The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1902-01-10
RECALL OF WI
CAUSES REGRET
Brilliant Chinese Minister Will
Be Missed at National
Capital.
MOST POPULAR DIPLOMAT
No One Can Understand Why Such
a Successful Man Should Be
Retired-Made Few Mistakes
In Trying Time.

Washington special: So WI is to go
pack. Why, no one knows, but he Is
going. This brilliant diplomat from the
celestial empire will leave a vacancy IN
Washington such as no other ambas-
sador or minister could create. Ihls
because his position has been unique
his personality absolutely original and
his success so great that it has never
been comprehended fully. Educated IN
English-speaking schools, versed IN
American ways, training the young
Master Chow Chu in the academies OF
Washington, able to appreciate humor
which even our English cousins Iall &c
do, knowing thoroughly foreign sentl.
ment and American Weaknesses, tne
sou Of every dinner he attended, QUICK
at repartee and sharp in argument, no
diplomatist las ever come to the Onlteo
States with such a difficult mission anu
succeeded In it quite so well.
Adroit, debonair, masking his dlplo-
macy behind a smile that was cnllo'
like and bland" he won where others
that had far better advantages falled'
Citizen Genet, who came to get recog-
milton of the French revolutlonsts IN
the early days Of the republic, the
French diplomat who guided De Les
seps about the country In the interest
of the Panama canal about twenty
years ago; Dupuy de Lone, who tried
to turn the trend of public sentiment!
here only the other day-all these me!
with failure, but WI, who Is orlenta!
and would be expected to know less OF
us than any Of the others, SUCCEEDED.
Made Very Few Mistakes.
Everybody in Washington remembers
those trying days in July and August
of 1900. when the Boxers and imperial
~ h,,~cf In an the 1pp1f1OnS Al
Picking. The news finally came that
the legation had been sacked and
burned and the official Representatives
Of every power in Christendom, WIZ
their families, guards and friencs, hao
been murdered. WI refused to oeieve
1t. Day after day he went to the state
department, declaring the news, that
had come by way Of Shanghai, was
false. The country raved and stormed
The whole world stood aghast. =,
Finally the Chinese minister declared
that he would himself get through
| from Picking absolute news that the
legations were still alive. One mem
orable day he whizzed down to the
state department in his automobile and
produced the cable he had promised
The legations were alive. Aston1sh'
ment and i~ncredulity were followed by
the conviction that he was right and
that he had actually kept his word.
Riding forth on the tide of popular
approval that had followed his achieve.
ment, the Chinese minister began td
make use Of all thu opportunities to win
favor for himself and the Chinese. He
was dined everywhere. He also always
took the opportunity to make a speech
declaring that the Chinese were misun-
derstood. Literally, for a year he was
continually On the go. Wherever he
went instead of excavations he received
applause. Now he was flashing to Chi
cage and back. Now he was making
a, talk to st. Louis or Cincinnati, while
in the near by cities of New York, Bos-
ton and Philadelphia he was frequently
received. If 1t was not an after-dlnnel
speech 1t was q lecture on the pr1n'
ciples Of Confucius. If 1t was not a lee
ture it was a debate, but always the
propagation went on, ana tne
state department took h position thai
there must be no dismemberment -
China they find that there had grown
up a popular sentiment for the integ.
rity Of China, and against all blood
reprisal on the Chinese.
Made Good All Promises.
WI had largely done it. Once or
twice he overstepped the mark. He
declined to accept an invitationato din
be a guest. General Otis q said that
the Chinese were not good citizens and
should be excluded from the Philip
pines and put into the exclusion act
before the Philippines were United
States property. There was the up
roar of a day over this reflection from a
diplomat representing a nation that
had killed our missionaries and had
tried to kill the members Of our lega-
ton. But it passed in a night and Min.
Nter WI was as popular as ever again
Why he is to be recalled and placed
In some subordinate position is regard.
ed in Washington as n Of the mys-
teries Of orientalism. But for him the
United States, standing as a rock with
one or two interested powers. would
not have been able to prevent the dis
memberment of China and putting
thousands practically to the sword. al
Germany demanded.