The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-20
Il HUNG CHANCES WEALTH.
~Many . sffcLIe Makes . Muekle"
Uas Seen Hy1s MOttO.

II HUNG CHANGS WEAtHH.
| AMany . srfckIe Makes Muekle''
Has Eeen Hss sstt0.
Il Hung Chang. tie ''old fox with tss
| grey goatec," n vizeons, the lt;1ia1
freebooter, once called him. is MAJ
whose wealth Is reputed to be on level
with that Of the Rockefel,ers. Rothsrhiids.
and vanderbilts. though students Of
Chinese history will tell you that he co Id
! buy up any two Of them. In 1910 this rep
resentative OF dead" nation was q puny
| orphan boy, working en- rice bot in the
| marshes Of H=s. Ling. where he was bofn.
His life was bounded on all sides 81 sh3
rice fields.
In 1871 Ii Hung Chang, by some freak OF
fortune that nobody has been able. to
discover the truth about, reached Ca1t,u,
an da year later thanks 10 the way tn
which ragged, friendless beggar LAD can
seek and obtain en- education wh..e tina
state FEEDS and clothes him in that -eiete"
and "barbarous" land, he was ad-.ftsd to
the famous study celia In 1888. liter five
years OF hard work, he had outstiipped all
competitors and became secretary to tie
VicefUy of kowloon province. In the fol-
lowing year this viceroy lead $4,000 men
against a rebel uprising. He was ki.izd
in action. and Ii Hung Chang took his
=
victory.
In 1851 he was called to Pekin and be
came Secretary Of War, and in the ten
years following he studied and mastered
the whole intricate system Of his coun-
try's Government The year 1855 saw him
still a poor man, but when he was APP
pointed Governor Of Kiang Su he bes-u %
accumulate money.
In Kiang Su are the great salt mines Of
China, and the Governor Of the district
has the privilege OF farming the monop-
oily. Then, too. he began to round up the
mandarins In his province. They tried To
tell this young. quiet-mannered GoyernUf
that they were only earning bare living
out Of their fees. but he astonished them
by exhibiting complete knowledge Of their
methods. and soon 50 per cent Of theft
emoluments went into his capacious peck
ets
In 1863 came the great rebellion. and
General Gordon began his triumphal march
against the Insurgents. Ii Hung Chang.
the war genius OF the Empire. became his
right-hand man, and after four years Of
psror loaded him down with more honors
and emoluments. In 1856 he was appointed
Governor General OF the Lang King prov.
inees, with four Vicercys and 500 man
dsrins under his orders, and In absolute
control Of the salt tax. the rice tax. the
sampan tax, and the house fax-all in
fnitesimal charges ON the individual--but
when one directs the mulcting OF $4,000
people. 1t is the fractions that count
In 1868 his wealth was. estimated BY
foreigners who knew him intimately. to be
$45 Geo. COO. Still he remained in imperial
favor, and In 1872 came his cutminati
triumph. when he was made vicerey o; PEE
Chilli, the imperial province. vita a pail
ace in the royal city. and practically The
II Ill
his control.
Here he developed a peculiar method Of
semi-rnoral squeezing. His emissaries vis-
tied every province regularly and took sood
care to guard the mass of the people from
extortion at the hands Of the mandarns.
An officer found guilty Of demanding or ae-
cepting more than the set amount OF taxa
ton was promptly dismissed from his o Zee
in disgrace. Ii Hung Chang saw that with
such an immense population there was 10
necessity to crush the individual rsith
heavy taxes. He insisted on one-hak OF
every tax being turned into his hands. and
one-half Of these receipts he handed over
in turn to the imperial treasury. keeping
the balance for himself -ass
There was no false pretence ato1t 1t.
The Emperor, happy in the fact that never
before had he found man who could dr-g
such enormous SUES out Of the hands Ct
the mandarins, was more than satisfed
with the share that came to hir1, and ne
knew very we'll that his minister was Ovid
ing equally with him
As viceroy Of Pe-Chi-Li, Ii Hung Ching
started to build navy He let contracts
for ships, armament. and dockyards. and
beginning to minsie with Europeans Ia
this way, soon came to see vlsta o; new
possibilities for the acquiring OF wealth.
He was chief promoter. and is today
principal owner of the China Merchant
Steam Navigation Company. tbs only
native steamship line in existeEcs-Xlth-
a monopoly Of all internal and most of the
coast traffic. =
The fluctuations in the value OF silver
sase him chance for the accumu alton Of
more millions by skillful manipulation Of :
deposits in the great Hongkong AID
Shanghai Bank. of which he Is now oae =
of the largest shareholders In 1877 tie
members of the Diplomatic Corps at Pekin
presented a memorandum to the Emperor
begging for the establishment Of an excct
system of coinage. The Viceroy tod taem
blandly that he would see about it He
has been seeing about it ever since.
The sale Of titles and honors, recos-
nized perqnisite of the viceroy Of Pe-Chi-
Lii. was In his hands for several years. and.
his policy was to charge 'all the traffic
would bear to merchants who were able
and willing to pay for handles to their
names or the right to wear gold buttons on
their caps In 1884, when he became cora-
fl-chief Of the Chinese forces. he
was visited by dozens OF contractors. but
1t may be said to his credit that he list
ened to none Of their advances. possibly
because tacir Offers were so small In
comparison with his vast wealth that he
chose to overlook them: possibly. too, be-
cause he wished to give them the idea that
he was not a man who could be bought
In addition to the many sources of rev.
enue mentioned he had percentages OF
very large customs duties. the export silk
tax. the jade mines and municipal earnings
of many cities. No one in the empire can
approach Ii Hung Chang in the hold he
has on the common people of China They
know of his great riches. but they also
Know that for forty years he has stood be-
.weer them and the extortions Of petty
uandarins. o
His fortune is an accumulation Of mites
md atoms.
Irish wit and the Queens Visit.
(rrom the Liverpool Post)
I'D en1Is fhA