Waterbury Democrat., 1902-01-24
EMPEROR RECEIVES.
The Foreign Ministers Attain
 Their Rights at Peking.
CHINA'S NOMINAL RULER WAS SILENT
Prince Ching Replied to the Ad- dresses of the Ministers. While the Empreae Dowager Sat
 Rehin0 .a Screen.

PEKING. Jan. 24.-The ministers of the foreign powers here have attained the goal which has been their aim since intercourse between China and the powers began. They have been receiv- ed as representatives of sovereigns equal in rank to the Chinese emperor
 The audiences Wednesday between the emperor and the ministers were held in the innermost large hall of the Forbidden City. The emperor sat upon q dais behind q table. There were four princes at the back of his chair and q dozen officials at each side. The doWager empress was concealed by screen, according to the stories of the attendants, and remained invisible. The audience chamber was furnished ornately, in contrast to the dingy rooms which served for these audiences un- der the old regime. The secretaries translated the addresses of the minis ters, copies of which were handed to the emperor The replies to these ad- dresses were delivered by Prince Ching
 The emperor was silent throughout the audiences and remained stolid and impassiye. Formerly the emperor re- piled to the ministers in Mantchoo, and the prince interpreted what he said. Today the emperor appeared as an automaton, and the secretaries of the foreign ministers who were present re port that be looked weaker, less intel lectual and more childish than prior to the siege of the legations.
 Sir Ernest Satow. the British repre- sentative, made the following address,:
 My august sovereign has charged me to express to your majesty his sin cere desire to see the independence and the integrity of the Chinese empire maintained intact and that the pros perity and happiness of the Chinese people may be hastened by the removal of obstacles to the free exchange of commodities. by the extension of manu- factures and by the utilization of the resources of the soil.
 'Ihe wonderful improvements in the means of communication between diff ferent parts of the world through the development of steam navigation, rail- ways and telegraphS have brought all countries into much closer relations than Were possible in former times Thus the nations of the world are en- abled to profit by the lessons to be learned from each other in the art of government, in methods of education, in the administration of justice and the application of the public wealth to the advantage of the whole people If, un- der the enlightened rule of your ma aies- ty, the barriers which in the past hin- dered the free and mutually advan- tageous intercourse of China with the rest of the worlGrse completely remoy- ed and her domestic institutions wisely regulated, it is certain that China. ad- vancing along the path of progress, will attain to q height of prosperity unknown in the past.''
 The ministers of the foreign powers entered the Forbidden City at the main gate, leaving their military escorts out side. At the second gate they entered yellow chairs, like those furnished for the princes and secretaries. They walk ed through the inner courts of the For bidden City, and their cortege retired from the city by the east gate.