The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-06-30
OUR CONSULS In CHINA
M
Duties ofAmerican Representatives
Great and Varied.
Only Ten ConnuIntcs Maintained by
the United States in the Empire
The Governing Body of Shanghai
Composed of Foreign officials.

consulates in China, and no commercial
agencies This does not include Hongkong,
which is a British possession; the duties
| of its Consul are not materially unlike
those in any British port. Our consular
system in China made up of these ten con
sulates. is peculiar. In other parts of the
world we maintain Consuls General and
I Consuls at important points, and from that
| taper down to commercial agents of all de-
| grees. who in many cases perform services
for several other Governments, and receive
! from each very scant compensation,
usually in way of fees.
But in China the duties of an American
| Consul are 80 great and varied that 1t has
been decided wise to have a full Consul or
none at all. He is, first OF all, a judicial
officer, on account Of the extraterritorial
! rights which the citizens of Christian
States who reside there have. In some
| places he also takes part in the munlei-
| pal government. Notably is this true at
| Shanghai. which. though part Of China
| is, temporarily at least, under, the rule OF
its foreign residents. board. OF which
| the various Consuls are members, together
with men elected frcm among the foreign
ers, constitute the governing body
| Goodnow, thus has to perform many func-
| tions OF government; he maintains a land
| Office for example, in connection with the
| foreign concession, to keep record OF all
| the deeds and transfers: he runs post
Office, and before his courts some very
| important cases come for trial. Altogether,
his duties, commercial, political, and Judi
cial, are arduoUs.
Good Men Required.
| 1t has always been assumed that an es-
pecially strong man should be sent to each
of these ten Chinese consulates. The ma
| ture of his duties is such as to require
breadth and training. He ought prefera-
| bly, to be a lawyer. and on account Of the
great distance from the United States, it
is pre-eminentiy desirable to have man
of the most unblemished character. Aside
| from these general qualifications, no spec
ial requirements have ever been thought
necessary in our Chinese service.
The consulate at Hankow is somewhat
peculiar amoLg the offices in the gift Of
the President OF the United States. 1t
sounds very desirable with its COO sala-
ry and s415 fees, but on investigation not
everybody wants to go there. To-day there
are two vacancies in the consular staff
under Mr.. Wilcox. AS result OF its ap-
parent undesirabi!!ty. Hanko@ has been
used as buffer against otice-seckers.
Whenever man whom the Administration
desired to do nothing for succeeded in
working up SO strong an influence that
he had to be recognized, he was suggcs-
lively offered Hankow. But this trick.
If It were tried. certainly failed in the
case of Levi S. Wilcox, of Illinois.
An original Mckinley man, he. cl lined
record of valiant service IN. promo Ill
the nomination of the present President
The Illinois Senator'S, particularly 81 Cul-
ION. seemed to regard Wilcox Of little ac-
count, and the news c. his appointinen, to
an important consular nost ,cccasiosed so re
adverse criticism among th0e who Knew
him, which was somewhat relieved wi en-
they heard what sort Of place HankoG
was. Mr.. Wilcox is rather we,l-s duca:ed
man. was horn in Illinois in lS47, ta3
studied medicine, been mayor OF his ty !
and & delegate to the Repub. lean National |
Convention. He seems always to have ad !
a great taste for Federal ofiicelo.ding: he |
was a member of a board OF examining srr- |
geons at Champaign. and later served as |
collector of internal revenue for the Eightl |
Illinois District. He begged" the HaEk5w |
consulate in January. 1898.
A Preacher Consul.
One Of the best-known American Consuls
in China is the Rev. Samue. l.. G a e.,
d. L., who is at FCochow. He represents
the Methodist influence and the religious
influence in general, which is not small
factor in Chinese concerns. OF the $40
Americans registered at his consulate, a
but twelve are missionaries or their CHI
dren. and most Of the number are working
under the auspices OF either the American !
board OF the Methodist Episcopal Church
The total number OF foreigners residing at
the port is about SEQ
DR.. Gracey Vas born in Philadelphia in
1885; after obtaining an education. he vas
for thirty years pastor CT M6thcdist
churches OF considerable prominence in and
about Philadelphia, Wilmington. and Bos-
ton He was twice elected TO the Mssa-
chusetts Legislature from Salem. He Was
Consul az FoochoH by President
Harrison in 1859. and remained there I'm ii
superseded by a Cleveland appoirtee. On
the return OF the Republicans to power he
went back to his old post, his ap-
pointment being made Just thirty-two days
after the Inauguration Of MeKirle-'. His
son. Spencer p. Gracey, serves as Vice Col-
sui. The Massachusetts, Senators favored
his appointment. and in fact, his rame was
very generally endorsed. In the service of
the missionaries DIR. Gracey has been nots-
bly, efficient, and has made very coLsid-
erab BILE reputation.
Another clergyman in the Chinese con-
sular service is William Martin. who is at
Chinkiang. His interests have been varied
and his career interesting. He was born
In England in 1S4S. and taken by his Ear-
ents to Canada; at fourteen years of age
he ran away from home and came to the
United States; he later decided to get an
and prepare for the Methodist
for which he was ordained at the |
lge OF tweDty-three.
His first pulpit was at Dunkirk, N. Y,
with which city he has since been promi
iently identified. He remained in the pull
Dit until 1885 Mr.. Martins attention was
allied to the subject OF car heating: he be- ,
ieved that he could demonstrate that low ,
PRESSURE steam from the locomotive was
he safest and most economical method OF
leatinS q railroad train. AS the result Of
lis inventions, the Martin AntiFire Car
Ieating Company was organized at Dun I
irk. n. Y and did a successful business.
I has since been absorbed by the Con-
dictated Company at Albany. During the
arly years of building up this business
ir. Martin continued to preach Sundays 1
t one of the churches at Dunkirk. He vas
alter elected mayor OF the city.
The consolidation of the car heating
thus threw an active, restles,
nan out OF employment He asked Presi 4
ent Mckinley to send hin, to China. The 4
lew York Senators were willing Some OF )
fr Martins descriptions of China are elo )
uent and characteristic. at seems" said 1
e, "as / look around me that by some I
TRANCE power the great clock OF time has 4
cen standing still for n thousand years. |
merely hope that America, Gods best J
ountry, may soon give its healthy, vital :
ling life TO energize more and more this 1
aggregation OF human beings !
nown as the Chinese Empire"