Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-23
PARTITION OF CHINA
Reasons for Believing 1t Unlikely
and Undesirable.
WOULD PRECIPlHATE 4 Big War
Mistakes That Have Been Made
in Dealing With the People,
LOST OPPORTUNITY
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
NEW YORK. June 30, 1900.
The Rev. Dr. H. H. Lowry. an American.
president of the Pekin University the only
great institution Of learning in the celestial
! empire which is conducted an occiden-
| tai basis. believes the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of
China highly improbable contingency de-
| spite the steps for the repression of the
| Chinese which have had to be undertaken
on account Of the outrages committed by
the Boxers against the missionaries.
DR.. Lowry has just arrived in this coun-
| try on vacation. He has spent the great
er part of his life in China He went there
thirty-three years ago and In that time has
won universal respect alike among the high
class Chinese and the European residents
| and this Is evidenced by the high pace in
| the university which he now holds. His
| views are decidedly not those of a super
| fetal observer. His belief that China will
not be dismembered Is not simply the re-
| suit of his own observations: it is quite in
accord with the views of practically all the
foreign ambassadors and ministers there.
Would Precipitate War.
Just before leaving China said DR..
| Lowry. II had talk with the American
minister to China. Mr. Edwin II. Conger.
He told me that the representatives of the
powers had considered the matter in all Its
various phases and had reached the conclu-
sion that a partition of China would be
most undesirable, for it could not be done
| without the inevitable and long expected
| general war You see, every nation is
| anxious to obtain the yclk of the egg
| Every nation wants to obtain more than its
competitors. Russia. which is the strong
| est power In the east today. is said to be
| behind the sudden reactionary movement
and l believe this to be true. At the same
time. Russia can do nothing. even with the
aid of France. long as America Great
Britain and Japan act together
! Has Russia obtained as strong a foot
hold in northern China as alleged?"
| Yes. She has anticipated and forestal
all other nations, especially japan, which
has frretrieva5ly lost its opportunity to be-
| come the ruling power of the far east Had
Japan struck the necessary blow at Russia
| last year. and had she won she would have
| been IN position to dictate to all the world
| SO far as China is concerned.
The Chinese Character.
The Chinese are essentially a CONNER
| cial and agricultural race. The general
conception that they all akin to the
laundryman, so common in our country, is
absurd. China has high civilization, with
| a fine literature, and while Chinese meth
DDS may seem antiauated and ridiculous
from our viewpoint. yet there is much to be
n,
For instance. there is not one line in all
the Chinese sacred books. upon which Chi
| nese civilization rests and which prescribe
etiquette and morals. which could not be
| read aloud before children This is more
| than can be said Of the sacred books of
some other nationaIties ard races But
| to return to the individual Chinese He is
| not dense: on the contrary he Is an intel
| lectual marvel In many respects. The great
| est occidental diplomats are helpless when
| face to face with the diplomats of China
| A Chinese diplomat will sit opposite TO
| you and will dissembIe most palma bly and
| openly. and yet. knowing that every word
| he has uttered Is untrue. you can do moth
| Ing. That is why diplomacy moves so
| slowly in Pekin.
| Chinese Diplomacy.
Thine and again the foreign representa-
| tives In Pekin have thought they had the
| Chinese government cornered, without a
loophole for escape Nevertheless. when
the crucial moment has arrived. Chinese
diplomacy has enabled the government to
turn mental somersault and to wriggle
| out Of any and all promises made"
Then Chinese morality is not very high.
| judged by our standards"
con the contrary China is the most
! moral nation in the world. taken as ma
| ton. OF course. there individuals in
every nation that disgrace themselves and
their race 1t is SO with China. but. on the
| whole. the Chinesesare exceptionally moral.
| Sexual laXity is held in far greater abhor-
| renee in China than in any occidental land,
and reverence for parents is far more gen.
eral there than here or in Europe, all
| the world knows
Two International Blunders.
But if China is civilized why are the
| Chinese opposed to foreigners?'
There. has been a somewhat natural re-
action. After the war Of 1880 the nations
made a great mistake in admitting China
| into the comfy of nations as a civilized
power. They should have taken charge Of
the empire instead, and period of at least
! a hundred years should have been devoted
| to its reform. That precaution was no
| elected, and the nations are now reapng
| the consequence. China as a nation Won
| drously and terribly conceited. This must
| always be borne in mind when Chinese mat
| terS are considered. Most serious internal
| tional complexities there have been due to
| this Chinese trait. Every time foreign Wig
| lance is relaxed China arrives az the con-
| clusicn that she has grown powerful enough
| to dispense with foreigners and unpleasant
| incidents of all sorts ensue.
| THE mistake Of 1850 might have been
| remedied in 1898. Just after the Japanese
war. Then Japan should have assumed the
! responsibility of undermining China but
| Russia interfered. and as a result China
| having recovered from her humiliation. IS
| again endeavoring to throw off all foreign
| influence"
Gould not the progressive Il Hung
Chang have interviewed at this time?''
Ii Hung Changes influence.
| "Ii Is progressive only when 1t suits his
personal purposes. He has proved great
| disappointment to many Of his friends,
| though he has many admirers still While
| enlightened in many ways, he is yet Chi
| nese. But all reactonary influences COM
| bined cannot prevent the gradual elmina-
| ton Of Chinese mediaevalism. for the
| leaven Is there. and is working The
younger generation of Chinese will prove
| the ultimate salvation of their country no
| matter what measures the government may
| take against them"
| rs China worth the trouble she is CIV
| ing?"
| Most assuredly. 1t is no secret that
| China is of the richest mineral coun-
| tries in the world. Valuable minerals and
| precious stones can be found In many parts
! of the vast empire. AS yet little mining
| has been done-that Is. what we would con-
| slider mfning-but the minerals are there
| awaiting the call of man. China's lands are
| fertile, and We're they titled according to
| modern methods would yield handsome re-
turns. especially if properly fertilized
| Even as 1t is. many. If not most, of the
| farms In China. though they have been un-
| der cultivation continuously for more than
| a thousand years. still yield good crops
This speaks we'll for Chinese soil, if not for
the farmer"