The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-07-22
fwritten for The Times.)


Tor two and a half centuries the tail mas
1,aan r,arring the dog in the Celestial EN-
hire THE ruling dynasty Mancnurlah ,Ae
Emner1r and those debating in his name
representatives OF majority, Oh say eishe
millions in total Of four hundred n.!iloii7-
How many people there are in CHINA can,
however. no mora be stated approHliiateis
with ordinary presumption as BASS 't'ah
It can definitely with anything ofilclal 10 50
mon II ia true that in 1872 the Pekin an-
thorities issued what they termed az
official statement of the population py
provinces. Forty years later, or III leo-'
there was another publication, oStensio!y
going into detail after the usual census
fashion. But the inconsistencies, !ncoh-
sruities and general hap-hazafd manner
characteriZing these emanatohs stdiiipeo
them upon a par with aM the utteiait
which The Chinese official succeeds IN IN
ducny himself 10 father. He views an u
thoritative statement, having TO do WITHIN
HIS proyince as merely calling tor the eA-
preston Of his own opinion.
ANY award of public funds to him. Is
not to his notion a compensation Tor
duties performed, but present IN appre-
citation of his personal loyalty 10 those
above him The contemplation OF dlVIs-
ion of what may come to hlm never enters
his head Besides, it is not at all neces-
sary, as he, of himself. knows all that
should be known relative to his bailiwick-
To acknowledge he. did not, by calling
upon others to assist him in ascertalnlng,
would be to confess a falling short OF the
standard. and thereby breed no end OF
trouble for himself. So. whatever may
be asked of him in the way OF data is at
once forwarded. the exceeding simplicity
of the system OF aggregation and compila-
ton avoiding all excuse for delay.
S,,nl, a
vas and an enumeration, however meagre
in actual detail, has never been known
throughout China. To attempt it would
straghtway cause trouble, every China
man thinking it a new scheme to eNtort
money and conducting himself accord
ingly.
ENORMOUS POPULATION.
Some outside authorities estimate the
population OF the Empire as high as four
hundred and fifty millions-others as low
as three hundred millions. Between these
totals may, or may not, be fairly correct
Journeying by the Yangstee, through what
has been we'll termed the Mississippi Val
lev of China, making side trips up and
down it's numerous tributaries; later, TAX
ing In the Southern or Cantonese districts,
and subsequently those north from Han
kow to Tien Tsin. the traveller would re-
gard the higher estimate as not excessive.
But after the trio of tremendous stretches
from Pekn--the one due west to kashgar.
the second northwest over the Caravan
route to kiahkta, and the third straight
north to the confluence OF the Shelka with
the Amoor-the lesser figure would seem
the more Warrante@
The Chinese Empire in its entirety is
gigantic thing geographically, extending
as it does from the 18th to the 54th degree
north and from the I'D to the 1920 east.
MT. So,Ir
thousand the other Four and a quarter
million square miles, or nearly million
more than our own total AREA.
The two provinces in the South. KWanS
Tung. and Kwang Sc, over which Ii Hung
Chang at present exercises despotic sway
as Governor General or E!ce-oy. have an
aggregated area Of 15s100 mileS-a terri
tory larger than Ohio Illinois and Michi-
gan combined-and an estimated popula-
ton of So 0,010, which is greater than the
total Of our population west of the Aileg-
hany Mountains. Canton and Swallow are
in Kwang Tung and the province is re-
noWned for its silk products. Tie province
of Pechilli, in which are both Pekin and
Tian Tsin, has an area of 10000 square
miles-equal, say. to that of New York,
Connecticut and Massachusetts-and a pop
ulation Of 20, oeo,ceo, or three times that Of
the States named SEE Chuen in the West
is the largest province in the Empire, hav-
ing an area of 10000 square miles-exceed-
ing that of New England and the Middle
States-and a population of 20, 0Ou.6oO. or
equal to that Of our entire country. It,
like Kwang Tung. is noted for the charac-
ter and extent OF silk products. Hoo PHI.
in Central China, is another big province
with 70. COO square miles and $1,000 600 popu-
lat,on. Hankow is its great city. Shang
Tung in the northeast, with nifty odd
thousand square miles, has population Of