The Committee of the American Association of China called, on Friday evening, a meeting of Americans in Shanghai, "to consider th+ present situation and resolutions tha' will be submitted. The result was an influential and numerous gathering in the Municipal Board Room, st which the Rev. F.L. tawks Pott took the chair, and Mr. V. G Lyman acted as The Chairman said he had been asked by the Committee to put before the meeting certain resolutions, presently to he submitted, and a cablegram which would be sent to America The Amerionn Assocation had, as far back as March 15th, been sending cablegrams to their Government and to the ister association in America on the serious crisis in China, Their consular represeutatives also had been most diligent sending home dispatches on the same subject. As far xs they could judge by the present attitude of the Home Governnient the people of the United States were not alive to the gravity of the situation, He said this because thus far the Government lid only sent a very small land force, akhough they had fully represented to their Government thatothier parts of China should not be neglected, In the taking of Taka they played no part, and only small body of their men joined inv the relief of tsin and Peking, Why did the Cited ates trouble herself so little about hina. Some might attribute it {0 tre fact that in America there was general ignorance in regard. to xffirs in China. Others might think it was due to che fact that they were on the eve of general election, and did not wish to unde r-Fake anything very serious, which might he prejudicial to the party interests at stake. He fly believed that the real reason their country was not fully aroused was on ccount of the mis-statements which were sent by Chinese officials t America. They had probably all read the statement which had bwea pot forth as what the Chinese ministers in foreign countries were to tell the Governments of those countries. He thought, he was well within bounds when he said shat the whole of that state: ment was a tissue of falsehood and utter misrepresentation of the true state of The oficial class of China were endeavouring now, and would endeavour when the time of settlement came, to like the Boxers the scapegoat of the whole business. The ery would be raised that this was the work of a hide of anarchists, over whom the officials Ind no control, Nevertheless, there lind been a party of officials, conniving at what the Boxers were doing, and stirring them up to fresh acts. It was the duty of the American Associntion to call the attention of their Government to the real reason of the 1e-cent outrages. There was an anti-foreign ing of officins to be dealt with in addition to the Boxers. The representation that the Government in Peking had done all in its power to protect fore interests should be denied most strongly. They could not imagine that the American Government—realised the uravity of the situation, when at a like the present they were willing believe that all had gone well in Peki They had called that' meeting of American citizens because they sxw that the representations which had been made to the home Government had not received very much credence. They hoped that from that meeting a unanimous Py would goto the United States, telling what they feared and knew, in order that public opinion—on which their government relied very largely might be aroused. If public' opinion demanded that America shoul be adequately represented in the Exst, it would done Another reason for calling that meeting was that they were of opinion that the present policy of the United States, so faras they knew it, was ungenerous and humiliating, not to say shortsighted. When they considered that America had been called upon to p'ay the part of a world-power, and that they were yet cmsidering whether other Powers might not do their police-work for them, and patrol the Yangtze for them, he said it was humiliating, and showed that the Govern ment did not grasp the situation, or the fact that America had come forward into the arena of the world asa world power. They did not realise the commercial interests at stake, and how all those interests were being wrecked. Before reading the resolutions and the cablegram he would like to say one word of warning. They would be quite right that night if they spoke of the duty of suppressing the disorder in the North, of the duty of the Government to send forth adequate forces, and of the duty of demanding adequate punishment of the guilty—not only the Boxers, but those on whose heads rested the murder and massacre of men of their own race, and, as far as they knew, women and children too—the officials in the North. They would be quite right in demanding the instant punishment of those men, that lesson might be taught. H- thought they ought, however, ty avoid discussing the questions of the partition of China, or spheres of influence, or the preservation of the integrity of China. Their duty at present was to urge upon their Government to obtain order and peace, and then would come the time for the discussion of how order and peace was to be maintained. Mr Hawks Pott went on to propose tue following Whereas, a popular movement has arisen and gathered force during the past nine months in some of the northern provinees of China, having for its primary and professed purpose the forcible expulsion from the country of all aliens of every nationality and' profession, and the extermination of Christianity wherever it has obtained a foothold, and, Whereas, owing t the direct encouragement of the Imperial Government and the active connivance of many prominent officials, the rising (called the Boxers) has now assumed the most alarming proportions, extending unchecked, over a vast area; and its leaders have usurped direct control of the government at Peking and the government troops in that section, and, Whereas, the purpose of the rising has been so fur successful that almost all foreigners in the interior apart from the treaty ports have been either murdered at their posts or forced to flee for their ives with the loss of all their property, whilst armed hordes of the ' Boxers" and affiliated motive troops have continuously bombarded and virtually destroyed the foreign settlements at Tientsin and Taku and the railways and other property throughout the region, and have forcibly prevented the rescue of the Foreign Ministers and residents at Peking, who have been besieged in the Legatins for over a month subject to_ incessant attack, and being, at the last advices, reduced to utter exhaustion and despair, and, Whereas, it was deemed essential for the powers to land forces and proceed with all haste to their relief and rescue, but their efforts were totally frustrated by the armed opposition of Government troops and Boxers in overwhelming numbers, and, Whereas, the lives of American citizens have been and still are in extreme jeopardy, their property looted and destroyed, and the work of a lifetime brought to naught, and, Whereas, the interests of Americans generally are Second to none in the sec~ tion of country dominated by this insurgent movement, wifilst the means employed for their protection have been, in the main, the forces of other iri: ndly foreign powers, therefore, be it Resolved:—1. That it is the duty of our government to use all the forces available at its command, in conjunction with the forces of other powers, im immediate service in China for the restoration of order, the protection of its citizens and the securing of guarantees from the properly constituted authorities against a recurrence of such grievous outrages as they are now experiencing, and the con sign punishment of those responsible for them, with such reparation as is possible for the injuries suffered.
Resolved:—2. That land forces should be promptly detailed for this service, and that an ample fleet of our navy should be dispatched to, and maintained at all threatened points on the coasts and rivers of China, Resolved:—3. That in the belief that our fellow citizens at home but inadequately appreciate the gravity of the crisis (which, while it disastrously affects all Americans here, will react on multiform interests there) a telegram to the following effect be sent to the Associated Press in order further to acquaint them with the pressing needs of the situation.
We—Americans in China—uni edly appeal to our countrymen at home for relief and succour, We speak first for those who, are cut off from escape and whom torture and death are daily staring in the face, We speak for the scores of helpless little children whose cries of terror almost reach, our ears, We xpenk for defenceless womanhood who suffer nameless outrage, indignities und death. And finally, for the hundreds not yet in immediate dancer, but to whom it may any day speedily come. Anti-foreign outrages are multiplying daily. Wholesale massacre Christians continues. Fate of all_in Peking unknown, Urge earliest. possible advance. General massacre. there feared. Whole empire terrorised Vrade paralysed. Speedy restoration im perative, Delay disastrous. Qur country must pnt forth every effort to preserve the lives of its citizens and Chinese who follow our idea, ant to keep the empire open to our civilisation in the future. Let. the pulpit and the press take up the ery for humanity's sake.
Resolved:—4. That a copy of these Resolutions be mailed to the President, the Associated Press, the Admiral of U. S. Fleets in Exstern waters, and Consal General of the U. S., and other Consular atticers in China.
Mr. F, P. Ball, who seconded said Lheliove that it is impossible for most us who have been in Shanghai and outside the sphere of riot and rebellion, appreciate the cal horror of the situation in the north. We merchants do fully appreciate the present disordered state of trade, the tightness of the money market, and the gloomy outlook for the resumption of business for some months. This Association has been kee} ing the American Asiatic Association fully posted as to the present troubles, and I know that our sister organisation has been doing everything in her power to bring influence to hear on the government send men and ships to ce-operate with the other powers. Weareall aware that the presidential campaign is now on at home, and I think we must concede that, owing to the campaign, questions pertaining to for eign policy are too often made political issues. The telegram you have heard read is one to appeal to the people at large, well as to. manufacturers and bankers. directly interested in trade with China. Through our telegrams to the Association in New York, we have appealed to the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.