116 



CHINA. 



CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 



sponsible. The steamer was then got out of the 

 way by the Chinese Government reimbursing the 

 company and becoming its owner, and the dogged 

 determination with which the English negotia- 

 tors had ptvssed'their views for four years was 

 finally rewarded by their obtaining the' conces- 

 si< >n for which they strove without the instrumen- 

 tality of the steamer. The new arrangement is 

 embodied in six additional articles to the Chefoo 

 ('invention. This supplementary Convention 

 was signed on March 31, 1890. Chungking, on 

 the upper Yangtse, is declared to be open to for- 

 eign commerce. Foreign merchants are per- 

 mitted to charter Chinese boats or to build boats 

 after the Chinese pattern for the conveyance of 

 goods to the new treaty port, always employing 

 only Chinese boatmen. This advantage for the 

 river boatmen the Viceroy of Szechuen, in his 

 proclamation warning the people against disturb- 

 ances, says is due to the fact that " the Tsung-li- 

 Yauien have gone back and forth discussing these 

 matters till their lips are parched and their pens 

 are worn out." They did not give way to the 

 English demands without gaining an equivalent 

 that to them was of greater substantive value, 

 and one that the British minister was very re- 

 luctant to concede. This was the recognition of 

 the right of the Chinese Government to prohibit 

 foreign steamers from plying on the internal 

 waters of China. It is agreed that steam navi- 

 gation shall not be introduced in any river ex- 

 cept by Chinamen, though after Chinese steam- 

 ers have led the way and accustomed the people 

 to the innovation, then foreign steamers may 

 enter the rivers. The region first opened to for- 

 eign trade by the new convention is the most 

 wealthy and productive part of the empire. The 

 Yangtse has a course of little less than 3,000 

 miles, and 1,200 miles are navigable for steamers. 

 The valley is dotted with populous cities, and its 

 rich soil is tilled by industrious cultivators. 



The Legalization of Opium Growing. Im- 

 perial edicts have condemned in scathing terms the 

 cultivation of the poppy in China and the manu- 

 facture and sale of opium of domestic produc- 

 tion, against which severe penalties have been 

 decreed, yet without checking the spread of the 

 new crop in all parts of China, and especially in 

 the western provinces. Although some of the 

 viceroys and governors, like Tso-Tsung-Tang, 

 occasionally destroyed the plants throughout 

 whole districts, the farmers, especially in the 

 western provinces, continued to cultivate the 

 poppy in ever greater quantities until it has be- 

 come as common a crop as rice, beans, or millet. 

 It i.s not only a very profitable product, but can 

 be grown on the same soil and in the same season 

 with the ordinary crops. The people of China 

 know that when their Government attempted to 

 root out the vice of opium-smoking the British 

 compelled it to continue to admit the noxious 

 drug. The cultivation of native in competition 

 witli Indian opium received the support of pub- 

 lic opinion. In some of the provinces it was 

 heavily taxed. None of the taxes reached the 

 imperial treasury, and finally the Board of Rev- 

 enue in Pekin drew rhe Emperor's attention to 

 the immense quantities of opium produced in 

 China, and suggested that a proper rate of duty 

 be collected. This move on the part of the board 

 followed upon a report from Sir Robert Hart, 



Director of Maritime Customs, on native and' 

 foreign opium, showing the enormous and in- 

 creasing consumption of the native drug. The 

 Emperor issued a decree ordering all viceroys and 

 governors to report on the quantity of opium 

 grown and manufactured and the taxes levied 

 upon it, and instructing the Grand Council to 

 make a thorough investigation of the matter, 

 and to inform the provincial authorities that the 

 Emperor is aware of the growth of the poppy in 

 large quantities in certain provinces named in 

 the decree, whence it is sent to various places, 

 paying transit and all other duties. He directs 

 the authorities to find out the quantities pro- 

 duced and the price, and then to take steps to 

 raise a proper amount of revenue from it. 



CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The General Con- 

 vention of the Christian Church met in Suffolk, 

 Va., May 2. The Rev. W. W. Staley was re- 

 elected president. A resolution was adopted to 

 send delegates to the American Christian Con- 

 vention, the representative body of the Christian 

 Connection, a society affiliated with the Chris- 

 t ian Church in origin and doctrine, but separated 

 from it on certain questions of polity. 



CHRISTIAN CONNECTION. The quad- 

 rennial meeting of the American Christian Con- 

 vention was held in Marion, Ind., in October. 

 The Rev. D. A. Long was chosen president. A 

 report was adopted dividing the territory of the 

 Connection into seven districts. Reports were 

 received from five colleges and the Christian 

 Biblical Institute, besides which the Conven- 

 tion approved a plan for the institution of a 

 " correspondence college." Action was taken 

 looking to the establishment of a Central Chris- 

 tian University, in commemoration of the cen- 

 tennial of the Christian movement in America. 

 To this end the second Sunday of January was 

 appointed as a day for the celebration of the 

 event, with religious and historical exercises. 

 The receipts for home mission work during the 

 term of four years had been $16,953. In all 68 

 laborers had been employed, while the average 

 number of laborers during the whole term was 

 22. These had worked in 18 States. Several 

 hundred dollars had been appropriated for col- 

 ored theological students, in aid of their prepara- 

 tion for work, at Franklinton, N. C. A general 

 evangelist had been employed during the past 

 two years. A fraternal- messenger had been 

 commissioned to the Southern brethren, and to 

 the World's Missionary Conference in London. 

 As a result of the home mission work, 40 

 churches and 192 Sunday-schools had been or- 

 ganized, 1,005 persons baptized, and 2,998 mem- 

 bers received. The society was possessed of en- 

 dowment stock amounting to $4,683. Resolu- 

 tions were adopted advising labor in every 

 practicable way for the overthrow of the traffic 

 in intoxicating liquors, as being " anti-Bible, 

 anti-Sabbath, anti-Christian, and anti-republi- 

 can," and asking Congress to legislate against 

 the exportation of spirits from this country to 

 the Congo. 



CHRISTIAN ENDEATOR, YOUNG PEO- 

 PLE'S SOCIETIES OF. These societies are 

 local organizations affiliated with single evan- 

 gelical churches, but having no connection with 

 one another except a voluntary, fraternal one. 

 Their purpose is to aid in the " training of young 



