The morning call., 1894-09-01
WHAT WE KNOW OF CHINA.

WHAT WE KNOW OF CHINA.
! Whatever else may result from the war
between China and Japan, it is certain to
lead TO better acquaintance with the
| former country than we now possess. Ac.
counts of the Flowery Kingdom fill many
shelves in libraries; but the best use to
which most Of Them could be put would be
To light fires. The best book in our Ian
guage is still Williams Middle Kingdom, %
| though it is dull, verbose and inaccurate
next 10 this must be ranked GutZlaff' s
history, Won Rchthofer's letters, Pun
pelly's researches, Fortunes description
OF the tea countries and the travels of
! General James Wilson. The latter con-
tains valuable information, though the i'm
pressiOns Of the writer were biased by his
| failure 10 obtain a railroad concession
from the Government. Within the past
| year or so, accomplished correspondence
have been sent to China by American and
English newspapers; prominent among
these is Frank @. Carpenter, whose letters
appear in THE CALL: some work of edn-
cation has thus been accomplished; but it
Is still a fact that ChristendOm knows next
to nothing about the most populous coun-
try in the world.
Everybody has heard of LII Hung Chang.
People who are well informed are familiar
with the appearance, the policy and the
bonhomie of the great Viceroy. Hardly
any one is aware that he has rivals who
are scarcely his interiors in ability. One
of these is Clan Chi Tung, the Viceroy
Of Honpe and E0nan, who lives at WI
Chang. city of 100000 people on the
-tSe-kiang. about 700 miles from the
coast. C6ang Chi Tung belongs TO the old
conservative party which hates foreigners
and has always been preparing for war
against Christians. At one time when the
Government at Picking set its face against
railroads he spent ten millions in connect
ing the cities of his provinces by lines of
rail, and started at Han Yang on the river
steel works of vast size, furnaces of the
latest European make, and workshops
which cover forty-ive or fifty acres. These
shops are full Of the latest improved ma
chinery. which is run by forty Belgian en-
gines. a railroad from HankOw to Tien-
tsin is one of the enterprises he has in con-
temptation.
Another leading Chinaman OF the day is
Lin Ming Chang. Governor of Formosa.
He has had small system of railroads in
operation for twelve or fifteen years.
They helped him to beat the French
in 1885. He is said TO have an
army of $4,000 men, commanded by English
and German officers. Lin Ming WIS Ii
Hung Changes rival for the viceroyalty
Of Chih-li, and is by many considered the
stronger man.
The united province of Quantuug and
Quansee, from which our Cinnamon in
this country hail. is governed by Ii Han
Chang, the younger brother of Ii Hung
Chang. These two provinces have a pop
ulation of about so. 600, 600. and standing
army of 100 coo men, which is renewed by
cons tant recruitment. The Viceroy main
tains at Whampoa a naval and military
college in which foreign professors edu-
cafe the pupils in the manufacture of arms
and explosives, and in the construction of
modern forts and mines. Foreigners de-
scribe Ii Han Changes organization as
very complete: it was perfected during the
struggle with the French on the Tonouiu
frontier.
Mr.. Carpenter concurs with other trav-
elers in describing the Chinese bureau
cracy ana the Government departments
generally as honeycom bed with corrup-
ton. When the Emperor wants money
he levies forced loans on the Governors
they levy on the MRndarns and Taotais.
and these levy on the people. Every Gov
ernor and military Mandarin lie expected
to grow rich. When the late Tso Tsung
Tong was refused admission to Picking
till he paid the bannermen $4,000, he pro-
tested that he was too poor 10 raise such a
sum, whereupon the Empress naively
asked: What has be been about, then,
all these years 2" The actual military
force enrolled on the provincial rosters
foots up 701, SIT men; but the colonies
draw pay and ratons for men who do not
exist in the flesh. and the Kendng- Pdo,
the leading newspaper of Canton. states
that the actual number of men under arms
is not over 100000. The weakness of China
as military power does not arise. how
ever, from want of men. There is abso-
lutely no transportation and no commits
sarlat. 1t would be an extraordinary feat
to move the army of Quantung to the the
alter of war in the north. IF. as Napoleon
said. the most effective army is that which
fights with its legs, China has nothing
which could answer the description.