Evening star., 1900-10-08
Chinese Imperial Court Afraid to Re-
turn to Pekin.
MOVING 800 MILES FURTHER AWAY
Yu, Governor of Shansi Province,
to Be Degraded.
MINISTER WU'S ADV1CES

The effort to induce the Chinese imperial
court to return to Pekin has failed, after a
weeks persistent pressure on the part Of the
powers. News to that effect was brought
to the State Department today by the Chi
nese minister, who received it via ST. Pc
tersburg from Viceroys Liu Kun-Yih and
Chang Chih-Tung, under date of October 4.
Minister WI received this message last
night. 1t as follows
Minister Wu's Advices.
'The departure of their imperial majes-
ties for Shens (province) was due to dis
tressing conditions at Tai-Yvan Flu. There
is a scarcity of food supplies in the prov
ince of Shansi on account of long continued
drought, and the provincial capital (Tai-
Yuan is almost deserted, the tradespeople
having left on account of the disturbances
caused and continued for months by the
Boxer rebels. who had invaded that prov
ince, with the encouragement Of Cover nor
Yu. Their majesties, therefore, Were
obliged to proceed to Shensi where tele-
graphic communication with Shanghai and
other parts of the empire is opened. and
rapid communication with their maJeStieS
may, therefore, be carried on; thus court
and official business may be transacted
more expeditiousy by their presence in
Shensi rather than in Shansi. The reasons
for the temporary postponement of their
majesties return to Pekin are the pres
ence of the allied forces there. account
of which solicitous fear is doubtless enter
tanned, besides dread of the outbreak of
epluemic diseases, which usually follow
after great disturbances destruction Of
property and military operations. 1t is
hoped the powers will be considerate in
their judgment in this matter"
The important feature of the message
is the confession that the court is re-
strained by fear of the allied forces from
returning to Pekin. The movement takes
tlf
Singan-fu about 300 miles further away
from Pekin. though, according to the state
ments contained in the message, by reason
of direct Geographic communication with
nearer for purposes of negotiation with the
outside world than 1t was at Tai-Yuan.
Viceroy Yu Impeached.
Minister WI has also been informed that
Viceroy Yu of the province just vacated by
the court has been impea ached because of
his anti-foreign tendencies, which is the
first step toward his degrade ton.
1t is said that there are no Boxers In the
newly chosen locality, so that the court
will have thrown off the hostile influences
recently surrounding 1t. AS the dispatch is
dated four days ago, 1t Is taken that the
trip of the imperial party began prior to
that time. 1t will be slow and tedious
overland most Of the way, with a short
stretch of river naviga ton. Singan-fu was
formerly the place of imperial residence.
and the ancient palaces are still there. The
only disquieting feature of the move comes
from japanese advices, stating that the new
point of location is strongly fortified which
is some indication that the imperial family
is still in flight, and is seeking stronger de-
fenses. But the friendly viceroys and Min
lister WI do not share in that view.
Question Of Punisbnents.
The minister considers the question of
punishments practically disposed of by the
edict Of the emperor and the German and
American notes exchanged last week.
About the only difficulty he apprehends is
in case the foreign ministers seek to desig-
nate certain persons who shall be punished
in addition to those which the government
itself marks for punishment. Such a
course by the ministers, he says. would be
hard to comply with, but he looks to the
sagacity of Ii Hung Chang and Prince
Ching to overcome any difficulty along that
line.