New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-06-05

So The publishers or memorial Noiuiies 0"'
testify that this is custom not pecuIar u
China But the Chinaman's remark contained
satisfactory reason for the establishment OF the
people who found that the Christians charged
n,,ca FOR hooks. small though 1t was. DR.. Lans-
dell had been told tina. the Mahometans IN
chinese Turkestan were fanatical to an abnormal
degree but on trial he found that they bought
New Tcstaments in the Kirghese and Persian
languages with eagerness. There Is Viiiase.oi
some forty families called Tum Chuk west OF
the city Of Aksu. and there a mullah-that Is,
scbo,ar Of Islauo-came to say that he had not
four tengas-about ten pence-but would pay
niece OF felt for a book. Another scholar offered
three tengas and soon the whole village turned
ont 70 buy and DR.. Lansde had to stop the
sales. lest his whole supply OF Kirghese ana Per
sian copies should be exhausted. Ihere were
only two Jews in Kashgar ana Do'h pous"'
copies of the Bible IN Hebrew. Characterisucahs'
they wanted good bargain. and so they pesseu
a small copy OF the Psalms as present "On re-
ce!vng the books in their hoy language they
kissed them and rubbed them against their Tore
heads" The mul,ahs of Kulbashi college IL
Yengi Hissar. came to the authors lodgings III
tho suburbs 10 get New Testaments. and at an
insignificant village. called Janghuia. on the ROAD
to Khotan the people bought dozen New Iesta-
ments OF course. there is no telling what 'he
people DID with the books after they got them
They could only make ar awkward EFFORT 10
understand those printed In K!rghese and the
missionary had nothing nearer to the dialects
which they spoke But he notes the fact that no
missionary efforts the part OF Christianity
without a version of the New Testament have
had nermanent value His hope is that the books
will make welcome for future missionaries. and
he n those ministers ana
teachers who are reduced 10 invalidism In the
,ronics and along the coast sent to the highlands
over which he travelled to recuperate by labo: in
a field.
With all this willingness TO take the Christian
literature which was offered them. the natives
were still puzzled by the fact that an English
Churchman came over the Russian frontier. and
that he received a considerable portion Of the liter
ature which he distributed by way Of China
,,rono- though he was not n Roman Catholic
The people of Turkestan not happy under
Chinese rule They have often revolted In the
mast AS TO their present condition. opinions az
fer and curiously enough. foreign opinion can DC
classified as either English or Russian EnghsH
travellers usually commend Chinese adminis'ra-
ton. while the very least that Russians say
against 1t is that it takes half the income OF 'he
people In taxes The worst that they say coulu
only be printed with supply OF dots ana as'ef-
;sLs md dashes The immortality Of Mott-st. or OF
the Chinese quarter in san Francisco is a mere
metaphor a figure Of speech, alongside of that "a
mlliar TO Central Asia The author observes mat
Englshmen who have lived longest in Western
China Use language most nearly like that OF the
Russians and he adds. after quoting testimony
from both sides. that most Of the EnghshIneA
whom he mentions were like himself. birds OK
passage dependent on information from irrespon-
sible pcrsons." and unable to speak the language
~ the peoplc ION the other hand. the members
Of the Russian consula,es have lived in the coun-
try for years, they speak the vernacuiar OF the
country. and have their agents in every important
town. Moreover they collect information. not FOR
magazine articles. geographical papers. etc. but
for the Emperor's eye. and then to be dockeied IN
the imperial archives" His own observation Jed
him to believe that the taxes were excessive. ana
that they were collected by the most obnoxious
methods He ordered a carpet In Khotan and the
weaver who made II explained casually that he
must take II TO the custom-house and pay one
twentieth Of It's price. The Significance OF the In
cident one OF many. lay In the fact That the
weaver treated not as a resilient OF CHINA.
but as the nhabitart Of a conquered country.
travelling merchant had to pay duties In every
district through which ne passed. whereas under
the recent tyranny Of Yokuh Khan such trader
could have bought license for six months. TAX
Ing these instances which came under his person
al observation in connection with Russian consul
lar reports which he examined the author evil
IDENTIFY reached a conclusion different from the ono
usually made public in England AS TO the chi
nese military force in Turkestan. there is 10 dis
agreement All European witnesses testify that II
is beneath contempt. In Picking Dr. Lansdc had
an audience with Ii Hung Chang. which turned
out TO be n very searching inquiry on the part Of
the astutc Chinese statesman respecting the plans
OF Russia in Western China. "Will the Russians
take Kashgar?" was one Of hs questions, which
the traveller answered in the negative. not be-
cause ne was in the confidence Of the Gar but be
cause in his opinion. the country would cost
more T. govern on Il European model than the
taxes would pay for" or course. l.. Hung Chang
next question was. why did Russia annex the
portion Of Turkestan which she now holds? Does
II pay?' NO" was the answer. but the turbu-
lent tribes on the border had 10 be driven 10
recognized frontier" Here In sentence, Is the
whole theory OF Chinese control in Turkcstan. II
furnishes an official system with which both Eng
land and Russia deal. and II saves both Of
those Powers a responsibility which would bc
more costly than profitable. The Ike must be
true also Of Tibet. When that barren and broken
tableland can be made useful both England and
Russia will be eager TO seize It, and the exclusive
ness OF Lhasa will be at an end.
Meanwhile the whole diplomatic system OF
Eastern and Southern Asia Is shaken thu moment
any traveller attempts to reach the Tibctan
capital 1t the goal which DR.. Lansdell
meant to reach He rounded 1t on all sides but
one from Kuldja In the northwest to Calcutta
on the south and Pekng at the east. He vent
ured toward the centre in his ride to khotan
and again in two trips which he took to Nepal
and Bhotan But he got no further From the
moment that he spoke of completing his Journey
by ride to Lhasa. he was made 10 feel the OBJ
staces that lay in his way. Russian officers as
far back as 1882 assured him that the project was
all bu; hopeless. and at the Chinese Legation in
London ne told at once that there were po-
litical difficulties In the way. But corresponds
ent In Illinois urged him TO make the effort, and
"