The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-08-07
THE SITUATION IN CHIN A.

Z VS., Two thinSS must De kept IN in.Eu
Ore is that tie news of the Peking
.r.leoy was well-attested; the o-h"r IS
AL the Chinese Government has
,trcrg strategic reasons at this tine
..r trying to conceal the truth.
Tie orieir al story abCut tie events
f July 9Th. which so Mortified the
world, came from two comiyete
sources. the Viceroy of Shantung
province and Sheng, Minister of Rail-
ways at Shanghai Both$ ofic ais hac
close communication with Picking. 1t
was stated by the Vicerny that the
Legation guards had made sort e
e irIy in July. attacking their besiegers
ard killing many. This news was
brought to the vlceroy by an official
runner or messenger, from the capital
The next day another runner reached
| Gilman, the capital of Shantung. with
the news that Boxers, joined by muuu-
Gus troops and possessing cannon. had
made another attack and been check
ed On the third day message was
brought announcing the massacre of
all in the legations, not foreigner hav-
ing been left alive The Viceroy show
ed that he had every reason to believe
the news in that he gave it out official
ly. He could hardly have been deceiv-
ed by his Government in a matter SO
fraught with perilous consequences to
itself; and any messenger deceiving
him would have carried his head in his
hands.
The corroborative detail which reach
ed Shanghai and was given to the
world by Sheng, lacked no sign of
credibility. The story differed from
0f
only in it's incidental character, the
main facts of tragedy being preserved
intact. From this message the public
learned the number of Chinese killed
and got picture of the heroism of the
foreigners in their last stand against
the enemy. A feature of special sig
nificance appearing in the advices OF
both Sheng and the Viceroy of Shan
tung was the attempt to make the
world believe that the Chinese imperial
troops, far from fraternizing with the
Boxers, had done their best to resist
them. What the Chinese Government
wanted to do was to acknowledge the
fact of the tragedy, thing which had
: to come out sooner or later, and at the
same time to escape retaliatory meas
ures.
Finding that the allies meant to look
into the matter for themselves, not
through diplomatic media but over
the sights of cannon, the Chinese
Government tried to gain time for ;.de-
quate military preparation by taking
back the story of the massacre. To
this deception all Chinese functionaries
{ have lent their hands. The Viceroy of
Shantung now hears directly that the
ENJOYS were safe on the 18th of July,
twelve days after he had reported them
dead. Sheng assures the world that
! the imperial power is still defending
= them from harm; and that consum-
t mate Oriental politician, Ii Hung
, Chang. affects to be angry because the
z sorry expedient of his Government has
failed to convince. All these officials
1 claim to be in easy and daily commu-
: nication with Picking. Why can they
not, in that case, bring some auto
n graphic word direct from the foreign
ers whom they say are safe within the
II imperial lines? The question is Vita
n one but official China does not attempt
to answer 1t.
. But everything counts that makes
delay. We had a hint the other day
e that the Empress Dowager and hei
$ court were preparing to move to q
: stronghold in the far interior. They
: will need plenty of time for that. TIC
: carry the treasures of the empire over
roadless China for a distance of two
E or three hundred miles, might with
y the packing up and the choice of q
d suitable escort, take four or five weeks
{ Then re-enforcements must be had and
D these, dispatches say, are moving III
d from the South. A division of one mil
lion braves into four separate corps
which is part of the revealed program
cannot be made In a week. Time
{ time!" is the Chinese prayer and all the
resources of Oriental cunning and du
plicity are being used to secure X
0 Given time enough and China will
;, with her 400, DOC, 900 of semi-savages
e ask no odds of the naughty westerner
: No time should be given. The onl,
n thing to properly stand in the way O.
$ an instant advance on Picking in fore,
II would be a reasonable doubt of tn,
death of the foreigners. If that doub
were valid it would be the human,
duty of the allies not to consign tn,
i ENJOYS to destruction, by a course like
h ly to enrage the Chinese army ant
!. mob. But who doubts? 1t was known
q before July 9Th that the ENJOYS w-r,
in deadly peril; escaped servants OF tn,
= legations tell Of the same awful enc
o that the early official messages t
4 Sheng and the Viceroy of Shantung re
a vealed: though the way be open for ma
i tive runners from Picking to Shanghai
IS to Tien-tsin and to Gilman, not
> scrap of written evidence that the for
- eigners are still alive comes to hand
d The legations are voiceless, the place.
J. which knew the missionaries are still
t though all others speak. There Is NJ
n ground for reasonable doubt. So VIII,
q delay the advance? Japan has sale
= that she could land 100000 men in Chi
y ma in a week. An Army corps has beer
. put ashore already. Russia has so, 00
3 men at Port Arthur, Talien-Wan ant
n Vladivostok; the United States ha.
n 10000 men in the Philippines: the allie.
: at Taku must number $4,000 men;
: German corps is on its way. Nigh
{. not successful dash on Picking b,
) made with these troops. thus possibl,
4 ending the war? And If so does no
" humanity demand that tho chapco n.