CHINA AND THE POWERS.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4298, 6 March 1901, Page 5

CHINA AND THE POWERS.

CABLE* ‘NEWS.

IOTfXO P 2283 -LSSOCIATJON. —BY ELBOTEKJ TBLKQEAFH. —CO PV". IWV.

RUSSIA'S CLAIMS O 4 MANCHI7RIJ LONDON, March 4. In order to encourage Li Hung Chanf to .sign the Manchuria convention, M Do Giers, the Russian Minister at Pekin, has declared That Russia null not participate in the demand of the Powers for the execution of ten provincial ofhchxls. THE PROPOSED MILITARY EXPEDITION. (Received March G, 0.20 a.m.) PARIS, March 0. In the Chamber of Deputies, M. Delcassc, 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 Walderseo. France, ne said, would not participate in any .such expedition without weighty reasons, or first consulting the Chamber. The French troops would remain to se-. cure a final settlement which would not be detrimental to France’s interests. DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS. (Received March G, 0.3-1 a.rn.) LONDON, .March 5. Speaking in the House of Commons, Lord Cnuiborne, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, stated that the Russo-Ch in as e-Man cl 1 aria 11 agreement was engaging the earnest attention of Great Britain and other Powers. THE IMPERIAL COURT. (Received March G, 1.5 a. 111.) LONDON, March 5. The Imperial Court is returning to Pekin. An escort has been ordered to Hunan from Shantung. 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 of 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-tiugfu,, the Methodist Mission, and Young Men’s Christian Association. This does not represent all the damages claimed 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' “civilised 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. Hel added—“ Nothing could have been more brutal than the policies of Christian nations in the past year in dealing with this pagan people. ‘We have trampled under foot everything thd Chinese held most sacred. A newly-constructed railroad could have passed around the tomb of the ancestors of the prefsent rulers, but instead we tore it down and went through the spot where it stood. This is but a type 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 occa-, sion. 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 Iji'owu and yellow man.”

it is just reported from the Orient that the Empress-Dowager, yielding to foreign pressure, has allowed the Emperor Kwang-Su to resume the reins of Government. It is also cabled that all fortified passes beyond 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.