The Savannah morning news., 1900-06-17
BOXERS AND THEIR DEEDS.
REV. DIR. d. L. ANDERSON TELLS AN
INTERESTING TALE of CHINA.

Tor Eighteen FEARS ana hnOWs
whereof He Speaks-In His Opin-
ion the DepredatiOns of the Box
ers Are Inspired and Enc outraged
and the Boxers Protected by the
Empress DOwager - The Chinese
Name of the Society Is 81 HO
Chunn" - DIR. Anderson Thinks
More Troops Are Urgently Needed
in China.
1.-THE outrages perpetrated by the Box
ers in China represent the last expiring
effort Of the Empress Dowaser to save
herself and the Manchu-Tartar dynasty
from deposition. She is the inspiration and
the brains OF the movement; the members
of the society are but ignorant and vicious
tools in her hands and the hands of her
ministers"
Rev D. L. Anderson, D. D., Methodist
Episcopal missionary TO China, was talk
ing Of the Boxers and their gruesome pc
culiarities with a Morning News reporter
last night DR.. Anderson has spent the
last eighteen years of his life in China.
with two short intermissions, has lived
with the people has studied their man
ners, their habits of thought, their pre-
JUDGES and their beliefs, and is thorough
1y well-posted as to the prevailing condi-
ton of affairs in that country. He gave
clear and lucid statement of the existent
troubles and their causes.
I'm the Chinese language the Society of
Boxers is known as 1 HO Chuan. The
meaning is with difficulty rendered into
English, the wide difference in the idoms
of the languages not permitting Il literal
translation The word + means the
the public or the the public veal
or something of that sort; 'Ho' signifies
'pacification. or quiet or freedom
from trouble" 'Chuan' signifies by
force or with the fist" A free trans
lation of the name of The society would
be, Public Veal Secured BY The Fist
From this combination Of words the
name of the society has been shortened
into Boxers. Its oetensible purpose IS
the protection of the country from the
Introduction of Western customs and civ
ilization, with their imaginary evil-conse-
quences; its real, underlying raisOn detre
Is the conviction of the Empress Dowager,
that her influence and her throne are tot
tering, and that the expulsion of the for
eigners is the one thing THAI will serve
to save them both from destruction
Secret Societies in China are not new
continued DR.. Anderson. I'm China they
take the place of political parties and
discomfort with the regning dynasty,
which is Manchu-Tartar and not Chinese.
Revolutions are frequent, riots and dis
order of common occurrence, and some
one of the societies is usually at the bot
tom of the trouble.
ut is altogether probable that the Box
ers have maintained a sub rosa existence
for a long period of time but they rose
into prominence some two years ago Two
German Catholic missionaries in the prov
inee of Shantung had been butchered by
a mob and the German government de-
manded satisfaction, redress and indem-
nifty. In addition 10 the port of Kio Chow.
which 1t secured, it required that it should
receive certain railroads and mining con-
cessons.
"A decree of the Empress Dowager
promised, and. indeed, gave these conces- |
sions. but at the same time a secret order
was sent to the officers of the province,
directing that every stumbling block
should be thrown in the way of the Ger
man government making use of the grants
and that they should be defeated If posi-
Bile. OF course, some ostensibly unofficial
force had to be used to accomplish this
end and the Boxers were selected as fur
nishing the right kind Of material The
Germans have never attempted TO make
use of the concessions that were granted
them, but the Boxers were doubtless ready
IL any such attempt had been made
"Since that time il has been evident
that they were under the protection of the
government. They have been organizing
and drilling under the eyes of government
officials and everybody around. EXCEPT the
officials understood what these prepara-
tons meant. In the early part of the
year an Englishman. Mr. Brooks, was
killed and a number of Chinese Christians
were massacreed. Nothing was done
though the outrage was reported to the
government and the offenders were well
known.
1.-THE whole thing is an old story in
China. The Empress Dowager, who has
ruled the country with an iron hand for
twenty years, and is cordially disliked by
the better element of the people through
out the empire. II will be remembered that
in 1898 she deposed her nephew. the then
Emperor, and has since kept him under
confinement. Shortly before that period
the country had become impre gnated with
the spirit of reform and the Emperor HIM
self was leader in the movement All
over the country schools, which were
teaching the new learning had been es-
tablished and were in successful opera
ton. A healthy spirit of advancement
was in the air and every movement for
the good of the people was heartily sec
onded by the Emperor. With the deposit
ton of Kwang Hsu the schools vanished
and the reform spirit, in official circles
died a sudden death"
THE Empress Dowager has no personal
following throughout China, the large ana
influential, intelligent and wealthy classes
among the people holding her i'm cordial
dislike, The Boxers are made up for the
most part of ignorant counirymen. They
are OF the class that is transformed by
opportunity and the thought that there
= is more in it from peaceable citizens into
lawless brigands. Easily stirred up and
excited, they are more easily led into
crime and outrage at the shrewd dictaton
of a few bold and unprinciDled men.
1T is a mistake to suppose" said DR..
Anderson, that the Boxers are scattered
over the entire empire. They are 10 be
found principally in the northern part of
Shantung and The southern part Of Chih
Ii provinces. the latter province being
that in which Pekin is situated. They
are receiving, as have said, the support
of the Empress Dowager, her idea being
that the expulsion of the foreigners win
kill the spirit Of progress and reform and
thus still the objections TO herself and
her dynasty"
DR.. Anderson believes that more troops
should be sent by the United States to
Pekin for the protection of American res
idents. The Boxers are being Joined now
by the troops of the Chinese army, and
are in this way becoming much more
formidable antagonists. The Empress and
her Manchu advisers at Pekin are I'M
able to understand anything more Of the
power and strength of a nation than they
can see under their eyes and they are