The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-06-23
AMERICA IN CHINA.
Manila Next Door to worlds Great
est Markets.

minister Wa Ting Fang in Ainslee's.)
America has a magnificent opportunl-
" in the Orient if she viii only reach
OUT and take it, a people which has done
so much and has taken advantage OF so
many chances viii surely not fail TO reap
for its commerce the benefits which it has
earned by its bravery. The possession
OF the Philippine Islands brings the United
States close up to The greatest markets
in the wor.d-markets which have only
just begun TO be developed but whicn
have already shown a capacity for
development that a great commercial peO-
PIE viii understand. There are many
millions of people in China. and they are
ready 10 Duy from other nations the things
which they can use. Some in America
seem to think that the Chinese now man
ufacture practically all that is sufficient
for their own needs. Far from it. OF
course, it is true that for centuries be-
fore China was open to foreign trade its
peOp.e mode the goods hey used. and this
seemed sufficient; but now China is open
to foreign trade, and manufactured goods
come from America and Europe We
buy them readily America can sell US
goods more cheaply than our people could
manufacture them. This is true especial
ly of cotton cloth. That which we manu-
facture ourselves We weave with our own
hands, and ii is very durable; but tre
American product is very fine in compari-
son. and now il has come 20 be in common
use with us In some parts Of the en-
pire American and English cottons have
aiken almost entirely the place of our nA-
tive manufacture. With finer dresses,
silks, and that sort of thing, il is not yet
true; but with cheaper articles it is.
Modern China.
"China takes kindly to improvements.
We have not only the railroad. but the
telegraph and the telephone. The tele-
graph lines extend throughout the length
ana breadth of China. There is not a
province now without the telegraph. The
first cable in China was laid by the Dan
ish Company and our principal telegraph
company is now superintended by a Dan
ism engineer. The first telegraph com
pany was organized by an official named
Sheng Hsuan Huai, commonly known as
Sheng Taotai He induced Chinese mer-
chants to subscribe and built the line
under government protection. The line
extended from Tien Tsin for a short dis
lance; then it was continued to ShanS-
hal; then to Pekin, and so branched out
from north to south, from east to west.
This was twenty years ago, and the tele-
graph built by private enterprise under
government control, with Danish opera
tiVes, in the main now covers a wide eX-
tent of territory. When ID came to ex-
tending the system to more remote parts
of the country. the private commercial
company did not like to undertake the
construction and so the government has
built these lines itself. Thus there are
practically two systems one semi-official,
the other solely. under government CON
troll
The telephone has been introduced
more recently. The first telephones were
brought in by foreigners for their own
convenience, and put up at Shanghai, and
others followed in different treaty ports.
They are all managed by different private
companies We have no long ance
telephone as yet but that will come in
time. With the railroad, the telegraph,
The telephone and n great population
thiekly settling vast extent of territory,
the future possibilities of the Chinese
trade must appeal to the commercial in
stincts of the United States. VIII a foot-
hold in the Philippines America will have
a great advantage over other nations
which lack possessions in that part OF the
world. If Americans know how to turn
this 90 good account they will be able to
do wonders"