To the Editor of the "Nonru-Ciusa Dany News."
Sm,—In your issue of the 18th of October 1891, there is " letter by Dr. Grifith John on the causes of the riots. A decade has nearly passed by since that letter was written, but there is much in it which Appears to me to be applicable to the prerent atate of things in China. The follow. ing extracts will be read with interest: by some of your readers who are not familiar with the' history of those stirring times. Speaking of the causes of the riots, Dr. John says:—" It is not my intention to Aiscuss any one of the theories propounded vy others. There is probably a certain amount of truth in them all. I should like to state in a few words my own opinion on the subject. 2... My th.ory mag be stated in a few Tt must be admitted that the for have forced themselves on the Chinese. We are here, nat. because they have invited us to come or wish us to remain. We have, it is true, our treaty rights, but every one of them has been obtained at the point of the bayonet. Our presence in Peking, our presence at the coast ports, our presence in the interior, our presence in the valley of the Yangtze, our aristocratic settlements, our extra-tarr torial jurisdic tion all these things are now, and have been from the beginning, an xbominstion to the Chinese government. The governing classes have never changed in their hatred of the foreign clement or in their desire to banish it from lind. They would, if they could, bring igs hack to their pristine state and confine both us end our commerce to one "The idea of casting out the foreigner, sooner or later, ha been tenaciously held and fondly cherished by the officials and all, these last fifty (aww sixty) years. The idea may hue been allowed to sleep, of and on; but they have never relinquished it, and of late they have been greatly moved by it. The question before them for some time seems to have been how to realise the idea; and the plan which has commended itself to their judgment, seems ty be this: 'Let all the missionaries, in the first instance, be frightened back into the open ports; if that succeeds, let an effort be made to drive all the foreisuers, whether merchants or missionaries, to the coast ports.' This is intended for the immediate future. It does not exhaust the scheme. Now this idea, which I father on the governing classes, needed a congenial home in order to tke root and develop, and that home it hxs found in Hunan.; The Hunan scholars have been engaged for many years in propagate ing their anti-foreign creed with the view of preparing the minds of the people for the decisive moment. Believing that the time of action was at hand, they made, at the beginning of last year, a special effort to poison the minds of the people in this valley. The Hunan publications were widely scattered up and down this river. The poison found its way into the homes of all classes of society, and was greedily de-youred by all conditions of the people. The been thus prepared, and the jous hour having arrived, the blow was struck, and the work of destruction began. There was no incident. about it. The whole thing was deliberately planned, and carried on with a definite purpose. Behind the people were the Hunan emissaries and behind the emissaries stood the real power, which worked in both and through both.
"This is my opinion. The opinion may be wrong, but it has been formed slowly, deliberately and calmly. this time, no doubt, many among the official have been brought to see that a great blunder has been committed. They must see now clearly that the recent attempt to realise the official idea has only involved them in new troubles. They probably imagined that, by making the movement appear to be an anti-missionary movement, against the missionaries, the foreign Dovecs and the riots an uprising of the people might be bamboozled and won over to their side... In this, however, they have failed signally, and they cannot but know it. They would probably be glad to undo the work of the last few months, and they may set themselves to the venting further mischief, at Tea present. But they will not re: quish their anti-foreign idea, and it is more than probable that the anti-foreign spirit evoked by it im Hunan, and more or less throughout the land, will prove itself stronger than they. I am not now discussing the merits or demerits, the reasonableness or unreasonableness of tha Chinese. position with regard foreign intercourse. Looking at things from their standpoint, it must be admitted that the Chinese have a good deal to say for themselves. But the European standpoint is just the opposite of theirs, and the one or the other must. yield. The real question which the foreign Powers have to consider at the present time is thi Shall we maintain our present position in China, or shall we bow to the Chinese idea and clear out? "China exclusively for is the idea—the ofa, the realisation of which is the grand aim of the present anti-foreign movement. Tt is not an anti-missionary neither is it a sudden uprising of the Chinese people against all foreigners. It is anti-missionary; but it is antimissionary because it is first and above all antiforeign. The people are moved but they have not been moved by an internal impulse. The whole movement, in my opinion, is to be traced to a Government policy, and it is with the Government and its policy the Great Powers are called now to deal.
"There is one lesson which the Chinese Government ought to be taught at once, namely, that however fondly they may cherish their idea, they must not and shall not use the methods which they have been using recently in their attempts to realise it. They must be made to see and feel that all this is barbarism pure and simple. China wishes civilised nations to look upon her as 8 member of the family, and to grant her the privileges of international law. It is high time that China should be told that by these inhuman and savage deeds she is showing herself to be unworthy of a place among the civilised governments and forfeiting every right of appeal to the law which regulates civilised nations in their mutual intercourse. If she would profit by this law she must be bound by it."" It strikes me that there isa good deal in the above that has a special bearing on the present crisis, Of late the idea of driving the hated white man out of China has been very active among the officials, and especially among the Manchus in Peking. In Prince Tuan you have an incarnation of the idea. He may be an ignorant man, and as devoid of literary polish xs most of his fellow-clansmen, but there can be no doubt of his being a man of strong ill, boundless ambition, and exhaustlexs energy—the very man to head the Boxers or any other band of ruffians. In the heart of the Empress Dowager, a woman of great, ability, but utterly unscrupulous, the idea has found a congenial home, Under the influence of the fiery Tuan her fears were roused into frenzy and her ambitions stirred to their deepest depths. She was led to heligve that the psychological moment to favour China had come, and that nothing more was wanted thin her word of command. Her imagination was fired, the word was spoken, and the result is what we sce today. Behind the Boxers you have the officials, and behind the officials you have the real power which has been working in both and through both. Once more the Chinese have been trying to realise rheic idea, and once more they have failed. But' the idea is not dead, and will not die readily. Will it' ever die whilst the integrity of the Empire lasts Will the yellow man, whilst free ever ye up the dream of his ambition? "Within this one decade we have seen two grand attempts to realise" the dream, and both have been accompanied with unspeakable horrors, though the former has been completely eclipsed in this respect by the Latter. Between these two grand attempts there have been others of a grave nature, though comparatively of less significance. The decade has been one full of trouble and sorrow, and all due mainly, to this one cause. What about the next decade? Is the next to bea repetition of this? T think you will agree with me that, everything depends on the coming settle. ment. If thatis satisfactory, we may reckon on better times. If not satisfactory, then the past will repent itself, "ud repeat' itself ina worse form. Let the Powers list the voice of russia to patch up this bu: in the way indicated by her, and we shall not have to wait long before we azo called to face another crisis, compared with which the present crisis will be counted as nothing. Can it be that the foreign troops are to be withdrawn from Peking till this matter is satisfactorily and finally settled That would be sheer madness. Can it be tthe cruel woman who has brought this terrible disaster upon the Chinese people, as well as upon ourselves, is to he recognised again as the real ruler of this Empire? That would be sin and shame. Can it be that any member of the Reactionary part pat Peking, any one of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.