Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-28
MASSACRES OF FOREIGNERS IN
CHINA.

dispersed the mob.
For all such crimes the French demand
exorbitant indemnities. The most trivial
offense against a member of one of the
French churches must be heavily atoned
for. This applies not only to the national
land bling of France and Germany on
account of missionary troubles, but also to
petty neighborhood squabbles A convert
of the French priest is immune from the
law of his own land. He may be mur
derer, a thief, rascal of any kind or de-
gree; his church membership is an asylum,
and the law cannot touch him. The mis-
stonary alone is his judge. No outsider can
have any redress against him. This has
made the French churches refugees for evil
doors. and it has also caused the French
missionaries to be dreaded and hated by
Chinese high and low.
Matters are improving somewhat of late.
The high handadnesS of the French clergy
has abated. since the troubles in France
have deprived them of the privileges of in
slant appeal to the French minister at
Picking. new and better policy will prob
ably perforce, be adopted. The noble
rifice of the French priests and nuns and
their tireless selfess labors may then have
their reward in the affection and esteem
of the people.
AS rule the American and British mis-
sionaries have followed a directly contrary
policy. the utterances of the two minis
tiers of these nations, which l shall later
quote, will show. Their general rule has
been noninterference in civil matters.
Times beyond counting they have been put
in a predicament by the willy Chinese, who
can see an advantage to themselves long
before it is on an AnglO-SaXon's horizon.
Thus many an ardent young missionary
has found that a sudden accession of in
Quirers has been due to the fact that the
professed converts wanted him to take up
their side of quarrel against members of
the French church. To join the one church
seemed to the Chinese the only recourse left
to enable them to get justice from, or to
get even with, the members Of the other. If
the American missionary would not help
them, the French missionary helped his
people, then his was the loss Of face and
following.
In these circumstances some missionaries
have doubtessly appealed to the native Off
Gals and to their own consuls on behalf of
their people, in cases other than persecu-
ton: the treaties accord protection to the
native Christians when prosecuted on ac-
count of their religious faith, although this
is doubtful advantage.
The net result of an this has been only
trouble for all concerned. The missionaries
have been caused endless annoyance and at
times serious difficulties. There is general
agreement among the Anglo-Saxons that
they will not go to the yamens in behalf of
their Chinese members under any condi-
tons Some have expressed to me the wish
that the boards would make peremptory
ruling that missionaries must not NEEDLE
with law cases, SO that they could make
this answer when appealed to. Certainly it
is the conclusion of all impartial observers
that it is gravely unWiSe for missionaries to
attempt to influence the course of Chinese
civil and criminal administration, even
when these are unjust.
So strongly do most missionaries now feel
upon the subject that they refuse under
any condition to touch yamen cases. One
young missionary, born and reared in China
and close terms with leading Chinese,
was one day notified that certain man I'M
der arrest had claimed exemption from pun
ishment on the plea of belonging to this
missionary church. What shall 1 do?"
asked the magistrate Give him ten extra
lashes for trying to deceive you and for at
tempting to drag the church into a civil
case" promptly replied the young mission
airy. The general practice of the American
missionaries with only rare exceptions, is to
permit their members to suffer injustice
rather than to incur the greater evil of
bringing reproach upon the church's name,
and of hindering the state from exercising
its sovereign rights Nevertheless, l have
learned from consuls and from missionaries
of some cases wherein American mission
aries have appealed to the mandarins or to
the consuls on behalf Of natives.
The pre-eminent Importance of face
in China makes this sort of thing harder
for Chinese official to swallow than it
would be for Anglo-Saxon, although
the endurance Of it ON the part of the lat
ter is an impossible hypothesis. Magis-
trates are thereby shorn of prestige and
power by the meddlesome foreigners. The
procedures whici pass for judicial proc
esses in China are knocked sky high.
Thus, although most officials with whom
I have talked clearly distinguish between
French and american missionaries, there
&c .6nN1 hfndly Wi hoc
against all missionaries on the part of the
official class. They associate, and not
without reason, the loss of much of their
territory with the missionary's presence
and activity in civil affairs. Embodied in
every missionary, to the Chinese mind is
the ever present possibility of complica-
tons with foreign powers. Small wonder
the throne has recently been memorialized
by the progressives for a retrocession of
ra-territorial rights.
Some courageous Chinese magistrates,
Il l al 4I