CHAPTER XLVI

TRAFFICS AND DISCOVERIES (_Continued_)

III. THE UNITED STATES

The many invitations sent to me while I was in China from the United

States determined me to visit that country on the way home; in order to

explain to the American nation the situation in China; to encourage if

it might be, the growth of amity between the English and the American

peoples; and incidentally to mark the contrast between the most ancient

and static Empire of the East and the restless dynamic forces of the

latest experiment in Western civilisation. I had arrived at Nagasaki

on the 11th January, 1899; traversed Japan as a half-way house, in

which West and East had married, and in which their offspring were

presently to astonish the world; and came to San Francisco on the 10th

of February.

Immediately the wheels of life began to revolve with an extraordinary

velocity. I was caught up in the sumptuous hospitality of that

generous people--deluged with invitations; and haunted by interviewers.

In looking back, great cities rise one upon another, like cities in a

dream; I seem always to be speaking to a field of keen, upturned

countenances; the only respite comes in the days and nights, all run

into one to the long roll of the cars, as the train eats up the miles

of that land of vast spaces; and everywhere there are welcome and

cordiality and friendship.

And everywhere there were Irishmen, rushing to shake hands with a

countryman; rushing any distance, often {459} hundreds of miles, just

to exchange greetings at the latter end. Irishmen are so, the world

over.

One among my countrymen had travelled a thousand miles to see me, when

he called at my hotel. I told him that I had twenty minutes before

starting for Chicago, and that I must retire to my room to bathe, shave

and prepare a speech in that time.

"I'll come wid ye," said he, cheerfully; and while I made my

dispositions, he sat in the adjoining room and talked of the old

country with that pride and affection which all Irishmen feel for their

native land.

San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Buffalo, Washington, New York: these

were the great towns strung among the lesser. At San Francisco, I

addressed the Chamber of Commerce. At Chicago, I was entertained by

Mr. McCormick, President of the Associated Chambers and of the

Committee of the Commercial Club.

All unknown to me, it had been arranged that I should address a large

meeting at eleven o'clock on the morning of my arrival. When the train

came in at ten o'clock, I was informed of the arrangement; went to the

hotel, dictated notes to my secretary while I made my toilette, arrived

at the meeting punctually, and spoke for half an hour.

Here, and throughout America, I kept strictly to my terms of reference:

dwelling upon the opportunities for extending trade in China; the

necessity for pursuing the policy of the "Open Door"; and the community

of interest existing between America and Great Britain.

The Board of Trade, which is the Stock Exchange of Chicago, invited me

to visit them; and when I was introduced as the representative of the

Associated Chambers of Commerce of Great Britain, the whole business of

the great market was stopped in order that I might address the members;

an event which, I was informed, was without precedent. The Commercial

Club having kindly invited me to be the guest of their periodical

banquet, the Committee most courteously altered the date in order to

suit my {460} convenience. In this case, there was a precedent; for

the date of the occasion had been altered when General Grant had been a

guest of the Club.

At Washington, I was most hospitably entertained by Mr. Hay, Secretary

of State and late Ambassador in Great Britain. I had the privilege of

paying my respects to President McKinley, and of meeting many

distinguished Americans, Senators and others, all of whom expressed

great interest in the enterprise of the British Associated Chambers of

Commerce. At this time I first met Colonel Robert M. Thompson, who

became a great friend of mine; and Admiral Brownson, whose skill in

handling a fleet I subsequently admired.

Upon my arrival at New York, I fulfilled an engagement to address the

American Asiatic Association. Mr. Whitelaw Reid, afterwards Ambassador

in Great Britain, in an eloquent speech, declared that the policy of

the "Open Door" was that which was best suited for the development of

American trade, and that the American Government intended to institute

it in the Philippine Islands.

Addressing the New York Chamber of Commerce, I found the members to

express the same sympathy and interest with which my representations

had been received throughout the United States. The American attitude

was, in fact, that while they were desirous of strengthening their

friendship with England, and approved the policy of the "Open Door,"

they did not feel justified in going beyond a moral support of it.

Upon visiting New York a second time, I was introduced into the Stock

Exchange by Mr. Rudolph Kepler, the President, who took me up the floor

to the rostrum. The proceedings were stopped; and at the President's

request, I addressed the members for two or three minutes. Some one

said that my speech was at the rate of 100,000 dollars a second. I

hope he was exaggerating.

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