The St. Louis Republic., 1901-01-20

very long ago when / was in charge of III
first railway in China We wanted iron an
| steel engines. We used 90 get them from
England: found that We could get thes
| materials cheaper in England than In otht
countries We advertised Tor bids IRON
merchants In Shanghai and TtenTsin Il
send in their prices. We advertised in TIN
| papers that We wanted. say. fifty lOcomu
tives: We asked foreigners TO send in th,i
Your manufacturers here had agents T.
China AT the appointed time We receive,
bids from different cOuntries-England Ger
many, France and from America. But 81
| opening these bids We found that your bid
| We're considerably higher than the bids ",
| received from England. Hence. accordin.
| to The law of commerce. We had to purchas
| what was most reasonable. and CAV,
the contract TO the English manufacturers
| AN INSTANCE OF
| WESTERN ENTERPRISE.
But what has happened since? few
! months ago visited the Baldwin locomotive
J works I'm Philadelphia. i told them that
they could not underseil the English loco
| motive workers I'm China, but to my sur
| prise they told me that they could. They
| said they had received orders recently for
| a large number OF locomotives intended for
| China And. further than that. they told
/ me that they were making locomotives oil
contract for large English railways.
asked how IL was. They said IL was be-
cause they could supply locomotives cheap
er than they could In England. I'm a shorter
space of time, and at more reasonable
rate. That shows gentlemen, that your
people, by your ingenuity. by the perfection
of your machinery. by the systematic way
In which you manage your business, can
turn out things IN the most perfect way so
ufacturers- This shows what a wonderful
people you are"
HONESTY OF
CHINESE MERCHANTS.
Mr.. WI mentioned the fact that Of the
total cotton exports Of this country amount
ing to 3e56sl4, China got So sil 0d5 worth
which was more than was purchased by all
m al
lea. Africa and Mexico combined He stated
that TO do business I'm China American msr-
chants must know the Chinese merchants.
study the conditions of the country and the
methods of the merchants He spoke Of
the integrity OF the Chinese merchants, and
cited instances where Chinese merchants at
great financial sacrifices had mainteined
their reputation for honesty and fair deal
Ing.
aking Of the decrease in the number
OF Eastern and foreign merchants doing
business in and around Shanghai in the IasC
twenty or thirty years, he emphasized the
necessity of closer business relations with
the Chinese. an intimate knowledge of con-
oltlons IN the country, the growth OF Ger
man trade in those same provinces because
OF apparently superior busiuss methods en-
ployed by the Germ ans and urged Amer
leans TO gain the confidence of the mer-
chants and people OF China with whom they
Now. in going to China TO trade" he
said. II Is necessary TO have a little pa
Iire iit,le ,oo nm ma your people are going. a
hurry; You want TO have the result almost
JUST LIKE THE
MAN IN THE BIBLE"
He spoke Of a case in which he had So
cured FOR American citizens a very vain
able concession in China. Shortly after N
was granted by his Government the Boxer
riot occurred and the members OF the avn
dicate to whom the concession had been
granted became discouraged and dishearf-
ened They were afraid they could not
larry on the work, and sold out to some
other foreigners.
That said Mr.. WI. is just like the
man 9an III the Bible who sold his birthright
Tor a mess of pottage. Your people have
plenty of money. plenty of ability. rreat
plcck ana spirit. and surely you are not in |
Ierior to other foreigners in China. and 1 |
prestige in the Far East"
Mr. WI. touching the question Of ex-
,iusive commerce, declared that we should i
ieai with every nation. IL was the old the
1ry OF China. he said, 10 shut herself up and |
hot allow foreigners in. but that idea has
been exploded
DECLARES THAT CHINA
MUST BE OPEN
China must be open" he said. 'She L
,aEnot help IL IL she would. And in these
lays IL IS necessary that all nations should /
sith each other. Merchants do a great deal
u good TO each other. When they go to q |
ochtry their prime object is to sell their
coos al profit: that Is natural. But in \
lc-ng that they indirectly confer benefits ]
N the other party They sell goods TO YOU
ND get your money. They give you what
hey don't bring back the money, but buy
.oods IN return, 30 IT Is a mutual benefit \
both parties. Merchants should be en- |
outraged 10 go TO every country but / am |
orry TO say that. according to the law as |
l. enforced in this country our Chinese |
nerehants have great difficulty In coming
TO
'HfSESE EXCLUSION ACT.
lie spoke here of the Chinese exclusion |
CT contending that II Chinese laborers
he rule should apply to other foreign la
orers This he said. was but just as he
ID not think # was fair for one ration
single out the people Of another nation
nd prohibit them from coming into their |
erritory. He said that Chinese who come |
ere now are all from two or three districts
! China. each of which speaks a different |
lalect. The total population of these dis
-lcts is only three or four millions He did |
OF think 1t at all possible that all of this
umber would leave their homes in China |
TINS country were open to them, and |
fought that even II many OF them did !
,me IN % Others would 90 back. SO that the
lily no injury TO this country.
REAT MARKET I
THE EAST. 1
Gentlemen" he continued, there 10 a /
reat market for you i'm the East IL YOU 4
now nov to avail yourselves of IL. This
great commercial city-the fourth city I
the United States. 1 am told. Large com-
erce Is carried on here To-day had the
rviiege OF seeing n new system of hand I
ns goods for shipping. Ii Is quite novel. ! a
ow. with your ingenuity. your enterprise | ;
)ur spirit and your wealth. II you would |
tend your exertions to China. / am sure J
lere" I
Mr.. WI. I'm closing his address referred 70 | I
quotation from Chinese classic on the a
emu card. and. paraphrasing IT, said: I
Il am not poet nor a great writer but / .
ouid say for a nation to possess men woh
iii give BALI OF their riches to endow uni
rsities. to possess men who Will employ
ersymen 10 Keep them. 10 possess a Com
nners. and, last. but not the least for a
~ 10 possess houses with plenty of pcrte-
cheres great laughterD. l say this is a
eat city. and may II long continue to pros
r. nave recently read In the paper ths.
e elixir of life has been discovered :
pc that all gentlemen of this Commercial 3
ub will partake of this medicine and live .
4 only to the end Of the century. but TO Il
e next century c
DTE OF THANKS II
Nd A RECEPTION. =,
" hen Mr. WI had concluded he yoltrn- | s
cred to answer questions asked by any | ii
his hosts. Chancellor Chaplin of Wash |
ston University brought up the srbtect ~
nkng IN china and Fred ". Lehman re- G
req 70 the open-door' policy In a man ~
r which ELECTED much applause from the
10 members and the guests of honor \
'ormer Governor Francis closed with a
! ing .1oqte 20 the distinguished visitor
INKS was rendered the Ambassador.
following the banquet a reception was A.
q e III the library of the ST.; Louis Club v
,a,a, S,s: WI was Introduced TO his hosts F
Wnom the Ambassador was PARTICULARLY | a.
crested. In the seventies Colonel johnson i ~
i -. Sni,ea states Consul at Chinese port fo