Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-06
LEADS THE WORLD.
AMERICAN DIPLOMACY WINS
POWERS IN THE CHINESE
TROUBLES.
CREDIT DUE SECRETARY HAY.
Important Points in the Agreement
of Ministers at Pekin-Conger
to Sign Note.

Chicago, Dec. GA special to the
Times Herald from Washington says:
American diplomacy leads the world The
great powers have practically reached an
agreement as to the basis of future
movements in China and this basis is
that which was proposed by Secretary
Hay.
Secretary Hay has cabled Minister
Conger to sign for the United States an
agreement which the ministers reached
al Pekin. This agreement was sent to
the home governments for their approv-
a. and with a single exception every
power has already cabled its representa-
tive a Pekin to sign the agreement and
that power will probably do so tomorrow
OF next day. Thus the concert of the
powers is preserved and a practical and
rational basis of settlement has been
reached at last. thanks to the skill and
frmness of the American secretary of
state. The chief features of the agree
ment are:
1t is agreed that the punishments met
ed out to the guilty Chinese are as severe
as is possible for the Chinese government
to administer but not more severe. The
government Of China is not to be asked
to do the impossible.
1T is agreed that the government will
punish severely eleven ringleaders in the
attacks upon the legations and in the
incitement of anti-foreign outrages. Some
of these will be beheaded. Others will be
banished or degraded.
If Great Britain and Germany had been
permitted to have their way. the dynasty
would have been asked to behead the
emperor's great men in the western prov
inces in command Of military forces suf-
ficient to protect them Secretary Hay
lol l. syA
in justice all these heads should be TAX
en- Off it is necessary to catch your hare
before cooking him and that it was SIM
ply absurd to require the Chinese govern
ment to decapitate men whom it could
not get hold Of
"'These guilty officials will be banished
and degraded, and thus it viii be made
impossible for them to return to positions
of power.
II is stipulated in the agreement that
the Chinese government is to formally
admit it liability to the powers for dam
ages and for the expense of military ex-
petitions. This done, the amount of in
demnty to be paid each nation is to be
ascertained afterward by. means of care
full inquiries and estimates
This part of the plan will require
much time and while of course. it will
give rise to opportunities for trouble
r1aking powers to preciptate new COM
pications it is felt that a great point
has been gained by making the amount
of indemnity a subject of negotiations,
as it should be, rather than preliminary
condition
Other features of the agreement per-
tain to the legation guards to be kept
at Pekin. the razing of the Pekin forts
and other military precautions similar
to those proposed by the French govern
ment a month ago.
To all these conditions, it is understood
Ii Hung Chang and Prince Ching, repre-
senting the emperor are willing to accede
to.
In official and diplomatic circles here
the belief is expressed that a great step
forward has been taken and that again
there is good prospect of an adjustment
of the seeingly unending complications
without dismemberment and without de-
struction of the dynasty. The agreement
now reached points to an early military
evacuation of Pekin and return of the
court to that capital