The National tribune., 1900-06-21
CHAT OF THE CORRIDORS.

| last week, and the President cordially
congratulated him upon his signal serv-
ices to the country
Rev. DR.. H A. Randle. for 90 years
Baptist missionary in China, preached Iii
| Washington last week. and in convcrSa-
ton gave a great deal of valuable lnfor-
nation as to the present disorders IN
China. He says that the true name of
the Boxers is the Great Sword Society"
and that the foreigners gave it the name
| Boxers" dcrisively, from the habit the
members have of shaking their fists
| threateningly whenever they see for
elGner. 1t is really sort of Chinese
Know Nothing organization, with its mot
to, China for the Chinese" The Ger
man seizure of the Province of Shantung
aroused its aggressiyeness. The mission
aries are not primarily responsible for the
trouble, but the commercial aggressions
of the Western Powers.
THE authorities, both local and cen
| tral, have done much, though indirectly
to encourage them, and they doubtless
have the countenance of the Empress
| Dowager. as well as the sympathy and
good wishes of all anti-foreign mandarins
and gentry, which certainly include the
vast majority of those influential classes.
1.-The Empress Dowager, a Manchurian
| Tartar by birth, was concubine of the
Emperor Hien-fung, who died in 1854.
She had the good fortune, however, to
| bear Hien-fung a son, who became his
| heir, and reigned under the name Of
| Tung Chi from 1864 to 1875, when he
| died. During that period the Empress
| Dowager was regent and learned to love
power. Tung Chi died without issue, and
a boy of four years, son of Prince Chun,
| who was in turn younger brother of
| the Emperor Hien-fung, was adopted as
son and heir to Tung Chi, and began
to reign in 1873 rs kwanghsu, insuring
! to the ambitious Empress the continual
| ton of power.
When KwanghSu made an attempt to
! collect professional men around him
about three Years ago. with a view TO n
| measure of reformation, she stood in his
| way and ultimately came down on the
| scheme, bchcadin@ and imprisOning some
| of the would-bc rcrurmcrS and depriving
the Emperor of his power. She has since
held the rcigns of Government, and has
4 powerful party. | consider there will
| be no rest in China until she is removed
| from power. There is a good element
in China desiring reform, but it is not
| influential. The vast majority of man
| darinS are ignorant, foolish and unpro-
| sressiye. Though they have little real
power, they exercise Il great deal of tyran-
nical authority over the people. The pres
| cnt Government in China is corrupt i'll the
extreme and has been perpetuated longer
than is good for the country or the world.
| The present troubles must and will bring
| about great changes, but | fear many iso
lated foreigners in different parts of the
country will suffer severely. The Chinese
are not easily controlled, and we may
| look for trouble for years to come, but it
will be the thunderstorm preceding the
new era. There are 5000 Protestant
| missionaries in China and $4,000 native
Christians, and they are scattered over
the country in about $50 different centers
The natiye Roman Catholics number
nearly 10000"
| Iu newspaper interview Gen. Otis
said that the F'ilipinos were, without
question, the very best of any of the
| Asiatic races living on the Pacific coast
ard islands. He paid a high tribute to
| their acquisitivcness, saying that young
and old were alike anxious to learn from
| the Americans and quick to do so if given
an opportunity. The demand for schools
on the American plan was Unsuitable. 1t
had not been possible to secure a suffi-
cient supply of Spanish-American text
| books; the market had been denuded of
such. When the book-hungry Eilipinos
were told this they begged for American
school books, and declared that their chill
dren could learn from them, even with
out the Spanish text and TRANSACTIONS.
| Gen. Otis found to his astonishment that
| such was the case, and he says that in
I
! ipino children pick up a fair knowledge
of English. Even the old natives con
the textbooks in the effort to fix English
phrases in their minds. There was a
| dearth of teachers, too; SO Gen. Otis
often had recourse TO the soldiers in his
ranks who knew a little Spanish, and SO
were suitable for detail as teachers. Gen.
Otis was evidently deeply interested in
| the success of this educational move
ment. Indeed, he said lie looked upon
it as the only solution of the Philippine
| problem, and was confident that the
spread of American ideas through the Fill
| pino schools would in the end make good
citizens of the F,ilipinos.
| Director Merriam thinks that the cen.
sus will show Washington's population to
be between 100000 and 100000.
Col r. NJ. J. Reed, Past Commander
| in-Chicf, ). of ", was in the city last
week, accompanied by the Adjutant of his
regiment Thos. Y. Field, jr., capable
| and enthusiastic young soldier, and son of
| Il wcll-khown officer of the Marine Corps
! The lst Sons of Veterans Reserves, of
which Comrade Reed is Colonel and
Brother Field Adjutant, is a regiment of
| which Philadelphia may well feel proud.
| II has II companies, with 1,100 we'll
| drilled. well-aTIed wcil-cquipped young
men, ali SONS of veterans. Col. Reed made
every effort to get the regiment accepted
! for the Spanish war, but the PENNSYLVANIA
| National Guard had the call for more
me!i than could be accepted. He then Of
| fercd the regiment to Kentucky. and his
| offer was under consideration and about
! 10 be accepted when the war closed The
| hHc appearance" of the regiment will be
| remembered by those who were at the
| National Eucampmcnt at Philadelphia
| President Mckinley cnmplimented il very
| highly, and regretted that it had not been
| given an opportunity 10 see active sery-
| ice.
The Court Of Claims has ruled that Ad-
| miral Sampson WAS the Cumnan,ier-in-
| Chief Of the feet off Santiago: that Ad-
miral Schley was the commander Of Il di-
vision under his orders: that the Spanish
| fleet was inferior in strength to the Amer
| lean, and that therefore a bounty of 500
was due for every officer and man in Ad-
miral Ceryera's feet. This will make the
total bounty awarded $l66, 100, of which
| Sampson will receive $S335, and Schley
| about $1,000.
| 1t has been decided not TO hang Reni
II. Smell, the Pension Bureau clerk, until
Fall.
Senator Tillman has become the most
loquacious man in the Senate. He wants
to talk iuterminably on everything that
comes up, and it is always in the same