CHINA. 



169 



ways, 20,000 imperial roads, most of them 

 badly kept, but having an enormous traffic. 



In December, 1884, the Government tele- 

 graph lines were 3,089 miles in length, with 

 5,482 miles of wire. 



Navigation. During 1883 the number of ves- 

 sels entered and cleared at Chinese ports was 

 23,863, tonnage 17,589,914; the number of 

 British vessels, 14,205, of 11,003,296 tons; of 

 Chinese vessels, 6,265, of 4,941,728 tons; of 

 German, 1,610, of 774,017 tons; of Japanese, 

 256, of 191,861 tons; of American, 593, of 150,- 

 703 tons ; of French, 177, of 181,056 tons. 



The Amoor Gold-Mines. Rich deposits of gold 

 were discovered in 1883 in the desert tract of 

 Manchuria wedged in between Corea and the 

 Russian possessions around Yladivostock, with- 

 in fifteen miles of the Russian frontier. Chi- 

 nese and Coreans flocked to the new mines, 

 and they were soon joined by Russian min- 

 ers. The Siberian authorities warned Russians 

 against crossing the frontier, and at first con- 

 fiscated the gold of those who returned. The 

 prohibition was, however, disregarded, and 

 a large community of foreigners was in the 

 course of time congregated in the gold-field. 

 Siberian newspapers gave fanciful accounts in 

 which the miners were described as Cali-for- 

 nian and Australian gold-diggers, who set up 

 an organized elective government, with a presi- 

 dent, and twenty-two administrative districts, 

 and a system of taxation. The adventurers 

 were said to be well armed and determined to 

 defend themselves in their possession of the 

 diggings, which they looked upon as their prop- 

 erty. The newly discovered gold-mines are sit- 

 uated in the district opposite the town of Ig- 

 naschin. The Chinese prefect of Aigun, who 

 according to the Russian press was not aware 

 of their existence till January, 1885, went to 

 Blagovestchensk to complain to the Russian 

 governor. The latter declined to interfere, and 

 recommended the Chinese authorities to settle 

 the matter with the trespassers. A force of 500 

 Chinese was sent to oust them. The miners 

 refused to leave, but offered gold to the sol- 

 diers. The Chinese authorities, anticipating 

 complications with Russia and the probable 

 seizure of the mining district by the Russians, 

 who collected troops on the frontier at that 

 point, sent a large body of Manchurian troops, 

 said to number 10,000 men, to guard against 

 Russian encroachments. 



Journalism. The Chinese native press is an 

 institution that has sprung up within a few 

 years, and first became an important feature of 

 the national life during the French hostilities. 

 The Government has maintained an official 

 gazette at Pekin for ages, in which its decrees 

 and announcements are published ; yet, not- 

 withstanding the literary tendency of the Chi- 

 nese, newspapers for news or criticism never 

 existed formerly, nor would they have been 

 suffered to grow up at the present time if the 

 protection of foreign capital invested in them 

 and the security of Hong-Kong and the for- 



eign quarter of Shanghai had not saved them 

 from suppression by Chinese officials. Satiri- 

 cal squibs, pasquinades, and placards have been 

 the medium of political criticism. The me- 

 chanical means of printing native newspapers 

 have existed for many years through the enter- 

 prise of American and English missionaries, who 

 have had fonts of admirable metallic type in 

 considerable variety manufactured for the print- 

 ing of their missionary publications. The news- 

 papers lately started are made up of abstracts 

 of the contents of the Pekin and provincial ga- 

 zettes, news and comments relating to national 

 and local affairs, articles on foreign relations, 

 and translations from the foreign press. Dur- 

 ing the Franco-Chinese war these latter feat- 

 ures were the most prominent, and greatly in- 

 creased the vogue of the native press. The 

 accounts of the military actions of the war 

 were fantastic inventions, and the grossest ig- 

 norance of foreign affairs and of the art of war 

 pervaded all these articles, which were char- 

 acterized by a rabid chauvinism. In criticisms 

 on the acts of officials and the domestic policy 

 of the Government the native press took a 

 much higher tone. The censures, cloaked in 

 an ingenious and polished style, were often 

 bold and severe. The " Shen Pao " of Shang- 

 hai, the leading native paper, which has been 

 in existence twelve years, has succeeded in 

 having decrees of the provincial authorities 

 reversed by the Pekin Government. Prince 

 Kung, when at the head of the "Tsung-li- 

 Yamen," refused to suppress this paper at the 

 request of the Governor of the Chekiang prov- 

 ince, whom it had attacked. 



Missionaries. The general awakening of the 

 Chinese Government and people to the value of 

 European science and inventions has smoothed 

 the path for the missionaries, who are pen- 

 etrating the interior in increasing numbers. 

 Except for occasional outbreaks of anti-foreign 

 fanaticism, which are always due to some gall- 

 ing provocation given by the consular authori- 

 ties or some aggressive act of foreign govern- 

 ments, the missionaries have been treated with 

 kindness, though their teachings are regarded 

 with contemptuous indifference. The unsym- 

 pathetic attitude of the Calvinistic missiona- 

 ries toward what they regard as idolatrous an- 

 cestor-worship caused them to be regarded by 

 the generality of the Chinese as the teachers 

 of a repulsive and inhuman religion. The Jes- 

 uit and Lazarist friars, who dressed in the na- 

 tional garb and taught a kindlier religion, were 

 more successful, and were often on the best of 

 terms with the provincial authorities ; but 

 wherever attrition occurred it was often ag- 

 gravated by the misguided interference of the 

 French diplomatic representatives. The serv- 

 ices of the missionaries during the recent fam- 

 ine in northern China greatly elevated them 

 in the respect of the authorities and the peo- 

 ple. A number of Protestant missionaries of 

 a novel class have lately entered the field 

 Anglicans educated in the English universities, 



