CHINA. 



CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



131 



of Chefoo. The Governor of Kwangsi was ordered 

 to construct a railroad from I,unchrw to the Toii- 

 quin border to meet the French line from Haiphong. 

 Fivm-h engineers were engaged to carry out the 

 work, (iivat Britain, in order to prevent the French 

 from gaining a start in the competition for the 

 trade of western China, demanded that West river 

 be opened up at once, but the Chinese Government 

 demanded as a condition that China be allowed to 

 retain the territory ceded under the Burmah-China 

 convention of 1894. 



Telegraphs connect the capital with all the prin- 

 cipal cities of the empire and with the frontiers. 

 A junction was made with the Siberian overland 

 line to Europe in 1892, and more recently with the 

 Burmese line to Yunnan. 



The postal service is carried on by the Military 

 department. Private messengers are also employed. 

 For commercial purposes the Department of Foreign 

 Customs has maintained during the winter months 

 a service between Pekin and the maritime ports. 

 On March '27, 1806, an imperial edict was issued 

 expanding this latter service into a natural postal 

 department, of which Sir Robert Hart was con- 

 tinued as chief, with the title of Customs and Post 

 Inspector General. 



New Treaty Ports. Of the treaty ports that 

 have been declared open to the residence and 

 trade of foreign merchants, three are on the is- 

 land of Formosa, which is now a Japanese posses- 

 sion. Under the treaty of peace with China four 

 new ones were opened in China, making the total 

 number now 25. not counting Nankin, which the 

 Chinese Government consented in 1858 iff the treaty 

 with France to throw open, but has not yet opened". 

 Of the new treaty ports Hangchow. capital of Che- 

 Kiang province, is the most important, being the 

 richest city in China, the center of its greatest silk 

 and tea districts, the general emporium for all arti- 

 cles that pass between the northern and southern 

 provinces, already one of the chief manufacturing 

 cities of the empire, employing hundreds of thou- 

 sands of people in silk weaving, fan making, straw 

 plaiting, cotton and hemp industries, the making 

 of wine and soy. and the preparation of tea for the 

 market. Of equal manufacturing possibilities is 

 the enormous city of Soochow. reputed to contain 

 a population of 7,000,000, situated on the Grand 

 Canal, in the province of Kiangsu, and famous for 

 its fine silk. Chungking, in Szechuen, on. the 

 Yangtze river, opens to foreign commerce the 

 richest province of China. By the treaty of Che- 

 foo, made in 1877. it was to have been opened soon 

 after Ichang was, but the Chinese Government 

 failed to keep its promise to Great Britain. Shashi 

 is the busiest center of trade on the Yangtze above 

 Hang-Xow, with a population of 600,000, about the 

 same as Chungking. In accordance with the terms 

 of the treaty of Shimonoseki, the ports of Foochow 

 and Ilangchow were opened as treaty ports on Sept. 

 26, 1^96, and assurances were given that the two 

 new Yangtze ports would be thrown open at an 

 early day. 



Treaty with Japan. A commercial treaty be- 

 tween China and Japan, drawn in accordance with 

 the treaty of Shimonoseki. was signed at Pekin 

 on July 21. 1890. China grants to Japan the most- 

 favored-nation treatment, though no similar right 

 is given in return. Japanese factories are per- 

 mitted to be established in Chiiia. but the duties 

 the products are to pay remain to be fixed. The 

 likin and export duties remain unchanged. 



The Mohammedan Rebellion. Although Gen. 

 Tung had been commended and rewarded for sup- 

 pressing the rebellion in northwestern China, the 

 Dungans were by no means crushed. They emerged 

 from their winter quarters and became active in 



April, capturing the town of Kiayru-Kwan, in 

 Kansu. and advancing westward. The war was 

 cruelly waged on both sides. \Vhole districts were 

 ravaged and laid waste, and a large population was 

 reduced to starvation. 



Attacks on Missionaries. On May 12 an anti- 

 missionary riot occurred at Kiangyin, where the 

 American Protestant mission was looted and 

 burned, and the missionaries escaped with difficulty. 

 The trouble was started by the usual slander about 

 missionaries using the hearts and eyes of Chinese 

 children for medicine, which in this case was put 

 in circulation by a Chinese physician from motives 

 of revenge. The instigator o"f the riot was duly 

 punished, and the indemnity demanded by the 

 United States Government was paid. Hatred of 

 Christians was especially rife in Ilonan and north- 

 ern China. In Yunnan the missionaries had a quar- 

 rel with the authorities regarding the acquisition 

 of building sites, and were compelled by the man- 

 darins to relinquish property that they had bought. 

 In June the members of secret societies in a turbu- 

 lent district of Kiangsu rebelled against the au- 

 thorities, and, after capturing several villages, at- 

 tacked ruthlessly the communities surrounding the 

 Jesuit missions at Sinchow, Tangshatsien, and Sut- 

 sien, burning down the houses of the native Chris- 

 tians and maltreating them so that several persons 

 died. In the adjacent part of Shan-Tung the Ger- 

 man Catholic mission was demolished, one of the 

 priests was killed before he could flee, and the na- 

 tive Christians were driven out of their homes. 

 The mandarin sent soldiers to protect the build- 

 ings, but the rebels compelled them to retreat. 



Shortly after the Kucheng massacre of 1895 some 

 of the senior Protestant missionaries drew up a 

 memorial to the Chinese Government praying that 

 literature slandering Christian missions should be 

 suppressed really ; that mandarins, as well as the 

 common people, should be free to adopt Christianity ; 

 and that the local mandarins should be ordered to 

 treat missionaries without suspicion and regard 

 them as friends, since they desired nothing but the 

 good of China. They were introduced to the Tsung- 

 li-Yamen by the American and British ministers, 

 with whom, however, the German minister declined 

 to co-operate. The majority of the Yamen seemed 

 disposed to grant their prayer, when suddenly their 

 chief supporter, Wang, was unexpectedly degraded, 

 and, further, the French minister intervened with 

 objections against any reply being made to the 

 memorial, as this raised anew the question of the 

 right of missionaries to deal directly with the Chi- 

 nese Government, a right which the French had 

 induced the Pope to withdraw in the case of 

 Roman Catholic missionaries a few years before. 

 Subsequently the deputation requested the British 

 and United States representatives to aid them in 

 obtaining the three points asked for in the memorial,, 

 as well as an agreement that whatever privileges, 

 were granted to Roman Catholics might also be ex- 

 tended to Protestants. This was considered im- 

 portant, because the French minister had been 

 indefatigable in the interest of Roman Catholics, 

 and had succeeded, after the riots of 1895. in secur- 

 ing a convention by which Roman Catholics could 

 secure land without the consent of the local man- 

 darins, and also a promise that statute law shall 

 henceforth be published in accordance with the 

 treaties granting religious liberty, and not with the 

 old law forbidding Chinese to become Christians. 



CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The General Conven- 

 tion of the Christian Church. South, met in Bur- 

 lington. N. ('.. June 5. The Rev. W. W. Staley was 

 re-elected president. The president's biennial ad- 

 dress called attention to Elon College and its in- 

 debtedness of $12,000; the nomination of candi- 



