The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-08-09
HOW Ii HUNG
GOT RICH
Learned To Squeeze"
Early.
NOW MILLIONAIRE
THE Old Fox With the Gray Goatee'
Discounts the White
RothschiIds.

Ii Hung Chang, the "old fox with the
gray goatee, ." as Vizeyona, the Italian
once called him, says the |
Chicago Times Herald, is man whose |
wealth is reputed to belon a level with
that of the Rockefellers, Rothschilds
and vanderbilts, though students of
Chinese history will tell you that he
could buy up any two Of them. In
1910 this representative of a dead ma
ton was a puny orphan boy. working
on rice boat in the marshes of Hwel
Ling, where he was born. His life was
bounded on all sides by the rice fields.
In 1874 Ii Hung Chang, by some
freak CT fortune that nobody has been
able to discover the truth about, reach
ed Canton, and year later, thanks to
the way in which a ragged. friendless
beggar lad can seek and obtain an edu-
cation while the State feeds and clothes
him in that "effete'' and 'barbarous'
land, he was admitted to the famous
study cells. In 1S49, after five years of
hard work. he had outstripped all
competitors and became secretary to
the Viceroy of Kowloon province. In
the following year this viceroy led $4,000
men against a rebel uprising. He was
killed in action, and Ii Hung Chang
took his place, pursued the enemy and
won a great victory.
In 1851 he was called to Picking and
became Secretary of war, and in the
ten years following he studied and
mastered the whole intricate system of
his country's government. The year
1856 saw him still a poor young man,
but when he was appointed Governor of
Kiang Su he began to accumulate mon
ley.
In Kiang Su are the great salt mines
of China, and the Governor of the dis
trict has the privilege of farming the
monopoly. Then, too, he began to
round up the mandarins in his province.
They tried to tell this young, quiet
hammered Governor that they were on
ly earning bare living out OF their
fees, but he astonished them by exhib-
iting complete knowledge of their
methods, and soon so per cent of their
emoluments went into his capacious
pockets.
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 marvellous success on the
field his Emperor loaded him down with
more honors and emoluments. In 1865
he was appointed Governor General of
the Liang King provinces, with four
viceroys and 1900 mandarins under his
ord in, hon1 Into fro Of 1,n
salt tax, the rice tax, the sampan tax,
and the house tax-all infinitesimal
cnarges on the individual-but when
one directs the mulcting of 10000 peo-
| pie 1t Is the fractions that count.
| In 1868 his wealth was estimated by
foreigners who knew him intimately, to
| be $45, 600, 900. Still he remained in
imperial favor, and in 1872 came his
eliminating triumph. when he was
made viceroy of Pc Chi Lii the imperial
province, with palace in the royal city
and practically the collection of all the
national funds under his control.
Here he developed peculiar method
of semi-moral squeezing. His emissar-
les visited every province regularly and
took good care to guard the mass Of the
people from extortion at the hands of
the mandarins. An officer found guilty
of demanding or accepting more than
the set amount of taxation was prompt
ly dismissed from his Office in disgrace
Ii Hung Chang saw that with such an
immense population there was no ne
cessity to crush the individual with
heavy taxes. ne insisted on one-half OF
every tax being turned into his hands
and one-half of these receipts he turned
over in turn to the Imperial treasury
keeping the balance for himself.
There was no false pretense about it
The Emperor, happy in the fact that
N ~ hnf ho6 hc. H.
could drag such enormous sums out OF
the hands of the mandarins, was more
than satisfied with the share that came
to him, and he knew very well that hi!
minister was dividing equally with him
AS viceroy of Pc Chi Lii, Lii Hung
Chang started to build navy. He le
contracts for ships, armament ant
dock yards, and, beginning to mingl,
with Europeans in his way, soon cam,
! to see vista of new possibilities fo
the acquiring Of wealth. He was chic
promoter, and is today principal owne
OF the China Merchant Steam Naviga
ton Company, the only native steam
ship line in existence, with a monopol.
of all internal and most of the coas
traffic,
The fluctuations In the value of silve
gave him a chance for the accumulation
J of more millions by skillful manipula
ton of deposits in the great Hongkon,
ana Snangha1 Bank, OF which he is nov
one of the largest shareholders. In 1877
J the members Of the diplomatic corp
J at Picking presented a memorandum t
the Emperor, begging for the establish
ment of an exact system of coinage
The viceroy told them blandly that h
would see about it. He has been seein,
about it ever since.
The sale of titles and honors, a recog
nized perquisite of the Viceroy of p
Chi Ii, was in his hands for severa
years, and his policy was to charge al
the traffic would bear to merchant
who were able and willing to pay 70
handles to their names or the right t
wear gold buttons in their caps. Il
1884. when he became commander il
chief of the Chinese forces, he was wis
ited'' by dozens of contractors. but
may be said to his credit that he listen
ed to none of their advances. possibl
because their offers were SO small Il
comparison with his vast wealth tina
ne chose to overlook them; possibly
TOO, because he wished to give them tn
idea that he was not a man that coul
be bought
IN ADDITION to the many sources q
, revenue mentioned he has had percent
ages OF very large customs duties, tn