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THE ATLANTA SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL, ATLANTA, UA., TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1913.
THE SEMI-WEEKLY JOURNAL
ATLANTA, GA., 5 NORTH FORSYTH ST.
Entered at the Atlanta rostoffice as Mail Matter of
the Second Class.
JAMES R. GRAY,
President and Editor.
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE
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The Semi-Weekly Journal is published on Tuesday
and Friday, and is mailed by the shortest routes for
early delivery.
It contains news from all over the world, brought
by special leased wires into our office. It lias a staff
cf distinguished contributors, with strong departments
of special value to the home and the farm.
Agents wanted at every postoffice. Liberal com
mission allowed. Outfit free. Write R. R. BRAD
LEY, Circulation Manager.
The only traveling representatives we have are
J. A. Bryan. R. F. Bolton. C. C. Coyle, L. H. Kim
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Atlanta, Ga.
The Business of Agriculture.
One of the surest omens of Georgia’s agricu'-
tural progress is the vigor with which farmers in
various parts of the State are breaking away from
the one-crop fetish and are organizing v'itli busi-
ness methods for the production of food stuffs and
table commodities. From Catoosa county comes an
interesting and pointed example.
Realizing that their soil is well suited to the
growth of strawberries, the farmers of that district
have united in a plan to cultivate at least a hun-
v . dred acres of berries this season; and the business
men of adjacent towns have joined heartily in the
movement. A few days ago, when a temporary
organization was perfected, more than twenty rep
resentative planters were in attendance. They se
lected a chairman and a secretary and are proceed
ing precisely as would any group of director’ or
stockholders engaged in promoting a commercial
, - enterprise. They will study not only methods of
cultivation, but also methods of shipping and mar
keting. In short, they will apply to their farming
interests the same principles that make a merchant,
a banker or a manufacturer successful.
When such ideas are put into practice through
out Georgia, th e lot of the average farmer will he
truly independent and the prosperity of the people
as a whole will he vastly multiplied. The material
welfare depends primarily upon the net value of
———the-Tsrodttcte~0f rts-soit. Within the past decade Or
so, remarkable progress has been made in the science
of agriculture; and as a result the commonwealth is
growing continually richer. The great task and
opportunity of the present decade is the business of
agriculture. When men plant intelligently and mar
ket profitably, then their own good fortune and that
of their State are assured.
There are many evidences that Georgia is be
coming more and more businesslike in its methods
of agriculture. The instance of the Catoosa farmers
is paralleled by others in different sections of the
State. Only a fdw days ago a number of progressive
planters in Tift county - formed a truck growers’
association for the purpose of producing trusk gar
den products on an extensive scale and of market
ing them to the best advantage.
These 'principles which have been taught so
earnestly by agricultural colleges and by the Farm
ers’ Educational and Co-operative Union are begin-
ing to yield definite and substantial results.
The day of lielter-skel er, slipshod cultivation is
passing.
The day .of unbusiness farming is nearing its
end.
The hazard of depending upon a single crop and
4 tbe. folly of neglecting the varied possibilities of
the soil are being more and more fully realized.
The value and tne need of organization, of co
operation in farming interests is coming vividly to
light.
These are the figns of enduring progress. 'These
are the ideas and the forces that will bring forth
the vast treasure wh’eh nature has stored in Geor
gia’s soil and sun.
Mr. Bryan and the Cabinet.
Discussions Concerning Mr.' Bryan and the per
sonnel of the Wilson cabinet hinge largely on rumor
and surjnise. There has been no official or authen
tic announcement that he -has accepted or has been
offered the portfolio of Secretary of State. It is
entirely credible, however, that he will head the
new cabinet; and, if so, the trust will have been
wisely and worthily bestowed.
Froin some of Mr. Bryan’s views in years gone
by, The Journal, in company with many other Demo
crats, has found it necessary to dissent. But no o«e
has ever had reason to doubt his abundant gifts as
a statesman or to question his virile devotion to the
party and the country. He has been Democracy’s
faithful leader through seasons of discouragement
and defeat. He has been the pathfinder for many
political reforms that are already established and
for others that are yet to be wrought into effect.
That this leadership and service should be duly rec
ognized in the hour of the party’s triumph and re
sponsibility would be only natural and just.
We believe that as Secretary of State Mr. Bryan
would be of distinctive value and credit to the in
coming administration. He is an international
figure. He is trained by travel in every part of the
world and by a liberal study of all governments. His
diplomacy is at once keen and candid. Indeed, there
is no American better equipped for the high duties
of this office and there is no. station in the country’s
public affairs more peculiarly suited to Mr. Bryan’s
talents.
Rural Health Inspection.
The need of a thoroughgoing system of public
health inspection in rural districts is cogently set
forth by Dr. Charles F." Bolduan in the current
issue of the American Practitioner. Fully a fourth
of all the typhoid infection known in cities, says
Dr. Bolduan, who as an official in the health depart
ment of New York City has had exceptional oppor
tunities for observation, is tracable to rural sources;
indeed, it is his opinion that a half would be a truer
estimate.
Such evidence shows that the interests of the
people as a whole, those in the cities as well as in
the country, demand more careful and vigorous
measures for rural sanitation. In matters of public
health, the fortunes of all districts are inseparably
bound together. Such problems cannot be treated
as being merely local. It is the duty of the State
to s'e to it , not only in times of epidemic or emer
gency but. constantly and uniformilv, that the health
of each commuinty is protected against possible con
tagion.
The definite and practical need, as Dr. Bolduan
sees it, is that there should be in each county a
competent and well paid official to administer health
statutes, to inspect and conserve, to safeguard the
people against sources of disease and to educate
public sentiment along proper lines.
"The science of public hygiene,” he says, “has
developed enormously in recent years and it
is illogical to expect a local practicing physi
cian, busy with all the details of a local
country practice, to keep in touch tcith the
achievement of modern public health work.
*In addition to this, his status as a general
practicing physician to the community often
places him at a decided disadvantage in the en
forcement of proper public health measures.
The ressult is that rural public health adminis
tration in the country is, to a large extent, in
efficient. What is needed is a reform of our
present methods; we should have trained offi
cials sufficiently paid to obviate the necessity
of their practicing, and each administering,
rather autocratically, a given district. This
method of administration has been attended with
pronounced success in Germany and in England,
and there is no reason why it cannot be, adapted
to work equally well here."
A bill providing for an adequate system of
health inspection in Georgia’s rural districts
was introduced at the last session of the Legislature
but was never brought to passage. It is much to be
hoped that the same or a similar measure will be
revived and passed next summer.
A Democratic Senate.
The election of Willard Saulsbury, a Democrat,
as United States senator from Maryland, assures
Democratic control in both houses of Congress after
March the fourth. This is fortunate for the
country. With the executive and the legislative
branches of the Government accorded to {he same
policies, the people may expect workmanfy ant
definite results.
The exact alignment of the Senate has heretofore
been some doubtful. Sixty-three senators out of the
entire membership of ninety-six hold terms that
extend beyond March the fourth; and of these,
thirty-two are Republicans and thirty-one Democrats.
But the balance of power will come from the thirty-
two members who are to take the oath of office at
the beginning of the Wilson administration. In this
group, eighteen of those thus far elected are Demo
crats, so that the Democratic strength will be forty-
nine votes, to which may be added that of the Vice-
President, making fifty.
This is not a very spacious margin of control
but, if the party stands united, it will suffice to
carry out a practical program, however solidly the
opposition may stand. Nor is it in any wise to be
expected that there will be a compact, single-minded
opposition in the Senate. The so-called Insurgent
Republicans, like La Follette, are in sympathy with
the purpose of many Democratic measures, and they
have so voted at crucial moments during the present
Congress. If they remain consistent, it will be rea
sonable to count upon their support for at least
some* of the important legislation yet to be ad
vanced.
Senatorial contests still exist in the Legislatures
of New Hampshire, West Virginia and Illinois. It
is likely that from these quarters, the Democrats
will recruit new strength. However that may be,
an effective plurality is already assured.
A Horseless Age?
Whoever fancies that the automobile is dooming
the horse to oblivion along with the dinosaur and
the dodo, or at least to a minor place in the W'orld’s
work and commerce, should note a recent report of
the federal Department of Agriculture. According
to these figures there are today some fifty-eight
thoiisand more horses and twenty-four thousand
more mules on the country’s farms alone than there
were in January a year ago; and the value of these
animals has increased w’thin the twelvemonth over
a hundred and twenty-five million dollars.
The widening demand and use of motor vehicles
Ms truly marvelous. They are playing a larger and
more practical part in rural districts as well as»ui
towns and cities. They are ploughing the soil, reap
ing the autumn fields, pumping water from the
spring or well and in divers ways are urbanizing
the life of the farm. Despite all this, however, the
horse not only holds his own but is also multiplying
and, we may trust, prospering as never before.
The decade between 1900 and 1910 has been well
described as an era of the automobile. Within that
period motor machines were perfected and were
placed within the reach of average incomes. Yet,
within that same period the ..umber of horses and
colts in this country increased from twenty-one mil
lion to more than two billion and their aggregate
value from one billion to two billion dollars. This
record is due part, of course, to the nation’s general
development, especially in matters of agriculture,
hut it is none the less an evidence of the substantial
demand for horses.
Is it not a pleasing reflection that tlRs good ani
mal, which has accompanied and befriended man on
his long and arduous journey up the road of civilza-
tion and has played s- distinctive a part in his his
tory and romance, is still vital in human affairs and
proof against the encroachments of a mechanical age.
The lazy man will blame it on the tariff.
Building Up Georgia Towns.
The foKsightcd citizens of Lithonia, which is
one of Atlanta’s nearest and pleasantest neighbors,
have organized a board of trade with the purpose
of improving and developing their town. The popu
lation of Lithonia is not lar-ge, but its resources are
particularly abundant and, with a civic spirit such
as a progressive board of trade tan arouse and di
rect, it will forge rapidly forward. The new organ
ization will exploit Lithonia’s chief asset, its granite
supply, of which there is said to be enough to pave
and curb ail the principal cities of the United
States. Besides this, it will work for many munici-
p'al improvements and endeavor to advance in every
way the community’s interests.
This is an, example which every Georgia town
will do well to follow, if it has not already launched
a similar enterprise. Among the business men of
every community, thcr sh.ould be some form of co
operation, some means of awakening and utilizing a
public spirit. ,
There are few towns in this State that are with
out some native advantage which,, if fostered and
given publicity, would attract home seekers and in
vestors. Through a board of trade or a chamber of
commerce or any association, whatever its name
may be, this opportunity can be turned to account
and made to yield substantial results for the indi
vidual citizen as well as for the community as a
whole. The important fact is that the individual
can rarely prosper unless he helps and is helped by
his fellows.
There is no more cheering sign of Georgia’s
progress today than the growth of her towns which
range from a few thousand lo twenty thousand or
more in population. It is the thrift and the buoy
ancy of these rather than the strides of the larger
cities which show the splendid development of the
commonwealth. This growth is due mainly to the
fact that in each of these vigorous towns citizens
are working shoulder-to-shouldei for the common
interests, and are lettihg the country know the re
sources that are to be found in their midst.
At the expense of being considered bromidic, we
want to go on record as preferring cold weather in
season.
/
William Rockefeller plays golf just as if the gov
ernment was concerned about locating him.
The Income Tax Amendment.
There are bright prospects that the constitutional
amendment permitting Congress to levy a federal
income tax will be ratified by early spring or cer
tainly not later than the coming summer. The leg
islatures, of thirty-five States have already approved
the amendment, so that only one more favorable
vote is needed. There are eight States yet to take
action and in several of them the legislature is now
in session. No one doubts that among these, the ad
ditional support necessary to make the amendment
effective will be forthcoming.
Democratic leaders are naturally eager that the
process of ratification be completed ag soon as possi
ble; for, with the new source of revenue which an
income tax would make available, the task of tariff
reduction would be simplified. It is not the purpose
of the new administration to inaugurate an era of
free trade ? indeed, such a purpose could not be enter-
t^inpd, for Under existing conditions the expenses of
the federal government must be borne largely by
duties collected at the ports. Rut it is the Demo-
ocratic policy to fix these duties in accordance with
the government's needs rather than in accordance
with the wishes of special interests. The tariff, in
short, is to be used for the good of the country,
not abused, as it has been, for the undue advantage
of a privileged few.
This policy can be carried into effect with greater
ease and assurance when the proposed income tax is
made possible. Such a tax will be eminently just
to all interests. , It will provide that wealth shall
bear its due portion of the nation’s expense. It
will equalize and lighten the burdens upon the aver
age citizen. It is to 1 be hoped that the remaining
vote necessary to make the amendment operative
will soon be cast.
Omens of Prosperity.
The Pennsylvania railroad, one of the greatest
systems of its kind in America or in the world, an
nounces that in the immediate future it will spend
sixteen million dollars for new equipment and
facilities.
That is a weighty and cheering omen of the
country’s business. It will be half a year or more
• before the orders for the new cars and other stock
can be filled; evidently, then, the management of
Jthe Pennsylvania is convinced that commerce and
industry, far from slackening, will move steadily
and prosperously forward.
There was never any reason oncl there is no
longer even a pretense for suspecting that the ap
proaching change in political affairs will hinder, or
in any wise discourage, business development. Stock
markets may show occasional flurries, but the main
channels of trade and enterprise are flowing tran
quilly and full. As the AVashington Post observes,
“the orders of the big steel and iron compaines and
all other manufacturing industries are booked a year
ahead.” The sustaining and stimulating effect of
the vast harvests of 1912 is still evident. In cer
tain localities of the South, where crops were short,
there has been a sense of temporary depression; but
this is rapidly lifting and, as for the country as a
whole, it was never in a more hopeful mood.
The truth is thoughtful men in all pursuits and
ail parties realize that the purpose of the Wilson ad
ministration is pre-eminently constructive; that the
plan of Democracy is not to disturb any legitimate
interest, but on the contrary to open the way more
widely for every rightful enterprise and to lay more
deeply than ever the foundations of real prosperity.
Will the War Begin Again?
Though the delegates to the London peace confer
ence, both the Turks and those of the Allies, are
packing their ^aggage for home, the sentiment of
The larger European powers is still earnestly bent
upon concord.
The belligerents, to be sure, have announced,
pretty much as though they were booking a theatri
cal performance, that the war will begin anew
promptly at seven-thirty o’clock next Wednesday
morning.
But the diplomacy of the continent is exerting
itself to the utmost to prevent a resumption of hos
tilities. Pressure is being brought to bear upon the
Balkan States as well as upon the Porte; and, if
Europe definitely makes up its mind, that the war
shall end, it probably will.
The Cellars of Peace
By
Dr. Frank
Crane
Every man has a double personality, sometimes
triple or quadruple.
The soul is not like a city flat, all on one floor,
but like an oldfashioned house,
with several stories, attic and
cellar. . -VS
What is going on in the upper
story of your mind is no evidence
of what is going on downstairs.
I may be light and gay on the
parlor floor and broken-hearted
in the lower room. The clown In
the circus cuts his capers and
makes his grimaces to the howl
ing delight of the spectators,
while in the inner soul of him
may be weeping and bitter trag
edy.
There are persons who appeal*
successful and wear the easy
smile of prosperity, and all the
while they are like some slave
ship where there is feasting and
dancing on deck, and in the hold are chained wretches
dying in horror. They would not let their best friend
know, they try to conceal even from God the hideous,
irresistible lust3, the fires of self-scorn, the agony o/
spiritual failure, that are within them.
Then, also, there are those whose outward life
seems hard, yet whose inward life is peace and tri
umph.
I have such a woman in my mind’s eye. She Is
broken in body and i*i fortune. It seems as if fate,
luck, destiny, and all the relentless rulers of events,
had played with her as cruelly as a cat plays with a
mouse, driving life out of her by ever swift and new
blows. She is crippled by rheumatism, so that the
joints of her fingers are swollen like marbles. Her
legs are paralyzed; she must sit all day in her chair.
Reading is the solace of the prisoners of most dis
eases, but her eyes have failed until she can see the
printed page no more. Her husband was killed in J*
railway accident. He was a good man. Her son was
bad, and lived on, irresponsible, weak and cowardly,
• bringing only burning misery to the heart he should
have rewarded with gratitude. She had been a proud
woman, with the sweet, wholesome pride of self-re
spect, yet she as now forced to live upon the charity
of neighbors. • v
To the fc .f privileged to know* her she is a miracle.
Here you would look for bitterness, if anywhere. But
instead you find her brave, meeting e/ch gray dawn
with smiling courage, marching into each lowering
twilight with stellar faith.
The upper story of her life is wrecked and despoiled
by all that a vicious fate could do to her. But be
neath in her soul are the cellars of peace. Down where
th e treasures of life are, all is cle£n and fragrant and
in order.
She loves, while the-fattened favorites of fortune
hate. She believes, while they that fare sumptuously
every day doubt. She smiles, while the darlings of
health and wealth weep. She is interested, while the
strong and prosperous are bored. She encourages
youth, while others sneer.
At bottom all joy is courage, all complaint is cow
ardice.
To the hero there is no tragedy. He makes of ca
lamity a dramatic beauty; to him the cross of sham®
becomes a sign of triumph.
When I think of this woman of whom I have spo
ken, I am ashamed.
Aerograms From Antiquity
I BY EDWARD J. COSTELLO
BOSTON, Mass., Jan. 28, A. D. 1848.—A strange
apparatus,, which, it is said, will entirely revolutionize
that favorite household industry, the making of men's
wearing apparel arid women's dresses, was placed on
private exhibition here yesterday afternoon. If this
modern marvel does one-tenth of what is confidently
expected for it, by its inventor, there will be, indeed,
a wonderful change in domestic industry, but from the
report of those who pritnessed its operation, the in
ventor is duly optimistic.
This inventor until recently was a poor mechanic,
employed in a local machine shop, and h e calls his
invention a sewing machine. His name is lilies Howe,
and he is an enthusiast who says ridicule cannot dis
courage him in the belief that he is yet to reap a
fortune of millions through this aforesaid sewing
machine. Whether or not he will, the future must de-
tmine, but certain it Is that he deserves success.
Howe has been engaged on the machine for five
years, at the same time supporting himself by his
work in the shop. His spare moments were devoted
to his invention, and in May of last year he completed
it. He was unable to produce the finished model he
exhibited yesterday, however, until he had received
pecuniary aid from George Fisher, with whom he
formed a partnership.
An effort will be made immediately to procure a
patent on the machine, but in this Howe expects to en
counter much opposition. The artisans of Boston are
almost unanimously against the machine because It
is a labor-saving device, which they claifti will re
sult in hundreds of people being thrown out of work.
Howe answers the argument by saying his inven
tion will simply keep women at home, where they will
employ their leisure hours in making all sorts of fan
cy articles, trousseaus and. clothes for themselves,
their children and tlieir husbands. While he is obtain
ing his patent, be hopes td ba employed as a railroad
engineer, because he thinks it will be a long time be
fore he can realize any substantial returns from the
machine. Another difficulty he faces is the fact that
men with money, who might finance the invention,
are keeping conspicuously aloof from him.
It is said the first sewing machine was made by
Thomas Saint, an Englishman, who patented it July
17 1790. Though of wood It resembled Howe’s ma
chine, in that it had an overhanging arm, vertical
reciprocating needle, and a hole was punched in the ^
base for the needle to pass through. The machine,
however, was not a success.
Who’s said to be the gent who put auld Scootland
on the map? (Your honor, Skibo’s laird excepts—and
Bobbie Burns mayhap). Who tops the bill that closes
with a moving
picture reel —
and sings of
bonnie lassies
and of lads
that love them
weel? Who's
strong for all
that hoot mon
talk, because
it gets the
y e n, and so
who never sim
ply “knows,’’
but always
says “I ken,?”
Who dares old
Andy C o m-
stock every
time he does
the fling, for
twixt the an
kle and the
knee he does
no't wear a toms- .— gives King George
the slip, who'll be its president, if vaudeville can
cast the vote? That Harry Lauder gent.
“I’ll acknowledge U at I skid worse than an au
tomobile does,” reflected the poor horse with the
smooth, wornout shoes, making another vain effort
to get up from the slushy pavement, “but I never
explode a tire.”—Cnicago Inter Ocean.
The Republic of China
V. CONCLUDING THE LOAN
By
Frederic
J. Haskin
Before replying to the proposal of Premier Tang
Shao Yi to flqat a loan of $300,000,000, the Six Power
group looked the situation over carefully, for it must
b© remembered that they are
bankers and business men. De
spite the chaos that prevailed
in China, regardless of the neb
ulous form of Its government,
they had been asked to lay a
bond selling proposition before
the world. In the first place,
while prepared to advance sums
from their own strong boxes,
under certain conditions, they'
deemed it very unwise to even
attempt to sell new Chinese
bonds at that time. They would
have been sold so low tliatoth-
.er Chinese bonds already on the
market would have slumped.
* * *
If the group undertook to
advance a large amount of
money immediately they would
have had to discount treasury
bills. These they would have been forced to keep, or
try to sell to such few clients as would take them. As
to th e salt gabelle, the bankers held that it would be
safe security only when administered by foreigners.
The annual returns from this salt tax are estimated
at $30,000,000 per annum, whereas, under foreign coir*
trol, it could amount to at least twice as much. After
the relief of Pekin in 1898 a provisional government of
foreigners was organized to direct £he affairs of the
city of Tientsin until order should be restored. The
French consul general was chairman of this civil com
mission and the secretary was Mr. Denby, the Ameri
can consul *general. Under this foreign administra
tion One station turned in as much from the salt tax
in six months as the whole district did in a ye^r when
the Chinese were in control. A similar experiment
was tried at Tsingtao, and the receipts were six times
as much as they had been before in the same length
of time. Consequently, the Six Power group decided
that the huge loan Tang Shao Yi requested could be
given only on the following terms:
* * • V
First. That the group should have the right to sat
isfy as to the purposes for which funds were re
quired.
• • *
Second. That China should itself create a system
of audit in which foreigners should be employed with
powers not merely advisory, but also executive, so as
to insure the effective expenditure of funds borrowed
fofi the purposes specified.
• • «
Third. That, the salt taxes to be hypothecated for
the service of this loap should be administered either
by the existing maritime customs organization or by
a separate Chinese service like the customs, however,
under foreign direction, thus safeguarding the proper
administration of the security despite the possible
continuation or recurrence of unsettled conditions in
China.
• • •
Fourth. That the group should take the first se
ries of the loan of $300,000,000 at a fixed price, and
should be assured an option on the subsequent series
at a price to be based on the market quotation of the
first issue, thus giving China the benefit of any im
provement in her credit.
• • e
- i
Fifth. That to protect the quotation of bonds is.
sued and to assure a successful marketing of subse
quent series China should not borrow through other
groups until after the entire loan of $300,000,000 had
been issued. \
* »* *
“Sixth. That for a period of five years China
should appoint the group its financial agents to assist
the administration in its work of reorganization.”
• • *
On July 9 these terms were rejected on the ground
that they were unreasonable from the Chinese point of
view. But the crying need for cash did not abate
and two weeks later, or thereabouts, the group was
approached in regard to the issuing of a small $50,000,-
000 loan, with immediate advances. Deeming this sum
entirely 1 inadequate for the amelioration of China, the
bankers refused. In the meantime disaffected and un
paid troops continued to desert, riot, burn and loot ip
various parts of the country.
• • *
Probably the majority of the high officials in the
capital city of Pekin honestly believed the demands
of the Six Power group to be excessive. One member
of the cabinet said: “I would rather have my country
die by slow starvation than to be quickly strangled."
• * *
This view was also held by the majority of the
members of the national assembly, really the provision
al congress. They felt that the terms of the. group
were tantamount to dire financial bondage, and were
deeply insulted over the stipulation that the salt ga
belle be controlled by foreigners and that European
and American auditors and inspectors be picketed to
watch and direct the expenditure of the money that the
Six Power group would advance from time to time.
This inference of incompetence and inexperience, even
possible dishonesty, wounded the pride of the Enthusi
astic, patriotic, and in many instances extremely able
young - men who found themselves in power by virtue
of the successful revolution. The feeling spread
throughout the provinces, and the native press, now a
great factor, in Chinese affairs, lined up solidly bi
hind the cabinet and the national assembly. On the
other hand, the foreign press in China was almost as
unanimously in favor of th c modus operand! sug
gested by the Six 'Power group. Not" a few influen
tial Chinese, especially those who had had business
and financial experience, favored the plan of the in
ternational bankers, but discretion made for silence in
the face of the extremely hostile public opinion that
then prevailed.
* * *
The American section of the group, and the‘United
States government which backed it up, acting in per
fect accord with Great Britain, France, Germany, Rus
sia and Japan, came in for special criticism. They
were lampooned for consenting to be a part of this
great octopus* of finance which would bind the new re-
Rublic hand and foot, as they thought. It was
pointed out, and many public spirited American citi
zens gave their- indorsement, that the United States it
self was no model of financial regularity* in its tod
dling days, and that but for indulgent France the
baby republic probably would not have survived. The
point of view of the American members of thc group
in this regard was set forth later by William D.
Straight, who was the Pekin agent of the American
section until last April. In answering this argument
he spoke as follows in the course of an address on the
Chinese loan negotiations, delivered at Clark univer
sity, Worcester, Mass., on November 14, 1912:
“The comparison, however, is not justifiable, for it
should be remembered that when our Federal govern
ment was first established there was no large public
debt, while the resources ol’ the young American re
public were enormous. The funds secured from
abroad during our revolution, and immediately follow
ing its conclusion, had been advanced by the French
government, not so much with the idea of assisting
the struggling colonies as for the purpose of emljar-
ras-ing Great Britain. Only when Alexander Hamil
ton had reorganized the finances of the country, se
curing the assumption by the Federal government cf
the larger part of thc debt of the states, and after he
had put the administration of the treasury department
on a sound basis, were the United States able to bor
row, from foreign bankers on satisfactory terms. The
mimstry of finance in Pekin, however, is still operat
ing on lines scarcelv* comfortable to our ideas of a
business administration, despite thc efforts of able
men like Dr. Chen Chin Tao, while the republican
government has assumed the obligations of its impe
rial predecessor for which the revenues of China are
to a very large degree already hyvothecated, and for
the sevice of which they are at the present time in
sufficient.”
/