Evening star., 1900-08-10
FRIENDLY VICEROYS
Rulers Of Southern Provinces Protect
the Foreigners.
UNITED IN CIRCUMSTANCES TO PEKIN
Strong Force Necessary for Cap
ture Of National Capital.
BOXERS IN FULL CONTROL

In letter to some friends in this city.
Rev. A. p. Parker, a missionary Of the
Southern Methodist Church. who at last
accounts was in Shanghai. China. furnishes
an account of the status Of affairs in that
part Of the Chinese empire at the time the
Information was forwarded. Mr.. Parker
said In his letter that the viceroys and gov
ernors- of the Yangtse valley and the south
ern provinces have given every assurance
OF their purpose to protect all foreigners
and their property within their jurisdiction.
Ihey have, in conjunction with the foreign
consuis at the ports Of Shanghai, Ching
klang, Han-kow, etc, concerted thorough
and harmonious plans for the instant and
rigorous repression Of disorder, and Mr..
Parker and his friends at that time had
every reason to believe that there would be
no serious disturbance in that part Of the
country.
A number Of the viceroys and governors
OF the southern and central provinces have
united in sending vigorous remonstrances
10 the Pekin government, he said, against
their folly in upholding the Boxer rabble
and provoking the enmity of the foreign
powers The viceroy at Wuchang, Chang
Chin Tung. declared: There is but a hairs
breath between the dynasty and destruc-
t1on He urged that old Kang VI be dis
missed from the government. and that
Iung Flu Hsiang, the general whose troops
are now fighting the foreigners around
lien Tsin, be cashiered at once. This shows
that the usurping reactionaries at Pekin
nave not been able to carry the provincial
governors and viceroys with them in their
insane effort to drive out all foreigners
9 from the country If they had followed up
old kang VI and Prince Tuan in their war
against foreigners, then all the missionaries
would have been In very great danger in
deed In Shanghai and. in fact. all over the
nfry 'h.,-A i
where they could have rested in peace on
the soil of China, at least not until an over
wheiming force of foreign soldiers could
have reached there and taken possession of
some OF the ports along the coast.
Strong Foreign Force.
OF course, 1t will be some time before a
settlement of the difficulties can be brought
about, observes DR.. Parker. Indeed, 1t
may require a strong force and prolonged
effort on the part Of the allied powers to
capture Pekin. as it is reported that the
Chinese have something like 100000 for
eign-drilled troops in and around Pekin,
armed with Mauser rifles and machine
guns, and more can be called I'D from the
provinces. If these troops make anything
like determined stand at Pekin it will
require strong foreign force to rout them
and capture Pekin. But, however long AMI
difficult the struggle. the result must be
that the present reactionary, usurpins
cabal at Pekin will be cast out and a re-
form movement started at another capital.
probably Nankin. under foreign control and
influence. 1 believe the day Of China's re-
demption nearer at hand than 1t has been
for long time. From all that we see
1t seems that such a storm as Is now rag
Ing was necessary in order to bring about
those changes that must come before the
country can be fully opened to Christian
civilization that We are so anxious to es-
tablish in this country"
Organization of Boxers.
Continuing. Mr.. Parker asks: who are
the Boxers? What are they doing that
everybody Is talking about them? Let me
tell you little about this Infamous. Or
ganization which is responsible for most
OF the disorder and massacre which is
causing such great anxiety and sorrow.
The literal translation of the Chinese name
of the society seems to be Righteous Har-
mony Fists A second or alternative
name is The Big Knife Society," Some
missionaries. however. go far as to say
that the Boxers are a myth, the only real
society being that of the Big Knife. The
organization is made up of innumera Bile
local bands, which have been put through
course of gymnaStic exercises and mill
tary drill. They are filled with hatred of
foreigners They detest all western GUS
toms and methods and declare that their
Chinese institutions and religion are much
held in the utmost contempt by them and
they regard all other peoples as barbarians.
For their motto they have Exalt the
dynasty, extirpate the foreigners They
are armed with swords or large knives,
which they use dexterously upon all who
favor reform. Their followers act like
mad men, parading the streets and flour
ishing their swords. shouting, Kill the for,
eign devils: kill. kill" and the last news as
l write reports that over 1000 foreigners
have been ruthlessly massacred. Several
European missionaries are known to have
been murdered. and much damage has been
done to the property Of native Christians.
Mission stations have also been ruthlessly
destroyed.
Receive National Aid.
'It Is believed that the Boxers are Sc
cretly encouraged by the dowager empress
and high Chinese officials. At all events
steps seem to have been taken to re-
strain the lawless horde which has already
caused so much trouble and shed SO much
blood. The leaders Of these enemies of or
der and liberation claim to be possessed
by spirits, and affirm that all who follow
them will be invulnerable in battle. In
this way they persuade thousands of idlers
to Join their ranks. The failure in the
crops last autumn left a large number of
farmers without food or employment. 1t
was not difficult to gain their support
Toward the end of last year the Boxers
worked great mischief to the Chi-Chou
Protestant mission. And this is only an
example of what has been going on all
over Shantung and the adjacent provinces.
Some of the missionaries attached to Amer
lean societies have undergone much peril
and hardship. 1t Is quite clear from all
this, and much more that could be told
that Christian work in the north of China
is entirely at a standstill, while great fear
is entertained for the safety Of the Chris
tian workers in the south.
1T may interest you to know something
about a paper that is published here. No
list Of newspaper curiosities would be COM
plete that did not include the Kin-Pau of
Pekin. 1t has been published continuously
for over 1000 years. 1t began a monthly,
became a weekly in 1861 and since the be-
ginning of the century has been a daily. 1t
is quite up to date, publishing three edi-
tions a day, and to safeguard the public
from wiles that are not altogether unknown
to the newsboys of American cities each
edition is printed different colored pa
per. the first being yellow, the second white
and the last gray. Decidedly, the Kin-Pau
can be described as an old-established
journal"
American Women Who Marry For
etgners.