Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-02-08
MINISTER WI AND GEN. OTIS
FORMERS CRITICISM DISCUSSED IN
INFLUENTIAL CIRCLES.
Speculation to Whether Omcial
Notice VIII Be Taken of
the Episode.

MI w ling rang, the CnlneSe minister,
has marred his hitherto unblemished record
as a diplomat by writing a letter which
his enemies and critics regard as somewhat
compromising, to say the least. The Incl
dent is the subject of general discussion
In official and diplomatic circles today. 1t
seems that Minister Wu was invited to at
tend banquet given by the Society of the
Genesee at the Waldorf-Astoria, New York,
last night, at which Maj Gen. Otis of the
army formerly military governor of the
Philippines, was to be the chief guest of
honor. The minister did not attend the
banquet, and the reasons for which he did
not are set forth in a letter he wrote to the
committee declining the invitation. That
letter was in part as follows:
While I appreciate your courtesy highly,
I feel that / am obliged to decline for the
following reasons:
II admit that 1 feel great admiration for
Gen. Otis as a military commander and re-
spect him highly as a gentleman, but l
think he, while military governor, commit
ted an egregious error and did great injus-
tice to the Chinese by introducing the Chi
nese exclusion act into the Philippines.
which has stirred up race prejudice and
done harm to those islands.
while l believe Gen. Otis acted upon the
ill-advice of some one, still if l We're to at
tend the dinner in his honor l could not de-
cline the invitation to say something con-
cSIIiIlS general, anu Nlidt nave "
say might not be pleasant to the general or
his fellow wbanqueters to hear, though, as l
said above, l hold him personally in very
high esteem.
Did Not Expect 1t to BE Published.
Minister WI explained today his reasons
for declining to attend the banquet in New
York last night. He said that he had re-
ceived "a very cordial invitation from the
society to be present, but, owing to his
entire disapproval of the course which Gen.
Otis had pursued in the Philippines against
his people, and knowing that If he attended
he could not refrain from giving uttefance
to this antagonistic view Of the official act
of the American general he felt that the
wiser course would be to decline the inVl-
taton and also. in order to prevent giving
offense to the society, to state his reasons
for so doing. The minister said, however,
that he sent his letter of regret with no
expectation that its contents would become
public property.
The minister was in no wise inclined to
retract any of his statements. or to make
any apology for his action in the matter.
He said he has very strong views In re-
gard to the Chinese exclusion act In the
Philippines and said General Otis course
in enforcing it was mot the act of wise
statesman
Opinion Differs as to Blame.
The incident has not been brought to the
attention of the State Department SO far,
and the officials do not think that it will
be. About the only person competent to
make a complaint in the premises Is Gen.
Otis. 1t was said at the War Department
that nothing had been heard from him re-
srecting the incident If the general should
decide to take notice of the matter, it is
said that he would be obliged, being in
active service, to do so through the War
Department, and this he has not done, and
his friends say he is not likely to do. The
opinion prevails in official circles that some
one has been guilty of an error of JudS-
ment in this matter, but there is a division
OF opinion as to where the blame lies,
whether with the writer of the letter or
with the persons who gave it out for publi-
cation. The ministers 5 own statement tnat
he did not expect his letter to become pub
lie property is in some quarters regarded
as a sufficient indication of its private
self a member of the GeneSee Society, was
very emphatic in his condemnation of the
publication of the letter, which he declared
was certainly privileged.
Minister Wu has previously expressed
himself on public oc sions in deprecation
United States government in the matter of
Chinese exclusion, but in the public utter
ances intended for publication he has, of
course always refrained from indulging in
personal criticisms.
The records do not disclose a precedent
for official action in such case as this,
the nearest case being that Of Captain
CoghIan who delivered the famous "Hoch
der Kaiser" ode at the Philadelphia dinner.
The President and Secretary Long con-
as a private, and not official affair, so
that Captain Coghlan escaped court-mar-
tiai, though he did receive a letter of admO-
milton from Secretary Long.