Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-07-23
REAL CAUSE OF CHINESE UPRISING.

superior man in the position he holds.
REAL CAUSE OF CHINESE UPRISING.
Little by little the reading public is
getting better understanding of the
trouble in China. 1t is becoming plain
er that the rebellion is not so much
against the foreigner himself as against
the industrial Innovations he has intro
duced by which large numbe1s CT tina
native workers have been thrown out
of employment, and losing their jobs,
have fomented discomfort and disorder
a fanatical order, such as the Boxers
might inveigh against foreign ideas and
religions, yet the latter would not take
the risk of an uprising unless there
was something practical involved-in
other words, unless it touched their
bread and butter" This appears to be
the case in China. The dearest state
ment of this fact is given by China
man himself-Li Teschung, the former
superintendent of the Secret Cabinet in
Pekin. His statement is intensely in
teresting and important, with the dis
closure Of various phases Of life, one of
which is the over turning Of old ideas
and methods by the newer ones of
western civilization. He says:
The labor question-or, perhaps. more
precisely expressed, the socialistie
<vNy@ H.. u 49, Z e iy,t..
troubles. An impartial investigation in
to the causes of the present unlawful.
up risings will show that.
Three years ago the Tien Tsin-Pekin
railway line was opened. for the last
twelvemonth or longer it has been in
active operation. while smaller aux
Hilary or branch roads have sprung in
TO existence at intervals of from thirty
to forty days all along. And as the
railway net spread and as new eonneo-s
tions by rail are constantly made, the
la Dor market becomes daily more de-,
moralized-that is, opportunities for
work grow less and less
Traffic between the coast and the me-
troplis, and especially between the
commercial centers Tien Tsin and
Pekin. is senormous-hundreds of thous-
ands Of people lived by it from time
immemorial. They found their daily
bread on the land and Waterways as
carriers. carriers, forwarders and help
ers generally. The horse owner. dray
man, or eXpessman. the caravan leader,
driver. camel. donkey. and mule at
tendant: the shipowner. boatman, sail.
or-all made modest but assured liv
ing along the road. as their fathers had
before them. They had the stock. the
custom. the experience. They We're
good for this business and no other.
Then there were the inn and boarding.
house keepers supported by the passing
crowd and dependent upon it; the
wagonmakers, sailmakers, saddlers,
and feed merchants The bus, carryail,
and livery stable people likewise trans
ported passengers. The number of 9th
cials alone who go to Pekin half a doz-
en- times or oftener per year reaches
into the thousands. and the masses Of
candidates for government positions
going to the capital for their eXamina-
ton are ten times greater.
And as the signal for rhe first train
from Taku to Tien Tsin was given all
these industrials, merchants, owners Of
draft animals and of other means Of
transportation; all these drivers, eat
ing-house keepers. these workmen and
helpers, lost their means OF livelihood
lost 1t without the hope Of retrieving
their fortune in stock or other work.
The branch roads robbed another
class OF poorly paid but contended peo-
pie g their only chance for keeping
body and soul together. The branch
roads wiped out the coal carrier-the
poor devil who on his own or his donk-
eys back transported black diamonds
to the consumer, often covering hun
dred9 Of miles. plodding patiently for 8
trihe. European and American journals
have often made fun Of this antediluv-
ian way Of carrying coal, as they called
II. bot 1t suited the people who lived
3 by IL well enough.
The unempIoyed-at least the chronic
unemployed-were unknown in China
before the arrival Of the steam engine
and freight car but for the last twelve
or flfteen months the territory beween
the oulf Of Pechili, changting-Pu, and
Pekio has been overrun with them.
An1 the dlslranchised men have not
h1tn 81 good humor-hungry people
{ GSnssailv are not. still, they might
EhSSe continSed to suffer patiently for
s6t9 Uessom, the Cmnaman loves peace
1 a. III capsule OF much endurance-if
he hAd bsen fer the militant class Of
! of.bs-4dlsrs. For the railway. hurt
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