The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-18
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Man Who Made Friends with
China.
BY DIR. F.. J. EDWARDS.

BY DIR. f. J. EDWARDS.
| There are many persons not yet 81
! far advanced in life as to be properly
termed old men and women who car
| remember vividly what true sensa
ton. in the best meaning of tina
word, prevailed throughout the United
States when Arson Burlingame, thu
American minister to China, came tc
thris country in 1867. for the purpose
of negotiating for China the CONNER
cial treaties which Mr.. Burlingame
as our minister, had agreed upon with
| the Chinese government.
| With Mr.. Burlingame was great
following of Chinese servants. minol
officials and some dignitaries who
| were called mandarins and who were
dressed with magnificence. Some OF
them wore the red button or ball a,
| the top of their skull caps, others
| wore buttons or balls of dfferen,
colors. all of them signifying the de-
gree of the rank which the mandarins
! represented.
Few persons in the United States
had ever seen any Chinese excepting
| coolies who were employed at rail-
| road building in the far West. The
brilliant and rigid etiquette which
| characterized the noblemen of China,
so to call them, their intense and
childlike interest in everything which
| they saw and the very fact that they
were Chinese of high degree and were
especially devoted to Mr.. Burlingame
surrounded this party with a peculiar
| atmosphere Of Oriental life and their
visit to this country was the one COM
handing topic of the day.
Subsequently Mr.. Burlingame, with
this great retinue, visited France and
| England. In England. he had no diff
| fculty in securing favorable con-
sideration of the treaties. In fact.
| France was the only European coun-
| try which declined to ratify any treat
les with China.
1t was in Prussia, then only a king
dom. that Mr.. Burlingame and his Chi
nese friends received perhaps the most
distinguished attentions which came
to them from any nation upon me
continent of Europe. Even then Prus-
STA was considering the pest methods
of securing some portion of the trade
Of China. Upon one occasion, Bur-
lingame and the mandarins, mag
! nificent in their court costumes. at
| tended a semi-royal reception in Ber-
lin. Burlingame happened to meet an
| American friend at this reception. The
conversation turned upon the CONNER
cial development of China and Mr..
Burlingame said, China will need a
great system of railroads if she is to
develop her magnificent natural re-
| sources" To this statement the
friend replied, Cant you interest
American and European capital in
sufficient amounts to make railway
construction in China possible
"Oh, II isn't a question of capital.
BurlinGame replied. Il could get mil
lions and millions for railroad build
ing in China if it wasn't for one thing
All of China is practically one great
graveyard The Chinese have for their
religion the worship of their ances-
tors They would be terrified IL they
saw railroads constructed across their
great cemetery. They would regard
ii as a Dissertation of their ancestors
You can't have railroads in China I'M
Ill you find the way TO get around this
difficulty
You must have some idea of the
way the thing could be done" his
friend suggested.
Yes. ] have" Mr.. Burlingame re-
Piled. and l shall take il up as soon
as l have completed the mission
which | am now engaged on"
He did not live TO complete the mis-
sion. While he WAS at ST. Petersburg.
still with his retinue, he was taken
suddenly i'll and died. Nor did he
leave anything which would serve as
hint or clue to the manner in which
taken in China.