Cochise review., 1900-10-26
OUR RIGHTS IN CHINA
Translation and Study of the United
 States Constitution.
An International UnderstRndfng F Brought About Through Trans actions Between Our Cow
 ernment and Denmark.

to the responsible government of China is, in some respects, different from that of any other nation. At the present. horrible crisis all is con fusion and chaos In the future lastm" settlement is to be made. It will b. full of difficulties, but America holds place of vantage. The follow ing paragraphs explain, i'll part, why thiS is so--why the high officials of China understand us better than they do any nation of Europe. When the first Chinese legation to the United States settled in Washington it was accompanied by very intelligent and cultivated attache, by name Tsai Sih Yung, He came of an ancient Chi nese family, one of whose members had been prime minister of the em- pire---a very unusual post for a pure Chinese to hold under a Manchu Tar tar dynasty. He was a graduate of Dr. Martins college at Picking and had also taken his bachelors degree in the Chinese examinations. During his residence in Washington he formed a close friendship with Dr. Edward s, Holden then one of the astrono- mers of the United States naval ob- servatory. In one of their conversa- tions Tsai was asked the object of the coming of his legation Why, it is to make treaty with your country" And how is a treaty made?" Tt is a written agreement between your president and our em- peror." Nothing mOre?" No, noth- ing more than this" It transpired that Tsai, and his minister as well, was totally ignorant of the treaty making functions of the senate; and they were thrown into consternation when they heard the story of the re- jection of the treaty with Denmark by the senate after President Grant had arranged for the cession of the Danish West Indies, and after the confiding Danes of St. Thomas and Santa Cruz had formally voted to ac- cept American citizenship.
 Out of this conversation, says the New York Sun, grew project to translate the constitution of the United States into the Chinese lan- guage. For many months the China man and the American met daily. Each provision of the constitution was carefully explained and discussed and then written down, with com mentary; on a subsequent day the Chinese translation was rendered back into English and again discussed until all was clear. Doubtful points were referred to Frederick W Whit ridge, Esq, of the New York bar, in writing, or, occasionally to MT. Jus Tice Bradley, of the supreme court. Finally the document was completely and satisfactorily translated with marginal commentary and sent as an official dispatch to the tsung.li-yamen in Peking. A copy of it was deposited by President Holden in the library of the University of California, where it now is. On Tsai's part it had been a labor of love and on his return to China it won for him official ad- 'vancement in rank and place. His American coadjutor was glad to give q portion of his time every day for nearly a year to this public service which has resulted in making the high officials in Picking understand the United States of America as they understand no other country. They are themselves a literary people and are used to relying on the written word They know the organization of Great Britain or of Germany in very different way from that of our own country, and we are, according ly, trusted as no other country is.
 Our opportunities at the present crisis are unique. Every European government is distrusted by all the high officials at Peking--by those friendly to foreign inventions as we'll as by those who hate and despise the foreigner and all his works. When the time comes to adjust final and lasting settlement for the future it is in the power of America to take a high stand. The constitution of our government is understood It is known that we desire no territorial acquisitions. We desire and we mean to have the freest opportunities for trade, and above all things the fullest protection for our citizens in foreign parts. It may be necessary for our troops to join with those of Europe and Japan in punitive expedition. It may even be necessary to rage the oQ Do1. blow the site and SOW it with salt, as the Tartar Chief Jenhiz Khan was used to do with the rebelhous cities of Bokhara and Turkistan. All this will be understood as a deserved pun. ishment for acts which even the Chi nese cannot defend. But in the final adjustment of relations America may hold unique place; and this posi- rion of moral vantage should be safe.