Vol. XVII, No. 12 WASHINGTON 



December, 1906 



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PRESENT CONDITIONS IN CHINA 5 



By Hon. John W. Foster 

 Formerly U. S. Secretary op State 



IN a previous course of addresses 

 given under the auspices of the 

 National Geographic Society I had 

 the privilege of speaking upon the Chi- 

 nese Empire, its people and govern- 

 ment. At that time I dwelt mainly 

 upon its long history, its great achieve- 

 ments in the past, and its valuable con- 

 tribution to the philosophy, science, in- 

 vention, and industries of the world. I 

 have been asked to speak at this time 

 upon the present conditions in that Em- 

 pire. 



In my former address f it was seen 

 that the ruling spirit which characterized 

 this great people, numbering approxi- 

 mately one-fourth of the world's popu- 

 lation, was an intense conservatism. 

 They were justly proud of the achieve- 

 ments of their race, and were wedded to 

 the principles and customs which had 

 built up and perpetuated their Empire. 

 They looked upon the innovations which 

 were sought to be introduced through 

 western civilization with a feeling of fear 

 and aversion. Their intercourse with 

 the nations which were the champions 

 of this western civilization created at first 

 suspicion, which at last ripened into hos- 



tility. The Europeans who sought in- 

 tercourse with them manifested a dispo- 

 sition to gain their end by violence, cul- 

 minating in a succession of wars, in which 

 China was invariably worsted. The 

 wars were attended or followed by en- 

 forced treaties, in which territory was 

 surrendered to the Europeans ; foreign 

 settlements were established in almost 

 every available port within the Empire, 

 wherein the imperial government gave 

 up a part of its sovereignty; its right to 

 fix its customs tariff and regulate its 

 foreign trade was taken from it ; its treas- 

 ury was despoiled by vast indemnities for 

 exaggerated damages exacted under du- 

 ress of arms ; and in various other ways 

 its sovereignty was infringed and its in- 

 dependence restricted. 



A NEW ERA IN CHINA 



Under such circumstances it was per- 

 fectly natural that a feeling of resent- 

 ment against foreigners should pervade 

 the Empire. But the Chinese are an 

 eminently practical people. Despite their 

 pride of race and their conservatism, they 

 have come to realize that the nations 

 which have enforced this unwilling in- 



*An address to the National Geographic Society, December 7, 1906. 

 fPublished in the National Geographic Magazine, December, 1904. 



