Show 11 BOXERSBELON1 TO SECRET CIETIESc fA A Fates Writes from Shanghai < of the Growing Chinese Trouble Empress rand I r-and Manchurian Princes at Daggers PointsAmericans Armed for Action 0 Shanghai China June 2The only topics oC conversation at the present Russian 0 Um In this busy city are plans und the Boxer insurrection Pus sia seems determined to take the liojia 0 share of the Celestial empire and up to the present time the course of 0 events has been strangely In her favor Only joint action by Europe and Uncle 0 Sam can prevent a carrying out of her audacious but wcllhrrangod pro gramme rt t As for the Boxers the nanic is a misfit It came to be applied from ho fact that the first riots were led l > y the stage performers nvho box In Chinese style The namc caught the popular fancy and today every one ot 0 these revolutionary movements Is said to be managed or conducted by the Boxers As a matter of fact the or ganizallon behind It is the same old secret society which as given China so much trouble for a hundred years 0 and which we Europeans believe Is stronger today than it has been since 0 Chinese Gordon and IA Hung Chang 0 suppressed tho Talping rebellion 0 This society look the name oC the KoLaolIuI in 1S301SIM J and before 0 that was known as the TalPIng the Hung league the Triad society and the White Lily society 0 The register of ShanghaiVead J to us the other evening statistics of the society so-ciety recorded in Singapore and Pe 0 nans Here tho English iar requires livery Chinese secret society to regis lor thc names of Its ofllccrs and the number of Its members The number 0 0registered In the two districts ls300000 which Is the entire male Chinese population pop-ulation They have large and comfortable com-fortable clubhouses In those two cities and carry bank accounts ranging as high as 15000 and 20000 In several of ro nivc at the rovolutlonarj movement or are even In leagur with It There is no one head to the Tflnd society so-ciety It Js composed of five grand lodges of which the largest Is that of the Liang Quang or the Two Cjuang namely Quang Tung and Qimn SI The second largest Is the grand lodge of the Two Ilus IluPeh and HuMan The third is the grand lodge of tlrs district Chekiang the fourth Is the district which includes FnKien and KlangSI and the filhh and thus far least Important II Import-ant Is the Great Western lodge which has Jurisdiction over Yunnan and Sche Chuen I All of these societies bear a striking resemblance to Masonry The general password is Whence come yoUOI ° I come from the east We are still at sea In regard to what the Boxers have In view Usually the political riots arc directed at some individual olficlal high in power J and place and they always are opposed and usually suppressed by other olllclals This year however they seem oiposed to the oJllcial class such exceptions as they have made thus far have been those high In olllce who have won popular popu-lar esteem by tholr generosity or justice jus-tice It Is therefore amazing to us to see so many high olllclals apparenlly siding with the iBoxers In their rebel lion against the official class The only explanation which Is satisfactory Is that there Is n tremendous row ciurrcl nr war at Ihevery seat of government and that the Empress Dowager is at the lipad of one faction with a lot of Manchurian Man-churian princes and politicians In the opposition We all know that there is very had feeling In Pelting and that the great Mandarins are Interested nnd even excited ex-cited so far as Chinese etiquette per IOUS excitement in the troubles at the national capital The antiforeign spirit and the antimissionary spirit have little or no religious meaning They are Intended to arouse the great I powers and Incite tIem to Interfere with the central Government But I 0 Whether the Manchu Princes desire to 0 r 2 i oklr 2 i I F J 1 I AIqq I 541 i I j V q vLr3 z > Z > ± 2 fcbMirz Jkii I i4 g7ZI 11 lV 4 i4 r m I ± I 1i a 1 JLLf ir ft I I I ii I J This once picturesque but now goresplashed town is only a few miles from the mysterious capital of the Chinese Empire It is the last 1 bulwark before the gates of the murderous metropolis where the Dowager Empress plots her Borgian crimes p the European hanks Here In China proper the society or sucietks are under 0 un-der the bun of the official class aiul do not dare lo show their heads as 0 they do under the British flag Yet it is known that they arc well organized In every treaty port and parry accounts ac-counts none less than 1000ln the Hongkong i and Shanghai banking corporations cor-porations the Comptoir National DEs comple the Chartered Bank of India and It ia Bald l a very heavy account In the Rujulim Bank for Foreign Trade tthlchXnas an Important branch in Shanghai There has been great activity in the lodges of the big societies for the lost I eight months Where a Masonic lodge haa a committee on new members these Chinese lodges have aKOijimit U es known as horsemen who act as recruiting agents They summon the members with iftlle slips of bamboo about the size of cigar lighters Qn each slip Is written the name of tho lodgo and the date and hour Failure lo attend a summons is punished an a i criminal offense I do not know I how I true It may be but we have a rumor I here that the penally for nonattendance 1 nonattend-ance has been moro severe In the past three months than ever before Another thIns which leads tis to bit llcvc that there is great trouble ahead Is the heavy and continuous demand for firearms and ammunition Importa lion of these la forbidden by the Chinese law hut not a week passes without a seizure of rifles or revolvers by the customhouse cus-tomhouse searchers and tldf mILers Every gunsmith In this city has done a big business and IllfJ said that many steamships along the coast have netted a handsome penny by disposing of Jive anna when the authorities ware not loollu I 0 An unpleasant commentary upon the present conditions is the apathy displayed dis-played by the Chinese ofllciuis thtm fcolves Eight years ago whim the Ko IiaoIluis were giving trouble they were on the qui vive and confiscuted and niTCttted tIght and left Tln way they suppressed Mason tho English renegade rene-gade and his lieutenants and seized their money and weapons wu an excel lent piece of Fiollce work But this year they manifest so little Interest lhat we arc inclined to believe that they con a 2 I tnippress the Empress and put the poor Emperor buck upon the throne or whether the Empress Dowager wishes to suppiess the Manchu nobles and make her rule absolute we cannot as yet determine As the Empress Is as shrewd ab the proverbial devil and as the iManchu Princes generally are distinguished dis-tinguished by monumental egotism and stupidity we are rather Inclined to believe I be-lieve that It is the Empress stirring up these troubles In order to gain the assistance as-sistance of European arms to nut an end to her numerous foe Ve arc all ready for any trouble our volunteer regiment Is In line discipline disci-pline and we have at lenin 10000 good Chinamen who will fight for us as well as we would ourselves Besides that there arc always thlity steamers in the river and every ono now carries at loifKt twenty rllles and forty revolvers while thus far this year there rnts not been a day in I which there WeLel led I than three warships In the river with their guns commanding every street Tt will he different however on the l river where we arc hoping there soon I will be a flotilla of European gunboats I patrolling the Yanglse from Wu Sung to Ichang 1 j This > thus far rtppoaru to Wi the axis I of the district hi which most of the dis I turbance have taken place The movement move-ment of the rioters has been from the I I I Yangtse toward Peking The = hum her of foreigners on the Yangtse Is I 0 very large as Is that of the Christian m sslons Protealant and Roman fath I olic of the Ghll tlan schools and of Christian converts while In the neigh boyhood of Peking Europeans and I Christians are as scarce as illes in De cember For this reason we are con vinced that antiforeign or antimis J sionary sentiment has little or nothing to do with the Boxor movement v Little authentic Information about the armament or the Boxers has come to hand The Chinese are notorious 11115 and what they say about JL 11 I un worthy of belltT Even they do not agree In their stories According to UK accounts I in the natlvo papery the riot ers have been farmers luborera cxaol dlfrs and mutineers They luive been armed with cluhs and Htonen wIth rlilws and revolvers They have been leailer I ipasinobH nnd well dvii led regiments allot which nieana that the editors know nothing about It and have accepted ac-cepted what stoTleseamo to hand So far as news front our own people is concerned there Is I evidence of a widespread organization a limited I I supply of arm and a large amount enthusiasm I do not expect much trouble down here but I am certain there will be considerable around Pow ting Tien Tin Cheng Ting Hoklen Tai Yuan and Kal FengM M A FALES |