The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-12-16

nan Province of China, IN the midst of
an almost boundless stretch of verdant
fields, upland and meadow, there is a
highly cultivated estate of about /
twenty-five acres. It is enclosed by a /
substantial almost prim stone fence, /
and is surrounded by elm and willow
trees. There is a palatial residence on
this estate built upon a small noun |
tain, created by human hands and |
which small green-watered lake |
touches This is the estate and the
residence of Yuan Shih-kai-Of him
who may or may not be, as Fate I'M
rolls her scroll, the Napoleon of China. !
1t required but a year of time, and, ii /
is estimated cost its owner less than
S150,OO0, to create this abode after his
forced retirement from active politi- !
cal life after the death of the wonder
full Empress Dowager, Tzu Hsi. Yuan
Shih-kai is not native of Chante. /
His birth place is in Chameleon, where
his home really is. Other residences
he has in other parts of China; but he
seems to have determined upon having
one where he could enjoy his life sat
isfactorily, and so erected this And
here he has lived with his family, his
seven sons and six daughters his ser
aglio, and retinue of attendants and
servants. He has great wealth and
lives the life Of prince.
Ostensibly he is i'll, suffering from
rheumatism. so that an Imperial Edict
advised and permitted" him to retire
from active participation in the affairs
of State but those who are intimate
with Yuan aver that the Illness is Of
the type found in the Land of Make
believe only, and that political conii- .
tons favoring, there is no need for
cure. This Chinese gentleman until
recently has passed his days reading
the newspapers and magazines of the
world. The frequent rumors of his
restoration to the power that was his .
in the days of Tzu Hsi. It Is alleged, /
have their beginning with Yuan him
self, for the life he is living is not that
which a man of great ambition would
consider fitting.
Yuan Shih-kai is a Chinese, born
fifty-two years ago in the province of ,
Honan. One of his great-uncles, it is
interesting to remember, was one of
the four generals who, with Gordon's |
aid, took the chief part in suppressing |
the TAPPING rebellion. His career has |
been exceptionally eventful even for
that of an Oriental statesman. He was
and in 1882 he went with a Chinese de.
tachment to the assistance of the King /
Of Korea, who was then threatened |
by an instruction. He remained in that |
kingdom for twelve years, becoming
Imperial Resident at the early age of |
twenty-six, and continuing to hold !
that post until the war with Japan in
1S94-5 expelled the Chinese from the !
peninsula.
The Japanese had their first inkling !
of the ability of this Chinese during |
the period preceding the China-Japan /
War. II is not too much to say that
Yuan himself was responsible for the !
outbreak of the war. Nominally, as
Chinese Minister to Korea, he dictated !
the policy of the Korean government |
in it's dealing with ther countries, and |
when the Tonghak-dons Instruction
occurred in 1894, he telegraphed to
China and had troops sent to Ansan,
Korea. This was in violation of the
Tientsin Treaty between Japan ami |
China, in which each country prom
ised to consult the other before any
dispatch OF troops to the then Hermit
Kingdom. Japan at once also dis
patched troops, and proposed to Yuan
that China and Japan cooperate in the
carrying out of Korean reforms. Yuan
desired a free hand in Korean matters
and was unwilling to share with the /
Japanese. On July IS, 1894, he caused
the Korean government to inform the
japanese that Korea would carry out
her proposed reforms of her own ac.
cord, but the first thing required was
that Japan should withdraw her
troops
Whatever be the moral view Of the
bullying of weak country by a
stronger, is must be co needed that at
least Yuan Shih-kai's tactics in Korean
diplomacy were both bold and clever
The japanese, however, would have
respected him much more than they do
now if, after having backed up the Ko-
rean Government to this point, Yuan
had stood to his guns to the last, but
as a matter of fact, on the night of
July 18th, he secretly fed from Seoul,
the Korean capital, and took steamer
from Chemulpo for Tientsin, leaving
the Koreans in the hands of the Japa-
nese. He did a similar thing with the