New-York tribune., 1900-08-16
THE PUBLIC IN THE DARK.
MANY MESSAGES wITHHELD-REAsoNs
FOR STATE DEPARTMENTS ACTION.
ny The Assoclated Pressl

| C5y The Associated Press)
Washington Aug 15-The tension on the
| Chinese situation has been great through the
! day. for 1t is appreciated by officials that the
! crisis has reached acute stage which cannot
! be continued for many hours without bringing
! word OF good or evil import One Of the new
/ developments to-day the statemer,, that
messages are being received from Minister
Conger which are not transmitted through any
! OF the United States officials in China, or
through the Chinese Minister here. but directly
at the State Department These messages come
by the way of Tsi-Nan Some OF them cannot
! be fully decphered. and for this reason the
statement cannot be definitely made that the
dispatches sent by the Government to Minister
! Conger are received by him. So far as the
messages have been deciphered there is no in
dcation that Minister Conger received any in
formation or dispatches from the State Depart
ment. Nothing could be learned Of the contents
OF the dispatches received although it was
stated that there were number from Minister
Conger some coming from the consular officers
and General Chaffee. beside those which came
direct. The message transmitted through Min
lister WI entirely deciphered IN the Depart
ment.
In the course OF a conversation to-day be
tween Secretary Root and Baron Speck Won
Sternburg, the German Charge d'Affaires, Mr.
Root gained considerable information concern
ing the route which has yet to be traversed by
the allied armies. Baron Sternburg told
him that Tung-Chow very strong place
and if the Chinese army should make a stand
at this point the international forces would find
1t difficult to overcome the forts and walls.
While it is not known what resistance may have
been or will be made to the advance at Tung-
Chow, Secretary Root and other officials would
not be surprised to learn of a serious battle
that place
1t is expected that the German force now on
it's way to China will land in the vicinity of Lin
Yu. which is directly east of Peking 1t is said
that the road from Lin-Yu to Peking is much
better than that between Tien-Tsin and Peking,
the ground is higher and the country more
suitable for military operations
ALL MESSAGES KEPT SECRET.
The feeling among officials was shown in the
extreme circumspection thrown about all
sages relating to China, and it announced
both at the State and War departments that
any communication from Minister Conger or the
United States consuls concerning affairs in
China would not be made public. 1t was
planned that this was in way due to any
desire to keep from the public information Of
an important character, but was based solely
on the fact that the crisis involved so many
possibilities of extreme hazard to the eight hun
dred foreigners in Peking that the greatest
caution must be observed against the disclos-
ures which would further imperil those in
danger.
The actual developments Of the day consisted
of the Remey dispatch and one from Consul
General Goodnow. at Shanghai. The State De
partment declined to make known the contents
OF the Goodnow dispatch. This opened a wide
field for conjecture. the most generally accepted
view being that Mr.. Goodnow had advised
against the plan Of delivering the foreigners out
side the city OF Picking
The cipher experts were busy with dispatch
from Consul Fowler, at Che-F'oo. which was so
unintelligible that 1t had to be returned to the
telegraph company to be repeated. So far as it
could be deciphered It appeared to repeat a mes
sage sent by Minister Conger to Fowler tell
ing the latter that the situation was becoming
more critical at Peking. and that the Chinese
authorities were seeking to compel the legations
to leave the city under Chinese escort. It is
possible that the message, which is long, will
convey additional information when its com
plcations are unravelIed
POSSIBLE FIGHT AT TUNG-cHow.
With the army at Ma-Tow, it is felt that any
one Of several conditions might be presented in
the near future. The Chinese officials concurred
in the belief expressed by the Chinese Minister
ar London that there would be a speedy and
| sudden change and peace within the next
! few weeks On the other hand, Baron Speck
| Won Sternburg regards Tung Chow, midway be-
/ tween Ma-Tow and Peking as the real battle
ground and Secretary Root is inclined to accept
this view. Some of the Japanese officials be-
lieve that after the allies reach Tung-C Chow they
will find Peking deserted city ahead of them
as it recalled that these tactics Of with
drawal had occurred in 1860. when the British
French expedition reached Tung- Chow In the
absence of all positive information as to what
the allied armies will do. these conjectures
from the best posted sources serve to show the
various serious possibilities forming part of
( the present crisis.
The message Of the French Minister at Pc
king, NJ Pichon, to the French Foreign Office
was at first regarded here as identical with the
last Conger message. which the State Depart
ment has not made public But without dis
closing the nature Of the Conger message the
officials made a sufficient comparison between
the Pichon and Conger messages to show that
they were not identical in language or general
statement On the contrary, it was clear that
each Minister forwarding to his Govern
ment his own advices on the situation, and that
there had not been consultation between the
Ministers before these two dispatches were for
warded. While the messages are not alike il is
understood that they agree on considerable of
the information contained.
THE PRESIDENTS RETURN
The arrival of President Mckinley tomorrow,
is looked forward to with great interest in view
of the gravity Of the crisis. The Presidential
/ party will arrive here early tomorrow morn
! ing. and extended conference between the
/ President, Secretary Root, Acting Secretary
/ Adee and others is likely to occur earlv in the