The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-11
BY WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.
Copyright 1908, Ov Joseph B. Bo"Ies.

tLCIl Vi tltO WV SiiSN -
And IL the contrast between the China Of
yesterday and the China of to-day is great,
what shall we say of the contrast between
the Flowery Kingdom and our own country
The same stars shine overhead and the
same laws Of nature operate on the earth,
but in mode of living, appearance, customs
and habits of thought the Chinese people
could scarcely be more different from
ours.
First, a word as to the land which they
occupy; it's very vastness impresses n
unless he has recently consulted his geog-
raphy.
While the eighteen provinces which oon-
stitute China proper have something less
than 1000, 600 square miles, yet the Chinese
Empire with It's tributary States has an
area Of about $500, 600 square miles, and
extends 80 degrees north and south and
10 degrees east and west.
We hardly realize when we speak Of China
that her Emperor holds sway over a ter
ritory nearly twica as large as the United
States; that hiG DEGREES are aw to q popu-
lation estimated at from ESQ., 900 900 to 400
600 600; that her climate is like that Of Russia
in the north, while in the southern provinces
her people live under a tropical sur and
JUdI BIO Has 30 MANY HlouIlSoAhno ira ouSh
mighty deserts that moro than half Of her
population Is crowded together upon a
plain which contains but a little more than
200, 900 square miles. Williams, in his work
entitled THE Middle Kingdom calls this
district "the most densely settled Of any
part Of the world Of the same size" and
estimates that upon this plain, less than
three times the size OF Nebraska, III ,000, COO
Of human beings dwell.
DIFFICULTIES OF TRAVEL IN HIN
The harbors Of China are hardly what
one might expect on so extended a line OF
sea coast. While the harbor at Hongkong
Is an admirable one-one Of the best In the
world-the one at Shanghai has no hills to
protect it, the one at Chefu Is open to the
storms and the one at Taku does not deserve
to be called a harbor at all.
In leavi ng Shanghai we went an hour
and a half by launch in order to reach a
steamer of only 5000 tons; at Chefu a still
smaller ship was delayed a day because
the lighters could not unload it in the wind,
and at Taku, the seaport OF Tientsin and
Pekin, we spent a day on the bar waiting
Cor ton feet of water.
The capital Of the Empire has until re-
gently been 80 difficult OF access that COM
paratively few tourists have visited It.
The large ocean steamers stop at Shanghai
and Hongkung only. making it necessary
for one desiring to visit Pekin to take q
smaller boat and risk indefinite delays on
account Of wind and tide.
Since the completion of the railroad from
Hankow to Pekin it h possible to accom-
plish the Journey from Shanghai to Pekin
In less time and in addition enjoy the ad-
vantage OF a trip inland. When the pro-
jected road is completed from Hankow
to Canton the tourist can land at Shanghai,
take a river boat 900 miles up the Yangset
Kiang to Hankow, then by rail to Pekin,
about 800 miles north, then back through
Hankow to Canton nearly as far south,
from which point there are daily boats
TO Hongkong.
This trip, covering nearly a thousand
miles Of river travel, and about 1900 miles
OF railroad travel mot including the return
trip from Pekin to Hankow) can be made
In the time formerly spent in ravel along
the coast and furnishes an infinitely better
opportunity for the study of the country
and the people. AS a matter OF precaution
l ought to add that Pekin Is 80 far north
that before the opening Of the railroad it
was extremely difficult to visit 1t after the
first of December. and even now 1t Is de-
sirable that the trip should be mad before
the middle of November.
"CHINA's SORROW"
China is we'll watered; the largest river,
the Yangtse Kiang, wnich empties into
the ocean at Shanghai. is 5000 miles long,
drains more than half O million square miles,
and 700 miles above its mouth carries a
volume OF water estimated at 500 cubic
feet Der second. 1t is one Of the great
rivers Of the earth and is navigable for
large vessels for moro than a thousand
miles.
The Yellow River, or. in Chinese. the
Hwang Ho, drains a basin almost as large
and is nearly as long. but does not carry
80 large a volume OF water. This is the
river whose overiows ave been 80 disas-
trous as TO earn for it the name OF "The
Great Sorrow
This river carries down 30 much deposit
that within recent times it has so choked
it's original outlet as to form a new channel,
entering the ocean some 800 miles further
north. At that time thousands of villages
were swept away and the loss Of life vas
estimated at several millions. The current
Of the Yellow River is 30 shifting, the
sandbars 30 numerous and the volume OF
water 30 changeable that the river Ia praoti-
cally useless for navigation.
Besides these there are a number Of rivers
Of less Importance and tributaries Of these
two large rivers which seem small only
by comparison.
As IL inspired by the numerous and ex-
tenEive natural waterways, the Chinese
people centuries ago connected Its great
water systems by an immense canal which,
with the streams utilized by II, gave water
communication between Pekin and Canton.
This canal, sometimes known as the Transit
River, is nearly twioe as long as the Erie
Canal and is not only the greatest work
of its kind in Asia, hut at the time Of Its
construction was the greatest In the world.
MANY GREAT WALLS.
Before speaking Of the people q word
should be said in regard to the Great Wall.
It extends from the ocean westward along
the northern boundary OF China proper
$or q diasa noe ri Rboa1t Zoo miles. climbing