The Washington times., 1901-08-04

The State Department has received and
yesterday made public somewhat re
markable proclamation issued recently by
Yuan. Governor of the province of Shan
tung China in which he enjoins the sub
ordinate officials under his jurisdiction
from making any distinction between the
Christian Chinese and other subjects OF
the Emperor. He commands that equal
justice be shown to all without regard To
their religion, and declares that the mis-
sionaries have only one object, which IA
to exhort men to do good and have moth
ing to do with local disputes. The proc
lamation is as follows:
Whereas | have repeatedly received re
ports from the officials of this province
saying that unworthy members of the
Church were practicing their religion sim
ply for the protection which 1t anorded
them, and We're lightly setting aside the
law of the land and seeking occasions for
quarrel, and that such affairs were daliy
increasing in number, wherefore they re-
quested me to send dispatches to the
consuls of the various nationalities and
letters to the missionaries, asking them
TO devise method for checking the evil
and preventing trouble. all of which has
been discussed by me as the recorcs
show;
Therefore this is issued to call atten-
ton to the fact that all Chinese Chris
tians, although they are members OF a
Western Church. are none the less sub
jects of China, and that no distinction Is
to be made between them and other chi
nesa subjects 1 have already Instructed
all under my jurisdiction that should any
quarrel arise between Chinese people. and
the Church there should be no other dis
tinction made save that between good
and bad. There should be no such dis
tinction as that between the people ana
the Church; that all should be treated
with equal justice and a thorough lnVes-
tigation and careful settlement OF each
case made; that there should be no preJn-
dice shown. which is sure to produce
trouble. Subsequently l prepared set
of definite rules Of procedure and, hrst
and last. | issued a number of procla-
nations, strictly enjoining that II any
members of the Church were charged
with offences in violation of good order
the local officials should bring them TO
court and make thorough investigation
and that, should the evidence show that
the charges were really true, they should
punish them according to law, that the
authority of the rulers might be Yindl-
Gated and the hearts of the people re-
lieved.
How is il that up to the present time
the officials in charge bave uniformly ne
elected to obey these instructions and
continue to send reports to me suggest
ing that letters be sent to the mission
aries asking them to devise methods Tor
restraining their converts, not only SiV-
ing me the trouble OF replying 10 thelr
suggestions which are at variance with
my previous orders, but also showing
carelessness as to the principle involved! Z!
THE treaties plainly state that mission
aries of all nationalities, travelling inland
to propagate their religion, have no other
object than to exhort men to do good ana
have nothing to do with local disputes
The missionaries are merely preachers or
religion. They have no authority what-
ever to interfere in the affairs OF the
Chinese people, nor any power to exer-
else official functions, as everybody ought
to know. The mandarins of this province
have served as officials for many years,
and they ought therefore to be stili more
clearly informed as to the terms of the
treaties.
our relations with foreigners in Shan
tung are daily increasing in complexity,
in number; but you should be able to
avoid currying favor or yielding to com
mon prejudiees Should any trouble
arise act according to the treaties and
decide j, stly. making no distinction be-
tween Church and people. To those that
ought to be protected give real protection;
to those that should be created with cen
erosity show extra generosity: what ought
to be allowed, allow at once: and when
it is necessary to withhold permission ex-
plain your reasons for doing so. Let no
one else presume to exercise your author
ity for controlling the people, and ruling
the district. Still more, let nothing pre-
vent your clearly making known your de-
cisions, that those interested may be
thoroughly satisfied. and that when they
shall have returned to their homes there
may be no further discussion. Thus every
complication viii be easily arranged, and
it will be easy to settle every Church case.
The most important matter is that
Justice should be done to both sides 1t
makes no difference whether the people
annoy the Christians the Christians
annoy the people: let there be a clear
distinction made between the crooked and
the straight, and it will then be impos-
siblc that any occasion for interference
should arise. Should Christians practice
| their religion and the people insult them
| on this account and resort TO burning,
| Of checking the growth of the religion and
| annoying the Church, and the mission
| aries concerned come to the yamen and
make complaint, the officials must rigOr-
| ously suppress these disturbances. and
not say that the missionaries are inter
| fering Or should a member of the
| Church purpoSely drag in his relation to
| il for the sake of gaining advantage.
when his suit is one that has nothing to
| do with Church matters, and the mis-
/ sionary force himself into the case to in
| terfere. do not Gestitate to cOntroyert and
| reprove as the facts OF the case may
! Justify, and deal with the case according
| to right reason.
| DO not let the affair become mixed up
! with Church matters. Thus each case
may be settled justly according to law,
and one need not ask whether a man is
| a member of the Church or not. Let the
! local officials. as occasion may require,
! issue prOc!amati0ns giving careful in
struCt ions and directions to the village
! elders and head men and exhorting them
| to let the people and the Christians of
J their several districts all know that they
must alike be subject TO the restraint
and government of the local officials;
/ that no distinction is to be made between
! them, and that no favor is to be- shown to
| either. They will thus, after a time,
| abandon their mistaken notions and be
| able to put away the grudges that have
! been gathering through past years, and
| gradually eXtinguish them.
| The establishment Of peace between
| the people and the Church rests upon
| this foundation. Whenever the Consuls
| Of the various nati0naHties and the mis-
sonaries see that the local officials treat
| the people and the Christians alike pro-
| tectiug both in the discharge of their
| business and furnishing those who are
guilty of violating the law, they will come