ABOUT THE BOXERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 11542, 29 November 1900, Page 6

ABOUT THE BOXERS.

FANATICISM AND FOOLHARDINESS.

PEASANTS CHARGE THE GERMAN

TROOPS.

[BY ARTHUR H. ADAMS, OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT IN CHINA.]

Pekin, September 30. A practical effort at the pacification of the surrounding districts is being made by a leading American missionary, who was besieged at the Legations in Pekin. Taking with him an escort of 25 American cavalry, he has set out for Tungchao, which was once the headquarters for his mission. From this town, as a centre, he means to work in the 70 or 80 villages surrounding it, having in view- four practical objects. He will insist first upon an indemnity being paid by every village that is identified with the support of the "Big Sword Society." Next, the village must- collect and bury into one graveyard the remains or all Christian converts slain by the Boxers. The chief house of the village, or the residence of the Boxer captain, must be given up for use for mission purposes. And fourth, no member of the Boxer Society will be permitted to return to the village. In return for these exactions the villages will be protected from the vengeance of the foreigners they will not be burnt, nor will the Boxer element be permitted to annoy them. In each such repentant village will be displayed a flag signifying that the village is under foreign protection. If a member of the Boxers returns to his —which in the meantime will have probably been razed to the ground— flag will be removed, and the village left unprotected. In order to effect these provisions, it will be seen that the names* and numbers of the Boxers in each village must be known. Happily, this is so. I have been shown books, captured from Chinese villages, which contained complete details of the organisation of Boxer companies in various villages, giving the names of the individual members, their full strength, arms, and ranks. A little detail like this shows how thorough and complete was the organisation of this great secret society. At Patechao I picked up a charm worn by a slain Boxer, which contained a paper showing him to be the captain of 300 Boxers, and stating ample details of his command. In the cases of villages where such details cannot be got much may be done by interrogation. The names of Boxers are, of course, known to their neighbours, and so the plan promises to be thorough. It seems to afford some hope of a satisfactory settlement of the disaffected j districts in the time of riot and trouble that j must exist until some stable form of government is set up. The Japanese, always with a keen practical mind, have already agreed to protect a number of villages in return for a definite money payment. That the Boxers are fanatics, there can be no doubt. A recent well-authenticated occurrence in a town in the Shan-tung province is sufficient evidence of their belief in their magical powers. The chief military officer ot the town wished to afford safe conduct to a Christian convert, whom the Boxer 3, 40 string, desired to kill. In order to settle the matter, the Boxer chief and the pro-foreign official decided to put the claims of the Boxers to the test. It was arranged that if the Boxer exercises could, as they claimed, ward off bullets, the military officer would deliver up the convert to the care of such evident tavourites of their josses. If the bullets of the Chinese Imperial soldiers, on the contrary, succeeded in overcoming the magic or the Boxers, the convert was to ba allowed his life. The Boxer company and their leader were quite willing to undergo this absurd test, and obligingly lined up on the edge of one of the town walls, in order that if killed the disposal of their bodies might be most expeditiously arranged. The Imperial troops were drawn up facing them, and the Boxer leader himseh gave the word to them to fire. It was noted, however, that the Boxer chief stood at one side, while giving the order. The result was that six Boxers were killed, and about a dozen wounded. The convert, therefore, escaped. Such a test one would think would be sufficient to quench all Boxer ardour in that district for quite a time. But the character of these foolish peasants cannot be judged by ordinary standards. Their firm belief is that their " exercises"— look something like a Maori war-dance— ward off bullets fired at them. If they are hit or killed, the simple reason is that their faith was not sufficient; they had not performed the exercises properly! Hence, if the survivors practice diligently, they will not be killed. Besides, those killed, rise again on the seventh— seventy-seventh—day; so what does it matter after all That is their faith, and so they meet their death, rushing upon it, indeed, with the utmost foolhardiness. An instance of the reckless courage with which these troops will attack civilised forces occurred two days ago. A German force left Pekin for the village of Han-hung-nen, close to the Imperial hunting park, south of the capital, where a day before a party of Germans had been fired upon. After a day's march, the objectivepoint was reached. It was late in the afternoon when scouts came riding through the fields of kaoliang, to report the presence of Boxers in force. At once the Germans advanced in skirmishing order through the tall, maize-like crops, but the enemy had disappeared. Several partially deserted villages were passed through, and the expedition was once more in the kaoliang, when suddenly the Boxers were seen advancing through the fields. The Germans opened fire with rifles and fields guns, and simply mowed down the Boxers. Yet they continued to advance, at the same time going through their exercises, bowing repeatedly to the ground, waving their weapons to right and left, dancing and bending the body. A few were armed with rifles—but the majority ot the fanatics had no other weapon against the most modem of military arms than iron pikes, and the huge two-banded swords from which their .society receives its name. The extent of their fanaticism can be gauged, when it is noted that these peasants actually charged the German troops. Thirty or forty of the Boxers were left dead on the kaoliang. Yet such a salutary lesson of the impotence of their joss is lost upon them. The Boxers are dispersed by successive expeditions from this village, and within a week reassemble in the same locality. The villagers are compelled to support them, under fear for their own safety, and the movement is crushed at one spot only to gather new force at another. The only practical effort for the pacification of the country seems to be that indicated at the beginning of this article, and the success of that scheme remains to be demonstrated.