The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-06-28
CONDITIONS IN CHINA.
An ENplnnative Review Ofthc Causes
and effects of the Riots.
New York Sun.

| New York Sun.
Let us look again at the Chinese
situation Hs 1t grows moro defined, and
consider what is likely to he the out
como.
Evidently the treaty rights assured
to foreigners arc not nt present re-
spcctcd in the Middle Kingdom. THE
responsibility for tho violation Of Lhrsr
rights rests In the Inst resort upon The
EmprrsH Duwagcr, in whom, since the
virtual suppression OF the Emperor
kwang-Su supreme authority has been
vested. Either the Empress Dowager
Is unwilling, or else she is unable, to
rcprrss the 0utrnEes committed by the
so-cnllcd Boxers y and to safeguard
the lives and property OF foreigners. II
her intentions are good, and she merely
lacks temporarily tho ability To carry
them out, tho restoration OF order
SHOULD hc Objected with comparative
case, provided all the great powers in
tercsted in China shall act together
loyalty and hnrmoniously with the sin
gle aim OF bringing about tranquility
"nd the enjoyment OF treaty rights.
For this purpose the body Of marines
and sailors, already dispatched from
lien Tsin and pckin, morally Strcngth-
Hncu AS IL IL by tho knowledge that
rcinforccmcnts are quickly procurablc,
should suffice: for the rcncLiunary party
NJ the court seeing thc great powers
unanimously determined TO uphold the
empress, would abandon the clfort to
C0crcC her. In other words, on the the.
ory that tho Empress Dowagcr is sin.
ccrcly drsirous OF performing her du-
ties, but has been restrained from doing
so, the problem presented by tho state
| OF things at l'ckin is essentially u sim
pie one ana can be rapidly solved.
Unfortunately, the facts Justify sus-
Dicion regarding the nnimus OF the
Empress Downgcr, and the assumption
that, instead OF earnestly trying to sup
press the revolt in the provinces OF Chi
Iii, she has connived AT it, and desires
TO make 1t serve some purposes OF her
own. what can that purpose he? Had
she regarded her tenure Of power as
rcas Onnbly secure under normal cir
| CumstnncGS ii lS obvious that from the
outbreak OF the rebellion, she would
have strivcn to qucll il with I'll the
means At her command. AS she did not
do this, we must infer that, for REASONS
best known To herself, sho deemed her
grasp upon supreme authority prrca:i.
0uS, and was convinced that she could
retain it only one Of two ways, namely,
| by promoting the complete ascendancy
Of the reac'ionary MmDchu party nt
| pGkin, or by c0nscnting to ruiC rs the
mvowcd protcgc and secret tool Of some
great European power, thG intcrvcn-
| tiOn OF which she might invoke in the
name OF law and order. As the wise
woman, however, which she Is, accord
ing to the concurrent testimony Of well
informed observers, she could not have
imag that she could be long main
taincd in power by the rcactonary
Manchu party, whose conception OF
statcCraft consists In the brutal infrac-
tiun Of trcnticU concluded with the
"Outsidc barbarians." She knows that
1900 soldiers could be brought to Ticn
| Isin from Calcutta in fifteen days ; as
many from French lnd0 China in
twelve days ~ many from Manila in
ten days M many from Japan in five
days, and as many in two days from
the ltussia garrison in Port Arthur, To
say nothing Of smaller CuntinEcnts
furnished by Germany and Italy. That
IS TO say, in the course Of Is little more
than IL fortnight, the equivalent OF Il
European army corps could be placed
within II few days march Of rckin, and
would prove far moro than Is match Tor
any MnnChu and Chinese lcvics that
| possibly could he arrnycd against them
| 1t is inrOnCcivnhlc that the woman who
for forty years has played "a great, and
often u controlling part in the manage
ment Of the Celestial Empire, can have
any illusions regarding the result of
such Il collusion.
by the PROCESS OF elimination we are
reduced, then, TO this hypothesis II
the Empress Downger hn~, practically,
encouraged the insurrcctiOn OF the go.
| ~ Hnsr ri |
Death to the Christian and the for
cigncr - she must be replying, either
rightly or mistakenly, on The support
or some nciEhbOring power which pOs-
scsscs, not only Is considerable naval
force, but land army competent to
defend her against all the other treaty
powers. Thorc arc but two powers
which might be supposed to satisfy
these conditions, to wit: Russia ana
Japan. Japan is ont Of the question,
her primary object being known to be
the acquisition OF C0rca, which, once
in her hands, could be held against all
assailnnts. We arrive then, still fol-
| lowing the process Of cancellation, at
the conclusion that it is Russia upon
whom the Empress DOwagnr Is count
| ing to sustain her at once against her
Chinese enemies and against other
foreign powers. IT is unnecessary To
assume that she has received any rs
suranccs to that Cilcct from the 81
Petersburg government. She may, by
reelection upon the whole eastern sit
uation, have reached the belief that
Russia, which is liable to be attacked
by japan before the completion Of the
Siberian railway, could not aIOrd to re
jcCt the trcmGndO IL accession Of rcsOur-
} ccs which would accrue to her through
the pr0Lcctoratc which the empress
might 0lcr to the car. Her personal
interest, we must remember, Is entire
ly distinct from the collective interest
OF China, but, for that very reason, it
might be plausibly argued that her
personal interest and the national in
tcrcst OF Russia might be allied with
mutual advantage.
How this notion came to be planted
in the empress head it is useless to
inquire. That it exists there now and
accounts for conduct otherwise incxpli-
cable Is probable enough. We adhere,
nevertheless, to the opinion previously