GEOGRAPHIC NOTES 



TiBNTSiN, the military key to Pekin, is at the junction of the Hun-ho and the 

 Pei-lio, about 80 miles by road from the capital and 65 miles from Ta-ku. Gun- 

 boats and sea-going junks can ascend the river only as far as Tientsin. The 

 foreigners live in three concessions — French, English, and German — bordering 

 on the river and covering an area of several hundred acres. The English have 

 a very handsome town hall, a well-kept public garden, and'a recreation ground. 

 The city has also two hotels, two clubs, a theater, an excellent public library, 

 and three churches — Catholic, Anglican, and Union. Countless barges ply 

 between Tientsin and Tnng-chau, whence a wretched cart road of thirteen miles 

 connects with Pekin. The railway between Tientsin and Pekin, completed in 

 1897, is now absorbing the larger part of this commerce. The population is 

 now estimated at 950,000, and is increasing very rapidh', as Tientsin is the 

 principal outlet for the trade of the provinces of Chi-li, Shan-si, Shen si, 

 Kan-su, and the northern part of Ho-nan, which contain a population of about 

 100,000,000. In 1870 occurred the terrible massacre of foreigners, when the 

 French Sisters of Mercy were brutally butchered. 



"That the Russianization of China will eventually be accomplished seems 

 inevitable. . . . With the conquest of China the 8,000,000 soldiers of the 

 Czar, who compose the army of Russia when on a war footing, could be in- 

 creased to 40,000,000 fighting men, most of whom could live inexpensively on 

 a handful of rice a day. With such an army Russia could dictate terms to the 

 world." This statement, by Alexander Hume Ford, in Collier's Weekly, is an 

 opinion very generalh* shared by the press of the United States. However, 

 two facts are here taken for granted which have yet to be proved. First, has 

 Russia now the ability to subdue the four hundred millions of China, and, 

 second, granted that she can subdue them, has she the capability of mould- 

 ing them and keeping them subservient to her will? The militai'y strength 

 of Russia in Manchuria and on the Pacific Coast cannot be estimated, but 

 it is doubtful if she could muster, at the maximum figure, 100,000 trooj)S. That 

 such a force can cope with restlessness in China, especially when communica- 

 tion is by road only, is impossible. Russia has her hands full in the development 

 of the vast resources of Siberia; here millions of colonists must be absorbed 

 before anything can be attempted in China. Meanwhile, notwithstanding fierce 

 reaction, progress must inevitably go on in China, solidifying the masses of the 

 people. It is a 2^roVjlem whether the national spirit of the Chinese will not be 

 soon unified to such an extent as to be able successfully to resist Russia when 

 she is ready to begin her " Russianization." It is argued that because Russia 

 has been able to absorb and " Russianize " the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes 

 of central and northern Asia that she will be ecjuallj' successful in dealing with 

 the Chinese. But the handling of immense masses of population tliat have a 

 grand past from which to gain individuality is (juite different from overawing 

 weak and scattered tribes. 



