CHINA. 



121 



powers should impose as the conditions of evacua- 

 tion. The city was divided into districts after cap- 

 ture, and each national contingent had its quar- 

 ters in the district given into its charge. At first 

 there was havoc and indiscriminate looting, but 

 after the several commanders took charge of dif- 

 ferent sections they established patrols which 

 stopped most of the looting by individuals within 

 the city. Systematized looting by command was 

 then begun." The houses of the princes and man- 

 darins who had accompanied the Emperor and 

 Empress Dowager to Singan-Fu were stripped of 

 their valuable contents, as were merchants' ware- 

 houses. The imperial palaces were gutted, except 

 those guarded by the Japanese, who alone re- 

 frained from plunder. American commanding 

 officers did not countenance looting, however, and 

 the French and the Russians kept their troops 

 partially under control. The British collected the 

 loot and sold it at auction for the benefit of their 

 officers and men. 



The American and French governments declined 

 to recognize the necessity for a commander-in- 

 chief after the object of the joint expedition had 

 been already achieved, and their commanders 

 Avould not take orders from the German field- 

 marshal. The Japanese accepted his authority as 

 a matter of form, with the understanding that it 

 would not be exercised. The Russians withdrew 

 their forces to Manchuria, leaving Gen. Wogac'k 

 with only enough troops to guard the railroad 

 and garrison the stations in the northeast, with 

 instructions to take no part in hostile operations 

 against the Chinese. Except the Italian troops 

 and the petty Austrian detachment, the English 

 were the only troops besides the German expedi- 

 tion that were placed unreservedly under the com- 

 mand of Count von Waldersee, whose staff was 

 composed only of German officers. For larger 

 operations having a political bearing he called 

 into consultation the commanders of the inter- 

 national forces, who decided whether they would 

 cooperate with their troops, seeking first the ad- 

 vice of their ministers or instructions from their 

 governments if the proposed movement was like- 

 ly to have political consequences. The interna- 

 tional command of Count von Waldersee was by 

 agreement between the cabinets confined to the 

 province of Pechili. By agreement with the Chi- 

 nese court at Singan-Fu, Chinese troops were kept 

 out of Pechili so that they should not come into 

 collision with the international forces. A form- 

 al agreement was made on Jan. 2 between Count 

 von Waldersee and Li-Hung-Chang, who was 

 Viceroy of Pechili, defining the limits of the dis- 

 trict to be occupied and kept in order by the allies, 

 outside of which the Chinese engaged to preserve 

 peace and order. The military district to be 

 patrolled by European troops was defined in gen- 

 eral orders. The railroads and the military posts 

 outside of Pekin were assigned to different divi- 

 sions of the international force. The German 

 troops who had come too late to have a share 

 in the fighting and the looting that followed must 

 have occupation, and \vere therefore sent out on 

 excursions in all directions through the military 

 district. They harried the country, seizing sup- 

 plies where they could find them, and carrying off 

 whatever valuable loot was left, shot defenseless 

 people, disarmed the police, levied fines on vil- 

 lages and towns which had already expiated the 

 Boxer crimes committed in them, and dismissed 

 the native officials whom the European officers 

 had restored and who were establishing order. 

 These depredations were committed by the orders 

 of the German officers. When the troops, de- 

 moralized by such barbarous tactics, forgot dis- 



cipline and committed crimes and excesses on 

 their own account, the guilty OM.--S were pun- 

 ished as severely as in the American command, 

 and more severely than French or Russian sol- 

 diers who got out of hand. The result, oi the Ger- 

 man policy was to plunge the country into an- 

 archy after peace and order had already been re- 

 stored. The native police having been disarmed 

 and suppressed, the only persons carrying arms 

 were bands of Boxers and brigands, who easily 

 evaded the foreign troops and pillaged the coun- 

 try people with impunity. Deserters from the 

 European armies increased the number of robbers. 

 The devastation of peaceful districts by the troops 

 added fresh increments to the starving Chinamen, 

 whose only means of livelihood was robbery. In 

 the middle of February Field-Marshal von" Wal- 

 dersee announced his intended great expedition to 

 the borders of Pechili, to Taiyuen-Fu in Shansi 

 or beyond, to Singan-Fu, as was variously given 

 out. The expedition or the threat was intended 

 to impress the Empress Dowager with the neces- 

 sity of yielding to the demand of the ministers for 

 the punishment of the antiforeign members of 

 the Pekin Government. The commander-in-chief 

 requested the cooperation of the American and 

 French commanders, who asked instructions from 

 their governments. The United States Govern- 

 ment telegraphed to Minister Conger, instructing 

 him to protest strongly against further military 

 operations, and communicated with the cabinets 

 in Europe. Nearly all the powers agreed that it 

 was inexpedient to resume military operations 

 while peace negotiations were in progress. The 

 ministers in Pekin, though not responsible for the 

 intended movement, approved of it as a means of 

 pressure. While Marshal von Waldersee con- 

 tinued his preparations the Chinese court yielded 

 to the demand of the ministers. The French com- 

 mander, Gen. Voyron, as well as the American com- 

 mander, refused to take part in an expedition into 

 Shansi. The allies failed to organize any uniform 

 system of administration that inspired the confi- 

 dence of the Chinese. The Japanese and the 

 Americans were the most successful, and the 

 French and the British did best when they relied 

 on the native officials. The Germans by their in- 

 discriminate punitive raids and wholesale requisi- 

 tions aroused resentment. When the time was ap- 

 proaching for evacuation Field-Marshal von Wal- 

 dersee planned an expedition through southern 

 Pechili, where brigandage and Boxer crimes were 

 becoming rife, but this he gave up because even 

 the English declined to take part. 



Looting and the selling of loot continued in 

 Pekin as long as anything of value could be found. 

 The temples were robbed of their images and 

 decorations, and even of the gilded tiles on their 

 roofs; the palaces of their wood carvings and 

 metallic ornaments. The missionaries, who were 

 among the first to begin looting in Pekin, apply- 

 ing the proceeds to the support of the native 

 Christians, went through the country imposing 

 fines of their own authority on villages where 

 native Christians had been murdered or robbed 

 and churches destroyed. An American missionary 

 named Ament, who obtained money from nearly 

 forty villages for the purpose of compensating the 

 families of Christian converts who had been mas- 

 sacred, was arrested by the French on the charge 

 of extortion. Bronze and porcelain figures of 

 enormous weight were shipped to Europe. Auc- 

 tion sales of Chinese loot were held in London and 

 Paris. A collection of choice objects sent to 

 France for public museums was returned to China 

 by order of M. de Lanessan, Minister of Marine, to 

 be restored to the temples and palaces from which 



