The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-25

one point l was, / 200 miles in the interior,
l found the feeling there as intense as 1t
was on the coast.
Every story of mistreatment told by a
Chinese who was held up in San Francisco
has been spread by the p~ropagandists, who
! are working with lampoons and cartoons
and all the devices of the professional poll
tioian. The further south you go the more
intense the feeling. 1t is'hardly perceptible
in Pekin, begins to make itself felt at Han
kow and is centred at Canton, where 1t iS
hardly safe now for an American to walk
the streets.
There was a queer little incident Of the
boycott in Canton. The viceroy there Is a
conservative and a natural batter Of the
foreigners. Personally he would like moth
ing better than to have the whole foreign
element cleaned out by the mob. The real
ruler of China In these times Is Yuen Hsi k'al,
Viceroy of the five northern provinces: He
sent down orders ofsuch ten or that the Vice
roy Of Canton could read between the lines
his sudden finish if any foreigners. were
killed in the boycott. Among other things.
these orders commanded the Viceroy OF
Canton to issue a proclamation f%orbidding
the anti-American demonstration. There
was a wait Of a few days, and nothing was
done. Then our Consul went to the Vioeroy
and asked him If he proposed to issue an
ediot. The Viceroy posted a proclamation
which read about like this:
ANY man melting IL riot or making any
physical demonstration against the Ameri-
cans will be beheaded.'
THE Chinese got the point of that. The
Chinese mind works in it's own way. They
interpreted the order to mean that they had
license to do anything they pleased against
the Americans so long as they used no
physical force-whiCh is Just what the Vice.
roy intended it to mean. That very day
the boycott, the posting of cartoons and the
is even said that the guilds passed out the
word that any Chinaman caught buying
American goods would lose his head.
THE day after the American Consul heard
this, the United States Monitor Monadnock
dropped into the harbor of Canton and
anchored of the bund. Before the Consul
was up that morning a messenger from the
Viceroy came to him and said:
What does this mean? Is the gunboat
going to bombard the town" Now the
Monadnock that she was there only Incl
dentally, on a practice cruise. But he saw
the point and grasped the opportunity. He
said; ,A
will settle the status of this province in the
minds of the Americans is an edict forbid
ding any kind Of a demonstration The
Viceroy sent back word that he couldn't
think Of doing it. His people would murder
him. The Consul. who knew very well
what the orders from Pekin were, stood
firm. The Viceroy yielded a little every
day; and on the fourth, Just when the Monad-
mock was getting ready TO move anyway he
issued the edict.
That brings up one point toucnlng on
their relations with lis. They think the
Americans are easy. In some quarters,
the magnanimous act Of John Hay in return
ing part Of our share of the indemnity Is
regarded as a weakness. Foreigners living
in China feel perfectly sure that If two or
three gunboats had sailed, just incidental ",
up the Yang-tse-kiang River Just after the
boycott broke out there would have been
no trouble.
at would take too long to do more than
summarize the reasons which make OBJ
servers of Chinese affairs believe that war
will be eventually inevitable. In the first
place, there is the Russian pressure to the
north. The peace, as have said, was
only a truce. The Russians regard 1t as a
setback. nothing more. They, hadnt un-
limbered their guns in Manchuria before
they we're renewing their pressure at court.
The status of Sakhalien is a danger. The
Russians are piqued because they had to
give up half of it, and the Japanese because
they couldn'tiget it all. At the south
there is the German pressure. The German
hold Kiaou-Chou without the slightest
shadow of International authorty--they
have less business there than the Russians
ever had on the Liaotlng p~enlnsulA; and
they are pushing their lines out in all direc-
tons. The English are everywhere a wide.
spread and subtle influence. With, the
Germans. they are most active In fghting
for trade. In that we are simply not In II,
partly because we have not studied the
question of foreign trade and do not do 1t
intelligently, and partly because our traders
! have no governmental support. tlnauy,
the Japanese have their own axes to grind.
Then there are two movements away
from peacein the Chinese people themselves.
The first is the a~nti-dyndstlc movement.
The second is a general and intelligent
anti-foreign feeling. This differs from the
! old idea that foreigners are devils ana nave
horns under their hair and eat bableS. III
is a just feeling of resentment thaI the
foreigners are exploiting and using CHINA.
The feeling is strongest agalnst the Amerl,
cans for the reasons that ] have gwen and
many more, but it extends to all the for
eigners.
Yuen Hsi K'ai. He is the viceroy of the
richest provinces in China. He rules the
Empress by fear: and he is responsible for
the liberal measures which have been
passed of late, for he is a man OF. great
ability and of far sight. He holds his posi-
ton through his popularity with the people,
through his understanding OF the foreigners
and through his possession OF the army,
or the most effective part OF 1t; MOST
Americans, I think, do not understand
that there never has been a regular Chinese
army. Each viceroy and each mandarin
almost, | should say, each corner ponce
man-has his army, great or small. he
is supposed to devote IT in feudal allegiance
to the Emperor, but II is q mdlteT ol MS
own election if he is strong enough. and
of the feeling of the soldiers. Now fuen
has made his army the most effective That
China has ever had.
Until two or three years ago IT was
drilled by German officers; then they began
to take UP with the Japanese. This wasn't
a matter of afiliation-there is no love lost
between the Chinese and the Japs-, hut
simply a matter of economy. A Jap soldier
will work for half the wages of n German
The Japanese turned out, however, TO be
wonderful drill masters for the Chinese
Last October they held their manruvres
in .Pekin. | had gone on at the time, but
| heard of them afterward from officers
who were there. The Chinese astonished
the foreign observers. They turned out
90, 1000 men, equipped and drilled up to
the European standard, and. most mar,
vellous Of all, they were efficiently differed
10y Chinese. That has been the flaw In
the Chinese army. They have been made
very effective under foreign officers, but
never before have the Chinese developed
officers who knew their business The
Japanese have done that.
This man Yuen has the respect Of the
foreign Ministers and is considered a
bigger man, a more broadly patriotic man.
than Lii Hung Chang himself. He is spoken
of by the foreigners in Pekin as one Of
the half dozen minds that will have a great
- =. Alo .,z-ll IL, tht= We no RI ton