Arizona weekly enterprise., 1889-01-26

lestial Empire-New Ideas from the West l Not Received with Cordiality-Autocracy of Science.
 Mai. Gen. James H. Wilson delivered lecture before the American Geograph- ical society, in Chickering hall, New York city, during the course of which he said:
 In China the family is the political unit, and if one member goes astray the whole family may become extinct if the emperor pleases. No man can be gov ernor in his own province, and TO gov ernor Is allowed to surround himself with officials who are his own relatives. Nepotism is unknown.
 The great rivers of China flow east to the Pacific, and the populations gather in the deltas in towns and villages. A peculiarity of the great cities is that they are surrounded with great brick walls, with ditches. parapets and gates, and the gates are regularly opened and closed every morning, as they were 500 years ago. The new capital of Formosa has such a wall, after the manner of the middle ages. The crystallized labor of Japan is seen in these great walls of cities, the great wall of the nation that separates it from outlying provinces and the grand canal. They spend every year large sums to keep the grand canal open. Yet it is inadequately supplied with re- serve stores of water.
 He spoke of the civil service system of China as a democratic institution, that tA ,Ir equal to that of his neighbors. There is no nobility, only the autocracy of sci ence. The last examination comprised the competition of 30,000 students of ma ture age, of whom only thirty succeeded The learning relates to Chinese history and jurisprudence and the philosophy of Confucius, but has nothing to do with modern sciences. There is a college in China presided over by an American, Dr. w. A. P. Martin. but the govern ment Is very slow to admit new ideas. It only lately began to investigate electric ity. It is not best for the native China man to know too much of modern sci ence.
 Gen Wilson spoke of the successive destruction of Chinese dvnasties as inseparable from the Chinese sys- tem. As far as it is practicable, wherever there is Chinamen in office, there is a Tartar to watch him. The operation of the censorship is inquis- itorial and offensive. The whole empire is held in subjcction by the army and the censor. The present emperor is only F years old. He is the nephew of the late emperor; for the first time in many years the direct male issue failed. For some years the practical sway was held hr hn md nf the late emperor. But recently one of them died. and the empress dowager was left in practical supremacy.
 She is never seen by foreigners. She is remarkable woman. She selects the 1 cmperor's wives. and has begun by choosing as his first wife her favorite niece. The imperial clan occupies a place about a mile square, walled in, in the middle of the city of Ptkin
 The high officials will not hold inter- course with foreigners. No diplomat has ever seen the empress dowager or the emperor. Not even the great men of China can approach the throne without permission, and then they must be pros trate. There is no such thing as popular education. The people have nothing to do with the government. The govern mcnt is absolutely isolated, and holds no | never reach the throne from the people, | The foreigners are confined to a very ! small part of the seahoard, except that i missionaries are allowed to go to the in i terior. The foreign merchant does not ] deal with the Chinese merchant directly 1 but through servants. Improvements go ! on slowly. Yet in the interior may be i found kerosene, cotton cloth, needles and matches.
 The Tai ping rebellion had it's origin with disappointed student. The an tipathy of the rebels to foreigners led to the establishment of the lever victo- rious" army, under the celebrated Capt. 1 Ward, and the development of the hair brained Burgevins, whose ambition even scared to first shipping the rebels and 1 then taking possession of the empire. The result was that after he had deserted to both sides several times the Chinese lost him one night while crossing river.
 Gen. Wilson quoted one of the me morials recently sent to the emperor by high Chinese official, written, accord ing to Chinese customs, on his deathbed, advocating the building of railroads, mining, the construction of ships, coast defenses and other progressive things. That this and other similar memorials have reached the eyes of the emperor is known by the fact that many such me morials have been printed in the Chinese official paper, which has been published about 300 years, not daily, but every now and then. But the ideas of the government progress slowly. The cen sors are conservative and slow to move and suspicious of foreigners, although they have admitted that the foreigners are not necessarily enemies.
 1falN H. ing rapid progress in China. The only drawback is the fact that American trade marks are counterfeited.
 The Chinese students who began theil course of study here, but who were re- called by the censors, complain bitterly of their treatment, and despair of the progress of China while the present regime lasts
 China has no floating capital. The legal rate of interest is 37 per cent. The lowest rate on the most favorable loan: is 25 per cent. Every man is liable tC spoliation. The imperial treasury is il a constant state of collapse. The em
 press follows her own judgment, anc she is now engaged in vain effort tt turn the bed of a great river, and tht treasury ia not equal to the task. There
 is one railroad fifty miles long in China
 The present condition of the country al
 regards it's foreign foes, particular,
 England and Russia, is deplorable. Th,
 prospect seems to be that before long tn
 great empire, unless she can arouse her
 self to progress, will be partitioned. Tn
 will of the emperor is supreme, but un
 less he can be reached and directed ther
 IS little hope for Chinese progress.
 A curious notion in table decoration
 to have tine center of the table made int,
 a little pond in which crabs and lobster
 are seen and even fish are pa5dlinl
 about.