The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-04

open. At present Mr.. Little is endeavoring
TO make the British Parliament realize
that 10000 could not better be applied
than to the furtherance Of his plans-the
removal especially of certain dangerous
rocks, which must be destroyed by blast
ing. This done, the dangers of navigating
the Upper Yangtse would be reduced to
minimum. 1t is hardly probable that the
funds can be secured, even with the elo-
quent persuasion of Lord Charles Beres-
ford, or upon the urgent demand OF Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach that the open-door
policy be upheld at any COSTLY arms, II
peaceable measures fail.
In this world, where so few succeed In
undertakings worthy of success which
must rebound TO the general veal, 1t is
satisfying to realize that Mr.. Archibald
Little has lived to reap the rewards of his
energy and perseverance. And. instead Of
honoring successful tradesmen and men
who are as little worthy of recognition as
the same classes in our own country, we
would like to see his name among the New
Year awards of honors; it would not be
more than he deserves and has earned.
In the course of a conversation yester-
day Mr.. Little spoke very plainly of the
greed and cruelty of Japan in her deal
ings with China after the war. In the first
place, and he reiterated what he has said
in print, Japan revealed the weakness of
China to the world. Those of us who have
lived here" he said, "have been aware Of
this for years; but we hoped that 1t might
be kept secret The ease with which
Japan defeated China with her disciplined
troops, trained by officers educated in for
eign military schools, showed conclusively
how little able is the ancient empire to
combat the West; she, with her Tartar
troops, poorly fed. poorly clothed. with no
national pride that might nerve them to
the endurance of suffering and death, and
with no arms that are a match for the
modern equipments of Western soldiers
and seamen. The indemnity asked by
Japan Is more than one hundred million
dollars; this was borrowed in Europe. and
the interest consumes the whole Of the gov
eminent revenues from rice-its greatest
revenue-and there is still deficit This
can be met only by increased taxation, and
increased taxation the people cannot and
will not endure. They are marvelously pa
tient up to a certain point, but when ex-
tortion and oppression become intolerable
they take matters into their own hands,
and suffer the consequences.
JAPAN'S POUND OF FLESH.
"There have been among them the noblest
instances of martyrdom-the leaders in
crises, forced by wrong and evil, who have
| led the forlorn hope and have willingly
sacrificed their lives for the good of many.
| Not content with the occupation Of For
mosa and the enormous sums that have
| already been paid-although frightened by
| the encroachments of the Russians and
urging coalition of the yellow races
| against the white'-Japan shows no inclina-
| ton to relinquish one iota of the pound of
| Chinese flesh adjudged her by the destiny
| of an unequal war. There is very little
doubt that rice riots are impending and
| cannot be averted; so much is absorbed for
| tribute that little is left for the food of
the common people. Millions live from day
| to day upon the earnings of the hour; a
| few cash, the fraction of a cent, are made
| to feed half a dozen hungry mouths; all
| these live face to face, not with want, but
with actual starvation-an easy conquest,
| famished and terror stricken, for the brute
| force of kindred yellow race, or of 9TH
ers still more merciless and powerful from
| the west
| China is a country that is exceedingly
| poor. One must see it to realize how great
is this poverty and how widespread. In
the north the farmers live. for mutual pro-
lection, or from inclination, or for social
reasons, in small villages. Their houses
| are of mud, matched with the stalks of
broom corn, mud and weeds; the floor is Of
earth. The windows are covered with pa
| per, which, wet with the rain, soon be-
comes ragged. letting in the cold. Their
blue cotton clothing, wadded with cotton
| and wool in the winter serves all the year
round; they live upon rice, millet and cab
bage, which they raise, with some little
| luxury in the way of flesh or fowl at the
| New Year. Their farms vary in extent
from a quarter of an acre to two or three
acres-the latter are unusual holdings. Up
on this bit of ground the whole family
lives. If the farmer has neither horse nor
| COW, his wife or children draw the pillow.
| All his farming utensils are of the rudest,
| and many of them have been made by his
| own hands. Every grain is saved, seed by
| seed, and every leaf and stalk is tended
| and nursed with the greatest care
and solicitude. Nothing that the land
can be forced to produce, poor and
thin. unless enriched by constant fer
tilization, is wasted; leaves. weeds,
twigs. the droppings Of animals-all Is
saved for fuel or for fertilizer. OF the lat
ter the highways Of the whole empire are
absolutely free; every mile is patroled by
manure gatherers, who collect it in baskets
and take it to the villages, sell It, and SO
exc out a precarious living. There are no
Sundays or holidays for these working folk
of China, except their two feast days and
the New Year. Then all but the abso-
lutely pauperized classes contrive to buy
or hire better garment, to buy gift for
friend or the children. and to afford some
unaccustomed dainty with their rice and
tea. With these people there are no idle
ones; If they are not busy in the fields they
are still working at home, making brooms
lanterns, clothing, weaving straw braid, OF
making shoes; for every industrious China
man knows more trades than one And ir
a country so densely populated, where the
fields and highways in the remotest prov.
inces are thronged. there are surprisingly
few beggars. Even small children carr
their bread in the sweat of their brow
gathering fuel, working in the fields, al
whatever else their hands may find to do
These silent little creatures are very differ
ent from the laughing, chattering children
Il