THE CRISIS IN CHINA,

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11923, 22 December 1900, Page 4

THE CRISIS IN CHINA,

THE PAO-TING-FU EXPEDITION.

WITH THE VICTORIAN NAVAL

CONTINGENT.

(Ey Our Special Correspondent in China, A. H. Adams.)

TIENTSIN, November 7.

Tho Allied expedition to Pao-ting-fn, the rradla and centre of the Boxer movement in China, has taken place; two columns, encii if six tnonsand men—British, French, German, and Italian,—have moved one hundred miles through the province of Chi-li upon the doomed city, and returned without having struck tho blow tli.it was so necessary ioj the future preservation of peace in -the Chinese Empire. The actual effect upon the Boxer movement must necessarily be small, and upon the vast body of Chinese interests oejond thi3 one province the effect mtn.i practically be nil. Whether any other course was open to the general in command of the expedition, Sir Alfred Gaselet, fc. i. matter whicn will, pernaps, appear when the objects and results of the expedition :ire Ant forth. I have just returned to Tientsin from Pao-ting-fu, after an absence of twenty-live days, most of whicu were spent vii tne march.

PAO-TING-FU

The City of Pao-ting-fu occupies a somewhat anomalous position as capital oi the province of Chi-li. No less than two cities in the province exceed it in importance—Peking, the capital of tne Empire, and Tientsin, the commercial capital of the province; the latter city owing its supremacy to (lie foreign element; The three cities are at the points of jm equivalent triangle, the sides of which are (roughly) 100 miles in length. The residence of the Emperor at Peking has drawn to that city the representatives of all the Western nations; of Tientsin, foreigners and tho com merco that follows in their train have made a modern city, built after the European plan; but Pao-ting-fu. inland and out of the reach of intruding foreign trade, has remained secluded and untouched within its well-built walls, jealously keeping its riches out of the reacn of the aggressive " foreign devil" and content to live its life in the good old Chinese ivay. In the district surrounding this city the Boxer movement first gathered strength ; and in Pao-ting-fu and its neighbourhood Hie fiercest and most terrible acts of these fanatics took place. Missionaries were tortured ami put to death after unspeakable outrages ; murder and worse wns rampant; the number of deaths ot foreigners in the district was very great. If ever a city deserved condign punishment it was Pao-ting-fu. , ' "WHY THERE WAS DELAY. The expedition to Pao-ting-fu ,vas talked of as soon as tho Allies relieved the Legations. It was seen that some such step was neces rary to prove to the Chinese that we were in -earnest. But delay- after delay occurred, until it ceemed as if the movement would die irom jiuro muddle. .Meantime, it was known taac twenty Joreiguers were alive and prisoners either in the city or in the neighbouring villages; and apparently nobody made n move iowards their relief. The stagnation •was undoubtedly tuie to . international jealousy; no force was allowed to move without the other Allies sending a corresponding force to co-operate. I left Peking in a hurry in oraer to be at Tientsin in time to join the columu setting out from that city, and was fearlui oi being too late for the start; but after my arrival in Tientsin the expedition ■was twice delayed, the unofficial reason given being that the Germans had not completed tilth- transport arrangement?. So the two v/nolc columns waited until the Germans got their mules. The suggestion that would naturally occur is: Why did not the British, who were ready and waiting more than a week before, sec out on their own account and settle the matter? The Germans would not wait very long then for their mules. But the British, having recognised Count Waldersee as Commander-in-chief, could not act on their own initiative in a matter of such magnitude. It was somewhat peculiar, by the way, that rumour snid that the British were the only nation in China which did recognise the German Field-marshal as in command, and one very important consequence of this attitude occurred to change the plan of the whole expedition. At length the last Gorman mule arrived, and on Friday, the 12th of October, the two columns moved out respectively from Peking and Tientsin.

THE ATTITUDE OF AMERICA. A Presidential election is an awkward event to occur during a war in which the Americans are engaged,.ami its effects were lelt with considerable force at Pekhv While the action of the Imperialists in "cn^aitinf upon the Philippine campaign was i neute discussion, the authorities at Washington had to. go very carefully in the matter ol he Clunese trouble .Hence it seemed (at least to outsiders) that the American command had received instructions to be ,500 c!, ano refrain from making trouble. -Every American soldier-so a. Yankee officer once succmctlj put it to mc-killcd between now and the election would mean 20 votes cast against M Ivmley; and in these doubtful times <M votes ore worth considering—a lesson which perhaps the President had learnt from our own Prcm.er. Hence the American forces ■n Clnna for the last two months have displayed a masterly inactivity quite refreshing to wa el, .Soldiers and officers frankly state that all they want is to get out of the country •-eve,, to go to Manila. Yet if any one force fiiioulcl have had allotted to it the task of punishing Pao-ting-fu it was the American lho large majority of the missionaries killed ami tortured by that cify were Americans and o, those still held in confinement the majority again were American. Yet this enJightened country allowed the other Allies the opportunity of expressing the opinion of the civilised world to China, and delegated to other nations the task of rescuing its own citizens. There may be another explanation but I have not been able to glean it. It is a. pity that politics should so overshadow a people s plain duty. THl<; PLAN OF THF EXPEDITION. The object of the expedition was to capture the City of Pao-finsr-fu. Two columns set out simultaneously of approximately cnu.-il strength, one for Tienfsin.\under command of Major-general Baillond. of the French Army and the other from Peking, under the command of Sir Alfred Gaselce, who had also r-ommanc! of the joint columns. The Ppking column marched clown the destroyed railway track, and functioned with the French, Italian, and German portions of the Tientsin column outside Pao-tins-fu. In each column there were three divisions, each about 2000 strong composed respectively of British. Oermans, Italians, and French. The Tientsin expedition set out in two divisions—Urn French. German, and'ltalian troons proceeding along the north bank of the Chung-ling-ho. and' the British troop?, under command of Majorgeneral Lome Campbell, rip-ragging on a. roundabout route south of the river, and separated by a wide 7nar?l> from the remainder of the expedition. In addition there was a rive; column, cpiisir-tine- of a large fleet of junks and a small covering land force, which proceeded, more or less in touch with the two divisions of Hie Tientsin column, to Pao-ting-fu by means of tlie river and the rrmnl. The south route r>re--cribed fur the British crlnmn promlsr-d H>e best clnnci> of meeting with Boxer opposition. Tf the Boxers made any stand at all before this formidable array it would be in thr> disaffected district south of the river. This mule in any other ypjir would have been simnlv impassable, most'ot it lying over portions of the country marked on the maps as marsh. Rut. forhmatelv for tha foreign campaign in China, this year has he.om one of the.dryost on record, and whnt in ?ny other yfor would be one vast swamp is now a dry nlain, travers«d by excellent ronds. Owing to the trend the British column bad to i>is*vp foiitli. (l;n clii'ttnicfi J t" liikT t*"* cover vns 130 miles; while the other nortians of the Tientsin column and the Peking column had to go little over 80 or 90 miles.

THE VTCTOPJAN NAVAL CONTTNnTCXT.

T dpcklecl to accompany Gonnral Lorno CnmpbeH'j column upon tlio march. It promised rlic h?~t rbnnpn of inectin? the Hoxor?. ;in'l the Victorian naval contingent, .100 in number, under command cf Commander {TicVoll. formfid r .art of timt column. Tl;e \rw South Wales contingent, who winter in Peking;, had perforce to miss this chance, and proceed to their winter quarters at the capital. About 50 more of the Victorians were in the river column. The rest of the contingent could not he pared from Tientsin, where (somewhat to their disgust) they aro employed as police and general " bandy men." [ was invited to join the Australian men. and found the officers and men true colonials in their hospitality. Upon the march it coon got abroad that on arrival at camp tho Aus-

tr.Uians were the first to have a billy of ten made, and officers of the other messes used to pay us visit 3at this particular momont with peoulior frequency.

PERSONAL PREPARATIONS.

Means of transport was tho chief point to bo settled for a trip which would probably last a month. After some, hunting I found a Peking cart and a good mule, which I bought, and which was to carry my kit, stores, food, and warm clothes for my servants. A friend of mine lent me two of his " boys " —one as mafoo (horse attendant), and the other, a coolie, as a personal servant. I also bought a sturdy little white Chinese pony. I discarded my uncomfortable wooden-framed Chinese saddle, and borrowed an English saddle for the trip. A large portion of the column's transport went by. junks, but strings of pack mules, attended by Tndian syces, and a. number of Peking cart'; and big waggons accompanied the land force. The country being stoneless, in fine weather the raadi are splendid, but one day's rain makes them very bad. I was as warmly clad as was possible in a city where clothin« is not to be bought. I was uufortnnnl« in not being able to obtain any more plate- for mv camera, the post office refusing to forward five dozen which I hod ordered' from Shanghai, and no photographic material being in 'stock in Tientsin, consequently I wns unable to get any photogrnnhs of tin-trip. At- 8 o'clock on the 12th October the British column left Tientsin, the otlnr units of the force having departed a couple of hours before.