The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-13
Ii HUNG CHANG's WEALTH.
Every MOney-MInIKing Enterprise in
the Country Controlled by Him.
W. e. Curtis. in Chicago Record.

W. e. Curtis, in Chicago Record.
Ii Hung is not only what the young
Americans call "a very slick politician"
but is possessed of enormous wealth and
has reduced the practice of bride giving
and taking to an exact science. He is I'M
doubleday the richest man in Asia. No
Indian prince, not even the Sultan of
Turkey, has wealth to compare with his
Although he is not worth as much as
$500, 100000, as have seen stated recently
in the papers, the manager of the princi-
pal bank in Tientsin, who knows as well
as any one, estimates his fortune at &c.,
900 or $500, 600 900. lie owns a large part
of the province of Ngan Viii. His es-
tates at Wuhu are enormous. He has
pawnshops in almost every city of the
empire, and they are said to furnish
the most profitable business in China
He is the largest shareholder in the Hons
Kong and Shanghai Bank, with its capi-
tai of $4,000 900. He owns the China Mu-
tual Navigation Company, which runs a
hne OF steamers along the coast He owns
coal mines at Kai Ping and other places
along the coast of the Yellow sea- ana
also those in the provinces of Shant1In O.
and Shansi. He owns the railway between
Tongku and Shanghaiquan. He owns acre
after acre of valuable real estate in Tien
Tsin and Shanghai, two of the most inn
portant cities of the empire, and has a
large holding in the shares of every cor
porauon OF Importance in both those cities
as well as at other points in northern
China. He owns a big cotton mill at
Shanghai is interested in copper and iron
mines, and an inventory of his property
would include a portion of every enter
prise north OF Yang tie river that Is
worth investing in.
In other words, it has been found ad-
Vlsable for persons engaging in new en-
terprises to offer, and usually present Lii
Hung Chang with a generous portion OF
their shares in order to secure his favor
ana influence, for without them il was
almost impossible for any one to slIc-
ceed From this source and from presents
received from his subordinates and from
others soliciting his favor, and from the
squeezes" he has deducted from the pub
lie revenues and expenditures, the ex-
viceroy has accumulated his vast fortune
There IS not a business man in Tientsin
who Will not tell you that every dollar of
public money that passes through LIS
hands, either coming into or going out of
the treasury, has been shaved in some Wav
by him. Although he lives in a di-
lapidated old barrack and is very indiffer-
emit as to his dress and appearance his
jewels. bric-a-brac, silks, and embro!d-
cries are very valuable. Before the out
break of the late war he sent them to
Shanghai to be placed on the vaults of the
Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank for pro-
lection, as did many other rich Cinnamon
Ii Keeps all of his portable property de-
posted with foreigners. He does not trust
his own race, nor does he put all his
eggs in one basket He is known to have
deposited money and valuables in banks
in different parts of the country and he
is very sly in his attempts to conceal from
his own people, and particularly from his
official associates, the amount and char
acter of his wealth.