The morning call., 1894-07-01
Ill HUNG CHANG.
A Talk With a Great
Chinese Statesman.
HIS PALACE AT TIENTSIN.
How the Bismarck of China Looks
and Acts-His Views on
the New Treaty.
HIS PALACE AT TIENTsIN.

est man in China. | refer to Ii Hung
Chang. He is the Premier OF the Chlnese
Government the Viceroy OF the lmpeFlai
province of Chilli and the power pehind
the throne which governs the lste OF
nearly 800 coo, 900 OF people. In MS own
. province he has almost supreme control OF
a population more than half as large as
that of the whole United States, and
here a wink Of his eye can cut of
head. He has more power. than any ruler
In En- one. with perhaps the single ex.
:" cention of fbe CzaT, and he is almost the
- soie .renresentatiVe of the Government in
...:.ifs dealings with foreign nations. He has
<~cnntrol of the Chinese navy. His army is
:: bv:aN odds the best in the empire, and he
has al his beck 10000 more troops than the
:. sfanding army Of the United States. These
: troops have been trained by European
= military officers. They are armed with
i the latest modern guns and they know no
,, master but Li:Rung Chang. They are. in
fact. practically. his slaves, and when an
.. officer of the army disobsys his orders or
makes false move he is called to the
palace. and asked: to explain. When he
cannot the Viceroy sometimes grows very
angry, and there are instances. am told.
: in which he, boots. the kneeling official
clear out ofthe yamen.
- Lii Hung Chang is the most progressive
!, Chinaman of to-day. General Grant spent
::some time with him here during his tour
! of the world. and the two talked over the
future.of China together. They discussed
mThtary and civil matters, and General
Grant said be considered LII Hung Chang
-.Ons of the greatest Statesmen OF the age.
He called him the Bismarck of China and
was won't to compare him with Gladstone.
fol in
other. and they corresponded to the
= ID ay of General Grants death. Now,
son every Decoration. day, the Chinese
i cation at Washington sends, by
the orders of Ii, flowers to place
ON General Grants grave, and during nv
talk with the Viceroy he was very solicit
/. rous as TO- the health of Mrs. Grant. The
two men had a great deal in common.
Their careers were somewhat similar Lii
= was the son of a great scholar in the
= province of Anhui. His father was, how
O.. ever poor, and he had DO official rank.
p Lii was given a good Chinese education
-. and he soon jumped to the front as one of
the great schgilTs of China. He passed
three public examinations, which means
that lie was three times one Of the two
hundred successful men out OF the fifteen
Thousand competitors, and at the last ex-
g.. animation lie took the highest degree of
tue whole fifteen thousand. He is a mem
beF-of the Hahlin College, the most learned
g. D0QY OF -Il4Qds duu lie 0aQ great deal
: to do in the education of the Emperor His
scholarship gave him the position of mill
Iary secretary to General Tseng Kuo Fan,
one of ChinaS most famous statesmen. of
the past, and from here he rose TO the
governship of the State of KlangSi. He
was acing.as such during the Tai Ping
rebellion, and 1t was ne who, in connec-
tiOn with the American adyenturer, Ward,
and Chinese Gordon, put down this rebel
lion. Ii Hung Chang was the commander
ln-c1lef Uf the imperial forces, and the
rebels were slaughtered by the millions.
1t is estimated that ten millions OF people
were Killed during this rebellion, aud
when it was over LIS fortune was made.
This was away back in the hftles, and Ii
Hung Chaag has since then been the
leading figure in Chinese history. He rose
from his g0veEnorshipt ptO be VicerOy of W.
chang and as,such. controlled millions of
people lnCentra China, He was next made
Ntceroy Of thIs, the imperial province.
. His capital mere is one of the biggest cities
= Of China, and il contains more than
= million people. 1t is the center OF the
northern trade Of the empire, and Lii has
ec2ntrel of everything that comes into
y oTth China This trade amounts to
many millions of dollars a year. Some
thing like: S3. 600. 900: in revenues pass
..thrOQgh"Iits. hands,. and be spends vast
:. sums in all sorts of ways. No one knows
= how much .heis worth. Some reports put
HEU GiSu III LDo TENS Oh IllIlIO0S, WUll6
Others say he: Is comparatively poor.
TheIe.is no doubt, however, but that he
: has a vast income, and his investments lu-
clude steamship companies. cotton factor
les, gold and silver mines, railroad enter
:. prlses andJeal estate.
s.: He is pure Chinaman, but he has
:: adopted many modern methods. He man
ages his great official force much like one
o. oil: our Western executives, and he has
stan Of interpreters who keep him posted
on. what Is going on oyer the world. lie
: suDscElbes to the clipping bureaus, and
-. everything that is printed in Europe or
,AIDeIlcaeQucernlDg China is sent here and
translated tor him. He mas control Of the
Cnlnese telegraph system, and it was he
. who introduced the electric wire into
China From his capital run now more
% than 5000 miles OF wire connecting him
with the Emperor and. with the Governors
of all the provinces, and he has the news
OF all the world cabled to him daily Last
night a dispatch came which created q
great excitement among the people here.
1t WAS that the President of the United
States was dead. The consuls were all
expecting kilograms corroborating it, and
a dispatch was sent 10 Peking station
stating the fact to the American legation
there. Late in the evening, however, the
message was repeated, and 1t was found
that it was the President of Peru, which
country has a Chinese name much ike
that used for the United States. who had
died instead of President Cleveland.
Ii had the news of the Chinese treaty
with America cabled him before the
American Consul or our Minister knew
anything about it, and during my talk
with him l was surprised to find that he
was well up in all news matters con-
nected with the United States.
But let me-deseribe the interview | had
with this great statesman in his palace
here to-day. 1t was arranged for me
through our Consul to TientsiD, Sheridan
Z. Reade, and the secretary of the Chinese
navy, the Hon. LO FeDg Luh This last
man is the Dan Lamont of Earl Lii. He
is DIS private secretary and confden tial
emlssary- In all matters connected with
foreigners lie speaks English and French
perfectly. and is well posted on English
sand French literature. 1t was he Who acted
as my interpreter with the Viceroy, and it
was he whOnotItied me that his Excellency.
the VIcer0y, would receive me at half-p
this afternoon. rode to the palace in
, state in box like chair covered with fin
est of blue cloth with Innings of light blue
satin. Thiswas swung between two poles
each twenty feet long,. and was carried by
four Cinnamon in livery of blue aud red
cotton. They wore high black caps with
turned-up brtTns, and ON tteIop of each cap
there was tassel of silk of the gaHdiest
red. In front of me marchedthe Ting-Cbi
of our. legation, who was also gorgeousIy
dressed, and he, on horseback, cleared the
streets for US. It's about four miles from