The Washington times., 1901-09-28
MISSIONARIES AND LOOT.
The Very Interesting Statement Of
the Rev. Gilbert Reid, DID.


along with many others. has passed criti-
cism my views concerning loot. as well
as on my own conduct in the matter, l
write, not for the purpose of explaining
! away actual facts, but to help in the
| understanding of real circumstances
Now, L do not claim perfection. even as a
missionary, nor do 1 believe that mission
aries ought necessarily to be more per-
feet than others; but 1 trust l am not so
black as l am painted.
| Owing to much unctuous cant and mis-
| representation in the criticisms on loot.
wrote last March to the North China
Herald an ironical confession intended
as a burlesQue. 1T was understood in
China, but from what l have seen in
American papers, my attempts at humor
| fell as fiat as Mark Twain's latest mis-
sionary joke.
| Without going into any lengthy defence
/ will say this much: The three houses
from which / secured my 'spoils of war
| were those of high officials implicated in
the Boxer uprising and imperial attack.
Everything in these houses was officially
confiscated. and what secured was with
the consent of such authorities as
French general. the British Minister. and
our American officers. Under these cir
nave no QualIuS VI Coi-
science in what 1 did / firmly believed
that all such men c.despicable wretches) },
| who nearly encompassed our massacre.
should be punished, and I did what I
could to point out to the authorities where
these guilty men had lived. This was
1.-The now and then of my looting. All
my denunciations have been hurled only
at the guilty ringieaders, and. so far as
know. justice allows no leniency in deal
ing with such.
At the same time, l never lost my
sympathy for those who were really in
nocent. Hence, in the section under
American administration. where I have
lived for six years. / favored the looting
of only two or three houses, while hun
dreds of my neighbors kept me busy in
securing for them protection against in
discriminate 1ooting. / have banners and
tablets presented by Chinese as tokens of
their appreciation for what I did for
them, but have not yet heard any COM
plaint of the kind of looting which 1 COM
mended. / live in house which the
owner urged me to occupy for protection
against looting. He has provided the fur
niture and has wanted no rent, though /
intend to compensate him for his kind
ness.
Taking cases of looting in themselves,
my conscience would heartily condemn
many of them; but when ! consider the
circumstances, and view the matter as a
whole. I am forced to reiterate the state
ment made In the Forum" for July on
THE Ethics of Loot" that IL there was
wrong it was in the war, mot in the in
cidenta1 result of the collection of spoils."
/ contend that looting was a form of
punishment, without which the officials
and people of Peking would again be like
ly 10 undertake the task of exterminat-
ing all foreigners in China. As 1t is, they
will not attempt it again very soon, GER
tainly not in Peking.
One should remember that war was in
progress, and we were still in the enemy's
country. Peking never surrendered. as 1t
did in the war OF 1860. but had to be cap
tured by the loss of many lives. 1t was
not a case OF peacefully entering a friend
Iy city on mission Of preaching the gos-
pei. War, with its sad and horrible Incl
dents, had begun and had to be carried
on. / regret that such things must hap
pen. 1 very much regretted that / was
among the wounded lying in the hospital.
while it was being shelled from the palace
grounds. The imperial Government
brought on the trouble, and We, caught
in the trap had to do many things con-
trary to our usage and professions, IL we
and those dependent upon US were to be
saved .,-r t.-
The war was a most anomalous one.
Not merely were imperial troops engaged
in the attack. but thousands of the people
were among the combatants. The Gov
ernment and city may be said to have
our death. In this sense there were few
In the city who were properly non-com-
batants- Peking. as a whole, suffered for
completely in crime.
afyalt
or wrong of an action. Legitimate loot
ing in Peking in time of war may be law
less thieving in New York in time of
peace. Missionaries in Peking. during the
siege and after, had to do many things
contrary to the usual custom and spirit
of missions. They became volunteer SOL
diers, carrying the rifle. pointed at their
fellow men. They built barricades and
dug mines. They worked on Sunday as
on week days. They devised plans for
sending messengers through the lines,
weaving for them strange things to say
-fslsehoods in fact-should they fall into
the hands of the imperial troops or the
Boxers: They Joined in helping on meas
ures to kill. They prayed like the
Psalmist for the destruction of their en-
emies. In many ways, according to the
letter of the law, the Decalogue was
broken. Beyond a doubt they offended
lie. lie p'Op''e''eS 0t d" '''' anu p'AeN
One missionary. in fact. during the
siege, was appointed chairman of the
the missionary was no part of the war
and was criminal If he did what the
military could do, / would say that he
WIS much in the war-rather more than
he wishes to be again.
While l acknowledge that international
law has regulations against looting in
war, i yet know of no war down to the
present time where in case of capturing
a city, which refused to surrender, the
enemy suffered no loss OF property either
through official orders or ones non-offi-
cial good pleasure. In the civil war. even
where towns and people surrendered,
there was sacking and burning. by per-
mission of distinguished commanders
One general in the allied forces in Peking
applauded for his condemnation of loot
ing yet furnished his headquarters from
a wealthy family friendly to foreigners,
and at the present writing the family has
received no compensation. Ii Is really
most difficult to apply international law
GUS war and peace of the last year or
two.
How forgiveness. meekness. non-resist-
ance-great principles of the Christian
teachings-are to be applied to times of
war, bloodshed and widespread collision
paragraph. 1t is clear. If the interpre-
tation of some home critics had been fol-
lowed that all of us foreigners In Peking
should have handed ourselves over to the
Dowager Empress and her hordes of Box
ers and, in loving charity, quietly allow
ed ourselves to be cut to pieces. The
blowing up of the Maine flung Christian
America into war of "humanlty'-and
revenge-but the barbaric butchery of
over 200 of our own flesh and blood in
of warts met by the namby -pamby sem
timentality, How good a thing Is perse-
cution." / may be wrong in my theology
and ethics both, but l am thoroughly CON