TOPICS OF THE DAY.
THE NEWS .FROM CHINA. THE news from China is terrible. As we read it, those who bear rule in Pekin—who are probab]y, but not quite certainly, the Empress-Regent and Prince Tuan- have become aware that they °have committed an act which will draw down upon them the vengeance of all Europe, and have determined, if they cannot avert it by cunning, to make a desperate and protracted resistance. They still trust a little, with good reason from their experience of the past, in diplomacy, and are trying to bewilder and divide the Powers by lying words. With this view they have addressed to every Power except Great Britain—which they believe to be paralysed by South Africa—what is really an offer of a separate alliance. They plead to Japan in the name of their common Mongol ancestry and their common danger from Europeans. They assure Russia that the Empire is willing to accept the general- protection of St. Petersburg, and would prefer it to that of any other Power. They beseech the German Emperor to "take the lead" in all dealings with them, and thus, in fact, assume the protectorate of China. They implore America to "mediate," because, they say, she asks only for commercial intercourse. And they beseech France, as the friendliest of Powers, to " intervene " on their behalf, promising, if she will, to pro- duce M. Pichon. Their despatches have all been published, and Europe mocks at their "childishness," but the " childish- ness " is that of born diplomatists. Each despatch is most cleverly addressed to the secret wish of its recipient, and the writers never dreamed of immediate publication. They thought each addressee would be pleased by the special position accorded to him, and would conceal their offer. Moreover, as it would be madness to offer such assurances just after a massacre of Ambassadors, they blankly deny that it has occurred, except in the case of Baron von Ketteler, who they assure his master was killed by rebels whom they will punish. If, however, their offers should have no effect, which they think possible, they are pre- pared to fight to the bitter end. Li Hung Chang, who knows the truth, and nearly let it out when he asked the Governor of Hong-kong whether the English would kill him if the Ambassadors were dead, and who understands the policy of the Government of China, has practically stated what it is. If an army advances, he says, every European in Pekin will be slaughtered—the Court, that is, will give this as the reason for murders which have already occurred—but in no case will any concession be made. China, says Li Hung Chang in the blandest way, cannot pay another indemnity, and the people will not bear territorial cessions. What they will do is to promise the punishment of "the guilty "—that is, any- body it is convenient to behead—and a future radical reform ! The Court of Pekin will, in fact, concede nothing, but will fight while they can, and if they cannot arrest the avenging army, will transfer the capital, as we have explained in detail in another column, to Segan, which is utterly beyond the reach of the Allies. This re- moval is definitely stated in a circular to the Viceroys, drawn up by the Governor of Shantung, to be the object with which Europeans are to be temporarily protected. From thence, in perfect safety, the rulers of China will employ resources which seem to them limitless, and which very nearly are so, to make of China "a sealed book." They would rather not leave Pekin, but they will do that or any other desperate act sooner than yield to further mandates from the detested European Powers. It is an astute policy, but it is also a tremendous one, and it may have a measure of success.
We see reason to distrust both the unity and the pre- paredness of the Powers. They will, we presume, if only for the sake of honour, make an effort to reach Pekin, but they are troubled already about the greatness of the effort and of the expense. Japan hesitates to mobilise that second corps d'armee, and is inclined to watch events. Russia must defend her railway to the Far East and reconquer Manchuria, which will tax her finances to an inconvenient point. She is forwarding troops and &tee mers in profusion, but they are to defend Newchang and Mukden rather than attack Pekin. Italy has already stopped the second division of her contingent, pretending to believe the assurances from the Palace. Germany goes forward straight, but limits her effort to fifteen thousand men of whom a large proportion will be stopped to defend her settlanent in Shantung, which is in a peculiar degree an object of Chinese hos- tility. The French Government excessively dislikes the expenditure, the forcible extension of her colonial dominion, and the risk, which proved fatal to Jules Ferry. Even the British Government is perplexed and anxious, determined to act, but worried to provide the troops, the British Army being occupied, and India remonstrating against further depletion ; while the American Govern- ment is obviously determined, even if it marches to Pekin, to "keep out of European complications." That is the motive which induces Washington to accept so readily the assurances of Mr. Conger's safety. The hesitations are greatly increased by the difficulties arising from the com- posite character of the force, which were clearly shown in the operations against Tientsin, when they found themselves un- able to act together from the impossibility of understanding each other's requests. You cannot fight a successful battle through interpreters. The Europeans in China are growing savage with impatience, the half-belief that some Ministers may still be alive distracts counsel, some of the Powers are for rushing and others for delay, and the end, we acutely fear, will be that the Army of Retribution will start for Pekin in the first week of August with insufficient numbers, inadequate supplies, and no authentic informa- tion at all as to the force they are to overcome. So brave are the Europeans and Japanese, and so great is the advantage their science gives them, that the army will probably cut its way through, and batter down any walls it may find defended ; but the insensate folly of allowing the sack of Tientsin will almost ensure a resistance of despair in the great city; and if it does not, what, with the Court hundreds of miles away, will have been achieved ? Absolutely nothing, except a kind of duellist's "satisfaction" for an insult.
But we shall be asked : Admitting the accuracy of your too pessimist views—for Europe is always lucky— what alternatives do you suggest?' There are none except to move a little more slowly, and see that the army of invasion is prepared to perform a difficult and not an easy task. It is the curse of the whole situation— the keynote of which, we repeat, is that China, goaded beyond endurance, has risen in mad fury against Europe—that it leaves so few alternatives. Whatever the consequences, it is simply impossible to put up with the murder of the Ambassadors. Honour, justice, expediency, all demand retribution, and no one has suggested an alternative method to the advance upon Pekin. The advance may be difficult, and useless in the end, but it must be made, or Europe must acknowledge that Asia, once excited, can insult her with impunity. We admit that as fully as the most ignorant of those who are crying out that Li Hung Chang should be held as a hostage, as if we ever executed hostages, or as if arrest were not precisely the thing the plotting Chinaman would like ; but we want all Europe, and especially our own countrymen, to understand that they have to exact the retribution from one of the mightiest of Empires, that they have been acting for years under an illusion, and that when Asia turns at bay her method of defence is always terrible. It took us three years and eighty thousand men to put down the Indian Mutiny, when half India was on our side, and China has infinitely greater resources in brave men, in munitions, and, as we greatly fear on the evidence, in leaders, than the Sepoy Army.
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