The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-09
WEST To GET BIG TRADE
General Wilson Talks on Future
Of China.
THE PEOPLE ARE POOR
BUT NEED THINGS THE UNITED
STATES CAN FURNISH.

New York, Feb. Sat a meeting of
the chamber of commerce, General
James H. Wilson, upon the invitation
interesting address on the subject.
American Interests in China Presi-
dent Jesup introduced General Wilson.
who spoke in part as follows:
There are many interesting aspects
in which we may look at the crisis in
China. The whole of the progress of
China, from the time Of its first WISH
tation of Europeans down to the pres
ent time, has clustered around and
been promoted by trade and commerce.
Il has been broken in upon by wars,
but each one of these wars, not ex-
cepting the infamous opium war, had
its origin in the commercial spirit and
IN the determination of foreigners to
force trade upon China. The present
war, the late war, the Boxer revolu-
tlonp IN 9, measure, may have been also
due to the same cause and to the same
pressure.
The people of China, you must I'M
derSJan0. are desperately poor. Their
per capita output is, perhaps, less than
that of any civilized nation ia the
world But the American, the English.
the French and the GermanS-aH ma
tiOnalities-have been pressing uDon
them for trade The poor people them
serves have not known what was the
matter why they were in this dis
tressed condition, why things seemed
10 be so bad with them, why they were
so poor, and, knowing that they were
poor, they have not appreciated why
foreigners were so eager TO establish
commercial and closer relations with
N
upon the causes of this poverty or of
the changes that have Deen brought
IN China, but L say to you, cOmpre-
hensively, that the cause OF the diff
nculty in China is the distressful con-
dltiOn which has surrounded the peo-
pie and in their anxiety to find some
cause of explanation of il they have
taken the first thing that presented
itself"
Territory Not Needed.
General Wilson then spoke somewhat
at length on China's payment Of in
IDENTITIES. Continuing, he said:
L DO not take the slightest stock in
any effort TO acquire territory on the
continent of Asia. 1t is not necessary
We have never got any business out
/ there on any other principle than the
plain, simple principle on which you
gentlemen do business with each 9th
eE If you cannot furnish goods of a
better quality or at an earlier delivery
OF at lower price you do not sell
them.
we being the closest of all the ma
tons to China, with straight route
over, there is no reason in the world
why, with the open door for which our
administration is standing so strenu-
Ously-and nobody Will dare to close
IT in our faces-there is not the slight
est reason in the world why the Unit
ed States should not have a greater
advantage than any other nation will
set BY the changes that will take place
in China.
THE Nicaragua canal will help. but
II VIII not cut any figure in the case
Immediately, because YOU will not have
the canal Immediately and you have
got to use the boats sailing from San
Francisco I have no doubt that the
United States will have a continuing
and growing trade. We can rest per
fectly assured that while our admin
istratiOn viii probably not get us into
war and while it will maintain the
dignity and the force of our position.
we viii get our share of the going
business.
Booms Puget Sound.
You must remember that the Chi
nese empire is beginning to consume
immense quantities of wheat. and the
finest wheat area in the world circles
around Puget sound. and the shortest
and best line of steamboats, in the
connecting with China goes from
there, and we viii get more than our
share of that, for nobody else will get
anything out of that line of business
In timber Puget sound has the finest
in the world, and there won't be a hun
dred feet of lumber sold by others
where We sell hundreds Of millions of
feet In iron and in steamships and in
the various things that float 1 think
we viii get our full share. OF course
we have got to cheaper the product
as much as we can. We have got to
do as ambitious and enterprising and
spirited merchants do to meet cOmpeti-
ton. Do not trust open doors giving
You anything, for there is nobody out
there who is going to give away a cent.
Every fellow is thinking he is getting
something in the bargain he makes.
and no EUTODean nation is going to
help US to one dolalr's worth of trade
that they can furnish 10 themselves