China And The Chinese

VVluIe rresident Angel!, of the University of Michigan and ex-Minister to China, was staying a few days in Xew I York on lus return to America, he was asked the reason for the unusually short time taken to complete the two treaties made by him with China. "I am unable to decide hesaid, "which of two explanationsto accept. It may be that the Chinese go vernment, thinking a war with Russia imminent, was anxious not to be troubled tby any other complications at the same time. Or, it is possible that China saw that this country was f ully determined to restrict Chinese immigration, in one way or another, and so she made what seemed to be the best arrangement possible at once." "Did you do any diplomatic business with the Chinese government except making the treaty arrangement?" was the next question asked. "Yes, I succeeded in having a heavy tax removed from Protestant Christian Chinamen which they had previously paid for the support of religious festivals. In all the Chinese villages they have a great many celebrations that are partly religious and partly civic - a sort of religious Fourth of July, in fsct. The expenses of these festivals ars paid by a general tax, but, naturally, Christian Chinamen feit strong conscientious scruples against paying moaey for the support of heathen religious rites. Many years ago the Roman Catholic Church succeeded in having its converts exempted from this tax, but it was still levied upon Protestant converts. My attention being called to this fact, I broached the subjeet on the first fitting opportunity to the Poreign Oflice, and Prince Kung, the Viceroy, said that he had always supposed that all christian converts were exempted ; tLat he was willing to rectify the mistake, and to do so oflicially. I therefore prepared a diplomatic dispatch on the subjeet, and an official agreement was made removing the tax from the Protestant converts. There are abo ut 15,000 of them in China." "What is the present state of American trade with China ?" "China, you know, is a country that makes scnrcely any perceptible change in a decade, especially in sucli matters. Our only articles of export to that country are petroleum and heavy cotton fabrica. The Chinese, never using any woolen, require large quantities of cotton goods, and our sheetings as they are called, are slowly pushing their way, especially ia the northern provinces of the empire, and are superseding English-made fabrics, simply because they are goed and unadulterated, while the English cottous are most of them badly adulterated. What change there has been in our trade with China is for the better in these two articles. They don't want machinery, and won't for many years." "Who is the most progressive man in China at present?" Li Hung Chang, the Viceroy of the Province of Chihli, in which Pekin is situated, is by far the most liberal man and the most friendly to Western ideas in the Empire. He is a man of great ability, and is second only to Prince Kung, the Viceroy of the Empire, in influence. It is through his efforts that China has made most of what little advancement she has made within the last decade. He established the one short telegraphlinein China, when war with Russia was feared, and at the same time succeeded in having a few miles of railroad built. As soon as the fear of immediate war was passed, however, the Chinese bought the railroad of its foreign builders and tore it up. Li Hung Chang has also secured a line of coaat steamers. He gave me to understand that he himself would have been williag to have the Chinese students remain in this country. They were recalled because it was found that they were not learning enough of Chinese classics, which is absolutely nccessary for a Chinaman to know well if he wishes to rise in his native land. The movement was a reactionary one." "Was there mueh feeling manif ested in China over President Garfleld's death?" "There was the deepest soirow feit and publicly expressed by the foreign residents and by a few Chinese officials, but the mass of the people knew nor cared nothing about it. The great mass of the Chinese people, in fact, hardly know that such a place as America exists. If they had known of President Garfield's unhappy death, and had regretted it, we had no way of knowing it, as such a thing as public opinión does not exist there, and there is no newspaper press to form or express it if it did exist. -