New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-17


yeeks later another edict was dispatched to
I he same officials by the Dowager Empress
yho ACCORDING TO widespread belief in the
Orient has English blood in her veins, her
mother having been a Eurasian, or child of a
White father and Manchu mother. In this
.eooud edict the N5ceroys were warned to exer-
Use a prudent discrimination toward the dis
ur5ers Of public peace The reckless fellows"
Who band together and create riot on the pre-
srt Of securing reforms were to be punished
shile those loyal subjects who learn gymnastic
il for the protection of their families and
fber country" that is 10 say, the members of
he Righteous Harmony Fists Association
we're to be favored.
This was the first heard of the so-called
Bmers-opeuIy & society for the cultivation Of
gymnastics secretly an anti-foreign political
movement, something like those Turn VeTeine,'
gymnastic societies, which played so impor-
2nt political role in Germany at the beginning
Z the present century. From that time forth
Tie so-called Boxers were more or less
openly encouraged by the Empress. They be
zane means Of union among all the various
secret societies, and i today these societies in
al parts Of the immense Chinese Empire are
simultaneously taking TO arms 10 eXpel the for
egner il is due TO the Cleverness CT the old
Empress. Who IS thus at the close Of the nine
sentk century enulating the role played near
me hundred years ago by Queen Louise in
Russia, when she reused her countrymen 10 rid
5erLlauy CT the thraldom Of Napoleon.
ALL CHINA BEHIND HER
There is every reason to believe that on this
scasion the Dowager Empress has at her back
lot merely her Manchu Rtainers but all
hina, and China contains a teeming and seeth-
ing population OF more than four hundred mill
ion who are almost insensible to pain, have no
fear Of death and are imbued with fierce hatred
q the foreigner. II is true that both Canton and
Pezing were occupied some forty years ago by
az allied Franco-English army Of fifteen thou
2nd o. twenty thousand men. But l well re-
member the late Sir Harry Parkes who accom-
panied the commanding general as chief inter
Peter, explaining to me long afterward at Toxic
that Canton as well as Picking were such i'm
nense cities that the Anglo-French forces only
occupied a small quarter thereof, and that the
remainder of the two cities were so little under
their control that each morning the heads of
those European soldiers who had strayed be
y9nd the Gordon Of sentinels during the night
would be hurled from neighboring houses into
tie Ango-French lines Indeed, the so-called
seizure Of these immense capitals was so inef-
iectiye that not one in a thousand Cinnamon
I'LL admit that it really took place, and have
even some Chinese friends who were living in
Feking at the time of its occupation who have
declared 10 me by all they held sacred that
1e story must be untrue, seeing that they never
Bel eyes on d French or English soldier at the
tine alleged Moreover. Chinese history ascribes
lie destruction Of the celebrated Summer Palace
not 10 the French and English troops, as was
ieaIy the case but TO Divine agencies, as pun
shnent Of sacrlege on the part Of one of the
Cembers Of the Imperial family.
There are only two Powers that are really in
position TO invade Chinese territory at the
Present. moment and 10 place large armies in
he field, namely Japan and Russia The latter
las probably al the present moment about one
hundred thousand soldiers stationed at Vladi-
FOstoek. Port Arthur and along the southeastern
frontier Of Siberia. Japan on the other hand
Las Al army Of al least twice that number Of
men assembled at various points the eastern
coast Of the Mikado's Empire ready for immedi-
te transport across the small stretch of sea
mai Separates Japan from China The Toxic
oV'eTnmeHi threatens 10 throw an army of sew
sIl hundred thousand men into Corea and
On!na Il The Russians march on Picking and in
~'e same Nay the Cars representatives declare
1-s' II japan moves they will Immediately &C
'1ps The northern provinces Of China. The
-liief Power concerned. namely. England,
france, Germany and the United States have
- Iliiitary forces adequate or near enough to
va With the matter promptly, especially in
@Aihg any effective steps toward the protection
iIe ana Pr9pg rty.- Yet they are reluctant to