New-York tribune., 1900-06-30
THE MISSING MINISTER'S.

The most serious present question in China
remains unanswered. At the hour of this writ
ing no news has been received from or Of the
foreign Ministers in China. Rumors concerning
them are plentiful those Of each day contradict
ing those of the day before. The one thing GER
tain in the latest dispatches is that an appar-
emily credible report of yesterday which indi-
Gated the fulflment of long cherished hope
was not true That was Ii Hung Chang's report
to Mr.. Wu Ting Fang that the Ministers were
with Admiral Seymour We now know that
they are not with Admiral Seymour and that, in
fact. the Admiral never reached Pekng nor got
into communication with them Thus their
whereabouts and their fate remain to-day as
profound a mystery as ever in the last two
weeks
1t was just two weeks ago that the period of
many rumors but no news began. On June 16
it was said the Ministers were practically priS-
oners in the legations and a Chinese army of
one hundred thousand was massed at Peking to
oppose Admiral Seymour. The next day came
tale of anarchy in Peking, the burning Of the
legations and the killing of the German Minis
ter. This was changed on June IS to the capt
ure of that Minister and the slicing to pieces of
one of the others On June 10 the legations
were captured and Admiral Seymour was forced
to return to Tien-Tsin. But the next day a big
French Minister as well as the German had
been murdered, and there had been a general
massacre of foreigners One day more brought
bewildering change, with Admiral Seymour
entering Peking and finding the legations and
their occupants uninjured. but the Imperial Pal
ace burned, the Emperor murdered and the EN-
press suicide After that we had rest from
rumors for two days. But on June "a the Chi
nese Minister at Berlin reported that the Minis
ters were well and safe in the legations at
Peking. The next day Sheng Ia Jen repeated
this report adding, however, that the Ministers
were demanding their passports On June DC
Japanese reports were that the Ministers had
left Peking for an unknown destination, escorted
by Chinese troops. On June 81 they were said
to be with Admiral Seymour, near Tien-Tsin.
The next day one report was that they were
being taken to Sian-Fu to be held as hostages,
and another which the Chinese Minister at
Washington got from the Tsung-Li-Yamen, was
that they were safe at Peking, but were to be
escorted out of the country by Chinese troops.
Yesterdays rumor budget was to the effect
that all the legations had been burned; that
from Ii Hung Chang TO Mr.. WI Ting Fang
the Ministers were with Admiral Seymour; that
from the Vlceroy of Nanking-thc legations
continued to receive full protection. and that
from the German commander at Taku-the
( ministers were with the lanQlng party, what
ever that might mean. And now Ii Hung
! Changs story is disproved and the German
! commanders discredited, and the world in sus-
! pense, asks -?
| For it would be idle to minimize and it would
| be impossible to exaggerate the importance of
the matter. The welfare of such a company of
men, merely from the personal point of view, is
no light thing From a political and diplomatic
! point of view il is of the greatest possible
weight These men are the official representa-
| tives Of the chief nations of the world. They
were accepted by China as such. China herself
must be surety for them. If she expels them
she declares war against the world. If she
kills or abuses them she commits one of the
! grayest offences known to international law
and gives the Powers they represent the amplest
casuS belli. If she fails TO protect them from
her mobs she confesses her inability to perform
the most necessary dnties of sovereignty and
justifes armed alien Intervention From every
point of view, therefore. there is nothing more
earnestly to be desired than that the missing
Ministers shall speedily be found. and be found
to be unharmed.