Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-08-09
SESSION Of THE CABINET.
No Official Assurance that's General
Advance on Pekin Has
Been Begun.
THE FOWLER DISPATCH DISCUSSED.
to the ConEer Message Brought
Out tbat Set at Rest All ThODghts
of Duplicity ON the Part of Chi
nexe Officials.

ncse OmeiaIs.
Washington, Aug. A cabinet
meeting was held which lasted about
an hour. The Remey dispatch telling
of the check to the Japanese scouting
column was read. but was not consid.
cred as of serious Importance as al
fecting the general advance. 1t was
stated that the government has no OF.
fetal assurance hat a general adj.
vance against Pekin has been begun
by the American or any other con-
tingent of the international force.
The Fowler dispatch also was dis
cussed and one of the members said it
was accepted as putting IN end to any
possible controversy as to the au.
thenticity of the original CongeI
cipher dispatch.
Some Interesting Facts.
Some interesting facts connected
with the original cipher message were
brought to light by Mr.. Fowler's re-
port. 1t appears that when Minister
WI received the cipher. message, on
the 21st ult., he found that it con
tanned 4 cipher within a cipher. The
governor of Shan Tung, Yuan, trans
mitted with the message, a message
from the tsung Ii yamen, which, in
turn, transmitted Mr.. Conger's mes
sage. The latter was in the state de-
partment cipher; the former in the
Chinese official cipher. When Mr.. WI.
in deciphering the message. reached
the end of the tSung Ii yamen's mes
sage of transmittal he was unaware of
that fact, and thought that the sew
eral groups of figures following were a
portion of the tsung Ii yamen mes
sage. AS a matter of fact they were
the initial words of Mr.. Conger's mes
sage and they were undecipherable by
Mr.. WI, because they were in the
state department cipher. Instead of
beginning: I'm British legation" ETC..
Mr.. Conger's message really began:
1--WE have been for a month in the
British legation" etc. Another fact de-
veloped is that the message was
signed "E. H. Conger, July nth"
What Was Supposed by Many.
Many persons had supposed that
"AAAC nv HhOSSdSC was genuine II was
one written by Mr.. Conger long before.
and that it had been fraudulently dat
ed by the Chinese officials. Now it ap-
pears that the tsung Ii yamen, or
Yuan, did date it the 18th. 1t is
thought hat this date was accurate
inc that while Mr.. Conger actually
wrote his dispatch on the 18th, and
put it in cipher ready for transmits
SIGN at the first opportunity, the mes
sage did not leave Pekin until the fol
lowing day. These developments
have lone much to rehabilitate the
Chinese officials in the estimation Of
some officials who have heretofore
been very skeptical as to their in
tegrity in connection with the trans.
mission of these official messages.
Demand OF Chinese Ministers.
II appears that sonIe misunderstood
ing exists as TO a St. Petersburg dis.
I'atch printed here yesterday morning,
saving that the Chinese minister
there, ard his colleagues in Europe,
had cabled the governor Of Shan Tung,
demanding that free communication
be opened between the Pekin ministers
and their respective governments. This
communication was in fact, a joint me-
mortal to the throne concurred in by
all Chinese ministers abroad, includ-
ing Minister Wu, in Washington. 1t
was transmitted through the governor
OF Shan Tung, to- he forwarded tc.
pekin. This action is considered very
important. as indicating that the Chi
nese ministers abroad have at last
reached n unanimous conclusion that
the situation is no longer TO he trified
with. Their action may be regarded as
n final effort on their part TO influence
the home government, and its outcome
is awaited with great interest.
Our Government in
Meanwhile the government of the
United States, like ;lir governments
of Europe, has not abandoned its eff
forts to establish communication with
its ministers at Pekin by Independent
means, and the state department has
instructed Consul-General Goodnow, at
Shanghai; Consul Fowler, at Che Foo.
and Consul Ragsdaic. at Tien Tsin, to
spare no effort or expense to open
up direct communication with Conger.
Another Message from
In addition to his short message rel
alive to the Japanese check, transmit
ted through Admiral Remey and re-
ceived yesterday morning, Gen. Chaffee
made another and direct cable report
l%st evening. The message was with
held from publication by Secretary
Root, who declined to make its pur-
port public. 1t was presumably de-
voted to a recital of Gen.. Chaffee's
needs in a military way.
In view of the London statement
that advance on Tien Tsin actually
began with the present week, there is
also a possibility that Gen. Chaffee'S
message has some bearing on that
subject, though it is evident from his
report of this morning that the ad-
vance, il started, could not have pro-
crossed far beyond Tien Tsin, as the
outpost affair described by him took
place only ten miles put of town.
Second Assistant Secretary Adee is
10 act as secretary of state for a few
weeks during the absence of Secretary
Hay.
Another EvasIve Answer.
Washington, Aug. Another move
was made yesterday in the diplomats
situation by the return of an evasive
answer by Ii Hung Chang to Secretary
Hays peremptory demand of August
] to be put in communication with the
foreign ministers at Pekin. Lis an
swer is not final, and leaves the mat