The age-herald., 1900-07-30
V|CEROYS MUST PLEAD FOR PEACE: According to the Imperial Edict
 Issued Yesterday MINISTER'S HELD AS HOSTAGES Pending the Result of the Chl-
 nese Overtures. NOT A FOREIGNER MUST ESCAPE This Report Comes from Shanghai, and Says That Li Hung Chang Was
 Ordered to Command the
 Imperial Armies
Pending the Result of the Chi-
 neSe OvertureS.
NOT A FOREIGNER MUST ESCAPE

London, July SO.-The Shanghai corre- spondent of the Daily Express, telegraphing yesterday, says:
 "A new imperial edict promulgated this evening urgently orders all viceroys and provincial governors to endeavor to negoti- ate peace with the powers, whose ministers are held as hostages pending the result of the overtures for the abandonment of hos ,.Eties against China
 "The viceroys are also commanded to guard their territories vigilantly against attack and to prevent by all means in their power the advance of the foreign troops, especially along he Yang Tse Kiang. The decree says that the officials will answer with their lives for any failure to execute these orders.
 Commands are also given that not single foreigner shall be allowed to escape from the interior. where there are still fully 2,OOO Europeans connected with mis- sionary work in isolated situations.
 When the Governor of Shan Tung com- municated to the consuls the imperial de- cree of July 24 he omitted the following important passages addressed to Ii Hung Chang:
 ''It is admittedly inadvisable to kill all the ministers. but 1t Is equally unwise to send them to Tien Tsin. It will be much wiser to keep the survivors at Pekin as hostages.
 You are commanded to hasten to Pekin. You are mourning imperial displeas- ure by delay. You have been appointed viceroy of Chi u because with your mili- tary experience you will successfully lead ho ir,,,n ,ta1 t,,.t +lo in Chi Ii which Yu Lu, the present vi- ance of military affairs
 Lii Hung Chang replied to this edict asking to be allowed to retire.
 Chang now admits that he has had tell egrams since July 19 announcing that every foreigner in Pao Ting Flu was mur- dered, including forty British French and American missionaries, and announcing also that French jesuits have been massa- cred at kwang Ping Flu on the borders of Shan Tung and Chi Ii. majority of the Consuls favor strong measures against Shang's duplicity
 Local officials assert that the Italian priests murdered in Hu Nan Wen were wrapped in cotton which had been soaked with kerosene and were slowly roasted to death. It Is believed that all foreigners in Chi Ii have by this time been massacred, and the wave of massacre Is spreading to- ward Nang Pc and Hang Chow, from which point thirty English and American missionaries are endeavoring to escape in boats down the river to Kiang Su. Officials here anticipate a general rising along the -Kiang about August 1.
 An astounding American intrigue has been revealed to the Consuls here in the shape of skillful attempt to get the ma ritime customs placed in the hands of an American missionary named Ferguson, who although he was an active ally of Chang in the latters andeavors to hood wink the world with regards to events in Pekin, was supported by the American of- icials in his claim to the appointment of inspector general"