Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-30

Ii Hung Chang Is the most progressive
Chinaman of today. Gen. 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
military and civil matters. and Gen. Grant
said he considered Ii Hung Chang one of
the greatest statesmen Of the age. He
called him the Bisn arck of China and was
wont to compare him with Gladstone. The
two men fell in love with each other, and
they corresponded to the day Of Gen
Grants death. Now, on every Decoration
day. the CHR legation at Washington
sends, by the orders Of Ii, flowers to place
on Gen. Grants grave, and during my
talk with the viceroy he was very solicit
tous as to the health Of Mrs Grant. The
two men had a great deal In common
Their careers were somewhat similar. Ii
was the son of great scholar in the
province Of Anhui. His father was how
ever, poor, and he had no official rank.
A Great scholar.
Ii was given a good Chinese education,
and he soon jumped to the front as one of
the great scholars of China. He passed
three public examinations, which means
that he was three times one of the two
hundred successful men out of the fifteen
thousand competitors. and at his last ex-
animation he took the highest degree of
the whole fifteen thousand. He is q MEM
Der Of the Hanlin College. the most learn
ed body Of China. and he had a great deal
to do in the education of the emperor. His
scholarship gave him the position Of mill
tary secretary to Gen. Tseng Kuo Fan.
one of Chi as most famous statesmen of
the past, and from here he rose to the
governorship of the state of Kiangsi. He
was acting as such during the Tai Ping
rebellion. and 1t was he who. in connection
with the American adventurer. Ward, and
IN fv,0 yatyf 6nyxrV h 10 vnhn ltrv,
Ii Hung Chang was the COMMANDMENT
chief Of the imperial forces, and the rebels
were slaughtered by the millions. 1t is
estimated that ten millions of people were
killed during this rebellion, and when it
was over LIS fortune was made. This
was away back in the fifties, and Ii Hung
Chang has since then been the leading
figure in Chinese history. He rose from
his governorship to be viceroy of Wuchang.
and as such controlled millions of people
in central China. He was next made the
viceroy Of this the imperial province. His
capital here is one of the biggest cities of
China, and it contains more than a mil
lion people 1t is the center Of the north
ern trade Of the empire. and Ii has con-
troll Of everything that comes into North
China. This trade amounts to many mill
lions of dollars a year. Something like
100000 in revenues pass through Lis
hands, and he spends vast sums in all
sorts Of ways. No one knows how much
he is worth. Some reports put him high
in the tens Of millions, while others say
he is comparatively poor. There is no
doubt, however, but that he has vast in
come, and his investments include steam
ship companies, cotton factories, gold and
silver mines. railroad enterprises and real
estate
A Modern Chinaman.
He IS a pure Chinaman, but he has
adopted many modern methods. He man.
ages his great official force much like one
of our western executives and he has a
staff Of Interpreters who keep him posted
on what is going on over the world. He
subscribes to the clipping bureaus, and
everything that is printed In Europe
America concerning China is sent here and
Chinese telegraph system and 1t was he
who introduced the electric wire into China
From his capital run now more than eight
thousand 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 dispatch came which created a
great excitement among the people here.
1t was that the President of the United
States was dead. The consuls were all ex-
pecting kilograms corroborating II and q
dispatch was sent to Picking stating the
fact to the American legation there. Late
in the evening, however. the message was
repeated and it was found that 1t was the
president of Peru, which country has a
Chinese name much like that used 70.