Kansas City journal., 1897-05-16
WI TING FANG.

lines" was the reply. ''The road from Tien
Tsin to Peking will be completed in June.
and you will then be able to go from the
seashore to the capital by rail-
Where will the Peking road end, your
excellency?"
The distance is from eighty to ninety miles,
and fast trains will probably take you from
Tien Tsin to Peking in about two hours.
At present the journey requires from one
TO three days. according to route, whether
by river or by land.
How about other railroads."
from Tien Tsin to the Shanhaikwan, on the
edge of Manchuria- This is well built, and
the trains run regularly"
How about the line to Han Kow?"
That line is also being pushed, said Mr..
WI Ting Fang. 1T will run through one OF
the most populouS parts of China, and Will
go south through some of the best of our
provinces, touching large cities at every
few miles. There are now great car works
at Han Yang, a little bit above Han kow,
and all sorts Of railroad machinery are be-
ing made there
How about factories? Are many new
Yes; but these are constructed by the
Chinese merchants and business men, and
not by the government. There is large
cotton mill at Han Kow, hundreds of miles
in the interior. There are other mills at
Shanghai, including silk mills:
How about the japanese. At the close
of the war they expected to do a great
deal OF manufacturing in China, did they
"Yes, I know they did," replied his excel
lency, WI Ting Fang. They Investigated
the situation and made many plans but so
far they have not carried them out. do
not know what they will do in the future.
But, your excellency, do you think the
Japanese could do much in China? 1 have
always thought the Chinese superior to the
Janapese in business ability"
There is little doubt of that, replied the
Chinese minister. 'The Japanese are very
quick to grasp at new things. The Chinese
are careful about going into anything they
do not understand. Still they are very de-
termined and sure. They are reliable and
safe, and such progress as they make will
be permanent"
The Missionaries and the Chinese.
What are our missionaries doing in Chi
na?" .
are doing great good" replied the minis
ter. "They are earnest, able men and wom-
en-. They heal the sick, and they are in
Producing modern medical ideas among the
How about the other missionaries?'
"Oh," replied his eXcellency, they are
and some are bad. There are black sheep
in every flock, and the missionaries are no
exception. Still they do some good. They
teach the practice of morality and virtue,
and people who teach such things will al
ways make some converts
"Win they ever convert the whole Chi
nese nation?'
No" replied his excellency, with a
laugh. do you realize how many people
we are, and how long our religion has last
ed? Such a conversion will be impossible"
The Chinese as Inventors.
'I have often wondered, your exceIlen-
cy," said !, whether this great Chinese
brain which invented gunpowder, printing,
the mariners compass and other things,
may not turn back TO invention again.
The bringing in of our ideas and civiliza-
tion may stimulate II, and it may produce
many new things"
THAT may be So" was the reply. Some
of your scientific men who have lived in
China say that our people are great imi-
tators, that we can copy anything, but
that we do not invent or originate. Now
that may be so, but doubt II. The trou-
bic with us to-day is that we have no in
centive to inventions as you have here in
America. We have no copyright laws and
no patent laws. II man writes a book
| he does not want to publish it. for any
| printer near by can get out an edition and
/ compete with him. If man has an idea
/ for a labor saving device he keeps IL 20
/ himself or perhaps makes only one or two
machines. II he tried to sell the machines
| other men would copy them. and ne would
have no protection. If We had patent laws
/ l think the Chinese would display their
former inventive power. 1 don't see why
| not"
How could such laws be secured?"
| asked
Very easily" replied the minister. ANY
of our great statesmen might suggest or
! memorialize the emperor. II IL Seemed
| good to him he would put out a decree es-
| tablishing patent law, and the law would
| be enforced
The Wooden War Horses OF China.
Have you seen many evidences of in
ventiye genius existing among the Chi
| No, I cannot say have" replied the
/ minister. But our people are, you know.
| a very ingenious people, and / have no
doubt that many wonderful inventions have
been created IN the past and lost because
] there was no patent law to foster or pre-