Evening star., 1900-12-22

Chinese of influence and position was to Sc
cure that reform from within and at the
hands of Chinese, without the interposltlon
of foreigners. What they feared most was
partition.
Interview With ShenE.
One of the closest friends of Ii Hung
Chang in Shanghai, and one Of the most
influential Chinese is Sheng, the Chinese
Cassandra who sent the most reliable in
formation of the real situation in Pekin to
this country during the siege, but who
never was believed If there was any posi-
BILE pretext for doubling him. He is much
younger and more vigorous than the old
statesman, but like the viceroy he has dis
carded the custom of the Chinese in meet
ing foreigners. Some notion of his position
in Shanghai and in Chinese affairs may be
had from the fact that he Is director gen.
eral Of railways and telegraphs. Of the
China Merchants Steam Navigation Com
pany, Of the Imperial Bank, Of the Many
ang College and of the cotton mill. 1t was
through the American adviser of ShenG
that my colleague and myself had an in
terview with the busy Chinese statesman
We were shown into a little room off the
court, which is always the center Of Chi
nese residence, and there Sheng came to US
He shook hands and went at the business
Of the meeting without ceremony or for
mality of any kind He understood that we
had come to talk about the crisis in Chi
nese affairs and its cause, and that we
wanted information about the Boxers and
the court He Is a much smaller man than
LII, round and well fed. He has "gimlet
eyes, like Inspector Javert. They are small
round and black. When he talks he looks
straight at you in a fashion that some
times makes you ina gine you can feel their
penetration.
ShenE Talks of Reform.
1t was very long talk. He gave US the
news of the court, which the cable imme-
diately made public, and then he told us
the story Of the origin and growth Of the
Boxer movement and how 1t came to have
it's hold upon the empress and the princes
of the imperial clan. When we asked him
how many Boxers there were, he replied:
when the empress is Boxer there are
just many Boxers there are Chinese,
but when she really ceases to be one there
will be no others left
In other words, those who did not recant
when she did she would behead. Sheng
said that after Yu Hsien. the founder of
the Boxers, was degraded from the gov
ernorship of Shantung he went to Pekin
and there he told the story of the wonder
ers to Hsu Tung, one of the tutors of the
young heir apparent who Is the son of
Prince Tuan. Hsu Tung Influenced Tuan,
always a rabid foreigner hater, and the
two succeeded in convincing the empress.
So the thing grew. This was especially in
teresting. confirming as 1t did the statement
of Ii Hung Chang with respect to the en-
press and her relations with the Boxers.
Sheng went much further than Ii in de-
claring that reform Of the government by
Chinese was imperative. He admitted
frankly that China could not stand another
upheaval such as that of 1900 IT, indeed,
she weathers that one. But If there is no
reform that Is genuine. he said. the Chi
nese themselves would revolt, and that
would mean the end of the empire. This
was a reference to the secret societies that
II In ha
Canton district. While he was viceroy
there Ii Hung Chang kept them quiet, but
he beheaded more than 1900 in doing it.
Sheng talked like a man who has reached
settled conviction. He spoke of the future
of China frankly and with a conviction
that was convincing, especially when one
remembered that he was one of those who
were principally responsible for the quiet
which prevailed in the Yangtse provinces
in spite of the positive and imperative de-
mands of the empress that all her loyal
subjects there should rise and exterminate
the foreigners. 1t remains to be see how
clear was his vision.