Chapter XIX: Preface: To the Sixth Volume (18)

"Believing thus, and without abating in anywise its deliberate
purpose to exact the fullest accountability from the
responsible authors of the wrongs we have suffered in China,
the Government of the United States is not disposed, as a
preliminary condition to entering into diplomatic negotiations
with the Chinese Government, to join in a demand that said
Government surrender to the Powers such persons as, according
to the determination of the Powers themselves, may be held to
be the first and real perpetrators of those wrongs. On the
other hand, this Government is disposed to hold that the
punishment of the high responsible authors of these wrongs,
not only in Peking, but throughout China, is essentially a
condition to be embraced and provided for in the negotiations
for a final settlement.
{139}
It is the purpose of this Government, at the earliest
practicable moment, to name its plenipotentiaries for
negotiating a settlement with China, and in the mean time to
authorize its Minister in Peking to enter forthwith into
conference with the duly authorized representatives of the
Chinese Government, with a view of bringing about a
preliminary agreement whereby the full exercise of the
Imperial power for the preservation of order and the
protection of foreign life and property throughout China,
pending final negotiations with the Powers, shall be assured."

On the same day on which the above note was written the
American government announced its recognition of Prince Ching
and Li Hung-chang, as plenipotentiaries appointed to represent
the Emperor of China, in preliminary negotiations for the
restoration of the imperial authority at Peking and for a
settlement with the foreign Powers.

Differences between the Powers acting together in China, as to
the preliminary conditions of negotiation with the Chinese
government, and as to the nature and range of the demands to
be made upon it, were finally adjusted on the lines of a
proposal advanced by the French Foreign Office, in a note
dated October 4, addressed to the several governments, as
follows:

"The intention of the Powers in sending their forces to China
was, above all, to deliver the Legations. Thanks to their
union and the valour of their troops this object has been
attained. The question now is to obtain from the Chinese
Government, which has given Prince Ching and Li Hung-chang
full powers to negotiate and to treat in its name, suitable
reparation for the past and serious guarantees for the future.
Penetrated with the spirit which has evoked the previous
declarations of the different Governments, the Government of
the Republic has summarized its own sentiments in the
following points, which it submits as a basis for the
forthcoming negotiations after the customary verification of
powers:

(1) The punishment of the chief culprits, who will be
designated by the representatives of the Powers in Peking.

(2) The maintenance of the embargo on the importation of arms.

(3) Equitable indemnity for the States and for private
persons.

(4) The establishment in Peking of a permanent guard for the
Legations.

(5) The dismantling of the Ta-ku forts.

(6) The military occupation of two or three points on the
Tien-tsin-Peking route, thus assuring complete liberty of
access for the Legations should they wish to go to the coast
and to forces from the sea-board which might have to go up to
the capital.

It appears impossible to the Government of the Republic that
these so legitimate conditions, if collectively presented by
the representatives of the Powers and supported by the
presence of the international troops, will not shortly be
accepted by the Chinese Government."

On the 17th of October, the French Embassy at Washington
announced to the American government that "all the interested
powers have adhered to the essential principles of the French
note," and added: "The essential thing now is to show the
Chinese Government, which has declared itself ready to
negotiate, that the powers are animated by the same spirit;
that they are decided to respect the integrity of China and
the independence of its Government, but that they are none the
less resolved to obtain the satisfaction to which they have a
right. In this regard it would seem that if the proposition
which has been accepted as the basis of negotiations were
communicated to the Chinese plenipotentiaries by the Ministers
of the powers at Peking, or in their name by their Dean, this
step would be of a nature to have a happy influence upon the
determinations of the Emperor of China and of his Government."
The government of the United States approved of this
suggestion from France, and announced that it had "instructed
its Minister in Peking to concur in presenting to the Chinese
plenipotentiaries the points upon which we are agreed." Other
governments, however, seem to have given different
instructions, and some weeks were spent by the foreign
Ministers at Peking in formulating the joint note in which
their requirements were to be presented to Prince Ching and
Earl Li.

The latter, meantime, had submitted, on their own part, to the
allied plenipotentiaries, a draft of what they conceived to be
the just preliminaries of a definitive treaty. They prefaced
it with a brief review of what had occurred, and some remarks,
confessing that "the throne now realizes that all these
calamities have been caused by the fact that Princes and high
Ministers of State screened the Boxer desperados, and is
accordingly determined to punish severely the Princes and
Ministers concerned in accordance with precedent by handing
them over to their respective Yamêns for the determination of
a penalty." The "draft clauses" then submitted were as
follows:

"The siege of the Legations was a flagrant violation of the
usages of international law and an utterly unpermissible act.
China admits the gravity of her error and undertakes that
there shall be no repetition of the occurrence. China admits
her liability to pay an indemnity, and leaves it to the Powers
to appoint officers who shall investigate the details and make
out a general statement of claims to be dealt with
accordingly.

"With regard to the subsequent trade relations between China
and the foreign Powers, it will be for the latter to make
their own arrangements as to whether former treaties shall be
adhered to in their entirety, modified in details, or
exchanged for new ones. China will take steps to put the
respective proposals into operation accordingly.

"Before drawing up a definitive treaty it will be necessary
for China and the Powers to be agreed as to general
principles. Upon this agreement being arrived at, the
Ministers of the Powers will remove the seals which have been
affixed to the various departments of the Tsung-li-Yamên and
proceed to the Yamên for the despatch of business in matters
relating to international questions exactly as before.

"So soon as a settlement of matters of detail shall have been
agreed upon between China and the various nations concerned in
accordance with the requirements of each particular nation,
and so soon as the question of the payment of an indemnity
shall have been satisfactorily settled, the Powers will
respectively withdraw their troops. The despatch of troops to
China by the Powers was undertaken with the sole object of
protecting the Ministers, and so soon as peace negotiations
between China and the Powers shall have been opened there
shall be a cessation of hostilities.

{140}

"The statement that treaties will be made with each of the
Powers in no way prejudices the fact that with regard to the
trade conventions mentioned the conditions vary in accordance
with the respective powers concerned. With regard to the
headings of a definitive treaty, questions of nomenclature and
precedence affecting each of the Powers which may arise in
framing the treaty can be adjusted at personal conferences."
Great Britain and Germany were now acting in close accord,
having, apparently, been drawn together by a common distrust
of the intentions of Russia. On the 16th of October, Lord
Salisbury and Count Hatzfeldt signed the following agreement,
which was made known at once to the other governments
concerned, and its principles assented to by all:

"Her Britannic Majesty's Government and the Imperial German
Government, being desirous to maintain their interests in
China and their rights under existing treaties, have agreed to
observe the following principles in regard to their mutual policy
in China:—

"1. It is a matter of joint and permanent international
interest that the ports on the rivers and littoral of China
should remain free and open to trade and to every other
legitimate form of economic activity for the nationals of all
countries without distinction; and the two Governments agree
on their part to uphold the same for all Chinese territory as
far as they can exercise influence.

"2. The Imperial German Government and her Britannic Majesty's
Government will not, on their part, make use of the present
complication to obtain for themselves any territorial
advantages in Chinese dominions, and will direct their policy
towards maintaining undiminished the territorial condition of
the Chinese Empire.

"3. In case of another Power making use of the complications
in China in order to obtain under any form whatever such
territorial advantages, the two Contracting Parties reserve to
themselves to come to a preliminary understanding as to the
eventual steps to be taken for the protection of their own
interests in China.

"4. The two Governments will communicate this Agreement to the
other Powers interested, and especially to Austria-Hungary,
France, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States of
America, and will invite them to accept the principles
recorded in it."

The assent of Russia was no less positive than that of the
other Powers. It was conveyed in the following words: "The
first point of this Agreement, stipulating that the ports
situated on the rivers and littoral of China, wherever the two
Governments exercise their influence, should remain free and
open to commerce, can be favorably entertained by Russia, as
this stipulation does not infringe in any way the 'status quo'
established in China by existing treaties. The second point
corresponds all the more with the intentions of Russia, seeing
that, from the commencement of the present complications, she
was the first to lay down the maintenance of the integrity of
the Chinese Empire as a fundamental principle of her policy in
China. As regards the third point relating to the eventuality
of an infringement of this fundamental principle, the Imperial
Government, while referring to their Circular of the 12th
(25th) August, can only renew the declaration that such an
infringement would oblige Russia to modify her attitude
according to circumstances."

On the 13th of November, while the foreign plenipotentiaries
at Peking were trying to agree in formulating the demands they
should make, the Chinese imperial government issued a decree
for the punishment of officials held responsible for the Boxer
outrages. As given the Press by the Japanese Legation at
Washington, in translation from the text received there, it
was as follows;

"Orders have been already issued for the punishment of the
officials responsible for opening hostilities upon friendly
Powers and bringing the country into the present critical
condition by neglecting to suppress and even by encouraging
the Boxers. But as Peking and its neighborhood have not yet
been entirely cleared of the Boxers, the innocent people are
still suffering terribly through the devastation of their
fields and the destruction of their houses, a state of affairs
which cannot fail to fill one with the bitterest feelings
against these officials. And if they are not severely
punished, how can the anger of the people be appeased and the
indignation of the foreign Powers allayed?

"Accordingly, Prince Tuan is hereby deprived of his title and
rank, and shall, together with Prince Chwang, who has already
been deprived of his title, be delivered to the Clan Court to
be kept in prison until the restoration of peace, when they
shall be banished to Sheng-King, to be imprisoned for life.
Princes Yi and Tsai Yung, who have both been already deprived
of their titles, are also to be delivered to the Clan Court
for imprisonment, while Prince Tsai Lien, also already
deprived of title and rank, is to be kept confined in his own
house, Duke Tsai Lan shall forfeit his ducal salary, but may
be transferred with the degradation of one rank. Chief Censor
Ying Nien shall be degraded two ranks and transferred. As to
Kang Yi, Minister of the Board of Civil Appointment, upon his
return from the commission on which he had been sent for the
purpose of making inquiries into the Boxer affair he
memorialized the Throne in an audience strongly in their
favor. He should have been severely punished but for his death
from illness, and all penalties are accordingly remitted. Chao
Shuy Yao, Minister of the Board of Punishment, who had been
sent on a mission similar to that of Kang Yi, returned almost
immediately. Though such conduct was a flagrant neglect of his
duties, still he did not make a distorted report to the
Throne, and therefore he shall be deprived of his rank, but
allowed to retain his present office. Finally, Yu Hsien,
ex-Governor of Shan-Se, allowed, while in office, the Boxers
freely to massacre the Christian missionaries and converts.
For this he deserves the severest punishment, and therefore he
is to be banished to the furthermost border of the country, and
there to be kept at hard labor for life.

{141}

"We have a full knowledge of the present trouble from the very
beginning, and therefore, though no impeachment has been brought
by Chinese officials at home or abroad against Princes Yi,
Tsai Lien and Tsai Yung, we order them to be punished in the
same manner as those who have been impeached. All who see this
edict will thus perceive our justice and impartiality in
inflicting condign penalties upon these officials," It was not
until the 20th of December that the joint note of the
plenipotentiaries of the Powers, after having been submitted
in November to the several governments represented, and
amended to remove critical objections, was finally signed and
delivered to the Chinese plenipotentiaries. The following is a
precis of the requirements set forth in it:

"(1) An Imperial Prince is to convey to Berlin the Emperor's
regret for the assassination of Baron von Ketteler, and a
monument is to be erected on the site of the murder, with an
inscription, in Latin, German, and Chinese, expressing the
regret of the Emperor for the murder.

"(2) The most severe punishment fitting their crimes is to be
inflicted on the personages designated in the Imperial decree
of September 21, whose names—not mentioned—are Princes Tuan
and Chuang and two other princes, Duke Lan, Chao Shu-chiao,
Yang-yi, Ying-hien, also others whom the foreign Ministers
shall hereafter designate. Official examinations are to be
suspended for five years in those cities where foreigners have
been assassinated or cruelly treated.

"(3) Honourable reparation is to be made to Japan for the
murder of M. Sugiyama.

"(4) Expiatory monuments are to be erected in all foreign
cemeteries where tombs have been desecrated.

"(5) The importation of arms or 'materiel' and their
manufacture are to be prohibited.

"(6) An equitable indemnity is to be paid to States,
societies, and individuals, also to Chinese who have suffered
injury because of their employment by foreigners. China will
adopt financial measures acceptable to the Powers to guarantee
the payment of the indemnity and the service of the loans.

"(7) Permanent Legation guards are to be maintained, and the
diplomatic quarter is to be fortified.

"(8) The Ta-ku forts and those between Peking and the sea are
to be razed.

"(9) There is to be a military occupation of points necessary
to ensure the safety of the communications between Peking and
the sea.

"(10) Proclamations are to be posted during two years
throughout the Empire threatening death to any person joining
an anti-foreign society and enumerating the punishment
inflicted by China upon the guilty ringleaders of the recent
outrages. An Imperial edict is to be promulgated ordering
Viceroys, Governors, and Provincial officials to be held
responsible for anti-foreign outbreaks or violations of
treaties within their jurisdiction, failure to suppress the
same being visited by the immediate cashiering of the
officials responsible, who shall never hold office again.

"(11) China undertakes to negotiate a revision of the
commercial treaties in order to facilitate commercial
relations.

"(12) The Tsung-li-Yamên is to be reformed, and the Court
ceremonial for the reception of foreign Ministers modified in
the sense indicated by the Powers.

"Until the foregoing conditions are complied with ('se
conformer à') the Powers can hold out no expectation of a
limit of time for the removal of the foreign troops now
occupying Peking and the provinces."

CHINA: A. D. 1900 (November).
Russo-Chinese agreement relating to Manchuria.

See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA.

CHINA: A. D. 1900 (December).
Russo-Chinese agreement concerning the Manchurian
province of Fêng-tien.

See (in this volume)
MANCHURIA: A. D. 1900.

CHINA: A. D. 1900-1901 (November-February).
Seizure of grounds at Peking for a large Legation Quarter.
Extensive plans of fortification.

In February, 1901, the following from a despatch written in
the previous November by Mr. Conger, the American Minister at
Peking, was given to the Press by the State Department at
Washington: "I have the honor to report that in view of the
probability of keeping large legation grounds in the future,
and because of the general desire on the part of all the
European representatives to have extensive legations, all of
the Ministers are taking possession of considerable areas
adjoining their legations—property belonging either to the
Chinese Government or to private citizens, and having been
abandoned by the owners during the siege—with the intention to
claim them as conquest, or possibly credit something for them
on their account for indemnity. I have as yet not taken formal
possession of any ground for this purpose, nor shall I without
instructions, but I shall not for the present permit any of the
owners or other persons to reoccupy any of the property
between this legation and the canal to the east of it. While
this area will be very small in comparison with the other
legations, yet it will be sufficient to make both the legation
personnel and the guard very comfortable, and will better
comport with our traditional simplicity vis-a-vis the usual
magnificence of other representatives.

"It is proposed to designate the boundaries of a legation
quarter, which shall include all the legations, and then
demand the right to put that in a state of defence when
necessary, and to prohibit the residence of Chinese there,
except by permission of the Ministers. If, therefore, these
ideas as to guards, defence, etc:., are to be carried out, a
larger legation will be an absolute necessity. In fact, it is
impossible now to accommodate the legation and staff in our
present quarters without most inconvenient crowding.

"There are no public properties inside the legation quarter
which we could take as a legation. All the proposed property
to be added, as above mentioned, to our legation, is private
ground, except a very small temple in the southeast corner,
and I presume, under our policy, if taken, will be paid for
either to the Chinese owners or credited upon account against
the Chinese Government for indemnity, although I suspect most
of the other Governments will take theirs as a species of
conquest. The plot of ground adjoining and lying to the cast
of the legation to which I have made reference is about the
size of the premises now occupied by us."

Before its adjournment on the 4th of March, 1901, the Congress
of the United States made an appropriation for the purchase of
grounds for its Legation at Peking, and instructions were sent
to make the purchase.

{142}

By telegram from Peking on the 14th of February it was
announced that a formidable plan of fortification for this
Legation Quarter had been drawn up by the Military Council of
the Powers at Peking, and that work upon it was to begin at
once. The correspondent of the "London Times" described the
plan and wrote satirically of it, as follows; "From supreme
contempt for the weakness of China armed we have swayed to
exaggerated fear of the strength of China disarmed. The
international military experts have devised a scheme for
putting the Legation quarter in a state of defence which is
equivalent to the construction of an International fortress
alongside the Imperial Palace. The plan requires the breaching
of the city wall at the Water-gate, the levelling of the Ha-ta
Mên and Chien Mên towers, the demolition of the ramparts
giving access to them, the sweeping clear of a space 150 to
300 yards wide round the entire Legation area, and the
construction of walls, glacis, moats, barbed wire defences,
with siege guns, Maxims, and barracks capable of holding 2,000
troops, with military stores and equipment sufficient to
withstand a siege of three months. All public buildings,
boards, and civil offices between the Legations and the
Imperial walls are to be levelled, while 11,000 foreign troops
are to hold the communications between Peking and the sea, so
that no Chinese can travel to Peking from the sea without the
knowledge of the foreign military authorities.

"The erection of the defences is to begin at once, before the
return of the Court to Peking. They are no doubt devised to
encourage the Court to return to Peking, it being apparently
the belief of the foreign Ministers that an Imperial Court
governing an independent empire are eager to place themselves
under the tutelage of foreign soldiers and within the reach of
foreign Maxims.

"Within the large new Legation area all the private property
of Chinese owners who years before sought the advantages of
vicinity to the Legations has been seized by the foreign
Legations. France and Germany, with a view to subsequent
commercial transactions, have annexed many acres of valuable
private property for which no compensation is contemplated,
while the Italian Legation, which boasts a staff of two
persons, carrying out the scheme of appropriation to a logical
absurdity, has, in addition to other property, grabbed the
Imperial Maritime Customs gardens and buildings occupied for
so many years by Sir Robert Hart and his staff."

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (January-February).
Famine in Shensi.

A Press telegram from Peking, late in January, announced a
fearful famine prevailing in the province of Shensi, where
thousands of natives were dying. The Chinese government was
distributing rice, and there was reported to be discrimination
against native Christians in the distribution. Mr. Conger, Sir
E. Satow, and M. Pichon protested to Prince Ching and Li
Hung-chang against such discrimination. A Court edict was
therefore issued on the 26th instant ordering all relief
officials and Chinese soldiers to treat Christians in exactly
the same way as all other Chinese throughout the Empire, under
penalty of decapitation. Another despatch, early in February,
stated: "Trustworthy reports received here from Singan-fu [the
temporary residence of the fugitive Chinese court] all agree
that the famine in the provinces of Shen-si and Shan-si is one
of the worst in the history of China. It is estimated that
two-thirds of the people are without sufficient food or the
means of obtaining it. They are also suffering from the bitter
cold. As there is little fuel in either province the woodwork
of the houses is being used to supply the want. Oxen, horses,
and dogs have been practically all sacrificed to allay hunger.
Three years of crop failures in both provinces and more or less
of famine in previous seasons had brought the people to
poverty when winter began. This year their condition has
rapidly grown worse. Prince Ching stated to Mr. Conger, the
United States Minister, that the people were reduced to eating
human flesh and to selling their women and children.
Infanticide is alarmingly common."

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (January-February).
Submission to the demands of the Powers
by the Imperial Government.
Punishments inflicted and promised.
A new Reform Edict.

With no great delay, the Chinese plenipotentiaries at Peking
were authorized by the Emperor and Empress to agree to the
demands of the Powers, which they did by formally signing the
Joint Note. Prince Ching gave his signature on the 12th of
January, 1901, and Li Hung-chang, who was seriously ill,
signed on the following day. Discussion of the punishments to
be inflicted on guilty officials was then opened, and went on
for some time. On the 5th of February, the foreign Ministers
submitted the names of twelve leading officials, against whom
formal indictments were framed, and who were considered to be
deserving of death. Three of them, however (Kang Yi, Hsu Tung,
and Li Ping Heng), were found to be already deceased. The
remaining nine were the following: Prince Chuang,
commander-in-chief of the Boxers; Prince Tuan, who was held to
be the principal instigator of the attack on foreigners; Duke
Lan, the Vice-President of Police, who admitted the Boxers to
the city; Yu Hsien, who was the governor of Shan-Si Province,
promoter of the Boxer movement there, and director of the
massacres in that province; General Tung Fu Siang, who led the
attacks on the Legations, Ying Nien, Chao Hsu Kiao, Hsu Cheng
Yu, and Chih Siu, who were variously prominent in the
murderous work. In the cases of Prince Tuan and Duke Lan, who
were related to the Imperial family, and in the case of
General Tung Fu Siang, whose military command gave him power
to be troublesome, the Chinese court pleaded such difficulties
in the way of executing a decree of death that the Ministers
at Peking were persuaded to be satisfied with sentences of
exile, or degradation in rank, or both. On the 21st of
February the Ministers received notice that an imperial edict
had been issued, condemning General Tung Fu Siang to be
degraded and deprived of his rank; Prince Tuan and Duke Lan to
be disgraced and exiled; Prince Chuang, Ying Nien and Chao Hsu
Kiao to commit suicide; Hsu Cheng Yu, Yu Hsien and Chih Siu to
be beheaded. Hsu Cheng Yu and Chih Siu were then prisoners in
the hands of the foreign military authorities at Peking, and
the sentence was executed upon them there, on the 26th of
February, in the presence of Japanese, French, German and
American troops. A despatch from Peking reporting the
execution stated that, while it was being carried out, "the
ministers held a meeting and determined on the part of the
majority to draw a curtain over further demands for blood.
United States Special Commissioner Rockhill sided strongly
with those favoring humane methods, who are Sir Ernest Satow
and MM. Komura, De Cologan and De Giers, respectively British,
Japanese, Spanish and Russian ministers. Others believe that
China has not been sufficiently punished, and that men should
be executed in every city, town and village where foreigners
were injured."

{143}

While the subject of punishments was pending, and with a view,
it was said, of quickening the action of the Chinese
government, Count von Waldersee, the German Field-Marshal
commanding the allied forces in China, ordered preparations to
be made for an extensive military expedition into the
interior. The government of the United States gave prompt
directions that its forces at Peking should not take part in
this movement, and the remonstrances of other Powers more
pacifically inclined than the Germans caused the project to be
given up.

Meantime, three Imperial edicts of importance, if faithfully
carried out, had been issued. One, on the 5th of February,
commanded new undertakings of reform, accounting for the
abandonment of the reform movement of 1898 by declaring that
it was seditionary and would have resulted in anarchy, and
that it was entered upon when the Emperor was in bad health;
for all which reasons he had requested the Empress Dowager to
resume the reins of government. Now, it was declared, since
peace negotiations were in progress, the government should be
formed on a basis for future prosperity. Established good
methods of foreign countries should be introduced to supply
China's deficiencies. "China's greatest difficulty," said the
edict, "is her old customs, which have resulted in the
insincere dispatch of business and the promoting of private
gain. Up to the present time those who have followed the
Western methods have had only superficial knowledge, knowing
only a little of foreign languages and foreign inventions,
without knowing the real basis of the strength of foreign
nations. Such methods are insufficient for real reform."

In order to obtain a true basis, the Emperor commanded a
consultation between the ministers of the privy council, the
six boards, nine officers, the Chinese ministers to foreign
countries and all the viceroys and governors. Those were
instructed to recommend reforms in the seven branches of
government, namely, the central government, ceremonies,
taxation, schools, civil-service examinations, military
affairs and public economies. They were also to recommend what
part of the old system can be used and what part needs changing.
Two months were given them in which to prepare their report.

On the following day, two edicts, in fulfilment of demands
made in the Joint Note of the Powers, were promulgated. The
first provided, in accordance with article 3 of the Joint
Note, for the suspension of official examinations for five
years in places where foreigners are killed. The second edict
forbade anti-foreign societies, recited the punishment of
guilty parties and declared that local officials will be held
responsible for the maintenance of order. If trouble occurs
the officials would be removed without delay and never again
allowed to hold office.

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March).
The murdered Christian missionaries and native converts.
Varying statements and estimates of their number.

To the time of this writing (March, 1901), no complete
enumeration of the foreign Christian missionaries and members
of missionary families who were killed during the Boxer
outbreak of the past year has been made. Varying estimates
have appeared, from time to time, and it is possible that one
of the latest among these, communicated from Shanghai on the
1st of March, may approach to accuracy. It was published in
the "North China Daily News," and said to be founded on the
missionary records, according to which, said the "News," "a
total of 134 adults and 52 children were killed or died of
injuries in the Boxer rising of 1899 and 1900."

On the 13th of March, the "Lokal Anzeiger," of Berlin,
published a statistical report from its Peking correspondent
of "foreign Christians killed during the troubles, exclusive
of the Peking siege," which enumerated 118 Englishmen, 79
Americans, Swedes and Norwegians, 26 Frenchmen, 11 Belgians,
10 Italians and Swiss, and 1 German. The total of these
figures is largely in excess of those given by the "North
China Daily News," but they cover, not missionaries alone, but
all foreign Christians. It is impossible, however, not to
doubt the accuracy of both these accounts. Of native
Christians, the German writer estimated that 30,000 had
perished. In September, 1900, the United States Consul-General
at Shanghai, Mr. Goodnow, "after making inquiries from every
possible source," placed the number of British and American
missionaries who had probably been killed at 93, taking no
account of a larger number in Chih-li and Shan-si whose fate
was entirely unknown. Of those whose deaths he believed to be
absolutely proved at that time, 34 were British, including 9
men, 15 women and 10 children, and 22 were American, 8 of
these being men, 8 women and 6 children.

In December, 1900, a private letter from the "Association for
the Propagation of the Faith, St. Mary's Seminary," Baltimore,
Maryland, stated that up to the end of September 48 Catholic
missionaries were known to have been murdered. A pastoral
letter issued in December by Cardinal Vaughan, in London,
without stating the numbers killed, declared that all work of
the Catholic church, throughout the most of China, where 942
European and 445 native priests had been engaged, was
practically swept away.

A private letter, written early in January, 1901, by the
Reverend Dr. Judson Smith, one of the corresponding
secretaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, contains the following statement: "The American
Board has lost in the recent disturbances in China 13
missionaries, 6 men and 7 women, and 5 children belonging to
the families who perished. The number of native converts
connected with the mission churches of the American Board who
have suffered death during these troubles cannot be stated
with accuracy. It undoubtedly exceeds 1,000; it may reach a
much larger figure; but some facts that have come to light of
late imply that more of those who were supposed to be lost
have been in hiding than was known. If we should reckon along
with native converts members of their families who have
suffered death, the number would probably be doubled."

There seems to be absolutely no basis of real information for
any estimate that has been made of the extent of massacre
among the native Christian converts. Thousands perished,
without doubt, but how many thousands is yet to be learned. As
intimated by Dr. Smith, larger numbers than have been supposed
may have escaped, and it will probably be long before the true
facts are gathered from all parts of the country.

{144}

In any view, the massacre of missionaries and their families
was hideous enough; but fictions of horror were shamefully
added, it seems, in some of the stories which came from the
East. At Pao-Ting Fu, where women were said to have suffered
indescribable brutalities before being slain, investigation by
an American military officer convinced him that "there is no
evidence of any peculiar atrocities committed upon the persons
of those who were slain"; and the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions has publicly announced:
"While forced to believe that our missionaries in Shan Si and
at Pao Ting Fu were put to death by the Chinese, we have never
credited the published reports concerning atrocities connected
with their slaughter."

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March).
Withdrawal of American troops, excepting a Legation guard.

The following order was sent by cable from the War Department
at Washington to General Chaffee, commanding the United States
forces in China, on the 15th of March: "In reply to your
telegram Secretary of War directs you complete arrangements
sail for Manila with your command and staff officers by end
April, leaving as legation guard infantry company composed of
150 men having at least one year to serve or those intending
re-enlist, with full complement of officers, medical officer,
sufficient hospital corps men and, if you think best, field
officer especially qualified to command guard. Retain and
instruct officer quartermaster's department proceed to erect
necessary buildings for guard according to plan and estimates
you approve."

CHINA: A. D. 1901 (March-April).
Discussion of the question of indemnity.
Uneasiness concerning rumored secret negotiations of
Russia with the Chinese government relative to Manchuria.

As we write this (early in April), the reckoning of
indemnities to be demanded by the several Powers of the
Concert in China is still under discussion between the
Ministers at Peking, and is found to be very difficult of
settlement. There is understood to be wide differences of
disposition among the governments represented in the
discussion, some being accused of a greed that would endeavor
to wring from the Chinese government far more than the country
can possibly pay; while others are laboring to reduce the
total of exactions within a more reasonable limit. At the
latest accounts from Peking, a special committee of the
Ministers was said to be engaged in a searching investigation
of the resources of China, in order to ascertain what sum the
Empire has ability to pay, and in what manner the payment can
best be secured and best made. It seems to be hoped that when
those facts are made clear there may be possibilities of an
agreement as to the division of the total sum between the
nations whose legations were attacked, whose citizens were
slain, and who sent troops to crush the Boxer rising.

Meantime grave anxieties are being caused by rumors of a
secret treaty concerning Manchuria which Russia is said to be
attempting to extort from the Chinese government [see, in this
volume, MANCHURIA], the whispered terms of which would give
her, in that vast region, a degree of control never likely to
become less. The most positive remonstrance yet known to have
been made, against any concession of that nature, was
addressed, on the 1st of March, by the government of the
United States, to its representatives at St. Petersburg,
Berlin, London, Paris, Vienna, Rome, and Tokio, as follows:

"The following memorandum, which was handed to the Chinese
Minister on February 19, is transmitted to you for your
information and communication to the government to which you
are accredited: "The preservation of the territorial integrity
of China having been recognized by all the powers now engaged in
joint negotiation concerning the injuries recently inflicted
upon their ministers and nationals by certain officials and
subjects of the Chinese Empire, it is evidently advantageous
to China to continue the present international understanding
upon this subject. It would be, therefore, unwise and
dangerous in the extreme for China to make any arrangement or
to consider any proposition of a private nature involving the
surrender of territory or financial obligations by convention
with any particular power; and the government of the United
States, aiming solely at the preservation of China from the
danger indicated and the conservation of the largest and most
beneficial relations between the empire and other countries,
in accordance with the principles set forth in its circular
note of July 3, 1900, and in a purely friendly spirit toward
the Chinese Empire and all the powers now interested in the
negotiations, desires to express its sense of the impropriety,
inexpediency and even extreme danger to the interests of China
of considering any private territorial or financial
arrangements, at least without the full knowledge and approval
of all the powers now engaged in negotiation.
HAY."

----------CHINA: End--------

CHINESE TAXES.

See (in this volume)
LIKIN.

CHING, Prince:
Chinese Plenipotentiary to negotiate with the allied Powers.

See (in this volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1900 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

CHITRAL: A. D. 1895.
The defense and relief of.

See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1895 (MARCH-SEPTEMBER).

CHITRAL:A. D. 1901.
Included in a new British Indian province.

See (in this volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1901 (FEBRUARY).

CHOCTAWS, United States agreements with the.

See (in this volume)
INDIANS, AMERICAN: A. D. 1893-1899.

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR, The Young People's Society of.

The nineteenth annual international convention of Young
People's Societies of Christian Endeavor was held in the
Alexandra Palace, London, England, from the 13th to the 20th
of July, 1900, delegates being present from most countries of
the world. Reports presented to the convention showed a total
membership of about 3,500,000, in 59,712 societies, 43,262 of
which were in the United States, 4,000 in Canada, some 7,000
in Great Britain, 4,000 in Australia, and smaller numbers in
Germany, India, China, Japan, Mexico, and elsewhere.

{145}

The first society, which supplied the germ of organization for
all succeeding ones, was formed in the Williston
Congregational Church of Portland, Maine, on the 2d of
February, 1881, by the Reverend Francis E. Clark, the pastor
of the church. The object, as indicated by the name of the
society, was to organize the religious energies of the young
people of the church for Christian life and work. The idea was
caught and imitated in other churches—Congregational,
Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, and others—very rapidly,
and the organization soon became, not only widely national,
but international. In 1898, it was reported that Russia then
remained the only country in the world without a Christian
Endeavor Society, and the total was 54,191. In the next year's
report Russia was announced to have entered the list of
countries represented, and the number of societies had
advanced to 55,813. In 1900, the numbers had risen to the
height stated above. The Epworth League is a kindred
organization of young people in the Methodist Church.

See (in this volume)
EPWORTH LEAGUE.

CHRISTIANS AND MOSLEMS:
Conflicts in Armenia.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1895.

CONFLICTS IN CRETE.

See (in this volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1897 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).

CHUNGKING.

"Chungking, which lies nearly 2,000 miles inland, is, despite
its interior position, one of the most important of the more
recently opened ports of China. Located at practically the
head of navigation on the Yangtze, it is the chief city of the
largest, most populous, and perhaps the most productive
province of China, whose relative position, industries,
population, and diversified products make it quite similar to
the great productive valley of the upper Mississippi. The
province of Szechuan is the largest province of China, having
an area of 166,800 square miles, and a population of
67,000,000, or but little less than that of the entire United
States. Its area and density of population may be more readily
recognized in the fact that its size is about the same as that
of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky combined,
but that its population is six times as great as that of those
States. Its productions include wheat, tobacco, buckwheat,
hemp, maize, millet, barley, sugar cane, cotton, and silk."

_United States, Bureau of Statistics,
Monthly Summary, March, 1899, page 2196._

CHURCH OF ENGLAND: A. D. 1896.
Papal declaration of the invalidity of its ordinations.

See (in this volume)
PAPACY: A. D. 1896 (SEPTEMBER).

CIVIL CODE: Introduction in Germany.

See (in this volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1900 (JANUARY).

-------CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: Start-----

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1893-1896.
Extensions of the Civil-Service rules by President Cleveland.

"Through the extensions of the Federal classification during
President Cleveland's second administration, the number of
positions covered by the civil-service rules was increased
two-fold. On March 3, 1893, the number classified was 42,928.
By a series of executive orders ranging from March 20, 1894,
to June 25. 1895, 10,000 places were added to the list,
bringing the total, approximately, to 53,000. Meanwhile, the
Civil Service Commission had recommended to the President a
general revision that would correct the imperfections of the
original rules and extend their scope to the full degree
contemplated by the Pendleton Act. After much correspondence
and consultation with department officers, and careful work on
the part of the Commission, the rules of May 6 [1896] were
promulgated. They added to the classification about 29,000
more places, and by transferring to the control of the
Commission the system of Navy Yard employment, established by
Secretary Tracy, brought the total number in the classified
service to 87,117. The positions in the Executive branch
unaffected by these orders included those classes expressly
excluded by the statute—persons nominated for confirmation by
the Senate and those employed 'merely as laborers or
workmen'—together with the fourth-class postmasters, clerks in
post-offices other than free delivery offices and in Customs
districts having less than five employees, persons receiving
less than $300 annual compensation, and about 1,000
miscellaneous positions of minor character, not classified for
reasons having to do with the good of the service—91,600 in
all. Within the classified service, the list of positions
excepted from competitive examination was confined to the
private secretaries and clerks of the President and Cabinet
officers, cashiers in the Customs Service, the Internal
Revenue Service and the principal post-offices, attorneys who
prepare cases for trial, principal Customs deputies and all
assistant postmasters—781 in all. The new rules provided for a
general system of promotion, based on competitive examinations
and efficiency records, and gave the Commission somewhat
larger powers in the matter of removals by providing that no
officer or employee in the classified service, of whatever
station, should be removed for political or religious reasons,
and that in all cases like penalties should be imposed for like
offenses. They created an admirable system, a system founded
on the most sensible rules of business administration, and
likely to work badly only where the Commission might encounter
the opposition of hostile appointing officers. President
Cleveland's revised rules were promulgated before the
Convention of either political party had been held, and before
the results of the election could be foreshadowed. The
extensions were practically approved, however, by the
Republican platform, which was adopted with full knowledge of
the nature of the changes, and which declared that the law
should be 'thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended
wherever practicable.' … Mr. McKinley, in his letter of
acceptance and in his inaugural address, repeated the pledge
of the Republican party to uphold the law, and during the two
months of his administration now past he has consistently done
so. He has been beset by many thousands of place-seekers, by
Senators and Representatives and by members of his own
Cabinet, all urging that he undo the work of his predecessor,
either wholly or in part, and so break his word of honor to
the nation, in order that they may profit. … At least five
bills have been introduced in Congress, providing for the
repeal of the law. … Finally, the Senate has authorized an
investigation, by the Committee on Civil Service and
Retrenchment, with the view of ascertaining whether the law
should be 'continued, amended or repealed,' and sessions of
this Committee are now in progress. … Mr. McKinley, by
maintaining the system against these organized attacks, will
do as great a thing as Mr. Cleveland did in upbuilding it."

_Report of the Executive Committee of the New York
Civil Service Reform Association, 1897._

{146}

In his annual Message to Congress, December, 1896, President
Cleveland remarked on the subject:

"There are now in the competitive classified service upward of
eighty-four thousand places. More than half of these have been
included from time to time since March 4, 1893. … If
fourth-class postmasterships are not included in the
statement, it may be said that practically all positions
contemplated by the civil-service law are now classified.
Abundant reasons exist for including these postmasterships,
based upon economy, improved service, and the peace and quiet
of neighborhoods. If, however, obstacles prevent such action
at present, I earnestly hope that Congress will, without
increasing post-office appropriations, so adjust them as to
permit in proper cases a consolidation of these post-offices,
to the end that through this process the result desired may to
a limited extent be accomplished. The civil-service rules as
amended during the last year provide for a sensible and
uniform method of promotion, basing eligibility to better
positions upon demonstrated efficiency and faithfulness."

_United States, Message and Documents (Abridgment),
1896-1897, page 33._

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1894.
Constitutional provision in New York.

See (in this volume)
CONSTITUTION OF NEW YORK.

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES: A. D. 1897-1898.
Onslaught of the spoils-men at Washington.
Failure of the Congressional attack.

"During the four months following the inauguration [of
President McKinley] the onslaught of place-seekers was almost
unprecedented. Ninety-nine out of every hundred of them
discovered that the office or position he desired was
classified and subject to competitive examination. The tenure
of the incumbent in each case was virtually at the pleasure of
the department officers; removals might easily be made; but
appointments to the places made vacant could be made only from
the eligible lists, and the lists were fairly well filled. It
is true that the rules permitted the reinstatement without
examination of persons who had been separated from the service
without personal fault within one year, or of veterans who had
been in the service at any time, and that some removals were made
to make room for these. But the appointments in such cases
went but a very little way toward meeting the demand. The
result was that almost the whole pressure of the
office-hunting forces and of their members of Congress was
directed for the while toward one end—the revocation or
material modification of the civil service rules. President
McKinley was asked to break his personal pledges, as well as
those of his party, and to take from the classified service
more than one half of the 87,000 offices and positions it
contained. … But the President yielded substantially nothing.
… The attack of the spoils-seekers was turned at once from the
President to Congress. It was declared loudly that the desired
modifications would be secured through legislation, and that
it might even be difficult to restrain the majority from
voting an absolute repeal. In the House the new movement was
led by General Grosvenor of Ohio; in the Senate by Dr.
Gallinger of New Hampshire. … The first debates of the session
dealt with civil service reform. The House devoted two weeks to
the subject in connection with the consideration of the annual
appropriation for the Civil Service Commission. … The effort
to defeat the appropriation ended in the usual failure. It was
explained, however, that all of this had been mere preparation
for the proposed legislation. A committee was appointed by the
Republican opponents, under the lead of General Grosvenor, to
prepare a bill. The bill appeared on January 6, when it was
introduced by Mr. Evans of Kentucky, and referred to the
Committee on Reform in the Civil Service. It limited the
application of the civil service law to clerical employees at
Washington, letter carriers and mail clerks, and employees in
principal Post Offices and Customs Houses, proposing thus to
take from the present classified service about 55,000
positions. A series of hearings was arranged by the Civil
Service Committee, at which representatives of this and other
Associations, and of the Civil Service Commission, were
present. A sub-committee of seven, composing a majority of the
full committee, shortly afterward voted unanimously to report
the bill adversely. About the same time, the Senate Civil
Service Committee, which had been investigating the operation
of the law since early summer, presented its report. Of the
eight members, three recommended a limited number of
exceptions, amounting in all to probably 11,000; three
recommended a greatly reduced list of exceptions, and two
proposed none whatever. All agreed that the President alone
had authority to act, and that no legislation was needed. …
The collapse of the movement in Congress has turned the
attention of the spoilsmen again toward the President. He is
asked once more to make sweeping exceptions."

_Report of the Executive Committee of the
New York Civil Service Reform Association, 1898._

CIVIL-SERVICE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES:A. D. 1897-1899.
Temporary check in New York.
Governor Black's law.
Restoration of the merit system under Governor Roosevelt.

"In June [1897]—after the Court of Appeals … had declared that
the constitutional amendment was self-executing, and that
appointments made without competitive examination, where
competitive examinations were practicable, must be held to be
illegal—steps were taken to secure a reduction of the exempt
and non-competitive positions in the State Service. A letter
was addressed to Governor Morton, by the officers of the
Association, on June 8, asking that the service be
reclassified, on a basis competitive as far as practicable.
The Governor replied that he had already given the subject
some thought, and that he would be glad to give our
suggestions careful consideration. On the 4th of August he
instructed the Civil Service Commission to prepare such a
revision of the rules and classification as had been proposed.
On the 11th of November this revision, prepared by
Commissioner Burt, was adopted by the full Commission, and on
the 9th of December the new rules were formally promulgated by
the Governor and placed in immediate operation. … The
Governor, earlier in the year, had reversed his action in the
case of inspectors and other employees of the new Excise
Department, by transferring them from the non-competitive to
the competitive class. … This marked the beginning of a
vigorous movement against the competitive system led by
chairmen of district committees, and other machine
functionaries.
{147}
Governor Morton's sweeping order of December completed the
discomfiture of these people and strengthened their purpose to
make a final desperate effort to break the system down. The
new Governor, of whom little had been known prior to his
unexpected nomination in September, proved to be in full
sympathy with their plan. In his message to the legislature,
Mr. Black, in a paragraph devoted to 'Civil Service,' referred
to the system built up by his predecessor in contemptuous
language, and declared that, in his judgment, 'Civil service
would work better with less starch.' He recommended
legislation that would render the examinations 'more
practical,' and that would permit appointing officers to
select from the whole number on an eligible list and not
confine them to selections 'from among those graded highest.'
Such legislation, he promised; would 'meet with prompt
executive approval.' Each house of the legislature referred
this part of the message to its Judiciary Committee, with
instructions to report a bill embodying the Governor's ideas.
… Within a few days of the close of the legislative session,
the measure currently described as 'Governor Black's bill was
Introduced. … The bill provided that in all examinations for
the State, county or municipal service, not more than 50 per
cent. might be given for 'merit,' to be determined by the
Examining Boards, and that the rest of the rating,
representing 'fitness,' was to be given by the appointing
officer, or by some person or persons designated by him. All
existing eligible lists were to be abolished in 30 days, and
the new scheme was to go into operation at once. … A hearing
was given by the Senate Committee on the following day, and
one by the Assembly Committee a few days later. … The bill,
with some amendments, was passed In the Senate, under
suspension of the rules, and as a party measure. … It was
passed in the Assembly also as a caucus measure."