The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-07-19

HSSC Ioi dpll uuliHS liiC SUNNY 'iNii>
: of the TaiPing rebellion have passe
into the region Of history, and his Ell
ropean tour made his figure, If not hi
face, familiar in the European capitals
He has been promoted through tn
whole hierarchy Of official rank and ha
filled space in foreign estimation sue
as has been accorded to none other o
his countrymen.
All parties fear him and wish for nj
countenance. Even If he be someWha
of an EXTINCT volcano, he still has nj
occasional eruptions He has the pow
er to advance or retard the interests o
other high mandarins, and his good Oh
fees are still sought by the two in
triguers who divide the faVors or thu
empress dowager. During the coul
d'etat of 1898 it was only through hi
Nntercession that the dominant faction
spared the life of the old statesman
who, like himself had been decorated
with the highest class Of an English or
der of chivalry. There was no love lost
between the two men, but he took this
course at the last moment because tht
English minister pointed out to him
the dishonor it would be to English
knighthood if the sentence of death was
carried out; SO Ii interviewed, and the
! execution did not take place. The truth
is that his influence is still an uncertain
quantity, and though he talks in the
bitter, disappointed strain of the states
man out of power, he is Still on coca
| sion able to bring it to bear on the
dowager to greater degree than the
other heads of the old regime, who are
now enjoying the spoYls, Recently Ii
was appointed to new office. uncon-
nected with the ancient boards of sec
retariat and created especially for his
occupation-the ministry of commerce.
The duties were underlined, and the ex-
ecutive authority appeared to be nil. 1t
commission to inquire into the trade
regulations and report with a view to
their modification in the ensuing year
Of treaty revision. This, too only
twelvemonth before Ii was sent to in
vestigate the state Of the yellow river
and to suggest remedial measures for
its navigation.
Nothing came of it all, but the mis-
sion kept Ii away from the capital for
some time, and it is suggested that th5
present appointment to the viceroyalty
of Kwang-Tung and Kwang is de-
vice of the same kind, intended to in
sure the old mans prolonged absence
al the various ports. Circuitous are the
ways OF Chinese government, and high
sounding dignities are used like embas-
sizes to the Mongols were in the days of
the Stuarts and Turkish valiships are
to-day for the purpose of finishing up
an overpowerful career in graceful and
lnnocuous trif1ing. Such an estimate
of his appointed work does not accord
with LIS own professions, for he said
that if he had been allowed to remain
minister of commerce he could have
brought about the most important and
fruitful results. W4
LII Hung Chang Is reputed to be one
Of the richest officials in the empire
and his wealth has been put as high
as 70,O00,O00 taels, or about Gf0,000,000.
Those about him assert that these fig
ures are grossly Exaggerated and that
their employer is ngttnearly ais rich as
men commonly believe. 1t is probable
that there are others Siren Taotai, for
eXample-who are richer, yet if Ii has
as large share as is stated of the cap
ital of the China Merchants company,
with its magnificent fleet of ocean and
river steamers, and it's handsome mo-
nopoly of the carriage of the tribute
rice. he must rank among the great
of the wofId's finance In
China outward signs are no clew to the
amount of a mans means The Chi
nese cannot and do not spend much
money, according to any European
standard of expenditure. They love
money for moneys sake, not for the
luxuries of life that money can buy
that is to say, above the mere opportu-
mites of sensual qualification. Go into
the house of rich Chinaman and you
will find no real comfort and little to
mark the difference between his neigh
bors' incomes and his own Twenty or
thirty servants and few mules and
ponies are of small account a success
sion of open courts, unpaved, or at best
with stone paths leading through their
muddy disorder, with one storied and
tiled apartments opening upon them,
cost but little to maintain. What fur
niture there Is is of the sparest and
simplest, and, treated with but Chinese
- tliS oludlSS VI hdlu Wtuu,
If which it is made up must last a con-
siderable time. Besides, from the state
If dirt in which the rooms are habitual-
y kept the labor of caretaking is not a
severe charge.
Cinnamon have a better reason still
or avoiding ostentation. The more
hey show the more will be asked of
hem by way of squeeze" Squeeze
$ the tax levied by the higher classes
IN the lower in a ratio that varies with
'ff1cial rank. The higher the official
he larger the squeeze To make a
parade of wealth only increases the
mount of this Irregular taxation to
'ay for the misgovernment of the EN-
ire, so all men practice the virtue of a
iscreet mcdesty that contrasts
with the plutocracy of the
Jew World.
Rich and now in years as Lii is, it
night be thought that after all his Eu-
opean experience he would require q
ertain amount Of comfort, even of lux
ry, in his surroundings, but in Picking
Il pigs it. as much as an yother Chi
ese grandee. Although he owns a
lrge house of his own somewhere in
he city, since his return from abroad
nd until his appointment to Canton he
ented rambling old Buddhist temple