| Show CHINAS STATE OF UNREST gaston kahn the french consul at tien tsin china is a guest at the palace hotelman Hot elSan francisco says the chronicle mr kahn left the orient a few weeks ago on a leave of absence and he is now on his way back to his native country on a vacation trip he expects to return to his post in a few months mr kahn when seen monday said the he did not place much credence in the report rt that a revolution was likey likely to take place in china in the interest of li hung chang the viceroy is is now over 73 years of age he said and is too old to think 0 of f favoring a revolution which has for its object the overthrow of the ruling dynasty and the placing of himself on the throne if 1 li hung chang were ten years younger I 1 should say that such a revolution at this critical stage in chinas cainas affairs would be more than likely As things stand it is not probable if elf there irany is any revolution inching in china it will be in the interest of chi tong formerly viceroy of canton and now viceroy of nankin he is next in li and is the power 0 er to hung chang gi bitter tt enemy ot of the manchu dynasty he vigorously opposed the terms of the treaty of peace recently entered into between china and japan and showed his displeasure by heading the movement in formosa which had tor for ils object the establishment of a republic in the island chifong did not go to formosa in person but he sent many of his followers who had the support not only of the hordes of piratical ruffians from the southern chinese provinces known as the black flags the struggle over the poes possession sion of formosa was brief and decisive and the chinese stood little snow against the organized japanese troops had the chinese more time in which to prepare for the the island the result might have bein been still in question chifong is a fighter he led the chinese forces in the tonquin war during the late trouble with japan he took no active part his soldiers remained at home and his fleet has not stirred out ot of shanghai he was a close observer of the events of the war however and he is very much dissatisfied with the result so much so in fact that there are rumors of an impending revolution in china in his interest chifong is is a progressive man he comes from northern china which is probably the cause of his great success in the southern part of the empire A chinese seldom acquires greatness or distinction at home chifong is the recognized head of the chinese party and an enemy alike to the progressive g r ve party pany headed by li hung ro chang a n a ennd and the manchu dynasty he believes in china for the chinese he cannot tolerate foreigners he sometimes finds it necessary to take foreigners into service but he gets rid of them as quick as he can in this he shares the sentiments of a majority of the chinese and that is partly accountable for his popularity among the class of which he is the recognized head in spite of these facts I 1 think it is very doubtful if a revolution will be started in china there is no patriotism among the chinese and the most ot of them care little how the affairs of the government are being handled again the chinese are so divided that no re to masses there are as many cliques and classes as there are characters in the chinese language and no two classes have any thought or ambition in common save the one thought of getting enough to eat mr kahn was inclined disinclined dis to discuss the prospects of the trouble between russia and japan he said simply that he believed believe russia dRussia was anxious to preserve a friendly feeling with both china and japan but in the event of a dip he though russia would be able to cope with any emergency there are now twenty russian war vessels in the asiatic waters he said and they are so superior to japans japan Is fleet that there can be no comparison 1 I expected that upon my arrival here he continued I 1 would be able to learn something about the fate of the missionaries on the upper yang tse river who suffered im imprisonment ament and whose missions were leveled ed to the i ground last month I 1 have been unable however thus far to obtain any tidings through the press dispatches dispatch esir or official correspondence before leavin leaving III china we had word at T tien hentsi tsin n th that at all american french and english missionaries on the yang tse tae river above chung king had been placed in captivity by the chinese and that their buildings had been burned or leveled to the ground one american two french and two english war vessels started up the yang tse river to rescue the captives but it was a n on p piece bece of business it would be like sending a fleet of war vessels to the head waters of san francisco to suppress a revolt at ogden |
