The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-12


command the naval forces
CHINESE DEFEAT ALLIES.
LONDON, July I2-The Exprcss this
morning publishes dispatch from Tien
Tsin, dated Friday last. via Che Foo,
saying;
Gen, Ma has defeated the allied forces
and reoccupied the Chinese eastern ar
senal after infilcting great loss upon its
defenders The engagement lasted six
hours, and was fought with great deter
mination by both sides, The Chinese
We're eventually able to utilize the eff
fecttve guns OF the fort abutt1ng on the
city walls near the Tao Tal's Yamen, the
allied troops suffering severely from lack
of heavy guns and cavalry,
The japanese commander sent an ur-
gent appeal to hurry reinforcements, as
the allies We're in imminent danger Of q
general defeat
IMPERIAL DECREE.
WASHINGTON, July u.-An imperial
decree, dated the third day of the sixth
moon (June 2S), was received by tele-
graph today by Minister WI from tho
taotai of Shanghai, transmitted on July l
from the treasurer of the Chill province,
VINO received 1t by special courier on
June 50 from the board of war, who, IN
turn. received it from the privy council in
Teking, The decree is as follows:
Inc circumstances which led to the
commencement of fighting between Chit
hese and foreigners were Of such a COM
pick. confusing and unfortunate char
acter as to be entirely unexpected
Our diplomatic representatives abroad
owing to their distance from the scsna
Of action. have had no means Of know
Ing the true state of things, and, accord
ingly, cannot lay the views of the gov
ernment before the ministers for foreign
affairs OF the respective powers to which
they are accredited. Now we take this
opportunity of going fully into the mat
Ter Tor the information of our representa-
uves aforesaid.
provinces of Chill and Shantung, a band
of rebellious subjects who had been in the
hapit Of practicing boxing and fencing In
their respective villages, and at the same
ume clothing their doings with spiritual
istc and strange rites. The local authori-
Ties failed to take due notice of them at
the time Accordingly the infection spread
with astonishing rapidity. Within the
space of a month 1t seemed to make its
appearance everywhere, and finally reach
ed the capital itself. Every one looked
upon the movement as supernatural, and
many Joined it
Then there were lawless and treacher-
Gus persons who sounded the cry OF
Down with Christianityr About the
middle of the fifth moon these persons
began to create disturbances without
warning. Churches were burned and con-
VeFts were killed. The whole city was In
ferment A situation was created which
could not be brought under control
AT first the foreign powers requested
that foreign troops be allowed to enter
the capital for the protection of the le-
cations. The imperial government, hay
Ing In view the comparative urgency of
the occasion, granted the request as an
extraordinary mark of courtesy beyond
the requirements of International intor-
course Over 800 foreign troops were sent
TO Pekfng. This shows clearly how much
care the Chinese exercised In the mainte-
nance of friendly relations with other
countries.
BLAMES LEGATION GUARDS.
THE legations at the capital never had
much to do with the people. But from
the time foreign troops entered the ctty
the guards did not devote themselves ex-
clusively to the protection of their re-
spective legations They sometimes fred
guns on the top of the city walls, and
sometimes patrolled the streets every-
where There were reports of persons
being hit by stray bullets Moreover, thew
strolled about the city without restraint
and even attempted to enter the tsung
hua gate (the eastern gate of the palace
grounds). They only desisted when admit
tance was positively forbidden.
'On this account, both the soldiers and
the people were provoked to resentment.
and voiced their indignation with one
accord. Lawless persons then took ad-
vantage of the situation to do mischief
and became bolder than ever in burning
and killing Christian converts.
The powers thereupon attempted to re-
inforce the foreign troops in Peking, and
the reinforcements encountered resist
ance and defeat at the hands of the in
surgents on the way, and have not yet
been able to proceed. The insurgents Of
the two provinces of Chill and Shantung
have this time effected a complete union
and could not be separated.
The imperial government was by no
means reluctant to issue orders for the
entire suppression of this insurgent ele-
ment. But, as the trouble was so near
at hand, there was a great fear that due
protection might not be assured to the
legations If the anarchists should be driv-
en- to eXtremities, thus bringing on a ma
tional calamity. There also was a fear
that uprisings might occur in the prov
inces of Chill and Shantung at the same
time, with the result that both foreign
missionaries and the Chinese converts in
the two provinces might fall victims to
popular fury"
NO WORD FROM CoNGER.
Aside from the dispatch from Admiral
Remey made public by the navy DEPART
ment this morning, there was no news re-
ceiVed today by the administration from
the representatives of the government In
China The desire to hear from Minister
Conger remains unabated, and it Is pre-
sumed that Minister WI the Chinese
minister, will make some further effort
to obtain for the ministers the opnor-
tunity of communicating directly with
their own governments. Like the officials
in Washington he is at a loss to under
stand why they are not able to do So
unless it is because the conditions prevail
ing in Peking al this time make it i'm
practicable He was asked tonight If the
administration had suggested to him that
he call the attention of his government
to the desire of our officials that COM
munication from Minister Conger be ar
ranged for but he declined to say.
Minister WI, in connection with the
statements made in the imperial decree
made public today, called attention to
the fact that when the first reports of
this murder of Baron Kettler were pub
lished, it was stated that his guard in
revenge had burned the offices of the
Tsung II Yamen. The decree contained
no mention Of this. which he regarded as
singular, If such a thing really had oc-
Cured To his mind it confuted the orig
inal story which he said, like many Others
inimical to the Chinese government, had
originated in Shanghai and other places.
The minister believes that the 20, ,OoC
japanese will have no great difficulty in
reaching Peking.
~ believe they will get there If they