Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-30

, fossed his share i'm the plot, the tat
tiing ennuch was beheaded. Kang Yu-
wei fed for his life and the empress
dowager seized the reins OF power ana
held them until she died. That incl
dent Is known in history as the coup
d. 'etat OF 1885," all thanks 10 tne us
cretionary social Instincts of yuan
Sbih-kai. who pleasantly gossiped over
a dish of tea with his friend the
viceroy -,
Two years later Yuan again proved
his qualities of discretion and caution
| in obedience. The Boxer rebelllon'
originally a protest against the Man
chu dynasty, but cleVerly captured py
the Manchus and converted INTO an
anti foreign uprising, had begun. yuan
was then governor in Shantung, and
with two viceroys of the Yangtze re-
gion he did not hesitate to lead the op-
position to the empress dowager. That
old lady listened with pardonable ca
eerness to the promises OF the Boxers
to drive all foreigners cut of China, ana
she issued secret orders for the mur-
der Of all foreigners,
Yuan Shih-kai made some deals on
his own account, promising the for
eigners protection IL the gunboats
would keep away from the ports of
his part of the country. When the or
ders for the massacre came he pretend
! ed to believe that the signature of the
empress dowager was forged, and he
sent his own messenger to Peking to
verify the seal. The messenger had
instructions to open the order and, IL
| it was OF the same character, to take
plenty of time for his homeward Jour-
rey so as to arrive after the end of
the trouble. That bit of disobedience
was forgiven, however, by the empress
! dowager when she came to the realiza-
| ton that IL 1t had not been for Yuan
| Shih -kai her orders would have result
ed in the partition and extinction OF
| the Chinese empire.
So Yuan was soon promoted to be
viceroy of Chihli, the province in which
the capital is situated, and the. most
important in the empire. His we'll
drilled army continued to be enlarged
and was tower of strength to him.
He was rapidly advanced and hono"s
were showered upon him, until in 1907
he reached the top as president OF the
waiwupu and member of the grand
council. Not being scholar and one
of the literati, he was not eligible for
the grand secretariat, and that honor
alone was withheld from him. Even
after the death of the emperor and the
empress dowager the new prince re-
gent conferred titles and honors upon
him and his family upon the occasion
of Yuar's fiftieth birthday.
Then came the fall. The story ac
eepted in Peking runs that several
months before the deaths OF the en-
peror and the empress dowager a re-
tainer in the palace rushed into the
emperor's presence and cried out that
the empress dowager had dropped dead.
The emperor Immediately took his pen
and wrote an edict ordering the de-
capitation of Yuan Shihkai. The ink
was not dry when another retainer
came in with the news that the dow
ager had only tainted and was not
dead Thereupon the emperor wrote
a note addressed to his wife and asked
her, If she should survive him, to SEQ
that this edict was issued and executed.
Some time after the deaths of the
two rulers the widow of the late en-
peror, who is now the empress dow
ager, found the edict and the note.
She wrote across its face the word
"kiIl' and sent 1t to the prince regent,
her brother-in-law. Under the pecu-
liar code of the Chinese court the en-
press dowager is a person of great
power, whose opinions must be re-
spected. The prince regent, brother of
the late emperor and thoroughly ac-
uuainted with Yuan Shih-kai's part in
the coup which overthrow his brothers
real power, called a meeting of the
grand council. Yuan came as a mem
ber, but was turned back at the gates
He didn't need two hints and he hur-
ried to Tientsin to be out of harm s
way and in the shadow of foreign pro-
lection.
The grand council told the prince
that Yuan must not be killed; that the
foreigners would resent II with war;
that man might as we'll be dead as
be without office; and that his broth
er's will would be practically carried
out if Yuan were removed from office
and stripped of his honors. Where
upon issued the famous edlct dismiss
ing Yuan Shih-kai from all his offices
and positions of honor on the ground
that he had rheumatism in his leg!
Being assured of the safety of his
neck, Yuan retired to his native prov
ince of Honan. He is that marvel of
marvels, a Chinese official who is not
n CRATER, and he is therefore without
the consolation of gold which buoyed
up Ii Hung Chang in his disgrace.
Yuan Is poor. He is honest. He is
able. He Is fearless. He is patriotic.
These are the qualities which fitted
him for the great career he has had.
His discretion in obedience, however,
proved his ultimate ruin. 1t may be
that he will again be called to the
helm of the ship of state. Such things
happen in China-but for the present
he accepts his position with character
istic Chinese passivity.
Tomorrow--In Modern China.
, nd PFOQraaa.