Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-07-23
dustrlal and laboring classes already.


mentioned.
In his country Boxers would probably
pass under the name of athletes-that's
what they really are-strong men drill
ed in the use of arms, who sell their
prowess to those in quest of protection.
In ante-railway days if man Of any
consequence Went travelling he hired a
couple of Boxers to save him from mo-
lestation by beggars and sneak thieves
and to protect him against footpads
and robbers. No caravan started cross
country save under the conduct of Box
ers: transport of ready money or val-
uables without the attendance of Box
ers was never dreamt Of. Women and
children moved from town to country
under the strong arm of Boxers, even
the government and the mandarins em-
ployed them continuously in one oapac-
ity or another.
But With the advent OF the railway
system and the occupation of private
policemen or bodyguards became obso-
lete. Those who use the steam cars
need no special protectors, and money
transports are quicker and safer by rail
than in the midst of an army of Box
ers bristling With crossbows, spears or
even rifles.
While the poor, half-starvcd. and
meek Chinese aborer might never have
summoned up courage enough to seek
redress for the grievous wrong heaped
upon him by the hated innovation. it
was but natural for the athletic Boxer.
drilled to earn his living by fisticuffs.
TO raise the hand of revolt Born To live
by his prowess. he uses violence to win
back, if possible. the bread of which he
is deprived. His argument is against
law and order: society would be DOOM
ed if it We're PERMITTED to prevails; yet
from the Boxers standpoint its
psychological and physiological sound
ness cannot be denied.
Thus the original dispute between
wage Gamers and naonoply broadened
into a fuli-fledged social question with
a political lining. The victims of the
railway system organized as knights of
Labor, only their self-appointed lead :
jers, the Boxers. are far more dangerous
denagogues than the men holding sim
great cities of Europe and America
Their ignorance, their profession,
makes that self-evident Prize-fighters,
sluggers. and the like cannot be trusted
to keep the baser instincts of a mob
in subiection.
These men unfurled the flag of social
War which was written in large letters:
Down With the Railways Tina. are
Responsible for Our Statvatiun.s From
that to Down With the Foreigners,
Who Foisted the Railways Upon U.s.
was buta step.
To sum up: Fear of starvation rous-
ed the anger of the Chinese populacs
against a useful innova ton: the bread
question grew into political grievance
and eliminated in the hatred Of for-
eign and in open revolt against the gov
eminent. for the Manchu dynasty is as
foreign to the country in Chinese eyes
as If ii We're Prussian or Anglo Saxon
These are the facts: they show con-
clusiyely that the present troubles We're
caused by the unhappy social condi-
tions over which the government had
no control and which absolutely lacked
political motive. That the original
bread riot or economic movement de-
veloped into a political movement
that is no reason Why its origin should
Should be obscured and its motive
doubted.
The real Why and wherefore Of the
uprising is moreover made plain by the
fact that the rioters are not content
With attacking Foreigners. Their lust
for vengeance strikes their own coun-
ftrymen as well. And here another as
pect of the labor situation comes into
view: The foreigners, when hiring
Chinese labor, prefer TO employ con-
. I. " i