That Hay so promptly succeeded in putting at least a toe in the door which he wished to open was due to a number of circumstances.Great Britain, devoted to the principle of free trade, heartily approved of his proposal and at once accepted its terms.The other powers expressed their sympathy with the ideas of the note, but, in the case of Russia at least, without the faintest intention of paying any heed to it.Hay promptly notified each power of the others' approval and stated that, with this unanimous consent, he would regard its acceptance of the proposals as "final and definitive."The force which Hay had used was the moral influence of world opinion.None of the powers dared, with its hands fresh filled with Chinese plunder, openly to assert that it had taken the spoils for selfish reasons alone--at least, after another power had denied such purpose.Hay saw and capitalized the force of conventional morality which, however superficial in many cases, had influenced the European powers, particularly since the time of the Holy Alliance.Accustomed to clothe their actions in the garb of humanitarianism, they were not, when caught thus red-handed, prepared to be a mark of scorn for the rest of the world.The cult of unabashed might was still a closet philosophy which even Germany, its chief devotee, was not yet ready to avow to the world.Of course Hay knew that the battle was not won, for the bandits still held the booty.He was too wise to attempt to wrench it from them, for that indeed would have meant battle for which the United States was not prepared in military strength or popular intention.He had merely pledged these countries to use their acquisitions for the general good.Though the promises meant little in themselves, to have exacted them was an initial step toward victory.
In the meantime the penetration of foreign influences into China was producing a reaction.A wave of protest against the "foreign devils" swept through the population and acquired intensity from the acts of fanatic religious leaders.That strange character, the Dowager Empress, yielded to the "Boxers," who obtained possession of Pekin, cut off the foreigners from the outside world, and besieged them in the legations.That some such movement was inevitable must have been apparent to many European statesmen, and that it would give them occasion, by interference and punishment, to solidify their "spheres of influence" must have occurred to them.The "open door" was in as immediate peril as were the diplomats in Pekin.
Secretary Hay did not, however, yield to these altered circumstances.Instead, he built upon the leadership which he had assumed.He promptly accepted the international responsibility which the emergency called for.The United States at once agreed to take its share, in cooperation with the Great Powers, in whatever measures should be judged necessary.The first obvious measure was to relieve the foreign ministers who were besieged in Pekin.American assistance was active and immediate.By the efforts of the American Government, communication with the legations was opened; the American naval forces were soon at Tientsin, the port of Pekin; and five or six thousand troops were hastily sent from the Philippines.The United States therefore bore its full proportion of the task.The largest contingent of the land forces was, indeed, from Germany, and the command of the whole undertaking was by agreement given to the German commander, Graf von Waldersee.Owing, however, to his remoteness from the scene of action, he did not arrive until after Pekin had been reached and the relief of the legations, which was the first if not the main object of the expedition, had been accomplished.
After this, the resistance of the Chinese greatly decreased and the country was practically at the mercy of the concert of powers.
By thus bearing its share in the responsibilities of the situation, the United States had won a vote in determining the result.Secretary Hay, however, had not waited for the military outcome, and he aimed not at a vote in the concert of powers but at its leadership.While the international expedition was gathering its forces, he announced in a circular note that "the policy of the Government of the United States is to seek a solution which may bring about permanent safety and peace to China, preserve Chinese territorial and administrative entity, protect all rights guaranteed to friendly powers by treaty and international law, and safeguard for the world the principle of equal and impartial trade with all parts of the Chinese Empire."To this position he requested the powers to assent.
Again Hay had hit upon a formula which no self-respecting power could deny.Receiving from practically all a statement of their purpose to preserve the "integrity" of China and the "Open Door"just when they were launching the greatest military movement ever undertaken in the Far East by the western world, he made it impossible to turn punishment into destruction and partition.The legations were saved and so was China.After complicated negotiations an agreement was reached which exacted heavy pecuniary penalties, and in the case of Germany, whose minister had been assassinated, a conspicuous and what was intended to be an enduring record of the crime and its punishment.China, however, remained a nation--with its door open.
Once more in 1904 the fate of China, and in fact that of the whole Far East, was thrown into the ring.Japan and Russia entered into a war which had practically no cause except the collision of their advancing interests in Chinese territory.
