Ningpo, March 22.
Within the last few days a good number of Chinese have voluntarily spoken to me regarding the present unseemly demands of the Japanese Government upon China. Among these are a banker, a shopkeeper, a representative of a steamship company, the pastor of a Christian church and ® man sculling ferry-boat. This has given ons iny good opportunity; to understand the situation as it viewed by the Chinese generally in this part of the country. They seem to speak with one voice; and this is the burden of their remarks (1) The other nations may not always treat the Chinese in a fair way, but they come with funds and ideas that increase the business and the wealth of China and the Chinese; wh is a menace, in that she will furnish business and employment for her own people at the expense of the Chinese, which will more than offset any help that may be given by the increase of business, (2) If the Japanese Government is a better friend to China than is the German Government, why does Japan now act worse toward China than Germany ever did These, to my mind, are fair propositions; and one can scarcely blame the Chinese people for the boycott of Japanese goods that is now in force and on the increase. In the end, Japan must deal with the Chinese, rather than with Chin and now is @ good opportunity for her to prove her profession of real regard for the Chinese people.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.