Show FILLING THE ORIENT ALEYE secretary tatt has said that ono A the objects aimed at in sending the fleet to the pacific was to fill abo oriental eye there Is another and more enduring method of filling the chinese portion of the oriental eye declares the chicago tribune the fleet will arrive and depart it will give the chinese government a better idea of the naval power of the united states and will create a temporary impression in the city choso whoso harbor it enters the inhabitants of every city where there Is an american consulate will have a permanently higher opinion of the standing of the united states if its consular establishments shall bo put on the same footing as those of other nations appearances count for more in the orient than they do in the occident european merchants think none tho less of an american consul and his country because be is not so well housed as other consuls when the chinese merchants see the american consuls occupying buildings much inferior to those occupied by their german or french confrere s and when they see the latter aided by large staffs when the former have only a few helpers they get an unfavorable impression of american consuls and the country they represent As a consequence american trade interests suffer the consul in a european city can always find decent quarters in the east ho it Is impossible for him to alvo in a house such as the natives occupy aud in the portions of cities fet apart for european use the supply of buildings that europeans can use for residence or office purposes Is limited and it is always difficult to rent what Is required this explains the bill now before congress appropriating for the erection of a suitable building for the consulate and the united states court at shanghai the american building at that important point should fill the oriental eye as fully as does the imposing building congress not stop with this shanghai appropriation but should authorize the purchase of land on which buildings now stand or the purchase of sites on which buildings may be erected in a number of chinese cities and a few places in japan and corea looking at the matter from a purely business point of view a more profitable investment could not be made it would assist materially in securing for tho united states a larger proportion of that chinese strade which it Is generally assumed will bo immensely valuable soon the great factor in selling more goods to china or any other country necessarily must bo tho push and perseverance of american manufacturers rs and merchants whatever the government may do to make smooth the way for them will avail nothing if they sit still and wait for customers to como to them there need be no fear of that and congress should go ahead unhesitatingly and do what it can to swell tho volume of american trade |