| Show THE PEKING CONSPIRATORS LI Hung Chang has been called a great statesman but Henry Norman declares that he is an arch humbug and there Is a large range for specula lion between these two extremes of opinion Still we know more about this old Viceroy than we do about any other Chinese and his countrymen en masse are a mystery multiplied by four hundred million Telegrams with their strange names variously spelled merely add to the confusion wheivjao In the event of a European war Ministers Min-isters Generals and peoples would beat be-at once familiar to us or soon become so Some half a dozen articles in the British reviews by students of diplomacy diplo-macy and Oriental travelers clear the mystery somewhat though not as much aa could bo wished The Empress Em-press Dowager who the dispatches say has suddenly become the protector of the ioreigntiis has no friends among these commentators Demetrius C Boulger refers in The Contemporary to a decree which she issued January llth Inciting tho Chinese people to show patriotism to put themselves in physical training and above all to procure weapons By encouraging the importation of arms and the drill j Jug of a sort of volunteer force she practically became the ally of the ruf flanly Boxers Arthur Soworby who has just returned re-turned from China after residing there for twenty years gives the old lady the woist of characters in the samp Review Re-view He says that she Is unprincipled refers lo a report that she Is Involved in a low intrigue with one of the palace officials and asserts that the court stands for all that Is arrogant and arbitrary ar-bitrary in government combined with crass Ignorance unparalleled conceit gross corruption and coldblooded cruelty He agrees with Boulger that the Empress is deep In the antiforeign movement and a supporter of the Boxers Henry Norman who writes for The Nineteenth Century Is equally hostile to TxeIIsI while Diplomaticub In The Fortnightly quotes two Imperial decrees issued by her last November which read like a summoning of the people to war Let no one think of making pence says the flrst of them but let each try to preserve from destruction de-struction and spoliation his ancestral home and graves from the ruthless hand of the invaders Among the few incidental references to other notabilities of the hour we flnd two concerning Jung IAI who is said to have been appointed Prime Minister by the Empress in her new role of protector Diplomatlcus calls him a Manohu of the Manchus which means that he Is the worst kind of a reactionary Sowcrby gives the information infor-mation that he was Governor of ChlhLl when the reformers were In control at Poking and that they had determined upon his execution At the same time they had called in Yuan6hi Kai long the Chinese representative1 Korea to help them against time Dowager but he revealed the plot to Jung Lu and thor dethronement of the Emperor was the Immediate result As a reward for their part In the affair Jung LU was made gen zal of all the Imperial forces and YuanShlKal Governor of ShanTung Shan-Tung Prince Tuan cousin the of Emperor nephew of the old Emperor Ulcn Fung and father of the heirapparent Pu Chun Is like Yung Lu a Manchu of the Manchus and is head of the Banner Ban-ner army or Manchu regulars Latterly Lat-terly he has led the socalled rebels and It appears that sqme time ago lie consented lo become the president of the secret society to which the Boxers belong In some quarters It Is believed that if the Emperor Kwang Su is still alive he Is a complete physical and mental wreck but It is urged In any event that the dowager should be disposed of As regards the people Mr Sower by beholds a young China favorable to reform and R S Gundry was a witness wit-ness to this progressive clement In last months Fortnightly But Mr Norman says there Is no such thing as China The teim Is merely a convenience for time Chinese people in the language of physics Is a mechanical mixture and not a chemical compound and therefore there-fore It is irresponsive to the action nf any single reagent and incapable of exhibiting any common properly There is hatred between the natives of different parts which is so virulent that Normans north China servant was afraid lo accompany him smith and a man from Tien Tsin and a man tfroin Canton can no more talk to each other than can a Frenchman and a Dutchman Chicago TimcsIIerald |
