The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-19

mere nave DttH some TeluaIhs Is ~
this question of alliance. / nave never
said, nor viii ! say or think Of saying.
that America and Great Britain should
have an alliance for Offense and defense.
II would be a mos stupid thing TO say.
Fancy if Great Britain had some bother
in Europe. What is that to Americans.
/ do not suppose you people would think
Of going to war about some question OF
that kind. What ] meant was sort of
commercial unders landing. That is a bet
ter word. An understanding with regard
TO China alone and with regard TO the
trade and commerce in China alone, in or
der that We should keep the open door
and in order that We should help China her
self and help us in helping China. That
is ALL
The question Of creating the fleets and
the armies and all that sort of thing and
making remarks that might be held az
irritating 10 the other two great powers
is very far from my wish. In my humble
opinon-and 1 have just come from that
country-the crisis as to the breakup in
China as only postponed. II is certain TO
come sooner or later. and il is the business
of us who have trade in China TO look the
question In the face, to devise some means
by which We can protect our trade and
commerce in the future and some means
which viii not be offensive 10 the other
countries. some means that will be for
the benefit of our own selves in the way
of trade and commerce.
The Policy of Grab.
Now let us take the other policy. which
IS the only possible policy at present. /
think you viii agree with me it is policy
OF drift But there IS another policy. /
cannot conceive anything that is more
mystfying that is more irritating than
what is called the sphere Of influence pol
icy. II is a policy which is generally pol
icy of grab 1t must be a policy Of irri-
tatioh. We have seen it largely
lately In Africa. Everybody wants more
than they have got. But this sphere of
Influence policy in my opinion is abso-
lutely certain to drift into war and war
is the worst thing that can happen in the
interest of trade and commerce.
Il say with regard to the American
trade, il is your business, it is not mine.
But l do believe honestly that your trade
you have not got very much at pres
ent; it is going on by leaps and bounds
but your trade and our trade must GER
tainly suffer very materially i'm the future
unless we have something on the princi-
pie of a fire service 10 look after Il when
thesegdisturbances do occur which are GER
tain 10 occur You have already seen
what the sphere of influence in a minor
way is in Pekin. The powers landed troops.
There was every sort of irritation he
cause the Russians landed ten more
troops than the British. There was irri-
tation, ! think, because one country mad
not their troops at the moment there.
That Is the practical way of looking at
the sphere Of influence. A sphere of in
fluence is absolutely certain to produce
war very soon after It is declared by coun-
tries.
As TO American Trade.
the present American trade is almost en-
TREY IN the North A great deal of your
goods go into China under the ownership
of Britons and Germans. But 81 per cent.
of the goods that go into Manchuria are
American, and / think that is a very in
teresting detail for those American gentle
men who are interested in trade in China.
~ Shanghai l found that in three years
ending in the year 1891 the increase Of
your piece goods was 1,5725S2. That is
Almost a phenomenal increase. Your cot
ton goods gone mp in the last four years
120 per cent. in quantity. and 50 per cent.
in value. The British cotton goods have
gone down 10 per cent. IN quantity and
per cent. in value You have curious idea
Of making what people want and we have
a curious idea of what we think people
ought to have. i assure you both with your
cotton goods and with your engines and
your commercial matters of that sort the
result is that you are certainly cutting us
out at present, and l shall do my level
best to try and cut you out again when
we go home. But that is the healthy com
petition between countries.
But there is plenty of room for both OF
us in the country, as well as for all the
other nations in the world. We have NOT
touched the surface of what we may do
in China yet
China Needs Hevenue.
In my opinion China is certain to be
bankrupt in three or four years unless
they have new source of revenue. They
have a magnificent source of revenue there
If they would only allow it to be developed.
IL we can help them with their army we
get our quid pro quo and something which
gives a chance to all the nations of the
world to invest their capital in China ana
develop her resources. That Is a chance
which the two other great powers would
have which they have not at present
Great Britain does not want anything of
America, and / am very well certain
! America wants nothing out of
Great Britain. Why should We?
We are absolutely intermingled
in trade In your telegraph Offices; In your
railway shops; some in England, some in
America. Therefore, what benefits Eng
land l believe must benefit America.
What benefits America l believe must
benefit England. The total trade of China
as far as ] can make out. held by foreign
countries is 600 pounds OF that
Great Britain owns So per cent; America
Is per cent; the other countries divide the
remaining 80 per cent.
II must earnestly hope that the settle
ment of this question viii make an ever
lasting friendship between the two grea,
Misunderstanding nations.
eve are of the same blood; We have
the same language; we have the same
may l cali it grand, honest sentiment
with regard TO trade and commerce. and
we have the same sentiments with re-
gard to what is good 20 the community st
large. believe if we keep the door open
that we are adopting a policy which is
absolutely fair and square to all the ma
tons of the earth and is absolutely good
for China itself. l believe that We shan
do good not only to trade and commerce
but 90 humanity ana Christianity and the
whole world at large"
His speech was received with FREQUENT
outbursts Of applause and as he resumed