In regard to dealing with the brigands it is mooted in some quarters that seeing so many foreigners have been taken at various times and at various places, and have all been released on practically the brigand terms—that is absorption of the whole band into the army again under more favourable terms and to be ecmmanded by one or other of themselves, and usually paid in aggregate large sums of money—ttere is no other way but to follow these precedents unless the lives of some lot of foreigners are not thought worth while and the encircling troops have to hammer away with shot and shell and smash up the bands until extermination takes place and it becomes. the new practice to leave their hostages to the exigencies of guerrilla warfare.
Now it sometimes is easy to say these things but it comes home very close to some of us when these hostages are known to us and it betrays some weakness in thus suggesting how to deal with these men, It would be asked well what other avenues of escape from these horrors have not been explored—what measures be suggested. Well we might look at them purely from the occidental standpoint while again we might choose to Icok through ihe orientdl mind—or at least with. their spectacles on—and it is with tie second view-point in mind that we proceed. To disperse and dispose of them is the problem of the hour. These bands because they take foreigners as well as Chinese must be similarly treated. Every one of them, at least it can be said so of the leaders—is known by name and everything else about them and where their families reside. There seems no shadow of a doubt, just in the same way that thieves were known in the Yamens throughout the country. Let the military take reprisals and arrest all of the near relatives of these desperados and proceed to encircle the band. It does not matter how much or how little territory they cover, they can be rounded up and the cordon thus thrown round them not allowed to be broken. This course has been adopted before and why should it not be tried again if necessary? The brigands will soon send out their emissaries and it will be easy to get in touch with them when no time need be lost in driving home the awful condition of both hostages and brigands. Blood 1s thicker than water in China an& when once a man's relatives are trouble he may be brought to race any terms provided that he himself may escape the consequences. This being a powerful factor in the releasing of their prisoners without China having to go to the humiliating plan of getting down on its knees and craving mercy and ask the promise of preferment, it should be the principal course to be adopted. Let full exchange of prisoners take place first without in the slightest way slacking of the military cordon, and once this has been effectual the second step remains to be acted upon. For this act of the brigands justice ought to be tempered with mercy.
The second step should be unconditional surrender, and th: should be followed after full disarming by releasing the brigands and allowing them to return heme, it being intimated in advance to them in the fullest good faith and under sure siJezuard that nothing will happen to them. provided they allow their prisoners to go free by th's mutual exchange. Before the men are sent
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.