CHINA AND THE POWERS

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1514, 7 March 1901, Page 30

CHINA AND THE POWERS

LONDON, March 3. The total number of missionaries murdered in China during the disturbances was 134 adults and 52 children. Seventy adults and 28 children were English; the rest are stated to he Swedes and Americans. . The Chinese peace envoys are afraid not to support Russia’s demands with respect to Manchuria, although aware that their acquiescence will mean the loss of the province, and probably cause trouble with other Powers, since only Russians and Chinese will be allowed to trade in Manchuria except at the greatest disadvantage. Prince Ching solicits the foreign Ministers to advise on the matter. LONDON, March 4. The Pekin correspondent of “The Times” states that Japan has notified China that as Russia is receiving territorial and commercial advantages, Japan required an equivalent. A semi-official report from St. Petersiburg states that the special treaty between China and Russia is solely intended to settle the conditions of the restoration of Manchuria to China. In order to encourage Li Hung Chang to sign the Manchuria convention, M. De Giers, the Russian Minister at Pekin, has declared That Russia will not participate ini the demand of the Powers for The execution of ten provincial officials. LONDON, March 5. Speaking in the House of Commons, Lord Cranborne, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, stated that the Russo-Ohinese-Manchurian agreement was engaging the earnest attention of Great Britain and other Powers. The Imperial Court is returning to Pekin. An escort lias been ordered 1 to Hunan, from Shantung. PARIS, March 5. In the Chamber of Deputies, M. Delcasse, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, replying to questions, said the allies had neither studied nor decided upon the expedition to the interior of China proposed by Count von Waldersee. France, lie said, would not participate in any such expedition without weighty reasons, or first consulting the Chamber. The French troops would remain to secure a final settlement which would not be detrimental to France’s interests. NEWS BY MAIL. (Per R.M.S. Ventura at Auckland). SAN FRANCISCO, February 14. It is reported' from Pekin that the work of compiling American claims for indemnity on account of the recent uprising have been practically completed. The total amount of private claims is 801,000 dollars. With the Exception of claims cf a few business houses, which amount to 300,000 - dollars, the sum named is all for missionary bodies. The claims are distributed among the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society, the Presbyterian Board of Missions, the American Board of Foreign Missions, the Far North China Presbyterian Mission at Pao-tingfu,, the Methodist Mission, and Young Men’s Christian Association. This does not represent all the damages claim-' ed by these societies, as missionaries have been collecting large sums (from Chinese villages. Bishop Potter, the famous New York divine, preached a sensational sermon, in which he stated that the blame for the Chinese war must be laid at the door of so-called* r ‘civiLiseld nations,’’ whose commercial greed had caused it. Addressing an audience of two thousand Episcopalians, the Bishop said if required to take sides he would have to take the part of , the Chinese. • , He added—“ Nothing could have been more brutal than the policies cf Christian nations in the past year in dealing with this pagan people. We have trampled under foot everything the Chinese held most sacred. A newly-constructed railroad could have passed around the tomb of the ancestors of the present rulers, but instead

we tore it down and went tln'ough the spot where it stood. This is but a typo of the treatment these people have received at our hands. As far as American missionaries in China are concerned, they have been the neroes of the occasion. They went to China not to get, but to give, and their efforts have been rewarded by making peace. There can be no settlement of the Chinese question so long as we go to that country in a spirit of greed, and until the white man learns to respect the ffrown and yellow man.” . It is just reported from the Orient that the Empress-Dowager, to foreign pressure, has allowed the Emperor Kwang-Su to resume the reins of Government. It is also cabled that all fortified passes bej’ond the territory held by the allies are being garrisoned by Chinese and Boxers are entering Pekin secretly. Li Hung Chang asserts that the Dowager now quite agrees to the necessity for modern reforms.