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[Illustration: A CHINESE BOOK COVER DECORATION

Made when the Anglo-Saxon people were living in caves]

AS A CHINAMAN

SAW US

PASSAGES FROM HIS LETTERSTO A FRIEND AT HOME

[Illustration: Publisher's logo]

NEW YORK AND LONDONAPPLETON AND COMPANY1916

COPYRIGHT, 1904, BYD. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE

Since the publication in 1832 of that classic of cynicism, The DomesticManners of the Americans, by Mrs. Trollope, perhaps nothing has appearedthat is more caustic or amusing in its treatment of America and theAmericans than the following passages from the letters of a cultivatedand educated Chinaman. The selections have been made from a series ofletters covering a decade spent in America, and were addressed to afriend in China who had seen few foreigners. The writer was graduatedfrom a well-known college, after he had attended an English school, andlater took special studies at a German university. Americans have beeninformed of the impressions they make on the French, English, and otherpeople, but doubtless this is the first unreserved and weightyexpression of opinion on a multiplicity of American topics by a Chinamanof cultivation and grasp of mind. 

It will be difficult for the average American to conceive it possiblethat a cultivated Chinaman, of all persons, should have been honestlyamused at our civilization; that he should have considered what Mrs. Trollope called "our great experiment" in republics a failure, and ourinstitutions, fashions, literary methods, customs and manners, sportsand pastimes as legitimate fields for wit and unrepressed jollity. Yetin the unbosoming of this cultivated "heathen" we see our fads andfoibles held up as strange gods, and must confess some of them to begrotesque when seen in this yellow light. 

It is doubtless true that the masses of Americans do not take theChinaman seriously, and an interesting feature of this correspondence isthe attitude of the Chinaman on this very point and his clever satire onour assumption of perfection and superiority over a nation, the habitsof which have been fixed and settled for many centuries. The writer'sexperiences in society, his acquaintance with American women of fashionand their husbands, all ingeniously set forth, have the hall-mark ofactual novelty, while his loyalty to the traditions of his country andhis egotism, even after the Americanizing process had exercised itsinfluence over him for years, add to the interest of the recital. 

In revising the correspondence and rearranging it under general heads, the editor has preserved the salient features of it, with but littleessential change and practically in its original shape. If the readermisses the peculiar idioms, or the pigeon-English that is usually placedin the mouth of the Chinaman of the novel or story, he or she shouldremember that the writer of the letters, while a "heathen Chinee, " wasan educated gentleman in the American sense of the term. This factshould always be kept in mind because, as the author remarks, to manyAmericans whom he met, it was "incomprehensible that a Chinaman can beeducated, refined, and cultivated according to their own standards. "

With pardonable pride he tells how, on one occasion, when a woman in NewYork told him she knew her ancestral line as far back as 1200 A. D. , hereplied that he himself had "a tree without a break for thirty-twohundred years. " He was sure she did not believe him, but he found her"indeed!" delightful. The author's name has been withheld for personalreasons that will be sufficiently obvious to those who read the letters. The period during which he wrote them is embraced in the ten years from1892 to 1902. 

 HENRY PEARSON GRATTON. 

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, May 10th, 1904. 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

 I. THE AMERICAN, WHO HE IS 1

 II. THE AMERICAN MAN 16

 III. AMERICAN CUSTOMS 40

 IV. THE AMERICAN WOMAN 63

 V. THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE AMERICAN 92

 VI. THE AMERICAN PRESS 99

 VII. THE AMERICAN DOCTOR 106

 VIII. PECULIARITIES AND MANNERISMS 118

 IX. LIFE IN WASHINGTON 131

 X. THE AMERICAN IN LITERATURE 164

 XI. THE POLITICAL BOSS 185

 XII. EDUCATION IN AMERICA 200

 XIII. THE ARMY AND NAVY 212

 XIV. ART IN AMERICA 229

 XV. THE DARK SIDE OF REPUBLICANISM 237

 XVI. SPORTS AND PASTIMES 261

 XVII. THE CHINAMAN IN AMERICA 279

XVIII. THE RELIGIONS OF THE AMERICANS 303

AS A CHINAMAN SAW US

CHAPTER I

THE AMERICAN--WHO HE IS

Many of the great powers believe themselves to be passing through anevolutionary period leading to civic and national perfection. America, or the United States, has already reached this state; it is complete andfinished. I have this from the Americans themselves, so there can be noquestion about it; hence it requires no little temerity to discuss, letalone criticize, them. 

Yet I am going to ask you to behold the American as he is, as I honestlyfound him--great, small, good, bad, self-glorious, egotistical, intellectual, supercilious, ignorant, superstitious, vain, andbombastic. In truth, so very remarkable, so contradictory, soincongruous have I found the American that I hesitate. Shall I give youa satire; shall I devote myself to eulogy; shall I tear what they callthe "whitewash" aside and expose them to the winds of excoriation; orshall I devote myself to an introspective, analytical _divertissement_?But I do not wish to educate you on the Americans, but to entertain, tomake you laugh by the recital of comical truths; so without system I amgoing to tell you of these Americans as I found them, day by day, monthby month, officially, socially; in their homes, in politics, trade, sorrow, despair, and in their pleasures. 

You will remember when the Evil Spirit is asked by the modest Spirit ofGood to indicate his possessions he tucks the earth under one arm, drops the sun into one pocket, the moon into another, and the stars intothe folds of his garment. In a word, to use the saying of my friends, he"claims everything in sight"; and this is certainly a characteristic ofthe American: he is all-perspective, he claims to have all the virtues, and in his ancestry embraces the entire world. At a dinner at the ----in Washington during the egg stage of my experience I sat next to acharming lady; and having been told that it was a custom of the Frenchto compliment women, I remarked that her cheeks bloomed like our poppyof the Orient. She laughed, and responded, "Yes, I get that from myEnglish grandfather. " "But your eyes are like black pearls, " Icontinued, seeing that I was on what a general on my right called the"right trail. " "I got them from my Italian grandmother, " she replied. "And your hair?" I pressed. "Must be Irish, " was the answer, "for mypaternal grandmother was Irish and her husband Scotch. " It is true thatthis charmingly beautiful and composite goddess (at least she would havebeen one had she not been naked like a geisha at a men's dinner) was theproduct of a dozen nations, and a typical American. 

The original Americans appear to have been English, despite the factthat the Spaniards discovered the country, though a high official, aYankee whom I met at a reception, told me that this was untrue. Hisancestor had discovered North America, and I believe he had written abook to prove it. (_En passant_, all Americans write books; those whohave not, fully intend to write one. ) I listened complacently, thensaid, "My dear ----, if I am not mistaken the Chinese discoveredAmerica. " I recalled the fact to his mind that the northwestern Eskimosand the Indians were essentially Asiatic in type; and it is true that hehad never heard of the ethnologic map at his National Museum, whichshows the location of Chinese junks blown to American shores within aperiod of three hundred years. I explained that junks had been blownover to America for the last _three thousand_ years, and that in mycountry there were many records of voyages to the Western land, agesbefore 1492. 

You see I soon began to be Americanized and to claim things. Chinadiscovered America and gave her the compass as well as gunpowder. Thefirst Americans were in the nature of emigrants; men and women who didnot succeed well in their own country and so sought new fields, just aspeople are doing to-day. They came over in a ship called the"Mayflower, " and were remarkably prolific, as I have met thousands whohail from this stock. At one time England sent her criminals toVirginia--one of the United States--and many of the refuse of the homecountry were sent to other parts of America in the early days. Youngersons of good families were also sent over for various reasons. Women ofall classes were sent by the ship-load, and sold for wives. I reminded alady of this, who was lamenting the fact that in China some women aresold for wives. She was absolutely ignorant of this well-known fact inAmerican history, and forgot the selling of black women. Among the menwere many representatives of old and noble families; but the bulk, Ijudge from their colonial histories, were people of low degree. Verysoon other countries began to ship people to America. Italy, Germany, Russia, Norway, Sweden, and other lands were drawn upon for constantlyincreasing numbers as years went by. All tumbled into the Americanhopper. Imagine a coffee-grinder into which have been thrown Greek, Roman, Jew, Gentile, and all the rest, and then let what they call UncleSam--a heroic, paternal, and comical figure, representing thegovernment--turn the handle and grind out the American who is neitherJew, Gentile, Greek, Roman, Russe, or Swede, but a new product, _suigeneris_, and mostly Methodist. 

This process has never ceased for an hour. America has been from 1492 tothe present time, in the language of the American "press, " the"dumping-ground" of the nations of the world, the real open door; yetthis grinding assimilation has gone on. It is, perhaps, due to theclimate, perhaps the water, or the air; but the product of these peopleborn on the soil is described by no other word than American. It may beIrish-American, very offensive; Dutch-American, very strenuous, like theVice-President;[1] Jewish-American, very commercial; Italian-American, very dirty and reeking with garlic; but it is American, totally unlikeits progenitor, a something into which is blown a tremendous energy, that is very wearisome, a bombast which is the sum of that of allnations, and a conceit like that possessed by ---- alone. You see it isincurable, also offensive--at least to the Oriental mind. Yet I grantyou the American is great; I have it from him and from her; it must beso. 

You have the spectacle here of the nations of the world pouring astream, that is not pactolean, and not perfumed with the gums of Araby, flowing in and peopling the country. In time they had grievances morefancied than real, yet grievances. They rose against the homegovernment, threw off the English yoke, and became a republic with adivision into States, which I will write of when I tell you of theAmerican politician. This was the first trust--what they call amerger--but it occurred in politics. They have killed off a fairpercentage of the actual owners of the soil, the Indians, swindling themout of the balance, and driving them back to a sort of ever-changingdead-line. Without delay they assumed the form of a dominant nation, andannounced themselves the greatest nation on the earth. 

Immigration was resumed, and all nations again sent their refusepopulation to America. I have facts showing that for years Englishpoorhouses and hospitals were emptied of their inmates and shipped toAmerica. It was a distinct policy of the anti-home-rule party in Irelandto encourage the poor Irish to go to America; and now when there aremore Irish in America than in Ireland the fate of Ireland is assured. Yet the American air takes the fight out of the Irishman, the rose fromhis cheek, and makes a natural-born politician out of him. America stillcontinued to receive immigrants, and not satisfied with the natural flowof the human current, began to import African slaves to a countryfounded for the benefit of those who desired an asylum where they couldenjoy religious and political freedom. The Africans were sold in thecotton belt, their existence virtually creating two distinct politicalparties. America long remained a dumping-ground for nearly all thenations of the world having an excess of population. Great navigationcompanies were built up, to a large extent, on this trade. They sentagents to every foreign country, issued pamphlets in every Europeanlanguage, and uncounted thousands were brought over--the scum of theearth in many instances. There was no restriction to immigration untilthe Chinese were barred out. After accepting the outlaws of everyEuropean state, the poor of all lands, they shut the door on our"coolie" countrymen. 

In this way, briefly, America has grown to her present population of80, 000, 000. The remarkable growth and assimilation is still going on--amenace to the world, but in a constantly decreasing ratio, which hasbecome so marked that the leading Americans, the class which correspondsto our scholars, are aghast at the singular conditions which exist. Non-assimilation shows itself in labor riots, in the murder of twoPresidents--Garfield and Lincoln--in socialistic outbreaks in everyquarter, and in signal outbreaks in various sections, at lynchings, andother unlawful performances. I am attempting to give you an idea of theconstituents of America to-day; but so interesting is the subject, soprolific in its warnings and possibilities, that I find myselfwandering. 

To glance at conditions at the present time, about 600, 000 aliens arecoming to America yearly. What is the result? I was invited to meet adistinguished German visiting in New York last month, and at the dinnera young lady who sat by my side said to me, "I wish I could puzzle him. ""Why?" I asked, in amazement. "Oh, " was her reply, "he looks so cramfull of knowledge; I would like to take him down. " "Ah, " I said. "Askhim which is the third largest German city in the world. It is NewYork; he will never guess it. " She did so, and I assure you he was"puzzled, " and would scarcely believe it until a well-known man assuredhim it was true. There are more Germans in Chicago than in Leipsic, Cologne, Dresden, Munich, or a dozen small towns joined in one. Half ofthe Chicago Germans speak their own tongue. This city is the thirdSwedish city of the world in population. It is the fourth Polish cityand the second Bohemian city. I was informed by a professor in theUniversity of Chicago that, in that strange city, the number of peoplewho speak the language of the Bohemians equaled the combined inhabitantsof Richmond, Atlanta, Portland, and Nashville--all large cities. "Whatdo you think of it?" I asked. "We are up against it, " was the reply. Ican not explain this retort so that you would understand it, but it hadgreat significance. The professor, a distinguished philologist, wasworried, and he looked it. A lady who was a club woman--and by this I donot mean that she was armed with a club, but merely a member of clubs orsocieties for educational advancement and social aggrandizement--said itwas merely his digestion. 

I learned from my friend, the dyspeptic professor, that over fortydialects are spoken in Chicago. About one-half only of the totalpopulation speak or understand English. There are 500, 000 Germans, 125, 000 Poles, 100, 000 Swedes, 90, 000 Bohemians, 50, 000 Yiddish, 25, 000Dutch, 25, 000 Italians, 15, 000 French, 10, 000 Irish, 10, 000 Servians, 10, 000 Lutherans, 7, 000 Russians, and 5, 000 Hungarians in Chicago. Youwill be surprised to learn that numbers do not count. The 500, 000Germans are not the dominating power, nor are the 100, 000 Swedes. The10, 000 Irish are said absolutely to control the political situation. Youwill ask if I believe that this monster foreign element can be reducedto a homogeneous unit. I reply, yes. Fifty years from to-day they willall be Americans, and a majority will, doubtless, show you their familytree, tracing their ancestry back to the Mayflower. 

FOOTNOTE:

[1] This passage was written just before the assassination of PresidentMcKinley. 

CHAPTER II

THE AMERICAN MAN

Hash--and I do not mean by this word a corruption of hasheesh--is a termindicating in America a food formed of more than one article chopped andcooked together. I was told by a very witty and charming lady that hashwas a synonym for _E pluribus unum_ (one from many), the motto of theGovernment, but I did not find it on the American arms. This was anAmerican "dinner joke, " of which more anon; nevertheless, hashrepresents the American people of to-day. The millions of all nations, which have swarmed here since 1492, may be represented by thisdelectable dish, which, after all, has a certain homogeneity. Englishmenare at once recognized here, and so are Chinamen. You would nevermistake one of our people for a Japanese; an Italian you would knowacross the way; but an American not always in America. He may be aSwede, a German, or a Canadian; he is not an American until he opens hismouth. Then there is no mistake as to what he is. He has a nasal tonethat is purely American. 

All the old cities, as Boston, New York, Richmond, and Philadelphia, have certain nasal peculiarities or variants. The Bostonian affects theEnglish. The New Englander, especially in the north, has a comicaltwang, which you can produce by holding the nose tightly and attemptingto speak. When he says _down_ it sounds like _daoun_. It is impossiblefor him not to overvowel his words, and nothing is more amusing than tohear the true Yankee countryman talk. The Philadelphian is quite asmarked in tone and enunciation. A well-educated Philadelphian will saywhere is _me_ wife for _my_. I have also been asked by a Philadelphian, "Where are you going at?" It would be impossible to mistake theintonation of a Philadelphian, even though you met him in the wilds ofManchuria in the depths of night. 

Among the most charming and delightfully cultured people I met inAmerica were Philadelphians of old families. The New Yorker is morecosmopolitan, while the Southern men, to a certain extent, have caughtthe inflection of the negro, who is the nurse in the South for all whitechildren. The Americans are taught that the principal and chief end ofman is to make a fortune and get married; but to accomplish this it isnecessary first to "sow wild oats, " become familiar with the vices ofdrink, smoking, and other forms of dissipation, a sort of test ofendurance possibly, such as is found among many native races; yet onescarcely expects to find it among the latest and highest exponents ofperfection in the human race. 

The American pretends to be democratic; scoffs at England and otherEuropean lands, but at heart he is an aristocrat. His tastes are onlylimited by his means, and not always then. Any American, especially apolitician, will tell you that there is but one class--the people, andthat all are born equal. In point of fact, there are as many classes asthere are grades of pronounced individuality, and all are very unequal, as every one knows. They are included in a general way in three classes:the upper class (the refined and cultivated); the middle class(represented by the retail shop-keepers); and last, the rest. The creamof society will be found in all the cities to be among the professionalmen, clergymen, presidents of colleges, long-rich wholesale merchants, judges, authors, etc. 

The distinctions in society are so singular that it is almost impossiblefor a foreigner to understand them. There are persons who make it a lifestudy to prepare books and papers on the subject, and whose opinions arereadily accepted; yet such a person might not be accepted in the bestsociety. What constitutes American society and its divisions is amystery. In a general sense a retail merchant, a man who sold shoes orclothes, a tailor, would under no circumstances find a place in thefirst social circles; yet if these same tradesmen should change towholesalers and give up selling one article at a time, they would becomeeligible to the best society. They do not always get in, however. At adinner my neighbor, an attractive matron, was much dismayed by myasking if she knew a certain Mr. ----, a well-known grocer. "I believeour supplies (groceries) come from him, " was her chilly reply. "But, " Iventured, "he is now a wholesaler. " "Indeed!" said madam; "I had notheard of it. " The point, very inconceivable to you, perhaps, was thatthe grocer, whether wholesale or retail, was not readily accepted; yetthe man in the wholesale business in drugs, books, wine, stores, fruit, or almost anything else, had the _entrée_, if he was a gentleman. Thedruggist, the hardware man, the furniture dealer, the grocer, theretailer would constitute a class by themselves, though of course thereare other subtle divisions completely beyond my comprehension. 

At some of the homes of the first people I would meet a president of auniversity, an author of note, an Episcopal bishop, a general of theregular army (preferably a graduate of the West Point Academy), severalretired merchants of the highest standing, bankers, lawyers, a judge ortwo of the Supreme Bench, an admiral of good family and connections. Ihave good reason to think that a Methodist bishop would not be presentat such a meeting unless he was a remarkable man. There were always adozen men of well-known lineage; men who knew their family history asfar back as their great-grandparents, and whose ancestors wereassociated with the history of the country and its development. The menwere all in business or the professions. They went to their offices atnine or ten o'clock and remained until twelve; lunched at their clubs orat a restaurant, returned at one, and many remained until six beforegoing to their homes. The work is intense. A dominating factor orcharacteristic in the American man is his pursuit of the dollar. That hesecures it is manifest from the miles of beautiful residences, the showof costly equipages and plate, the unlimited range of "stores" or shopsone sees in large cities. The millionaire is a very ordinary individualin America; it is only the billionaire who now really attractsattention. The wealth and splendors of the homes, the magnificent _toutensemble_ of these establishments, suggests the possibility ofdegeneracy, an appearance of demoralization; but I am assured that thisis not apparent in very wealthy families. 

It is not to be understood that wealth always gives social position inAmerica. By reading the American papers you might believe that this isall that is necessary. Some wealth is of course requisite to enable afamily to hold its own, to give the social retort courteous, to liveaccording to the mode of others; yet mere wealth will not buy the_entrée_ to the very best society, even in villages. Culture, refinement, education, and, most important, _savoir faire_, constitutethe "open sesame. " I know a billionaire, at least this is hisreputation, who has no standing merely because he is vulgar--that is, ill-bred. I have met another man, a great financier, who would give amillion to have the _entrée_ to the very best houses. Instances could becited without end. 

Such men and women generally have their standing in Europe; in a word, go abroad for the position they can not secure at home. A family nowallied to one of the proudest families in Europe had absolutely noposition in America previous to the alliance, and doubtless would notnow be taken up by some. You will understand that I am speaking now ofthe most exclusive American society, formed of families who have age, historical associations, breeding, education, great-grandparents, andalways have had "manners. " There are other social sets which pass asrepresentative society, into which all the ill-mannered _nouveau riche_can climb by the golden stairs; but this is not real society. Therichest man in America, Rockefeller, quoted at over a billion, is areligious worker, and his indulgences consist in gifts to universities. Another billionaire, Mr. Carnegie, gives his millions to foundlibraries. Mr. Morgan, the millionaire banker, attends churchconventions as an antipodal diversion. There is no conspicuousmillionaire before the American public who has earned a reputation forextreme profligacy. 

There is a leisure class, the sons of wealthy men, who devote their timeto hunting and other sports; but in the recent war this class surged tothe front as private soldiers and fought the country's battles. I admirethe American gentleman of the select society class I have described. Heis modest, intelligent, learned in the best sense, magnanimous, a typeof chivalry, bold, vigorous, charming as a host, and the soul of honor. It is a regret that this is not the dominating and best-known class inAmerica, but it is not; and the alien, the stranger coming withoutletters of introduction, would fall into other hands. A man might live alifetime in Philadelphia or Boston and never meet these people, unlesshe had been introduced by some one who was of the same class in someother city. Such strange social customs make strange bedfellows. Thus, if you came to America to-day and had letters to the Vice-President, youwould, without doubt, if properly accredited, see the very bestsociety. If, on the other hand, you had letters to the President at hishome in the State of Ohio you would doubtless meet an entirely differentclass, eminently respectable, yet not the same. It would be impossibleto ignore the inference from this. The Vice-President is in society (thebest); the President is not. Where else could this hold? Nowhere but inAmerica. 

The Americans affect to scorn caste and sect, yet no nation has more ofthem. Sets or classes, even among men, are found in all towns wherethere is any display of wealth. The best society of a small townconsists of its bank presidents, its clergymen, its physicians, itsauthors, its lawyers. No matter how educated the grocer may be, he willnot be received, nor the retail shoe dealer, though the shoemanufacturer, the dealer in many shoes, may be the virtual leader, atleast among the men. Each town will have its clubs, the members rangingaccording to their class; and while it seems a paradox, it is true thatthis classification is mainly based upon the refinement, culture, andfamily of the man. A well-known man once engaged me in conversation witha view to finding out some facts regarding our social customs, and Ilearned from him that a dentist in America would scarcely be received inthe best society. He argued, that to a man of refinement and culture, such a profession, which included the cleaning of teeth, would beimpossible; consequently, you would not be likely to find a reallycultivated man who was a dentist. On the same grounds an undertakerwould not be admitted to the first society. 

With us a gentleman is born; with Americans it is possible to createone, though rarely. An American gentleman is described as a product oftwo generations of college men who have always had association withgentlemen and the advantages of family standing. Political elevation cannot affect a man's status as a gentleman. I heard a lady of unquestionedposition say that she admired President McKinley, but regretted that hewas not a gentleman. She meant that he was not an aristocrat, and didnot possess the _savoir faire_, or the family associations, thatcompletely round out the American or English gentleman. I asked thislady to indicate the gentlemen Presidents of the country. There werevery few that I recall. There were Washington, Harrison, Adams, andArthur. Doubtless there were others, which have escaped me. Lincoln, thestrongest American type, she did not consider in the gentlemen class, and General Grant, the nation's especial pride, did not fulfil herideas of what a gentleman should be. 

You will perceive, then, that what some American people consider agentleman and what its most exclusive society accepts for one, comprisetwo entirely different personages. I found this emphasized especially inthe old society of Washington, which takes its traditions fromWashington's time or even the pre-Revolutionary period. For such societya self-made man was impossible. Such are the remarkable, indeedastounding, ramifications of the social system of a people who cry toheaven of their democracy. "Americans are all equal--this is one of thegems in our diadem. " This epigram I heard drop from the lips of asenator who was the recognized aristocrat of the chamber; yet a man ofpeculiar social reserve, who would have nothing to do with the other"equals. " In a word, all the talk of equality is an absurd figure ofspeech. America is at heart as much an aristocracy as England, and thesocial divisions are much the same under the surface. 

You will understand that social rules and customs are all laid down andexacted by women and from women. From them I obtained all myinformation. No American gentleman would talk (to me at least) on thesubject. Ask one of them if there is an American aristocracy, and hewill pass over the question in an engaging manner, and tell you that hisgovernment is based on the principle of perfect equality--one of themost transparent farces to be found in this interesting country. I haveoutlined to you what I conceived to be the best society in each city, and in the various sections of the country. In morality and probity Ibelieve them to stand very high; lapses there may be, but the generaltone is good. The women are charming and refined; the men chivalrous, brave, well-poised, and highly educated. Unfortunately, the Americanswho compose this "set" are numerically weak. They are not represented tothe extent of being a dominating body, and oddly enough, the commonpeople, the shopkeepers, the people in the retail trades, do notunderstand them as leaders from the fact that they are so completelyaloof that they never meet them. A sort of inner "holy of holies" is thereal aristocracy of America. What goes for society among the people, themob, and the press is the set (and a set means a faction, a clique)known as the Four Hundred, so named because it was supposed to representthe "blue blood" of New York ten years ago in its perfection. This FourHundred has its prototype in all cities, and in some cities is known asthe "fast set. " In New York it is made up often of the descendants ofold families, the heads of whom in many instances were retail traderswithin one hundred and fifty years ago; but the modern wealthyrepresentatives endeavor to forget this or skip over it. It is, however, constantly kept alive by what is termed the "yellow press, " whichdelights in picturing the ancestor of one family as a pedler and anitinerant trader, and the head of another family as a vegetable vender, and so on, literally venting its spleen upon them. 

In my studies in American sociology I asked many questions, and obtainedthe most piquant replies from women. One lady, a leader in New York inwhat I have termed the exclusive set, informed me with a laugh that theancestor of a well-known family of to-day, one which cuts a commandingfigure in society, was an ordinary laborer in the employ of hergrandfather. "Yet you receive them?" I suggested. The reply was a shrugof charming shoulders, which, translated, meant that great wealth hadhere enabled them to "bore" into the exclusive circle. I found that evenamong these people, the _crême de la crême_ in the eyes of the people, there were inner circles, and these were not on intimate terms with theothers. Here I met a member of the Washington and Lee family, adescendant of Bishop Provoost, the first Episcopal bishop of New York, and friend of Washington and Hamilton. This latter family is notable foran ancestry running back to the massacre of St. Bartholomew and evenbeyond. I astonished its charming descendant, who very delicatelyinformed me that she knew her ancestry as far back as 1200 A. D. , when Itold her that I had my "family tree, " as they call it, without a breakfor thirty-two hundred years. I am confident she did not believe me, buther "Indeed!" was delightful. In fact, I assure you I have lost my heartto these American women. I met representatives of the Adams, Dana, Madison, Lee, and other families identified with American history in amost honorable way. 

The continuity of the Four Hundred idea as a logical system was brokenby the quality of some of its members. Compared to the society I havepreviously mentioned it was as chaff. There was a total lack ofintellectuality. Degeneracy marked some of their acts; divorce blackenedtheir records, and shameless affairs marked them. In this "set, " andparticularly its imitators throughout the United States, the divorcerate is appalling. Men leave their wives and obtain a divorce for noother reason than that a woman falls in love with another woman'shusband. On a yacht we will say there is some scandal. A divorce ensues, and afterward the parties are remarried. Or we will say a wife succumbsto the blandishments of another man. The conjugal arrangements arerearranged, so that, as a very merry New York club man told me, "It isdifficult to tell where you are at. " In a word, the morale of the men ofthis set is low, their standard high, but not always lived up to. Ibelieve that I am not doing the American of the middle class wrong andthe ultra-fashionable class an injustice in saying that it is as a classimmoral. 

Americans make great parade of their churches. Spires rise like thepikes of an army in every town, yet the morality of the men is low. There are in this land 600, 000 prostitutes--ruined women. But this isnot due entirely to the Four Hundred, whose irregularities appear to beconfined to inroads upon their own set. Nearly all these men are clubmen; two-thirds are in business as brokers, bankers, or professionalmen; and there is a large percentage of men of leisure and vast wealth. They affect English methods, and are, as a rule, not highly intelligent, but _blasé_, often effeminate, an interesting spectacle to the student, showing that the downfall of the American Republic would come soonerthan that of Rome if the "fast set" were a dominating force, which it isnot. 

In the great middle class of the American men I find much to admire;half educated, despite their boasted school system, they put up, toquote one of them, "a splendid bluff" of respectability and morality, yet their statistics give the lie to it. Their divorces are phenomenal, and they are obtained on the slightest cause. If a man or woman becomesweary of the other they are divorced on the ground of incompatibility oftemper. 

A lady, a descendant of one of the oldest families, desired to marry herfriend's husband. He charged his wife with various vague acts, one ofwhich, according to the press, was that she did not wear "corsets"--asort of steel frame which the American women wear to compress the waist. This was not accepted by the learned judge, and the wife then left herhusband and went away on a six or eight months' visit. This enabled thehusband to put in a claim of desertion, and the decree of divorce wasgranted. A quicker method is to pretend to throw the breakfast dishes atyour wife, who makes a charge of "extreme incompatibility, " and adivorce is at once obtained. Certain Territories bank on their divorcelaws, and the mismated have but to go there and live a few months toobtain a separation on almost any claim. Many of the most distinguishedstatesmen have been charged with certain moral lapses in the heat ofpolitical fights, which, in almost every instance, are ignored by thevictims, their silence being significant to some, illogical to others;yet the fact remains that the press goes to the greatest extremes. Nofamily secret is considered sacred to the American politician in theheat of a campaign; to win, he would sacrifice the husband, father, mother, and children of his enemy. So remarkable is the rage for divorcethat many of the great religious denominations have taken up armsagainst it. Catholics forbid it. Episcopalians resent it by ostracism ifthe cause is trivial, and a "separation" is denounced in the pulpit. 

CHAPTER III

AMERICAN CUSTOMS

The American is an interesting, though not always pleasant, study. Hisperfect equipoise, his independence, his assumption that he is the bestproduct of the best soil in the world, comes first as a shock; but whenyou find this but one of the many national characteristics it merelyamuses you. One of the extraordinary features of the American is hisattitude toward the Chinese, who are taken on sufferance. The lowerclasses absolutely can conceive of no difference between me and the"coolie. " As an example, a boy on the street accosts me with "Hi, John, you washee, washee?" Even a representative in Congress insisted oncalling me "John. " On protesting to another man, he laughed, and said, "Oh, the man don't know any better. " "But, " I replied, "if he does notknow any better how is it he is a lawmaker in your lower house?" "I giveit up, " was his answer, and he ordered what they term a "high-ball. "After we had tried several, he laughed and asked, "Shall we consider thematter a closed incident?" Many diplomatic, social, and politicalquestions are often settled with a "high-ball. "

It is inconceivable to the average American that there can be aneducated Chinese gentleman, a man of real refinement. They know us bythe Cantonese laundrymen, the class which ranks with their lowestclasses. At dinners and receptions I was asked the most atrociousquestions by men and women. One charming young girl, who I was informedwas the relative of a Cabinet officer, asked me if I would not sometimeput up my "pig-tail, " as she wished to photograph me. Another asked ifit was really true that we privately considered all Americans as "whitedevils. " All had an inordinate curiosity to know my "point of view";what I thought of them, how their customs differed from my own. Ofcourse, replies were manifestly impossible. At a dinner a young man, who, I learned, was a sort of professional diner-out, remarked to alady: "None of the American girls will have me for a husband; do you notthink that if I should go to China some pretty Chinese girl would haveme?" This was said before all the company. Every one was silent, waitingfor the response. Looking up, she replied, with charming _naïveté_, "No, I do not think so, " which produced much laughter. Now you would havethought the young man would have been slightly discomfited, but not atall; he laughed heartily, and plumed himself upon the fact that he hadsucceeded in bringing out a reply. 

American men have a variety of costumes for as many occasions. They haveone for the morning, which is called a sack-coat, that is, tailless, andis of mixed colors. With this they wear a low hat, an abomination calledthe derby. After twelve o'clock the frock-coat is used, having longtails reaching to the knees. Senators often wear this costume in themorning--why I could not learn, though I imagine they think it is moredignified than the sack. With the afternoon suit goes a high silk hat, called a "plug" by the lower classes, who never wear them. After darktwo suits of black are worn: one a sack, being informal, the other withtails, very formal. They also have a suit for the bath--a robe--and asleeping-costume, like a huge bag, with sleeves and neck-hole. This isthe night-shirt, and formerly a "nightcap" was used by some. There isalso a hat to go with the evening costume--a high hat, which crushes in. You may sit on it without injury to yourself or hat. I know this by aharrowing experience. 

Many of the customs of the Americans are strange. Their social lifeconsists of dinners, receptions, balls, card-parties, teas, and smokers. At all but the last women are present. At the dinner every one is inevening dress; the men wear black swallowtail coats, following theEnglish in every way, low white vest, white starched shirt, white collarand necktie, and black trousers. If the dinner does not include womenthe coat-tails are eliminated, and the vest and necktie are black. Exactly why this is I do not understand, nor do the Americans. Thedinner is begun with the national drink, the "cocktail"; then followoysters on the half-shell, which you eat with an object resembling thetrident carried in the ceremony of Ah Dieu at the Triennial. Each courseof the dinner is accompanied by a different wine, an agreeable butexhilarating custom. The knife and fork are used, the latter to go intothe mouth, the former not, and here you see a singular ethnologicfeature. Class distinctions may at times be recognized by the knife orfork. Thus I was informed that you could at once recognize a person ofthe gentleman class by his use of the knife and fork. "This isinfallible, " said my young lady companion. If he is a commoner, he eatswith his knife; if a gentleman, with his fork. This was a very nicedistinction, and I looked carefully for a knife eater, but never sawone. 

There is a vast amount of ceremony and etiquette about a dinner andvarious rules for eating, to break which is a social offense. I heardthat a certain Madam ---- gave lessons in "good form" after the Americanfashion, so that one could learn what was expected, and at my firstdinner I regretted that I had not availed myself of the services of thelady, as at each plate there were nearly a dozen solid silver articlesto be used in the different courses, but I endeavored to escape bywatching my companion and following her example. But here theimpossibility of an American girl resisting a joke caused my downfall. She at once saw my dilemma, and would take up the wrong implement, andwhen I followed suit she dropped it and took another, laughing in hereyes in a way in which the American girl is a prodigious adept; butcompletely deceived by her nearly every time, knowing that she wasamusing herself at my expense, I said nothing. The Americans have apeculiar term for the mental attitude I had during this trial. I "sawedwood. " The saying was particularly applicable to my situation. My youngcompanion was most engaging, and presently began to talk of thesuperiority of America, her inventions, etc. , mentioning the telephone, printing, and others. "Yes, wonderful, " I replied; "but the Chinese hadthe telephone ages ago. They invented printing, gunpowder, the mariner'scompass, and it would be difficult, " I said, "for you to mention anobject which China has not had for ages. " She was amazed that I, aChinaman, should "claim everything in sight. "

There is a peculiar etiquette relating to every course in a dinner. Thesoup is eaten with a bowl-like spoon, and it is the grossest breach toplace this in your mouth, or approach it, endwise. You approach theside and suck the soup from it. To make a noise would attract attention. The etiquette of the fish is to eat it with a fork; to use the knifeeven to cut the fish would be unpardonable, or to touch it to take outthe bones; the fork alone must be used. The punch course is often anembarrassment to the previous wines, and is followed by what the Frenchcall the _entrée_. In fact, while the Americans boast that everythingAmerican is the best, French customs are followed at banquetsinvariably, this being one of the strange inconsistencies of theAmericans. Their clothes are copied from the English, though they willclaim in the same breath that their tailors are the best in the world. For wines they claim to be unsurpassed, producing the finest; yet thewines on their tables are French or bear French labels. Game isserved--a grouse or perhaps a hare, and then a vast roast, possiblyvenison, or beef, and there are vegetables, followed by a salad of somekind. Then comes the dessert--an iced cream, cakes, nuts, raisins, cheese, and coffee with brandy, and then cigars and vermuth or somecordial. After such a dinner of three hours a Southern gentleman clappedme on the back and said, "Great dinner, that; but let's go and get adrink of something solid, " and I saw him take what he termed "twofingers" of Kentucky Bourbon whisky--a very stiff drink. I oftenwondered how the guests could stand so much. 

The dinner has no attendant amusement, no dancing, no professionalentertainers, and rarely lasts over two hours. Some houses have stringedbands concealed behind barriers of flowers playing soft music, but inthe main the dinner is a jollification, a symposium of stories, wherethe guests take a turn at telling tales. Story-tellers can not be hired, and the guest at the proper moment says (after having prepared himselfbeforehand), "That reminds me of a story, " and he relates what he haslearned with great _éclat_ and applause, as every American will applauda good story, even if he has heard it time and again. At one dinnerwhich I attended in New York story-telling had been going on for sometime when a well-known man came in late. He was received with applause, and when called on for a speech told exactly the same story, by astrange coincidence, that had been told by the last speaker. Not a guestinterfered; he was allowed to proceed, and at the end the point wasgreeted with a roar of laughter. This appeared to me to be an excellentquality in the American character. I was informed that these stories, forming so important a feature of American dinners, are the productmainly of drummers and certain prominent men; but why men that drum aremore skilful in story inventing I failed to learn. President Lincoln anda lawyer named Daniel Webster originated a large percentage of thecurrent stories. It is difficult to understand exactly what theAmericans mean. 

The American story is incomprehensible to the average foreigner, but itis good form to laugh. I will relate several as illustrative of Americanwit, and I might add that many of these have been published in books forthe benefit of the diner-out. A Cabinet minister told of a prisoner whowas called to the bar and asked his name. The man had some impediment inhis speech, one of the hundred complaints of the tongue, and began tohiss, uttering a strange stuttering sound like escaping steam. Thejudge listened a few moments, then turning to the guard said, "Officer, what is this man charged with?" "Soda-water, I think, your honor, " wasthe reply. This was unintelligible to me until my companion explainedit. You must understand that soda-water is a drink that is charged withgas and makes a hissing, spluttering noise when opened. Hence when thejudge asked what the prisoner was charged with the policeman, anIrishman, retorted with a joke, the story-teller disregarding the factthat it was an impertinence. 

A distinguished New York judge told the following: Two tenementharridans look out of their windows simultaneously. "Good-morning, Mrs. Moriarity, " says one. "Good-morning, Mrs. Gilfillan, " says the other, adding, "not that I care a d----, but just to make conversation. " Thiswas considered wit of the sharpest kind, and was received with applause. In their stories the Americans spare neither age, sex, nor relatives. The following was related by a general of the army. He said he took afriend home to spend the night with him, the guest occupying the bestroom. When he came down in the morning he turned to the hostess andsaid, "Mrs. ----, that was excellent tooth-powder you placed at mydisposal; can you give me the name of the maker?" The hostess fairlyscreamed. "What, " she exclaimed, "the powder in the urn?" "Yes, " repliedthe officer, startled; "was it poison?" "Worse, worse, " said she; "youswallowed Aunt Jane!" Conceive of this wretched taste. The guest hadactually cleaned his teeth with the cremated dust of the general's aunt;yet he told the story before a dinner assemblage, and it was receivedwith shouts of laughter. 

I did not hear the intellectual conversation at dinner I had expected. Art, science, literature, were rarely touched upon, although Iinvariably met artists, litterateurs, and scientific men at thesedinners. They all talked small talk or "told stories. " I was informedthat if I wished to hear the weighty questions of the day discussed Imust go to the women's clubs, or to Madam ----'s Current Topics Society. The latter is an extraordinary affair, where society women who have notime to read the news of the day listen to short lectures on the news ofthe preceding week, discussed pro and con, giving these women in anutshell material for intelligent conversation when they meet senatorsand other men at the various receptions before which they wish to makean agreeable impression. 

The American has many clubs, but is not entirely at home in them. Heuses them as places in which to play poker or whist, to dine his menfriends, and in a great measure because it is the "proper thing. " Atmany a room is set apart for the national game of poker--a fascinatinggame to the player who wins. Poker was never mentioned in my presencethat some did not make a joke on a supposed Chinaman named Ah Sin; butthe obscurity of the joke and my lack of knowledge regarding Americanliterature caused the point to elude me at first, which was true of manyjokes. The Americans are preeminently practical jokers, and the ends towhich they go is beyond belief. I heard of jokes which, if perpetratedin China, would have resulted in the loss of some one's head. Toillustrate this, in the Spanish-American War the camps at Tampa werebesieged with newspaper reporters, and one from a large journal wasconstantly trying to secure secret news by entertaining certain officerswith wine and cigars; so they determined to get rid of hisimportunities, and what is known as a "job" in America was "put up" onhim. He was told that Colonel ---- had a detailed map of the forthcomingbattle, and if he could get the officer intoxicated he doubtless couldsecure the map. This looked very easy to the correspondent, so the storygoes, and he dropped into the colonel's tent one night with a basket ofwine, and began to celebrate its arrival from some friends. Soon thecolonel pretended to become communicative, and the map was brought outand finally loaned to the correspondent under the promise that it wouldnot be used. This was sufficient. The correspondent hied him to histent, wrote an article and sent the map to his paper in one of thelarge cities, where it was duly published. It proved to be whatdressmakers call a "Butterick pattern, " a maze of lines for cutting outdresses for women. The lines looked like roads, and the practical jokershad merely added towns and forts and bridges here and there. 

The Americans are excellent parents, though small families are general. The domestic life is charming. The family is denied nothing needed, theonly limit being the purse of the head of the family, so called, thereal head in many cases being the wife, who does not fail to assertherself if the proper occasion opens. Well-to-do families have everyluxury, and no nation is apparently so well off, so completely suppliedwith the necessities of life as the American. One is impressed by theirbusiness sagacity, their cleverness in finance, their complete grasp ofall questions, yet no people are easier gulled or more readilyvictimized. An instance will suffice. In making my investigationsregarding methods of managing railroads, I not only obtained informationfrom the road officials, but questioned the employees whenever ithappened that I was traveling. One day, observing that it was the customto "tip" the porters (give money), I asked the conductor what the menwere paid. "Little or nothing, " was the reply; "they get fromseventy-five to one hundred dollars a month out of the _passengers_ on along run. " "But the passengers paid the road for the service?" "Yes, andthey pay the salary of the porter also, " said the man. With that in viewthe men are poorly paid, and the railroad knows that the people willmake up their salaries, as they do. If you refused you would have noservice. 

This rule holds everywhere, in hotels and restaurants. Servants receivelittle pay where the patronage is rich, with the understanding that theywill make it up out of the customers. Thus if you go to a hotel you feethe bell-boy for bringing you a glass of water. If you order one of theseductive cocktails you fee the man who brings it; you fee thechambermaid who attends to your room. Infinite are the resources ofthese servants who do not receive a fee. You fee the elevator or liftboy, or he will take the opportunity to jerk you up as though shot outof a gun. You fee the porter for taking up your trunk, and give aspecial fee for unstrapping it. You fee the head waiter, and when youfee the table waiter he whispers in your ear that a slight fee will beacceptable to the cook, who will see that the _Count_ or the _Judge_will be cared for as becomes his station. When you leave, the sidewalkporter expects a fee; if he does not receive it the door of the carriagemay possibly be slammed on the tail of your coat. Then you pay thecabman two dollars to carry you to the station, and fee him. Arriving atthe station, he hands you over to a red-hatted porter, who carries yourbaggage for a fee. He puts you in charge of the railroad porter, who isfeed at the rate of about fifty cents per diem. 

The American submits to this robbery without a murmur; yet he issagacious, prudent. I can only explain his gullibility on the ground ofhis innate snobbery; he thinks it is the "thing to do, " and does it, andfor this reason it is carried to the most merciless lengths. Toillustrate. In the season of 1902, when I was at Newport, Mr. ----, aconspicuous member of the New York smart set, known as the "FourHundred, " lost his hat in some way and rode to his home without one. The ubiquitous reporter saw him, and photographed him, bareheaded, andhis paper, the New York ----, gave a column the following day to adescription of the new fad of going without a hat. Thus the fashionstarted, and the amazing spectacle was seen the summer following of menand women of fashion riding and walking for miles without hats. This isbeyond belief, yet it attracted no attention from the common people, whoperhaps got the cast-off hats. Despite this, the Americans arehard-fisted, shrewd, and as a nation a match for any in the field ofcunning. 

I can explain it in no way than by assuming that it is due tooveranxiety to do the correct thing. Their own actors satirize them, oneespecially taking them off in a jingle which read, "It's English, quiteEnglish, you know. " It is said of the men of the "Four Hundred" thatthey turn up their trousers when it rains in London, special reports ofthe weather being sent to the clubs for the purpose; but I cannot vouchfor this. I have seen the trousers turned up in all weathers, and foundno one who could explain why he did so. What can you make of socontradictory a people?

CHAPTER IV

THE AMERICAN WOMAN

The most remarkable feature of America is the women. Divest your mind ofany woman you know in order to prepare yourself to receive myimpressions. To begin with, the American woman ranks with her husband;indeed, she is his superior in that all men render her homage anddeference. It is accounted a point of chivalry to stand as the defenderof the weaker sex. The American girl is educated with the boys in thepublic school, grows up with them, and studies their studies, that shemay be their intellectual equal, and there is a strong party, led bymasculine women, who contend for complete political rights for women. In some States they vote, and in nearly all may be elected to boards ofvarious kinds and to minor offices. The Government departments arefilled with women clerks, and all, from the lowest to the highest, areequal; hence, it is a difficult matter to find a native-born Americanwho will become a servant. They all aspire to be ladies, and even aliensbecome salesladies, cook ladies, laundry ladies. They are on theirdignity, and able to protect it from any point of attack. 

The lower classes are particularly uninteresting, for they have noindividuality, and ape the class above them, the result being a cheap, ludicrous imitation of a lady--an absurd abstraction. The women of thelower classes who are unmarried work in shops, factories, andrestaurants, often in situations the reverse of sanitary; yet preferthis to good situations in families as servants, service being beneaththeir dignity and tending to disturb the balance of equality. I doubt ifa native-born woman would permit herself to be called a servant; indeed, all the servants are Irish, Swedes, Norwegians, French, German, ornegroes; the American girls fill the factories and the sweat-shops ofthe great cities. When I refer these girls to the lower classes it ismerely to classify them, as morally and intellectually they aresometimes the equal of the higher classes. The middle-class women orgirls are an attractive type, well educated and often beautiful. Youobtain an idea of them in the great shops and bazaars of the greatcities, where they fill every conceivable position and receive from fiveto six dollars per week. 

But it is with the higher classes that you will be most interested, andwhen I say that the American girl, the product of the first families, is at once beautiful, refined, cultured, charming physically andmentally, I have but faintly expressed it; yet the most pronouncedcharacteristic is their "daring, " or temerity. There is no word exactlyto cover it. I frequently met women at dinners. With few exceptions, itappears impossible for the American girl to take one of our race, anOriental, seriously. She can not conceive that he may be a man ofintelligence and education, and I can not better describe her than tosketch in its detail a dinner to which I was invited by the ---- atWashington. The invitation was engraved on a small card and read "The---- and Mrs. ---- request the honor of the presence of the ---- atdinner on Wednesday at eight o'clock, etc. " I immediately sent my valetwith an acceptance and a basket of orchids to the hostess, this beingthe mode among the men who are _au fait_. 

A week later I went to the dinner, and was taken up to the dressing-roomfor men, where I found a dozen or more, all in the conventional eveningdress I have described--now with tails, it being a ladies' affair. In acorner was a table, and by it stood a negro, also in a dress suit, identical with that of the others. I was cordially greeted by a guest, who said, "Let me introduce you to our American minister to Ijiji andZanzibar, " and he presented me to the tall negro, who was turning outsome bottled "cocktail. " I shook hands with him, and he laughed, showinga set of teeth like an elephant's tusks, and asked me "what I wouldhave. " He was a servant dealing out "appetizers, " and this was anAmerican joke. The perpetrator of this joke was a minor official in theState Department, yet the entire party apparently considered it a goodjoke. Fortunately, I could disguise my real feeling, and I merely relatethe incident to give you an idea of the sense of the proprieties asentertained by certain Americans. All that winter the story of theAmerican minister to Zanzibar was told at my expense without doubt. 

Having been "fortified, " and some of the men took two or three"cocktails" before they became "tuned up, " we went down to thedrawing-room, where I paid my respects to the host and hostess, whostood at the end of a beautiful room. As I approached the lady greetedme with a charming smile, extending her gloved hand almost on a directline with her face, grasping it firmly, not shaking it, saying, "Verykind of you, ----. Delighted, I am sure. General"--turning to herhusband--"you know the ----, of course, " and the general shook my handas he would a pump-handle, and whispered, "Our minister to Zanzibartreated you all right, eh?" and with a wink indescribable, closing theright eye for a second, passed me on. The story had got down-stairsbefore me. Americans of the official class have, as a rule, an absolutelack of _savoir faire_ and social refinement; lack them so utterly as tobecome comical. 

I now joined other groups of officers and officials, there being aboutthirty guests, half of whom were ladies. The latter were all in what istermed full dress. Why "full" I do not know. Here you see one of themost extraordinary features of American life--the dress of women. TheAmericans make claim to being among the most modest, the most religious, the most proper people in the world, yet the appearance of the ladiesat many public functions is beyond belief. All the women in this housewere beautiful and covered with jewels. They wore gowns in the Frenchcourt fashion, with trains a yard or two in length, but the upper partcut so low that a large portion of the neck and shoulders was exposed. Iwas embarrassed beyond expression; such an exhibition in China couldonly be made by a certain class. These matrons were of the highestrespectability. This remarkable custom of a strange people, who delugeChina with missionaries from every sect under the sun and at home committhe grossest solecisms, is universal, and not thought of as improper. There was not much opportunity for introspective analysis, yet I couldnot but believe that such a custom must have its moral effect upon anation in the long run. 

It was a mystery to me how the upper part of some of the gowns wassupported. In some instances there was no strap over the shoulders, theupper third of these alabaster torsos and arms being absolutely naked, save for a band of pearls, diamonds, or other gems, of a size rarelyseen in the Orient; but I learned later that the bone or steel corset, which molds the form, constituted the support of the gown. I graduallybecame habituated to the custom, and did not notice it. My friend ----, an artist of repute, explained that it all depends on the point of view. "Our people are essentially artistic, " he said. "There is nothing morebeautiful than the divine female contour; the American women realizethis, and sacrifice themselves at the altar of art. " Yet the Americansare such jokers that exactly what my friend had in mind it was difficultto arrive at. 

After being presented to these marvelously arrayed ladies we passedinto the dining-room, where I found myself with one of the most charmingof divinities, a woman famous for her wit and literary success. I havedescribed the typical dinner, so I need not repeat my words. Mycompanion held the same extraordinary attitude toward me that allAmerican women do; amused, half laughing, refusing absolutely to take meseriously, and probing me with so many absurd questions that I wasforced to ask some very pointed ones, which only succeeded in making herlaugh. The conversation proceeded something as follows: "I am charmedthat I have fallen to your Highness. " "Equally charmed, " I replied; "butmy rank does not admit the adjective you do me the honor to apply. ""No?" was the answer. "Well, I'll wager you anything that when thebutler pours your wine in the first course he will call you Count, andin the next Prince. You see, they become exhilarated as the dinnerprogresses. But tell me, how many wives have you in China, you look_very_ wicked?" Imagine this! But I rallied, and replied that I hadnone--a statement received with incredulity. Her next question was, "Have you ever been a highbinder?" Ministers of grace! and this from apeople who profess to know more than any nation on earth! I explainedthat a highbinder ranked with a professional murderer in this country, whereupon she again laughed, and, turning to General ----, in a loudvoice said, "General, I have been calling the ---- a highbinder, " atwhich the company laughed at my expense. In China, as you know, a guestor a host would have killed himself rather than commit so gross asolecism; but this is America. 

The second course was oysters served in the shell, and my companion, assuming that I had never seen an oyster [ignorant that our fathers ateoysters thousands of years before America was heard of and when theAnglo-Saxon was living in a cave], in a confidential and engagingwhisper remarked, "This, your 'Highness, ' is the only animal we eatalive. " "Why alive?" I asked, looking as innocent as possible; "why notkill them?" "Oh, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animalswill not permit it, " was her reply. "You see, if they are swallowedalive they are immediately suffocated, but if you cut them up theysuffer horribly while the soup is being served. How large a one do youthink you can swallow?" Fancy the daring of a young girl to joke with aman twice her age in this way! I did not undeceive her, and allowed herto enlighten me on various subjects of contemporaneous interest. "It'sso strange that the Chinese never study mathematics, " she next remarked. "Why, all our public schools demand higher mathematics, and in thefourth grade you could not find a child but could square the circle. "

In this manner this volatile young savage entertained me all through thedinner, utterly superficial herself, yet possessed of a singularsharpness and wit, mostly at my expense; yet she was so charming Iforgave her. There is no denying that you become enraged, insulted, chagrined by these women, who, however, by a look, dispel yourannoyance. I do not understand it. I found that while an author of anovel she was grossly ignorant of the literature of her own country, yetshe possessed that consummate American froth by which she couldconvince the average person that she was brilliant to the point ofscintillation. I fancy that any keen, well-educated woman must have seenthat I was laughing at her, yet so inborn was her belief that a Chinamanmust be an imbecile that she was ever joking at my expense. The laststory she told me illustrates the peculiar fancy for joking these womenpossess. I had been describing a storm at Manchester-by-the-Sea and thesplendor of the ocean. "Did you see the tea-leaves?" she asked, solemnly. "No, " I replied. "That is strange, " she said. "I fear you arenot very observing. After every storm the tea-leaves still wash up allalong Massachusetts Bay, " alluding to the fact that loads of tea onships were tossed over by the Americans during the quarrel with Englandbefore the Revolution. 

The daring of the American woman impressed me. This same lady asked menot to remain with the men to smoke but go on the veranda with her, where _tête-à-tête_ she produced a gold cigarette-case and offered me acigarette. This I found not uncommon. American women of the fast setsdrink at the clubs; an insidious drink--the "high-ball"--is a commonone, yet I never saw a woman under the influence of wine or liquor. Theamount of both consumed in America, is amazing. The consumption per headin the United States for beer alone is ten and a half gallons for eachof the eighty millions. My friend, a prohibitionist, a member of apolitical party whose object is to ruin the wine industry of the world, put it stronger, and, backed by facts, said that if the wine, beer, whisky, gin, and alcoholic drinks of all kinds and the tea and coffeedrank yearly by the Americans could be collected it would make a laketwo miles square and ten feet deep. The alcoholic drinks alone ifcollected would fill a canal one hundred miles long, one hundred feetwide, and ten feet deep. May their saints propitiate this insatiatethirst!

It would amuse you to hear the American women of literary tendency boastof their schools, yet when educational facilities are considered theaverage American is ignorant. They are educated in lines. Thus a girlgraduate will speak French with a good accent, or she will converse inMilwaukee German. She can prove her statement in conic sections oralgebra, but when it comes to actual knowledge she is deficient. This isdue to the ignorance of the teachers in the public schools and theirlack of inborn culture. No better test of the futility of the Americanpublic-school education can be seen than the average girl product ofthe public school of the lower class in a city like Chicago or New York. Americans affect to despise Chinese methods because the Chinese girl orboy is not crammed with a thousand thoughts of no relative value. Chinahas existed thousands of years; her people are happy; happiness andcontent are the chief virtues, and if China is ever overthrown it willbe not because, as the Americans put it, she is behind the times, butbecause the fever of unrest and the craze for riches has become acontagion which will react upon her. The development of China is normal, that of America hysterical. Our growth has been along the line of peace;that of other nations has been entirely opposed to their own religiousteaching, showing it to be farcical and pure sophistry. 

If I should tell you how many American women asked me why Chinese womenbandage their feet you would be amazed; yet every one of these submittedto and practised a deformity that has seriously affected the growth anddevelopment of the race. I am no iconoclast, but listen to the story ofthe American woman who, with one hand, deforms her waist in the mostbarbarous fashion, while waving the other in horror at her Chinesesister with the bound feet. American women change their fashions twice ayear or more. Fashions are in the hands of the middle classes, and thehighest lady in the land is completely at their mercy; to disobey themandates of fashion is to become ridiculous. The fashion is set in Parisand various cities by men and women who have skilled artists to drawpatterns and paint pictures showing the new mode. These are published incertain papers and issued by millions, republished in America, and nowoman here would have the temerity to ignore them. The laws of the Medesand Persians are not more inexorable. 

It is not a suggestion but an order, a fiat, a command, so we see thisfree nation really truckling to or dominated by a class of tradesmen. The object of the change of style is to create a sale for new goods, give work for laborers, and enable the producer to reach the pocketbookof the rich man; but the "fashions" have become so fixed, so thoroughlya national feature, that they affect rich and poor, and we have thespectacle of every woman studying these guides and conforming to themwith a servility beyond belief. I once said to a lady, "The Chinese ladydresses richer than the American, but her styles have been very much thesame for thousands of years, " but I believe she doubted it. It would befutile, indeed impossible, for me to explain the extravagances ofAmerican fashion. Their own press and stage use it as a standard butt. At the present time tablets or plates of fashion insist upon an outlinewhich shows the form completely, the antipodes of a Chinese woman; andthis is intensified by some of the women who, when in the street, graspthe skirt and in an ingenious way wrap it about so that the outline ofthe American divinity is sufficiently well defined to startle one. Sucha trick in China could but originate with the demimonde, yet it is takenup by certain of the Americans who are constantly seeking for variety. There can be no question but that the middle-class fashion designerrevenges himself upon the _beau monde_. They will not receive himsocially, so he forces them to wear his clothes. 

Some years ago women were made to wear "hoops, " pictures of which Ihave seen in old publications. Imagine, if you can, a bird-cage threefeet high and four feet across, formed of bone of the whale or somemetal. This was worn beneath the dress, expanding it on either side sothat it was difficult to approach a lady. A later order was given towear a camel-like "hump" at the base of the vertebral column, which wascalled the "bustle"--a contrivance calculated to unnerve the wearer, notto speak of the looker-on; yet the American woman adopted it, distortedher body, and aped the gait of the kangaroo, the form being called the"Grecian bend. " This lasted six months or more; first adopted by thearistocracy, then by the common people, and by the time the latter hadit well in hand the _bon ton_ had cast it aside and were tryingsomething else. 

A close study of this mad dressing shows that there is always a "hump. "At one time it went all around; later appeared only behind, like anexcrescence on a bilbol-tree. At the present time the designer has drawnhis picture showing it as a pendent bag from the "shirtwaist, " like thepouch of the bird pelican. A few years ago the designer, in a delirium, placed the humps on the tops of the sleeves, then snatched them away andtipped them upside down. Finally he appeared to go utterly mad with thedesire to humiliate the woman, and created a fashion that entaileddragging the skirt on the ground from one to two feet. 

Did the American woman resent the insult; did she refuse to adopt acustom not only disgusting but really filthy, one that a Chinese ladywould have died rather than have accepted? By no means; she seized uponit with the ardor of a child with a new toy, and for a year theside-paths of the great cities of the country were swept by women'sskirts, clouds of dust following them. The press took up the question, but without effect; the fashion dragged its nauseating and frightfulcourse from rich and poor, and I was told by an official that it wasimpossible to stop it or to force a glimmer of reason into the minds ofthese women. Then they gave it up, and passed a law making it astatutory offense, with heavy fines, for any one to "expectorate" on thesidewalk or anywhere else where the saliva could be swept up by thetrains of the women of nearly all classes who followed the fashion. TheAmerican woman, as I have said, looks askance at the footgear of theChinese--high, warm, dry, sanitary, yet revels in creations which crampthe feet and distort the anatomy. The shoes are made of leather, inflexible, pointed; and to enable them to deceive the men into thebelief that they have high insteps (a sign of good blood here) the womenwear stilt-like heels, which throw the foot forward and elevate the heelfrom two to three inches above the ground. 

But all this is but a bagatelle to the fashions in deformity which wefind among nearly all American women. There are throughout the countrynumbers of large manufactories which make "corsets"--a peculiar waistand lung compressor, used by nearly every woman in America. These menare as dogmatic as the designers of the fashion-plates. They also issueplates or guides showing new changes, and the women, like sheep, adoptthem. The American woman believes that a narrow waist enhances herbeauty, and the corset-maker works upon the national weakness and buildscreations that put to shame and ridicule the bound feet of thearistocratic Chinese woman. The corset is a lace and ribbon-decoratedarmor, made either of steel ribs or whale-bone, which fits the waist andclings to the hips. It is laced up, and the degree of tightness dependsupon the will or nerve of the wearer. It compresses the heart and lungs, and wearing it is a most barbarous custom--a telling argument againstthe assumption of high intelligence on the part of the Americans, who, in this respect, rank with the flat-headed Indians of the northwestAmerican coast, whose heads I have seen in their medical offices side byside with a diagram showing the abnormal conditions caused by thecorset. 

A year ago the fiat went forth that the American woman must have widehips. Presto! there appeared especially devised machinery, advertised inall the journals, accomplishing the condition for those whom nature hadnot well endowed. Now the dressmaker has decided that they must benarrow-hipped, and half a million dollars in false hips, rubber pads, and other properties are cast aside. No extravaganza is too absurd forthese people who are abject slaves to the whimsicalities of thedesigner, who is a wag in his way, as has been well shown in a storytold to me. The designers for a famous man dressmaker in Paris had ahabit of taking sketches of the latest creations to their club meetings. One evening a clever caricaturist took a caricature of a fashion showinga woman with enormous and outlandish sleeves. It created a laugh. "Asimpossible as it is, " said the artist, "I will wager a dinner that if Ipresent it seriously to a certain fashion paper they will take it up. "This is said to be the history of the "big-sleeve" fashion that reallyamazed the Americans themselves. 

The customs of women here are so at variance with those of China thatthey are not readily understood. Our ways are those culled from acivilization of thousands of years; theirs from one just beginning; yetthey have the temerity to speak of China as effete and behind the times. In writing, the women affect the English round hand and write acrossfrom left to right, and then beginning at the left of the page again. They are fond of perfumes, especially the lower classes, and display abarbaric taste for jewels. It is not uncommon to see the wife of awealthy man wear half a million pounds sterling in diamonds or rubies atthe opera. I was told that one lady wore a $5, 000 diamond in her garter. The utterly strange and contradictory customs of these women are bestobserved at the beach and bath. In China if a woman is modest she is soat all times; but this is not true with some Americans, who appear tohave the desire to attract attention, especially that of men, by anappeal to the beautiful in nature and art; at least this is theimpression the unprejudiced looker-on gains by a sojourn in the greatcities and fashionable resorts. If you happen to be riding horseback, orwalking in the street with a lady, and any accident occurs to hercostume whereby her neck, her leg, or her ankle is exposed, she will bemortified beyond expression; yet the night previous you might have satin the box with her at the opera, when her décolleté gown had made herthe mark for hundreds of lorgnettes. Again, this lady the next morningmight bathe with me at the beach and lie on the sand basking in the sunlike a siren in a costume that would arrest the attention of a St. Anthony. 

Let me describe such a costume: A pair of skin-tight black stockings, then a pair of tights of black silk and a flimsy black skirt that comesjust to the knee; a black silk waist, armless, and as low in the neck asthe moral law permits, beneath which, to preserve her contour, is awater-proof corset. Limbs, to expose which an inch on the street were acrime, are blazoned to the world at Newport, Cape May, Atlantic City, and other resorts, and often photographed and shown in the papers. Toexplain this manifest contradiction would be beyond the powers of anOriental, had he the prescience of the immortal Confucius and thedivination of a Mahomet and Hilliel combined. 

CHAPTER V

THE SUPERSTITIONS OF THE AMERICANS

Among the many topics I have discussed with Americans, our allegedsuperstitions, or our belief in so-called dragons, genii, ghosts, etc. , seem to have made the deepest impression. A charming American woman, whom I met at the ---- Embassy at dinner, told me with seriousness thatour people may be intelligent, but the fact that in San Francisco andLos Angeles they at certain times drag through the streets a dragon fivehundred feet long to exorcise the evil spirits, showed that the Chinesewere grossly superstitious. If I had told my companion that she was thevictim of a thousand superstitions, she would have taken it as anaffront, because, according to American usage, it is not proper todispute with a lady. The Americans are the most superstitious people inthe world. They will not sit down to a dinner-table when there arethirteen persons. No hostess would attempt such a thing, the beliefbeing general that some one of the guests would die within a year. I wasa guest at a dinner-party when a lady suddenly remarked, "We arethirteen. " Several of the guests were evidently much annoyed, and thehostess, a most pleasing woman, apologized, and replied that she hadinvited fourteen, but one guest had failed her. It was apparent thatsomething must be done, and this was cleverly solved by the hostesssending for her mother, who joined the party, and the dinner proceeded. I do not think _all_ the guests believed in this absurd superstition, but they were _all_ very uncomfortable. I do not believe I met asociety woman in Washington or New York who would walk through acemetery or graveyard at midnight alone. I asked several ladies if theywould do this, and all were horrified at the idea, though stronglydenying any belief in ghosts or spirits. 

In nearly every American city one or more houses may be found haunted byghosts, which Americans believe have made the places so disagreeablethat the houses have been in consequence deserted. So well-defined isthe superstition, and so recurrent are the beliefs in ghosts andspirits, that the best-educated people have found it necessary toestablish a society, called the Society for Psychical Research, in orderto demonstrate that ghosts are not possible. I believe I am notoverstepping the bounds when I say that this vainglorious people, whoclaim to have the finest public-school system in the world, are, considering their advantages, the most superstitious of all the whiteraces. Out of perhaps thirty men, whom I asked, not one was willing tosay he could pass through a graveyard at night without fear at heart, anundefined nervous feeling, due to innate superstition. The middle-classwoman who stumbles upstairs considers it to mean that she will notmarry. To break a mirror, or receive as a present a knife, also meansbad luck. Many people wear amulets, safe-guards, and good-luck stones. Several millions of the Catholic sect wear a charm, which they thinkwill save them from sudden death. All Catholics believe that some oftheir churches own the bones of saints, which have the power to givethem health and other good things. Many Americans wear the seed of thehorse-chestnut, and many others wear lucky coins. Belief in the luck ofthe four-leaf clover, instead of that with three leaves, is so strongthat people will spend hours in hunting for one. They are designed intopins and certain insignia, and used in a hundred other ways. 

But more remarkable than all is the old horseshoe superstition. I haveseen beautifully gowned ladies stop their driver, descend from thecarriage, and pick up such a shoe and carry it home, telling me thatthey never failed to pick up one, as it brought good luck; yet this ladylaughed at our dragon! In the country, horseshoes are commonly seen overthe doors of stables, and even of houses. These same people once hungwomen for witchcraft, and slaughtered women for persisting in certainreligious beliefs. I had the pleasure of meeting a well-known man, whostated that he had the power of the "evil eye. " Innumerable peoplebelieve the paw of an animal called the rabbit to contain sovereign goodluck. They carry it about, and can buy it in shops. Indeed, I could filla volume, much less a letter, with the absurd superstitions of thesepeople who send women to China to convert the "Heathen Chinee, " who maybe "peculiar, " as Mr. Harte states in his poem; but the Chinamancertainly has not the marvelous variety of superstitions possessed bythe American, who does not allow cats about rooms where there areinfants, fearing that they will suck the child's breath; who believethat certain snakes milk cows, and that mermen are possible. I stood ina tent last summer at Atlantic City--a large seaside resort--and watcheda line of middle-class people passing to see a "Chinese mermaid, " of thekind the Japanese manufacture so cleverly. It was to be seen on thewater. All, so far as I could judge, accepted it as real. So much forthe influence of the American public school, where physiology is taught. 

CHAPTER VI

THE AMERICAN PRESS

One feature of American life is so peculiar that I fear I can notpresent it to you clearly, as there is nothing like it under the sun. Irefer to the newspapers. If such an institution should appear in anyOriental country, or even in Russia, many heads would fall to the groundfor treason or gross disrespect to the power of the throne. The Americanmust not only have the news of his neighbor, but the news of the worldevery hour in the day, and the newspapers furnish it. In the villagesthey appear weekly, in the towns daily, in the great cities hourly, boysscreaming their names, shouting and yelling like demons. Yesterdaybeneath the window a boy screamed, "The Empress of China elopes withher coachman!" I bought the paper, in which a column was devoted to it. Fancy this in Pekin. Shades of ----! I can not better describe thesepapers than to say they have absolute license as to what to print, thisfreedom being a principle, but it is grossly abused by blackmailers. Thepapers have no respect for man, woman, or child, the President or theDeity. The most flagrant attacks are made upon private persons. Rarelyis an editor shot or imprisoned. The President may be called vile names, his appearance may become the butt of ridicule in opposition papers, andcartoonists, employed at large salaries, draw insulting pictures of himand his Cabinet. One would think that the way to obtain patronage of aperson would be to praise him, but this would be considered anorientalism. The real way to secure readers in America is to abuse, insult, and outrage private feelings, the argument being that peoplewill buy the journal to see what is said about them. All the Americanpress is not founded upon this system of virtual blackmail. There arerespectable papers, conservative and honorable; but I believe I am notoverstating it when I say that every large city has at least one paperwhere the secrets of a family and its most sacred traditions are treatedas lawful game. 

The actual heads of papers have often been men of high standing, asHorace Greeley, Henry J. Raymond, E. L. Godkin, Henry Watterson, thelate Charles A. Dana, James Gordon Bennett, and William Cullen Bryant. But in the modern newspaper the man in control is a managing editor, whose tenure of office depends upon his keeping ahead of all others. The press, then, with its telegraphic connection with the world, withits thousands of readers, is a power, and in the hands of a man of smallmind becomes a menace to civilization and easily drifts into blackmail. This is displayed in a thousand ways, especially in politics. The editordesires to obtain "influence, " the power to secure places for hisfavorites, and, if he is slighted, he intimates to the men in power, "Appoint my candidate or I will attack you. " This is a virtual threat. In this way the editor intimidates the office-holder. I was informed bya good authority of two journals of standing in America which he knewwere started as "blackmailing sheets"; and certainly the license of thepress is in every way diabolical, a result of the American dogma of freespeech. When one arrives in America he is met with dozens ofrepresentatives of the press, who ask a thousand and one personal andimpertinent questions, which, if one does not answer, one is attacked insome insidious way. One man I know refused to listen to a veryimportunate newspaper man, and was congratulating himself on his escape, when on the following day an article appeared in the paper givingseveral libelous pictures of him, the object being to show that he hadnothing to say because he was mentally deficient. He appealed to theeditor, but was told that his only recourse was to sue. As one walksdown the gangplank of a ship he may become the mark for ten or fifteencameras, which photograph him without permission, and whose owners will"poke fun" at his resistance. 

As a news-collecting medium the press of the United States is amagnificent organization. At breakfast you receive the news of thewhole world--social, diplomatic, criminal, and religious. Meetings ofCongress and stories of private life are alike all served up, fullyillustrated with pictures of the people and events. A corner is devotedto children, another to women, another to religious Americans, and alittle sermon is preached. Then there are suggestive pictures for theman about town, recipes for the cook, weather reports for the traveler, a story for the romancer, perhaps a poem, and an editorial page, whereideas and theories are promulgated and opinions manufactured on allsubjects, ready made for adoption by the reader, who in many instanceshas his thinking done for him. I made a test of this, and asked a numberof men for their opinion on a certain subject, and then guessed the nameof their favorite paper, and in most instances was correct. They allclaimed that they took the paper because it agreed with their politicalideas; but I am confident that the reverse is true, the paper havinginsidiously trained them to adopt its view. Here we see where the powerof one man or editor comes in, and worse yet, a nation which acquiresthis "newspaper habit, " this having some one to think for it bymachinery, as it were, will lose its mental power, its facility inanalysis. I made bold to suggest this to a prominent man, but he merelylaughed. As a whole, the American newspapers are valuable; they are thereal educators of the people, and have a vast influence. For this reasonthere should be some restriction imposed on them. 

CHAPTER VII

THE AMERICAN DOCTOR

At a dinner at Manchester in the summer I had as my _vis-à-vis_ adelightful young American, who, among other things, said to me: "It isastonishing to me that so many of your people live long, considering theignorance of your doctors. " I assured her that this was merely her pointof view, and that we were well satisfied with our doctors or physicians. I wished to retaliate by telling my fair companion a story I had heardthe day previous. An American physician operated upon a man and removedwhat he called a "cyst, " which he displayed with some pride to a doctorof another school. "Why, man, " said the latter, "that isn't a cyst;it's the man's kidney!"

The Americans have made rapid advances in medicine and surgery, and theyhave some extraordinary physicians. From two to four years of studycompletes the education of some of the doctors, and hundreds are turnedout every year. Some are of the old and regular school of medicine, butothers are called homeopathic, which means that they give small doses ofthe more powerful medicines. Then there are those who practise in bothschools. Indeed, in no other field does ignorance, superstition, credulity, and lack of real education display itself as among theAmerican doctors or healers. I believe I could fill a volume by the mereenumeration of the diabolical and absurd nostrums offered by knaves toheal men who profess to hold in ridicule the Chinese doctors. I mentionbut a few, and when I tell you, as a truth beyond cavil, that the mostextraordinary of these healers, the most impossible, have the largestfollowing, you can see what I mean by the credulity of the people as awhole. Christian Science doctors have a following of tens of thousands. They combine so-called science with religion; leave their God to curethem at long or short range through the medium of so-called agents. Thehead of this faction is an ignorant but clever woman, who has turned theheads of perhaps thirty-three and a third per cent of the American womenwhom she has come in contact with. 

Then come the faith curists, who rely upon faith alone. You simply areto _think_ you will get well. Of course, many die from neglect. As anillustration of the credulity of the average American, a ChristianScience healer was once treating a sick woman from a distant town, andfinally the patient died. When the bill was presented the husband said, "You have charged for treatment two weeks after my wife died. " It was afact that the healer had been treating the woman after she was buried, the husband having failed to give notice of the death. One would haveexpected the "healer" to be thrown into confusion, but far from it; shemerely replied, "I thought I noticed a vacancy. "

Next come the musical curists, who listen to thrills of sound, a bigorgan being the doctor. Then there is the psychometric doctor, who curesby spirits. The spirit doctor cures in the same way. The palmistprofesses to point out how to avoid the ills of life. Magnetic healershave hundreds of victims in every city. Their advertisements in thejournals of all sorts are of countless kinds. Some cure at short hand, some miles distant from the patient. They are equaled in numbers by thehypnotists, or hypnotic doctors, who profess to throw their patientsinto a trance and cure them by suggestion. I heard of one cure in whichthe guileless American is made to lie in an open grave; this is called"the return to nature. " Again, patients are cured by being buried in hotmud or in hot sand. I have seen a salt-water cure, where patients weremade to remain in the ocean ten hours a day. The plain water cure hasthousands of followers, with hospitals and infirmaries, where thepatient is bathed, soaked, filled, washed, and plunged in water andcharged a high amount. 

Then there is the vegetarian cure, no meat being eaten; and there arethe meat eaters, who use no vegetables. There are over fifty thousand_masseurs_ and osteopaths in the country, who cure by baths andrubbing. You may have a bath of milk, water, electricity, or alcohol, ora bath of any description under the sun, which is guaranteed to cure anyand all ailments. Perhaps the most extraordinary curists are the colordoctors. They have rooms filled with blue and other colors, in whoserays the patient victim or the victim patient sits, "like Patience on amonument. " I could not begin to give you an enumeration of the variouskinds of electric cures; they are legion. But the most amazing classcomprises the patent-medicine men, who are usually not doctors at all, but buy from some one a "cure" and then advertise it, spending in oneinstance which I investigated one million dollars a year. Everyadvantageous wall, stone, or cliff in America will be posted. You seethe name at every turn, and the gullible Americans bite, chew, andswallow. 

It is not overstating facts when I say that three-fifths of the peoplebuy some of these patent nostrums, which the real medical men denounce, showing that the masses of the people are densely ignorant, the victimsof any faker who may shout his wares loud enough. In China such a thingwould be impossible; the block would stop the practise; but, my dear----, the Americans assure me China is a thousand years behind thetimes, for which let us be devoutly thankful! I have not enumerated atenth of the kinds of doctors who prey upon these unfortunate people. There are companies of them, who guarantee to cure anything, andskilfully mulct the sick of their last penny. There are retreats for theunfortunate, farms for deserted infants, and homes for unfortunatewomen carried on by villains of both sexes. There are traveling doctorswho go from town to town, who cure "while you wait, " and give a circuswhile talking and selling their cure; and in nine cases out of ten thenostrum is an alcoholic drink disguised. 

In no land under the sun are there so many ignorant blatant fakerspreying on a people, and in no land do you find so credulous a throng asin America, yet claiming to represent the cream of the intelligence ofthe world; they are so easily led that the most impossible person, if hebe a good talker, can go abroad and by the use of money and audacitysecure a following to drink his salt water, paying a dollar a bottle forit and sing his praises. Such a doctor can secure the names and picturesof judges, governors of States, senators, congressmen, prominent men andwomen, officers of the volunteer army, artists, actors, singers--infact, prominent people of all kinds will provide their pictures and givetestimonials, which are blazonly published. These same people go toChinese drug shops and laugh at the "heathen" drugs, and wonder why theChinaman is alive. America has a body of physicians and surgeons who area credit to the world, modest, conscientious, and with a high sense ofhonor, but they are as a dragon's tooth in a multitude to the so-called"quacks, " who take the money of the masses and prey upon them, protectedin many cases by the law. No one profession so demonstrates the abjectcredulity of the great mass of Americans as that of medicine. 

One other incident may further illustrate the jokes these so-calleddoctors play upon the common people. In a country town was a "quack"doctor, who professed to be a "head examiner, " giving people chartsaccording to their "bumps, " a fad which has many followers. "This, ladies and gentlemen, " said the lecturer, holding out a small skull, "isthe skull of Alexander the Great at the age of six. Note the prominentbrow. This [holding up a larger skull] is the same at the age of ten. This [holding out another] at the age of twenty-one; [then stepping outto the front of the stage] this is the _complete_ skull of Alexander atthe time of his death. " All of which appeared to be accepted in goodfaith. 

Of the best physicians in America one can not say enough in praise. Iwas most impressed by their high sense of honor. They have an agreementwhich they call their "ethics, " by which they will not advertise or callattention to their learning. Consequently, the lower and ignorantclasses are caught by the blatant chaff of the patent-medicine vendersand the quack doctors. What the word "quack" means in this sense I donot quite know; literally, it is the cry of the goose. The "regulardoctor" will not take advantage of any medicine he may discover, or anyinstrument; all belongs to humanity, and one doctor becomes famous overanother by his success in keeping people from dying. The gratefulpatient saved, tells his friends, and so the doctor becomes known. Inall America I never heard of a doctor that acted on the principle whichholds among our doctors, that the best way to cure is to watch thepatient and keep him well, or prevent him from being taken sick. TheAmericans, in their conceit, consider Chinese doctors ignorant fakers;yet, so far as I can learn, the death-rate among the Chinese, city forcity, country for country, is less than among Americans. The Chinesewomen are longer lived and less subject to disease. In what is known asNew England, the oldest well-populated section of the country, peoplewould die out were it not for the constant accession of immigrants. Onthe other hand, the Chinese constantly increase, despite a policy ofnon-intercourse with foreigners. The Americans have, in a civilizationdating back to 1492, already begun to show signs of decadence, and areonly saved by constant immigration. China has a civilization ofthousands of years, and is increasing in population every day, yet herdoctors and their methods are ridiculed by the Americans. The peoplehave many sayings here, one of which is, "The proof of the pudding liesin the eating. " It seems applicable to this case. 

CHAPTER VIII

PECULIARITIES AND MANNERISMS

One finds it difficult to learn the language fluently because of apeculiar second language called "slang, " which is in use even among thefashionable classes. I despair of conveying any clear idea of it, as wehave no exact equivalent. As near as I can judge, it is first composedby professional actors on the stage. Some funny remark being constantlyrepeated, as a part of a taking song, becomes slang, conveying a certainmeaning, and is at once adopted by the people, especially by a class whopose as leaders in all towns, but who are not exactly the best, butcharming imitations of the best, we may say. To illustrate this"jargon, " I took a drive with a young lady at Manchester--a seasideresort. Her father was a man of good family, an official, and she was anattendant at a fashionable school. The following occurred in theconversation. Her slang is italicized:

Heathen Chinee: "It is very dull this week, Miss ----. "

Young lady, sententiously: "_Bum. _"

Heathen Chinee: "I hope it will be less bum soon. "

Young lady: "_It's all off with me all right_, if it don't change soon, _and don't you forget it_!"

Heathen Chinee: "I wish I could do something. "

Young lady: "Well, you'll have to _get a move on you_, as I go back toschool to-morrow; then there'll be _something doing_. "

Heathen Chinee: "Have you seen ---- lately?"

Young lady: "Yes, and isn't he _a peach_? Ah, he's a _peacharina_, and_don't you forget it_!"

Young lady (passing a friend): "_Ah, there_! why _so toppy_? _Nay, nay, Pauline_, " this in reply to remarks from a friend; then turning to me, "Isn't she a _jim dandy_? _Say_, have you any girls in China that can_top_ her?"

These are only a few of the slang expressions which occur to me. Theyare countless and endless. Such a girl in meeting a friend, instead ofsaying good-morning, says, "_Ah, there_, " which is the slang for thissalutation. If she wished to express a difference of opinion with youshe would say, "_Oh, come off. _" This girl would probably outgrow thisif she moved in the very best circle, but the shop-girl of a common typelives in a whirl of slang; it becomes second nature, while the young menof all classes seem to use nothing else, and we often see the jargon ofthe lowest class used by some of the best people. There has beencompiled a dictionary of slang; books are written on it, and an adept, say a "rough" or "hoodlum, " it is said can carry on a conversation withnothing else. Thus, "Hi, cully, what's on?" to which comes in answer, "Hunki dori. " All this means that a man has said, "How do you do, howare you, and what are you doing?" and thus learned in reply thateverything is all right. A number of gentlemen were posing for a ladybefore a camera. "Have you finished?" asked one. "Yes, _it's all off_, "was the reply, "and _a peach_, I think. " It is unnecessary to say thatamong really refined people this slang is never heard, and would beconsidered a gross solecism, which gives me an opportunity to repeatthat the really cultivated Americans, and they are many, are among themost delightful and charming of people. 

They have strange habits, these Americans. The men chew tobacco, especially in the South, and in Virginia I have seen men spitting fiveor six feet, evidently taking pride in their skill in striking a"cuspidore. " In every hotel, office, or public place arecuspidores--which become targets for these chewers. This is a nationalhabit, extraordinary in so enlightened a people. So ridiculous has itmade the Americans, so much has been written about it by such visitorsas Charles Dickens, that the State governments have determined to takeup the "spitting" question, and now there is a fine of from $10 to $100for any one spitting in a car or on a hotel floor. Nearly all the"up-to-date" towns have passed anti-spitting laws. Up to this time, oreven during my college days in America, this habit made walking on thesidewalk a most disagreeable function, and the interior of cars was ahorror. Is not this remarkable in a people who claim so much? In theSouth certain white men and women chew snuff--a gross habit. 

In the North they also have a strange custom, called chewing gum. Thisgum is the exudation from certain trees, and is manufactured into platesand sold in an attractive form, merely to chew like tobacco, and youngand old may be seen chewing with great velocity. The children forgetthemselves and chew with great force, their jaws working like those of acow chewing her cud, only more rapidly; and to see a party of three orfour chewing frantically is one of the "sights" in America, whichastonishes the Heathen Chinee and convinces him that, in the slang ofthe country, "_there are others_" who are peculiar. There are manymanufactories of this stuff, which is harmless, though such constantchewing can but affect the size of the muscles of the jaw if the theoryof evolution is to be believed; at least there will be no atrophy ofthese parts. 

In New England, the northeastern portion of the country, this habitappeared to be more prevalent, and I asked several scientific persons ifthey had made any attempt to trace the history of the habit or to findanything to attribute it to. One learned man told me that he had made aspecial study of the habit, and believed that it was merely the modernexpression in human beings of the cud chewing of ruminating mammals, ascows, goats, etc. In a word, the gum-chewing Americans are trying tochew their cud as did their ancestors. Any habit like this is seizedupon by manufacturers for their personal profit, and every expedient isemployed to induce people to chew. The gum is mixed with perfumes, andsold as a breath purifier; others mix it with pepsin, to aid thedigestion; some with something else, which is sold on ships andexcursion-boats as a cure or preventive for seasickness, all of whichfinds a large sale among the credulous Americans, who by a clever leadercan be made to take up any fad or habit. 

The Americans have a peculiar habit of "treating"; that is, one of aparty will "treat" or buy a certain article and distribute itgratuitously to one or ten people. A young lady may treat her friends togum, ice-cream, soda-water, or to a theater party. A matron may treather friends to "high-balls" or cocktails at the club. The man confineshis "treats" to drinks and cigars. Thus five or six Americans may meetin a club or barroom for the sale of liquors. One says, "Come up andhave something;" or "What will you have, gentlemen; this is on me;" orin some places the treater says, "Let's liquor, " and all step up, thedrinks are dispensed, and the treater pays. You might suppose that hewas deserving of some encomium, but not at all; he expects that theothers will take their turn in treating, or at least this is theassumption; and if the party is engaged in social conversation each inturn will "treat, " the others taking what they wish to drink or smoke. There is a code of etiquette regarding the treat. Thus, unless you areinvited, it would be bad form among gentlemen to order wine when invitedto drink unless the "treater" asks you to have wine; he means a drink ofwhisky, brandy, or a mixed drink, or you may take soda or a cigar, oryou may refuse. It is a gross solecism to accept a cigar and put it inyour pocket; you should not take it unless you smoke it on the spot. 

Drinking to excess is frowned upon by all classes, and a drunkard isavoided and despised; but the amount an American will drink in a day isastonishing. A really delightful man told me that he did not drink much, and this was his daily experience: before breakfast a champagnecocktail; two or three drinks during the forenoon; a pint of white orred wine at lunch; two or three cocktails in the afternoon; a cocktailat dinner, with two glasses of wine; and in the evening at the clubseveral drinks before bedtime! This man was never drunk, and never_appeared_ to be under the influence of liquor, yet he was in realitynever actually sober; and he is a type of a large number in the greatcities who constitute what is termed the "man about town. "

The Americans are not a wine-drinking people. Whisky, and of a veryexcellent quality, is the national drink, while vast quantities of beerare consumed, though they make the finest red and white wines. All thegrog-shops are licensed by the Government and State--that is, made topay a tax; but in the country there is a political party, theProhibitionists, who would drive out all wine and liquor. These, workingwith the conservative people, often succeed in preventing saloons fromopening in certain towns; but in large cities there are from one to twosaloons to the block in the districts where they are allowed. 

Taking everything into consideration, I think the Americans a temperatepeople. They organize in a thousand directions to fight drinking andother vices, and millions of dollars are expended yearly in thisdirection. A peculiar quality about the American humor is that they jokeabout the most serious things. In fact, drink and drinking affordthousands of stories, the point of which is often very obscure to analien. Here is one, told to illustrate the cleverness of a drinker. Hewalked into a bar and ordered a "tin-roof cocktail. " The barkeeper wasnonplussed, and asked what a tin-roof cocktail was. "Why, it's on thehouse. " I leave you to figure it out, but the barkeeper paid the bill. The ingenuity of the Americans is shown in their mixed drinks. They havecocktails, high-balls, ponies, straights, fizzes, and many other drinks. Books are written on the subject. I have seen a book devoted entirely tococktails. Certain papers offer prizes for the invention of new drinks. I have told you that, all in all, America is a temperate country, especially when its composite character is considered; yet if the nationhas a curse, a great moral drawback, it is the habit of drinking at thepublic bar. 

CHAPTER IX

LIFE IN WASHINGTON

One of the best-known American authors has immortalized the Chinaman insome of his verses. It was some time before I understood the smile whichwent around when some one in my presence suggested a game of poker. Ineed not repeat the poem, but the essence of it is that the "HeathenChinee is peculiar. " Doubtless Mr. Harte is right, but the Chinaman andhis ways are not more peculiar to the American than American customs andcontradictions are to the Chinaman. If there is any race on the earththat is peculiar, it is the "Heathen Yankee, " the good-hearted, ingenuous product of all the nations of the earth--black, red, white, brown, all but "yellow. " Imagine yourself going out to what they call a"stag" dinner, and having an officer of the ranking of lieutenant shout, "Hi, John, pass the wine!"

Washington can not be said to be a typical American city. It is thecenter of _official_ life, and abounds in statesmen of all grades. Ihave attended one of the President's receptions, to which the diplomatswent in a body; then followed the army and navy, General Miles, agood-looking, soldier-like man, leading the former, and Admiral Deweythe latter, a fine body of men, all in full uniform, unpretentious, andquiet compared to similar men in other nations. I passed in line, andfound the President, standing with several persons, the center of agroup. The announcement and presentation were made by an officer in fulluniform, and beyond this there was no formality, indeed, an abundanceof republican simplicity; only the uniforms saved it from thecommonplace. 

The President is a man of medium size, thick-set, and inclined to befleshy, with an interesting, smooth face, eye clear and glance alert. Hegrasped me quickly by the hand, but shook it gingerly, giving theimpression that he was endeavoring to anticipate me, called me by name, and made a pleasant allusion to ---- of ----. He has a high forehead andwhat you would term an intelligent face, but not one you would pick outas that of a great man; and from a study of his work I should say thathe is of a class of advanced politicians, clever in political intrigue, quick to grasp the best situation for himself or party; a man of highmoral character, but not a great statesman, only a man with high idealsand sentiments and the faculty of impressing the masses that he isgreat. The really intelligent class regard him as a useful man, andsafe. It is a curious fact that the chief appreciation of PresidentMcKinley, I was informed, came from the masses, who say, "He is so kindto his wife" (a great invalid); or "He is a model husband. " Why thereshould be anything remarkable in a man's being kind, attentive, andloyal to an invalid spouse I could not see. Her influence with him issaid to be remarkable. One day she asked the President to promote acertain officer, the son of one of the greatest of American generals, toa very high rank. He did so, despite the fact that, as an officer said, the army roared with laughter and rage. 

The influence of women is an important factor in Washington life. I waspresented to an officer who obtained his commission in the followingmanner: Two very attractive ladies in Washington were discussing theirrelative influence with the powers that be, when one remarked, "To showyou what I can do, name a man and I will obtain a commission in the armyfor him. " The other lady named a private soldier, whose stupidity was amatter of record, and a few days later he became an officer; but thestory leaked out. 

President McKinley is a popular President with the masses, but thearistocrats regard him with indifference. It is a singular fact, but theVice-President, Mr. Roosevelt, attracts more attention than thePresident. He is a type that is appreciated in America, what they termin the West a "hustler"; active, wide-awake, intense, "strenuous, " allthese terms are applied to him. Said an officer in the field service tome, "Roosevelt is playing on a ninety-nine-year run of luck; he alwayslands on his feet at the right time and place. " "What they call a manof destiny, " I suggested. "Yes, " he replied; "he is the Yankee OliverCromwell. He can't help 'getting there, ' and he has a sturdy, evidenthonesty of purpose that carries him through. A team of six horses won'tkeep him out of the White House. " This is the general opinion regardingthe Vice-President, that while he is not a remarkable statesman, healready overshadows the President in the eyes of the public. I think thesecret is that he is young and a hero, and what the Americans call anall-around man; not brilliant in any particular line, but a man ofenergy, like our ----. 

He looks it. A smooth face, square, determined jaw, with a look aboutthe eye suggestive that he would ride you down if you stood in the way. I judge him to be a man of honor, high purpose, as my friend said, ofthe Cromwell type, inclined to preach, and who also has what theAmericans call the "get-there" quality. In conversation Vice-PresidentRoosevelt is hearty and open, a poor diplomat, but a talker who comes tothe point. He says what he thinks, and asks no favor. He acts as thoughhe wished to clap you on the shoulder and be familiar. It will bedifficult for you to understand that such a man is second in rank inthis great nation. There are no imposing surroundings, no glamor ofattendance, only Roosevelt, strong as a water-ox in a rice-field, smiling, all on the surface, ready to fight for his friend or hiscountry. Author, cowboy, stockman, soldier, essayist, historian, sportsman, clever with the boxing-gloves or saber, hurdle-jumper, crackrevolver and rifle shot, naturalist and aristocrat, such is theall-around Vice-President of the United States--a man who will make astrong impression upon the history of the century if he is not shot bySocialists. 

I have it from those who know, that President McKinley would be killedin less than a week if the guards about the White House were removed. Henever makes a move without guards or detectives, and the secret-servicemen surround him as carefully as possible. It would be an easy matter tokill him. Like all officials, he is accessible to almost any one with anapparently legitimate object. Two Presidents have been murdered; all arethreatened continually by half-insane people called "cranks, " and by theprofessional Socialists, mainly foreigners. Both the President andVice-President are well-dressed men. President McKinley, when I wasgranted an audience, wore a long-tailed black "frock coat" and vest, light trousers, and patent leather or varnished shoes, and standingcollar. The Vice-President was similarly dressed, but with a "turn-down"collar. The two men are said to make a "strong team, " and it is aforegone conclusion that the Vice-President will succeed PresidentMcKinley. This is already talked of by the society people at Newport. "It is a long time, " said a lady at Newport, "since we have had aPresident who represented an old and distinguished family. The McKinleyswere from the ordinary ranks of life, but eminently respectable, whileRoosevelt is an old and honored name in New York, identified with thehistory of the State; in a word, typical of the American aristocracy, bearing arms by right of heritage. "

I have frequently met Admiral Dewey, already so well known in China. Heis a small man, with bright eyes, who already shows the effects ofyears. Nothing could illustrate the volatile, uncertain character of theAmerican than the downfall of the admiral as a popular idol. Here a"peculiarity" of the American is seen. Carried away by political andpublic adulation, the old sailor's new wife, the sister of a prominentpolitician, became seized with a desire to make him President. Then thehero lovers raised a large sum and purchased a house for the admiral;but the politicians ignored him as a candidate, which was a humiliation, and the donors of the house demanded their money returned when theadmiral placed the gift in the name of his wife; and so for a while theentire people turned against the gallant sailor, who was criticized, jeered at, and ridiculed. All he had accomplished in one of the mostremarkable victories in the history of modern warfare was forgotten ina moment, to the lasting disgrace of his critics. 

One of the interesting places in Washington is the Capitol, perhaps themost splendid building in any land. Here we see the men whom theAmericans select to make laws for them. The looker-on is impressed withthe singular fact that most of the senators are very wealthy men; and itis said that they seek the position for the honor and power it confers. I was told that so many are millionaires that it gave rise to thesuspicion that they bought their way in, and this has been boldlyclaimed as to many of them. This may be the treasonable suggestion ofsome enemy; but that money plays a part in some elections there islittle doubt. I believe this is so in England, where elections haveoften been carried by money. 

The American Senate is a dignified body, and I doubt if it have a peerin the world. The men are elected by the State legislatures, not by thepeople at large, a method which makes it easy for an unprincipledmillionaire or his political manager to buy votes sufficient to seat hispatron. The fact that senators are mainly rich does not imply unfitness, but quite the contrary. Only a genius can become a multi-millionaire inAmerica, and hence the senators are in the main bright men. Whenobserving these men and enabled to look into their records, I wasimpressed by the fact that, despite the advantages of education, thiswonderful country has produced few really great men, and there is not atthis time a great man on the horizon. 

America has no Gladstone, no Salisbury, no Bright. Lincoln, Blaine andSumner are names which impress me as approximating greatness; they madean impression on American history that will be enduring. Then there areFrye, Reed, Garfield, McKinley, Cleveland, who were little great men, and following them a distinguished company, as Hanna, Conkling, Hay, Hayes, and others, who were superior men of affairs. A distinctly greatnational figure has not appeared in America since Daniel Webster, HenryClay, and Rufus Choate--all men too great to become President. Itappears to be the fate of the republic not to place its greatest men inthe White House, and by this I mean great statesmen. General Grant was agreat man, a heroic figure, but not a statesman. Lincoln is considered agreat man. He is called the "Liberator"; but I can conceive that nonebut a very crude mind, inspired by a false sentiment, could have made ahorde of slaves, the most ignorant people on the globe, the politicalequals of the American people. A great man in such a crisis would haveresisted popular clamor and have refused them suffrage until they hadbeen prepared to receive it by at least some education. Americans areprone to call their great politicians statesmen. Blaine, Reed, Conkling, Harrison were types of statesmen; Hanna, Quay, and others arepoliticians. 

The Lower House was a disappointment to me. There are too many ordinarymen there. They do not look great, and at the present time there is nota really great man in the Lower House. There are too many cheap lawyersand third-rate politicians there. Good business men are required, butsuch men can not afford to take the position. I heard a great captain ofindustry, who had been before Congress with a committee, say that henever saw "so many asses together in all his life"; but this was anextreme view. The House may not compare intellectually with the House ofCommons, but it contains many bright men. A fool could hardly get in, though the labor unions have placed some vicious representatives there. The lack of manners distressed a lady acquaintance of mine, who, in aburst of indignation at seeing a congressman sitting with his feet onhis desk, said that there was not a man in Congress who had any socialposition in Washington or at home, which, let us trust, is not true. 

As I came from the White House some days ago I met a delegation ofnative Indians going in, a sad sight. In Indian affairs occurs a page ofnational history which the Americans are not proud of. In less than fourhundred years they have almost literally been wiped from the face of theearth; the whites have waged a war of extermination, and the pitifulremnant now left is fast disappearing. In no land has the survival ofthe fittest found a more remarkable illustration. But the Indians arehaving their revenge. The Americans long ago brought over Africans asslaves; then, as the result of a war of words and war of fact, suddenlyreleased them all, and, at one fell move, in obedience to the hystericalcries of their people, gave these ignorant semisavages and slaves thesame political rights as themselves. 

Imagine the condition of things! The most ignorant and debased of racessuddenly receives rights and privileges and is made the equal ofAmerican citizens. So strange a move was never seen or heard ofelsewhere, and the result has been relations more than strained andalways increasing between the whites and the blacks in the South. Asvoters the negroes secure many positions in the South above their oldmasters. I have seen a negro[2] sitting in the Vice-President's chair inthe United States Senate; while white Southern senators were pacing theouter corridors in rage and disgust. There are generally one or moreblack men in Congress, and they are given a few offices as a sop. Withone hand the Americans place millions of them on a plane with themselvesas free and independent citizens, and with the other refuse them theprivileges of such citizenship. They may enter the army as privates, butany attempt to make them officers is a failure--white officers will notassociate with them. It is impossible for a negro to graduate from theNaval Academy, though he has the right to do so. I was told that whitesailors would shoot him if placed over them. Several negroes have beenappointed as students, but none as yet have been able to pass theexamination. Here we see the strange and contradictory nature of theAmericans. The white master of the South had the black woman nurse hischildren. Thousands of mulattoes in the country show that the whitestook advantage of the women in other ways, marriage between blacks andwhites being prohibited. When it comes to according the blacksrecognition as social equals, the people North and South resent even thethought. The negro woman may provide the sustenance of life for thewhite baby, but I venture to say that any Southern man, or Northern onefor that matter, would rather see his daughter die than be married to anegro. So strong is this feeling that I believe in the extreme South ifa negro persisted in his addresses to a white woman he would be shot, and no jury or judge could be found to convict the white man. 

In the North the negro has certain rights. He can ride in thestreet-cars, go to the theater, enter restaurants, but I doubt if largehotels would entertain him. In the South every train has its separatecars for negroes; every station its waiting-room for them; even on thestreet-cars they are divided off by a wire rail or screen, and sitbeneath a sign, which advertises this free, independent, but blackAmerican voter as being not fit to sit by the side of his politicalbrother. This causes a bitter feeling, and the time is coming when theblacks will revolt. Already criminal attacks upon white women are notuncommon, and a virtual reign of terror exists in some portions of theSouth, where it is said that white women are never left unprotected; andthe negro, if he attacks a white woman, is almost invariably burnedalive, with the horrible ghastly features that attend an Indianscalping. The crowd carry off bits of skin, hair, finger-nails, and ropeas trophies. In fact, these "burnings" are the most extraordinaryfeatures in this "enlightened" country. The papers denounce them andcompare the people to ghouls; yet these same people accuse the Chineseof being cruel, barbarous, insensible to cruelty, and "pagans. " It istrue we have pirates and criminals, but the horrible features of thelynchings in America during the last ten years I believe have nocounterpart in the history of China in the last five hundred. 

In Washington the servants are blacks; irresponsible, childlike, apingthe vanities of the white people. They are "niggers"; the mulattoes, theillegitimate offspring of whites, form another and totally distinctclass of colored society, and are the aristocracy. Rarely will a mulattogirl marry a black man, and _vice versa_. They have their clubs andtheir functions, their professional men, including lawyers and doctors, as have the white people. They present a strange and singular feature. Despised by their fathers, half-sisters, and brothers, denied any socialrecognition, hating their black ancestry, they are socially "between thedevil and the deep sea. " The negro question constitutes the gravest onenow before the American people. He is increasing rapidly, but in theyears since the civil war no pure-blooded negro has given evidence ofbrilliant attainments. Frederick Douglas, Senator Bruce, and Booker T. Washington rank with many white Americans in authorship, diplomacy, andscholarship; but Douglas and Bruce were mulattoes, and BookerWashington's father was an unknown white man. These men are held in highesteem, but the social line has been drawn against them, though Douglasmarried a white woman. 

Balls are a feature of life in Washington. The women appear in fulldress, which means that the arms and neck are exposed, and the men wearevening dress. The dances are mostly "round. " The man takes a lady tothe ball, and when he dances seizes her in an embrace which would beconsidered highly improper under ordinary circumstances, but theetiquette of the dance makes it permissible. He places his right armaround her waist, takes her left hand in his, holds her close to him, and both begin to move around to the special music designed for thispeculiar motion, which may be a "waltz, " or a "two-step, " or a "gallop, "or a "schottische, " all being different and having different music ortime, or there may be various kinds of music for each. At times themusic is varied, being a gliding, scooping, swooping slide, indescribable. When the dancers feel the approach of giddiness theyreverse the whirl or move backward. 

Many Washington men have become famous as dancers, and quite outshadowwar heroes. All the officers of the army and navy are taught thesedances at the Military and Naval Academies, it being a national policyto be agreeable to ladies; at least this must be so, as the men neverdance together. To see several hundred people whirling about, as I haveseen them at the inaugural of the President, is one of the mostremarkable scenes to be observed in America. The man in Washington whocan not dance is a "wallflower"--that is, he never leaves the wall. There is a professional champion who has danced eight out oftwenty-four hours without stopping. A yearly convention ofdancing-school professors is held. These men, with much dignity, meet invarious cities and discuss various dances, how to grasp the partner, andother important questions. Some time ago the question was whether the"gent" should hold a handkerchief in the hand he pressed upon the backof the lady, a professor having testified before the convention that hehad seen the imprint of a man's hand on the white dress of a lady. Theacumen displayed at these conventions is profound and impressive. Hereyou observe a singular fact. The good dancer may be an officer of highsocial standing, but the dancing-teacher, even though he be famous assuch, is _persona non grata_, so far as society is concerned. Aprofessional dancer, fighter, wrestler, cook, musician, and a hundredmore are not acceptable in society except in the strict line of theirprofession; but a professional civil or naval engineer, an organist, anartist, a decorator (household), and an architect are received by theelect in Washington. 

I have alluded to the craze for joking among young ladies in society. Ata dinner a reigning beauty, and daughter of ----, who sat next to me, talked with me on dancing. She told me all about it, and, pointing to atall, distinguished-looking man near by, said that he had received hisdegree of D. D. (Doctor of Dancing) from Harvard University, and wasextremely proud of it; and, furthermore, it would please him to have memention it. I did not enlighten the young lady, and allowed her tocontinue, that I might enjoy her animation and superb "nerve" (this isthe American slang word for her attitude). The gentleman was her uncle, a doctor of divinity, who was constitutionally opposed to dancing; and Ilearned later that he had a cork leg. Such are some of the pitfalls inWashington set for the pagan Oriental by charming Americans. 

Dancing parties, in fact, all functions, are seized upon by young menand women who anticipate marriage as especially favorable occasions for"courtship. " The parents apparently have absolutely nothing to do withthe affair, this being a free country. The girl "falls in love" withsome one, and the courtship begins. In the lower classes the girl issaid to be "keeping company" with so and so, or he is "her steadycompany. " In higher circles the admirer is "devoted to the lady. " Thislasts for a year, perhaps longer, the man monopolizing the young lady'stime, calling so many times a week, as the case may be, the familiaritybetween the two increasing until they finally exchange kisses--apopular greeting in America. About now they become affianced or"engaged, " and the man is supposed to ask the consent of the parents. InFrance the latter is supposed to give a _dot_; in America it is notthought of. In time the wedding occurs, amid much ceremony, the bride'sparents bearing all the expense; the groom is relieving them of a futureexpense, and is naturally not burdened. The married young people then goupon a "honeymoon, " the month succeeding the wedding, and this is longor brief, according to the wealth of the parties. When they return theyusually live by themselves, the bride resenting any advice or espionagefrom her husband's mother, who is the mother-in-law, a relation as muchjoked about in America as revered in China. 

Sometimes the "engaged" couple do not marry. The man perhaps in hislong courtship discovers traits that weary him, and he breaks off thematch. If he is wealthy the average American girl may sue him fordamages, for laceration of the affections. One woman in the State of NewYork sued for the value of over two thousand kisses her "steady company"had taken during a number of years' courtship, and was awarded threethousand dollars. The journal from which I took this made an estimatethat the kisses had cost the man one dollar and a half each! Sometimesthe girl breaks the engagement, and if presents have been given shereturns them, the man rarely suing; but I have seen record of a casewhere the girl refused to return the presents, and the man sued forthem; but no jury could be found to decide in his favor. A distinguishedphysician has written a book on falling in love. It is recognized as acontagious disease; men and women often die of it, and commit the mostextraordinary acts when under its influence. I have observed it, and, all things considered, it has no advantages over the Chinese method ofattaining the marriage state. The wisdom of some older person iscertainly better than what the American would call the "snap judgment"of two young people carried away by passion. One might find the chiefcause of divorce in America to lie in this strange custom. 

I was invited by a famous wag last week to meet a man who could claimthat he was the father of fifty-three children and several hundredgrandchildren. I fully expected to see the _Gaikwar of Baroda_, or somesuch celebrity, but found a tall, ministerial, typical American, withlong beard, whom ---- introduced to me as a Mormon bishop, who, hesaid, had a virtual _congé d'élire_ in the Church, at the same timereferring to me as a Chinese Mormon with "fifty wives. " I endeavored toprotest, but ---- explained to the bishop that I was merely modest. TheMormons are a sect who believe in polygamy. Each man has as many wivesas he can support, and the population increases rapidly where theysettle. The ludicrous feature of Mormonism is that the Government hasfailed to stop it, though it has legislated against it; but it is wellknown that the Mormon allows nothing to interfere with his"revelations, " which are on "tap" in Utah. 

I was much amused at the bishop's remarks. He said that if the Americanpoliticians who were endeavoring to kill them off would marry theiractual concubines, and _all_ Americans would do the same, the UnitedStates would have a Mormon majority the next day. The bishop had thefrailties and moral lapses of prominent people in all lands at hisfingers' ends, and his claim was that the whole civilized world waspractising polygamy, but doing it illegally, and the Mormons were theonly ones who had the honor to legitimatize it. The joke was on ----, who was literally bottled up by the flow of facts from the bishop, whoreferred to me to substantiate him, which I pretended to do, in ordertotally to crush ----, who had tried to make me a party to his joke. Thebishop, who invited me to call upon him in Utah, said that he hoped sometime to be a United States senator, though he supposed the women of theEast could create public sentiment sufficient to defeat him. 

I once stopped over in Utah and visited the great Mormon Temple, and Imust say that the Mormon women are far below the average inintelligence, that is, if personal appearances count. I understand theyare recruited from the lowest and most ignorant classes in Europe, wherethere are thousands of women who would rather have a fifth of a husbandthan work in the field. In the language of American slang, I imagine theAmericans are "up against it, " as the country avowedly offers an asylumfor all seeking religious liberty, and the Mormons claim polygamy as adivine revelation and a part of their doctrine. 

The bishop, I believe, was not a bishop, but a proselyting elder, orsomething of the kind. The man who introduced me to him was a typepeculiar to America, a so-called "good fellow. " People called him by hisfirst name, and he returned the favor. The second time I met him hecalled me Count, and upon my replying that I was not a count he said, "Well, you look it, anyway, " and he has always called me Count. He knowsevery one, and every one knows him--a good-hearted man, a spendthrift, yet a power in politics; a _remarkable_ poker player, a friend worthknowing, the kind of man you like to meet, and there are many such inthis country. 

FOOTNOTE:

[2] Probably Senator Bruce. 

CHAPTER X

THE AMERICAN IN LITERATURE

I have been a guest at the annual dinner of the ----, one of the leadingliterary associations in America, and later at a "reception" at thehouse of ----, where I met some of the most charming men and delightfulwomen, possessed of manners that marked the person of culture and the_savoir faire_ that I have seen so little of among other "sets" ofwell-known public people. But what think you of an author of note whoknew absolutely nothing of the literature of our country? There wereItalians, French, and Swedes at the dinner, who were called upon torespond to toasts on the literature of their country; but was I calledupon? No, indeed. I doubt if in all that _entourage_ there was more thanone or two who were familiar with the splendid literature of China andits antiquity. 

But to come to the "shock. " My immediate companion was a lady with justa _soupçon_ of the masculine, who, I was told, was a distinguishednovelist, which means that her book had sold to the limit of 30, 000copies. After a toast and speech in which the literature of Norway andSweden had been extolled, this charming lady turned to me and said, "Itis too bad, ----, that you have no literature in China; you miss so muchthat is enjoyed by other nations. " This was too much, and I broke one ofthe American rules of chivalry--I became disputatious with a lady andslightly cynical; and when I wish to be cynical I always quote Mr. Harte, which usually "brings down the house. " To hear a Chinese heathenquote the "Heathen Chinee" is supposed to be very funny. 

I said, "My dear madam, I am surprised that you do not know that Chinahas the finest and oldest literature known in the history of the world. I assure you, my ancestors were writing books when the Anglo-Saxon wasliving in caves. "[3] She was astonished and somewhat dismayed, but wasnot cast down--the clever American woman never is. I told her of ourclassics, of our wonderful Book of Changes, written by my ancestor WanWang in 1150 B. C. I told her of his philosophy. I compared his idea ofthe creation to that in the Bible. I explained the loss of many rareChinese books by the piratical order of destruction by Emperor CheHwang-ti, calling attention to the fact that the burning of the famouslibrary of Alexandria was a parallel. I asked her if it were possiblethat she had never heard of the _Odes of Confucius_, or his _Book ofHistory_, which was supposed to have been destroyed, but which was foundin the walls of his home one hundred and forty years before Christ, andso saved to become a part of the literature of China. 

Finally she said, "I have studied literature, but that of China was notincluded. " "Your history, " I continued, "begins in 1492; our writtenhistory begins in the twenty-third century before Christ, and the yearsdown to 720 B. C. Are particularly well covered, while our legends runback for thousands of years. " But my companion had never heard of the_Shoo-King_. It was so with the _Chun Tsew_[4] of Confucius and the_Four Books_--_Ta-h[ue]-[uo]_, [5] _Chung-yung_, [6] _Lun-yu_, [7]_M[ua]ng-tsze_. [8] She had never heard of them. I told her of theinvention of paper by the Marquis Tsae several centuries before Christ, and she laughingly replied that she supposed that I would claim nextthat the Chinese had libraries like those Mr. Carnegie is founding. Iwas delighted to assure her that her assumption was correct, and drew alittle picture of a well-known Chinese library, founded two thousandyears ago, the Han Library, with its 3, 123 classics, its 2, 706 works onphilosophy, its 2, 528 books on mathematics, its 790 works on war, its868 books on medicine, 1, 318 on poetry, not to speak of thousands ofessays. 

I could not but wonder as I talked, where were the Americans and theirliterature when our fathers were reading these books two thousand yearsago! Even the English people were wild savages, living in caves andhuts, when our people were printing books and encyclopedias ofknowledge. I dwelt upon our poetry, the National Airs, Greater Eulogies, dating back several thousand years. I told her of the splendors of ourgreat versifier, _Le-Tai-Pih_; and I might have said that many Americanpoets, like Walt Whitman, had doubtless read the translations to theiradvantage. I had the pleasure at least of commanding this lady'sattention, and I believe she was the first American who deigned to takea Chinaman seriously. The facts of our literature are available, butonly scholars make a study of it, and so far as I could learn not a wordof Chinese literature is ever taught in American schools, though in thegreat universities there are facilities, and the best educated peopleare familiar with our history. 

The American authors, especially novelists, who constitute the majorityof authors, are by no means all well educated. Many appear to have afaculty of "story-telling, " which enables them to produce something thatwill sell; but that all American authors, and this will surprise you, are included among the great scholars, is far from true. Some, yes many, are deplorably ignorant in the sense of broad learning, and I believethis is a universal, national fault. If one thing Chinese more thananother is ridiculed in America it is our drama. I met a famous"play-writer" at the ---- dinner, who thought it a huge joke. I heardthat his income was $30, 000 per annum from plays alone; yet he had neverheard of our "Hundred Plays of the Yuen Dynasty, " which rests in one ofhis own city libraries not a mile distant, and he laughedgood-naturedly when I remarked that the modern stage obtained itsinitiative in China. 

A listener did me the honor to question my statement that Voltaire's"_L'Orphelin de la Chine_" was taken from the _Orphan of Chaou_ of thiscollection, which I thought every one knew. All the authors whom I metseemed surprised to learn that I was familiar with their literature andcould not compare it synthetically with that of other nations, and evenmore so when I said that all well-educated Chinamen endeavored tofamiliarize themselves with the literature of other countries. 

I continually gain the impression that the Americans "size us up, " asthey say, and "lump" us with the "coolie. " We are "heathen Chinee, " andit is incomprehensible that we should know anything. I am talking nowof the half-educated people as I have met them. Here and there I meetmen and women of the highest culture and knowledge, and this class hasno peer in the world. If I were to live in America I should wish toconsort with her real scholars, culled from the best society of NewYork, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, and other cities. Ina word, the aristocracy of America is her educated class, the educationthat comes from association year after year with other cultivatedpeople. I understand there is more of it in Boston and Philadelphia thananywhere; but you find it in all towns and cities. This I grant is thereal American, who, in time--several thousand years perhaps--as in ourown case, will demonstrate the wonderful possibilities of the human racein the West. 

I would like to tell you something about the books of the literary menand women I have met, but you will be more interested in the things Ihave seen and the mannerisms of the people. I was told by adistinguished writer that America had failed to produce any really greatauthors--I mean to compare with other nations--and I agreed with him, although appreciating what she has done. There is no one to compare withthe great minds of England--Scott, Dickens, Thackeray. There is noAmerican poet to compare with Tennyson, Milton, and a dozen others inEngland, France, Italy, and Germany; indeed, America is far behind inthis respect, yet in the making of books there is nothing to comparewith it. Every American, apparently, aspires to become an author, and Ireally think it would be difficult to find a citizen of the republic whohad not been a contributor to some publication at some time, or had notwritten a book. The output of books is extraordinary, and covers everyfield; but the class is not in all cases such as one might expect. Thepeople are omnivorous readers, and "stories, " "novels, " are ground outby the ton; but I doubt if a book has been produced since the time ofHawthorne that will really live as a great classic. 

The American authors are mainly collected in New York, where the greatpublishing houses are located, and are a fine representative class ofmen and women, of whom I have met a number, such as Howells, the authorand editor, and Mark Twain, the latter the most brilliant litterateur inthe United States. This will be discovered when he dies and is safebeyond receiving all possible benefits from such recognition. Many menin America make reputations as humorists, and find it impossible todivest their more serious writings from this "taint, " if so it may becalled. They are not taken seriously when they seriously desire it; afact I fully appreciate, as I am taken as a joke, my "pigtail, " my"shoes, " my "clothes, " my way of speaking, all being objects of joking. 

The literary men have several clubs in New York, where they can befound, and many have marked peculiarities, which are interesting to aforeigner. Several artists affect a peculiar style of dress to advertisetheir wares. One, it is said, lived in a tree at Washington. It is notso much with the authors as with the methods of making books that Ithink you will be interested. I met a rising young author at a dinner inWashington who confided to me that the "book business" was really ruinedin America by reason of the mad craze of nearly all Americans to becomewriters. He said that he as an editor had been offered money to publisha novel by a society woman who desired to pose as an authoress. Thisauthor said that there were in America a dozen or more of the finest andmost honorable publishing houses in the world, but there were many morein the various cities which virtually preyed upon this "literarydisease" of the people. No country in the world, said my acquaintance, produces so many books every year as America; so many, in fact, that theshops groan with them and the forests of America threaten to give out, and the supply virtually clogs and ruins the market. So crazy are thepeople to be authors and see themselves in print that they will go toany length to accomplish authorship. 

He cited a case of a carpenter, a man of no education, who was seizedwith the desire to write a book, which he did. It was sent to all theleading publishers, and promptly returned; then he began the rounds ofthe second-class houses, of which there are legion. One of the latterwrote him that they published on the "cooperative" plan, and would pay_half_ the expenses of publishing if he would pay the other half. Ofcourse _his_ share paid for the entire edition and gave the clever"cooperative" publisher a profit, whether the edition sold or not. Andmy informant said that at least twenty firms were publishing books forsuch authors, and encouraging people to produce manuscripts that were somuch "dead wood" in the real literary field. He later sent me theprospectus of several such houses which would take any manuscript, ifthe author would pay for the publishing, revise it and send it forth. Iwas assured that thousands of books are produced yearly by these houses, who are really "printers, " who advertise in various ways and encouragewould-be authors, the idea being to get their money, a species ofliterary "graft, " according to my literary informant, who assured me Imust not confuse such parasites with the large publishers of America, who will not produce a book unless their skilled readers consider it acredit to them and to the country, a high standard which I believe ismaintained. 

Perhaps the most interesting phase of literature in America is found inthe weekly and monthly magazines, of which there is no end. Every sporthas its "organ, " every great trade, every society, every religion; eventhe missionaries sent to China have their organs, in which is reportedtheir success in saving _us_ and divorcing us from our ancient beliefs. The great literary magazines number perhaps a dozen, with a few in thefront rank, such as the Century, Harper's, Scribner's, The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, McClure's, Dial, North American Review, Popular ScienceMonthly, Bookman, Critic, and Nation. Such magazines I conceive to bethe universities of the people, the great educators in art, literature, science, etc. Nothing escapes them. They are timely, beautiful, exact, thorough, scientific, the reflex of the best and most artistic minds inAmerica; and many are so cheap as to be within the reach of the poor. Itis interesting to know that most of these magazines are sources ofwealth, the money coming from the advertisements, published as a featurein the front and back. These notices are in bulk often more than theliterary portion, and the rate charged, I was told, from $100 to $1, 000per page for a single printing. 

The skill with which appeals are made to the weaknesses of readers iswell shown in some of the minor publications not exactly within the sameclass as the literary magazines. One that is devoted to women is a mostclever appeal to the idiosyncrasies of the sex: There are articles oncooking, dinners, luncheons, how to set tables, table manners, etiquette(one would think they had read Confucius), how to dress for thesefunctions; and, in fact, every occupation in life possible to a woman isdealt with by an extraordinary editor who is a man. Whenever I was jokedwith about our men acting on the stage as women, I retorted by quotingMr. ----, the male editor of the female ----, who is either a consummateactor or a remarkably composite creature, to so thoroughly anticipatehis audience. The mother, the widow, the orphan, the young maiden, the"old maid, " are all taken into the confidence of this editor, who inhis editorials has what are termed "heart to heart" talks. 

I send you a copy of this paper, which is very clever and verysuccessful, and a good illustration of the American magazine that, whileclaiming to be literature, is a mechanical production, "machine made" inevery sense. One can imagine the introspective editor entering all thefoibles and weaknesses of women in a book and in cold blood forming adepartment to appeal to each. I was informed that the editors of suchpublications were "not in business for their health, " but for money; andtheir energies are all expended on projects to hold present readers andobtain others. The more readers the more they can charge the"advertiser" in the back or side pages, who here illustrate their deadlycorsets, their new dye for the hair, their beauty doctors, freckleeradicators, powders for the toilet, bustles, and the thousand and onethings which shrewd dealers are anxious to have women take up. 

The children also have their journals or "magazines. " One in New Yorkdeals with fairies and genii, on the ground that it is good for theimagination. Another, published in Boston, denounces the fairy-storyidea, and gives the children stories by great generals, princes of theblood, captains of industry, admirals, etc. ; briefly, the name of thewriter, not the literary quality of the tale, is the important feature. There are papers for babes, boys, girls, the sick and the well. 

The most conspicuous literary names before the people are Howells, Twain, and Harte, though one hears of scores of novelists, who, Ibelieve, will be forgotten in a decade or so. As I have saidpreviously, I am always joked with about the "Heathen Chinee. " I havereally learned to play "poker, " but I seldom if ever sit down to a gamethat some one does not joke with me about "Ah Sin. " Such is the Americanidea of the proprieties and their sense of humor; yet I finally havecome to be so good an American that I can laugh also, for I am confidentthe jokers mean it all in the best of feeling. 

There are in America a class of litterateurs who are rarely heard of bythe masses, but to my mind they are among the greatest and most advancedAmericans. They are the astronomers, geologists, zoologists, ornithologists, and others, authors of papers and articles in theGovernment Reports of priceless value. These writers appear to me, anoutsider, to be the real safety-valves, the real backbone of theliterary productions of the day. With them science is but a synonym oftruth; they fling all superstition and ignorance to the winds, andshould be better known. Such names as Edison, Cope, Marsh, Hall, Young, Field, Baird, Agassiz, and fifty more might be mentioned, all authorswhose books will give them undying fame, men who have devoted a lifetimeto research and the accumulation of knowledge; yet the author of thelast novel, "My Mule from New Jersey, " will, for the day, have morevogue among the people than any of these. But such is fame, at least inAmerica, where erudition is not appreciated as it is in "pagan" China. 

FOOTNOTES:

[3] As a frontispiece to this volume, the cover design used on one ofthese old Chinese books is shown. 

[4] Spring and Autumn Annals. 

[5] Great Learning. 

[6] Confucian Analects. 

[7] Doctrine of the Mean. 

[8] Works of Mencius. 

CHAPTER XI

THE POLITICAL BOSS

At an assembly-room in New York I met a famous American political"boss. " Many governors in China do not have the same power andinfluence. I had letters to him from Senators ---- and ----. I expectedto meet a man of the highest culture, but what was my surprise to see ahuge, overgrown, uneducated Irishman, gross in every particular, whoused the local "slang" so fiercely that I had difficulty inunderstanding him. He had been a police officer, and I understand was a"grafter, " but that may have been a report of his enemies, as hecommanded attention at the time of the election. 

This man had a fund of humor, which was displayed in his clapping me onthe back and calling me "John, " introducing me to a dozen or so of ashard-looking men in the garb of gentlemen as I have ever seen. I heardthem described later as "ward beetles, " and they looked it, whatever itmeant. The "Boss" appeared much interested in me; said he had heard Iwas no "slouch, " and knew I must have a "pull" or I would not be where Iam. He wished to know how we run elections on "the Ho-Hang-Ho. " When Itold him that a candidate for a governmental office never obtained ituntil he passed one of three very difficult literary examinations in ournine classics, and that there were thousands competing for the office, he was "paralyzed"--that is, he said he was, and volunteered theinformation that "he would not be 'in it' in China. " I thought somyself, but did not say so. 

I told him that the politicians in China were the greatest scholars;that the policy of the Government was to make all offices competitive, as we thus secured the brightest, smartest, and most gifted men forofficials. "Smart h----!" retorted the "Boss. " "Why, we've got smartmen. Look at our school-teachers. Them guys[9] is crammed with guff, [10]and passing examinations all the time; but there ain't one in a thousandthat's got sense enough to run a tamale[11] convention. The Stategovernor would get left here if all the boys that wanted office had topass an examination. We've got something like it here, " he said, "thatblank Civil Service, that keeps many a natural-born genius out ofoffice; but it don't 'cut ice with me. ' I'm the whole thing in theward. "

Despite his rough exterior, ---- was a good-hearted fellow, as theysay, no rougher than his constituents, and I was with him several daysduring a local election with a view to studying American politics. Muchof the time was spent in the saloons of the district where the "Boss"held out, and where I was introduced as a "white Chinee, " or as a "whiteChink, " and "my friend. " I wish I had kept a list of the drinks the"Boss" took and the cigars he smoked _per diem_. Perhaps it is as well Idid not; you would not believe me. I was always "John" to this crowd, that was made up of laboring people in the main, of whom Irish andGermans predominated. The "Boss" was what they called a "bulldozer. " Ifa man differed with him he tried to talk or drink him down; if it was anenemy and he became too disputatious, he would knock him out with hisfist. In this way he had acquired a reputation as a "slugger, " thatcounted for much in such an assemblage, and he confided to me oneevening that it was the easiest way to "stop talk, " and that if he "laiddown, " the opposition would walk off with all his "people. " He was"Boss" because he was the boss slugger, the best executive, the bestdrinker and smoker, the best "persuader, " and the best public speaker inhis ward. So you see he had a variety of talents. In China I can imaginesuch a man being beheaded as a pirate in a few weeks; this would be asgood an excuse as any; yet men like this have grown and developed intorespectable persons in New York and other cities. 

"For ways that are dark and tricks that are vain, the Heathen Chinee ispeculiar, " but I doubt if he is more so than the political system of theUnited States, where every man is supposed to be free, but where a fewmen in each town own everything and everybody politically. The Americanthinks he is free, but he has in reality no more freedom than theEnglishman; in fact, I am inclined to think that the latter is thefreest of them all, and I doubt if too much freedom is good for man. Politics in America is a profession, a trade, a science, a perfectsystem by which one or two men run or control millions. Politics meansthe attainment of political power and influence, which mean office. Somemen are in politics for the love of power, some for spoils ("graft" theycall it in slang), and some for the high offices. In America there aretwo large parties, the Republican and the Democratic. Then there are theLabor, Prohibition (non-drinking), and various other parties, which, inthe language of politics, "cut no ice. " The real issues of a party areoften lost sight of. The Republicans may be said to favor a hightariff; the Democrats a low tariff or free trade; and when there is notsufficient to amuse the people in these, then other reasons for being aDemocrat or a Republican are raised, and a platform is issued. Latelythe Democrats have espoused "free silver, " and the Republicans have"buried" them. The Democrats are now trying to invent some new"platform"; but the Republicans appear to have included about all thedesirable things in their platform, and hence they win. 

In a small town one or two men are known as "bosses. " They control thesituation at the primaries; they manage to get elected and keep beforethe people. Generally they are natural leaders, and fill some office. When the senator comes to town they "escort" him about and advise him asto the votes he may expect. Sometimes the ward man is the postmaster, sometimes a national congressman, again a State senator; but he isalways in evidence, and before the people, a good speaker and talker andthe "boss. " Every town has its Republican and Democratic "boss, " alwaysstriving to increase the vote, always striving for something. The largerthe city, the larger the "boss, " until we come to a city like New York, where we find, or did find, Boss Tweed, who absolutely controlled thepolitical situation for years. 

This means that he was in politics, and manipulated all the offices inorder to steal for himself and his friends; this is of public record. Hewas overthrown or exposed by the citizens, but was followed by others, who manipulated the affairs of the city for money. Offices were sold;any one who had a position either bought it or paid a percentage for it. Gambling-dens and other "resorts" paid large sums to "sub-bosses, " whobecome rich, and if the full history of some of the "bosses" of NewYork, Philadelphia, Chicago, or any great American city could beexposed, it would show a state of affairs that would display theAmerican politician in a dark light. Repeatedly the machinations of thepoliticians have been exposed, yet they doubtless go on in some form. And this is true to some extent of the Government. The honor of noPresident has been impugned; they are men of integrity, but the enormousappointing power which they have is a mere form; they do not and couldnot appoint many men. The little "boss" in some town desires a position. He has been a spy for the congressman or senator for years, and nowaspires to office. He obtains the influence of the senator and thecongressman, and is supported by a petition of his friends, and thePresident names him for the office, taking the senator for his sponsor. If the man becomes a grafter or thief, the President is attacked by theopposition. 

In a large city like New York each ward will have its "boss, " who willreport to a supreme "boss, " and by this system, often pernicious, thelatter acquires absolute control of the situation. He names thecandidates for office, or most of them, and is all powerful. I have meta number of "bosses, " and all, it happened, were Irish; indeed, theIrish dominate American politics. One, a leader of Tammany in New York, was a most preposterous person, well dressed, but not a gentleman fromany standpoint; ignorant so far as education goes, yet supremely sharpin politics. Such a man could not have led a fire brigade in China, yethe was the leader of thousands, and controlled Democratic New York foryears. He never held office, I was told, yet grew very rich. 

The Republican "boss" was a tall, thin, United States senator. I wasalso introduced to him--a Mephistophelian sort of an individual--to meutterly without any attraction; but I was informed that he carried thevote of the Republican party in his pocket. How? that is the mystery. Ifyou desired office you went to him; without his influence one wasimpotent. Thousands of office-holders felt his power, hated him, perhaps, but did not dare to say it. 

The "boss" controls the situation, gives and "takes, " and the othercitizens get the satisfaction of thinking they are a free people. Inreality, they are political slaves, and the "boss, " "sub-boss, " and thelong line of smaller "bosses" are their masters. Very much the samesituation is seen in national politics. The party is controlled by a"boss, " and at the present this personage is a millionaire, named Hanna, said to be an honest, upright man, with a genius for politicaldiplomacy, a puller of wires, a maker of Presidents, having virtuallyplaced President McKinley where he is. This man I met. Many of thepoliticians called him "Uncle Mark. " He has a familiar way withreporters. He is a man of good size, with a face of a rather commontype, with very large and protruding ears, but two bright, gleamingeyes, that tell of genius, force, intelligence, power, and executivetalents of an exalted order. I recall but one other such pair of eyes, and those were in the head of Senator James G. Blaine, whom I saw duringmy first visit to America. Hanna is famous for his _bonhomie_, and is afine story-teller. Indeed, unless a man can tell stories he had betterremain out of politics, or rather he will never get into politics. 

As an outsider I should say that the power of the "boss" was due to thefact that the best classes will have none of him, as a rule (I refer tothe ordinary "boss"), and as a consequence he and his henchmen controlthe situation. I think I am not overstating the truth when I say thatevery city in the United States has been looted by the politicians ofvarious parties. It is of public record that Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and New York citizens have repeatedly risen and shown that thecity was being robbed in the most bare-handed manner. Bribery andcorruption have been found to exist to-day in the entire system, and ifthe credit of the republic stands on its political _morale_ this vastunion of States is a colossal failure, as it is being pillaged bypoliticians. Every "boss" has what are termed "heelers, " one functionof whom is to buy votes and do other work in the interest of "reform. " Afriend told me that he spent election day in the office of a candidatefor Congress in a certain Western town, and the candidate had his safeheaped full of silver dollars. All day long men were coming and going, each taking the dollars to buy votes. By night the supply was exhausted, and the man defeated. I expressed satisfaction at this, but my friendlaughed; the other fellow who won paid more for votes, he said. I wastold that all the great senatorial battles were merely a question ofdollars; the man with the largest "sack" won. 

On the other hand, there are senators who not only never paid for a votebut never expressed a wish to be elected. The foreign vote--Italians andothers--are swayed by cash considerations; the negroes are bought andsold politically. The "bosses" handle the money, and the senatorsconsider it as "expenses, " and doubtless do not know that some of it hasbeen used to influence legislators. The Americans have a remarkablenetwork of laws to prevent fraudulent voting. Each candidate in someStates is required to swear to an expense account, yet the warypolitician, with his "ways that are dark, " evades the law. The entiresystem, the control of the political fortunes of 80, 000, 000 Americans, is in the hands of a small army of political "bosses, " some of whom, hadthey figured as grafters in "effete" China, would have been beheadedwithout mercy. 

FOOTNOTES:

[9] Slang for citizens. 

[10] Slang for information, facts. 

[11] Mexican hash in corn-husk. 

CHAPTER XII

EDUCATION IN AMERICA

A fundamental idea with the American is to educate children. This iscarried to the extent of making it an offense not to send those above acertain age to school, while State or town officers, called "truantpolice, " are on the alert to arrest all such children who are not inschool. The following was told me by a Government official inWashington, who had obtained it from a well-known literary man whowitnessed the incident. The literary man was invited to visit a Bostonschool of the lower grade, where he found the teacher, an attractivewoman, engaged in teaching a class of "youngsters, " the progeny of theworking class. After the visitor had listened to the recitations forsome time, he remarked to the teacher, "How do you account for theneatness and cleanliness of these children?" "Oh, I insist upon it, " wasthe reply. "The Board of Education does not anticipate all thedesiderata, but I make them come clean and make it a part of thecourse;" then rising and tapping on the table, she said, "Prepare forthe sixth exercise. " All the children stood up. "One, " said the teacher, whereupon each pupil took out a clean cloth handkerchief. "Two, " countedthe teacher, and with one concerted blast every pupil blew his or hernose in clarion notes. "Three, " came again after a few seconds, and thehandkerchiefs were replaced. At "four" the student body sank back totheir seats without even smiling, or without having "cracked a smile. "You could search the world over and not find a prototype. It goeswithout saying that the teacher was a wit and wag, but the lesson ofhandkerchiefs and their use was inculcated. 

Education is a part of the scheme to make all Americans equal. A moresplendid _system_ it is impossible to conceive. Every possible facilityis afforded the poorest family to educate their children. Public schoolsloom up everywhere, and are increased as rapidly as the children, sothere is no excuse for ignorance. The schools are graded, and there isno expense or fee. The parents pay a tax, a small sum, those who have nochildren being taxed as well as those who have many. There are schoolsto train boys to any trade; normal free schools to make teachers; nightschools for working boys; commercial schools to educate clerks; shipschools to train sailors and engineers. Then come the greatuniversities, in part free, with all the splendid paraphernalia, somebeing State institutions and others memorials of dead millionaires. Then there are the great technical schools, as well as universities(where one can study Chinese, if desired). There are schools of art, law, medicine, nature, forestry, sculpture; schools to teach one how towrite, how to dress, how to eat, and how to keep well; schools to teachone how to write advertisements, to cultivate the memory, to growstrong; schools for shooting, boxing, fencing; schools for nurses andcooks; summer schools; winter schools. 

And yet the American is not profoundly educated. He has too much withinhis reach. I have been distinctly surprised at crude specimens I havemet who were graduates of great universities. The well-educatedEnglishman, German, and American are different things. The American isfar behind in the best sense, which I am inclined to think is due tothe teachers. Any one can get through a normal school and become ateacher who can pass the examination, and I have seen some singularinstances. If all the teachers were obliged to pass examinations inculture, refinement, and the art of _conveying_ knowledge, there wouldbe a falling of pedagogic heads. The free and over education of the poorplaces them at once above their parents. They are free, and the daughterof a ditch laborer, whose wife is a floor scrubber, upon being educatedis ashamed of her parents, learns to play the piano, apes the rich, andis at least unhappy. 

The result is, there remains no peasant class. The effect of educationon the country boy is to make him despise the farm and go to the city, to become a clerk and ape the fashions of the wealthy at six or eightdollars a week. He has been educated up to the standard of his "boss"and to be his equal. The overeducation of the poor is a heartless thing. The women vie with the men, and as a result women graduates, takingpositions at half the price that men demand, crowd them out of thefields of skilled labor, whereas the man, not crowded out, should, normally, marry the girl. In power, strength, and progress the Americannation stands first in the world, and all this may be due to splendideducational facilities. But this is not everything. There result strife, unhappiness, envy, and a craze for riches. I do not think the Americansas a race are as happy as the Chinese. Religious denominations try tohave their own schools, so that children shall not be captured by otherdenominations. Thus the Roman Catholics have parochial schools, underpriests and sisters, and colleges of various grades. They oppose the useof the Bible in the public school, and in some States their influencehas helped to suppress its use. The Quakers, with a following of onlyeighty thousand, have colleges and schools. The Methodists haveuniversities, as have the Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and others. Alldenominations have institutions of learning. These schools are in thehands of clergymen, and are often endowed or supported by wealthymembers of the denomination. 

A remarkable feature of American life is the college of correspondence. A man or firm advertises to teach by correspondence at so much a month. Many branches are taught, and if the student is in earnest a certainamount of information can thus be accumulated. Among the people I havemet I have observed a lack of what I term full, broad education, producing a well-rounded mind, which is rare except among the classthat stands first in America--the refined, cultured, educated man of anold family, who is the product of many generations. The curriculum ofthe high school in America would in China seem sufficient to equip astudent for any position in diplomatic life; but I have found that amajority of graduates become clerks in a grocery or in other shops, carconductors, or commercial travelers, where Latin, Greek, and otherhigher studies are absolutely useless. The brightest educational sign Isee in America is the attention given to manual training. In schoolsboys are taught some trade or are allowed to experiment in the trades inorder to find out their natural bent, so that the boy can be educatedwith his future in view. As a result of education, women appear innearly every field except that of manual labor on farms, which isperformed in America only by alien women. 

The richest men in America to-day, the multi-millionaires, are not theproduct of the universities, but mainly of the public schools. Carnegie, Rockefeller, Schwab, men of the great steel combine, the oil magnates, the great railway magnates, the great mine owners, were all men oflimited education at the beginning. Among great merchants, however, theuniversity man is found, and among the Harvard and Yale graduates, forexample, may be found some of America's most distinguished men. ButLincoln, the martyred President, had the most limited education, andamong public men the majority have been the product of the publicschool, which suggests that great men are natural geniuses, who willattain prominence despite the lack of education. The best-educated menin America to my mind are the graduates of West Point and Annapolis, themilitary and naval academies. These two institutions are extremelyrigorous, and are open to the most humble citizens. They so transformmen in four years that people would hardly recognize them. The result isa highly educated, refined, cultivated, practical man, with a high senseof honor and patriotism. If America would have a school of this kind inevery State there would be no limit to her power in two decades. 

Despite education, the great mass of the people are superficial; theyhave a smattering of this and that. An employer of several thousand mentold the Superintendent of Education of the District of Columbia that hehad selected the brightest boy graduate of a high school for a positionwhich required only a knowledge of simple arithmetic. The graduateproved to be totally unfit for the position and was discharged. Later hebecame the driver of a team of horses. America abounds in thousands ofeducational institutions, yet there is not one so well endowed that itcan say to the world we wish no more money. It is singular that somemulti-millionaire does not grasp this opportunity to donate one hundredmillions to a great national school or university, to be placed atWashington, where the buildings would all be lessons in architecture ofmarble after the plans of a world's fair. Instead they leave a fewthousands here and a few there. Carnegie, the leading millionaire, giveslibraries to cities all over the States, each of which bears the name ofthe giver. The object is too obvious, and is cheap in conception. In SanFrancisco some years ago a citizen tried the same experiment. Heproposed to give the city a large number of fountains. When they werefinished _each_ one was seen to be surmounted by his own statue. A fewwere put up, how many I do not recall, but one night some citizenswaited on a statue, fastened a rope to its neck, and hauled it down. Sopeculiar are the Americans that I believe if Mr. Carnegie should placehis name on ten thousand libraries, with the object of attaining undyingfame, the people, by a concerted effort, would forget all about him in afew decades. Such an attempt does not appeal to any side of the Americancharacter. I have known the best Americans, but Mr. Carnegie has notknown the best of his own countrymen or he would not attempt toperpetuate his memory in this way. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE ARMY AND NAVY

Among the most delightful people I have met in America are the army andnavy officers, graduates of West Point and Annapolis, well-bred, cultivated men, patriotic, open-hearted, and chivalrous. They are likeour own class of men who answer to the American term of gentlemen. I amnot going to tell you of their splendid ships, their training oruniform, but of a few of their idiosyncrasies. There is no dueling inthe army. If two men have trouble at the academies they fight it outwith bare fists, and in the army settle it in some other way, duelingbeing forbidden. Owing to the fact that all men are equal in America, the attitude of the officer to the civilian is entirely different. If acivilian strikes an officer in Germany the latter will cut him down withhis saber and be protected in it, but here the man would be arrested andtreated as any other criminal; in a word, the officer is a servant ofthe people, and stands with them. He has been trained to treat his menwell, and they respect him. But while the officer is the people'sservant and his salary in some part is paid by the humblest grocer'sclerk, laborer, or artisan, the officer has a social position which, inthe eyes of himself and the Government, makes him the social equal ofkings and emperors; and here we see a strange fact in American life. 

When a garrison is ordered to a town or city, people call to pay theirrespects. The grocer, who in being taxed aids in paying the officer'ssalary, is _persona non grata_. The grocer, milk dealer, shoe dealer, and retail dealers in general might call, but would not be received oncordial terms. The wife of the colonel might return the call of thegrocer's wife if she made a good appearance, but the latter would underno circumstances be invited to a function at the camp or post. Theundertaker, the dentist, the ice-man, the retail shoe man are under theban. Certain kinds of business appear to have certain social rights. Thus a dentist would not be received, but the man who manufacturesdentists' tools may be a leader among the "Four Hundred. "

Strange complications arise. A young officer fell in love with asergeant's daughter, and married her, as I learned from a well-knownofficer at the Army and Navy Club. This was serious enough, as therecould be no intimacy between a commissioned and non-commissionedofficer. The young man and his bride were ordered to a distant post, where the story of course followed them. All went well for a time. Thebride sank her social inferiority in the rank of her husband, and theladies of the post called on her, not as the sergeant's daughter but asthe officer's wife. The mother of the bride finally decided to visither, and thus became the guest of the officer, who was a lieutenant. Under ordinary circumstances it was the duty of all the ladies to callon the mother of the lieutenant's wife; but it so happened that she wasthe wife of a sergeant, and hence to call was impossible. No one did so. 

The young wife felt herself insulted, and the ubiquitous reporter seizedupon the situation, until it was taken up by every paper in the country. The pictures of mother, daughter, and sergeant were shown, and columnswere written on the subject. Almost to a man the editors denounced whatthey termed the snobbishness of the army, and denounced West Point forproducing snobs, claiming that the ladies of the post, had they beenreal ladies, would have called on a respectable laundress even if shehad been the sergeant's wife. I refer to this to show the intricacies ofAmerican etiquette. The point is that nearly all the editors who knewanything, believed that the ladies were right, but did not dare to sayso on account of the fact that the majority of their readers feltthemselves the equals of the army officer; hence the cry of snobberythat went whistling over the land. The lieutenant committed a grossmistake in marrying the girl; he married out of his class. But inAmerica I am told there are no classes, and I am constantly forgettingthis. 

In the army there are several black regiments (negroes). They haveblack chaplains, and attempts have been made to find black officers, but the social difficulties make this impossible, though the blacks arefree and independent citizens and help pay the salaries of the whitemen. It would be impossible to force white soldiers to admit to theirregiment black soldiers. No white man would permit a black officer to beplaced over him, even by inference. 

In the navy we see an entirely different situation. On every ship arenegroes in the crew, sleeping on the same gun-decks with the white men, and no fault is found; but a negro officer would be an impossibility. Though several have been sent to the Naval Academy, none have "gonethrough. " Even in these almost perfect institutions favoritism exists. To illustrate: the son of a prominent man was about to fail in hisexaminations, when the powers that be passed the word that he mustpass, _nolens volens_. The professor in whose class he was and who hadfound him deficient resented this, and when he learned that it was theintention to pass the boy over his head he resigned and was ordered tohis regiment. The young man was graduated, entered the army and, aidedby influence, jumped many of his class men and finally acquired rank atthe request of the wife of one of the Presidents. This was a veryexceptional case, the result of strong national sentiment that favoredthe father. 

The management of the army does not seem rational to a foreigner. Topreserve the idea of republican simplicity and equality, army men arenot rewarded with orders, as in other countries, which is a greatinjustice. Few officers, though veterans of many wars, wear medals, andwhen they do they were not given as rewards for bravery, but are merelycorps badges, showing that the officer belongs to this or that armycorps. But if an officer does a brave deed he may be promoted severalpoints over his fellows, as brave as he, but who did not have the sameopportunity to show bravery. Ill feeling may be the result. Every man isexpected to be brave, and extraordinary examples of bravery arerecognized in other nations by the presentation of medals, thepossession of which creates no ill feeling. The actual head of the armyis the Secretary of War, a political appointment, an adviser selected bythe President, who, usually, has no military knowledge. This officergives all the orders to the general of the army, and, as in a recentinstance, a vast amount of friction has been the result. Intense feelingwas occasioned by the elevation of certain officers, who were supposedto possess remarkable executive ability. 

Civil war veterans at the Army and Navy Club complained to anacquaintance of mine that when they arrived at the seat of war in Cubathey found their superior officers to be, first, General Wheeler, anex-Confederate, against whom they had fought in the civil war; second, Colonel Wood, who had been a contract army surgeon under nearly all ofthem; and finally, Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt, who was a babe in armswhen they were fighting the battles of the civil war. This story servesto illustrate the point that political "pulls" and favoritism arerampant in the service, and are the cause of much disgust amongofficers. General Funston affords an illustration that has incensed manyofficers. Funston was an unknown man, who captured Aguinaldo by a cleverruse, a valuable and courageous piece of work, which should have beenrewarded with a decoration and _some_ promotion; but he was jumped overthe heads of hundreds, landing at the top of the army in one "fellswoop. " I judge the policy of the Government to be to promote officersso soon as they show evidence of extraordinary capability. 

It would be an easy matter for any one to obtain photographs of plansand sketches of American fortifications. One of my friends hired aphotographer to get up what he called a scrap-book of pictures to takehome to his family in Tokio in order to "entertain his people. " Thephotographer sent him a wonderful series, showing the forts overlookingNew York harbor, interiors and exteriors; and those in Boston, Portland, Baltimore, Fort Monroe, Key West, and San Francisco were also obtained. Photographs of guns and charts, which can be purchased everywhere, wereincluded, as well as Government reports. If Japan ever goes to war withthe Yankees my friend's scrap-book will be in demand. I do not believethe American War Department makes any secret of the forts. They are opento the public. Even if a kodak were not permitted, pictures could besecured. My friend said his photographer had a kodak which he woreinside his vest, the opening protruding from a button-hole. All he hadto do was to stand in front of an object and pull a cord. Such a kodakis known as a "detective camera. " There are several designs, all veryclever. I once saw my face reproduced in a paper, and until I heardabout this camera it was a mystery how the original was obtained, as Ihad not "posed" for any one. 

The possibility of America going to war with another nation is remote. From what I see of the people and their tremendous activity they couldnot be defeated by any nation or combination of nations. They are likeSenator ----'s Malay game-cock, of which the senator has said that thereis only one trouble with him--the bird never knows when he is licked, and if he does he does not stay licked. America could raise an army often or twelve millions of the finest fighters in the world for defenseagainst any combination, and she would win. The senator told me a story, which illustrates the situation. One of the American men-of-war in aMalay port had an old American eagle aboard as a mascot and pet. Whenthe men got liberty they went ashore with the eagle, and showed it as an"American game-cock. " The natives wanted to arrange a match, and finallyone was planned, the eagle cock against a black Malay. When the fightbegan, the black cock put its spur into the eagle several times, thelatter doing nothing but eye the cock, first with one eye, and then withthe other. Once more the black cock stabbed the eagle, bringing blood, whereupon the eagle leaned forward, and as the cock thrust out its head, seized it with one claw, pressed it to the ground, and with the othertore off its head and began to eat it. This is what would happen ifalmost any nation really and seriously went to war with the UnitedStates. But the country was ill prepared for the war with Spain. IfCervera had reached the New England coast he could have shelled Bostonand then New York. 

Service in America is not compulsory. It is merely made popular, and asa result, every part of the country has State militia of splendidlydrilled men, ready to be called on at a moment's notice. They receive nopay, considering it an honor to be in the militia service. In theregular army old names are perpetuated. The great generals and admiralshave sent sons into the service. Our Government would do well to sendyoung men to West Point and Annapolis. The Japanese did this for years, and received the best of their ideas from those sources. There is butone thing in the way. Chinamen are _tabooed_ in America, and doubtlesswould reach no farther than the port of entry. The only way to get innow would be for a new minister or diplomat to bring over ten or a dozenyoung men as members of the suite and then distribute them among theschools and universities--a humiliation that China will probably resent. 

Our trade with America is extremely valuable to her. The cotton, flour, and other commodities we import represent a vast sum, and I believe ifwe refused at once to buy anything from America we could make our ownterms in less than two years. This could be accomplished very gradually. The Americans would find it out first through their consuls, who are allinstructed to report on every possible point of vantage that can betaken in China by their merchants. They would report a decreased demand. American merchants would then demand an explanation from the Departmentof State, and finally we could announce that we preferred to buy fromour friends, American treatment of the Chinese being inimical to goodfeeling. Knowing the American business men as I do, you could count on awail coming up from them. An appeal would be made to Congress throughrepresentatives and senators, the American business men demanding thatthe "Chinese matter" be arranged upon a "more liberal basis. " When youtouch the pocketbook of "Uncle Sam" you reach his earthquake center; yetfor defense, for the preservation of the national honor, this peoplewill spend untold sums. The American Government bond is the bestsecurity in the world. It is founded on the rock of honor andpatriotism. And there is no repudiation like that of ----, and none likethe pretended one of ----. [12] We have our faults, and it is well torecognize them; but I never saw them until I mingled with the Englishand Americans. 

There is of course a large foreign element in the Americanarmy--thousands of Irish and Germans; but this does not signify, as Ilearn that in the State of Massachusetts, the stronghold of Americans, the Irish hold a third of the official positions, the native-bornYankees about one-fourth. This is particularly exasperating to oldfamilies in New England, as it is notorious that the Irish come directlyfrom the very dregs of the poverty-stricken peasantry--the"bog-trotters. " I was much impressed by the high standard of honor inthe army and navy, and am told that it is the rarest of occurrences fora regular army officer to commit a crime or to default. This is due tothe training received at the military and naval schools, where young menare placed on their honor. 

FOOTNOTE:

[12] China has twice repudiated its Government bonds within fourcenturies. 

CHAPTER XIV

ART IN AMERICA

It is seldom that I have been complimented in America, but a lady hastold me that she envied our "art sense. " She said the Chinese areessentially artistic, that the cheapest thing, the most ordinaryarticle, is artistic or beautiful. I wished that I could return thecompliment, but a strict observance of the truth compels me to say thatthe reverse is true in America. If one go into a Chinese shop and askfor any ordinary article, it will be found artistic. If one go into anAmerican shop, say a hardware "store, " there will not be found anarticle that would be considered decorative, while everything in aChinese shop of like character would fall under this head. Theconclusion is that the Chinese are artistic, while the Americans arenot. 

The reason lies in the fact that the Chinese are homogeneous, while theAmericans are a mixed race, that is injured by the continualintroduction of baser elements. If immigration could be stopped forfifty years, and the people have a chance to acquire "oneness, " theymight become artistic. The middle class, however, is, from an artisticstandpoint, a horror; they have absolutely no art sense, and the_nouveaux riches_ are often as bad. The latter sometimes place theirmoney in the hands of an agent, who buys for them; but all at once a manmay break out and insist upon buying something himself, so that in asplendid collection of European names will appear some artistic horrorto stamp the owner as a parvenu. 

The Americans have not produced a great painter. By this I mean areally great artist, nor have they a great sculptor, one who is or hasbeen an inspiration. But they have thousands of artists, and many poorones thrive in selling their wares. You may see a man with an income ofthirty thousand dollars having paintings on his walls that give one thevertigo. The poor artist has taken him in, or "pulled his leg, " to usethe latest American slang. There are some fine paintings in America. Ihave visited the great collections in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, and those in many private galleries, but the bestof the pictures are always from England, France, Germany, and otherEuropean countries. Old masters are particularly revered. Americans payenormous sums for them, but sometimes are deceived. 

They have art schools by the hundred, where they study from the nudeand from models of all kinds. There are splendid museums of art, especially in Boston and New York. The art interests are particularlyactive, but not the people; there are a few art lovers only, the peoplein the mass being hopeless. Cheap prints, chromos, and other deadlythings are ground out by the million and sold, to clog still deeper theart sense of an inartistic people. They laugh at our conventionalChinese art, but the extreme of conventionality is certainly better thansome of the daubs I have seen in American homes. Americans have peculiarfancies in art. One is called Impressionist Art. As near as I canunderstand it, painters claim that while you are looking at an objectyou do not really see it all, you merely gain an impression; so theypaint only the impression. In a museum of art I was shown several roomsfull of daubs, having absolutely nothing to commend them, weird colorsbeing thrown together in the strangest manner, without rhyme or reason, but over which people went mad. The great masters of Europe appeal to mestrongly. In America, marine painters attract me the most, for example, Edward Moran, who is a splendid delineator of the sea. Bierstadt is anoble painter, and so is Thomas Moran. There are half a hundred men whoare fine painters, but half a thousand men and women who think they areartistic but who are not. 

Americans have developed no individual architecture. You seesemipagoda-like effects in the East, and old English houses in theSouth. They steal the latter and call them Colonial. They steal thearchitecture of the Moors and call it Mexican. They borrow Roman andGrecian effects for great public buildings. At one time they went madover the French roof, or mansard. Nowhere have I seen purely Americanarchitecture. The race is not possessed of sufficient unity. So alltheir art is from abroad, and notably is French and English. They makebroad effects, and give them an American name; but they are copied fromthe Dutch or Germans. All the furniture designers in America areEuropeans. You will find a splendid house with a Chinese room, havingteak inlaid with ivory, etc. ; a Japanese room, a Moorish room, and anItalian room, all splendidly decorated; but the family lives in an"American room, " that is commonplace and subversive of all art digestionand assimilation. The average middle-class American knows absolutelynothing about art; the lower classes so little that their homes arehopeless. Knowing this, they are preyed upon by thousands of foreignswindlers. There are hundreds of articles manufactured in Europe to sellto the American tourist. I have seen Napoleonic furniture enough to loada fleet. I can only compare it to the pieces of the true cross and theholy relics of the Catholics, of which there are enough to fill theoriginal ark which the Bible tells the Americans landed on Mount Araratin a great flood. 

The houses of the best people I have told you about are as far removedfrom the commonplace as the equator from the poles. They are rich inconception, sumptuous in detail, artistic in every way, and filled withthe art gems of the world. But these people have descended from refinedpeople for several generations. They are the true Americans, but make upa small number compared to the inartistic whole. I believe Americarecognizes this, and with her stupendous energy is doing everything toeducate the masses in art. They are building splendid museums; rich mengive away millions. There are hundreds of art schools, free to all, andart is taught in all the schools. Fine monuments are placed in publicsquares and parks, and beautiful fountains and memorials in these andother public places. Their buildings, though foreign in design, arebeautiful. In Boston one may see marvelous work in frescoes, etc. , andin the Government buildings at Washington. The Capitol, while notAmerican in design, is a pile worthy of the great people who erected it. 

CHAPTER XV

THE DARK SIDE OF REPUBLICANISM

The questions I know you will wish answered are, Whether this stupendousaggregation of States is a success? Does it possess advantages beyondthose of the Chinese Empire? Does it fulfil the expectations of its ownpeople? Frankly, I do not consider myself competent to answer. I havestudied America and the Americans for many years during my visits tothis country and Europe, and while I have seen many accounts of thecountry, written after several months of observation, I believe that nojust estimate of the republican form of government can be formed aftersuch experience. My private impression, however, is that the republicfalls far short of what the men in Washington's time expected, and itis also my private opinion that it has not so many advantages as agovernment like that of England. 

It is too splendid an organization to be lightly denounced. The idea ofthe equality of men is noble, and I would not wish to be arraigned amongits critics. There is too much good to offset the bad. I have beenattempting to amuse you by analyzing the Americans, pointing out theirfrailties as well as their good qualities. I tell you what I see as Irun, always, I hope, remembering what is good in this spontaneous andopen-hearted people. The characteristic claim of the people is that theGovernment offers freedom to its citizens; yet every man is quite asfree in China if he behaves himself, and he can rise if he possessesbrains. 

Any native-born citizen in the United States may become the head of thenation has he the courage of his convictions, the many accomplishmentswhich equip the great leader, and should the hour and the man meetopportunity. This is the one prize which distinguishes America fromEngland. The latter in other respects offers exactly as much freedomwith half the wear and tear; in fact, to me the freedom of America isone of her disadvantages. Every one knows, and the American best of all, that all men are _not equal_, never were and never can be. Yet thisfalse doctrine is their standard, and they swear by it, though some willexplain that what is meant is political freedom. Freedom accounts forthe gross impertinence of the ignorant and lower classes, the laughableassumptions of servants, and the illogical pretenses of the _nouveauriche_, which make America impossible to some people. CultivatedAmericans are as thoroughly aristocratic as the nobility of England. There are the same classes here as there. A grocer becomes rich andretires or dies; his children refuse to associate with the families ofother grocers; in a word, the Americans have the aristocratic feeling, but they have no peasant class; the latter would be, in their ownestimation, as good as any one. One class, the lower and poorer, isarraigned against the upper and richer, and the gap is growing daily. 

But this would not prove that the republic is a failure. What then? Itis, in the opinion of many of its clergymen, a great moral failure. Nonation in history has lasted many centuries after having developed the"symptoms" now shown in the United States. I quote their own press, "theStates are morally rotten, " and you have but to turn to these organs andthe magazines of the past decade, which make a feature of holding upthe shortcomings of cities and millionaires, to read the details of thetragedy. Thieves--grafters--have seized upon the vitals of the country. St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, great representativecities--what is their history? The story of dishonesty among officials, of bribery, stealing, and every possible crime that a man can devise towring money from the people. This is no secret. It has all been exposedby the friends of morality. City governments are overthrown, the rascalsare turned out, but in a few months the new officers are caught devisingsome new "grafting" operation. 

I have it from a prominent official that there is not an honest State orcity administration in America. What can a nation say when for years ithas known that a large and influential lobby has been maintained toinfluence statesmen, a lobby comprising a corps of "persuaders" in thepay of business men? How do they influence them? The great fights wagedto defeat certain measures are well known, and it is known that moneywas used. Certain congressmen have been notoriously receptive. I haveseen the following story in print in many forms. I took the trouble toask a well-known man if it was possible that it could be founded onfact; his reply was, "Certainly it is a fact. " A briber entered theprivate room of a congressman. "Mr. ----, to come right to the point, Iwant the ---- bill to pass, and I will give you five hundred dollars forthe vote and your interest. " The congressman rose to his feet, purplewith rage. "You dare to offer me this insulting bribe? You infernalscoundrel, I will throw you out. " "Well, suppose we make it onethousand, " said the imperturbable visitor. "Well, " replied thecongressman, cooling down, "that is a little better put. We will talk itover. "

The American Government had been attempting, since 1859, to build acanal across the Isthmus. I believe surveys were made earlier than that, but bribery and corruption and "graft" enabled the friends oftranscontinental railroads to stop the canals. It would be adisadvantage to the railroads to have a canal across the Isthmus. So insome mysterious way the canal, which the people wished, has not beenbuilt, and will not be until the people rise and demand it. Corruptionhas stood on the Isthmus with a flaming sword and struck down everyattempt to build the canal. The morality of the people is low. Divorceis rampant, the daily journals are filled with accounts of divorces, anddaily lists of crimes are printed that would seem impossible to anation that can raise millions to send to China to convert the"heathen. " If they would only divert these Chinese missionaries fromChina to their own heathen and grafters, but they will not. The peculiarfreedom of the country, which is nothing less than the most atrociouslicense, tends to drag it down. 

The papers have absolutely no check on their freedom. Men and women areattacked by them, ruined, held up to scorn and ridicule, and the victimhas no recourse but to shoot the editor and thus embroil himself. Thatit is a crime to ridicule a man and make him the butt of a nation or theworld seems never to occur to these men. Certain statesmen have been solampooned by the "hired" libelers that they have been ruined. The presshires a class of men, called cartoonists, usually ill-bred fellows ofno standing, yet clever, in their business, whose duty it is to hold uppublic men to ridicule in every possible way and make them infamousbefore the people. This is called the freedom of the press, and itsattitude, or the sensational part of it, in presenting crime in analluring manner, is having its effect upon the youth of the country. Young girls and boys become familiar with every feature of bestial crimethrough the "yellow journals, " so called, and that the republic willreap sorely from this sowing I venture to prophesy. 

I asked one of the great insurance men why it was that great financialinstitutions took so strong an interest in politics. He laughed, andsaid, "If I am not mistaken, not long since your country repudiated itsGovernment bonds, and they are not negotiable to any great extent amongyour people. " Hearing this I assumed the American attitude and "sawedwood. " "We take an interest in politics, " he continued, "to offset theprofessional blackmailer and thief. Now in the case of your repudiationI understand all about it. The Chinese Government was in straits, andsuddenly some seemingly patriotic citizen started a petition, stating tothe Government that the subscribers offered their Government securitiesto the Government as a gift. By no means all the bondholders signed, butenough, I understand, to have justified your Government in repudiatingthe bonds--'at the request of the people'--thus destroying the nationalcredit at home and abroad. Now in America that would be called 'graft. 'The act would be done by a few grafters in the hope of reward, or bysome unscrupulous statesmen to save the Government from bankruptcyduring their term of office. I conceive this to be what was done inChina. If we do not keep eternal watch we shall be bled every day. It isdone in this way: a grafter becomes an assemblyman, and with others laysa plan of graft. It is to get up a bill, so offensive to our corporationthat it would mean ruin if passed. The grafter has no idea that it willpass, but it is made much of, and of course reaches our ears, and thequestion is how to stop it. We are finally told that we had better seeMr. ----, in our own city. He is accordingly looked up and found to be acheap and ignorant politician, who, if there are no witnesses, tells ouragent plainly that it can be stopped for ten thousand dollars. Perhapswe beat him down to eight thousand, but we pay it. Hundreds of firmshave been blackmailed in this way. Now we keep an agent in the StateCapitol to attend to our interests, and we take an interest in politicsto head off the election of professional grafters. "

One of the most serious things in this phase of national immorality isshowing itself in what are termed "lynchings"; that is, a negro commitsa crime against a white woman, and instead of permitting the law to runits course, the people rise, seized with a savage craze for revenge, batter in the jails, take the criminal, and burn him at the stake. Thisburning is sometimes attended by thousands, who display the mostremarkable _abandon_ and savagery. Some African chiefs have sacrificedmore people at one time, but no savage has ever displayed greaterbestiality, gloated over his victim with more real satisfaction, thanthese free Americans in numerous instances when shouting and yellingabout the burning body of some unfortunate whose crime has arousedtheir ferocity to the point of madness. 

Not one but many clergymen have denounced this. They compare it to themost brutal acts of savagery, and we have the picture of a countryposing as civilized, with the temerity to point out the sins of others, giving themselves over to orgies that would disgrace the lowest ofraces. I have it from the lips of a clergyman that during the pasttwelve years over twenty-five hundred men have been lynched in theUnited States. In a single year two hundred and forty men were killed bymobs in this way, many being burned at the stake. If any excuse isoffered, it is said that most of these were negroes, and the crime wasrape, and the victims white women; but of the number mentioned onlyforty-six were charged with this crime and but two-thirds were black. Many confessed as the torch was applied, many died protesting theirinnocence, and in no case was the offense legally proved. This lynchingseems to be a mania with the people. It began with the attack of negroeson white women. The repetition of similar cases so enraged the whitesthat they have become mad upon the subject. The feeling is wellillustrated by the remark of a Southerner to me. "If a woman of myfamily was attacked by a negro I must be his executioner. I could notwait for the law. " This man told me that no lynching would ever havetaken place had it not been for the uncertainty of the law. Men who wereknown to be guilty of the grossest of crimes had been virtuallyprotected by the law, and their cases dragged along at great expense tothe State, this occurring so many times that the patience of the peoplebecame exhausted. This man forgot that the law was instigated for thepurpose of justice. 

The negro is an issue in America and a cause of much crime, a vengeanceon the people who held them as slaves. The negro has increased sorapidly that in forty years he has doubled in number, there now beingover nine millions in the country. At the present rate there will betwenty-five millions in 1930--a black menace to the white American. 

The negro is a factor in the national unrest. They outnumber the whitesin some localities, and hence vote themselves many offices, while thefew whites pay eighty or eighty-five per cent of the taxes and thenegroes supply from eighty to ninety per cent of the criminals. Whilethis is going on in the South and the whites are rising and preparing todisfranchise the blacks in many States, the people of Boston andCambridge are discussing the propriety of the whites and blacksmarrying to settle the question of social equality. Such proposals Ihave read. Reprinted in the South, they added fuel to the flame. 

Another element of distress in America is the attitude of labor, thepolicy of the Government of letting in the lowest of the low from everynation except the Chinese, against whom the only charge has been thatthey are too industrious and thus a menace to the whites. The swarms ofpeople from the low and criminal classes of Europe have enabled theanarchists to obtain such a foothold that in this free country thePresident of the United States is almost as closely guarded as theEmperor of Russia. The White House is surrounded and guarded bydetectives of various kinds. The secret-service department is equal inits equipment to that of many European nations, and millions are spentin watching criminals and putting down their strikes and riots. Thedoctrine of freedom to all appeals so well to the ignorant laborer thathe has decided to control the entire situation, and to this end labor isdivided into "unions, " and in many sections business has been ruined. 

The demands of these ignorant men are so preposterous that they canscarcely be credited. The merchant no longer owns his business ordirects it. The laborer tells him what to pay, how to pay it, when andhow long the hours shall be--in fact, undertakes to usurp entirecontrol. If the owner protests, the laborers all stop work, strike, appoint guards, who attack, kill, or intimidate any one who attempts totake their place. In this way it is said that one billion dollars havebeen lost in the last few years. Contracts have been broken, menruined, localities and cities placed in the greatest jeopardy, andhundreds of lives lost. Every branch of trade has its "union, " and in somany cases have the laborers been successful that a national panic comesalmost in sight. Never was there a more farcical illustration offreedom. Irrational, ignorant Irishmen, who had not the mental capacityto earn more than a dollar a day, dictated to merchant princes andmillionaire contractors. In New York it was proved that the leaders ofthe strikers sold out to employers, and accepted bribes to call offstrikes. 

The question before the American people is, Has an American citizen theright to conduct his own business to suit himself and employ whom hewishes? Has the laborer the right to work for whom and what rate hepleases? The imported socialists, anarchists, and their converts amongAmericans say no, and it will require but little to precipitate abloody war, when labor, led by red-handed murderers, will enact in NewYork and all over the United States the horrors of the French Commune. 

The republic for a great and enlightened country has too many criminals. I am told by a prohibition clergyman that the curse of drink and licensehas its fangs in the heart of the land. He tells me that the Americanspay yearly $1, 172, 000, 000 for their alcoholic drink; for bread, $600, 000, 000; for tobacco, $625, 000, 000; for education, $197, 000, 000;for ministers' salaries, $14, 000, 000. It has been found that thedownfall of eighty-one per cent of criminals is traceable to drink. Hesaid: "Our republic is a failure morally, as we have 2, 550, 000 drunkardsand people addicted to drink. We have 600, 000 prostitutes, and many moredoubtless that are not known, and in nine cases out of ten theirdownfall can be traced to drink. "

I listen to this side of the story, and then I see wonderfulphilanthropy, institutions for the prevention of crime, good men at workaccording to their light, millions employed to educate the young, thousands of churches and societies to aid man in making man better. When I listen to these men, and see tens of thousands of Christian menand women living pure lives, building up vast cities, great monumentsfor the future, I feel that I can not judge the Americans. They perhapsexpect too much from their freedom and their republican ideas. I shallnever be a republican. I believe that we all have all the freedom wedeserve. It is well to remember that man is an animal. After all hispolish and refinement, he has animal tastes and desires, and if he makeslaws that are in direct opposition to the indulgence which his animalnature suggests, he certainly must have some method of enforcing thelaws. Like all animals, some men are easily influenced and others not, and the human animal has not made progress so far but that he needswatching in order to make him conform to what he has decided or electedto call right. 

You will expect me to compare the American to the Chinaman, but it isimpossible. Some things which we look upon as right, the Americanconsiders grievous sins. The point of view is entirely at variance, butI have boundless faith in the brilliant and good men and women I havemet in America. I say this despite my other impressions, which alsohold. 

The great political scheme of the people is poorly devised and crude. Itis so arranged that in some States governors are elected every year ortwo and other officers every year, representatives of the people inCongress every two years, senators every six, Presidents every fouryears. Thus the country is constantly in a whirl, and as soon as therancor of one national election is over begins the scheming for another. The people have really little to do with the selection of a President. Asmall band of rich and influential schemers generally have the entireplan or "slate" laid out. A plan, natural in appearance, is _arranged_for the public, and at the right time the slated program is sprung. Senators should be elected by the people, congressmen should be electedfor a longer period, and Presidents should have twice the terms they do. But it is easy to suggest, and I confess that my suggestions are thoseof many American people themselves which I hear reformers cry abroad. 

The vital trouble with America to-day is that she can not assimilatethe 600, 000 debased, ignorant, poverty-stricken foreigners who arecoming in every year. They keep out the one peaceful nation. Theyexclude the Chinese and take to the national heart the Jew, theSocialist, the Italian, the Roumanian and others who constitute a nationof unrest. What America needs is the "rest cure" that you hear so muchabout here. She should close her seaports to these aliens for ten years, allow the people here to assimilate; but they can not do it. The foreigntransportation lines under foreign flags are in the business to load upAmerica with the dregs of Europe. I know of one family of Jews, fourbrothers, who wished to come to America, but found that they would haveto show that they were not paupers. They mustered about one thousanddollars. One came over, and sent back the money by draft. The secondbrought it back as his fortune, then immediately sent it back foranother brother to bring over, and so on until they all arrived, eachproving that he was not a pauper. Yet these same brothers, each withseveral children, became an expense to the Government before they wereearners. The children were sent to industrial homes, and later enteredthe sweat-shops. In America there is not a Chinaman to-day in aworkhouse, or a pauper[13] at the expense of the Government; yet theChinese are not wanted here. 

FOOTNOTE:

[13] This is doubtful. --EDITOR. 

CHAPTER XVI

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

I had not been in Washington a month before I received invitations to a"country club golf" tournament, to a "rowing club, " to a "pink tea, " toa "polo game, " to a private "boxing" bout between two light-weightprofessionals, given in Senator ----'s stable, to a private "cock-fight"by the brother of ----'s wife, to a gun club "shoot, " not to speak ofinvitations to several "poker games. " From this you may infer thatAmericans are fond of sport. The official sport--that is, the game Iheard of most among Government officials, senators, and others--was"poker, " and the sums played for at times I am assured are beyondbelief. There are rules and etiquette for poker, and one of the mostdistinguished of American diplomatists of a past generation, GeneralSchenck, emulated the Marquis of Queensberry in boxing by writing a bookon the national game, that has all the charm claimed for it. It isseductive, and doubtless has had its influence on the people who employthe "bluff" in diplomacy, war, business, or poker, with equal tact andcleverness. 

Middle-class Americans are fond of sport in every way, but thearistocrats lack sporting spontaneity; they like it, or pretend to likeit, because it is the fashion, and they take up one sport after anotheras it becomes the fad. That this is true can be shown by comparing theEnglishman and the American of the fashionable class. The Englishman isfond of sport because it is in his blood; he does not like golf to-dayand swimming to-morrow, but he likes them all, and always has done so. He would never give up cricket, golf, or any of his games because theygo out of fashion; he does not allow them to go out of fashion; but withthe American it is different. 

Hence I assume that the average American of the better class is notimbued with the sporting spirit. He wears it like an ill-fitting coat. Ifind a singular feature among the Americans in connection with theirsports. Thus if something is known and recognized as sport, people taketo it with avidity, but if the same thing is called labor or exercise, it is considered hard work, shirked and avoided. This is very cleverlyillustrated by Mark Twain in one of his books, where a boy makes hiscompanions believe that white-washing a fence is sport, and so relieveshimself from an arduous duty by pretending to share the great privilegewith them. 

No one would think of walking steadily for six days, yet once thisbecame sport; dozens of men undertook it, and long walks became a fad. If a man committed a crime and should be sentenced to play the modernAmerican game of football every day for thirty days as a punishment, there are some who might prefer a death sentence and so avoid alingering end; but under the title of "sport" all young men play it, anda number are maimed and killed yearly. 

Sport is in the blood of the common people. Children begin with tops, marbles, and kites, yet never appreciate our skill with either. I amazeda boy on the outskirts of Washington one day by asking him why he didnot _irritate_ his kite and make it go through various evolutions. Hehad never heard of doing that, and when I took the string and began tojerk it, and finally made the kite plunge downward or swing in circles, and always restored it by suddenly slacking off the cord, he wasastonished and delighted. The national game is baseball, a very clevergame. It is nothing to see thousands at a game, each person having paidtwenty-five or fifty cents for the privilege. In summer this game, played by experts, becomes a most profitable business. Rarely is any onehurt but the judge or umpire, who is at times hissed by the audience andmobbed, and at others beaten by either side for unfair decisions; butthis is rare. 

Football is dangerous, but is even more popular than the other. Youmight imagine by the name that the ball is kicked. On the contrary thereal action of the game consists in running down, tripping up, smashinginto, and falling on whomever has the ball. As a consequence, men wear asoft armor. There are fashions in sports which demonstrate theephemeral quality of the American love for sport. A while ago "wheeling"was popular, and everybody wheeled. Books were printed on the etiquetteof the sport; roads were built for it and improved; but suddenly theworking class took it up and fashion dropped it. Then came golf, imported from Scotland. With this fad millions of dollars were expendedin country clubs and greens all over the United States, as acres of landwere necessary. People seized upon this with a fierceness that warmedthe hearts of dealers in balls and clubs. The men who edited wheelmagazines now changed them to "golf monthlies. " This sport began to waneas the novelty wore off, until golf is now played by comparatively fewexperts and lovers. 

Society introduced the automobile, and we have the same thing--moremagazines, the spending of millions, the building of the _garage_, andthe appearance of the _chaufeur_ or driver. Then came the etiquette ofthe auto--a German navy cap, rubber coat, and Chinese goggles. Thispeculiar uniform is of course only to be worn when racing, but you seethe American going out for a slow ride solemnly attired in rubber coatand goggles. The moment the auto comes within reach of the poor man itwill be given up; but it is now the fad and a most expensive one, thebest machines costing ten thousand dollars or more, and I have seenraces where the speed exceeded a mile a minute. 

All sports have their ethics and rules and their correct costuming. Baseball men are in uniform, generally white, with various-coloredstockings. The golfer wears a red coat and has a servant or valet, whocarries his bag of clubs, designed for every possible expediency. Tohear a group of golfers discuss the merits of these tools is one of theextraordinary experiences one has in America. I have been made fairly"giddy, " as the Englishmen say, by this anemic conversation at countryclubs. The "high-ball" was the saving clause--a remarkable inventionthis. Have I explained it? You take a very tall glass, made for thepurpose, and into it pour the contents of a small cut-glass bottle ordecanter of whisky, which must be Scotch, tasting of smoke. On this youpour seltzer or soda-water, filling up the glass, and if you take enoughyou are "high" and feel like a rolling ball. It is the thing to take a"high-ball" after every nine holes in golf. Then after the game youbathe, and sit and drink as many as your skin will hold. I got this froma professional golf-teacher in charge of the ---- links, and hence itis official. 

The avidity with which the Americans seize upon a sport and thesuddenness with which they drop it, illustrating what I have said aboutthe lack of a national sporting taste, is well shown by the coming of agame called "ping pong, " a parlor tennis, with our battledores forrackets. What great mind invented this game, or where it came from, noone seems to know, but as a wag remarked, "When in doubt lay it toChina. " Some suppose it is Chinese, the name suggesting it. Soextraordinary was the early demand for it that it appeared as thougheverybody in America was determined to own and play ping pong. Thedealers could not produce it fast enough. Factories were established allover the country, and the tools were ground out by the ten thousands. Books were written on the ethics of the game; experts came to thefront; ping pong weeklies and monthlies were founded, to dumfound themasses, and the very air vibrated with the "ping" and the "pong. "

The old and young, rich and poor, feeble and herculean, all played it. Doctors advised it, children cried for it, and a fashionable journaldevised the correct ping-pong costume for players. Great matches wereplayed between the experts of various sections, and this sport, a gamereally for small children, after the fashion of battledore andshuttlecock, ran its course among young and old. Pictures of adultping-pong champions were blazoned in the public print; even churchmentook it up. Public gardens had special ping-pong tables to relieve thestress. At last the people seized upon ping pong, and it became common. Then it was dropped like a dead fish. If some cyclonic disturbance hadswept all the ping-pong balls into space, the disappearance could nothave been more complete. Ping pong was put out of fashion. All this tothe alien suggests something, a want of balance, a "youngness" perhaps. 

At the present time the old game of croquet is being revived underanother name, and tennis is the vogue among many. Among the fashionableand wealthy men polo is the vogue, but among a few everything goes byfads for a few years. Every one will rush to see or play some game; butthis interest soon dies out, and something new starts up. Such games asbaseball and football, tennis and polo are, in a sense, in a class bythemselves, but among the pastimes of the people a wide vogue belongs tofishing, and shooting wild fowl and large game. The former is universal, and the Americans are the most skilled anglers with artificial lures inthe world, due to the abundance of game-fish, trout, and others, and theperfect Government care exercised to perfect the supply. 

As an illustration, each State considers hunting and fishing a valuableasset to attract those who will come and spend money. I was told by aGovernment official that the State of Maine reckoned its game at fivemillion dollars per annum, which means that the sport is so good thatsportsmen spend that amount there every year; but I fancy the amount isoverestimated. The Government has perfect fish hatcheries, constantlysupplying young fish to streams, while the business in anglers' suppliesis immense. There are thousands of duck-shooting clubs in the UnitedStates. Men, or a body of men, rent or buy marshes, and keep the poorman out. Rich men acquire hundreds of acres, and make preserves. Possibly the sport of hunting wild fowl is the most characteristic ofAmerican sports. This also has its etiquette, its costumes, itsclub-houses, and its poker and high-balls. I know of one such club inwhich almost all the members are millionaires. A humorous paper statedthat they used "gold shot. "

As a nation the Americans are fond of athletics, which are taught in theschools. There are splendid gymnasiums, and boys and girls are trainedin athletic exercises. Athletics are all in vogue. It is fashionable tobe a good "fencer. " All the young dance. I believe the Americans standhigh as a nation in all-around athletics; at least they are far ahead ofChina in this respect. 

I have reserved for mention last the most popular fashion of the peoplein sport, which is prize-fighting. Here again you see a strangecontradiction. The people are preeminently religious, andprize-fighting and football are the sports of brutes; yet the two aremost popular. No public event attracts more attention in America than agladiatorial fight to the finish between the champion and some aspirant. For months the papers are filled with it, and on the day of the eventthe streets are thronged with people crowding about the billboards toreceive the news. No national event, save the killing of a President, attracted more universal attention than the beating of Sullivan byCorbett and the beating of Corbett by Fitzsimmons, and "Fitz" in turn byJeffries. I might add that I joined with the Americans in this, as themodern prize-fighter is a fine animal. If all boys were taught tobelieve that their fists are their natural weapons, there would be fewermurders and sudden deaths in America. I have seen several of theseprize-fights and many private bouts, all with gloves. They are governedby rules. Such a combat is by no means as dangerous as football, wherethe obvious intention seems to be to break ribs and crush the opponent. 

Rowing is much indulged in, and yachting is a great national maritimesport, in which the Americans lead and challenge the world. In no sportis the wealth of the nation so well shown. Every seaside town has itsyacht or boat club, and in this the interest is perpetual. Even inwinter the yacht is rigged into an "ice-boat. " I have often wonderedthat fashionable people do not take up the romantic sport of falconry, as they have the birds and every facility. I suggested this to a lady, who replied, "Ah, that is too barbaric for us. " "More barbaric thancock-fighting?" I asked, knowing that her brother owned the finestgame-cocks in the District of Columbia. Among the Americans there is adistinct love for fair play, and such sports as "bull-baiting, ""bull-fights, " "dog-fights, " and "cock-fights" have never attained anydegree of popularity. There are spasmodic instances of such indulgences, but in no sense can they be included, as in England and Spain, among thenational sports, which leads me to the conclusion that, aside from themany peculiarities, as taking up and dropping sports, America, all inall, is the greatest sporting nation of the world. It leads infist-fighting, rifle-shooting, in skilful angling, in yachting, inrowing, in running, in six-day walking, in auto-racing, in trotting andrunning horses, and in trap-shooting, and if its champions in all fieldscould be lined up it would make a surprising showing. I am free toconfess and quite agree with a vivacious young woman who at the countryclub told me that it was very nice of me to uphold my country, but thatwe were "not in it" with American sports. 

The Presidents are often sportsmen. President Cleveland and PresidentHarrison both have been famous, the former as a fisherman, the latter aswell as the former as a duck-shooter. President McKinley has no tastefor sport, but the Vice-President is a promoter of sport of each andevery kind. He is at home in polo or hurdle racing, with the rifle orrevolver. This calls to mind the national weapon--the revolver. Nine-tenths of all the shooting is done with this weapon, that iscarried in a special pocket on the hips, and I venture to say that apair of "trousers" was never made without the pistol pocket. Even theclergymen have one. I asked an Episcopal clergyman why he had a pistolpocket. He replied that he carried his prayer-book there. The Southernpeople use a long curved knife, called a bowie, after its inventor. Manypeople have been cut by this weapon. The negro, for some strange reason, carries a razor, and in a fight "whips out" this awful weapon andslashes his enemy. I have asked many negroes to explain this habit orselection. One replied that it was "none of my d---- business. " Nearlyall the others said they did not know why they carried it. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE CHINAMAN IN AMERICA

The average Irishman whom one meets in America, and he is legion, is avery different person from the polished gentleman I have met in Belfast, Dublin, and other cities in Ireland; but I never heard that the AmericanIrishman, the product of an ignorant peasantry crowded out of Ireland, had been accepted as a type of the race. Peculiar discrimination is madein America against the Chinese. Our lower classes, "coolies" from theCantonese districts, have flocked to America. Americans "lump" allChinese under this head, and can not conceive that in China there arecultivated men, just as there are cultivated men in Ireland, theantipodes of the grotesque Irish types seen in America. 

I believe there are seventy-five or eighty thousand Chinamen in America. They do not assimilate with the Americans. Many are common laborers, laundrymen, and small merchants. In New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and other cities there are large settlements of them. In San Franciscomany have acquired wealth. The Chinese quarter is to all intents andpurposes a Chinese city. None of these people, or very few, areAmericanized in the sense of taking an active part in the government;Americans do not permit it. I was told that the Chinese were among thebest citizens, the percentage of criminals being very small. They arehonest, frugal, and industrious--too industrious, in fact, and for thisvery reason the ban has been placed upon them. Red-handed members of theItalian Mafia--a society of murderers--the most ignorant class inIreland, Wales, and England, the scum of Russia, and the human dregs ofEurope generally are welcome, but the clean, hard-working Chinaman isexcluded. 

Millions are spent yearly in keeping him out after he had been invitedto come. He built many American railroads; he opened the door betweenthe Atlantic and the Pacific; he worked in the mines; he did work thatno one else would or could do, and when it was completed the Americanlaborer, the product of this scum of all nations, demanded that theChinaman be "thrown out" and kept out. America listened to the blatantdemagogues, the "sand-lot orators, " and excluded the Chinese. To-day itis almost impossible for a Chinese gentleman to send his son to Americato travel or study. He will not be distinguished from laundryman"John, " and is thrown back in the teeth of his countrymen; meanwhileChina continues to be raided by American missionaries. The insult israrely resented. In the treaty ratified by the United States Senate in1868 we read:

"The United States of America and the Empire of China cordiallyrecognize the inherent right of man to change his home and allegiance, and also the mutual advantage of the free immigration and emigration oftheir citizens and subjects respectively from the one country to theother for purposes of curiosity, of trade or as permanent residents. "

Again we read, in the treaty ratified under the Hayes administration, that the Government of the United States, "if its labor interests arethreatened by the incoming Chinese, may regulate or limit such coming, but may not _absolutely prohibit_ it. " The United States Government hasdisregarded its solemn treaty obligations. Not only this, our people, previous to the Exclusion Act, were killed, stoned, and attacked timeand again by "hoodlums. " The life of a Chinaman was not safe. The laborclass in America, the lowest and almost always a foreign class, wishedto get rid of the Chinaman so that they could raise the price of laborand secure all the work. China had reason to go to war with America forher treatment of her people and for failure to observe a treaty. TheScott Exclusion Act was a gratuitous insult. I hope our people willcontinue to retaliate by refusing to buy anything from the Americans orsell anything to them. Let us deal with our friends. 

Then came the Geary Bill, which was an outrage, our people being throwninto jail for a year and then sent back. I might quote some of thecharges made against our people. Mr. Geary, I understand, is an Irishex-congressman from the State of California, who, while in Congress, wasthe mouthpiece of the worst anti-Chinese faction ever organized inAmerica. He was ultimately defeated, much to the delight of New Englandand many other people in the East. Mr. Geary's chief complaint againstthe Chinese was that they work too cheaply, are too industrious, and donot eat as much as an American. He obtained his information from ConsulBedloe, of Amoy. He says the average earnings of the Chinese adultemployed as mechanic or laborer (in China) is five dollars per month, and states that this is ten per cent above the average wages prevailingthroughout China. 

The wages paid, according to his report, per month, to blacksmiths are$7. 25; carpenters, $8. 50; cabinet-makers, $9; glass-blowers, $9;plasterers, $6. 25; plumbers, $6. 25; machinists, $6; while other classesof skilled labor are paid from $7. 25 to $9 per month, and commonlaborers receive $4 per month. In European houses the average wages paidto servants are from $5 to $6 a month, without board. Clothing costs peryear from 75 cents to $1. 50. Out of these incomes large families aremaintained. He says: "The daily fare of an Amoy working man and its costare about as follows: 1½ pounds of rice, 3 cents; 1 ounce of meat, 1ounce of fish, 2 ounces of shell-fish, 1 cent; 1 pound of cabbage orother vegetable, 1 cent; fuel, salt, and oil, 1 cent; total, 6 cents. 

"Here, " said Mr. Geary, "is a condition deserving of attention by allfriends of this country, and by all who believe in the protection of theworking classes. Is it fair to subject our laborer to a competitor whocan measure his wants by an expenditure of six cents a day, and who canlive on an income not exceeding five dollars a month? What will becomeof the boasted civilization of our country if our toilers are compelledto compete with this class of labor, with more competitors availablethan twice the entire population of France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain?

"The Chinese laborer brings neither wife nor children, and his wants arelimited to the immediate necessities of the individual, while theAmerican is compelled to earn income sufficient to maintain the wife andbabies. There can be but one end to this. If this immigration ispermitted to continue, American labor must surely be reduced to thelevel of the Chinese competitor--the American's wants measured by hiswants, the American's comforts be made no greater than the comforts ofthe Chinaman, and the American laborer, not having been educated tomaintain himself according to this standard, must either meet hisChinese competitor on his own level, or else take up his pack and leavehis native land. The entire trade of China, if we had it all, is notworth such a sacrifice. "

Mr. Geary forgets that when Chinamen go to America they adapt themselvesto prevailing conditions. Chinese cooks in the States to-day receivefrom $30 to $50 per month and board; Chinese laborers from $20 to $30, and some of them $2 per day. In China, where there is an enormouspopulation, prices are lower, people are not wasteful, and thenecessities of life do not cost so much. The Chinaman goes to America toobtain the benefit of _high_ wages, not to _reduce_ wages. I have neverseen such poverty and wretchedness in China as I have seen in London, or such vice and poverty as can be seen in any large American city. Mr. Geary scorns the treaties between his country and China, and laughs atour commercial relations. He says, "There is nothing in the Chinesetrade, or rather the loss of it, to alarm any American. We would bebetter off without any part or portion of it. "

In answer to this I would suggest that China take him at his word, and Iassure you that if every Chinaman could be recalled, if in six months orless we could take the eighty or one hundred thousand Chinamen out ofthe country, the region where they now live would be demoralized. TheChinese control the vegetable-garden business on the Pacific Coast; theyvirtually control the laundry business; and that the Americans wantthem, and want cheaper labor than they are getting from the Irish andItalians, is shown by the fact that they continue to patronize ourpeople, and that in various lines Chinamen have the monopoly. Even whenthe "hoodlums" of San Francisco were fighting the Chinese, the Americanwomen did not withdraw their patronage, and while the men were offspeaking on the sand-lots against employing our people their wives werebuying vegetables from them. 

Why? Because their hypocritical husbands and brothers refused to payhigher prices. America is suffering not for want of the cheapest labor, but for a laborer like the Chinese, and until they have him industrieswill languish. With American labor and American "union" prices it isimpossible for the American farmer or rancher to make money. Thevineyardist, the orange, lemon, olive, and other fruit raisers can notcompete with Europe. Labor is kept up to such a high rate that thecountry is obliged to put on a high tariff to keep out foreigncompetition, and in so doing they "cut off the nose to spite the face. "The common people are taxed by the rich. The salvation of industrialAmerica is a cheap, but not degraded, labor. America desireshouse-servants at from $10 to $12 per month; this is all a mere servantis worth. She wants good cooks at $12 or $15 per month. She wantsfruit-pickers at $10 to $12 per month and board. She wants vineyard men, hop-pickers, cherry, peach, apricot and berry pickers, and people towork in canneries at these prices. She wants gardeners, drivers, railroad laborers at lower rates, and, to quote an American, "wants them'bad. '"

When in San Francisco I made a thorough investigation of the"house-servant" question, and learned that our people as cooks inprivate houses were receiving from $30 to $50 per month and board. Afriend tells me there is continued protest against this. Housekeepers onthe Pacific coast are complaining of the lack of "Chinese boys, " andwant more to come over so that prices shall go down. The American wantsthe Chinaman, but the American _foreign laborer_, the Irishman, theItalian, the Mexican, and others who dominate American politics, do notwant him and will not have him. As a result of this bending to the alienvote the Americans find themselves in a most serious and laughableposition in their relations to domestic labor. 

I am not overstating the fact when I say that the "servant-girl"question is going to be a political issue in the future. The man mayhowl against the Chinese, but his wife will demand that "John" beadmitted to relieve a situation that is becoming unbearable. As theAmericans are all equal, there are no servants among them. The poor areas good as the "boss, " and won't be called servants. You read in thepapers, "A lady desires a position as cook in a small family, nochildren; wages, $35. " "A young lady wishes a position to take care ofchildren; salary, $30. " "A saleslady wants position. " "A lady (goodscrubber) will go out by the day; $2. " When you meet these "ladies, " innine cases out of ten they are Irish from the peasant class--untidy, insolent, often dissipated in the sense of drink. When they apply for aposition they put the employer through a course of questions. Some wantreferences from the last girl, I am told. Some want one thing, someanother, and all must have time for pleasure. Few have the air ofservants or inferiors, but are often offensive in appearance andmanners. I have never been called "John" by the girls who came to thedoor where I called to pay a visit, but I could see that they all wishedso to address me. In England, where classes are acknowledged and aservant is hired as a servant, and is one, an entirely different stateof affairs holds. They are respectful, having been educated to beservants, know that they are servants, and as a result are cared for andtreated as old retainers and pensioners of the family. 

The whole story of exclusion is a blot upon the American national honor, and the most mystifying part of it is that intelligent people, the bestpeople, are not a party to it. The railroads want the Chinese laborer. The great ranches of the West need him; people want cooks at $15 and $20a month instead of $30 or $50. In a word, America is suffering for whatshe must have some time--cheap labor; yet the low elements force theissue. Congressmen are dominated by labor organizations on the Pacificslope, and there are hundreds of Dennis Kearneys to-day where there wasone a few years ago. To make the case more exasperating, the Americans, in their dire necessity, have imported swarms of low Mexicans to takethe place of the Chinese on the railroads, against whom there seems tobe no Irish hand raised. The Irish and Mexicans are of a piece. I knowfrom inquiry everywhere that the country at large would welcomethousands of servants and field-workers in vineyards and orchards whichcan not be made to pay if worked by expensive labor. 

The Americans try to keep us out, but they also try to convert those whoget in. They have what they call Chinese missions, to which Chinamen go. To be converted? No. To learn the language? Yes. I am told by anAmerican friend that here and in China over fifty thousand Chinese haveembraced Christianity. On the Atlantic coast I am assured that eighthundred Chinamen are Christians, and on the Pacific slope two thousandhave embraced the faith of the Christians. There is a Christian Chineseevangelist working among our people in the West, Lum Foon, and I havemet the pastor of a Pacific coast church who told me that nearly a thirdof his congregation were Chinamen, and he esteemed them highly. But themost conclusive evidence that the Americans are succeeding in theirproselyting is that in one year a single denomination received as adonation from Chinamen $6, 000. The Americans have a saying, "Moneytalks, " which is much like one of our own. 

On the other hand, a clergyman told me that it was discouraging work tosome, so few Chinamen were "converted" compared to the great mass ofthem. The Chinese of California have sent $1, 000 to Canton to build aChristian church, and the Chinese members of the Presbyterian Church ofCalifornia sent $3, 000 in one year for the same purpose. I am told thatthe Chinese Methodists of one church in California give yearly from$1, 000 to $1, 800 for the various purposes of the church. The Christianshave captured some brilliant men, such as Sia Sek Ong, who is aMethodist; Chan Hon Fan, who ought to be in our army from what I hear;Rev. Tong Keet Hing, the Baptist, a noted Biblical scholar; Rev. Wong, of the Presbyterians; Rev. Ng Poon Chiv, famous as a Greek and Hebrewreader; Gee Gam and Rev. Le Tong Hay, Methodists; and there are manymore, suggestive that our people are interested in Christianity, against the _moral_ teachings of which no one could seriously object. 

I dined some time ago with a merchants' club, and was much pleased atthe eulogy I heard on the Chinese. A merchant said, "My firm dealslargely with the Chinese and Japanese. When I make a trade with theJapanese I tie them up with a written contract, but I have always foundthat the word of a Chinese merchant was sufficient. " This I found to bethe universal feeling, and yet Americans exclude us at the bidding of"hoodlums, " a term applied to the lowest class of young men on thePacific coast. In the East he is a "tough" or "rough" or "rowdy. " "Toughnut" and "hard nut" are also applied to such people, the Americanshaving numbers of terms like these, which may be called "nicknames, " orfalse names. Thus a man who is noted for his dress is a "swell, " a"dude, " or a "sport. "

The United States Government does not allow the Chinese to vote, yettens of thousands of poor Americans, "white trash" in the South, ignorant negroes, low Irish and Italians who can not speak the tongue, are welcome and courted by both parties. It is difficult for me tooverlook this insult on the part of America. There is a large settlementof Chinese in New York, but they are as isolated as if they were inChina. In San Francisco there is the largest settlement, and many finemerchants live there, and also in Los Angeles. 

In the latter city ---- told me that the best of feeling existed betweenthe Chinese and Americans; and at the American Festival of the Rose theChinese joined in the procession. The dragon was brought out, and allthe Chinese merchants appeared; but these gentlemen are never consultedby the Americans, never allowed to vote or take any interest in thegrowth of the city, and ---- informed me that none of them had ever beenasked to join a board of trade. It is the same everywhere; the onlyadvances the Americans make is to try and "convert" us to their variousreligious denominations. While the Chinese are not allowed to vote or tohave any part in the affairs of government, they are taxed. "Taxationwithout representation" was the cause of the war of the AmericanRevolution, but that is another matter. 

Yet our people have ways of influencing the whites with the "dollar, "for which some officials will do anything, and, I regret to say, allChinamen are not above bribing Americans. I have heard that the Chineseof San Francisco for years were blackmailed by Americans, and obligedto raise money to fight bills in the Legislature. In 1892 the SixCompanies raised $200, 000 to defeat the "Geary Bill. " The Chinesemerchants have some influence. Out of the 110, 000 Chinamen in Americahardly ten per cent obeyed the iniquitous law and registered. TheChinese societies contracted to defend all who refused to register. 

Our people have a strong and influential membership in the Sam Yup, HopWo, Yan Wo, Kong Chow, Ning Yeong, and Yeong Wo companies. Thesesocieties practically control everything in America relating to theChinese, and they retain American lawyers to fight their battles. I havemet many of the officers of these companies, and China has produced nomore brilliant minds than some, and, _sub rosa_, they have been pittedagainst the Americans on more than one occasion and have outwitted them. Among these men are Yee Ha Chung, Chang Wah Kwan, Chun Ti Chu, Chu SheeSum, Lee Cheang Chun, and others. Many of these men have been presidentsof the Six Companies in San Francisco, and rank in intelligence with themost brilliant American statesmen. I regret to see them in America. 

Chun Ti Chu especially, at one time president of the Sam Yuz, should bein China. I met this brilliant man some years ago in San Francisco. After dinner he took me to a place and showed me a placard which was areward of $300 for his head. He had obtained the enmity of criminalChinamen on the Pacific coast, but when I last heard of him he was stillalive. There are many criminals here who do not dare to return to China, who left their country for their country's good. These are the cause ofmuch trouble here, and bring discredit upon the better class of ourpeople. Our people in America are loyal to the Government. It wasinteresting to see at one time a proclamation from the Emperor broughtover by Chew Shu Sum and posted in the streets of an American city: "Byorder of his Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of China. " The President, themayor of San Francisco, was not thought of; China was revered, and isto-day holding her government over the Chinese in every American citywhere they have a stronghold. So much for the loyalty of our people. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE RELIGIONS OF THE AMERICANS

Thomas J. Geary, the former congressman, is an avowed enemy of theChinese and the author of the famous Geary bill, but I condone all hehas said against us for one profound utterance made in a publishedaddress or article, in which he said: "As to the missionaries (inChina), it wouldn't be a national loss if they were required to returnhome. If the American missionary would only look about him in the largecities of the Union he would find enough of misery, enough of suffering, enough people falling away from the Christian churches, enough ofdarkness, enough of vice in all its conditions and all its grades, tofurnish him work for years to come. " This is a sentiment Americans maywell think of; but there are "none so blind as those who will not see. "There will always be women and men willing to spend their time inpicturesque China at the expense of foreign missions. China has neverattempted to convert the Americans to her religion, believing she hasall she can do to keep her people within bounds at home. 

In my search for information in America I have had some singularexperiences. I have made an examination of the many religions of theAmericans, and they have been remarkably prolific in this respect. Whilewe are satisfied with Taoism, Buddhism, but mostly with Confucianism, Ihave observed the following sects in America: Baptists of two kinds, Congregationalists, Methodists, Quakers of three kinds, Catholics, Unitarians, Universalists, Presbyterians, Swedenborgians, Spiritualists, Christian Scientists (healers), Episcopalians (high andlow), Jews, Seventh-Day Adventists, and many more. Nearly all areChristians, as we are nearly all Confucians. Unitarians, Universalists, Jews, and several others believe in the moral teachings of Christ, buthold that he was not of divine origin. America was first settled tosupply room for religious liberty, which perhaps explains the remarkablenumber of religions. They are constantly increasing. Nearly all of thesedenominations hold that their own belief is the right one. Muchproselyting is going on among them, with which one would take noexception if there was no denouncing of one another. Our religion, founded in the faith of Confucius, seems satisfying to us. Some of usbelieve that at least we are not savages. 

Some American friends once invited me to go to a negro church inWashington. Upon arriving we were given a seat well down in front. Thepastor was a "visiting evangelist, " and in a short time had theseexcitable and ignorant people in a frenzy, several being carried out ofthe church in a semicataleptic condition. Suddenly the minister began topray for the strangers, and especially "for the heathen in our midst, "for the unsaved from pagan lands, that they might be saved; and I couldnot but wonder at the conceit and ignorance that would ask a believer inthe splendid philosophy of Confucius to throw it aside for this Africanreligion. This idea that a Chinaman is a "pagan" and idolator is foundeverywhere in America, and every attempt is made to "save" him. 

I very much fear that many of our countrymen go to the Americanmissions and Sunday-schools merely to learn the language and enjoy thesocial life of those who are interested in this special work. I was toldby a well-to-do Chinaman that he knew Chinamen who were both Catholicand Protestant, and who attended all the Chinese missions withoutreference to sect. They were Methodist when at the Methodist mission, Catholic when at mass, and when they returned to their home slipped backinto Confucianism. Let us hope this is not universal, though I venturethe belief that the witty Americans would see the humor of it. 

I was told by a prominent patron of the Woman's Christian Union that shefelt very sorry I did not have the consolation of religion, coming as Idid from a heathen land. Some "heathens" might have been insulted, but Ihad come to know the Americans and was aware that she really felt akindly interest in me. I replied that we could find some consolation inthe sayings of our religious teachers, as the great guide of our lifeis, "What you do not like when done to yourself do not do to others. "

"Why, " said the lady, "that is Christian doctrine, our 'Golden Rule. '"

"Pardon me, " I answered, "this is the golden rule of Confucius, writtenfour hundred years or so before Christ was born. "

"I think you must be mistaken, " she continued; "this is a fundamentalpillar of the Christian belief. "

"True, " I retorted; "but none the less Christians obtained it fromConfucius. "

She did not believe me, and we referred the question to Bishop ----, whosat near us. Much to her confusion he agreed with me, and then quotedthe well-known lines of one of our religious writers who lived twelvehundred years before Christ: "The great God has conferred on the peoplea moral sense, compliance with which would show their nature inevitablyright, " and remarked that it was a splendid sentiment. 

"Then you believe in a God, " said the lady, turning to me. 

"I trust so, " was my answer. 

Now this lady, who believed me to be a "pagan" and unsaved, was aproduct of the American school system, yet she had never read a line ofConfucius, having been "brought up" to consider him an infidel writer. 

I have seen many of the great Western nations and observed theirreligions. My conclusion is that none make so general and united anattempt to be what they consider "good and moral" as the Americans; butthe Americans scatter their efforts like shot fired from a gun, and theresult is a multiplicity of religious beliefs beyond belief. I do notforget that America was settled to afford an asylum for religiousbelief, where men could work out their salvation in peace. If Americanswould grant us the same privilege and not send missionaries to fightover us, all would be well. No one can dispute the fact that theAmericans are in earnest; the greater number believe they are right, andthat they possess true zeal all China knows. 

The impression the convert in China obtains is that the United States isa sort of paradise, where Christians live in peace and happiness, lovingone another, doing good to those who ill-treat them, turning the cheekto those who strike them, etc. ; but the Chinaman soon finds afterlanding in America that this is often "conspicuous by its absence. "These ideas are preached, and doubtless thousands follow them or attemptto do so, but that they are common practises of the people is not true. There is great need of Christian missions in America as well as inChina. I told a clergyman that our people believed the Christianreligion was very good for the Americans, and we had no fault to findwith it, nor had we the temerity to insinuate that our own was superior. 

A Roman Catholic young lady whom I met spoke to me about burning ourprayers, our joss-houses, and our dragon, which she had seen carriedabout the streets of San Francisco. "Pure symbolism, " I answered, andthen told her of the Christian dragon in the Divine Key of theRevelation of Jesus Christ as Given to John, by a Christian writer, William Eugene Brown. This dragon had nine heads, while ours has onlyone. I believe I had the best of the argument so far as heads went. This young woman, a graduate of a large college, wore an amulet, whichshe believes protects her from accident. She possessed a bottle of waterfrom a miraculous spring in Canada, which she said would cure anydisease, and she told me that one of the Catholic churches there, Ste. Anne de Beaupré, had a small piece of the wrist-bone of the mother ofthe Virgin, which would heal and had healed thousands. She had a pictureof the church, showing piles of crutches thrown aside by cured andgrateful patients. Can China produce such credulity? I think not. 

All nations may be wrong in their religious beliefs, but certainly"pagan China" is outdone in religious extravaganza by America or anyEuropean state. Our joss-houses and our feasts are nothing to thesplendors of American churches. An American girl laughed at the beardedfigures in a San Francisco joss-house, but looked solemn when I referredto the saints in a Catholic cathedral in the same city. If I were "fancyfree" I should like to lecture in America on the inconsistencies of theCaucasian. They really challenge our own. Instead of having one splendidchurch and devoting themselves to the real ethics of Christianity, theseChristians have divided irrevocably, and so lost strength and force. They are in a sense turned against themselves, and their religiouscolleges are graduating men to perpetuate the differences. No moresplendid religion than that expounded by Christ could be imagined ifthey would join hands and, like the Confucians, devote their attentionnot to rites and theological differences but to the daily conduct ofmen. 

The Americans have a saying, "Take care of the pennies and the dollarswill care for themselves. " We believe that in taking care of the moralsof the individual the nation will take care of itself. I took theliberty of commending this Confucian doctrine to a Methodist brother, but he had never been allowed to read the books of Confucius. They areclassed with those of Mohammed, Voltaire, and others. So what can one dowith such people, who have the conceit of the ages and the ignorance ofall time? Their great scholars see their idiosyncrasies, and I can notbegin to describe them. One sect believes that no one can be savedunless immersed in water; others believe in sprinkling. Others, as theQuakers, denounce all this as mummery. One sect, the Shakers, will haveno marriages. Another believes in having as many wives as they cansupport--the Mormons. The Jews and Quakers oblige members to marry inthe society; in the latter instance the society is dying out, and theformer from constant intermarriage has resulted in conspicuous andmarked facial peculiarities. These different sects, instead of loving, despise one another. Episcopalians look down upon the Methodists, andthe latter denounce the former because the priests sometimes smoke anddrink. The Unitarians are not regarded well by the others, yet nearlyall the other bodies contain Unitarians, who for business and otherreasons do not acknowledge the fact. A certain clergyman would not admita Catholic priest to his platform. All combine against the poor Jew. 

So strong is the feeling against this people among the best of Americancitizens that they are almost completely ostracised, at least socially. In all the years spent in America I do not recall meeting a Jew atdinner in Washington, New York, or Newport. They are disliked, and as arule associate entirely with themselves, having their own churches, clubs, etc. Yet they in large degree control the finances of America. They have almost complete control of the textile-fabric business, clothing, and many other trades. Why the American Christians dislike theAmerican Jews is difficult to understand, but the invariable reply tothis question is that their manners are so offensive that Christianswill not associate with them. I doubt if in any of the first circles ofany city you would meet a Jew. In the fashionable circles of New York Iheard that it would be "easier for a camel to pass through the eye of aneedle" than for a Jew to enter these circles. Many hotels will notreceive them. In fact, the ban is on the Jew as completely in America asin Russia. I was strongly tempted to ask if this was the brotherly loveI heard so much about, but refrained. I heard the following story at adinner: A Chinese laundryman received a call from a Jew, who broughtwith him his soiled clothing. The Chinaman, glancing at the Jew, refusedto take the package. "But why?" asked the Jew; "here's the money inadvance. " "No washee, " said the Christian Chinaman; "you killed Melicanman's Joss, " meaning that the Jews crucified the Christ. 

The more you delve into the religions of the Americans the moreanomalies you find. I asked a New York lady at Newport if she had evermet Miss ----, a prominent Chinese missionary. She had never heard ofher, and considered most missionaries very ordinary persons. This samelady, when some one spoke about laxity of morals, replied, "It is notmorals but manners that we need"; and I can assure you that thishigh-church lady, a model of propriety, judged her men acquaintances bythat standard. If their manners were correct, she apparently did notcare what moral lapses they committed when out of her presence. Briefly, I looked in vain for the religion in everyday life preached by themissionary. Doubtless many possess it, but the meek and humble followerof the head of the Christian Church, the American who turned his cheekfor another blow, the one who loved his enemies, or the one who wasanxious to do unto others as he would have them do unto him, all these, whom I expected to see everywhere, were not found, at least in anynumbers. 

In visiting a certain village I dined with several clergymen. One toldme he was the Catholic priest, and invited me to visit his chapel. Notlong after I met another clergyman. I do not recall his denomination, but his work he told me was undoing that of the Catholic priest. Thelatter converted the people to Catholicism, while the former tried toreclaim them from Catholicism. I heard much about our joss-houses, butthey fade into insignificance when compared with the splendid religiouspalaces of the Americans, and particularly those of the Catholics andEpiscopalians. Their religious customs are beyond belief. As anillustration, their religion teaches them that the dead, if they haveled a good life, go at once to heaven, though the Catholics believe in apurgatory, a half-way house, out of which the dead can be bought by thepayment of money. 

Now the simple Chinaman would naturally believe that the relativeswould be pleased at the death of a friend who was _immediately_transported to paradise and freed from the worries of life, but not atall; at the death of a relative the friends are plunged into such griefthat they have been known to hire professional mourners, and instead ofputting on clothes indicative of joy and thanksgiving array themselvesin somber black, the token of woe, and wear it for years. Everything isblack, and the more fashionable the family the deeper the black. Thedeepest crape is worn by the women. Writing-paper is inscribed with adeep band, also visiting cards. Women use jet as jewelry, and whitepearls are replaced by black ones. Even servants are garbed in mourningfor the departed, who, they believe, have gone to the most beautifulparadise possible to conceive. Contemplating all these inconsistenciesone is amazed, and the amazement is ever increasing as one delves deeperinto the ways of the inconsistent American. 

The credulity of the American is nowhere more singularly shown than inhis susceptibility to religion. At a dinner given by the ---- of ---- inWashington, conversation turned on religion, and Senator ----, a veryclever man, told me in a burst of confidence, "Our people are easilyled; it merely requires a leader, a bright, audacious man, with plentyof 'cheek, ' to create a following. " There are hundreds of examples ofthis statement. No matter how idiotic the religion or philosophy may be, a following can be established among Americans. A man of the name ofDowie, "ignorant, impertinent, but with a superabundance of cheek" (Iquote an American journal), announced himself as the prophet Elijah, andobtained a following of thousands, built a large city, and lives uponthe credulity of the public. 

Three different "healers" have appeared within a decade in America, eachby inference claiming to be the Christ and imitating his wanderings andhealing methods. All, even the last, grossest, and most impudentimpostor, who advertised himself in the daily press, the picture showinghim posing after one of the well-known pictures of Christ, had manyfollowers. I hoped to hear that this fellow had been "tarred andfeathered, " a happy American remedy for gross things. This fellow, asthe Americans say, "went beyond the limit. " I asked the senator how heaccounted for Americans, well educated as they are, taking up thesestrange impostors. "Well, " he replied, puffing on a big cigar, "betweenyou and me and the lamp-post it's on account of the kind of schoolingthey get. I didn't get much myself--I'm an old-timer; but I accumulateda lot of 'horse sense, ' that has served me so well that I never have myleg pulled, and I notice that all these 'suckers' are graduates fromsomething; but don't take this as gospel, as I'm always getting upminority reports. "

The religion of the Americans, as diffuse as it is, is one of the mostremarkable factors you meet in the country. Despite its peculiar phasesyou can not fail to appreciate a people who make such stupendousattempts to crush out evil and raise the morals of the masses. We maydiffer from them. We may resent their assumption that we are pagans andheathens, but this colossal series of movements, under the banner of theCross, is one of the marvels of the world. Surely it is disinterested. It comes from the heart. I wish the Americans knew more of Confuciusand his code of morals; they would then see that we are not so "pagan"as they suppose. 

THE END