THE REAL POWER IN CHINA.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10515, 25 July 1910, Page 1

THE REAL POWER IN CHINA.

After ceaseless preparations for ten years,, scores of premature revolts,, large importations of arms, and, the secret drilling of men even, it is said, in the United States,-' warning has been conveyed to. the foreign legations in Pekin.that at last the great Chinese rebellion may be imminent.:. ;- j Although the Tartar Manchus have reigned at Pekin for six centuries, they >ire still regarded as foreigners by the Chinese, and' innumerable efforts have been made in the past to drive them ■from the country. Concerted action was : never achieved, however, and it .was not until Dr Sun Yat Sen, the. organiser of revolution, began .to ' form his plans for welding the people into anation and establishing a Chinese Republic after the model of the United States that the dynasty "was seriously threatened. If . the anticipations of Europeans in China are correct, lie lias now perfected' bis"'" preparations for overthrowing the dynasty and sweeping the whole posse of mandarins and officials - out of existence. It is by means of the vast organisation of secret societies with which China is honeycombed from Mukden to Canton that he lias conducted his campaign. Every Chinese rebellion and riot- for the past 600 years has been inspired and aided by one or cither of ■these'societies, and. they are all.bound together by common, sentiment and interest. AH are violently auti-dvnastic.

and all are equally anti-foreign.. . Dr Sun Yat Sen has declared, his in— I tention of throwing every port open to ■the world when he becomes President iof the Chinese Republic' of which he .dreams; but the watchword of.the so-cieties-is "China for the Chinese," anc 1 jthe recent- riots in Hunan prove that ;any general movement will at. once imperil the lives of Europeans in the country. ■'

' Greatest of all secret societies, is the Sauhohu, or Triad, of which Dr Sua :Yat Sen is believed 'to be the "head centre." Some authorities estimate the number of its members at 2,500.000, ;but others declare it includes at least 10,000,000 of the 50,000,000 adult males in China. Its power reaches as far os Liverpool, San Francisco, and Sydney, and no delinquent member is ever safe from its emissaries. It was founded in 1674, and its name signifies "Three United" —referring to Heaven, Earth, and Man. When these three have united to drive out the Manchus and all other foreign devils, its members believe, the perfect triangle will be formed, and universal peace will follow. Another name of the society is Thiantihui, or "Heaven-Earth League." Its avowed object is to seek more light or "ming," but Ming was also the name of the previous dynasty, and this ambiguous phrase ..never concealed the. fact that its object was solely political.

Membership may be said to be compulsory, for when anyone is likely to be of service to the society the local officials —after the manner of Silver's "black spot" : —send him a paper bearing their seal. He'is warned to present himself for initiation, and threatened with murder if he should reveal the messages. If he shows signs of hesitation he is attracted to the lodge by a ruse, and once he takes the oath, terror ever afterwards prevents him breaking it. Subscriptions are largely raised by levies on the keepers of gambling dens, and the. society is always well provided with money. Members swear to help each other in every way. and doubtful characters become members with the object of pursuing vendettas, receiving aid in smuggling and evading the law. One of the four lodge, officials is an executioner, and instances are known of intruders—or "draughts of .wind" i.s they are called —being promptly killed for approaching meetings. Such a vast organisation might well turn the world upside down, but it >s only one of many kindred societies, which include the — Peilien, or "White Lily"; A violent anti-foreign society, formed about 1300, which lias been responsible for many massacres, and is believed to be associated with the Boxers. Geellin : Anti-foreign and anti-dynas-tic. United Boxers: Who attacked the l'ukin Legations. Tsail'i: A North China society 200,000 members, who forswear meat and alcohol, and who caused the Mongolian outbreak of 1891. Kalaohuoy: Political. Aikwohui: A recently-formed and anti-foreign society of Chinese who have studied in Japan. One Piece Incense. Shangtihwei. or "Society of God." Society of True Ancestry. Society of Old Brothers. Red Door: A criminal society whose existence was discovered in Johannesburg a few years ago. . In addition, there are countless guilds of merchants, and even thieves and beggars, which are in reality powerful secret societies. It was the American Exclusion Treaty, proposed in 1905, that gave the chief ' impetus to the federation of societies which has since increased fo rapidly. Trade guilds combined to boycott foreign goods, and new anti-foreign Societies sprang up everywhere. Then the Reformers took over the. control of the movement, and used it to bind all societies together. |

Many efforts have been made by the central Government to stem the tide. A reward of £IO,OOO, payable on delivery, was offered for Dr Sun Yat Sen's head, and an effort was made to "kidnap" him in London. Leaders of the-Aikwohui Society were condemned to death, and the society was ordered to be'dissolved. Endeavors were. made to throw dust in the eyes of Europeans by explaining that the Boxers were really an association of gymnasts, and that'there was nothing to fear. . ; But although the Government. could threaten it" could not execute its threats. Arms have been smuggled across the Russian frontier, and gunrunning has been common on the north coast. Only a few months ago a Chinese warship captured a Japanese vessel filled with rifles and ammunition. : 1 The first signs of the storm were the risings in the provinces of Hupeh and Hunan, in April and May, and the riots at Changsha. A bomb exploded iii the Regent's palace at Pekin m April, and since then the Consults at Nanking have received mysterious \farninigs. What course the storm will take remains to be seen, but the indications point to one of the most momentous revolts in the history of the world. .!_._ .