The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-08-07
WU COULDN'T KEEP HIS LIFT TOE STILL  Moved it ImpatientIy When h.
 terviewed in 1899 CHINESE EXCLUSION VIEWS  Former Chinese Minister Said Six Years Ago China Wouldn't Sub
 init to PolIcy-Reporter
 Kept His Secret.
CHINESE EXCLUSION VIEWS


 Fang said newspaper man last night at the Morris. who preceded the pres ent Chinese minister at Washington. as representative of the fiowery kingdoms government in the national capital, Is advocating retaliation, reprisals and the boycott as China's defensive policy in dealing with the United States. Well. I am not in the least degree surprised by the announcement.
 When I was in Washington in 1899" continued the newspaper man, T had legation there. I think that interview was one of the most interesting of it's kind that have ever had with any pub lie man, and when I say this l do not forget that it has been given me to talk with a number of the more famous of | ficials in the recent political and diplo- matic life of Washington.
 Retention of Philippines.
 T went up to the Chinese legation one night in December, 1S99 to interview MT. Wu on the general subject of the prob- able attitude of China toward the con- templated retention of the Philippine islands by the United States. As a re- suit of the Paris treaty, the United States government had already acquired the Philippines by the right of conquest, possession and purchase, and the ques- ton at that time was whether or not the United States would persist In re- taining in a period of peace what had come to it through the fortunes of war.
 MT. Wu made 1t clear to me then. by his manner and facial expression as well as by what he actually said, that in case the United States should deter mine to exclude the Chinese from the Philippines, as we haa excluded them from our continental possessions, the government at Washington would court the qualified and the unconcealed dis pleasure of the government at Pekin.
 China and Exclusion.
 More than this, MT Wu intimated clearly and emphatically that China would not long contemplate with com placency the Chinese exclusion laws that then obtained in the continental United States.
 .In as much as on the occasion Of this interview I met MT. Wu for the nrst time, I recall distinctly what took place, and I recall also the manner, temper ament, disposition and character or the man as manifested throughout the inter view. After keeping me waiting in the hallway of the legation few minutes after my card had been sent in, the Chi- nese minister brushed aside the portieres in the rear portion of the hallway and stepped briskly forward to greet me. As he did so he half paused in the hallway, slightly bowed and formally extended his hand. In response to few words or mine, explaining the purpose of my call, he motioned to what was window seat near the doorway and we both sat down. He wore, of course, an oriental dress or elegant texture, and I recall now how sensibly impressed I was at the time with the admirable contour of his head ana face, the reflective expression of his eyes, and the graceful. almost feminely, delicate shape of his hands and feet.
 Wu Was Cautious.
 ssThe moment we were seated, MT. Wu began it seemed to me, to measure me- so to speak, as though he was not quite sure that 1t would be discreet to reply to my questions It occurred to me that his reticence and searching glances were due perhaps to the fact that I had not met him before and that he thought my in- terrogations might be somewhat imperti- nent. This mood, however, continued only for a few moments, for little while thereafter he was asking me questions in rapid-fre style. How old was IT Where had l lived? How long had l been in Washington? Was I married, and why not? Had I worked for newspapers in other cities? Why was 1t that the great est newspapers in the United States were not printed in Washington? All the first newspapers of Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Austria were printed respectively in the capitals of those countries. Why was not such the case in the United States?
 .These and other similar questions were addressed to me so rapidly that l not only had not the time intelligently to answer them, but I almost quite forget the purpose of my call. Tn word, 1t seemed to me that the Interviewer had
 
 the Interviewed the Interviewer
 At length, however, I screwed up my courage and repeated the questions that I had first asked him. By way of re- sponse MT. Wu spoke in conventional praise of America and Americans and of the happy impressions made upon him by what he had seen of American life and American customs. Finally l asked him point blank, so to speak. whether or not China was in favor of the United States retaining the Philippines.
 An Emphatic Negative.
 "For answer MT. Wu's hands, which had been folded in his lap came suddenly apart and were raised half deprecatingly. only to fall promptly and rest on each of his knees. Looking at me somewhat in- tent1y MT. Wu said: Are we fin favor of your holding the Philippines. Not if you exclude the Chinese from the islands, And then, smartly raising his head and stiffening his neck and apparently clench- ing his teeth, he added with sharp em- phasis: "No!"
 As he made this answer he must have read reflected on my countenance the ef- feet his words had made upon me. My eyes met his, but only for the briefest possible instant, for my attention had been diverted by a peculiarly impatient movement of his left foot protruding as 1t did from beneath the bottom of his pa- jamma-like trousers. MT. Wus face was
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