The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-10-09

vii show that the blame Is not entirely
hers. that others as well must bear a
share " the censure the civilized world
Is leveIlng at my country. The cause
Of the trouble ls fixed by Mrs. Conger.
wife Of your minister. In the letter
which appeared in the Herald on last
Sunday She statsd that the Chinese
arc strange people % foreigners and
cannot a. yet be understood. But no
less strange arr the foreigner and his
way to the Chinese. Our ways are 10
~ the best Their ways are to them
the best.
Mrs. Conger has struck the key note
of the trouble. Misunderstanding Is
at the bottom of what has occurred.
/ Foreigners go to China ard they treat
the Chinese with too little consdera-
ton They say you must do what we
demand and they insist that their
wishes be carried out. They have taken
Chinese territory they have criticised
the religion which Is born IN the China
man. What would the people u Amer-
lea say If other nations should seize
thelr territory? What would they soy
II followers Of Confuc.us or Buddha
should come here and sneer at their
religion? The foreigner does not un-
derstand the chinaman nor does the
Chlnaman understand the foreigner.
1T is not difficult to appreciate how
1t is this misunderstanding exists. Your
merchant goes 10 China and talks a few
words Of pldgin English with Chin
ese merchant The business Is trans
acted satisfactorily to Doth-it IS often
said that the word Of a Chinam1n in a
business transaction Is as good as his
bond and they part They .lave no
opportunity Of learning the good traits
Of each other; one suspects the ether
Of trying TO get the advantage and 1t
is this mutual distrust which has
sowed The dlscord that exists.
ITO my mind this does not seem sur-
prising in view Of the fact that the
United States and Great Britain have
engaged in frequent controversies and
this Notwithstanding the fact that both
nations speak the same language and
generally have so much in common. !
How much more difficult. therefore. Is |
II for China. having a different Ian
.guage and employing Oft-tlmes methods
entirely antagonistic TO those used by
foreigners. to prevent misunderstand- !
ings and preserve friendly relations
with all nations
What further adds to the difficulty
OF maintaining accord between China
and the rest Of the world is the igno-
rance Of foreign ways by the officials OF
the empire Until their recent depar-
ture from Pekin all Of the princes had ,
been practically their entire lives in
the capital and but a few Of the min
listers had ever left the city even for
the purpose Of visiting extreme parts
of the empire.
with the exception of the Tsung Ii !
Yamun none OF these offi; ;cials has ever
come IN close contact with foreigners
or foreign officials and the relations Of
the Tsung Ii Yamun with the foreign
ENJOYS are Of most superficial char
acter. 1t is not. therefore. remarkable
that the Chinese officials should take
action which to them is justified but
which to western people seems wholly
wrong. One looks at the Circumstance
es through Chinese eyes and from the
Chinese point OF view; the other looks
at the same circumstances through
western eyeglasses and condemns what
he does not understand.
Sc IT seems TO me the first thing that <
must be done is to remove as much as
possible the misunderstanding that ex-
lists and l am glad the United States
and other nations have realized that
there are two sides to the question and
have s,gnified their intention If listen
ing TO the views of the Chinese by en- i
tering into negotiations. Those nego-
tiations win enable China to make her
defense. 10 show wherein the response
bility lies, and l am sure that the
world understands her motives and her
position viii be more lenient than it is
is todoy"