The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-09-04
QUEER OLD CHINA
A Queer Old Country of One
Race,
ONE RELIGION AND ONE PARTY
The King, Mandarins, Middle
Class and Coolies.

Class and COOlieS.
''The merchs nts are missi onaries, and it Is
in China as it has been everywhere. Com-
meree first and then civilization and christians
ity."
The speaker was merchant himself, Cap
tain A. A. Benning, and one of those restless,
progressive people that he would have you be-
lieve have made such excellent missionaries
in China.
The captain is home again now, after an
absenbe of nineteen years. You have plenty
Of time to think about all that in nineteen
years, and maybe the captain was right about
it. "Why, has there been any great change
"No, not great change, but the beginning
of change. Already there are telegraph lines
all over tho kingdom, and a railroad from
Tientsin to Pel1in Those belong to the gov
ernment, though, and the government is an
absolute monarchy, so You can imagine that
the sytem is not the most perfect in the world.
But it is . noticeable fact that in tho open
parts-that is, where foreigners are allowed to
go-the natives are decidedly i'll advance of
those cut off from communication with for
eigners."
"What about the missionariesP"
"They have done some good, of course. OF
all the denominations at work there, / believe
the Catholics have made by far the most de-
cided advance. A foreigner is not allowed to
travel over the empire, but is confined to the
open ports. The missionaries are allowed ra-
dius of one hundred miles around those ports
A half century or so ago when coolie, or day
laborer, had more children than he could sup
port he drowned some Of them. The Catholics
nave stopped that by buying the Children pay
| ing one or two dollars for them, and then
bringing them up as their own children. Those
are the only Cinnamon that are really con-
yerts. If a Chinaman can got job by profess
sing Christianity, he will profess Christianity,
They are, TO greater degree than any other
people, attached to the religion and govern
ment Of their forefathers. China is the Oldest
nation on earth, and Cinnamon have been Chi
namen tee long to be really converted by mere
| ly talking to them"
Isn't there feeling against foreigners %
mo- quite the contrary The mar larii5
| are the only ones that oppose the foreigners, Z.
| flake Chinese fijy sabent % large as Aspa
! Ianta, what wouidIrt lcoS IKE?
! "Well, in the first place, there would be a
| wall around it about twenty feet high. Tho
| gates are opened at sunrise and shut up at sun
Set The houses have only one story, and
none oil the roofs are as high as tho city wall.
| It's queer sight to stand on the wall and
look over the city The streets are narrow,
say six to eight feet wide, and robbers move
over the city by going from roof to roof"
''No one is allowed to so on the streets after
nightfall, and if a fellow is caught going about
the suppostion is that he is a robber. There
is Watchnlan ut every street corner during
the night, and the head man in each block is
responsible to the mandarin for all disorder in
that block. So at night the streets are desert
cd except by the waJohmen, and all You hear
is the beating Of the watehmen's
gong as they walk their beats. In
the daytime, though, the streets are
pl d. Of
ried about on the backs of coolies, an oc-
casiopal cart, or wheelbarrew or sedan
chair. The passenger wheelbarrows are made
pretty much as they are here except that the
wheel is larger, and on each side Of the wheel
is a seat. Two passengers make load. There
are no women on the streets. There are the
shops, and the markets. the warehouses, all
one story The mandarin's house is two story,
and so is a literary man s, but that is all.
"What about Chinaman's houseW
'Ihe grandparents of the family are tho
head people. A Chinaman's parents far
more sacred to him than his children are, and
the worship of their ancestors is part Of their
religion. A Chinaman's first wife Is chosen
for him by his parents. The others are merely
copcubines and he has as many of them as he
can buy and support. The first wife has an
authority over the others. When she dies the
husband NAV choose ono of his coneubncs to
be his wife, but more often he chooses new
one from outside. Wien one Of the concubnes
has child it is Immediately taken from her
and given to the head wife. The head wife
has charge Of all the children and treats them
exactly alike. The children all respect her
as mother, and regard their real mother as
merely a concubne of their father. There IS
no public school system, but schools are COM
mon and education OF the masses has ALWAYS
been encouraged. The only rank except that
of king is mandarin, and the Inandarins are
chosen by competitive examinations in the
provinces, and from these the higher manda-
rims are chosen in the same way 1t is the
heighth Of Chinaman's ambition to be man
DARN"
"What would you see around the city2"
''Rice fields and sugar cane in the low coun-
try, tea farms in tho upper country. Then, Of
course, they raise great variety OF other
things. 1t took Cinnamon to find out what
ponds, well kept and well stocked. Their farms
are perfect flower gardens The ground is
never idle, not single foot of it.
There is another thing about the city that
YOU see from away oif-the lepers' village.
There is great deal Of leprOgy, and there is
nothing on earth as sad as a lepers fate when
the police carry him to the lcpers' village he
bids an eternal farewell to the outside world,
and waits for death. Life is an agony, and ali
around him are lepers, nothing but epers."
"What causes leprosyY'
''They used to say that filth did, but a new
and plausible theory Is that the entire ABB
sence Of salt in all they eat is quite "a
potent n factor as the filth. There is no salt
mined in China. All they ret is made by
eyaporaling sea water along the coast, and tho
tax on salt is 50 fearfully heavy that by the
time you get one hundred miles from the coast
the salt has increased five hundred uer cent In
value. The privilege Of selling salt is let TO
the highest mandarin, and is - main source Of
his revenue. TO protect the mandarins 10
foreign salt is allowed 70 be i'm
ported. They tax everything, exports
as well as imports. Il governor
Of a province instead Of being paid for his
services actually pays tho king FOR the appoint
ment. Then he gets rich by taxing his people.
When the king needs money he sends his Ohi-
GERS around to Cyory house. An accurate nc
count Is kept Of each mans wealth, and, going
by the list with which be is furnished, each
officer saws: Look hero, the king wants TO
borrow so much. The Chiuaman loans
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