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Show m i9j REBEL LEADERS AN CHINESE M , MOBS. fi ; jjij ' The most remarkable feature of Wr r the Chinese rebellion is the ability R , of the rebel leaders to control tho w&L mob the more remarkable because iS ; a Chlneso mob, besides being the worst in the world, Is tho most eas- HH ily stirred to violence. It has been Vm likened to a pack of human wolves, 3 1 moro devilishly cruel and savagely H ( TelentleBS than the animals them1 Ug i - selves. It becomes stark, raving mad 1 with the lust of blood and plunder, 5nk ' and is utterly careless of life. Tor- iKL rlblo, indeed, is the fate ot tho man V$Kf or woman who falls into its hands jljl too terriblo to think of, much loss fpgl to risk, and for that reason no man PW. who fought against the Boxors in m 1900 ovor fired away his last cart- ySi ridgp; he kept that for himself, and lfffr and if ho was too badly wounded to txu ueb it, a comrade performod tho 0g L "happy dispatch." That vsas the order or-der The chnracter of the Chinese mob makes the psychology of the Chinese Chin-ese an Intensely Interesting studj. In ordinary times he Is the most reasonable reas-onable being in the world, a patient beast of' burden, an industrious worker, work-er, an admirable servant, an exceptionally excep-tionally capable and level-headed man of business; but when the electric elec-tric current of disturbance is in the air ho goe3 mad and becomes a brutal, bru-tal, unreasoning savage. Competent authorities describe this phenomenon as due to "national hysteria " The suddenness with which the change comes is Indescribable: without with-out any warning a foreigner may be under tho danger of being horribly done to death by the coolie who but an hour before was cheerfully trundling trund-ling him about the city In a rickshaw rick-shaw As a rule it is hatred of the foreigners that is the spark which kindles the fury of the Chinese mob The Boer movement was directed against the foreigner; the riots at Hankau last January blazed out on the mero rumor that a native had been kicked to death by an European t policeman. Thus the present Immunity Immun-ity from danger of foreign roBldents in the Yangtbo valley is most remarkable. re-markable. If thp landing ot German sailors be discounted as a precautionary precaution-ary measure as it should bo it may be said that Europeans have not even been threatened by the mob Nor has a missionary been murdered, even in the remotest of places It is, of courso, of the very first importance to the success ot the rebellion re-bellion that the mob shall be kept in hand: the slightest attack upon foreigners would mean the armed Intervention In-tervention of the powers and the utter ut-ter ruin of the revolutionary cause The rebel leaders know that, and, so far, they have achieved what seemed to be ImpoBslbte they have prevented prevent-ed the mob from going mad It may bo that tho expenditure of energy in thlB direction accounts for the want of enterprise against the Imperialists But It may be well asked How long will the grip of the rebel leaders on tho, mob remain effective? Tho . first defeat, or even a failure to ob-tain ob-tain a victory, may destroy their 1 prestige and moral ascendency and break the bonds that hold the mob incheck. In that case something may happen that will "stagger humanity." The population of the revolted provinces prov-inces is enormous; in Hankau Hanyang Han-yang and Wuchang alone there are moro than 2,000,000 people, rough and j physlcallv powerful men, largely bru- . tallzed by their occupations, and with nothing but an unvalued life to lose It must not be Imagined that any , of the solicitude displayed by the revolutionists for tho safety of Euro- ( peans arise out of love for them, it is dictated, as shown above, by , motives of self-interest Young China does not like the foreigner any moro than Old China does; he is cultivated because he la useful, and will be put In his place aa soon as he can be Bpared. Young China, In fact, will serve the foreigner in exaotly the same way that Japan has served him , Lonon Evening Standard. |