Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-23
WANTS OUR HELP
CHINA WANTS TO SETTLE WITH
OUT WAR.
GOVERNMENT NON-COMMITTAL.
Assume that Ministers are
Still Alive.

Quill &AAAVC
Washington, July 22.-President Nc
knley has received what purports to be
a direct appeal from the Chinese i'm
periaa government to use his good offices
to extricate that government from the
position in which it has been placed as
a result of the Boxer uprising. Although
the exact text of the appeal made by the
emperor of China to France, as outlined
in the cable dispatches yesterday, has
mot been made known here, it is believed
THAT the dispatch to the president is sim
ilar in terms. In our case the conn
munication was mad through Minister
WI to the state department.. Thus far a
final answer has not been returned. The
French government answered at once,
hut THAT answer will not serve us. The
United States government is proceeding
on IN entirely new line of policy in the
treatment of the case. Unfortunately
the state department finds itself alone in
in this, but, nevertheless, it is convinced
dts plan is tile best, and it has behind it
1.-THE consollng assurance that at present
all the European governments have tao
lilly adnal,ted that an error was made in
the beginning in not following the COM
mon Sense~advice of the United States
naval commander ait Taku.
The point of difference between the
state department and the European
governments is that the latter are PRO-
cheding on the belief that all of the for
eign ministers and missionaries and
guards at Pekin have been killed and
insist ON dealing with the Chinese gov
OF tnat basis, thereby assum-
ing a hostile attitude THAT tend to de-
stroy the last chance of awaiting of
WITH n re NO f,iCp,11v iSeyr linn ont I, " vet ay.
list among the powerful Chinese viceroys
and the imperial government itself. Thus
alpe French reply, as Indicated in the
four conditions laid down by M. Del
Casse yesterday, sets an impossible task
for the imperial government i'm its pres
emit stlatts and tends to drive 1T at once to
make terms With the Boxers and Prince
Tuan's party.
On the other hand, our government
while NOT guaranteeing the truth of the
advices of the Chinese government as to
tine safety OF the legation ministers, is
willing to accept the statements tempo
uarily, lin the meantime remiuting none
of it's efforts to get access ITO Mr.. Con-
ger, through the use of military force if
need be. BY following out this policy the
state department argues that it retains
two chances instead of one. 1t may
reach Mr.. Conger with troops and also
may secure his d~eliverance Through the
iIS1iuly oill1cS III otIIC " LIZ pO"
Chinese officials, which the powers are
not likely to obtain for their own people
by following out their present policy.
1t may be stated also that the United
States government has not and does not
intend to r%elinquish any part of it's claim
for compensation and reparation in the
ultimate settlement. Its position in that
respect, lit holds, will not be affected I'M
favolably by prosecuting it's Efforts to
make use of the friendly sentiments of
THE Chinese officials.
A particularly deplorable effect of the
reasoning Of the European government
on this point in the estimation of our
government, is the abandonment Of the
idea that there is particular need for
haste and for taking even desperate
chances in the effort to get the Internal
niohal relief column through to Pekin.
1t is true that the latest advices from
Taku indicate that whereas 1t was orig
inally estimated by the foreign COM
manders that the expedition could not be
started before August Is, it IS now re-
garded by them as possible to make a
b%e ginning about the first of August. But
the military experts here, who have been
closely scanning all the reports from
Tien Tsin that appear to be worthy of
credit, feel that even now the way is
open to Pekin and that the march should
begin with the force at present on the
Pei Ho, leaving the powers to bring up
reinforcements to reopen the base,
should the first expedition be cut Off. Ac-
cording to the latest official reports the
country around Tien Tsin is clear of hos
tile Chinese. The flower of the Chinese
army in that section has been defeated
at Tien Tsin and these army experts cal
culate that its power is so broken that
hat particular army never can be re-
organized in season to offer formidable
resistance. So they agree that the time
is ripe for a stroke of bold generalship,
K1lph for instance az kSrpnrhSQ rida m
Kimberley.
Further proof of an official character
of the mistake made by foreign com
manders in the attack o. the Taku forts
ed at the state department from United
States Consul Fowler at Che Foo. He
has transmitted an imperial edict which
was supplied to him by telegraph by
the Chinese governor of Shan Tuns
Yuan Shi Kai, at Isl Nan, the capital OF
the province.
1t was issued IN July II and relates tc
the present hostilities between China
and the foreign powers. The dispatch
containing the edict came to the state
department in such confused phraseol-
ogy that is it impossible to do more thar
approximately state it's sense. The edict
appears to state in beginning that owing
to the trouble existing between the
Christians and the %populace, and to the
subsequent seizure of the Taku forts
which aroused the military to arms, the
Imperial court was laying great weight
upon its international relations. Thu
Manchu generals, viceroys and govern.
ors are, therefore, ordered to ascertain
whether the merchants and mis-
s%ionaries of the various nations
residing in the open ports are
being protected, and the asser.
tion is being made that projects and
magistrates have been sent repeatedly
imperial edicts to protect the le-
cations. Orders also have been sent
to the provincial authorities to protect
the missionaries. While hostilities have
not yet ceased, the Chinese officials are
directed to give protection to the mer-