The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-07-21

IdNt ItltNtu luc lnltl lhll-
Il tent controversy touching
the practical value of for
eign missions and the air for some
time to come may be expected to be
filled with assertions and denials res
pecting the efficacy Of Chrlstendom's
ecclesiastical cndeavors to eVangellze
the heathcn. AS in the past, the dis
pute will have no other result than to
cause Unnecessary heat Of temper and
prOfuSion of words; it will settle moth
ing and convince nobody. We hope to
keep out of this storm center and yet
hazard a few words of seemingly war
ranted opinion and suggestion. In the
first place, the missionaries have been
in China good many years. If they
We're the only causes of the Boxer up
rising it has been a long time in COM
ing. They are in other oriental Coun-
tries doing similar work. and we don't
hear of much trouble in those COun-
tries. Evidently it is not the mission
aries, although zeal without discretion
is just as bad in Pekin as It is in
Scranton, if not worse; and common
sense is invaluable everywhere.
If Christian missionary work has
been slower in accomplishing actual re-
suits in China than in some other for
eign lands the blame may be due to
local conditions, for which not Christi
anty but the lack of it has been re-
sponsible. We know of no better in
formed American on the subject of Chi
nese conditions than Colonel Charles
DENLY, for many years our minister in
that country. Fancy what would hap
pen," says Mr.. DENLY, 'if Russia seized
Fortress Monroe and slice of Vr-
ginia, Germany Governors island and a
part of New York; England, Mare ISL
and and half dozen counties in Cali
fornia, and France, New Orleans and
hundred miles up the Mississippi.
Then, suppose Italy asked for Charles
ton. Is it to be imagined that such
events would be taken as all being for
our good. and that we ought to feel
rather proud than otherwise that the
great nations acted so handsomely to-
ward us?"
This is what the so-called Christian
powers have done in China, and done
at the same time that the Christian
missionaries We're trying to instruct
the native Cinnamon concerning the
ethical beauties of the Golden Rule.
But it is not the whole chapter of dem
onstrated differSce between Christian
preccpt and practice Says the Detroit
Tribune: when Great Britain forced
her opium into the Chinese market at
the point of the bayonet it was no.
tice to all the world that China could
be compelled by force to trade where
she did not wish to buy From that
day on, commerce has been built up in
China partly by persuasion, but large
ly by intimidation and threats. Trea-
ties were forced upon her that her
statesmen did not know the meaning
of, but in spite Of the fact that when
= these treaties went into effect they
were almost uniformly inimical to the
interests Of the people, a sincere at
tempt was made on the part of Chi
nese. officials to enforce their provl-
sions. China was supposed to be weak
and helpless in spite Of her dense pop
ulauon, and no western power ever
neglected an opportunity to take ad-
vantage of that weakness, unless its
rapacity was restrained by the jealous
hand of another power.
1--WE ourselves have even presumed
to exclude Chinese subjects from this
country, while demanding the fullest
trading and commercial privileges for
our subjects there. When Chinese
have Eeen massacred in the United
States this government has solemnly
Informed the tsung Ii yamen that 1t
was not responsible for the preserva-
tion of order in the states; at the
same time the Chinese government has
been held strictly accountable for even
the most petty injuries inflicted upon
our citizens there. And of all the
western nations, the United States
have unquestionably been the most
honorable and the most generous in
their dealings with the Chinese. Just
as all the great powers must share the
responsibility for the present insurrec-
tlon, so must all of them share the
responsibility for it's terrible conse-
quences. During the years that they
have been plundering China, they seem
10 have deceived themselves utterly as
to Chinese character and Chinese re-
sources"
1t is proper to criticize foreign mis-