBJ
jectiye point reached in less than eight or
ten days. assuming that the general ad-
vance has begun.