The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-12
MR.. CONGFR CRITICISED.
DIR. CoiiInan. of PeIsin, Has Poor
Opinion of the Minister.

opinion of the Minister.
| Dr. Robert NJ. Coltman. of Pekin, &C
companled by his wife, is here on business
for the Chinese Government. DR.. Colt
man has been surgeon in the imperial
Chinese custom service for the last fifteen
years under Sir Robert Hart. DR.. Colt
man is native of Washington, a grad
uate of the high schools, from whence
/ he entered Jefferson Medical College in
Philadelphia. He has had several consul
tations with WI Ting fang, the Chinese
Minister but Dr. Coltman declined to say
what their import had been. DR.. Coltman
was in Fekin during the siege of the lega-
| lions and speaking of these days Of suffer-
ing and anxiety said last night:
We were in a pretty tight place after
| the Boxers had surrounded us. We were
almost at the point of starvation. AS
soon as the allies entered the city we, of
course, got food stuffs, but not from our
own American army cOmmissary. We had
to rely entirely on the British and jap
anese, whose military arrangements were
very fine Even our own American sol
diers couldn't get anything to eat from
their commissary. Something was wrong.
The Boxers were cruel. but they were
surpassed by the French soldiers, who,
without any exception, are the worst men
ever saw They assaulted women and
young girls, killed and murdered every
thing in sight even dogs This was at
Tun- Chow. and l saw it. The Russians
are very slovenly and cruel, but not half
as bad as the French.
China is at the mercy of the Powers.
All this talk about rebellions in the in
terror is nonsense, the Chinese are peace
ful. If the Powers treat China justly.
temper justice with mercy, everything
VIII be well. Very few people realize how
rich China is in mineral resources which
are yet untouched. The Shantung gold
and coal mines are among the richest in
the world. They are practically mex
haustible. The largest coal deposit in the
world is in the province Of Shansi. One
reason why the Chinese hate the foreign
ers is because certain Chinese officials
sold the mining concessions to them; they
see that the wealth of the country will
be in the hands of the foreigners. This
seems to me to have been the principal
cause of all the trouble. The mission
aries we're at fault, too. They forced
themselves where they were not wanted.
But the missionary trouble was used by
the concession grabbers to cover their own
transactions"
Speaking of the efforts of Minister Con-
ger to re-establish peace, DR.. Coltman
said: "Conger is about as capable as any
country farmer would have been had he
been placed in that important position. If
it had not been for Conger and Sir Claude
Macdonald, the British Minister, we
would never have had the trouble we did.
They listened TO the Chinese Foreign Of
fee instead of needing information from
their trustworthy officials. Conger does
not understand his business. The Govern
ment here made itself the laughing stock
of the other Powers by trying to have ne
gotiations removed from Pekin.
If Mr. Mckinley wants to make a name
for himself he should put our diplomatic
service on par with that of other Pow
ers. In European countries young men
work themselves up by degrees through
every stage in the diplomatic world until
they have completely and thoroughly mas
tered the whole system. Conger is not
the right man for the place. The First
Secretary OF the American Legation, Her
bert C. Squiers, is a much ADLER man and
a more accomplished diplomat than Con-
ger.
My son. Robert, who is sixteen years
old fought during the siege like a regular
soldier After the siege he enlisted as
in the Sixth United States
Cavalry. ! left Rekin on October IL. last
year. and have to be back at my duties
by March IL,