The evening times., 1900-07-11

Minister Nu yesterday from IShih' "a'
delivered by him 10 the Secretary of State
this morning. The decree is dated June
%. and was transmitted by the Privy
Council in Pekin to the Board Of War
which sent it by special courier TO the
Treasurer OF the Chill Province, who
then sent it 10 the Taotai of Shanghai, b!
whom it was cabled to Minister WI.
The edict is virtually a defence Of tn,
Chinese Government and disclaimer o
all responsibility for the outrages in Pc
kin and elsewhere in the Empire. II is
moreover. a history Of the whole Boxei
uprising from the Chinese standpoint Tn,
edict follows:
The circumstances which led to the
commencement Of the fighting between
Chinese and foreigners were Of such
a complex, confusing. and unfortunate
character as TO be entirely uneZpeCt-
ed. Our diplomatic Representatives
abroad, owing to their distance from
the scene Of action, have had no means
VI AACN INK NAE Il At state o. AHlhEN
and accordingly cannot lay the views
OF the Government 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 matter for the inf0Tma-
tion Of our representatives, aforesaid.
Uprising Of the boxers.
"a E-r4 ~, N, -.
provinces Of Chill and Shantung. a
class OF rebellious subjects who had
been in the habit OF practicing boxirg
and fencing in their respective villages.
and at the same time clothing their do
iEgs with spiritualistic and strange
rites. The local authorities failed to
take due notice OF them at the time.
Accordingly the infection spread with
astonishing rapidly Within the space
Of a month it seemed to make its ap-
pearance everywhere and finally even
reached the capital itself.
Everyone looked upon the movement
as supernatural and strange and many
Joined it. Then there were lawless and
treacherous persons, who sounded the
cry OF. Down with Christianity About
the middle Of the fifth moon, these be
gan 20 create disturbances without
warning. Churches were burned and
converts were killed. The whole city
was in a ierment situation was
created, which could not be brought
under control
AT first. the foreign powers request
ed that foreign troops be allowed TO
enter the capital for the protection of
the legations. The Imperial Govern
ment, having in view the comparative
urgency of the occasion, granted the
request as an extraordinary mark of
oourteSy beyond the requirements Of
International intercourse. Over five
hundred foreign troops were sent TO
Pekin. This shows clearly how much
care China exercised in the mainte-
nance Of friendly relations with other
countries.
Legation Members Accused.
The legations at the capital never
had much to do with the people But
from the time foreign troops entered
the city, the men did Eot devote them
selves exclusively TO the protection Of
their respective legations. They some
times fired their guns on top of the city
walls and sometimes patrolled the
streets everywhere. There were repeat-
ed reports Of persons being hit by stray
bullets Moreover. they s;rolled about
ths city without restraint and even at
tempted to enter the Tupg-h hua gate
ha
grounds). They only desisted when
aGmittauce was positively forbidden.
"On this account both the soldiers
and the people We're provoked to re-
sentiment and voiced their Indignation
with one accord. Lawless persons then
took advantage of the situation TO do
mischief, and became boIder than ever
in burning and killing Christian con-
verts. The powers thereupon ATTEMPT
ed to re-enforce the foreign troops In
Pekin, but the e-enforcements encoun-
tered resistance and defeat at the
hands OF the insurgents on the way
and have not yet been able to proceed.
The insurgents OF the two provinces
OF Chill and Shantung had by this
time enected complete union and
could not be separated
Feared Ia Hiring Crisis.
The Imperial Government was by no
means reluctant to issue orders for the
entire suppression OF this insursent
element. But as the trouble was so
near at hand there was a great fear
500 TO Cumbc rIand and Return
From 3. 4 O. station at a. m. SUNDAY .Iulv
Ret r,rus 1.ltsa