The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-08-07
THE WORK OF WI TING-FANG

From the Washington Post.
Some Of our esteemed contemporaries profess
the utmost wonder at the popularity among
Americans Of all classes Of the Chinese minis.
ter. Mr.. WI Ting Fang. To US the explanation
seems ohvious enough. He is liked every
where, To bc sure, by the general public as
well as by the elect Men of learning, soicn.
lists, historians, Statesmen, and philosophers
meet in him an intellect worthy Of their utmost
respect The average citizen revoS in his wit,
his tact, his delicate and playful humor, his
genuinely Democratic character. But no one need
be at loss to understand IT all We admire
his courage, his ingenuity, his brains and at
the bottom OF our hearts We svmpathize with
China against the ravcning marduderS who,
in the name Of civilization, are now sllughterlng
her people and devastating her territory.
o
Mr.. WI is a wonderful person Never has
the capital of the United States seen his like.
No foreign envoy who has come to Washington
| since the establishments of this republic has
| approached him in any important respect None
| has ever SO successfully appealed to the good
will and admiration ot the country. When we
| consider the circumstances by which he has
| been hdndicappcd--the horrors enacted in China;
| the passions and prejulices nhdmed by the
| tragic occurrences OF last year; the use that
has been made ~ violence and excess on the
| part of the Boxers, the false light in which the
| whole episode has been shown-when We consider
| these things and contemplate the almost AT.
| fcctionate treatment that has been accorded
| 10 Chinas representative in this country, it
| is possible To reach some slight apprlSemont Of
| the mans astounding power. We assert, without
| any intention oi dlScourtCsy or dispardgoment,
| that the outside world has never sent to Wash.
| ington an envoy who can he compared with
| WI Tng.Fang in the matter ot usefulness to his
| country. Others content themselves with ami.
| able combinations at the state Department
| and round OF more or less digestihle dinners
| and more or less instructive gdyctes with the
| so.called smart sets Of Washington, New York,
| Newport Bar Harbor. etc, and they 60 back
| to their countries in due time as ignorant Of the
| American people, the American character, and
| the American point OF view as when they sailed
| for New York in the first instance,
|
| WI Ting,Fang has mastered our national
| traits and he has captured national esteem
| He has triumphed over obstacles that at one
| time seemed insurmountable, and. without the
| smallest sacrifice OF dignity, without once spol'
| ogi2ing for his people, his institutions, his
| practices or his faiths. he has commanded the
| admiration Of all Of US No such exhibition Of
| suhtety in tcllect, oi courage in action, Of
| candor in speech, of proud and selfrespecting
| conduct has ever been made in this country
| by a foreign representative. The others come
| and 60, liked or disliked, pleased or displeased,
| lamcntod by their friends or secuted by their
| enemies as the case may be- Wa Ting Fang
will leave behind him an impression upon 'ub.
lie thought and policy that never he foIgotteh.