The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-24
A VICTORY FOR THE POWERS
ENVOYs RECEIYED AS EQUALS OF
 THE CHIMES F EMPEROR.
Audiences Between the Emperor and Hall of the Forbidden City-Dowager Empress Remained Concealed Behind n Screen Addressed by British Mtn-
 

l ister.
 | Pekin, Jan. 23-The ministers of the
 foreign powers here have attained the
 goal which has been their aim since in
 tercourse between China and the pow
 CTS began. They have been received as
 representatives of sovereigns equal in
 rank to the Chinese emperor,
 l The audiences yesterday between the emperor and the ministers were held in 1 the innermost large hall of the Forbid | den City. The emperor sat upon a dais 1 behind table. There were four princes
 at the back of his chair and dozen officials on each side. The doWager
 empress was concealed by screen, ac- cording to the stories of the attendants, and remained invisible. The audience chamber was furnished ornately, in
 contrast with the dingy rooms which
 served for these audiences under the
 old regime, The secretaries translated
 the addresses of the ministers, copies
 of which were handed to the emperor
 The replies to these addresses were de-
 livered by Prince Ching. The emperor
 was silent throughout the audiences
 and remained stolid and impressive.
 Formerly the emperor replied to the ministers in Manchu, and the prince in-
 terpreted what he said. To-day the emperor appeared as an automaton, and the secretaries of the foreign min
 isters who were present report that he looked weaker, less intellectual 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 sincere desire to see the independence and in- tegrity of Chinese empire maintained intact and that the prosperity and hap piness of the Chinese people may be hastened by the removal of obstacles to the free exchange of commodities, by the extension of manufactures and by the utilization of the resources of the soil
 The wonderful improvements in the iiiGdio OL JtlNNSIA tiiI different parts of the world, through the development of steam navigation, railroads and telegraph, has brought all countries into much closer relation than was possible in former times. Thus the nations of the world are enabled to profit by the lessons to be learned from each other in the art of government, in the methods of execution, in the ad- of justice and the appi- cation of the public wealth to the ad- vantage of the whole people. If under the enlightened rule of your majesty the barriers which in the past hindered the free and mutually advantageous of China with the rest of the world be completely removed and her domestic institutions wisely regu- lated, it is certain that China, advanc- ing along the path of progress, will at tain to a 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 prince and secretaries They walk ad through the inner courts of the For oidden City and their cortese retired rom the city by the east gate.