The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-07-01
BISMARCK OF CHINA
INTERVIEW WITH IL HUNG CHANG,
THE CHINESE STATESMAN.
How He Looks, Acts and Talks, and
and the Future OF His Country.

man in China. / refer to Ii Hung Chang.
He is the Premier of the Chinese govern
ment, the viceroy of the imperial province
of Chill, and the power behind the throne
which governs the fate of nearly 800, coo
of people. In his own province he has
almost supreme control of a popula ton
more than half as large as that of the
whole United States, and here a wink OF
his eye can cut off a head. He has more
power than any ruler in Europe, with,
perhaps, the single exception of the Car,
and he is almost the sole representative
OF the government in it's dealings with for
eign nations. He has control of the Chi
nese navy. His army is by all odds the
best in the empire, and he has at his beck
ten thousand more troops than the stand
ing army of the United States. These
troops have been trained by European mil
itary ofceis They are AIMED with the
latest of modern guns, and they know no
master but Ii Hung Chang. They are, in
fact, practically his slaves and when an
officer of the army dsobeys his orders or
makes a 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 kneeliag official
clear out of the yamen.
A PROGRESSIVE MAN
Ii 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
military and civil matters, and General
Grant said he considered Ii Hung Chang
one of the greatest statesmen of the age.
He called him the Bismarck 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 Chinese legation at Washington
sends, by the orders of Ii, flowers to place
on General Grants grave, and during my
talk with the Viceroy he was very solicit
Gus as TO the health of Mrs. Grant. The
two men had great deal in common.
Their careers were somewhat similar. Ii
was the son of a great scholar in the
province of Anhui. His father was, how
ever, poor and he had no official rank.
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 men,
Der of the Hanlin College, the most learn
ed body in 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 China's most famous statesmen of
the past, and from here he rose to the
governorship of the state of Kiangs He
acting such during the Tai Ping
rebellion and it was he who, in connection
with the American adventurer, Ward, and
Chinese Gordon, put down this rebellion.
Ii Hung Chang was the commander-in-
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 il
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 the 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 mill
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 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 a vast
income, and his investments include steam
ship companies, cotton factories, gold and
silver mines, railroad enterprises and real
estate.
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 over the world. He
subscribes to the clipping bureaus. and
everything that is printed in Europe or
America concerning China is sent here and
translated for him. He has control of the
Chinese telegraph system, and ii 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 a 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 il, and a
dispatch was sent to Picking stating the
fact to the American legation there. Late
in the evening. however, the message was
repeated, and IL was found that il was the
President of Peru, which country has a
Chinese name much like 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 Amer
lean consul or our minister knew anything
about it, and during my talk with him /
was surprised to find that he was well up
in all news matters connected with the
United States.
ON THE WAY To THE PALACE.
But let me describe the interview L had
with this great statesman in his palace
here to-day 1t was arranged for me
through our consul to Tien-Tsin, Mr..
Sheridan p. Reed. and the Secretary of
| the Chinese Navy, the Hon. 10 Feng Luh.
| This last man is the Dan Lamont of
| Earl Ii. He is his private secretary and
| confidential emissary in all matters con-
nected with foreigners. He speaks En-