As to the character of our people I can refer you only to those who have been in China.  I will refer you to the opinion of a man who for a great many years was in China at the head of the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank.  After twenty-five years’ service, he resigned, and on the eve of his departure he was given a banquet by foreigners, not by Chinese, mind; and in the course of his speech he went out of his way to speak of his relations with Chinese merchants.  As I remember, the substance of his speech was that during all those years in China, he had had dealings with Chinese merchants aggregating hundreds of millions of dollars, and he said that, large as were those dealings, he had never lost a cent through any Chinese merchant.  That testimony was given unsolicited by a man long resident in China, and shows indisputably the character of our merchants.

Now that you have become our neighbor, and if you want to deal with China, here is the class of people you have to deal with; and if you see your way clear to modify the only obstacle that now stands in the way of respectable Chinese coming here, and doing away with the false impression in the minds of our people, I have no doubt that such a step would redound to the benefit of both parties.  If you look at the returns furnished by your consuls or by our customs returns, you will find that your trade in China has increased to a remarkable degree.  China is constructing a railway from north to south, and she is practically an open door for your trade purposes.  There is a great field for you there; and with all our people favorably disposed toward you, I am sure you will receive further benefits through the means of still further increased trade. [Loud applause.]

WALTER WYMAN

SONS OF THE REVOLUTION

     [Speech of Surgeon-General Walter Wyman at the banquet given in
     Washington, D. C., February 22, 1900, by the Society of the Sons of
     the Revolution in the District of Columbia.]

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:—­In behalf of the Society of the Sons of the Revolution in the District of Columbia it becomes my pleasant duty to bid you welcome on this occasion, the anniversary of the birthday of George Washington, the Father of his country.

The Society of the Sons of the Revolution was founded in 1883, in New York, its purpose, as expressed by the Constitution, being “to perpetuate the memory of the men, who, in the military, naval, and civic service of the Colonies and of the Continental Congress, by their acts and counsel achieved the independence of the Country.”  The New York Society, to be historically correct, was instituted February 22, 1876, but was reorganized in 1883, when the General Society was formed.  State Societies were subsequently formed in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, State of Washington, and West Virginia, there being, therefore, thirty-one State Societies, with a total membership of 6,031.  The District of Columbia Society was formed in 1889, and now numbers over two hundred and fifty members.