Mr. Hay to Mr.
Conger.
Department of State,
Washington, April 9,
1900.
No. 249.]
Sir: I inclose herewith, for your information,
and the files of the legation, a copy of correspondence in regard to the
state of things in the province of Shantung, in China, and the serious
condition in which our missionaries find themselves in consequence of
the disturbances there.
I am, etc.,
[Page 113]
[Inclosure 1.]
Mr. Smith to
Mr. Hay.
American Board of Commissioners por Foreign
Missions,
Congregational House, No. 14 Beacon Street,
Boston, March 24, 1900.
Sir: Our latest communications from our
missionaries, the Rev. Arthur H. Smith, D. D., and the Rev. Henry D.
Porter, D. D., located at Pang Chuang, in the province of Shantung,
in China, indicate the continuance of the reign of terror which has
so long surrounded them and other American missionaries in the same
province and lead to no little anxiety as to their immediate future.
The telegraphic news from China indicates no radical change in the
situation. I am moved, therefore, to ask if our Government has
advices from China more reassuring than those to which I have made
reference. I wish also to inquire what additional measures for the
effective protection of the life and property of American citizens
in China have been taken by our Government. The impression prevails
among my correspondents in China that unless the foreign embassies
at Pekin take a decided stand and insist that the Chinese Government
shall effectively restrain these forces that are making life and
property insecure—not by promises to our minister and not by
proclamation simply, but by the actual dispatch of troops that are
instructed to put down the rioters and protect the foreigners—the
present danger will speedily become acute and the necessity may
arise for more active interference.
Has our Government considered the possibility that some demonstration
of power may be necessary to stir the sluggish Government at Pekin
to suppress this insurrection and to fulfill its treaty pledges in
behalf of these Americans in China who are at present in such
serious danger?
I write in behalf not only of myself and associates here in Boston,
but also in behalf of that great constituency of the board,
numbering so many hundreds of thousands of citizens from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, who are deeply interested in the
missionaries and their work in China.
Confident that our Government is ready and willing to do its utmost
to protect its citizens in China and elsewhere in the world, and
desiring some reassuring word for the comfort of the many friends of
the missionaries in whose behalf I am writing,
With great respect, I am, sir, etc.,
[Inclosure 2.]
Mr. Hay to Mr.
Smith.
Dear Sir: I have received your letter of
the 24th of March in regard to the state of things in the province
of Shantung, in China, and the serious condition in which our
missionaries find themselves by virtue of the disturbances
there.
Our minister in Pekin some time ago informed the Department of the
unsatisfactory state of affairs in that province and asked that a
naval vessel be sent to Taku to strengthen his hands in the
representations he was making to the Chinese Government. By request
of this Department the Navy Department has sent the desired orders
tothe commander of our fleet in the Philippines. We have, of course,
no military force in Shantung, but the German Government have
offered whatever military assistance may be necessary in that
province for the protection of American missionaries. Our minister
in Pekin is aware of all these arrangements, and I think we may
safely rely upon his intelligence and energy to do everything
possible under the circumstances, You may depend upon it that this
Government is ready and willing to do its utmost to protect its
citizens in China and everywhere else.
I am, sir, with great respect, etc.,
