CHINA. 



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any higher railroad charges over lines built, 

 introlled, or operated in its sphere on merchan- 

 dise belonging to citizens or subjects of other 

 nationalities than are levied on similar merchan- 

 dise belonging to its own citizens. Lord Salisbury 

 wrote, on Nov. 30, that Great Britain was pre- 

 pared to make a declaration in the sense desired 

 in regard to all leased territory or spheres of in- 

 terest at present held or hereafter to be acquired. 

 The German Government, which had already 

 giu-n an assurance that America's treaty privi- 

 leges would not be impaired, raised no objections, 

 and in December the Count von Billow wrote a dec- 

 laration assuring absolute equality of treatment 

 of all nations with regard to trade, navigation, 

 and commerce. The Russian Government an- 

 swered that it was happy to comply with the 

 wishes of the United States, with the reservation 

 that the leased territory of Talienwan might in 

 the future be separated by a customs limit from 

 the port, which has been declared a free port, 

 duties to be levied in that zone on all foreign mer- 

 chants alike. M. Delcasse, on Dec. 1C, wrote that 

 France was ready to apply equal treatment to the 

 citizens of all nations, especially in the matter of 

 riistoms duties and navigation dues, as well as 

 transportation tariffs on railroads. On Jan. 7 the 

 Marquis Visconti Venosta expressed Italy's ad- 

 herence to the American suggestion. The Japa- 

 nese Government replied that it would assent to 

 the fair and just proposals of the United States. 

 The answers of the various powers were all ac- 

 companied by the proviso that the other govern- 

 ments concerned would also agree to make the 

 desired declaration. On March 20 Mr. Hay sent 

 a circular letter to the American representatives 

 abroad, saying that all the powers concerned had 

 accepted the proposals of the United States, and 

 he would therefore consider their consent as final 

 and irrevocable. 



Palace Politics. After the coup d'etat of 1898 

 the Empress Dowager, who formerly accepted the 

 guidance of Li-Hung-Chang, Chang-Chih-Tung, 

 and other progressive Chinese statesmen, fell en- 

 tirely under the influence of the Manchu princes 

 and the most reactionary section of the Conserva- 

 tives, who proceeded to strengthen the Manchu 

 military forces for the support of the dynasty 

 against either foreign or internal menaces. Of the 

 i eformers to whose advice the Emperor had lis- 

 tened, some were executed, some escaped abroad, 

 and others were exiled to the frontiers. The gov- 

 ernors and high officials who had leaned toward 

 reform were replaced by Manchus, and the former 

 chief advisers of the Empress w r ere sent away from 

 Pekin to provincial posts. The Manchu troops in 

 and about Pekin were brought up to a strength 

 of 72.000 men, rearmed with modern weapons and 

 trained in European tactics. They consisted of the 

 Pekin field force, 50,000 in all, and the Husheng 

 brigade, 10,000 strong, both under Prince Tuan, 

 and the Imperial Guards, or Banner Corps, 12,000 

 men in all, under Yung-Lu, who was also gen- 

 eralissimo of the northern forces, and was the most 

 intelligent politician in the entourage of the Em- 

 press. On Jan. 24, 1900, the Empress procured 

 the signature of Kwangsu to a proclamation an- 

 nouncing the selection of Pu-Chun, born in 1886, 

 son of Prince Tuan, a brother of Hien-Fung, as 

 heir apparent. This infant prince was declared 

 to be the heir, not of Kwangsu but of Tung-Che. 

 All China scented a plot to put the reforming 

 Emperor out of the way in order to prepare for 

 a new regency under reactionary auspices of the 

 old Empress. Mutterings of remonstrance were 

 heard in every quarter. A month after the an- 

 nouncement of the new crown prince the Empress 



Dowager prepared a proclamation dethroning per- 

 manently the Emperor Kwangsu, followed by one 

 in his own name declaring his reign a usurpation. 

 Although this new coup d'etat w r as sanctioned 

 by the princes of the imperial clan and approved 

 by the majority of the Grand Council, neverthe- 

 less it was not carried into effect. The generals 

 of the Nanyang army declared to Viceroy Liu at 

 Nankin that the new Emperor would not have 

 the services of their troops. The officials and 

 literati of Hankow, Hanyang, and Wuchang sent 

 a deputation to Pekin to protest. All the officers 

 and notables of Shanghai forwarded a remon- 

 strance, and from all the other centers of wealth 

 and intelligence came similar memorials, followed 

 by appeals to the Chinese everywhere to stand 

 by the legitimate Emperor. The result was that 

 the edicts were withdrawn, and another was issued 

 in which the Prince Pu-Chun was mentioned as 

 heir apparent only. 



Edicts issued by the Empress Dowager in the 

 early part of 1900 indicated a complete relapse 

 into old methods. One dated Feb. 7 commanded 

 a return to the ancient method of study according 

 to the teachings of Confucius for examinations 

 for official rank, and imposed penalties for the 

 teaching of what were called the new, depraved, 

 and erroneous subjects. A secret edict was issued 

 by the Empress on Nov. 21, 1899, urging the vice- 

 roys and governors of the maritime and Yangtse 

 provinces to be prepared to resist any foreign 

 aggression, giving them authority to oppose with 

 arms hostile acts of foreign forces without first 

 seeking instructions from Pekin, and warning 

 them that they would be held responsible if they 

 allowed foreign troops to occupy Chinese territory. 

 Prince Tuan, Prince Chuang, and the other Man- 

 chu princes, with the exception of Prince Ching 

 and one or two more, were intensely hostile to 

 Europeans, and were persuaded by Kang-Yi, Tung- 

 Fuhsian, and other officials and generals who took 

 the lead in Pekin, that China was strong enough 

 to defy the Western nations. The Chinese states- 

 men at Pekin, such as Wang-Wenshao, Hsi-Ching- 

 Cheng, Hsu-Yung-Yi, though not less anxious 

 to preserve the independence of the empire and 

 retain the territories which European nations 

 claimed as spheres of influence, were aware of 

 the military weakness of China and of the superi- 

 ority of foreign organization and fighting power. 

 The viceroys and governors of the central and 

 southern provinces held the same opinions. The 

 French had taken summary vengeance in the 

 vicinity of the Kwanchauwan territory leased or 

 ceded to them for the death of two naval lieu- 

 tenants who fell in a collision with natives when 

 they took possession on Nov. 18, 1899, and fixed 

 their own boundaries. Their action roused the 

 suspicion of the Chinese, who were apprehensive, 

 moreover, that the Italians, disappointed in their 

 ambition to secure Sammun Bay, would seize some 

 other part of the coast. At Wei-Hai-Wei the 

 British early in 1900 proceeded to demarcate their 

 territory without the assistance of Chinese com- 

 missioners. The edict of the Empress was fol- 

 lowed by orders to provincial authorities requir- 

 ing them to resist every further attempt to seize 

 Chinese territory and to assist one another in such 

 resistance, and giving them authority to proclaim 

 a state of war, if necessary, without waiting for 

 instructions from Pekin. 



The concessions of territory and pre-emptive 

 claims to foreign powers had shaken the loyalty 

 of the Chinese toward the dynasty, and especially 

 toward the Empress Tsu-Hsi, who since the coup 

 d'i'ttit was considered a usurper by a large ele- 

 ment among the intellectual Chinese, especially 





