Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1903-01-03

Washington Jan. 1.-rlc state de.
partncnt has been officially advised
tnrOUGh its fiscal agents il Chha that
the second inStalment of the Chinese
indemnity fund which fails due today,
!llSl he paid on Il silver basis. This
result has been anticipated. The first
instalmcnt of the indemnity, which
was due Iniy last, was likewise paid
on 4 silver basis. the nations .rcrivinS
lhc money rrSerying the right to reclaim
tie difference between the silver and
gold basis. Therefore the depart.
ment will today lave placed to its
credit >iN,i09S. for it has without hesita-
ton decided to accept the payment on
the basis proposed.
som" idea of the extra charge that
would he imposed ON China did she
yicld 10 the almost general demand
of the powers for payment Of these in
IDENTITIES m a gold basis may be
gathered from the fact that the Chinese
tael. which was the basis of tie ca,cu.
llt,on If til" Indebtedness. was worth
II c"nt> at the time the Il greCnrnt was
signed in Fckin. while it il now worth
only 81 cents.
The impression prevails here among
persons WHO have taken part in these
settlements That the ndrmnities de-
mahdcd by the powers are far beyond
China's ability. She may for IL year or
two borrow enough money from various
Internal sources to pay the ilsta lments
falling due every six months. hut in n
short time the powers will bc compelled.
ut tn" risk Of losing everything. to
cone to Il reimbursement of the whole
Indebtedness. either by submitting the
case To arbitration at The Hague. which
China urgently desires. or by Il mutual
agreement between the creditor nations.
Most oi tl.c first inStolment paid TO
the United States last July. and amount
ing to nearly Sl00.0OO. was i'm payment
inG from the Boxer outbreak. The de-
lhlrinicnt nhnnr"h thn rl.'. "f paying
out - percent of each large rlaim This
absorbed ncarl. ail of the first install.
ncnt. by this method something like
two years. will he required for the set
tlrmcrt OF ~ claims. 1t is said at The
.~"" ,'r'" AAA.t where many Of those
cases were handled (anu -. ;,.,,,., ,r
the American commission show tina, .,,',
sane statement was true rs to tie
claims presented in Chila). that prob
ably never in the history of the depart
mcnt has there been SO mary heavy
claims presented to the attention of IL
settlement commission as these coming
from the missionaries as II result of the
Boxer uprising.
The commission has cnt into these
with Il ruthless hand. The claims were
common to organizations and iu-
divi,lltalS. In one case Il claim was sub
lnittcd amounting to $2lO.0O0 for mis-
sion property destroyed. Reliable af-
iidavitS show that SlOOOOO is Il generous
estimate for the property. In individual
cases missionaries put in claims for
iewelry and articles of luxury.
BY Il curious adjustment, the commits
sion, while allowing some Of these
claims with librulity. has placed Il
very low valuation on human life. AS
stunning Il murdered missionary of the
age of 80 to he capable of 10 more years
work at the rate of $40O per year, 1t
would award an Indemnity Of about
SI0im to lis or her heirs. The state de-
)mltment. which Is the reviewing au-
tIlority IN these cases, probably will
raise the allowances, but it may stll
further cut down the claims for per-
sonal property losses.
Hckin, Jan. THE ministers here Of
the foreign powers have telegraphpd
their governments the refusal of China
10 pay tbs international indemnity in
gold notes. and have discussed the mat
ter among themselves. 1t Is proposed
TO inform the Chinese government that
fllure to fulfill the obliga tions pro.
vided In the protocol will entail grave
consequences
The policy of the United States pre-
SentS an obstacle in the way of deliver
ing join note to China on the matter
and the present difficulty Is generally
attributed to the encouragement given
the Chinese by the American govern
melts endorsement of their arguments.
The Chinese are content to await de-
vclopmentS, believing that the powers
will find it so difficult to agree on n
course of action that the present dead
lock will be prolonged indefinitely.