DOOMED DYNASTY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12615, 18 November 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

DOOMED DYNASTY.

FATE OF THE MANCHUS. . SHANGHAI, October 23. j The four .million -Manchus -'within the Chinese Empire have reason to regard A-uith considerable apprehension tho revolt which, has broken out in the Hupeh j province, -and which, so far, has resulted in loss at Puchang, Hankow, Hanyang, Changsha, lchang, and the disturbance bass settled the Grovernment m every other city in the Yahgtse Valley. It is 'this most serious effort on the part of the •Chinese to reduce the Manchu domina- 1 tion since the Taiping rebellion, and has the advantage over that unhappy and disastrous enterprise of being based upon better, if no less bold, principles, and being inaugurated under much inore propitious auspices. 'The leaders are able to command wider sympathy and warmer co-operation from those of their own* countrymen far removed from the «.-«ntre of operations, owing to the gene-A-al establishment of telegraphy, the inauguration of newspapers and , the construction of railways. While the wholesale rapine, murder and 'fire which spread desolation along - the line of march of . the Taipings irom the south to "Nanking, * are riot likely to follow any extension of th© rebel activity to-day. the murder of Manchus, which marked the opening of the revolt at Puchang was the only black blot upon the movement. But the ultimate effectiveness of control of the leaders over the ignorant irresponstbles who had tasted blood and who wbuld just as lief have opened the veins of every foreigner across the river, give, promise* of better things than has ever yet been accomplished in China. * For this reason alone we have tho "unique spectacle of a river full of foreign men-of-war playing the part of neutral, but unmuzzled, observers of civil war in embryo, instead of being active, participants on behalf of their nationals, Avho had, ever been the first to suffer in such a crisis iri China. The scrupulous regard on the part of the rebels for the safety of foreign life and property hhs won them the full sympathy of foreign T crs, and — what is significantly startling in China — the publicly-proclaimed approbation and substantial encouragement of the bulk of the Chinese. Such a thing has never, been known before in this land, where official cruelty and oppression liave successfully !kept the vast population under heel and the effect upon the people themselves — 'who are surprised to discover that they can cry out exultiingly at the news of a rebel success with out an uncanny hand hauling them to the execution ground — is much like that Avhich overcomes a long-caged bird when it sees the possibility ol flight iipon escape.

THE "KOH MING TONG." The Manchus themselves seem to be "the only ones who never took seriously this deep, sinister undercurrent. The i_ol_ Ming Tong (Kill Dynasty Party) has flourished till it numbers over 40,000 members at home and abroad. Within •recent times it has sentup many "ballon •d'essai" in the shape of risings, to find the direction in which public sympathy trended*. ? "Local officials have done their utmost to stamp out the. organisation with-* out a.«/ail. The Viceroy of every province has. -known for years that his fall might come, arid the provinciuls murder him at any moment ; yet they have been powerless to arrest tlie movement, though they "have, between them, beheaded hundreds of its prime movers. The Viceroy of Huoeh was, in fact, engaged in just such a>i interesting diversion when the party against which he was raising the sword ■rose and smote him > and his city hip and thigk On the 9th inst. the Viceroy, Jui Cheng, of Puchang, was made aware of an active revolutionary enterprise being afoot within his city walls, an infantryman having told' him that the soldiers themselves were militant members of the Koh Ming Tong, several of whom were named and arrested. General ChaoPiao was for beheading several companies to make sure that he had killed off the

"right conspirators, but General Li Yung Hung, second in command, would have '■none of it. Civilians alleged to* liave bfeeli tire leaders of the movement were seized and suffered decapitation in front of the Viceroy's yamen. The soldiers arrested defied the Manchus to 'the last, and, like the two British martyrs immortalised in History, who went to their death with good: cheer, succeeded in lighting such a candle %V China as may never be put •out by the Manchu rulers. • The execution ;6f these men set fire to the blood of the • disaffected soldiery, inflamed- the liopulace (although the latter were ignorant of the big things that were toward) and ' tlie revolutionary agitators were forceS-'into action. By a singular coincidental explosion in a, veritable bomb factory' on the Russian Concession at Hanji^w, and the subsequent discovery of abundant evidence that a big plot to •overtMrin tho monarchy was afoot, the revolutionists knew there was no time to bejfast if they wished to make a successful; of the long-cherish-ed pl&ns. this year, and excited by the confidence of the military that they could-'fejarry the city province they agreed on rising. The decision was no sooner made* -than the plot exploded about the ears; of -the officials.

RISING OF THE GARRISONS. During the investigation by" the Tartar general as to the state of the army, General Li Yuan Hung attempted to assassinate him, but failed. The major part of the garrison at once rose and rushed the position previously set out for them, and commenced operations against- the Manchus and their supporters, j General Chang Piao maria&e d 'to riiakfe pood his escape, as did the Viceroy, Jul Cliehg, who ultimately reached a gunboat on the river. There he Avas later joined bv General Chang Piao.- Tlie rebels quickly toolc charge of the \avious Yamens. Detaclvmerits pulled, the field guns to the-, hills - in the vicinity, and in tbe grey dawn o£the mprning of tho 12th bombarded' the Viceroy's Yani'en. During the night rifle firing took place in several parts of the city, ■ and was continued throughout the next day in a desultory fashion. The people Avere panic-stricken. Ori rushing' the gates to escape they found them blocked. » Small "'.: parties .of arm^ed .soldiers, Avear* ing a white band rojund tlie a.rm^-tpwels and rf"gs of any descnpTioh were used— ' marblidd about tbevJcitv," demanding that the Mjanchus,; 'be .., produced. Wherever, found "* they were'.' instantly. ,' slain. In. some- cases, whole' "families AA-ero wiped out AA'ithout compjunction. Whenever ther'j was a doubt, they,;. were compelled, to count ten. If they slurr*ed four and six — aa the Manchus do — they lost their heads.'-.' The Manchu women hastily changed into Chinese dresses, and with the men rushed- hitjier and thither to escape., The 'relentless .hands let no man or woman ' pass* till theiivfacos were carefully scrutinised/,'. * '

' FOREiqNERS "PROTECTED. ■ Wliilst the wholesale,; 'butchering Avas going" on,' 'the.' foreigners, who had left their ( ;beds.to find out'.what the bother ■was /'about, Avere cordially greeted, and 1 old - t .toy^'.bo cai'ef ill ' of , sti'ay shots, Never bofo've'iii.tjve history of China has suq-h ■», thiug_:been' known. At ,siich a period the forßijfner lias generally .'6eei> thefii'st sought'.for. but in -'.this, instance, though the soldiers have caused streams of blood to. flow*/ though their swords' have reeked with -"Manchus* gore, still they i havo .'-'found ; : time". to, smile at for-eigners,-'and. at. times -t^s^^^ them/ ' Tho ■ revolutionaries have learned jthe . leraon** ;;tli^t Hhe- foreigner is riot* to be trifled^with^ that if". there is to be.success,- hisf opinion, or, at any ratey his v neutrality, '-must be se_jure<-f. 'As) »()pn -BS, was practicable the revqlu*_ioji-; aries.sent to' the missionaries to tell them' not .-* to -be alarmed,"- and notifying them that-fth'ey*' wonld'he Safe^'firtd' pl'btectdd: Thoughrnjost ofthe'ini'accepted the slite"" ment 'in Mil c^d&ce, otes. did^nc-ti but cscap^^ei. the citt^jva"l?j- \pir\g, loAyer'erl -\ ih^'baskets! , The remainder l su*pered,.:,nothing but .kindness. „ Gu^ds, ■ w"e.re -placed /about, the 'houses', arid pro-/ teetipn?->vas % . giyeu; theni:. if jthey.7*vsrjinted to go about* the city. No sooner had the revolutionaries secured the upper hand' than', tlie loyal - members of the garrison decided;. to leave. .Already the barracks had* been reduced -to ashes,, They made their, way" across th'6; river,' arid I took*- iip a .'position below tbe foreign concessions. "The. rebels then began to oragnise a provisional Governrhent. '. * ' They took charge of .tlje,. provincial, assemblysh9.ll, elected General ln Yuan • Hung President,-, and Huan Hsun (civil organiser of the = revolt), Vice-President. A.-procla-. matidn.was at once draAvn up andpo6tcd

throughout thtt city, threatening execution to. anyone who touched the foreign- **•*?*, or indulged in violence towards protected Manchus or attacked tho foreign concessions in HankoAV, promising rewards to those who helped the foreigners and the rebel organisation. The old provincial assembly Avas elected tlie governing body, and aU cases had to be tried before them. The summary, execution oi' offenders was stopped. Any man charged Avas given a hearing, and the slaughter of Manchus prohibited. On the 13th the provincial Government Avas proclaimed, and tho foreign consuls at HankoAV were asked to recognise it, the rebels undertaking certain obligations to the foreign Powers which remained neutral, guaranteeing protection to foreign settlements* The rebels had by this? time commenced to cross the river, and continually thousands upon thousands ' of, refugees were fleeing from the city to HankoAV, carrying all manner of chattels, all sorts of bags, baskets, and boxes, excited, gesticulating, going they knew no*, whither.

CAPTURE OF THE ARSENALS. The firo spread rapidly in the quicklyemptying city. Tho streets were filled with miscellaneous articles dropped by the populace in their flight. The corpses of decapitated men and women and of others shot by bullets or killed by shell Avere lying about the narrow streets. It is variously estimated that between 1800 and 2000 people were killed between the commencement of the revolution and the finish of the bombardment of the town. At the beginning of the operation the Chinese gunboats and loyal troops remained inactive. They. did not attempt to drive the rebels out. The rebels made no effort to engage them, but devoted their energies to preparing positions on the hills and making plans. The capture of the Hanyang arsenal and the Ironworks aivs-nal was secured bv a ruse without fighting. General Li Yuan Hung, sent to those in charge and asked them to come in force to see the Viceroy. When they arrived he told them they could cither hand the arsenal over or fight foi- it. They chooso the former course and departed, and General Li's forco occupied it quietly. The foreigners were taken away, but sopn after returned and continued working under the rebels. Tlie Lip works were secured ivithout trouble, and work was in no way interfered with by the rebels. At the back of the ironworks is a hill commanding the surrounding country. The coolies soon had set to Avork digging trenches and throwing ,up embankments, and generally prepared levels for the guns which are in the arsenal.

The rebels secured 48 guns, Avith calibres ranging from 5 to 7 centimetres ; several field guiis, 20,000 modern rifles, and 3,000,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, as Avell as ammunition for the large guns. At the poAvder magazine also they secured useful supplies. At the mint about 2,000,000d015. Avere obtained. With these funds the mutineers were enabled to go ahead with confidence. ' They avoi--ried not about the loyal troops stationed Qri the HankoAV side or the gunboats in the river. The rebel officers had an army of 400,000 men in a few days, the applications for enlistment coming by thousands, r

. SCOOT. Tlie naval imperial force conducted itself in a strange way throughout. The gunboats never t seemea\ to know what to do. When onp; did ruii Vup,.,the. river, to j investigate. . wliat Avas £ojng on at Hanyang it met with, a recebtion that shivered it to tlie" keel: """jjree shots from ono heavy gun found its 'hull and started, it on fire. It turned' and fled down the river at -full steam, : Other' gunboats hovered .'about and"sn'ally took 1 up a position"" in a dh-ect- line with .; the Foreign Concession f '. They, opetfed fire, -with tho guns, an-*" 'fired 25'shots i at^h.e^city, buti tho spectators co.uld'not- so-*} 'nj-uch result, and averred tjiftt;''lia_f *'the t Shells were blank. r.^Some' ffrvei not, however, as was testified by a vlinV t^ the city latter, but the,, bombardment did hot in any w^y disturb {lie rebels. ' They refrained from ! replying. **■* ys * •"*. '-•■

AEIM IRAL &m'& QUANDARY . !;' -A curt request . \v;as . sent to, ihe gunboats by the .Japanese Admiral in charge of the foreigner to move off up the river or down, and, the latter course was taken It was out of range of the rebels' guns. From that on till the.' 15th tlie gunboats took no further Interest in the proceedings. They even made no effort to interrupt the transport of rebel troops across tine river to the Hankow side, preparatory "--to tiying conclusions with the loyal forces; Junks as transports passed under the nose of a torpedo boat, but without disturbing anyone on" board. Admiral Sah, with his cruisers, arrived from Shanghai on the 14th at midnight to take. charge of the fleet. He had under him seven cruisers and fo^'r! torpedo boats, but entered upon no scliemes to oust the rebels from their positions. It, is stated that his boats carried but little ammunition, but it is moi«6 likely his inactivity is ascribable to the men. being too prej udice'd in f avo*r of the rebels for Admiral Sah to risk a mutiny by commanding a. general bombardment. As a matter ot fact, the sentiments <>f Admiral Sah himself are not in thorough accord with the Government. It-.-is certain that he would go over with the fleet if he could be sure of the success of his operations. The rebels contend that his men would desert him at any moment. Already one small boat had been run aground at Kuikiang. She was promptly abandoned by her crew, who went into the rebel ranks. .They would go at any time, they wanted to, if they can remain inactive, and they might not if the Imperial forces from the north get any advantage in the initial fighting. If the Impei iaJL. forces fail and an attempt is made to operate tne fleet against the rebels, there is sure to be a general defection, and the rebels will come into some ships that will be certainly used on the river.

When the rebel leaders had sufficient men encamped behind the Foreign Concession at . Hankow on Saturday, they commenced operations. That Avas on the 18th. Though there Avas skirminshing of a desultory character all that day the rebels held the Imperials in check when they attempted to. advance. In . the morning the rebel force ran out of ammunition, being compelled to .send a detachment to Chuchang, for supplies. *-

PREMATURE REJOICINGS. The Imperialists imagined they were retreating, and at once -wired to Peking that they had secured a victory. The glad tidings were flashed broadcast about the country, but the exultation among the Manchus Avas short-hved. The rebels came back towards afternoon, and wrought damage in the Imperialists' ranfes. Admiral Sah, assisted the Imperialists by firing a I'eAV shells over the concession, and retiring down the river. Ho came back next morning, and did the samo thing, but the rebels, disre- 1 garding him, succeeded in a flanking movement, and drove the Imperialists out of their ]M>sitions along tlie lino. Others avlk> Avere cut off attempted to escape down tho river. Many took junks and Avent on board the boats of tho latter, steaming out of sight - doAvn tho river.

The fighting hardly deserved the dignity of being described a such, but this Avas tho first victory for the rebel army. It had a tremendous effect upon tho country, where, hitherto, there was a reluctant expression of v'cavs on the matter j almost everyone noAv boldly expressing themselves as rebels, or at least sympathising with them, and the spectaclo is to be Avitnessed of the bulk of the Chinese Avho know anything about jfhat is transpiring ranging themselves against the Government. Avhilst tho foreign residents, almost to a man, favor the rebels' cause.

. WJiile the eA'ents related above avcic j transpiring the foreigners -on tli6 # . concession at were^aiiything but in a hafripy* - stiiw ,a,t Stjie ..^litbreak of tlie revolution I , teß'pe s cially wWeh they saw the fires raging in Wuchang. They felt that "' another ""of those __^ribife massacres for I .' Avlilch China, is..' noted would "soon further besmirch the" annals of tlio country. All the volunteers were called to arms, and outlying residents Avere brought into the front settlement. FOREIGNERS CONCILIATED. Within a. day or tAvo gunboats be-g-au to arrive in reply to urgent messages, and an elaborate scheme of defence was prepared,.. the. Japanese Admiral, being, tlie senior,- pfflcer in tho •port, being given the command. The 'rebel leader took the earliest possible steps to relieve the anxieties of the foreigners, and not only ; guaranteed < protcc-

tion to the settlement, but Rep t his word. There were serious fire^ iri tlie native heart of thp city* but they Avi*re due to rowdies, who were bent ou loot. Tlio • rebel police and foreign marines suppressed the looters, and extinguished the fires. After that tho rebels kept order themselves. There.' Avere constant 'fires, however, but nothing done to disturb the foreigners or. I^heir property. This phaso . of the re volutioii promptly. Avon the sympathy of 'the • foreigners in port. Every precaution Avas taken to secure neutrality aild a fair' field fbr the .fighters. The viceroy endeavored to get tho. foreigners' -gunboats to prevent the rebels closing the riyer, but the request Avas politely declined. Up till ; this -moment there has beeii no necessity for foreign interference, though a complaint was made by the British , Consul, owingto the decapitation of Manchus on the British Concession. -General Li apologised for the zeafof lus .-.rnen^; and stopped, any frpm entering the concession. He further acted so that the, full confidence bf il'ie foreigners AVas 'Avohv They were .able to proceed about their business with' less anxiety than marked the first days. •iThe,- ladies* berthed -on the ships in port, and the men- stood ,tb arips.,, As it is, they still keep ' their arms ready' in case of mob violence, but so farare hot needed. Ships have been re-tained-in case of emergency. These will be resorted to if the settlement is threatened Avhen general fighting takes place. Many foreigners haA-e already i left Hankow,' Avhile hundreds pf thousands of Chinese" fled' Steamers have been specially chartered to give them a passage. Even at prices 10 to 15 times higher than usual 'they come "away, packed; "

.-..J!!' PANIC SPR'EADrNG^ -- . The panic, has gone righ^ up and ,do>vn the" Yangtse. With 'the activity - about Hankow, rumors liave given birth to many ill-founded stories. .Risings liave been reported everywhere. The foreign drilled troops in all the cities are known to be untrustworthy, and they have been disarmed. Still there is constant talk of rebel seizures, in addition to lchang and Changsha, which have already fallen, and tho Chinese have become panicstricken. All along the river the cities are emptying and tho population of Shanghai is advancing thousands a day. The worst effect of the panic has been the run on the banks for Mexican dollars. Bank notes were pronounced valueless in Hupeh in no time, because they were issued by the Hupeh Bank. Very quickly even foreign bank notes became involved, and within one week all the native banks in Changsha were compelled to close.

The Manchus' hope is in the army which, under the Minister for AVar, General Yin Chang, has come southwards slowly. It will number some 14,000 officers and men, when ready, for operations. The rebels have not yet encountered any of this force, and are waiting anxiously for. them to arrive. Although , the rebels liave not cut the_ railway, Avhich is being used for transportation of troops from Pekin, they did not do so for what is to them a very good reason. They claim that most of the forces will be won over to their sido without fighting, or after tho preliminary engagement. Therefore,- they desire that as many as possible might bo brought down from the Chi-li province. The rebel leaders declare that they have the Chinese army and navy with them, but not the Manchus, though the later are reluctant for war, fearing the Chinese modern drilled troops just as much as the foreigners. Tlie ammunition of the regulars is declared to be poor and defective. If tho statement that one of the shells Avhich fell in Hankow from one of Admiral Wash's ships Avas made of wood is true, the outlook for the Imperials is bad. To prevent the foreign-drilled troops from taking part in. the risings at Canton and other provincial capital cities, they have been deprived of ammunition.