The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-11-21

VI" published l1'sduy, throws CupIois ahd
much.nccdci llght on tho Chinese lm-
br"nlio, II points ont that. 40 long 80 tho
imperial authorities remain n, n distance
from Pchin. there nre practical llmits To th"
exercise 10y them ~ punitive powers, and
secondly. that tho course pursued 10y
tho international Commission after the
ca ptufe ~ Paotlng was calculated to
defer their return for an ind"nuito period,
Incidentally, our correspondent testifes ~
the fact. already known. that tho Einprcss
Regent IA now ~ sho has been since Sop
toInber, 1903. recognized all over China
and by tho treaty Powers thcin.cl yes
rs the active head VI tho State. II fol-
lows. obviously. hat tho demand. made
In irresponsible quarters. for the imprison-
ment Of the Empress Regent Is Inconsistent
with the fundamental assumption upon
which the Powers have proceeded. the as
sumption. namely. that they are not at war
with the Chinese Government. but are sim
ply aiding II to restore order and To punish
the persons guilty Of iustigating the Boxer
outrages.
We are told that, together with the edict
setting forth the penalties Inflicted UPON
certain Princes and hix b officials. Ii HUSG
CHANd received a note from the Empress
Regent In which she told him that it was
impossible at present for her to punish
TCSo Flu HsIaNG, for tho reason that this
General commands the Imperial troops
under the protection OF which her jour
ney TO Signan was made. That the Empress
Regent Is temporarily in the power OF this
particular General has been for some time
notorious at Pekin, and it Is hard to see why
the foreign Mini Stcrs. If they sincerely de-
sire to facilitate. instead Of o~bstricting.
negotiations. should insist at this conjunc-
ture upon including his name In the list
Of the condemned. In the fine-spun web
Of diplomacy there ought to be some
Strands Of common sense. 1t is not the part
Of ordinary prudence to exact imposs ibili-
ties. The Empress Regent has no cause to
love Gen. TUNn FU HsIANu. who is largely
responsible for her deplorable mistakes
aud for the %grievous humiliation TO which
she has been since subjected. For the
moment. however, she has good reason to
fear him, and the fact should not be lost
sight Of. Even the misguided Empress
T'Htnl lllSt Us ptTIUlIJ'l 10 bDtg lHe
instinct of self-preservation.
Could the Empress Regent and KwANa-su,
the nominal Emperor. be persuaded To leave
Slgnan. where they must feel themselves
under duress, and TO return 10 Pckin. where
they would have the support Of the allied
forces. they would be un~trainmelled in the
exercise OF punitive functions. Perhaps
they could have been prevailed upon to
take this step had they felt able to
repose confidence in the assurances
of the treaty Powers that their
sovereign rights and personal dignity should
be respected. The utmost pains should
have been taken to inspire and Justify such
confidence. As our Pekin correspondent
shows, a course precisely opposite has
been pursued, 1t seems that the Off
Gals at Paoting surrendered themselves
BY command Of the Chinese Peace
Commissioners, the understanding being
that. IL the International Commission de-
c.ded that the officials were guilty and de.
served death. the Chinese authorities would
carry out the sentence. even although the
officials should have supposed, when they
surrendered. that they would not be
killed.
The understanding was not carried our;
on the contrary. the members OF the
International Commission proceeded forth
with to act in the threefold capacity OF
accusers. Judges and exccutioners. That
l. just the act that would have been per-
formed, had there been a deliberate
purpose to excite alarm and distrust in
the Empress Regent and deter her
from returning to Pekin. thus postpon-
ing the solution of the Chinese problem
for an indefinite period. We do not tax
the International Commission with such a
but, If we absolve them, we must
recognize that they committed an c~gregious
blundCr which casts grave doubt upon their
competence to discharge their functions. IL
l. satisfactory to note that for this blunder
the United States are in no wise responsible.
We took no part In the capture OF Pao-
ting, nor in the subsequent summary exc
cution of the surrendered officials. Our rep
resentatives, also, declined TO sanction an
other stupendous mistake, tho capture of
the Taku forts at a time when. at Tientsin
and through a large part Of the Province Of
hmm, VIC iiiit'l"i '''lH "'i' can Wy
ing to suppress the Boxers. From that mo-
ment II was impossible for any Chinese COM
mander, no matter how pro-foreign might
be his sympathies to avert the fusion OF the
soldiers with the so-called patriots.
As for the assertion lately made by DR..
MARTIN that the Chinese problem can only
be solved by the deposition and imprison-
ment of the Empress Regent, this is II totally
irreconcilable with the position which was
taken by the treaty Powers at the outset:
and by which they still abide, When. after
the palace coup dttGt Of Septem-
Der. 1898. the Emperor KwANGsU re-
nounced the active exercise Of his func-
tons. and transferred them 10 his
aunt, the Empress D~owager. every one of
the treaty Powers recognized her as En- |
press Regent. the chief engineer of the Gov
machine. tho personification Of
China's administrative entity. Her author |
ity has been acknowledged by Manchus and
Chinese alike throughout the Celestial