Evening star., 1900-07-07

ers. As a public entertainer is practically
an outlaw, 1t affords an admirable op-
portunity for revolutionary agents to pur-
sue their calling without much fear of de-
lection They travel from city to town.
and In single year may visit from fifty
to a hundred different communities They
associate witt hodse servants. the rab-
BILE. underpaid soldiery and the hangers on
Of the courts. Here they have opportuni-
ties numberless for spreading their doc
trines and increasing their organization
How far the Triad has taken advantage of
this condition. OF affairs Is unknown, but
that 1t has done So Is confirmed by every
letter from tile consus and missionaries
stationed in the VARIOUS provinces of the
empire.
The organization rs conducted in about
the same style as Masonry in this country.
In the towns and cities are halls which
are employed for meeting purposes. while
in every village and country districts are
numerous temples which under the Chi
nese law are topen and at the service of
all who care to use their rooms and houses.
The ritual so far as Is known is couched in
high sounding words made interesting by
odd ceremonies and effective by many fines
and penalties. They have officers corre-
spending to the master Of a lodge, the
They have strong committee on new
members, committee on punishment,
whose members are better known to the
western world under the name of high
binders. and committee upon organiza-
ton which corresponds to an executive
committee in Christendom. Their signals
and passwords are ingenious and exceed
ingly complicated Among the former are
the holding Of cup of tea in various po-
sttions, the position Of the fingers in smok-
Ing water pipe or cigarette, the move
ment OF the shoe when the owner is seated
IN chair. the drumming of the digitS when
a man Is at a table and the use Of singular
gestures, in which the head, arms and
hands are employed together. The pass
words are of the commonest sort.
In each lodge or chapter there are grades
of membership, and there Is a system of
representation in the prefectural and
provincial lodges and the grand lodge. Or
ders are carried with remarkable swift
ness owing to the fact that in their mem
bership there Is at least a majority of the
imperial mail carriers. as well as a small
army of compradores and boatswains on
the many steamers which ply the coast and
the larger rivers.
1t is from the latter that the rioters OBJ
tain their arms and ammunition. While
the trade in modern weapons is prohibited
by the law Of China, and the Importation
of such goods interdicted. nevertheless
every foreign craft is allowed to carry an
armory sufficient to repel pirates or to
subdue a mutiny. and nearly every China
coaster and river boat has an armament of
reasonable size They have drills. and in
addition nearly every officer practices regu-
larly to be prepared for emergencies
Even the steam launches which are used
to communicate with boats in the harbor
are often armed, while their European
commanders are almost invariably supplied
with revolver. The revolutionaries pur-
chase these weapons from the ships, pay
Ing. of course. very heavy profit to the
mariner. He in turn has no difficulty in
resupplyng himself at Hong Kong and
other ports.
In this fashion a steady stream OF rifles.
repeaters and reyolvers is flowing from the
western world into the interior of China
While the amount Is small for each boat,
Uhpn II iS remembered that there ara
several hundred boats. and that each boat
makes from four to thirty and forty trips
| a month the sum total may be and prob
ably is very large.
No matter how well armed the Boxers
| may be they cannot prove formidable foes
to European soldiers They have no dis
soldiers are fctions OF the most pitiable
sort. The garrison. consisting nominally
of 5000 troops, has actually LOGO or
1900. On inspection days. when high mill
cial or national, 1900 workingmen are
hired to play soldier for one day. Their
uniform is red cloak. with black and
white ring target IN the back. This with
a gun. which may be ancient Spring
field musket Martini-Henry. Win
chester a fowling piece, is all that dis
tingushes the soldier from the coolie
While these coolies belong to the secret
societies and employed in the riots.
they constitute miserable and even cow
ardly mob All the officers In the Chinese
| war service are Manchus. with few for
eigners military instructors Scarcely
one of the 20G000 that appear on the ma
tion's roster is a member of these revo-
lutionary bodies. Unless, therefore, the
Manchus in whole or in part Join the Boxers
there Is no possibility of the latter offer
| ing any very serious resistance to the con-
tingents OF the great powers.
1t may be added on behalf of the Boxers
| or rather of the Triad Society. of which
the Boxers are but small part. that they
display considerable philanthropy help
fulness toward poor or unfortunate mem
bers. They aid the trades unions. espe-
cially In strikes and boycotts. and by rea-
son Of their enormous power they able
| to intimidate employers. both Chinese and
foreign. In 1893 the workingmen en-
pioyed in a large sugar refinery in Hong
Kong struck for higher wages. There was
| little none of the picketing or turbulence
| manifested around strikes in England or
| in the United States. but there was a boy
colt which weakened the refinery in al
most every way. The result was a sub
Stantial victory for the men employed. At
| Tam Sui. which is the center of the For
mosa tea district: Annoy, the tea exporting
seaport. and Foo Chow the capital of Fuh-
ken province, the unions are very power
full. and have as far back as European
trade goes been supported by the secret
OrganiZat tionS
Nevertheless the Boxers and the Triad
Society represent forces which are opposed
to modern civilization. While they are
patriotic from one point of view they have
no lofty Ideals and no genuine love OF
liberty. If they win in the present con-
test they will organize a government as
| much unsuited to the modern age as that
of the empress dowager. 1t is therefore to
be hoped that the great powers in putting
down these tremendous outbreaks will not
make the momentouS error of restoring
the empress dowager to the power she
possessed heretofore. What is needed is
a protectorate of some sort. which will
faithfully and honestly administer the cum
brous legal and political system which is
an organic part of the Chinese civilization
The revolt, be 1t remembered. is directed
not against the system. but against the
abuses and wrongs committed by those
who administer that system No other
system is feasible and none other would
produce good results among the 400. .0O0 900
Of human beings that constitute the en-
pire.
SUGGESTION OF NEW RULES.