' _ ! 1MM1. OMATTA iM.rsTHATHD
China and the Philippines
WASHINGTON , Oct. 1C. ( Special Corre
spondence of The Dee. ) "Hollo , Central ! "
"Hello ! Who do you want ? "
"I want the Chinese minister at the Chl-
iiofo locution. "
"Walt a. inlniile Here ho Is ! Drop in
yrur dime ! "
Tills coiueisatlon went over the wires
between inself and a tinny-voiced tele
phone ghl if ilio central station in Wash
ington this morning. I was patronizing one
cf the drug store public tolophi ncs anil was
anxious tri arrange for an interview with
the Chinese minister. The coniiojtloii hav
ing been made It tcok but a moment to learn
that the minister would sec mo at ouce
and within a shcrt time I was at the door of
tbo legation.
The Chinese legation Is situated on the
corner of Eighteenth and Q streets , within
a stone's throw of the enormous palace
which .Millionaire Loiter put up as a "Shel
ter for Mary , " as one of the family ex
pressed It. Not far away Is Dupont Circle
anil Ulaiuc's big house , for which Mr. Lelter
used to pay $1,000 a month rent before the
shelter was built and long before Mary mar
ried Mr. Curzon and became the w.fe of the
viceroy of India. I don't know what rent
the Chinese pay , but I should Judge the
house to bo worth more than the Dlalne
mansion. It Is a great building of white
stone , magnificently finished , with many
looms and gorge us appointments.
A press upon the electric button brought
thu colored butler to the dcor and a s < n of
Africa told mo that the representative of
the biggest nation of Asia was expecting
mo aiid would be down Immediately. He lc < l
me Into the parlor , a room about as large
as the red room of the White House , tha
walls of which were hung with rare Chi
nese paintings and tall porcelain vases at
their base , the latter containing enough
material to tllo a bath room.
The Chinese MlulNter.
I had hardly taken my seat before the
THU CHINKS- ! : MINISTER , WINO TINO FANG I hoto by his Secietnry , October , 18'JO.
minister entered. Ho Is a tall , straight
Chinese of about 40 years of ago. He mny
bo older , for you can never tell the ago
of a celestial , and the older ho It * the
prouder ha Is of It. He was dressed In a
dark silk gown , with a vest of purple silk.
His sleeves weie very long , but wore rolled
up nt the wrists , showing a white Bilk
undenlress and long , slender , aristocratic
hands. On his head was a black skull cap
and upon It , just over the forehead , was a
round diamond pin , as big an a nickel , sot
with stones of the first water. His exccl-
lency shook hands , sat down beside me , and
the conversation began. We first talked
of Peru The Chinese minister to America
Is also minister to Peru , and his excellency
will make a trip to South America along
about the first of the year. Ho Is rather
alarmed about the climate and was pleased
to learn that Lima Is as healthful as any
part of the celestial empire.
The next subject was tbo Philippines and
the prohibition of Chinese Immigration by
General Otis. I auked the minister what ho
thought of the decree. Ho replied :
"I think it is a mistake for tbo Ameri
cans to endeavor to keep tbo Chinese out
of the Philippines. I mean a mistake from
the American standpoint ; not as It will
affect China , but as regards the develop
ment of the Islands. The moot ot the labor
of the far east Is furnished by the Chinese.
They are the business people and the In
dustrial perple of the orient. They furnish
the best lull ir , and It Is almost Impossible
to accomplish anything without them. Tin ?
English have learned this long ago. Take
the Island of HOUR Kong. It has been
built up by Chinese labor. Take the Straits
settlements , the Chinese do the work rf
Singapore and all that region , although the
population Is made up of Maln.\s. The
Malays arc , however , unreliable. They
will work for a short time and then lay
off for weeks. The chief business houses
of Singapore are owned by Chinese , and
the English think so much of the Chinese
clement there that there are Chinese In
the council ft the governors , and the Chi
nese have considerable to do with all pub
lie matters. In Slam tbo Chinese form the
host working element of the population and
In the cities of Dttrmah nearly all the me
chanics are Chinese. I understand that the
English in Hong Kong are much alarmed
about the possibilities of competition from
the Philippines as to cotton factories. This ,
however , Is only In connection with the In
troduction of Chinese labor In the Philip
pines. The natives cannot manage the
factories and there will bo no danger If
the Chinese are kept out. It will be the
same with the development of the tobacco
plantations. The Philippine Islands have
sonic cf the finest tobacco lands of the
world. They arc far superior to those of
Sumatra and Java , but It will require Chi
nese labor to work thorn. I think that the
matter of self-interest will eventually show
your people that they cannot get along
without the Chinese In the Philippines. "
Cliliin'N Neiv iliillriiatlN.
I next asked his excellency something
about the new railroads of China. He Is by
far thu best posted man on the subject out
side the celestial empire. Ho was con-
nc'cted with the lallroads of north China
before lit- came here. He has traveled all
over the country and knows all about the
possibilities. Said ho :
"There IH no land where railroads will
pay bettor than In China , Wo have a vast
population. Wo bavo cities of enormous
sl/.o Mtuuted only a few miles apart and
villages Innumerable ) . Wo are a great busi
ness people and our local trade Is enormous.
Today the most of our manufactures and
agricultural products are carried from placu
to place on the water , on the backs of men
or In eartfl. In the future the greater part
of them will go by rail. The Chinese will
appreciate the economy of railroad trans
portation and the roads will bo well patron
ized. "
"How do the roads now In operation pay ? "
I asked ,
"Somo of them are paying enormous
dividends , " replied the Chinese minister.
"Take the road from Tien Tsln to Shan
Hal Kwan. This was the first railroad of
any length In China. I was one of the
builders. We could not get the Imperial
sanction to it at first and we had to operate 1
KETl'KN OF THE SOL'TIl IKOTVOU'NTEEKS PASSING I'NDEIl THE AHCII AT DEADWOOI )
slowly. Li Hung Chang was at the head
of the movement nnd we built the line mile
by mile , feeling our way , until wo connected
the great Kalplng cnal mines with Tien
Tsin , and finally pushed the road on to the
Chinese wall anil to the sea at Shan Hal
Kwan. That road now has an enormous
business and It pajs , I venture , s unethlng
llko 100 per cent. Wo have fartoilrs at
Kalplng , whole wo make our own cais and
locomotives. Wo havu Chinese engineers ,
brakcmen and conductois , and UK- work In
tbo machine shops Is d'no by Chinese I
can't describe the trouble wo hail In gettln-j ;
the people to allow us to build the real
Even after wo had the Imperial sinctkn we
were held back by public opinion Tb
labor organizations were against us anl wr
had to move very cauti' usly You see the
Inb'irmions are very strong In China The
general Idea Is that tbo oinintiy is an abso
lute monarchy. The truth IK tint it Is as
democratic almost as the United States , aiil
the words "Vox popuil , vex Hoi" have al
mo = t as much w eight. "
Illlllroiii ! < < I'M. luir.
"Thorn Is now a railroad from Tien Tsln
Tien Tsln , you know , has over 1,000,000
people. It Is the capital of a province , and
Is the center of trade- for JIITO than 100-
000,000 of population. The steamers come
uti through the Yellow sea and enter the
Pelho , the stream which flows by Tien Tsln.
They then unload , nnd from Tien Tsln their
goods are carried to nil pnrts of north
China. Peking has between 1,000,000 and
2,000,000 people. It Is only eighty miles
from Tlon Tsln , nnd the country between
the two is as lint as a door. LI Hung Chang
thought there- should ho a railroad , and It
was nt his Instance that I went over the
route , making surveys and talking up the
matter with the Inhabitants. We had to go
very slowly , canvassing the country almost
ns a candidate does his district bore In a
campaign. I made many speeches.
"At last , when wo thought wo had the
matter pretty well worked up , It was pro-
sonlo'l ' to the emperor , and ho asked for ad
vice upon the subject from his council In
Peking , nnd also from the viceroys and dis
tinguished men all ever the country. All
Mnds of replies came In , but tbo one which
had the most to do with keeping back the
road was ono from the viceroy of Canton ,
Chans Chi Tung. Chang nil Tung said
that ho thought that loads ought to bo built
In tbo Intorlor flrfl : that there was danger
from foreign Invasl n , and that a road llko
tills connecting wllh tbo sen would put the
capital In a perilous position.
"Ho suggested that a railroad should bo
built frnni Hankow to Poking. This would
bo n great trunk line going north and south
through the most populous part of the om-
plro. Now , wo had thought that the Tlcn
Tsln-PeklnK road was a sure thing , nnd hnd
oven gene so far as to order the materials.
Tim officials at Peking , liownvor , docldod
tbnt Chang Chi Tung's ndvlco was good , nnd
tboy ordered us to stop the work for tbo
tlmo. Wo told them wo hnd ordered the
mnterlnls. They snld "that makes no
difference , pay for what you Jinvo ordered ,
but lot tlm mntter drop. " This wo were
forced to do. The mntter did drop , and It
was not until after the war that It wan
taken up again. The rend hns slnco boon
built , nnd though I do not know exactly
ns to its buslnepfl I should Judge tbnt It
must have an enormous traffic "
Cliliin'H Crenl TriuiU I.Inc.
"Hut how about Chang Chi Tung's road ? "
"You mean the < no from Hankow to Po
king , " enlil tbo mlnlstor. "Well , that Is
being built from both ends. Hankow , you
know , Is 700 miles In from the coast. It Is
reached by the Yang TBO Klang , which Is
( Continued on Eighth Page. )
UETI'IIN OF SOL'TH DAKOTA VOLl'NTEE KS C mpanles I , II and M dolmiklng fnm
train at Deadwood. Troop I , mounted cavalry , of Fort Meade In fongiound.
A Bunch of Short Stories
Ex-Congi < nsmaii Tim Campbell , whom )
dulliiltlon , "A virgin fuiet-t In a place whoio
tbo hand of man has nuNur set a fool , " made
him ' famous , Is ever and anon adding to thu
amusement ' or edification of the public. Tills
Is his latest , vouched For by the Philadelphia
Post :
A friend who had boon reading the dally
papur ' with painful slowness looked suddenly
up. "Tim , fwot IH that nuw-fanglcd crolmo.
in Germany they call leaso-majosty ? "
Tim bystanders , aroused by thu words ,
looked Inquisitively at tholi loader , who ,
with a mild cxpH'sslon of comloscoiiHlon , re
plied :
"Loaso-majesty , Mike , IH a foreign crime ,
ami Is taking the Icawi of a house without
the emperor's coimont. "
A head adorned with shaggy and iiiiman-
ngo.ihlo whiskers was thrust out of the win
dow , rolaton Collier's Weekly , and a volco
that lilted the beard Inquired :
"What Is It ? "
"Oh , Is this Mr. Hlgglns ? " came a hhrlll
volco from thu slmdo of the doorway bolow.
"Yes. "
"Ploaso ennui lo No. Ill High street , just
as quick as you can , and bring your Instru
ments. "
"I ain't no doctor ; I'm a carpenter. Dr.
HlgKlns lives In the next street. " and the
window en mo down with a slam that told of
former oxporlcnccw of the same kind on tbo
part of the humble artisan.
Hut Mr. HlggliiH bad not got comfortably
back Into bed before tbo boll rang again ,
and , uttorlng some forcible remarks , ho rose
once moro and wont to the window.
"Well , what do you want now ? " ho ejacu
lated.
"Ploaso , sir , " U < i the little volco , "It's
you wo want ; pa and ma Is shut up In the '
foldlii' bed , an' wo can't get 'em out. "
Ilov. Frank Crane was speaking at the !
union religious Bcrvlccs held during tha fall
festival In the Auditorium , relates the Chicago
cage Nows. The audience was serious as a |
result of the grave remarks of the previous ,
speakers. Dr. Crane had a mind to bo ,
solemn when discussing Chicago's great
ness , but unintentionally ho caused a
laugh.
Just us ho said , "There la a time , " ha
took a drink , then Hie people xarod , as
he continued , "for everything. "
For a moment ho was lieulldeieil at the
sinldon menImeiil of thu audience ; then
IMS ( u\v the joke. Looking wlho , ho re-
murlu'il : "Ami soirellmo.s , " hetook
another sip , "there is a long tlmo hotwccn
times. "
Ho put down tbo glass ) nnd moved lightly
fiom ono foot lo the oilier , as If keeping
limn lo tbo peals of laughter which shook
tlio audience out of Us holomnlty.
A bland and pntinnl/.liiK Now Yorker , HI
a Tilbuno story runs , wim passing through
i raw and now hamlet In the west , which
Its pruiiil founders had dubbed II City ,
and uero sure would hoon become , i thriving
hive of human beings. Addressing a lank
and la/.y youth who UIIH lounging at the
door of ono of tbo Hide uliantieM that passed
for a "shoo ompoiliim , " the Now Yorker
lniiilied | , sarcastically :
"Who Is that Important -looking gentle
man wllh the red llannel shirt ? "
"Thill's Sam Potois , " was Ilio proud ri > -
ply. "llo's just opened the now post-
olllco. "
"Ami thu tall poison with no collar ? "
"llo's Long Mike. JiiHt opened a gro
cery nloro. "
"And thu plump Individual with the bald
bead ? "
"ll.indy .Mm. Owns the now saloon. "
"Indeed ? " nalil the Now Yoiker. "Your
city dooms to bo prolty well started. 1
should wipprso them was nothing left for
u stranger llko myself to open. "
"Oh , I diinno , " diawlod Ilio lanky one
"Wo ain't got no loonatlo asylum yet. You
might start that. "
On ono of his eltotlonoeiliiK touts General
"Joo" Wheeler , who IH quite pmull In stature ,
was called upon to address thu pupils at a
country sohoi I. Thin the teacher reminded
the boys that ulu-n they grew up they , too ,
might bo coiigioasmcn. "Mo , too ? " Inquired
a lanky lad of KOIIIO 11 "Certainly , " said
the liMohor. "I locKon I'll have to grow
down 'HI.-id ! o' grow In' up If I want to bo a
congressman llko hlmi , " said the boy , point-
Ing to the diminutive statesman. The
teacher wau much embarrassed and her
visitor correspondingly delighted.
