The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-09-02
CRUELTY OF THE CHINESE.
Frfghtful Tortures Legally Inflicted
ON Native Criminals.

Writing about three weeks ago in the
Paris Journal, Edouard Santeuil predicted
the awful fate of the Europeans at Peking
and supported his prediction by the natural
cruelty OF the Chinese. He wrote:
China, so proud of her civilization and
her arts, which honors family virtues and
gives the precedence to letters and science,
possesses, by strange contrast, record
of the most ferociouS cruelty in the accom-
plishment OF vengeance. 1t is, therefore,
not without fear that one even thinks or
the repriSalS which China would be able to
inf!ict at this very moment on the foreign
ers established in her territory. Above ey-
erything else. the Chinese have the passion
Tor isolation, and II IS carried even 10
fanat!ciSm.
The great wall, which we look on as an
historical expression, exists still IN the
eyes OF the Celestials. They have never
seen IL passed over without having rage
at heart. They have defended 1t often with
their own bodies. and II they ever hoped
for the moment when they would be sufh-
GENTLY well armed 10 throw all the foreign
ers FL the sea, one can be sure that this OPP
GRAFTON, which has been predicted with au-
thority by Admiral Courbet, will be carried
out by the Chinese with all the refinementS
of cruelty inspired by blind sentiment or
revenge
This explains, as 1t already appeared in
the terrible hours of the TAPPING rebellion.
the incendiary fires, the massacres and
murders with which have begun the insur-
rection of the Boxers, whether authorized
by the regular army and the imperial gov
eminent or not, and which Is nothing else
than defiance of the yellow race TO the
ether races, whose contact il can no longer
tolerate. China for the Chinese! That cry
has often been heard in this century. and
always 1t was accompanied by the most
1r1ghtful horrors. When the Chlnaman, let
him be mandarin or mendicant, itterateur
or workingman, passes out of his indus
trious or passive tranquility into action, he
has no longer any control of himself-he
sees red
How many traits of his barbarous fury
have been shown in the last twenty years.
in the French conquests in Southern China
Woe to our civilian countrymen who fell
into the hands of the Yellow or Black Pa
villons! Woe to the prisoners or to the
wounded they could surprised Often has
been related that terrifying forenoon, at
mander Riviere met death. and tortures
were inflicted on officers and soldiers who
could not escape in time.
Read over again, If you have sufficient
courage for Ii, the martyrology of the
Christian missions, Protestant as well as
Catholic. There is at Paris, in the building
Of the Foreign Missions, hall where are
assembled the bloody proofs-clothing
pierced by knife blades, whole sets of
teeth torn out, instruments of torture which
would have made the Inquisition itself
Shiver.
How could the Chinese deprive them
selves of their pleasure in cruelties when
they enjoy infiicting it on their own coun-
trymen? Their judges have sanctioned the
right TO submit accused persons to such
fortunes as whipping, pulling out nails.
crushing ankles or fingers and hanging by
the arms, among the 127 forms of cruel
treatment which they have invented and
which they apply with horrifying delight,
according to mere caprice.
Three forms of misunderstanding, stran-
CLING and garroting-do not suffice to salts
fly them-there is also the ''slow DEATH
This execution lasts for several days. be-
ginning with the flaying of the skin of the
foehead, which the executioner lowers upon
the eyes of the criminal in order to avoid
his looks. The impassibility of the bar
barians when abandoning themselves to
these abominable moods is incredible 1t is
equal to an absolute insensibility. In cases
of war or of foreign invasions the man.
darins have the right to infiict these tor
lures whenever and in the measure they
choose. But the Juror of the, crowds pro-
ceeds often in advance of the mandarin S
order. The extreme pleasure which the yell
low race feels in the preparation of these
crimes against humanity is shown in the
capital itself on Dec. IL in every year. 1t is
the day which is fixed for the annual exc
cutions, which take place. not in the bar
barian quarter of Picking, but in the best
quarter of the Chinese capital A shed is
built the square of the vegetable mar
ket and the condemned persons are brought
in there during the preparations for their
| punishment. Around the square all shops
are closed, but the roofs are covered with
| persons anxious to enjoy the horrible spec
| tacle of the different executions.