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THE CHINESE SITUATION

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 19, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 38.

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THE CHINESE SITUATION.

By Editor

An intercepted letter from the viceroy of Pao Ting Fu shows that the Boxers are overrunning the country southwest of Tien-tsin, killing all who oppose them, and fighting the imperial troops. He reports also that the Taotai of the city of Tsung Chow invited 2,000 Boxers to a feast, and while they were eating and their weapons were stacked, the imperial soldiers by his orders fell upon them and slaughtered them all. The governor of Shangsi, according to report, has sent a memorial to the empress asking for a reward for having invited fifty-two foreigners under his protection and afterward having killed them.
Russia has ordered her minister to withdraw from Peking and return to Tien-tsin, and has also declared her intention of withdrawing her soldiers from Peking, with the idea of inducing the empress to return and set up a stable government there. The Washington government has also signified its intention of withdrawing from the Chinese capital, and has sent notes to all the powers in reference to the matter. England, Germany, Italy, and Austria do not take kindly to the idea of withdrawing their forces, and some reports quote Emperor William as declaring that the German troops should not be withdrawn, even tho other powers evacuated the capital. Responses from the powers to the American notes have not yet been received.
In answer to the appeals of Germans in the Yang-tse Valley for protection, Emperor William replies that they will receive protection when his nine war ships arrive which are now on their way. Germany will thus have a share in the settlement with the Chinese along the Yang-tse River. The Yang-tse viceroys having been suspected of showing too much leniency toward the foreigners, Chinese officials have been ordered to investigate their conduct. This is considered a very important matter, as it indicates the continued warlike disposition of the Chinese rulers.
The Japanese landing parties of marines have been withdrawn from Amoy, and what was considered a complication in international affairs has been relieved. The American gunboat Castine remains at Amoy to safeguard American interests. It is reported that Prince Ching has been appointed regent, but is afraid to return to Peking unless the foreign envoys will guarantee his liberty. It is thought that negotiations may be conducted through this prince for the cessation of hostilities and arranging the matter of indemnity for lives and property destroyed.
THE strike of the Welch coal miners and the employees of the railroad which handles the coal has come to be a serious matter. A coal famine is threatened in England, and numerous factories are compelled to shut down. Heavy shipments of coal have been ordered from America, while the product of 50,000 Cardiff coal miners lies at the mines and can not be moved.
THE reports from the Philippines still indicate anything but a reign of peace in those troubled isles. Guerrilla and robber bands are at work in all parts of the archipelago, keeping up a reign of terror among those who are disposed to be friendly or are unable to support the native cause.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL CORBIN has written to the Military Committee of the Senate a long defense of the army canteen, claiming that the canteen was established and is maintained in the interests of temperance among the soldiers, furnishing them beer and light wine at the post to prevent their obtaining stronger drink at other places. Saloon-keepers use practically the same argument when they say, "If we don't sell liquor, some one else will." One of the evils of the canteen lies in the very fact of government recognition of the legitimacy of that deplorable traffic, and the air of respectability which such recognition necessarily gives it in the eyes of the soldiers. If indulgence in drink were set before the soldier as the evil thing it is, and its sale strictly prohibited in army camps, it would have a much better effect than this partnership with sin can possibly have.
"It is generally understood that the Prince of Wales will be called King Edward VII., if he succeeds Queen Victoria on the British throne. In connection with this idea, we recall the old tradition that as the holy sacrifice of the mass was abolished in England during the reign of the sixth Edward, so will it be re-enstated there in the reign of the seventh Edward."—Catholic Mirror. Whether or not the Prince of Wales takes the title of "King Edward VII.," the drift toward Catholic ritualism in the English State Church becomes more marked with each succeeding year. It would not be surprising to those who are following the course of ritualism in the English Church to see the fulfilment of the "old tradition" to which the Mirror refers.
ACCORDING to a report to the New York World of August 29 the officers of the Indiana W. C. T. U. have instituted an "endless prayer-chain," the object of which is to defeat the Republican nominee for President, on account of his position on the temperance question. The plan is to inaugurate an endless chain of prayers, each member herself praying for the candidate's defeat and also inducing two other women to do the same. The Lord has directed that supplications, prayers, and intercessions be offered for "all that are in authority," and this the Christian can and should do; but to form an endless chain for the purpose of defeating a political candidate seems to be a little outside the purview of Christian prayer.
A REPORT from Peking dated August 25 states that an epidemic of suicide has broken out among the Chinese of that city, and entire families are hanging themselves. There is no doubt but this is due to the terror inspired by the brutalities of some of the foreign troops. Later reports dealing with the particulars of the occupation of Peking and Tien-tsin relate stories of unmentionable cruelty practised upon the defenseless Chinese, old and young, of both sexes. The record of unbridled murder, lust, and robbery connected with the war of the world on China must bring the blush of shame to the cheek of civilization as long as the world shall stand.
AT the recent meeting of the International Medical Association in Paris Dr. Tuffier demonstrated what is considered one of the greatest medical discoveries of the time, local anesthesia in surgical operations. Cocain was injected into the region occupied by the cerebro-spinal fluid in the spine, completely deadening all sensibility below the point of injection. This enabled the surgeon to perform the most painful operations without the patient experiencing the least discomfort.
MACHADODORP, the place at which the Boers were expected to make a final stand, has been evacuated by them and is now in possession of the British. General Botha is retreating before Generals Buller and French, and continues to keep out of reach of their forces. The recent release of a large number of British prisoners by the Boers at Mooit Gedbacht would seem to be an indication that the Boers have practically decided to give up the struggle.
ON account of the scarcity of coal in Europe and England, due either to strikes or difficulty of obtaining the fuel on account of the increased depths of the mines, many large orders are coming to America. Two contracts of 100,000 tons each have been closed with American coal companies during the week, and many other orders booked for smaller amounts, or for continual supply at certain points.
IN 1790 about 3 per cent. of the population of the United States was in the cities. In 1890 it had risen to 29 per cent.; and at the present time 33 per cent. of America's inhabitants are found in cities of 8,000 persons or above. The migration to the cities is constant and increasing, and is one of the unpromising signs of the times—a product of the hunger for wealth, and a cause of the hunger of many a destitute family.
THE last wooden railroad, probably, in America, unused for some years, is just giving place to one of steel. Its forest terminus was Clifton Iron Works, in Northern New York. The rails were made of spruce poles, and it was a common thing for a train to get off the track, and be pried on again by the railway men and passengers. It is now steel for wood.
AN official report from Bombay states that the number of deaths in India from cholera during the week ending August 25 was 7,969. The number employed on relief works is decreasing and the number receiving gratuitous relief is increasing, a condition which is to be expected from the prolonged famine which is exhausting the vital forces of the people.
AS ONE result of the recent naval maneuvers of the German fleet, it is announced that it was demonstrated that torpedo-boats are powerless to attack big vessels at night if proper vigilance is observed. This seems to have been evident for some time, else there would not have been such persistent efforts to perfect the submarine torpedo-boat.
AN epidemic resembling grip or pneumonia is attacking the natives of Alaska. The condition of the natives has been investigated by the governor of Alaska and by officers of the revenue cutter Bear, and all reports agree as to the severity of the affliction. In some places the natives report that more than one-half their number have died.
THE government has decided to send a transport to Nome to bring back to the Pacific Coast the destitute miners who have been appealing for transportation. It is also reported that some measures will be taken to relieve the sufferings of the Alaskan Indians, many of whom are in a pitiable condition of destitution and sickness.
REV. W. H. MORELAND, bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Sacramento, has been requested by the presiding bishop of the church in the United States, the Right Rev. Thomas M. Clark, bishop of Rhode Island, to pay a visit this coming winter to Puerto Rico to aid in the establishment of the church there.
THE submarine torpedo-boat Holland was given an official test by officers of the navy at Newport Harbor on the night of August 31. The powerful searchlights failed to find the Holland, which was several times within torpedo distance of the boats in the harbor.
DURING the last year 2,400 duels were fought in Italy, resulting in 480 deaths. The most of these are said to be between army officers, and based on the most trivial pretexts. Human "honor" and human life are cheap in these days of violence.
AS A result of the tension between the Roumanian and Bulgarian Governments, a frontier conflict took place on August 31 between the peasants of these two countries, in which a number were killed and wounded.
A PLAN is on foot among Methodists of Chicago, so it is reported, to consolidate several churches under institutional rule, and build one of the greatest religious temples known in time or place.
THE city of Glasgow, Scotland, has been declared infested with the bubonic plague, twelve cases having developed up to September 1, and eighty suspected cases being under observation.
THE recent storms at Cape Nome, Alaska, have resulted in much loss of life, thirty-eight bodies having been recovered on the beach at the time of the sailing of the last steamer.
A REPORT from Bohol, one of the islands of the Philippines, states that a collision has occurred between American troops and natives, in which the latter lost 120 killed.
THE army transport Thomas arrived in San Francisco on August 30 with a full regimental company of the wounded victims of the war in China.
THIRTEEN persons were killed and over thirty injured in a collision between a passenger and milk train at Hatfield, Penn., on September 2.
A REPORT from Tien-tsin states that the American commander there is preparing winter quarters for an army of 15,000 men.