Evening star., 1908-01-12

of moral stamina and men of unimpeach-
able moral character has put the people OF
China in the way of asking of Christianity y
as never before. The pot of opportunity
Is boiling. ! belieev that China and Japan
will be Christian nations
In these words Mr.. Fletcher S. Brock
man. national secretary in China Of the Y.
NJ. c. A., in recent interview. summed
up the present opportunity for Christian
missionary work in the celestial empire.
Mr.. Brockman has been In China for ten
years. and he has been a close observer
of the beginning of new era there. He
has been in Washington the past week as
guest of the local association. which
supports him In the mission field, and
when asked by Star reporter to tell of
the opening of China he presented some
remarkable facts regarding the awaken
ing Of the giant of the far east. He was
asked to treat the subject from the COM
mercial educational and moral stand
points.
From the commercial viewpoint first
he began. When an American visits one
of the old cities of China he expects to
f1nd sleepy, dirty place. But as soon as
one lands from the steamer at Shanghai
he is impressed with the commercial ac-
tivity. He sees first the great bind. or
street, upon which are located great busi-
the architecturally beautiful Russo-Ch-
nese Bank building. With it's branches
all up and down the coast, that immense
establishment takes care of the Russian
trade in the empire. Next is the Hong
kong-Shanghai Bank. caring for the Brit
ish business. Next to that is the Yoko-
hama Bank, through which the japanese
trade with China is handled. Nearby Is
the International Bank. which is the
American Institution. All these have
their branches along the coast. While
Germany and Japan have tried most sci
entificaliy to get the inside of the
Chinese trade, the British and American
trade now cuts the largest figure.
ITO show what intelligent and skiilful
management can accomplish, the Stand
ard Oil Company gives the best example.
Even in the small shops in the interior
OF China. that company has introduced
kerosene and kerosene lamps. and they
being used in many households in
place of ancient lights That is practical
~ the only company which has been able
TO push its trade into the interior. the
others doing business only along the coast.
THE commercial awakening of China
is further shown by the fact that there
are now forty great steamers plying on
the Yangtze river between Shanghai and
Hankow. and the commerce of that river
now surpasse that of any river in the
world. To show how trade in China is
divided 1t is interesting to note that on
the river there are two japanese COM
Chinese. Americans had the first COM
papy, but have none now.
When ! went to China ten years ago.
there were twelve miles of railroad in the
country. Now there are 1000 miles, either
in operation or assured. The greatest
barrier to trade in the past was the likin
tax We have nothing like it in this
country. but l can illustrate It, If you
can imagine train between Washington
and Chicago. which is about the distance
between Hangkow and Peking, being
stopped five or six times. the freight on
board examined. and taxed each time, you
can get an idea of the likin tax. You can
understand that linen in Hangkonw would
increase considerably in price by the time
il reached Peking. In Manchuria there
has been no such tax, and that explains
why foreign goods have been introduced
more rapidly into that country than into
China.
Two recent things have helped to en-
large the commercial opportunities In
China. First. recent treaties nave mace
this likin tax not applicable to foreign
goods Second, there has been lifting or
the needs and wants of the people. When
a man in China gets money, he Will spend
IL; he lives we'll as his funds permit.
He has been too poor to buy many for
eign goods
And the reason why he is poor is that
China has not yet opened up It's mines.
An eminent engineer recently estimateo
that there was enough coal In emma TO
supply the world for a thousand years
and that ii is the richest mineral coun-
try in the world. When these resources
are developed the people of China VIII
have larger incomes ana De more dpie
to buy better goods.
.aThe possibilities Of the Chinese foreign
trade have never yet been toucheo. IN
the course of the next twenty-five years
that trade will be increased 100 per cent.
Suppose the grade OF living of the Chi
nese was raised 10 per cent That would
amount to the discovery of more than
two Americas. There are 4W,UO,Uu
people in China and to increase their
the same as adding 200,OoO,UO0 people,
which is over twice the population OF The
United States. 1t was thought to be a
great thing for trade when an uninhabit-
ed continent was discovered Ihink OF
adding two inhabited continents to the
trade Of the world. The people who dis
regard China lack information or brains.
"All over the empire there is a need for
western things. Already there is a de-
mand for American watches. clocks,
lamps, -four, sewing machines. Kerosene
oil and cotton goods China offers the
greatest trade opportunity for American
cotton The country cannot raise It's
own cotton, for 1t has not. enough land
or proper land. Yet everybody wears cot
ton In all seasons of the year. In winter,
when Chinese is asked how cold ii Is. he
will reply that IT is three coats cold
nine coats cold as the case may De.
ing is cotton. the padding Is cotton and
the outside Is cotton"
Mr.. Brockman next took up the awdk-
ening of the celestial empire from the
educational viewpoint.
Up TO six years ago China kept intact
an educational system which had been
unchanged for 2,OO0 years" declared Mr.
Brockman. That system In that time
had not changed as much as the Ameri-
can system changes in five years. Six
years ago it began 10 readapt the system
TO the new era which was spreading over
the empire. Three years ago however
she stopped readapting it. threw IL over
board and adopted the most modern sys-
tenn which she could discover. the Ameri-
can Since then. higher institutions OF
learning have sprung UP like mushrooms
In the governmental centers like Iientsin
Nanking. Soochow. Canton and other
places one can now find from half q
dozen 10 score of these colleges. In
each there are from 800 TO go students
Buddhist temples have been changed In
TO lecture halls and in the evenings they
are always filled with interested students
listening to lectures on scientific and lit
erary topics. A significant sign Of the
time is that the educational authorities
the crowds who cannot read, because the
authorities feel that the people must nov
keep up with the times. Free reading
rooms are being established.
The people are in ferment of educa
tion. They have imported from /. 900 Il
Lao professors from Japan, and yearly
over 10000 Chinese students make tn,
long trip to Toxic. Japan. to study. Som,
of those students must spend six weeks o
time and fortune in money to get to tn,
Japanese capital. going from the border
or 4 let In the Y. NJ. c. A. branch anon: