Mr. Denby to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Peking, December 31, 1891.
(Received March 10, 1892.)
No. 1451.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a
translation of a communication which has been circulated by the minister of
the French Republic. It relates to the late massacres of native Christians
in Mongolia, and sets forth extracts from a proclamation issued by the
general commanding the imperial troops, who excuses these massacres. In
accordance with your late telegram, wherein I was directed to sign no more
joint dispatches until I had received further instructions, I declined to
sign such a paper. The diplomatic body thereupon delegated Mr. von Brandt to
make verbal representations to the foreign office deprecating such
proclamations as the one referred to.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure in No.
1451.—Translation.]
Circular letter of the French minister.
Peking, December 26,
1891.
Dear Colleague: I have the honor to address to
you herewith the copy of a translation of a proclamation which has been
published at Dakeon, a locality situated in the part of Eastern Mongolia
which is attached administratively to the province of Pe-teche-li, and
in which took place last month the massacre of many native Christians,
the destruction and pillage of their houses, churches, orphan asylums,
and other missionary establishments. You will see that the Gen. Ye, who
is charged with the repression of the troubles has found nothing better
to explain the conduct of the local mandarins, who before his arrival in
the country had allowed the Christians to be massacred without any
intervention whatever, than to admit that the crimes of the bandits
called Tsai-li-ti were, up to a certain point, excusable. “These
malefactors,” he says, in an order addressed to the prefect of
Ping-tchuan-tcheon, author of the proclamation, ‘“declare that they wish
to cause to disappear Catholic missions in order to satisfy their
revenge. Already they have burned and destroyed, one after another, the
missions of this prefecture (Pakeon) and some of San-che-kia-tze. It has
been found out in these places that the religious establishments in
question contained in their cellars innumerable bodies of children.
There were also discovered twenty or thirty young girls who have been
retaken by their families. They did not ravage the localities. One sees
sufficiently in these facts the manifest proof that the bandits had
contracted a profound hatred of the missions and hastened to avenge
themselves. Since on this occasion the religious establishments [Page 83] have been burned and there have
been discovered bones of the dead bodies of children, the sentiment of
hatred which has been manifested was not without motive.” It is not
without interest to compare this passage with the one which immediately
precedes it. “They, the bandits, now betake themselves in the country to
pillage and incendiarism, and strike many of the people. These are
veritable crimes.” It is not necessary to press upon you, my dear
colleague, the necessity to call attention of the foreign office to this
odious conduct of the general of division, Ye, and to point out the new
dangers which will arise to the missions—that the general was sent to
protect—from these false allegations. They seem to be intended to excuse
in advance all the crimes that may be committed against Christianity. I
think that under the circumstances our colleagues would be willing to
join in a collective letter to the foreign office showing the
consequences that may follow such conduct and demanding redress.
