Evening star., 1900-07-24
Uncertainty in Regard to the Situa-
ton in China.
JAPAN RUSSIA AGREEMENT 7
The SuItan's Sympathy With the
Empress Dowager.
THE GLORIOUS FOURTH


Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
| LONDON, July II. 1900.
Fearing the worst, but hoping for the
! best, sums UP the way in which the Chi
nese crisis is regarded here in England.
| The news that arrived yesterday from
| Rear Admiral Bruce did much to remove
the depression Of these last ten days. What,
| however. has really happened at Pekin no
| one yet knows. The story that comes to-
| day of the resumption of power by the
| dowager empress need not be given any
more credence than other tales from Shang-
| hal. 1t may be true or 1t may not The
chances seem against it. though in our
state of ignorance of what has really hap
| pened in that terrible city of Pekin one
may not reject or accept any story with
out examination.
Wha. diplomatists call high politics" has
undoubtedly delayed Japan in sending
Inducements earlier The jealousy of Rus
| sia. though 1t had something to do with
1t. is not the full cause. Japan itself was
| 10th to move unless it was to receive a
| sufficient recompense for the great expen-
| diture of lives and money that would be
consequence. l am informed, indeed, that
! Japan offered at the outset to throw large
| force into China if Great Britain would
back her up with her navy, and in the par
| titfon of China assist her in obtaining the
| southern provinces of Fokien and Kwang
! tung This government, desrous to avoid
| complications with other powers that would
| follow such alliance, declined to
| make definite promises.
Japan and Russia.
| 1t was then that the agreement 1 was
able to inform you Of a week ago between
Russia and Japan ? was arrived at, and
| definitely agreed to on June 81 1t is too
| early to plunge into discussion of what
| will happen in China when the present dis
| turbances put down. Though the unex-
| pected alliance between the Muscovites and
| the Nipponese Is full of grave significance
| to Great Britain in the future the situation
| for the moment is safe, the powers
mutually interested in suppressing the re-
bellion before 1t spreads throughout the
| empire.
1 learn that the quid quo pro Japan is to
receive is the full control of Corea:
japanese troops have already been
and we may now expect the advance to
| commence. The japanese forces ad
| mirably equipped with horses and with
| formidable artillery, consisting of 36 heavy
! howitzers and 12o field guns. The division
| from India will be on the field soon after
/ the Japanese, and it is hoped will be in
| time to support their advance. 1t is not
| to be supposed that the advance can be
| conducted without fighting. Some idea of
| the kind of resistance likely to be offered
may be gathered from the important dis
| closure Mr.. Wyndham made in the house
| of commons of the arms supplied to China
| from this country since 1SS5 namely IL
! guns of position 123 field guns and 297 ma
| chine guns, in addition to $4,000 Mauser
| rifles recently obtained from Germany. l
have reason to believe that large numbers
| of field guns have also been obtained from
| Germany and France.
| lieutenant Colonel w. De St Paul-Seitz
| writing to the Westminster Gazette, says
| the Chinese infantry armed with the Maui
ser and sword bayonets. march well and
| skirmsh and charge formation like any
| European soldiers. They are docfle and in
| telligent. mostly of the Manchu type, and
must be looked upon as a really good force
| They aim we'll and shoot very steadily up
| to 100 yards but at longer distances tneir
| firing for some reason or other. not yet
| ascertained becomes somewhat erratic.
| The artillery astonish everybody by their
speed and precision and excellent ORDER
The sultnn's sympathy.
Our esteemed friend Abdul Hamid is re-
ported to have expressed his ardent and I'M
perial sympathy with the empress dowager
| Of China. Such report may be taken
giving form to an extreme probability, if
not to an actual fact. His sympathy may
| be alloyed perhaps, with a tinge of envy at
| the better results which the lady has
| achieved. The sultan will look with benign
| and complaisant satisfaction upon the spec
| tacle of an eastern monarch playing off the
| jealous European powers one against the
| other. He has done the same with no little
success. but beyond few local massacres
| the results have not been remarkable. The
| dowager empress has succeeded in provoke
ing an outbreak which must fill the sick
mans heart with gladnesS to contemplate.
| Happy. indeed. the monarch who can pre-
! ciptate wholesale murder and set the
| ''Giaour' nations at lOggerheads in
sublime stroke of kngcraft. So keen Is his
| majesty's appreciation of the congenial
crisis at Pekin that he has signalized the
| occasion by promoting EMS Pasha. the
wretch who made himself famous. or. rath-
| er. infamous. by the slaughter of the Arme-
| mans at Diarbekr in 1895. His restricted
| opportunities only permit him to kill lin
| tied handful of Armenans on rare and
| memorable occasions but the empress dow
| ager has risen to the killing of all the ma
| tons. as we'll as a considerable sprinkling
| Of her own subjects. This Is to be SOW
ereign indeed. and the worthy Abdufs soul
| swarms with qualification at the thought of
| it. though he doubtless wishes he could do
| likewise.
| Whether the Chinese affair is really re-
| sponstble for the sultan's present equabe
| mood or not. 1t is quite certain that some
| thing has happened to put him on good
terms with himself and the world at large
| 1t is in effect reported that he has at last
| agreed to pay out Sf00.00 to the Americans
in discharge of their long-standing claim.
| There is a proviso, however. The money is
to be paid within three months. This does
| not sound quite reassuring-so much may
| happen in three months. There is the pos
sibiity that Europe may be killing China
within that period and the world will not
seem so bright. Moreover, the imperial
memory Is short. and three months is a
| long time for sultan to bear anything in
| mind. Still. his promise is something to
| record. and if he fufills it this time Amer
| lea will have broken another record and
| added another leaf to her laurels
The more light that is thrown on the hos
pital scandals in South Africa the more
clearer it becomes that the war Of
| flee is mainly responsible. Dr. Conan
Doyle, a high and perfectly impartial au-
thority, has now put his finger on the blum
| der which was the parent of all. The royal
| army medical corps now in South Africa
was constituted for an army of the strength
| of two army corps-that Is to say $1,000
men. There are 220. 600 men in South Africa
| and it appears that the army medical corps
| was not expanded with the growth of the
| army. Some civilian doctors have added
| that neither the doctors, nurses nor order
lies were increased to anything like the
same extent the army itself. For this
error Lord Lansdowne and his advisors
were directly responsible. There has no
| doubt been bungfing in South Africa.
| The delay in bringing up hospitals and
| medical comforts to Bloemfontein had been
| due to the conduct Of officers on the spot
| but for the general inadequacy of the med
| ical staff the home authorities are answer