New-York tribune., 1900-08-20
IMPERLALIsH ANp TIE BOXERS

The moderation. good sense, disinterestedness
and admirable results of American diplomacy
in dealing with the Chinese situation are uni
versaIly acknowledged by everybody except our
own anti-imperlalists. Their attempts to find a
Chinese grievance and blame the Administra-
ton for the Boxer outbreaks offer instructive
illustration of their desperation and their utterly
unbalanced mental state. One of the most
pathetic passages in Mr.. Boutwell's Indanapo-
lis speech was that dealing with the Chinese
question, for it showed that venerable and high
minded statesman to be the victim of the most
palpable delusions. Mr.. Boutwell, said:
The troubles in China have been aggravated
and the missionaries and Ambassadors Of the
various Governments have been put in peril by
the policy of the United States Is it not true
that in the last ten years there have been state
ments again and again that 1t was the purpose
of the various States of Europe to partition
China? When We entered the Philippines it was
an additional menace to the Chinese Empire,
and il has led to the revolution in China and
put the missionaries and Ambassadors in peril
of their lives. Instead of being fortunate cir
cumstance, the fact that we were in the Philip
pines the chief occasion of that revolution
in China.
Now, if there is any fact thoroughly agreed
upon by all students of Eastern affairs it is
that Of all civilized nations the United States
stands best with the Chinese So far from
being menace TO the integrity of the empire,
our policy has been influential to maintain it.
The assumption to the contrary is a pure fig
ment of the anti-imperialist imagination. evok-
ing from the realms of fancy shadowy hosts of
false premises to buttress a conclusion prede-
termined by prejudice and emotion. Our Philip
pine occupation be it good. bad or Indifferent
on other accounts. had about as much to do
with precipitating the Boxer outbreak as it had
TO do with the Boer war the Indian famine. the
assassination Of King Humbert and the preces-
sion Of the equinOxes.
The acute ant-foreign sentiment in China
antedated the Spanish and manifested itself
in the murder of the German missionaries,
which gave excuse for the acquisition Of Kao-
Chau. Russian activities in Manchuria and the
rivalries of other European nations for conces-
sions stirred the Chinese to a high degree of
dissatisfaction. but amid all the disturbances the
United States was recognized by China and the
rest of the world as nothing more than a friendly
competitor for trade, with no territorial ambi-
ton for itself in China and interested above all
things TO dissuade others from partition and
spOation. These are facts so elementary and
undisputed by competent authority that ii seems
almost superfuous to rehearse them Yet with
absolute disregard Of the common understand
ing Of mankind We find the anti-mperialists
framing indictments of our Philippine policy on
the ground that it is responsible for the perils
Of missionaries and Ambassadors If So II
must have been responsible for the lease OF
KiaO-Chau and the whole series-of events which
took place before Dewey even sailed into
Manila Bay. 1t must have been responsible foI
the Opium War. The declaration that om
presence in the Philippines was the chief occa
sion of the revolution in China is so palpably
wide of the mark that it must dscredit the
| judgment on other phases OF the situation OF
| the man who utters IT, The whole anti-impe
rialist scare must be a ridiculous delusion in
| deed when the serious materials OF it's argu
ments are such fairy tales
If the anti-imperialists want to make the
Administrators activity in rescuing our Min
lister and other Americans from Chinese bar