The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-22

Boxer movement. but no sooner had this
begun than the brother was recalled by
the Empress Dowager. This. of course,
was proof positive that the Dowager was
in sympathy with the Boxers. Notwith-
standing this, General Yuan has steadily
gained control of things and is spoken of
very highly by those who are in those
disturbed regions Some of the leading
missionaries write that ut is evident that
the military officials are doing all they can
10 put the movement down. but in this
they are not very heartily seconded by
the civil authorities"
An Anti-FOreign General.
The most ant-fore.gn general, and one
who presents a direct contrast to the two
just described, is Tung Fuhsiang. This
general won his reputation in Kansu, the
northwestern province, few years ago in
his battles with the Mohammedans then
In revolt. All his life he has been shut
off from intercourse with foreign govern
ments and knows absolutely nothing about
their power, the nature of their arms, and
the character of their fighting ability. Be
cause his army was able to put down the
Mohammedan rebellion, which was practi-
cally a war between two rabbles, he sup
poses that all this trouble with foreign
devils is because of Christianity and so
he is not only anti-foreign, but especially
anti-Christian. His rabble incites fear
among the natives, whether Christian or
non-C Christian wherever he goes Only a
year or two ago when it was known that
he was about to come down about the re-
gion of Pekin there was a general quak-
| ing among the country people, and the
most awful stories were told about the
| cruelty of his men, and their disposition to
loot, to rob and TO outrage the women of
the sections through which they passed.
The difference between his rabble and the
armies of Mich and Yuan is an indication
of the salutary influence their contact
with foreign soldiers and the represen-
tation foreign governments has had upon
them.
1t was formerly the custom in times of
war for the Chinese to put to death any
general who was defeated in battle. Not
only was he beheaded, but all the men,
bers of his family suffered the same fate,
so that history Is full of incidents in which
the general when defeated took his own
life rather than return and subject all
his friends to such a sad fate. 1t was
also the custom in times of war to loot
rob and outrage at the will of the soldiers
so that during the Chinese-Japanese war
many of the better class of women had
their poison all ready to take in case the
japanese came into the city, and many of
them called upon my wife to inquire as to
the customs Of foreign soldiers at such
times In which case we were able to as
sure them that there was no reason to be
afraid of the japanese, that they had
nothing TO fear unless it was from the
rabble or from Chinese soldiers.
Prince Tuan.
There is one other general who has re-
Gently become prominent. This is Prince
Manchu troops at Pekin. He is the ia
Their of the heir apparent and the son of
the fifth prince, as he has always been
called. He is said to be one of the most
warlike of all of the imperial princes, If
not the most warlike, but the stand he
has taken with the conservative party
which, of course, was forced upon him
by the fact that his son was chosen by
the Empress Dowager as the successor
of Kuang Hsu, has placed him in a very
unfavorable light before the world 1t is
said that the large majority of his troops
Joined the Boxers in the neighborhood of
Pekin, and it was this fact that made the
Boxer movement so strong and so sue
cessful in that neigh borhood. There is
no doubt that he was like the Empress
Dowager, in sympathy with them, and it
was probably through his influence that
Gen. Mich was rebuked when his soldiers
killed 500 of the Boxers between Ten Tsin
and Pekin. His army sets the :Manchu
soldiers in a very bad light before the
world.
There are two other men who rank high
er among Chlna's military leaders than
any or all the Others put together. And
yet they are not generals. They are the
two viceroys. They are Ii Hung Chang
whom everybody knows, and Chang
Chin Tung. who Is almost unknown in
this country 1 simply mention their
names, as l have not space to even indi-
cate what they have done. 1t Isl some
what singular that these two men should
have the names they have. They are the
Smith and Brown, or the Brown and
Jones of China, as indicated by the fol-
lowing Chinese proverb. In the Chinese
| primer for girls we have this couplet:
Its that you may never listen to the
talk of Chang and Ii"
Now, as a matter Of fact If the Chinese
| had listened to the advice of Chang Chin
TunR and Ii Hung Chang, China would
be far on the road 10 progress at the
nresent time. Ii Hung Chang as Is well
| known, is the viceroy of the two Kuangs,
and Chang Chih-Tung is the viceroy of
| Hupeh and Human IL is the later who
| IS telegraphing to urge the Powers not
| 10 send troops TO China.
1 A A.