Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1891-08-15

tutas ttDtn tuo Nfst
Not Received with Cordiality-Autocraey
of Science.
Maj. Gen. James II. 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 il the
emperor pleases. No man can he a gov
ernor in his own province. and no 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 il that they
are surrounded with great brick walls.
with bitches. parapets and gates, and the
gates are regularly opened and closed
every morning, rs they were 600 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 i'm these great walls OF
cities. the great wall of the nation that
separates II from outlying provinces and
the grand canal. They spend every year
large sums to keep the grand canal open.
Yet it is inndequately supplied with re
serve stores of water.
lie spoke of the civil scrvfce system OF
China as democratic institution that
gave every man a chance 10 advance
equal To that of his neighbors. There i
no nobility, only the alitocracy of sci.
I ence. The last examination comprised
/ the competition of 80. 900 students Of ma
7 ture age of whom only thirty succeeded.
/ The learning relates to Chinese history
and Jurisprudence and the philoso ,,hy OF
I Confucius. but has nothing to do with
modern sciences There Is a college in
I China presided over by an American,
DIR. w. A. T. Martin. but the govern
mcnt Is very slow To admit now ideas. It
only lately began to investigate electric
ity, II il not bcst for the native China
man 10 know tuo much of modern sci
encc.
Glen. Wilson spoke of the successive
destruction of Chinese dvnasties as
inseparable from the Chinese sys-
tenn. As far as it is practicable,
wherever there is Cinnamon in
/ office there is Tartar To watch him
The operation of the censorship is inquis-
itorial and offensive. The whole empire
is held in sublcction 10y the army and tho
censor. The present emperor il only II
I 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
by two women, the wife and sister Of
the late emperor. But recently one of
them died, and the empress dowager was
left i'll practical supremacy.
She is never seen by foreigners. She
Is remarkable woman. She selects the
empcror's wives, and has begun by
choosing as his first wife her favorite
niece. The imperial clan occupies a
place about mile square, walled in, in
the middle of the city of Pekin.
! 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
ment is absolutely isolated, and holds no
communication with the people. Ideas
never reach the throne from the people.
/ The foreigners are confined to very
small part of the seaboard, except that
missionaries are allowed To go To the in.
terror The foreign merchant does not
{ deal with the Chinese merchant directly,
but through servants. improvements 20
I on slowly. Yet in the interior NAV be
4 found kerosene, cotton cloth, needles and
matches.
/ The Tapping rebellion had its origin
/ with disappointed student. The an
! tipathy OF the rebels TO foreigners led To
\ the establishment Of the ever victo-
/ rions" army, under the celebrated Cant.
+ Ward. and the development of the hair
Drained Burgesins, whose ambition even
scared to first shipping the rebels and
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 a river.
Gen. Wilson quoted one of the me-
MORALS 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 il
known by the fact that many such me-
MORALS have been printed in the Chinese
official paper. which has been published
about 900 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
Z they have admitted that the foreigners
are not necessarily enemies
American watches and clocks are max
Ing rapid progress In China. The only
/ drawback il the fact that American
\ trade marks are countcFfeited.
The Chinese students who began their
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 tho present
regime lasts.
/ China has no floating capital. The
l legal rate of interest il 81 per cent. The
( lowest rate on the most favorable loans
Is % per cent. Every man Is liable to
spoliation. The imperial treasury is In
a constant state of collapse. The en-
press follows her own Judgment, and
she Is now engaged ia vain effort 70
turn the bed Of great river, and the
treasury IL not equal to the task. There
Is one railroad fifty miles long in China.
The present condition Of the country as
regards its foreign foes, particularly
England and Russia, Is deplorablc. The
prospect seems 10 be that before long the
great empire, unless she can arouse her
self 10 progress. will be partitioned. The
will OF the emperor Is supreme, but un-
less no rau ba rpashal an1 ,fir..-t,d tka,...