live in
foreign settlements. Electric trolleys are soon to be running at
Shanghai and Tientsin. Telephones, both private and public, are
a convenience much appreciated. Accustomed as the Chinese are to
the instantaneous transmission of thought and speech, they have
yet to see the _telodyne_--electricity as a transmitter of
force. But will they not see it when the trolleys run? The advent
of electric power will mark an epoch.

China's weakness is not due wholly to backwardness in the arts
and sciences. It is to be equally ascribed to defective connection
of parts and to a lack of communication between places. Hence a
sense of solidarity is wanting, and instead there is a predominance
of local over national interests. For this disease the remedy is
forthcoming--rail and wire are rapidly welding the disjointed members
of the Empire into a solid unity. The post office contributes to
the same result.

A postal system China has long possessed: mounted couriers for
official despatches, and foot messengers for private parties, the
Government providing the former, and merchant companies the latter.
The modernised post office, now operating in every province, provides
for both. To most of the large towns the mails are carried by steamboat
or railroad--a marvellous gain in time, compared with horse or
foot. The old method was slow and uncertain; the new is safe and
expeditious.

That the people appreciate the change is shown by
[Page 206]
the following figures: In 1904 stamps to the amount of $400,000
(Mexican) were sold; in 1905 the sale rose to $600,000--an advance
of 50 per cent. in one year. What may we not expect when the women
learn to read, and when education becomes more general among men?

Sir Robert Hart, from whom I had this statement, is the father
of China's postal system. Overcoming opposition with patience and
prudence, he has given the post office a thorough organisation and
has secured for it the confidence of princes and people. Already
does the Government look to it as a prospective source of revenue.

To the maritime customs service, Sir Robert has been a foster-father.
Provided for by treaty, it was in operation before he took charge,
in 1863; but to him belongs the honour of having nursed the infant
up to vigorous maturity by the unwearied exertions of nearly half
a century. While the post office is a new development, the maritime
customs have long been looked upon as the most reliable branch of
the