Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-17

anxious to see me. He told me of the
ratification of the treaty. but eaid that
! must not let Ii Hung Chang know that
| heard of it. as he was anxious to give
me the news himself. l then went to the
yamen. and Ii came clear out to the gate
to meet me. The tears ran down his
face as he told me OF the ratification"
The making of that treaty must have
been interesting. The Japanese had the
upper hand. and they could demand what
they pleased, could they not?'
X
"Chinas situation was such that she
could do little more than submit replied
Gen. Foster. "Eut. nevertheless. there
We're certain bounds beyond which Japan
could not go. Ii Hung Changs diary
describes the meetings of the commission
at shmonoseki and among other things
the despair of the Chinese commissioners
when the first demands of Japan We're
presented to them. This story is a pa
thetic one. 1t tells how Ii felt and among
other things states that the face of Mr.
Foster was asnen. | do not remember
any particular paleness of countenance
but | know that Prince Ii and the other
commissioners We're in the depths of ue
spair Japan had demanded that China
pay an indemnity of :'0o million taes.
and also give large cessions of territory
in Manchuria and elsewhere. There We're
other demands which were very offensive
to China, but which we We're afterward
able to materially change. | was asked
to prepare an answer TO the demands Of
Japan. and to propose changes in the
draft of the treaty did and Ii
Hung Chang and | went carefully over
the paper. 1t was then submitted
to the japanese and after much discus
sion the most OF my reco,amendati tons
We're agreed to. Among other things they
included the reduction Of The war in
demnity to 300 million taels instead of 300
millions which had been demanded. The
demand for the cessions in Manchurla
was also withdrawn, and altogether
treaty was arrived at which was much
more in the favor of China.
Did Ii Hung Chang appreciate the
fact that China had gained a great deal
through the treaty commissions:
Yes replied Gen. Foster. He was
in despair at the beginning OF the ne
gotiations, but became more reconciled to
the situation at the close He seemed
very grateful to me for my work in con-
nection with the treaty, and told me
that the emperor was anxious that l
should stay in China and act as his for
egn adviser and counselor. replied
that / had great deal of business at
home and could not possibly leave. Ii
Hung Chang answered that his govern
ment would give me leave or absence
of several months or long enough to close
up any business that | might possibly
have and also that tines would make the
proposition SO attractive financially that
it would more than compensate me for all
losses / then told his excellency that
would like to oblige China, but that |
had promised my little grandson. d boy
of seven that ! '.ould go fishing with
him that summer and / knew that his
excellency, who appreciated SO highly the
relations between children and parents
would see that L could not possibly break
faith with the boy The viceroy there
upon smiled and ceased to persist. Upon
coming back to the United States, while
out fishing one day. / caught d fish about
four feet in length. It was as tall as
the boy and / had him photographed
holding the fish. and sent the picture
back to the viceroy.
1T was at Shimonoseki that the shoot
ing of Ii Hung Chang occurred was it
not?'
Yes 4 japanese from the interior
tried to assassinate him. The man was
fanatic who thought he could benefit
the nation by killing it's arch enemy,
Prince Ii. The shooting occurred when
Lii Hung Chang was returning from one
of the meetings of the treaty commits
sion. He was riding in sedan chair
through a narrow street. which was
crowded with people. The man fired
and the bullet struck him about an inch
below the left eye, going so far in that
1t was not possible to extract il.
How did the viceroy act at the time
of the shooting?"
replied Mr.. Foster, las Theodore Roose-