The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-03-16
PLAN 70 F()RSAKE P[K|N
HANKOW PROPOSED AS THE NEW
CHINESE CAPITAL.
From a Commercial Point of View 1t
Possesses Radical Advantages Over
Pekin-In Center of China.


tive existence of the Chinese empire
there is working the spirit of change.
1t is a truth strongly displayed by the
recent visit of Lii Hung Chang, China's
most powerful viceroy, to the rest of
the world; but it is even more clearly
shown by the fact that in the empire
ruled by its ancestors" where any
departure from what has been is
thought a wrong, there is talk of
changing the capital. AS yet it is
merely talk; but its existence and the
radical change with which it deals
show plainly the recent progress of
Far Cathay.
Hankow, the city proposed as the
new seat of Government, possesses
from a commercial point of view rad
ical advantages over Pekin, and this
fact is urged as the strong reason for
the change Situated in the center of
China proper, on the banks of it's great
artery, the Yangtze, by which large
steamers can penetrate to the heart
of the city, Hankow has great future
before it. With the awakening of
more progressive spirit in the empire,
it must become a place of prime i'm
portance. 1t is already the center of
the tea trade in the Yanktze valley.
and during the tea season of May and
June it is crowded with buyers from
all parts of the world. BY far the larg-
hands of Russian merchants, but other
nations are represented in the neigh
borhood.
For a considerable time the British
have had a settlement about half
mile north of the Han, a large trib-
utary of the Yangtze, from which
Hanllow, literally the mouth of the
Han, takes IS name. The French have
also been in possession of a grant.
Some time ago the Germans, taking
the initiative, applied for and obtained
a settlement about a mile north of the
British concession. Russia, whose in
terests in Hankow are very great,
promptly followed, and obtained land
also bordering on the river between
the British concession and the French
and German settlements.
Through the work of Europeans and
the native rulers, progress in the city
has been considerable. A railway has
lately been projected between Pekin
and Hankow. Should it be continued
to Canton, rapid transit of passengers
and goods might be made ~ ween the
two latter places. The long, round
about, and sometimes disagreeable,
passage by the Yangtze and the dang
erous China sea could be done away
with at pleasure, and the journey it
self accomplished in perhaps less than
two days.
Immediately opposite Hanllow city
lies Wuchang, the principal residence
of the most powerful viceroy in the
empire after Ii Hung Chang-Chang
Chi Tung. He is a man of strong in
tellectual power, and has brought
about many reforms. At Wuchang
there are large cotton mills, and at
Hanyang, on the Hankow side of the
river, are large iron works and arsenal,
the formation of which has cost Chang
Chi Tung an enormous amount of
money His right hand man, Tsai Tas-
tai, is well-educated and most gen.
tleman like man. Until quite lately
Englishmen held most of the import
ant posts. They have been gradually
superseded by Germans. German in
terests are being pushed forward in
every direction. Even the troops at
the garrison and fort at Wuchang are
being placed under German officers for
instruction.